Day 10'ski

Tama Tonga vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
This one is not getting much love from the most vocal NJPW fanbase, but I thought it was pretty damn awesome. Had this authentic feel of a rough, styles clash FIGHT that I absolutely loved; Tama was really good in control, he was roughing up Zack quite a bit, and Zack on the offense was of course superb - he tortured Tama's arm(s) any chance he got. The best match of Tama's singles career quite easily so far. ***3/4


Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano
Pretty fun stuff, with the highlight being Yano fooling Juice into thinking he was gonna be all respectful & not do his usual shenanigans - him going after Juice's hand outside the ring was actually pretty brutal! **3/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii awakened the absolute KILLER that Ibushi can be when he is pushed to that limit. An absolutely ridiculous smackfest, with goddamn PUNCHES TO THE THROAT. ****



Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito

A very solid, good match, with most of it being Naito working over Goto's neck, to get him ready for that DESTINO. Goto got a few good comebacks in, I always love the GTR. ***

Kenny Omega vs. SANADA

Filler destruction of the leg that of course gets no sold, and then just generic New Japan main event style big move counter wrestling. Nawt good. *1/4

Day 9 - worst of the tourney so far

Michael Elgin vs. Minoru Suzuki
Most of the match is with Suzuki on top, with him delivering deadly strikes & nasty arm work to Elgin, while Big Mike delivers some hard hitting comebacks. Very good stuff. ***1/2

EVIL vs. Hangman Page
This felt like it went on for forever, and at no point during it did I think it was good and/or interesting at all. *

Bad Luck Fale vs. Jay White

Some good stuff in here; Switchblade delivered some very nice chops to Fale, and while most of Fale's work on top was disappointing, he did have a few moments of his usual goodness in there. The match had it's positive moments, but it also had it's super boring moments. An OK one overall. **

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe

Well this was disappointing. I usually really like these two together, but here they dropped the dynamic that works the best with their matches against each other, and had a more basic, soulless bout. **

Kazuchika Okada vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Okada was really great in the beginning stages of the match - he employed the "cocky ace taking on the stablemate of his that isn't really a big deal at all" -character wonderfully. YOSHI-HASHI was very good in the beginning stages as well; loved the aggression he showed right away after Okada threw his shirt at him. Sadly after a while, it becomes a more "normal" affair rather than a character driven bout it could've been; YH went back to showing no charisma or personality, and Okada wasn't much better either. **

Day 8: ZSJ/Ishii IV

Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano
What a helluva 2-minute sprint! Yano's roll-up nearfalls were tremendous, as were that now-signature belly-to-belly of his, and then Goto's violent finishing of the match. So much fun! ***3/4

Tama Tonga vs. Tetsuya Naito
Very good, very solid action throughout, with yet another legitimately fantastic run in segment w/ the Los Ingobernables going against the Tongans. ***

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Ishii vs. Sabre Jr. is one of the best pairings in all of pro-wrestling, and here they delivered yet another outstanding match. Zack's control over Ishii was brutal as usual; he focused on the arm(s), and Ishii's selling was simply fantastic. LOVED Ishii's countering of the things by going after the leg of Zack, too - such an unique twist, and something I certainly wasn't expecting out of the Stone Pitbull. The way Rocky Romero & Kevin Kelly built up the "Ishii might pass out, but he will NEVER tap out!" -issue was terrific as well, and really added to the finish when ZSJ locked in one of his most brutal looking submissions ever. ****1/4

Juice Robinson vs. Kenny Omega

This told a very good story of Juice pushing Kenny to the limit; Kenny even had to go after the injured hand of Juice, which he was hesitant to do in the beginning stages of the match. GREAT callback to their previous G1 meeting too, with the One Winged Angel counter into a nearfall. ***3/4

Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA

A pretty damn great performance by SANADA, and a very enjoyable match overall. Some unfortunate no-selling of the leg work by Ibushi, but that wasn't the focal point of the match for very long, so it didn't take away too much from it. Good, competitive back & forth stuff. ***1/4

TNA DELIVERS! Slammiversary!

Fenix vs. Johnny Impact vs. Petey Williams vs. Taiji Ishimori
A good, fun spotfest to kick off the show with. Good pacing & flow, and it ended just at the right time. ***

Allie vs. Tessa Blanchard
Everything Tessa did looked fantastic, she was oozing charisma with her work, but then on the other hand everything that Allie did looked very sloppy & straight up awkward. **


Eddie Edwards vs. Tommy Dreamer

Eddie's "psycho acting" is absolutely hilarious, but this was an awesome brawl. Dreamer showed that he still got that badass 90's ECW spirit in him; dude was absolutely killing it when he was in control of the things. ***1/4

Matt Sydal vs. Brian Cage

A really good big man vs. little man bout, with Sydal delivering an all-around fantastic performance. His character work was solid, he looked super believable in the ways he controlled things against such a bigger man in Cage, and his bumping for Cage's stuff was just superb. ***1/2

Su Yung vs. Madison Rayne

Thought that this was better than Tessa/Allie. A very enjoyable sprint w/ a good pace all the way through. **1/2

LAX vs. The OGz

They brought a good amount of hate to this one, haven't seen Hernandez in action in ages, but he looked absolutely fantastic w/ his power moves & brawling, Homicide of course always rules in a setting like this & the new LAX really impressed me; they were great dishing out a beating on the OG's & they were maybe even better at taking a beating from them. Very good stuff. ***3/4

Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan

A great, violent spectacle between two wrestlers who excel at having those. Great intensity & sense of hatred, especially by Callihan, and the image of him kicking out of the Package Piledriver with a bloodied face, spit dripping down, was just amazing. ****

Austin Aries vs. Moose

Sometimes I forget how good of a wrestler Austin Aries is, but then BOOM. He comes with a performance like this. Truly one of the best. An absolutely fantastic sprint with explosive, amazing action from bell to bell. One of the best matches of the year. ****1/2

Day 7

Michael Elgin vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Big Mike throws everything he got at YOSHI-HASHI, but YH keeps on kicking out of everything. A very good underdog tale told between two wrestlers who I wouldn't think to have good chemistry with each other on paper. ***3/4

Bad Luck Fale vs. EVIL

My goodness this RULED. Fale's arm work was awesome, EVIL's overall babyface work was TREMENDOUS & the whole big LIJ vs. OGBC run-in deal was executed perfectly. MOTN. ***3/4

Jay White vs. Minoru Suzuki 

Switchblade does his best to anger Suzuki, which leads to Suzuki just beating the crap out of him in a pretty good match. **3/4

Hangman Page vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Nothing necessarily bad about this one, but it was utterly forgettable. Felt like a house show match, which I can't blame them for, but it didn't make for a compelling viewing of it, to say the least. *

Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe

These two always work super well, because of the dynamic they bring; Okada cockily dominates Makabe, while Makabe gets a couple of big, sweet comebacks in. Very good match. ***1/2

Day 6: Show of the Year Contender

Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

Such a lovely time, this match was. One of my favorite things about it was seeing how much of a blast everyone involved was having - Ibushi seemed the most excited he's been in a while about a match, the crowd was loving every moment & even the cameramen were smiling from ear to ear. Fantastic mix of genuinely amusing comedy & serious storytelling w/ Yano giving Ibushi real trouble w/ his new found motivation in displaying his amateur wrestling skills + his classic shenanigans. ****

SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Super smooth & exciting back and forth technical wrestling all the way through. I prefer their New Japan Cup match just a bit more, but this was an absolutely awesome sequel. SANADA & ZSJ have a great chemistry with each other. ****

Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito was such an awesome bastard in this one w/ his constant hand targeting, and everytime when Juice went to cover that arm, he provoked him by spitting at him, raking his eyes & all. Terrific stuff. That brought a great fire out of Juice, and his big bomb comebacks were amazing. The finishing stretch was terrific - Korakuen were going crazy over it, and for a good reason. Some damn fine pro wrestling in display here, from start to finish. ****1/4

Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga

Enjoyed this one a lot. Great heat from start to finish, they kept the match pretty short, which was perfect for the way it was structured, and both guys delivered very strong performances in their roles. ***1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

An absolutely awesome smackfest, with great Korakuen atmosphere, great facial expressions, selling & some very neat little touches by Ishii. ***3/4

Day 5

Jay White vs. Michael Elgin

Went on for way too long, and while there was a sequence or two that were pretty cool (all of them w/ Elgin on the offense), overall the match had a weird structure, dynamic & it was just very dull for 99% of it. *

Minoru Suzuki vs. YOSHI-HASHI

YOSHI-HASHI wasn't good on the offense, but the match is mostly just MiSu destroying him, so it was a good time. ***

EVIL vs. Togi Makabe

Really have nothing to say about this one. It just happened. It wasn't interesting. *

Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Doesn't surprise me in the slightest that these 2 had a banger, and what I would call the best match of the night, once again. Loved Tana going after Fale's leg right away, Fale eventually gains the control & does an awesome job with his monstrous work on top. I really liked the Tongans interference deal too, that was really well done, as was the finish. Really good stuff. ***3/4

Hangman Page vs. Kazuchika Okada

Hangman got to shine quite a bit, and it was pretty cool to see Korakuen chanting his name by the end, but overall the match didn't do much for me. It was your typical "young & upcoming guy gets to shine against the top guy" type of deal, and while that's a dynamic that can 100% rule, here it didn't really do it, IMO. Felt more like a exhibition w/ generic movez trading rather than that, actually. Very soulless stuff. **

Day 4: KORAKUEN!

SANADA vs. Tama Tonga

This was damn good. SANADA as the babyface was awesome & the overall dynamic w/ Tama being a cocky heel, the Bullet Club run-in's - all worked very well with me. ***

  

Toru Yano vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Absolutely fantastic. Most of the match is ZSJ just torturing Yano, but Yano keeps on escaping, and gets a few absolutely TREMENDOUS, best of the year -level, nearfalls in. Couldn't have asked for a better match between the 2. ****1/4

Juice Robinson vs. Kota Ibushi

A physical back & forth battle between two great wrestlers in front of the always lovely Korakuen crowd. Instant hit. ***3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii

An absolutely lovely smackfest, with fantastic character work by both guys. Especially Ishii was on some next level shit here; his offense looked more murderous than usual, and that's quite something. ****1/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega

This wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't good either. There was nothing wrong with it per se; it actually flew by, which is pretty cool, because usually my main gripe with NJPW main events is that they drag quite a bit. That wasn't the case here - the "problem" was that the structure was just so, so dull; felt like a bunch of movez from start to finish, and the movez weren't any interesting whatsoever. Goto offered NOTHING, and I can't actually name more than 1 thing he did the entire match. **

Day 3 of the Climax

Hangman Page vs. Michael Elgin - *1/4

A very generic, bland movezfest with a million nearfalls. Of course.

EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI - *

Just absolutely nothing.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Togi Makabe - ***1/2

Much better than their match at the Anniversary show. This was just a total slugfest w/ MiSu of course looking like a killer with his strikes, and even Makabe looked good!

Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada - ***3/4

My favorite match of the night. Just love the chemistry Fale & Okada have, and Okada's new funky demeanor since losing the title brought a good, new touch to their usual David vs. Goliath affair.

Jay White vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - ***1/2

A very nice redemption from their very forgettable Tokyo Dome meeting. Jay was very good working on top, focusing his attack on the banged up leg of Tana & Tana's selling, for the most part, was really good.

G128 Day 2

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano

This was very fun. Yano being more serious & not cheating brought a good dynamic to the match; he was busting out arm drags like his last name was Steamboat or something. The finish was absolutely awesome w/ YTR actually giving Ishii real trouble during their strike exchange, which lead to Ishii having to basically "Toru Yano" Toru Yano himself. Good stuff. ***

Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga

Tama Tonga's "trashtalk" was so cringy in this match, but it's probably the only thing I'll remember out of it, because, all in all, it was such a heatless bore of a match. *

Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA

Very uninteresting match layout - just a bunch of counters, and back & forth control swifts. It can work, but I didn't find this one compelling at all. One cool sequence towards the end w/ SANADA locking in the Skull End for a brief moment, but other than that, yeah, not interesting whatsoever. *1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Their best match against each other yet. I thought Zack's control work on the ground was incredibly compelling, and once it came down to exchange some strikes, they sure smacked the crap out of each other with those slaps & kicks. ****

Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito

The beginning stages of the match with them trying to outswagger each other by cockily doing each other's taunts was glorious. Soon after Kenny starts targeting Naito's back; it doesn't continue for too long, but I enjoyed it a lot. Actually after he was done targeting Naito's back, the match kinda "lost" me, and it took me a while to REALLY get into it again, but I sure did eventually. Very exciting & brutal finishing gear. ***3/4

AND SO IT BEGINS - G128 Day 1

Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Maybe the most unappealing match possible to start the tournament off. And it sure was as bad as it looked on paper; YOSHI-HASHI on top is painfully boring, Makabe on the offense is as shitty as always. Just nothing good/interesting about it. *

Bad Luck Fale vs. Hangman Page

I liked the chaotic start, but once the match actually started, it wasn't very interesting. Hangman's slingshot lariat is a thing of beauty, at least. *1/2

EVIL vs. Michael Elgin

Started off very nice w/ Elgin overwhelming EVIL, good shine for the man. Eventually EVIL got the control by going after Elgin's arm; I really liked EVIL's control segment after that. As soon as it was time for Elgin to make a comeback, he didn't sell the arm at all. Was hitting lariats & all just fine. Thankfully when EVIL got the control back to his name, he still went after the arm - his work over it was pretty brutal & a true joy to watch. Helluva performance from him, and Elgin was very good too outside of the no-selling. Good match, but had potential to be even better. ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki
One slight complaint I have about this is that I thought Tana went a little too no-selly w/ his comeback that lead to his victory, but his run on the offense wasn't very long, so it didn't take too much away from the match. Overall I liked this even more than their excellent Sapporo title match from January; major key in that was the length - with this only going about 14 minutes, there wasn't any filler. It's that G1 magic, baby. Suzuki was absolutely amazing w/ his work over the knee of Tana, which continued the story of that previous match of theirs perfectly into this one. His strikes were also lovely, that slap exchange where Tana slapped MiSu a couple of times, and MiSu slapped Tana about 320 times was just so great. Tana's big comeback that I already talked about a bit was really good too - that Dragon Screw was BRUTAL. And MiSu sure sold it like DEATH. Great match. ****1/4


Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada
This had a couple of cool singular moments, such as Okada's SCOOBY DOOBY DOO -dive, his 90's HBK headlock break -spot, White almost suffocating Okada with the ring skirt, White's slaps to Okada's head before locking in the Muta Lock, but overall this was very bland. Most of it is White on top, and while he just recently had a tremendous performance doing that vs. Juice - here he was very, very dull. There really isn't anything to complain about; the selling was fine, the dynamic they went with was fine on paper, but the way it came off just wasn't very interesting. **

MiSu/Okada, UE/MM

Minoru Suzuki 30th Anniversary Festival: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki

Damn this match has a cool atmosphere w/ it happening outdoors & the rain pouring down relentlessly. Most of the match goes to Suzuki, who is pretty much always a joy to watch work on top, and this time he didn't work the leg of Okada for him to no sell it, so Okada's selling was just fine throughout. As were his comebacks. It's certainly not the epic they had at G1 27, but it's a really good match w/ a very unique setting, to say the least. ***3/4

WWE NXT 07/11/18: Moustache Mountain vs. The Undisputed Era

Right from the get go the dueling roars of "MOUSTACHE MOUNTAIN!" & "UNDISPUTED!" were really cool, really fit into the beginning of the match with them going at it right away, brawling all over the place. Then the big moment of the match happens; Roddy drops Seven knee first onto the steel steps. Kyle & Roddy torture the crap out of him, working over that knee in BRUTAL fashion; in particular Kyle was absolutely amazing during the heat segment. The heat segment overall is up there with the absolute greatest of 'em; incredibly compelling stuff. Tyler's eventual hot tag was goddamn superb, too - they milked it just enough & once he got the tag, and started busting out his signature big moves, I was marking out big time. He ran wild on Roddy & Kyle for a while - loved Roddy's brief cut-off's during that, especially that backbreaker one. Trent's one final stand was brilliant, with him swinging lariats & chops, as well as he could with a destroyed knee, but the Undisputed lads got the control by going after that knee once again, very quickly. Tyler coming in one last time to break Roddy's murderous looking knee submission, only for the ref to tell him to stop doing that or he's gonna get his team DQ'd was excellently executed, I thought. After that's it's all bum-knee-getting-destroyed-to-shits -drama, and incredibly compelling at that w/ Kyle torturing Trent with that Heel Hook. Brilliant drama, brilliant psychology, brilliant structure & brilliant performances from all involved. A tag team classic. ****3/4

 

What a lovely day in San Francisco tooooown

Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb
Started very nice with Cobb getting most of the crowd support, and when Goto started stomping him on the ground while looking at the crowd who are booing him, I thought that they would have a damn great dynamic going w/ Goto heeling it up a little, but after a while it became clear that it was gonna be just another soulless bout. Bleh. Very boring other than the first few minutes. *1/4

The Young Bucks vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon
They had a MOTN at Dominion, and they delivered another banger here. Just a notch below that said Dominion meeting, but still very, very good; vintage Bucks pace, atmosphere & energy all the way through. ***1/2

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee
That Phoenixplex... Horrifying, absolutely horrifying. Definitely took me out of the match a little bit, that shit looked so damn scary. Everything before that was absolutely great though. Lovely, explosive, intense action w/ the 2 just trying to destroy each other with everything they got. Maybe their 2nd best match against one another. ****

Jay White vs. Juice Robinson
Well this was just incredible. Amazing dynamic w/ the broken hand of Juice; his babyface work is of course absolutely incredible & Jay White seriously showed up big time here. Let's just say that in January watching his match vs. Tana I certainly wouldn't have expected to have a match that's mostly dominated by him to be very, very high on my best matches of 2018 list. Phenomenal performance by the man. Fantastic work on top & all around masterful heel work. The crowd deserves lots of love, too - in the age that we live in where "cool" heels are getting cheered regularly, it was very cool to hear them give Switchblade an old school treatment w/ their chants & boos. Basically every element clicked perfectly & it resulted in a masterpiece. ****3/4

Kenny Omega vs. Cody

Loved this. Thought both guys, Cody & Kenny, did a wonderful job portraying their storyline leading up to the match throughout it, the character work by both was on point & it sure was physical. ****

RevPro: MiSu/Ishii, Okada/ZSJ

Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Just a bit below their 1st meeting. This one was almost all ZSJ w/ Okada making just a few brief comebacks, and I loved every second of it. ZSJ had a counter for almost everything Okada had in store, which resulted in some great work on top by the man. And all of Okada's brief times on the offense were great, too - pretty much everything he did was done to damage that neck of Zack's, to soften him up for the Rainmaker. Great storytelling/psychology. Great match. ****

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki

A hard hitting smackfest w/ that golden touch of Ishii's underdog magic & Suzuki's overall badassery. ***3/4

RevPro/NJPW, HiSu, WWE weeklies

RevPro/NJPW Strong Style Evolved UK - Day 1: WALTER vs. Yuji Nagata
This was perfectly solid, but pretty disappointing at the same time. One of the worst matches WALTER has had in a long time, and I certainly wasn't expecting to say that about a match up vs. Yuji Nagata. The pace wasn't very energetic, and the structure wasn't ideal; Nagata got too much of the match for my liking and it honestly felt like WALTER was "taking it easy" on him w/ his offense, which I can understand, but after seeing him beat the fuck out of PCO for an example, it just feels very off & weird. There was still quite a bit of stuff that I enjoyed in the thing, Nagata's kicks are always a beauty, but a more traditional underdog story would've been way more fun. **1/2

RevPro/NJPW Strong Style Evolved UK - Day 1: Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii
A fantastic advertisement for the big singles matches that happened the next night, but also a one helluva match on it's own right. The highlights were Ishii's FIP segment w/ MiSu & ZSJ stretching him to shits, the lengthy Ishii vs. Suzuki strike exchange & then just everything after that was superb. ***3/4
 
BJW 20/06: Hideki Suzuki vs. Takuya Nomura
A lovely shoot stylish scrap. Very good submissions & overall mat work, some fantastic strikes + a very nice sense of urgency. ***3/4

WWE SmackDown 07/03/18: Team Hell No vs. The Usos

Team Hell No is back with a banger; very good structure with very solid storytelling throughout - at first Hell No was overwhelming the Usos, but then Usos got their groove going, and Hell No had to fight big to get their teamwork flowing. Very good match. ***1/2

WWE 205 Live 07/03/18: Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali

This was very good. Really good shine for Ali to start things off, followed by a very good Murphy control segment; really liked the chin/facelock stuff in particular. After that they introduce the gimmicks, and things get REAL physical. Overall I didn't like it as much as their first 2 singles matches, but it's one of the better WWE weapons matches I've seen in recent years. ***1/2

WWE UK stuff

WWE UK Championship Tournament - Day 1: British Strong Style vs. The Undisputed Era

A really well paced, super fun spotfest with everyone involved getting time to shine. The BSS ruled in the role of the hometown heroes going against these 3 dirtbag heels in the Undisputed Era, who are also really great in their roles. ***3/4

WWE UK Championship Tournament - Day 1: Travis Banks vs. Zack Gibson

A very good match. Banks has a taped up shoulder, so of course Gibson goes after it. Gibson is great in the role of the asshole heel viciously targeting an injury, and Banks is really good fighting from underneath w/ his hard hitting offense. ***1/2

WWE UK Championship Tournament - Day 2: The Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain

Much like the 6-man tag that happened the previous night, this had a great atmosphere & a great dynamic of Moustache Mountain being in the hometown hero roles as the babyfaces. Trent's FIP segment was very solid, but the match REALLY picks up once Bate gets the hot tag; then it's just red hot action till the finish. ***1/2

WWE UK Championship Tournament - Day 2: Shayna Baszler vs. Toni Storm

This was very enjoyable. Shayna was really good working over Toni, in particular targeting that leg of hers, and Toni was a solid FIP. ***

WWE UK Championship Tournament - Day 2: Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson 

There's one super shitty Codebreaker no sell pop up lariat sequence, but other than that, this was very solid. Peter's a rockin' babyface & Gibson's arm targeting was very enjoyable throughout. The drama with Shankly Gates was done super well, and the hold sure was built in terrific fashion leading up to this match. Also Nigel on commentary w/ an absolutely fantastic performance. ***1/4

Best Matches of 2018 so far

For the past week or so, I have been re-watching a lot of stuff I've rated highly this year. This is how my top-10 is looking for the year so far, right now:

10) WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PROGRESS, 04/07)

Clocking at right under 13 minutes, WALTER & ZSJ tell one helluva story. Both of them have had lots of matches that weekend before this one, and ZSJ is all grumpy & pissed off. His gameplan is to piss off WALTER to maximum by showing no respect & acting like a cocky prick all the way through, and WALTER of course responds to it by mauling him down with those chops of his. ****1/2

9) Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (NJPW, 03/25)

When I watched this the day after it happened, I thought it was one of the absolute greatest matches I've ever seen. The whole story & emotion of it fully clicked with me, and I remember actually getting pretty emotional during the Matt Jackson One Winged Angel spot. I think the ultimate test for such story driven matches like this is do they hold up on a re-watch, and while I didn't love this one on the level I did the first time I watched it, it's still an absolutely amazing match w/ some truly phenomenal, emotional storytelling. ****1/2

8) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 03/21)
A completely different big match from what you usually see in New Japan. The story of Tana hanging w/ ZSJ on the mat, but getting his already banged up arm worked over throughout until it's stretched to shits in the Napalm Death is terrific. ****1/2

7) Andrade Almas vs. Johnny Gargano (WWE, 01/27)

This is the best kind of a "epic" indy/2010's NJPW style of a match. Every sequence, every hold - everything feels like it matters. Everything is brutal. Gargano's babyface performance is something to behold & Almas was absolutely ruthless with his offense. ****1/2

6) AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE, 04/10)

Daniel Bryan's first singles match back, and it's against someone who he has always had a wonderful chemistry with. It ends in an interference, but that doesn't take away anything from the greatness that happened before that ending; Bryan & Styles put on a clinic & prove that there aren't many, IF ANY, who are on the same level as them. Both guys were awesome selling their asses off for each other & working over each other's limbs w/ such accuracy. ****1/2

5) Absolute Andy vs. David Starr (wXw, 03/11)
The perfect culmination of the tournament & the journeys of both characters, Absolute Andy & David Starr. Andy is an absolute bastard who tries to cheat while delivering Starr a veteran beating, all the while Starr digs down deep to try & win the thing he was seemingly destined to. There's lots of nearfalls & all, and those could & would annoy me in a lot of different situations, but here they were 110% earned. wXw, Andy & Starr did such a fantastic job building to this final w/ the previous tourney matches of 2. ****3/4

4) Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal (ROH, 03/09)

This match is so, so, so good. When I first watched it, I immediately thought how it's the best ROH match I've seen in YEARS, and I still stand by that. It has a very old school ROH title match feel, with the new champ taking on the ace of the promotion, and that ace truly makes a man out of that champ. They beat the crap out of each other w/ some fantastic selling in there. Bobby Cruise also takes a bump which obviously boosts it's rating. Bobby Cruise bumps for every match imo. ****3/4

3) Timothy Thatcher vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 01/28)
It's very hard to pick which one is #3, this or the one that's on the #2 spot (as of now). This is just a brutal warfare between Ringkampf, the best tag team in the world. Fantastic psychology w/ Thatcher's arm targeting, WALTER gives him a WALTER-sized beating (to say the least) & Thatcher once again proves why he is such a legendary FIP. I originally had this at 5-stars, even, but for whatever reason I had some doubts about that so as of now it's "just" very close to that level. ****3/4

2) Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER (wXw, 05/05)
I haven't really liked their previous matches before this that much - I thought the 16 Carat match was one of the most overrated ones of 2017. Here though, everything clicked with me. Instead of it centering around them chopping each other to bits, this one is revolved around them trying to wear down one another, in brutal yet strategic fashion; Ilja goes after WALTER's chopping arm right away, and as an answer WALTER is even more angry & gives Ilja's neck an absolutely BRUTAL beating. ****3/4

1) Darby Allin vs. WALTER (EVOLVE, 06/23)
This was one of my most awaited match ups of the Mania weekend, and when it got canceled, I was a very sad panda. I am very happy to say that as it eventually happened, it lived up to my expectations & THEN SOME MORE. The energy, the vibe, the atmosphere is something special - the whole experience of the full package is something that reminds me of the good ol' days, early to mid 2000's when the indies truly felt like a Wild West. WALTER is baffled why this little man w/ some face paint on tries to seriously fight him, and he is even more baffled why that little man ain't going down. WALTER is amazing in his role & Darby's performance is just superb; the hand targeting is what puts the match over the top as a classic, him punching & headbutting that hand is something that will stick with me for a long, long time. *****

Mid-year best rasslors

It's July now, so that means we're halfway through the year!

So without further ado, here's my top-10 wrestlers of the first half of 2018. The list is based on the matches I've rated ***1/2+

10) Mike Bailey

Earlier this year I got the one month trial for DDT's streaming service, and I watched quite a bit of Speedball's work there during that month. He had a very good run in the Grand Prix tournament, with great matches against Shuji Ishikawa & Yukio Sakaguchi. Those 2 matches are definitely the highlight of his year so far, but he also has had some very fun multi-man tags + he's also been killing it with his singles matches in wXw. 

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Shuji Ishikawa (DDT, 01/05)
vs. Yukio Sakaguchi (DDT, 01/11)
vs. Bobby Gunns (wXw, 03/10)

9) Hiroshi Tanahashi

I feel like this happens to me every year - even when it doesn't really "feel" like Tana is having a great year, he still is busting out ***1/2+ bangers very consistently. If it wasn't for ZSJ, Tana certainly would be the MVP of New Japan Cup w/ his killer performances, which resulted in some truly awesome matches. And of course there's the Okada epic, too - that's something I really wasn't looking forward to, but I ended up liking it very much. Go Ace!

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 01/27)
vs. Juice Robinson (NJPW, 03/16)
vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 05/04)

8) Marty Scurll

Heh, in 2016 Marty Scurll was one of my top-2 least favorite wrestlers around - but I've grown to like him at times. This year he has been pretty damn great - great matches against the likes of KUSHIDA, Dalton Castle, KUSHIDA, Will Ospreay, Punishment Martinez etc. I still wouldn't call him one of my favorites, but comparing to how I felt about his work in 2016 - 2017 & especially 2018 now have been HUGE upgrades.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 04/01)
vs. Dalton Castle (ROH, 04/07)
vs. KUSHIDA (NJPW, 05/22)

7) Roderick Strong

Roddog has been killing it all year long with some awesome matches on NXT TV & 205 - and right now he's absolutely excellent in his role as a part of the Undisputed Era.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:

vs. Pete Dunne (WWE, 02/01)
vs. Kalisto (WWE, 02/27)
w/ Kyle O'Reilly vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan (WWE, 06/16)

6) Matt Riddle

He can be a bit too formulaic these days, but the broman still delivers really good to great matches on a very, very consistent basis.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
w/ Jeff Cobb vs. Timothy Thatcher & WALTER (PWG, 01/12)
vs. Minoru Suzuki (GCW, 04/05)
vs. Will Ospreay (WWN, 04/06)

5) Daniel Bryan

He's my favorite wrestler of all-time & I think he's the greatest, so his comeback has lifted my spirits up big time. There's nothing I look forward to more in wrestling right now than watching him wrestle. Every match he has is an absolute joy.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. AJ Styles (WWE, 04/10)
vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE, 05/22)
vs. Big Cass (WWE, 06/17)

4) David Starr

OOH AAH DAVID STARR SAY OOH AAH DAVID STARR. Starr is such a FANTASTIC babyface performer - without a doubt one of the best in the business right now.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Absolute Andy (wXw, 03/11)
vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PROGRESS, 05/06)
vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 05/20)

3) Timothy Thatcher

Thatcher's one of my absolute favorites - not just today, but of all-time. Love his team with WALTER, and every time he has a singles match, I am 99% sure I am gonna enjoy it. That has been the story of his work this year, too.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 01/28)

vs. Absolute Andy (wXw, 03/11)
vs. Toni Storm (Beyond/WWR, 04/05)

2) Zack Sabre Jr.

Since his arrival in PWG (BOLA 2014), nobody has been more consistent when it comes to putting on ***1/2+ matches than this man. Sure there have been a couple of wrestlers who've had better years than him (2015 Roderick Strong, 2016 Chris Hero), but looking at the big picture of who has been the most consistent one of the last 4 years or so? The answer is clear in my eyes. Literally anywhere, everywhere he goes, he absolutely kills it. It's gonna be interesting to see if he ends up as the #1 by the end of the year, because right now it's pretty damn close..

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Darby Allin (EVOLVE, 01/13)
vs. SANADA (NJPW, 03/18)
vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 04/07)

1) WALTER

The rise of WALTER ever since his 16 Carat match vs. Ilja Dragunov last year has been spectacular to follow, and this year things have kicked up a notch. He has been an absolute machine & having quality matches EVERYWHERE - wXw, EVOLVE, PROGRESS, FCP, PWG, you name it. There isn't many things better in wrestling than watching the big lad.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:

vs. Mark Davis (PROGRESS, 02/11)

vs. PCO (GCW, 04/06)

vs. Ilja Dragunov (wXw, 05/05)