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
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. ****
Absolute classic between White and Juice. Seriously, White had a star-making performance here. He finally fully adapted to his new persona. And Robinson has to be the best babyface in the world. Really excited for their G1 runs.
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