ROH Joe vs. Kobashi: Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe
It gets mentioned literally everytime this match is discussed, but Kobashi's face as he walks through the curtain & hears the monster pop he received truly is something special. The match is still as magical as it was the first time I watched it - Joe & Kobashi beat the shit out of each other w/ a legendary atmosphere. Everybody knows about the hard hitting, amazing strikes in this one, but the story of Joe not showing any special-kind of respect to Kobashi, but instead showing him that Ring of Honor is Joe's house right from the get go is awesome. Loved him using Kawada's & Tenryu's signature moves, his facial expression during the Stretch Plum is priceless. Truly one of the most special, memorable matches of all-time, and simply one of the best. *****
PWG Enchantment Under the Sea: Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli
One of the most unique & ambitious matches to ever take place in the indies. It's a 15 minute match where over 10 minutes of it are spent in a HEADLOCK. The match starts off with some tight technical exchanges between the two, and then during a sunset flip pin attempt, Claudio counters that by ringing Bryan's bell, and Bryan immediately grabs his ear afterwards. Then the next time they lock up, Claudio gets the headlock in. Claudio has an awesome headlock, very tight & overall good looking. They tease Bryan getting out of it masterfully w/ him doing atomic drops & back bodydrops, only for Claudio to still keep a hold of that head. The PWG crowds reaction to it is pretty fascinating; they clearly are a little baffled by it, and there's even a few "we want wrestling!" chants by the non-headlock lovers, but overall as the match went on & Claudio kept that headlock locked in tightly while Bryan tried to fight out of it, the majority of the vocal crowd was very into it. The climax comes at the perfect time, and their reaction to Bryan FINALLY fighting his way out of the thing & getting the roll-up win is awesome. I think it's one of those "you'll either love it or you hate it" matches. I personally love it so much - as mentioned in the opening line of the review: it's unique, it's ambitious, it's ballsy, and it's a masterpiece of simple, old school storytelling. ****3/4
TJP Tokyo Joshi Pro '19: Meiko Satomura vs. Reika Saiki
This followed the classic joshi underdog formula, and it was a lot of
fun. Meiko is a beast on the offense, and Reika shows solid fire in her
very good comebacks. No better place for a match like this than the
good ol' Korakuen Hall, too. ***1/2
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