EVOLVE, OTT, ROH/NJPW

EVOLVE 121: Austin Theory vs. Darby Allin

Much of Theory's work on top was really generic & pretty dull, but ANYONE can look GREAT when Darby lets them throw him around like usual, and he sure did that here. A Darby carryjob through & through - Theory's power moves looked great, because of his willingness to bump like the maniac that he is, and all of the times he was on the offense himself, going for that arm, he brought a very nice sense of urgency with him. Really great performance by the man, and a really good match overall. ***1/2

EVOLVE 121: Anthony Henry vs. Eddie Kingston

This was really good, and was heading towards to being great, but then the DQ finish happened. Kingston's bully performance was absolutely amazing - everything he did in this match was super compelling & straight up fantastic. Henry was very good from underneath too with his hard hitting, strike heavy comeback bursts. ***1/2

OTT Homecoming 2: David Starr vs. Jordan Devlin

This kinda drifted into the generic indy big movez-zone a few times, but for the most part, it was pretty enjoyable. Incredible atmosphere throughout definitely helped. Really dug that lariat battle they had & the opening brawl on the ramp with Starr's entrance music blasting out loud was awesome. **3/4

OTT Homecoming 2: PAC vs. WALTER

This had such a great start with PAC going to work on WALTER's leg immediately w/ them kicks, and then using that as a set-up to bring on his flippy combinations. The finger dislocation looked disgusting & much props to PAC for continuing the match after that - I actually really liked how he seemed more grumpy than usual after he put it back in place, as he started angrily just stomping WALTER. WALTER on top working the arm & being the awesome big lad that he is was great as well, of course. The best moment of the match though was PAC dropping WALTER w/ those leg kicks - felt like a huge moment & the crowd certainly reacted like it was exactly that. Gave me some Danielson vs. Morishima 1 flashbacks, too - just absolutely loved it. Really good match & the best I've seen PAC in so far post-WWE. ***1/2

ROH/NJPW Honor Rising: Japan - Day 1: Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Young Lion vs. established wrestlers is my KINK, and there's not many better wrestlers right now that seem better on paper for the role of the established wrestler in a match like that, than Zack Sabre Jr. The match probably wasn't as good as it could've been, but it definitely was still good. Umino looked like a million bucks, as he got to have a 50/50 bout vs. ZSJ, and ZSJ made him look so good in the submission exchanges. The finish was really good w/ ZSJ's leg targeting paying off, and I loved the post-match too w/ him putting Umino in the half crab, showing how frustrated he was by this young boy pushing him to the limit. Good stuff. ***1/4

ROH/NJPW Honor Rising: Japan - Day 1: Jonathan Gresham & Jushin Liger vs. Robbie Eagles & Taiji Ishimori

This was such fun 5 minutes; a brilliant showcase for Gresham, and the finish w/ the crucifix roll-up was AWESOME. ***

NXT: Roddy/Aleister, Gargano/Dream

Aleister Black vs. Roderick Strong

The scrappy exchange on the mat that started off the match was awesome & Roddy's overall work on top was very good. Aleister was solid from underneath too, and the finish was pretty great. Good match. Quality TV-stuff under 10 minutes. ***

Johnny Gargano vs. The Velveteen Dream

The beginning stuff with the Dream irritating Gargano w/ those SLAPS after some nice back & forth was great. Eventually it settles to the dynamic of Gargano on top & Dream from underneath, and it's really good for the most part. Really dug some of Gargano's arm manipulation - looked pretty brutal, wish there would've been more focus on that in the grand scheme of things, but oh well. Dream's comebacks were good w/ them punches & all, and I liked the storytelling of him getting more & more into those comeback flurries as the match went on. Good stuff. ***1/4

A BATCH

WWE RAW 02/18/19: Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott

Definitely glad that they ended up having a non-squash match after what happened at the PPV the night before, and it sure ended up being a good one! Ruby looked solid, but for the most part, this was the Ronda show; her selling for everything Ruby did was excellent & her times on the offense were explosive as usual. The highlight was that monkey flip bit with Ronda countering Ruby's control attempt into a killer armbar; very smooth & a nice sense/feel of urgency + danger. ***

WWE SmackDown 02/19/19: AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy & Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton & Samoa Joe

This was very fun. Solid FIP work by both Jeff & Kofi, very good Kofi hot tag - popped for the "STUPID, STUPID" payoff after the flying clothesline to Orton - 10 YEARS WAITING ON THAT ONE! & then AJ's hot tag was even better - the AJ vs. Bryan sequences were great + the Kofi vs. Bryan finishing stretch ruled, too. ***1/4

Giant Baba 20th Memorial ~ Abdullah The Butcher Retirement Memorial Show: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kento Miyahara vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

Too long & pretty boring. The only stuff that I liked were Daisuke's hot tag & Daisuke's bits vs. Tanahashi. It's safe to say that DAISUKE was the MVP of the thing in my eyes. Kento wearing the OG Triple Crown was badass though. **

FCP Wrestle House 2019: Mark Davis vs. WALTER

The way this started off was wonderful; two heavyweight bruisers with history clashing in a great brawl that had a legitimate, authentic feel of chaos to it. WALTER delivers a mauling to Davis throughout, but Davis finds ways to escape & lashs out offense of his own - eventually he gets tired of WALTER's strikes, and goes after the arm. The guardrail bit w/ the stomps was great. Very good way to shift the control to Davis - his work over the arm is really good and WALTER sells it very well. The best moment of the match comes after a little bit of that armwork, as Davis gets a little too cocky & delivers a CHOP to the king of chops himself. WALTER has a great look of disgust & pride, and the crowd chants "you fucked up!" - WALTER gives Davis a couple of free shots in, but then it's punishment time. WALTER being WALTER & it's very lovely. Sadly that is when the match pretty much peaked, but they went like 10+ more minutes, and it started to drag pretty badly. I was zoning out for most of it; Davis didn't offer anything of note on the offense after the armwork was done, but at least everytime when WALTER started to lash out those chops, I got back into it. Good match overall w/ a great first half or so, but sadly, by the end, it overstayed it's welcome. Would've been a great 10-11 minute match. ***

wXw Road to 16 Carat Gold 2019: London: Absolute Andy vs. David Starr

Their Carat match was one of my favorite matches of 2018, and while this didn't come near to that one in it's quality, it was still really good. Both guys did their things w/ Andy on top for the majority of it, being the awesome cheating sleazebag veteran that he is & Starr ruled from underneath w/ his great selling & really good comebacks. A couple of standout moments were the Han Stansen lariat nearfall, and then the moment where Starr blocked Andy's desperation low blow attempt & answered to it with a straight up PUNCH to the face. ***1/2

wXw Dead End XVIII: Veit Müller vs. WALTER

A badass heavyweight underdog tale. WALTER sure made Müller earn all of his comebacks w/ his brutal beatdown, and all of those comebacks by Müller were real good. My favorite moment of the whole match was WALTER shutting down one of those by delivering a killer Shotgun Dropkick to Müller as he was running towards him. Overall lots of BEEFY fun, with a very good dynamic throughout. My first time actually seeing Müller in action, and it sure was one to remember. ***3/4

Tozawa/Murphy, CCK/Aussie Open, PAC/Ospreay

WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 Kickoff: Akira Tozawa vs. Buddy Murphy

They packed a lot into 13 minutes, and had a very nice "mini-epic". Some good nearfalls & big moves all the way through. Very nice seeing & hearing the crowd be so into a kickoff match. ***

RevPro High Stakes 2019: Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham vs. Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis

This was complete trash & I feel like I am being way too generous with my rating for it. It starts off with some very unfunny comedy shenanigans - okay, alright, I can understand it, I mean I have seen my fair share of comedy stuff in "serious looking" indy matches, but the shenanigans here went for what felt like 10 minutes or something. After we finally get done with them, they go & do some crowd brawling - it's all very uninteresting stuff. The rest of the match is basically Fletcher selling as the FIP while CCK do some boring work over him, and then Davis makes a boring hot tag. Yawn. If I had to name some positives about the thing, I thought that Chris Brookes was definitely the MVP, as he had a couple of very nice, dick-heel moments. Not saying much though as the match overall was such a long, drawn out dullfest. Had a solid structure on paper w/ some traditional tag rasslin' in the form of a straight up FIP segment, followed by a hot tag & a finishing stretch, but it was so very uninteresting. *1/4

RevPro High Stakes 2019: PAC vs. Will Ospreay

This was better than I expected it to be, given the 30-minute draw deal. The majority of it saw PAC on top & Ospreay from underneath, and both guys rocked their roles pretty well; PAC looked pretty vicious throughout - there sure aren't many wrestlers in the world right now with a better powerbomb than him, that thing is just incredible & Ospreay had some nice, flippy comebacks. The CCK interference deal was what it was, but since it had to be done for some reason, I thought it was done fairly well & the brief unity by Ospreay & PAC, followed by the standoff in the ring was pretty cool. Good match. ***

CHAMBER

Women's Tag Team Elimination Chamber

This flowed well & everyone involved looked really good; Bayley & Sasha with their overall babyface work were great, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville all surprised me in how good their offense looked throughout, Tamina & Nia were awesome just ragdolling everyone once they came out, and while the IIconics looked rough a few times, overall they were pretty good & their whole shtick was pretty fun. Good match. ***

Shane McMahon & The Miz vs. The Usos

As dull as it looks on paper. *

Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush vs. Finn Bálor

Fun storytelling with Lashley & Lio using their numbers-game to keep the control, and then losing that control due to Lio getting too confident. It was all pretty fun stuff, and the match ended up being solid overall. **

Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott

Shame this ended up being a total squash, but I understand it. NR

Baron Corbin vs. Braun Strowman

Complete trash. The fall of Braun Strowman has been tragic - hard to think that back in 2017 he was one of the hottest superstars in the company. *

Men's Elimination Chamber

Everybody got their time to shine - Joe was eliminated first, but the whole time he was there, he looked like a killer just beating the crap out of everyone, especially Bryan. Jeff wasn't there for long, but he got that one big Swanton moment, which was legitimately a very neat spot. Styles looked like the all-time great that he is with his legendary bumping, selling & offense - that Tower of Doom spot they did w/ him, Kofi & Bryan was awesome, because it wasn't the usual; they did it uniquely with AJ doing the pull-up German. Orton was vicious during his time in the Chamber & that DDP-esq RKO he delivered to AJ was great. And then there were two. That is when the match kicked off into another level; Bryan & Kofi crafted a truly special final battle, one of the best of all-time, if not THE best. The scrappy slugfest to start it off was really good, and I LOVED Kofi getting fired up & asking Bryan to deliver some more kicks. The nearfalls were sooo goood - the callback to their Gauntlet match finish was great, and then the Busaiku Knee one was amazing; Bryan has protected that move so much since he debuted it in 2013, so Kofi getting to kick out of it felt pretty damn big, I thought. Also love, love, LOVED the LeBell Lock struggle with Bryan having to fight to get it locked in, and Kofi brought the goods with his emotional selling once it was locked in. The whole finishing stretch with them on top of the pod was also pretty phenomenal - extended battle there, and once Kofi got the upperhand, he went for the big risk in the dive & paid for it. Excellent stuff by the two, and overall I'd say this was the best Chamber in years. One of the best ever, too. Bryan vs. Kofi is no doubt THE match to make at Mania now. The way the crowd BELIEVED in Kofi was special & the heat Bryan received for doing basically anything to him was also special. They got a magical dynamic in their hands, I can only hope that they capitalize on it. The way how strong Kofi was booked, and the post-match (wonderful btw) babyface moment w/ Big E & Xavier gives me some hope they will. ****

One Last Dance.. Trevor Lee's final day in the territory

CWF Mid-Atlantic End of An Era 2019: Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee

I first saw Trevor Lee when he made his PWG debut at Mystery Vortex II in 2014. Throughout his first two years in PWG, I remember thinking he had some solid matches against the likes of Chris Hero, Kevin Steen, Roderick Strong & that debut 3-way vs. Everett & Cedric Alexander, but he never really stood out in any of his performances though, and he just felt like a yet another solid, yet forgettable indy wrestler. Now let's fast forward to 2016; I had heard some reports about him having a ridiculously long match, the longest match in modern era, in his home promotion, but never really got that interested in it. After all, Trevor was never one of my favorites in PWG or anything. THEN fast forward a couple of months. My favorite wrestler of all-time, Daniel Bryan had retired in February, and I didn't really have a new favorite wrestler, because who the hell could replace someone who I think is THE greatest?! Spoiler: no one did replace him by the end, but Bryan's part in my love for Trevor Lee is pivotal. Around May of 2016, I was reading some reviews of 2016 indy wrestling, and this person who was writing these reviews followed CWF Mid-Atlantic. He wrote in his review of Trevor's 104-minute match vs. Roy Wilkins, and I quote; "Trevor continually goes to the arm for the first hour or so, and it's such a great performance that I'd call it Danielsonesque, but he's doing stuff even Bryan and Nigel didn't think of" - that certainly sparked my interest, as Daniel Bryan was & is indeed my favorite of all-time, and Nigel is right up there with him, so that added to it even more. I read more of his reviews, and in one of his other ones for Trevor's CWF work, he says something along the lines of: "Trevor does the Danielson cosplay-shtick better than other guys who try to do it like Scurll, ZSJ, Thatcher" - couldn't find the actual review where it's from, so the quote isn't 100% accurate, but it was something with the same idea as that one, and that really sealed the deal for me. I went & watched Trevor's Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title defense vs. Andrew Everett. I was blown away by the classic that the match turned out to be, and Trevor's performance was the key to that; I had never seen him wrestle like THAT before & like I said, I was simply blown away by the whole thing. It in many ways reminded me of Bryan's wars for the ROH World Championship vs. Roderick Strong, and let me tell ya, that's a VERY high compliment. I actually tweeted right after watching it; "Trevor Lee's performance in that CWF match vs. Everett was something else. Reminded me of a classic Bryan Danielson 2006 title defense". I knew I needed to dig in deeper & watch more of Trevor Lee's work in the promotion - it could've been a one match random "fluke" great performance by the man, but after watching that monstrously long, 104-minute match vs. Roy Wilkins, I was certain it wasn't. 104 minutes is very close to 2 hours, and I am a someone who very often thinks 30 minute matches are way too long (what's good New Japan), so I went into with with a skeptic mind, but boy oh boy, those 104 minutes flew by as the work by both men, but especially Trevor, sucked me in completely. From then on I was all in on Trevor hypetrain, and I made sure to watch all of his title defenses for the rest of the year & then 2017. Amazing battles vs. Brad Attitude, Arik Royal, Michael Elgin, Alex Daniels, Chip Day, Nick Richards, Otto Schwanz, Mecha Mercenary - the list goes on & on, but Trevor truly created a body of work & a match catalog for the ages with his title reign. 1085 days of excellence.

And now, enter this match. His final CWF Mid-Atlantic date vs. none other than Cain Justice. I discovered Cain Justice by watching his match vs. Dominic Garrini from early 2017, and the match was absolutely lovely. After watching a few more of his matches, and then his performance vs. Trevor from the 2017 CWF Mid-Atlantic Rumble, I was pretty certain I wanted Cain to be the one to end Trevor's epic reign as the Heavyweight Champ. Fast forward to January of 2019, and they are meeting for the first time in 1-on-1 action. I loved the match, and thought it set up the re-match perfectly. Then the 6-pack challenge happened for the title a few weeks later, and that built to their re-match even more. All signs pointed to Cain Justice being THE ONE.

I woke up, and immediately as I started scrolling my phone, I went to twitter & checked the match result. Trevor retained in a 75 minute battle. Now the next thing to do was opening my laptop & actually watching the thing.

The match was amazing, unsurprisingly. Even though Trevor has more than proven himself to be the master of putting on super lengthy matches, I still always have my doubts when I see a match going to such monster minutes as this one, but as was the theme of his title reign, he completely sucked me into the battle that was done inside that squared circle. The 75 minutes flew by as if they were 15; it built & built & built & BUILT, and by the end, the drama was just so perfect I got them goosebumps. Trevor pretty much completely ate Cain alive in their first meeting back in January, and that was the case for much of this one, too; Trevor straight up dominates, with him stretching Cain all over the place, with his, always oh-so-great looking holds. Cain makes some brief comebacks, but every single time the champ shut him down very quickly. I interpreted the storytelling very much as Trevor making Cain go from a boy he trained to a MAN who's ready to be the forefront of the company - Cain proved he had a lot of heart in the 75 minutes, as he survived Trevor's brutal onslaught on him, and as the match went on, he got more & more into those comebacks of his; the last 20 to 25 minutes are crazy amazing w/ it's drama - the nearfalls & especially the drama revolving around their submission finishers in the Twist Ending & STF is top notch stuff, and while I probably would've let Cain win, I loved the finish. Trevor was absolutely BRUTAL with those Danielson stomps, which instantly brought me back to 2016 & the reason why I wanted to watch his match vs. Andrew Everett in the first place. Trevor Lee leaves his territory with one of his greatest masterpieces. Like I said, I would've let Cain actually win the title, but if there's one man in independent wrestling history who deserves to go to the big leagues without actually losing his title, it's Trevor.

I watched the whole post-match farewell as well, which lasted for an hour, and it was just magic. Trevor thanking everyone, sharing stories about his fellow CWF Mid-Atlantic wrestlers, and them sharing stories & thanking him. It's all very wholesome stuff, and it's now in one of my favorite indy farewells ever.

So ends a special time period in my pro wrestling fandom. Pro Wrestling is about telling stories, and to me, there are not many better stories than the one told by Trevor Lee in his 1085 days as the 34th CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. The way the magic translated to my shitty laptop screen is just unbelievable, and I gotta say there aren't many wrestling events I wish I had been there for live more than any of Trevor's big title defenses in the Sportatorium.

One more time for the Caroline Caveman before he goes and takes over the BIG LEAGUES. ****3/4

SmackDown Gauntlet

WWE SmackDown 02/12/19: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe

Bryan vs. Kofi to start things off was very good. They got to have a pretty lengthy singles bout there, and it was awesome; Bryan brought the goods on the offense with his usual awesome submissions, knees & kicks. My favorite bits of their segment were the LeBell Lock, where they put just the right amount struggle to it, with both guys being active in their respective pursuits to keep it locked in & getting out of it + the chop exchange, which Bryan won by headbutting Kofi down & then punishing him with those kicks. The finish was great too w/ Kofi catching Bryan w/ the Trouble in Paradise. Kofi vs. Jeff wasn't interesting, but they kept it pretty short so it wasn't bad. Kofi vs. Joe wasn't as good as I probably had hoped, but it was still pretty good all in all - Joe was, for the most part, pretty boring w/ his submissions, but the one neck/head -crank one looked very vicious, and that I did like very much. His lariats looked real good too, and much credit for that goes to Kofi for bumping like a motherfucker for those. Kofi vs. Styles was my favorite segment of the whole thing; LOVED Kofi getting fired up about AJ not wanting to wrestle a man who had already wrestled 3 matches beforehand - those pushes & slaps were fantastic, and AJ answering aggressively was tremendous; his offense was so on point, with every kick & punch of his looking absolutely amazing. Oh & that backbreaker gotta be mentioned, too. Then the knee psychology was also terrific w/ Kofi selling it in great fashion throughout, and AJ being very brutal targeting it & eventually getting the finish w/ a fantastically violent looking Calf Crusher. Orton's bit afterwards was perfectly done too, because there was no need for him to actually wrestle a real, lengthy match vs. AJ after Kofi's whole story surviving the gauntlet, so it ended at the perfect time. Really good hour of TV wrestling. ***1/2

Revival vs. Gable & Roode

WWE RAW 02/11/19: Bobby Roode & Chad Gable vs. The Revival

They've been getting some rave reviews for their recent house show matches, so I was pretty interested in seeing how their chemistry is once they get the match to TV. Sadly I thought that this wasn't good at all; the initial shine by the babyfaces was super dull, but no worries, things got better once the Revival took over. That lasted for like 30 seconds though, as most of their heat segment went to the commercials apparently. Gable's hot tag was very generic & boring - one good thing about it was that he's got a nice looking German Suplex at least. Then after a while of him doing his boring offense, we finally get some Revival on top. They're good, and it's by far the highlight of the match; Dawson really brought it on the offense with everything he busted out having a good snap behind it & his headlock looking very tight. Roode's hot tag was very meh, unsurprisingly. Incredibly dull stuff by him & Gable overall in this match - the only thing that I somewhat liked was the Revival's, especially Dawson's, work over Gable, but even that wasn't very memorable or anything. I don't want to say it was a bad match, but it was oh so very dull in the "it happened"-sense. *1/2

PAC/Kzy, New Beginning in Osaka

Dragon Gate Open the Truth Gate 2019: Kzy vs. PAC

PAC's control segment to start the match off was very boring. That didn't come off as a surprise though, considering I did watch his borefests vs. Starr & ZSJ. Once they did that forearm sequence, which was totally great, things picked up big time. Kzy comeback off of that was very good, and from then on there was no super dull PAC control periods w/ his generic heel shtick, as it instead became more of a bombfest. Overstayed it's welcome a bit, but it was really good for the most part with both guys delivering on the offense busting out those big bombs. Started off boring, picked up big time & ended up being a very enjoyable, good match overall. ***1/4

NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Taiji Ishimori

Both guys showed up and delivered a very solid match. The beginning stuff w/ the wristlock control was great and I liked the dancing banter as well. Ishimori was pretty good controlling things & Taguchi sold very good throughout & of course he ruled on the offense too with him putting more & more into those comebacks of his as the match went on. Good stuff - nothing overly memorable, but a good time from start to finish. Post-match LIGER callout was a wonderful surprise, and I am very much looking forward to him getting a big singles match! ***

NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka: Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada

I always enjoy the Okada vs. Fale matches, and this was no exception. Okada's selling of the back was pretty damn bad though (not that it's any surprising) - he did the classic Okada selling of holding his back for one second, and then running full speed, doing huge diving missile dropkicks & picture perfect kip-ups & all. That took some of my enjoyment away from the thing, but not much, as I still had a lot of fun with it. They always rock the Ace vs. Monster dynamic very well. ***1/4

NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White

I thought that Switchblade looked like a star in this. Great swagger & charisma shown throughout. Loved his trashtalk while he went to town on Tana's knee. His work over that knee was really good, and while I wouldn't say that Tana's selling was good, it wasn't offensive. He still did his High Fly Flows without showing the damage done to the knee in his movements, but those were just a couple of brief moments, so it didn't bother me too much. He was very good w/ the knee work of his own, too. Then the whole sequence with White avoiding the Slingblade was real neat; White came off as a very smart, cocky prick w/ his great expressions, while Tana was awesome being frustrated & angry as hell about him not getting the moves in. Badass finish in the catching Bladerunner & of course I gotta mention Gedo's hilarious bumping for Tana during his bits. Overall a very good match & better than I expected, honestly. ***1/2

Random TakeOver Match Re-Watchings

WWE NXT TakeOver: Rival: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

One-sided matches are right up my alley, but not when the person delivering the beating in them is as boring as Kevin Owens was here. Definitely didn't do it for me with his boring chinlocks. Oh well, at least Zayn's comebacks were awesome as expected, and his selling was terrific - that saves the match a little bit, but KO's performance was dreadful & killed any hopes for the match being good in my eyes. *3/4

WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Bayley looks super nervous before the bell rings. Just something that stood out very much. The match still holds up big time; the definite highlight of it was Sasha's AMAZING heat segment of Bayley - loved her just throwing Bayley brutally first into the stairs & then to the LED board. And of course the whole Izzy bit, which is just tremendous. Her smug smile as ref counts Bayley out is terrific. And then those stomps during the Boston Crab, too - nice callback to Brooklyn, and just overall great viciousness. Bayley's big comeback after the fantastic Sasha-show is really great, and the drama kicks up to the 2nd gear there; the last 5-10 minutes are just so superbly built. The finish is also pretty much perfect, with the classic Iron (wo)Man trope of giving up just before the time is up, but they did that really great with Bayley trying to rip Sasha's arm off while stomping her head in. That trope works greatly when the brutality is there, and it certainly was here. ****1/2

WWE NXT TakeOver: London: Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe 

A real coming out party for Joe in NXT/WWE. He works one helluva heat segment on Bálor; it's pretty slow paced, but Joe is a master at that, and everything he does looks fantastic, so it's great. His submissions looked tight & his striking was on point as always. Bálor was his robotic self for the most part, but I did love the ending with him destroying Joe with those signature dropkicks of his. That FIRE by Joe was a tremendous little moment, and pretty much perfectly done. It's a great match & one of Bálor's best ones. Superb performance by Joe. ****

WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III: Asuka vs. Ember Moon

This is such a great match. Great character storytelling of focus, cockiness, frustration & desperation. The start is wonderful with Ember rushing to Asuka straight away, and overwhelming her. After a very good shine, Asuka eventually catches her & goes to town on her arm. Asuka's work over the arm is pretty brutal, as she delivers some vicious kicks to it & grinds it with nasty submissions. I like how Ember got out of the arm torture too; Asuka gets a bit too cocky as instead of focusing fully on Ember, she starts bantering w/ Becky Lynch who is at ringside, so that gives Ember an opening & she makes the most out of it. Her selling is superb throughout; most of her offense is based on her athleticism, and she pretty much doesn't do anything w/ her worked over arm. She also brings a nice amount of emotion & passion into her selling; and her frustration when Asuka kicked out of the Eclipse was a great character moment. The nearfalls for Ember are really great too, and goddamn I love the ending. Asuka just kept on & kept on finding openings to do damage to that left arm, and that strategy paid off in the end as she locked in the Asuka Lock. One of the best women's matches of all-time. ****1/2

WWE NXT TakeOver: Charlotte vs. Natalya

This holds up much better than I thought it would. I remember being so blown away watching this show live back in 2014, because we had never seen this kind of wrestling by the women in the WWE before, and now in 2019 when we're used to seeing women compete at the same & sometimes even higher level than the men, it's still a really good match. The matwork is good throughout - everything looks pretty tight & there's a good amount of struggle in almost everything they do. ***3/4

WWE NXT TakeOver: Rival: Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

This is one of the best multi-(wo)man matches ever. Fantastic pace right from the get go that never lets up, and the wrestling in it is none of that super choreographed looking, finisher spam dancing bullshit that oh so many matches of this kind fall into. ****1/4

WWE NXT TakeOver: Dallas: Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Still as amazing & goosebumps-giving as it was the first time I watched it. Zayn's ace performance is perfect, and Nakamura brought the badassery that made him a man in Japan. So many standout moments, but my absolute favorites were Nakamura tasting his own blood, spitting it out & then going full bully-murder-mode on Zayn with stomps & kicks + quite possibly THE best forearm trading spot ever - FIGHT FOREVER, indeed. Pure magic. *****

First ROOSH of the year

CMLL Super Viernes 01/18/19: Euforia vs. Rush

This was a total RUSH show. He brought the energy, charisma & swagger, as he always does. Euforia wasn't any interesting in his comebacks, but Rush's bits on top were really good & carried the match to solid levels. He's an absolute rockstar. ***

ROH Road to G1 Supercard - San Antonio: Bandido vs. Rocky Romero

Originally had no plans on watching this, but I really liked Bandido's performance & match vs. Silas Young from the same tour + it got some crazy ****1/2+ reviews across the wrestling community, so WHY NOT. Good way to kill 20 minutes or so. It was a solid match, but nothing special. They tried to do something with Bandido's taped up mid-section, and initially I liked that, as Rocky was pretty solid going after it & Bandido was real good from underneath, but then the psychology went out of the window as he dropped selling & Rocky wasn't that focused on the attack anymore. The match pretty much became your generic back & forth indy bout, but the two did it better than many, so it was pretty enjoyable all in all. OK match. **1/2

NXT is CATCH POINT, Momo/Hayter

WWE NXT 02/06/19: Drew Gulak vs. Matt Riddle
Catch Point lives, baby. This was mostly contested on the mat with a few great strikes & bombs here and there, and it's pretty great. Gulak is sooo good with his submissions; he makes everything look super nasty, and the highlight of his work here was the hold where he had both of Riddle's arm locked in and his body twisted up in a very uncomfortable looking position. Not sure what it's officially called, but it was lovely. Riddle brought the goods with his matwork as well, and all of his strikes looked very good, too. Never been a fan of that kneestrike he uses, but here it looked pretty deadly. An absolute HOOT of a match. ***3/4

Stardom Kyoto Max 2019: Jamie Hayter vs. Momo Watanabe
Hell of a performance by Hayter. Certainly made a good impression on me, as this was my first time seeing her in action - the meat of the match is her work over Momo's leg, and it's really great. Her continuing punching the knee while hooking the leg for a pinfall was pretty creative I thought. Momo initially sold very well w/ her doing her kicks & dropkicks, but always showing the pain she was in. Sadly eventually she just drops the selling completely & the match goes a few levels down. Thankfully it didn't go for too long, so it didn't end up being offensive, but yeah, disappointing stuff by Momo even though I do love her KICKS. Really good match overall that could've been great with more S E L L I N G, dammit. ***1/2

Bryan/Jeff II, Umeda/BigShuji, Halftime Heat

WWE SmackDown 02/05/19: Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy

Not as great as their 2018 match, but still really good. Jeff was very solid with his comebacks, but this was the Bryan show. He was amazing as always on the offense; knee drops to the face, nose grabbing, brutal kicks, vicious arm targeting - all really great stuff. Also that kick to the rope to hurt Jeff's chin; creative & brutal as hell. Loved it. ***1/2

DDT Sweet Dreams: Kota Umeda vs. Shuji Ishikawa

This was a pretty badass underdog match. First time watching Kota Umeda, and the dude has some brutal kicks to say the least - he was awesome with those, and the big dog Shuji was brutal shutting him down with those forearms & slams. Gave him a lot of the match to shine, and let him kick out of a lot of stuff, too. Very giving performance by the man in that. ***1/2

WWE Halftime Heat: Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black, Ricochet & The Velveteen Dream

If you're a fan of this kind of wrestling, this probably was awesome. I don't really particularly care for stuff like this though, and I've seen so many better spotfests in PWG & other indies over the years. It pretty much did nothing for me. I did like the Dream's very brief 1 vs. 3 moment w/ those PUNCHES though, that was very nice. **

wXw Brings On THE MOTY (so far)!

wXw Back to the Roots XVIII: David Starr vs. Timothy Thatcher

Starr has a taped up shoulder, but Thatcher doesn't go for it right away. They do some lovely work on the mat; it's all very tight & has a great sense of realism to it, as both Starr & Thatcher are among the best in the world. Loved Starr trying to actively fight out of Thatcher's single leg boston crab attempt, and Thatcher answering to that by kicking him back & then applying the hold. It's the little things folks. Thatcher eventually gets tired of this back & forth shit, and goes after the taped up shoulder - Starr sold his desperation there brilliantly, as when Thatcher grabbed a hold of that arm for the first time, he just started rapid fire punching him in full on panic-mode. He tries to go for his signature lariat, but Thatcher headbutts the arm, and then it's a full on arm torture-show. Dirty Tim's armwork is really great, super compelling to watch with brutal stomps, uppercuts & holds. Starr excels in the FIP role w/ his terrific all around selling. His comeback attempt with those chops was awesome; Thatcher just absolves them, because Starr had no power behind them w/ his shitty arm. It has probably happened in some other matches too, but I first saw it done in Danielson vs. Shiozaki, and it's one of those spots that has stuck with me ever since I first saw it there, so it's safe to say I popped big time for it here. Another great Starr comeback attempt moment was when he once again tried to go for that signature lariat of his, but he did it with the bad arm, so there wasn't much impact to it. Thatcher just absolves it like he did the chops, and tries to put him in a chickenwing right away. Oh & yet another awesome comeback moment by Starr was when he countered Thatcher's suplex/bodydrop attempt into a crossbody, he got Thatcher stunned for a bit, but he can't capitalize, because of how much hurt has been put into the arm. That cartwheel spot was absolutely amazing too with that arm giving up & Thatcher going to it immediately like a shark. And the finish was real lovely & pretty creative; great scramble & struggle with the counters, and Starr gets the flash roll-up victory. Fantastic ending to a truly fantastic match. Really tight psychology & amazing performances by both. All in under 10 minutes. The first high tier MOTYC of 2019 for me. ****1/2

Stardom, CWF, MLW, NJPW

Stardom 8th Anniversary in Osaka: Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora vs. Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita

Liked the start with JAN rushing Momo during the introductions to get the quick advantage, and I also liked Momo quickly escaping from their onslaught to make the tag to Utami, which then lead to a very solid FIP segment where they punished Tora in very enjoyable fashion. Soon after that, the match just kicks into the second gear, and they pretty much do some real good finishing stretch wrestling w/ a good sense of urgency to it. Really good match. ***1/2

CWF Mid-Atlantic STRONGER!: Arik Royal vs. Brad Attitude vs. Cain Justice vs. Kool Jay vs. Roy Wilkins vs. Trevor Lee

This goes 73 MINUTES, so it's a real long boy, but if there's one man I trust in wrestling to have an awesome, super lengthy match, it's the Carolina Caveman himself. Having just watched it, I can confirm it was indeed an awesome one. Some very good storytelling throughout with the three heels in Attitude, Royal & Wilkins working together to try and eliminate the babyfaces. High-key felt like a trios tag match for the majority of it, but the babyfaces did go at it w/ each other too; Trevor had some really fun exchanges w/ Kool Jay in the beginning, and then the final battle between him & Cain was of course great. I'd say for like 95% of it I was thinking it's a really good match, but not really 4*-level great, but oh man, I can't deny the FEELS I was FEELING during & after it. I remember a while ago Chris Hero tweeted something along the lines of "Wrestling still moves me. I think it always will." - and that tweet instantly came to my mind when I finished watching this one. An emotional ride starting from Trevor's entrance to his post-match speech. Was in near tears listening to him talk about calling his dad after Regal offered him an NXT contract. Now next up in a couple of weeks is him vs. Cain, 1-on-1, End of an Era. Might have to buy some tissues just for that one. ****

MLW Superfight: Low Ki vs. Tom Lawlor

Not sure if there were some timing issues before this, but it definitely felt a bit rushed. Far from bad though, as they wrestled a real good sprint - both Low Ki & Filthy Tom sure can throw some good strikes, and there was a solid sense of urgency to the thing, too. Good match. ***1/4

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo: Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask

IS IT A TIGER MASK VS. A COUPLE OF YOUNG LIONS MATCH THAT I SEE? Oh yes it is! Of course I had to watch this one after the 1/3 performance by him, and while he wasn't as grumpy as he was there, this was still a real good performance by him. His kicks were vicious, and he sold greatly for the Young Lions when it was time for that, and they sure did get a lot of the match to shine. Very good fire shown by both of them. Good stuff all around. ***

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo: Taichi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Overall this was good with exciting action & Taichi sure always brings out some solid viciousness in Naito, but goddamn the whole beginning pre-match attack & injury bit went on for way too long. Also didn't like how early Naito busted out that Piledriver through the table, but Taichi sold the neck pretty well throughout the match, so it's not that big of a deal. Not on the level of their 2018 matches, but still a very enjoyable one. ***

2019 MOTYC (****+) TRACKER

★★★★★
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE, 04/07)

★★★★¾
Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 02/16)

★★★★½
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 03/23)
Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes (AEW, 05/25)
David Starr vs. Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 01/19)
Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shinjiro Otani (ZERO1, 06/22)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA (NJPW, 07/14)
Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 08/12)
Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (ROH, 08/09)
Bobby Gunns vs. Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 10/05)

★★★★¼
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro & Sheamus, Daniel Bryan & Rowan, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE, 03/26)
Timothy Thatcher vs. Yuki Ishikawa (wXw, 03/09)
Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 06/09)
Buddy Murphy vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE, 08/20)
Dragon Lee & Rush vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (ROH, 06/29)
Kassius Ohno vs. WALTER (EVOLVE, 09/21)

★★★★
Naoya Nomura vs. Suwama (AJPW, 04/28)
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE, 01/27)
Josh Barnett vs. Minoru Suzuki (GCW, 04/04)
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Ren Narita & Yuya Uemura (NJPW, 01/03)
Starlight Kid vs. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom, 01/03)
Shinjiro Otani vs. Yuji Hino (ZERO1, 01/01)
Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal (ROH, 01/13)
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe (WWE, 02/17)
Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens vs. Mustafa Ali (WWE, 03/10)
Jonathan Gresham vs. Masashi Takeda (GCW, 04/04)
Hideki Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher (GCW, 04/04)
Matt Riddle vs. The Velveteen Dream (WWE, 04/05)
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE, 05/06)
Lucky Kid vs. Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 03/08)
Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama (AJPW, 03/19)
Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 01/05)
Arik Royal vs. Brad Attitude vs. Cain Justice vs. Kool Jay vs. Roy Wilkins vs. Trevor Lee (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 02/02)
El Barbaro Cavernario vs. Titan (CMLL, 02/22)
Angelico & Jack Evans vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Berreta (AEW, 05/25)
Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson (NJPW, 05/06)
Chris Jericho vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 06/09)
Eddie Kingston vs. PACO (Glory Pro, 02/24)
Eddie Kingston vs. Thomas Shire (HMW, 03/01)
KENTA vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 07/06)
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Otis & Tucker (WWE, 07/14)
Drew Gulak vs. Matt Riddle (EVOLVE, 07/13)
Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 07/18)
Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW, 07/24)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 08/03)
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA (NJPW, 08/03)
Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (WWE, 08/11)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 08/10)
Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. (AAA, 08/03)
Cody vs. Shawn Spears (AEW, 08/31)
Matt Taven vs. Rush (ROH, 09/27)
Eddie Kingston vs. Timothy Thatcher (Beyond, 10/10)
Chris Jericho vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 10/16)
Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend (WWE, 11/24)

New Beginning in Sapporo SZKGN vs. LIJ singles stuff

Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA

The Paradise Lock stuff in the beginning was fun, and MiSu's angry beatdown after that was also fun, but once SANADA makes his comeback inside the ring, goddamn this got boring. No energy in it whatsoever & SANADA is an absolute bore on the offense. **

EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

This was really good in parts, but it dragged pretty badly as well. Really hoping we see a re-match in the G1 or something, because these two have a banger of a (max) 15-minute match in them. This was still good though; Zack was really good with on the offense as usual with some very nice neck targeting, and I liked the whole dynamic of his technical superiority vs. EVIL's brute strength. ***

 

THE E: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

Drew Gulak vs. Mark Andrews

It's so easy for these two to tell a good story w/ their in-ring styles. Gulak is a gritty grappler who hates flips, and Mandrews on the other hand does quite a bit of FLIPS. A pretty lovely dynamic, and they sure had a pretty damn fun match here - Gulak was really awesome all the way through from his first, brutal takedown on; loved how he owned Mandrews on the mat, and his matwork overall was really great. Mandrews makes some good, flippy comebacks, and eventually the match gets more & more intense as Gulak starts lightning Mandrews up with his very nice strikes. ***1/4

Keith Lee vs. Travis Banks

These two had some absolute BANGERS in PROGRESS a few years back, and while this one was never gonna reach the level of those ones, it was still really enjoyable. Simple formula of Keith Lee mauling Travis w/ his strikes & throwing him around, and Travis answering by being the aggressive little man he is, with his very good work fighting from underneath. They did an angle w/ his knee in some match earlier apparently, and I liked how it subtly came into play here with him not being able to be as fast with his combination set-ups as usual. Good stuff. ***1/4

Dominik Dijakovic vs. TJ Perkins

What a funky looking match up, in a very compelling way, and they sure delivered a very good one. There's a pretty big size difference between the two, so they went with the most obvious dynamic possible of Dijak dominating, and TJP having to fight from underneath. TJP brought some very nice, creative stuff in his comebacks, and I loved the arm targeting of his. That Armbar counter was so awesome. Dijak was really good too with his vicious work on top & selling of the arm. Impressive stuff by both men, and one helluva sub-10 minute match overall. ***1/2

Dominik Dijakovic vs. Tyler Bate

This was also real good. Dijak was very vicious throughout, even made some of the most simple & basic holds, that are often just restholds in matches, look absolutely amazing. Bate from underneath was awesome as well; he brought the energy, and I really liked some of the brief arm targeting he did in the beginning, and then during the finish. ***1/4

Drew Gulak vs. Jordan Devlin

Loved Devlin's aggression here; he borderline matches Gulak's viciousness on the mat, and that was pretty surprising. Gulak also kind of worked the match as a babyface, and he sure rocked that role very well against Devlin who was 100% the heel here. Good match. ***1/4

Jordan Devlin vs. The Velveteen Dream

Dream has his mid-section taped up, so that was the psychology of the match. Devlin was pretty awesome with his work over it - also loved his smugness throughout. Dream's selling was sadly pretty spotty; he sold really good when Devlin was dishing the offense on him, but then he was doing his Death Valley Driver roll set-ups perfectly one moment later. It didn't drag the match down too much though, as it was mostly Devlin on the offense, and I dug the dynamic between 'em, but it definitely could've been even better than it was had Dream sold better. ***

The Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Bate

The story of Dream's taped up mid-section continued here, and I am happy to report that his selling was better here than it was in the match vs. Devlin. He sold dramatically when Bate had him grounded, and then on the offense he did some solid fighting-through-the-pain selling. ***1/4

5-STAR RE-WATCH: AJ/MiSu, AJ/Lesnar, Trevor/Chip

NJPW G1 Climax 24: AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki

Still an obvious classic, and one of the best matches of both guys' careers, but missing that extra something to be a 4.75-5* one. This was really the match that made AJ Styles in New Japan; Suzuki was vicious with his focused arm targeting, and AJ's selling was really good throughout. IIRC in the lead up to this MiSu had been talking about how he hates the Bullet Club guys making the gun sign w/ their fingers, because they aren't shooters, and that translated here with how intense & angry he was at AJ. Even more grumpy than Minoru Suzuki usually is, that is. Fantastic moment in when AJ had him grounded, he put the finger gun on his head, and MiSu has this amazing pissed off look on this face & gets up and tries to rip that damn finger out of AJ's hand. ****1/2

WWE Survivor Series 2017: AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar

Two of the best wrestlers of all-time in one of the greatest matches of all-time. No one takes bumps like AJ does, and no one delivers a beating like Lesnar does. They were always gonna have a great match, but both guys delivered special performances & created something SPECIAL. It starts off with Brock manhandling AJ, and it's one of his more lively beatdowns; him just dragging Styles from corner to corner, stepping on his face & dumping him out of the ring like a child is all amazing stuff. Another amazing bully moment by him: after he had been beating the crap out of Styles for a while, he DARES AJ to fight him, and then just kills him with a lariat. AJ eventually rallies up & brings the fight in a big way; Brock hits his knee on the steel steps outside, and now that knee is the target of AJ's assault. The Calf Killer spot was soooo great, and Brock getting out of it by smashing AJ's skull repeatedly on the mat was an all-time great bit. The finish was absolutely brilliant too with them perfectly teasing that AJ might actually get the victory, only for Brock to catch him & deliver a killer F5, all the while still selling the knee big time. Two masters at work - it's just super compelling stuff between Brock's beatdown, bully antics, amazing selling & AJ's terrific bumping + selling, kneework, aerial attacks. One of my all-time favorites. *****

CWF Mid-Atlantic Kernodle Brothers Tag Team Tournament 2017: Chip Day vs. Trevor Lee

Trevor Lee is still the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion almost two years later. His reign has been the best title reign of the 2010's, but it definitely lost a lot of it's steam in 2018. Now he's most likely losing the title in his next defense, so I think it's safe to say that this match right here vs. Chip Day was the apex of his reign. It holds up pretty damn well to say the least. Trevor conveys emotion into big matches like no one in wrestling today; he very much reminds me of Shinya Hashimoto in that regard. Got goosebumps during his entrance when he proudly hoisted that championship up in Chip's face & then got them again after he won. The match built masterfully from the beginning, with a very compelling feeling out process between them, to then being a full on slugfest war by the end. Loved the storytelling of Trevor trying his hardest to avoid Chip aka "Kick Jagger's" kicks until he just couldn't anymore. Him saying "I need you" to the crowd is still as magical as it was the first time watching it, and the finish sequence is absolutely amazing. They did the fighting spirit & 1 count stuff masterfully. ****3/4