Catching UP!

wXw 16 Carat Gold 2019 - Day 2: Fenix vs. WALTER

WALTER delivers his usual great mauling & Fenix busts out some awesome flippy comebacks. Already a winning formula + then you add WALTER's disrespect of the mask(s) & you end up getting one really good & memorable match. ***1/2

NJPW New Japan Cup 2019 - Day 7: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

There's some of your usual legwork by Tana that gets no sold, but everything other than that was sooo much fun. The Korakuen is firmly behind Taguchi, so Tana reads the room & goes a bit heelish. Loved him refusing the fist bump at the beginning - set up what was about to come very well. Him using Taguchi's signature hip attacks against him was great, and while I did not like Taguchi's selling of the legwork, watching Tana go town on a limb is always compelling. Tana's character work was really impressive throughout, too - first he is cocky as hell, being a dick to this comedy act, but as Taguchi rallies up in the last third of the match, Tana gets desperate & that shows in the constant wacky pinfall attempts he busts out. Also loved the finish with him getting a rare Dragon Suplex win. ***3/4

NJPW New Japan Cup - Day 7: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

These two always bring such fun, fiery & competitive chemistry against one another inside the ring. This was a yet another banger between them. Zack is awesome with his submission work & I loved the way he set up traps for Ibushi in this one, with him baiting him into striking exchanges, only for him to catch him w/ submissions out of nowhere. The biggest target of Zack's attack was Ibushi's leg, and while Ibushi certainly isn't a good limb seller, I thought his work here regarding that was inoffensive & Zack getting the win via Orienteering With Napalm Death definitely helps too, as the legwork paid off in the end. ***1/2

NJPW New Japan Cup - Day 8: Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA

The beginning back & forth is good, and I loved the way Suzuki eventually established control by baiting SANADA into thinking he has the Paradise Lock in, but then immediately escaping as SANADA charged, and then going after the leg. Suzuki works a mean heat segment with the main target being that leg of SANADA's - now while SANADA's selling was FAR from perfect, it was definitely better than I expected, and during the actual submissions his selling was GREAT. The match definitely drags quite a bit at times though, and that's what holds it back from being a great one overall - there's some really dull & uninteresting stuff in the middle, but it picks up in the homestretch with the incredible drama that was SANADA's Skull End vs. Suzuki's leglock battle on the mat. That whole thing was absolutely amazing & one of the best New Japan finishing stretches in recent years. ***1/2

ROH 17th Anniversary Show: Bandido vs. Rush

Kind of a generic workrate match with established babyface & heel roles. There's plenty of good Rush nastiness for it to be solid though. **1/4

ROH 17th Anniversary Show: Brody King & PCO vs. The Briscoes

Now this was the insanely brutal brawl it promised to be! The Briscoes were working their asses off, PCO was the crazy bastard that made him blow up in 2018 & Brody delivered some good violence to the dance as well. A fitting main event for the Anniversary show. ***3/4

NJPW New Japan Cup - Day 9: Tomohiro Ishii vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Ishii straight up bullies YOSHI-HASHI into showing some damn personality, and it works in some short bursts - the moments where HASHI actually answered right back at Ishii's trashtalk & showed some fire were good, but for the most part, this was the same ol' boring ass non-charisma having YOSHI-HASHI that I've come to expect in pretty much all of his matches. Some points for Ishii being Ishii & HASHI actually showing SOME personality in a couple of moments, but yeah, this wasn't good. *3/4