CMLL, NOAH, NJPW, PWG..

CMLL Super Viernes 02/22/19: El Barbaro Cavernario vs. Titan

Barbaro makes quick work of Titan to get the first fall. Then in the 2nd fall, he delivers a vicious beatdown to Titan throughout, but Titan makes a wonderful comeback to even things out. The first two falls were already great, but then in the 3rd one, they go all out; Titan is a house of fire to start it off, and there's plenty of awesomely impactful & vicious looking dives. Barbaro in particular makes everything look nasty from suplexes to dropkicks to those aforementioned DIVES. His cutoffs of Titan's offense bursts were great. So was the match overall. ****

NOAH Great Voyage in Yokohama 2019: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Naomichi Marufuji

This match is rock solid from start to finish, but the crowd being borderline dead didn't help it at all. And of course with it being a NOAH main event, it goes on for waaaaaay too long too & ends up dragging a lot by the end, but there's plenty of Marufuji-punishing-this-young-boy -goodness in it, so I thought it was pretty good overall. Loved how he still treated Kiyomiya as the same young lad he was in 2017, dominating him with his awesome veteran work, with great smug facial expressions to boot. Kiyomiya's selling was pretty good too, but I admittedly didn't care for his comebacks much at all. I came here to watch Marufuji be the cocky veteran, and there was plenty of that indeed, so while the match had it's issues (the crowd, the length), it was pretty enjoyable. **3/4

NJPW Sengoku Lord in Nagoya: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Zack's attack on the neck was pretty solid, and I enjoyed how it came to play in the late stages of the match - in particular I really loved how he countered Ibushi's deadlift suplex attempt into a guillotine. Another standout moment was Ibushi catching Zack's leg, only for Zack to SLAP him, which lead to Ibushi calmly putting down Zack's leg and smacking him down. With that being said, I thought this wasn't nowhere near as good as their previous meetings though - just missing some of the energy & that competitive spark that they usually have. **3/4

PWG Hand of Doom: Jeff Cobb vs. Trevor Lee

Loved this. Trevor plays through all of his PWG character arc greatest hits with the 1st half of the match feeling like the scrappy underdog that he was in his first few years there, but then he eventually switches back to the heel dickhead Trevor, trying to cheat his way into victory. Loved it all. Cobb delivered some nice, nasty smacks & throws throughout, as well. Also thought that the kickout-at-1 -moment was done very well, with Trevor just having gone to a full on fiery dive rampage before Cobb hit him w/ that Tour of the Islands he kicked out of. The post-match farewell speech was also terrific & emotional. I gotta wonder did Cobb's shoulder get legitimately fucked up in the match, because he sold it BIG throughout, and Trevor's work over it wasn't THAT focused or brutal. If it didn't get legit hurt, then I gotta applause his selling. Awesome match & a wonderful PWG sendoff for Trevor. ***3/4

Daniel Makabe vs. Fred Yehi & Jon Gresham

Pizza Party Wrestling 04/03/19: Daniel Makabe vs. Fred Yehi

One of the more intriguing match ups of the WM weekend. There's no big story in it, as in their attacks aren't focused on one or two specific bodyparts, but it's some damn good rasslin' from bell to bell. Mostly contested on the mat, with really good work in there indeed + both guys definitely throw some solid looking strikes as well. Good stuff. Gentleman's ***

3-2-1 BATTLE! Battlemania 2019: Daniel Makabe vs. Jonathan Gresham

There's some truly great stuff in this: the armwork by Gresham was very vicious & compelling, and Makabe's selling of it was very consistent & good. The way how they changed the control from Gresham to Makabe was uniquely outstanding w/ Makabe pointing out that Gresham had one of his shoes untied, looking to give him space to tie it back on, but then delivering a dropkick to his face. Great heel-move & as I said, an unique way to switch the control to him. Absolutely loved it. That's when the back of Gresham became the main target of Makabe's onslaught; it was gonna be armwork vs. backwork, and I loved the striking exchanges where that came into play, with instead of smashing each other in the face, Gresham goes for the arm & Makabe goes for the back. That's lots of greatness there, but there was one thing that bothered me more than it probably should've: Gresham's (lack of) selling. There's a point in the match where Makabe delivers a brutal Double Underhook Backbreaker to him, and then looks on to lock in the Cattle Mutilation, but Gresham gets out before it's fully locked in & busts out a big offense-flurry. He basically no sold the big backbreaker completely to get his shit in, and let me tell ya, that annoyed me to no end. It instantly reminded me of all the slack that ZSJ gets from people for his "bad selling", but here Gresham did exactly what ZSJ is often given shit for. It makes it all the more annoying that before in the match he was selling the back by not being able to lift Makabe for a German Suplex, but here he was doing flips, running full speed & no selling backbreakers full stop. That's why this match ended up falling short of it's potential, which is disappointing & annoying because of how great the great stuff in it was. ***1/4

WWE stuff: Cedric/Oney, Harper/Dijak, Dream/Murphy

WWE 205 Live 04/16/19: Cedric Alexander vs. Oney Lorcan

The commentary tried to push Oney's submissions as continuity of some DEEP & BRUTAL mid-section psychology, but I certainly didn't think Oney's "attack" on it was very focused, so the whole thing kinda came out of nowhere. Cedric not selling much at all certainly didn't help the cause either. Oney, overall, felt like a huge miss in a long match like this, working as the heel - his work on top wasn't interesting at all, and I've never liked Cedric in the ring, so safe to say I wasn't a fan of this. *1/4

WWE Worlds Collide - NXT vs. NXT Alumni: Dominik Dijakovic vs. Harper

Harper being back in action is awesome & I thought him acting more human than ever in his WWE in-ring career, playing to the crowd & all was very intriguing, but sadly this was a very disappointing match. Them busting out big spots like that one off the apron was pretty awesome, especially for an AXXESS show, but I just wasn't feeling the pacing of the match at all. Very slow in-between those big spots, I guess you could call it the "classic WWE heavyweight pacing". Would've loved for these two have a more high energy match á la Dijak's battles vs. Keith Lee. **

WWE NXT 04/17/19: Buddy Murphy vs. The Velveteen Dream

The Dream was good as usual with his facial expressions & selling, but Buddy's generic indy workrate thigh-slaps-on-every-strike & big MOVEZ -style brought it down a lot. It's a shame because I really liked his 2018, but I definitely wasn't feeling him here. The only moment that I liked (& I really loved it) was him kneeing Dream as he was taunting him. Other than that, very bleh. *1/2

EVOLVE 125; DDT vs. The Unwanted, KOR/Theory

Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. Konosuke Takeshita & MAO

Eddie & Takeshita start things off w/ some very basic 50/50 matwork. It's solid, and then in one of the highlights of the match, Eddie delivers a chop to Takeshita - Takeshita answers with a forearm & Eddie does the DELAYED KAWADA SELL~! Popped for that big time, and it made a forgettable sequence that much better. Bless you, Eddie Kingston. The DDT lads get some time to show off their athleticism & there's a bit of some good comedy in there as well - then shortly after The Unwanted take over, and we get a brief MAO FIP segment. Gacy delivers some nasty good looking punches to him during that. Once Takeshita gets the hot tag, they kick the match into another gear. It's 50/50 action from then on, but it's really good 50/50 action, as all 4 guys bring it on the offense. Eddie sells his ass off for the DDT guys, too. Real good match. ***1/2

Austin Theory vs. Kyle O'Reilly

This NXT & EVOLVE partnership sure brings some goodies. O'Reilly's 2017 run in EVOLVE is one of my favorite periods of his career, and he continued his streak of awesome EVOLVE matches here w/ a rock solid bout. Really liked the early stuff on the mat w/ him controlling Theory with a side headlock while busting out some strikes & armbars here n' there. Theory getting back into things with that explosive cutter was awesome as well. It did maybe drag a bit by the end w/ it's formulaic nearfall heavy last third, but overall I had a lot fun watching it. Good match. ***

Momo/Utami + AJPW CC D1

Stardom American Dream in the Big Apple: Momo Watanabe vs. Utami Hayashishita

Loved the beginning back & forth which lead to Utami offering a handshake to Momo, but instead of actually shaking her hand, she SLAPS her, showing that she's going all out in this one. After that, Momo quickly gets the match back in control for her, and there's a very nice mentor vs. student feeling w/ her doing some work on top & Utami fighting from underneath. Eventually as they kick the match into it's finishing gear, it escalates into more back & forth, with both women busting out bombs w/ a very good sense of urgency - goddamn I LOVED Utami's judo throws & transitions. Very good match! Certainly one of the highlights of the Mania weekend. ***1/2

AJPW Champion Carnival - Day 1: Jake Lee vs. Naoya Nomura

I wasn't into this for the beginning portions of it, but as it went on with the Korakuen crowd getting hotter & hotter by the minute, I really got into it. Jake Lee's cutoffs of Nomura's comeback rallies got better & better too w/ them vicious knees & boots. Good match. ***

AJPW Champion Carnival - Day 1: Atsushi Aoki vs. Kento Miyahara

A veteran in Aoki, who the Korakuen was firmly behind, taking on the arrogant ace should've been a winning dynamic, but this was actually pretty dull for the most part. I did like Aoki's attempts of winning via countout - that suplex from the guardrail was an awesome & creative spot. Sadly didn't care for Kento's work at all in this; his over the top goofy & cocky act wasn't interesting, and neither was his work on top OR his work on the offense overall. Not a bad match, but could've been so much better given the whole setting. **

AJPW Champion Carnival - Day 1: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuji Okabayashi

As usual with these two fellas, they brought the BEEFY stuff & it was very enjoyable from start to finish. Most of the match saw Shuji do the work on top while Yuji busted out some hard hitting, explosive comebacks. Good stuff. ***1/4

WRESTLEMANIA BABY WOOOO

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Awesome Brock beatdown to start it off, with him throwing Rollins viciously all over the place. Then Rollins takes over w/ the low blow & Curb Stomp x3, 123. Very funky booking, but I enjoyed it a lot. Sure it could've been a "normal" lengthier match like Brock's recent outing vs. Bálor for an example, but this one worked too. Especially as the opener. ***1/4

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

This was very underwhelming. There was practically no heat to it whatsoever, and that is apparently thanks to the lights situation, as some of the crowd couldn't see them properly, but yeah, even then they could've had a much more interesting match. I did like AJ's Phenomenal Forearm fakeout + there was some solid leg psychology in the thing, but overall it was just very soulless & dull for the most part. **1/4

Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Bar vs. The Usos

This was very fun! They got about 10 minutes, and in those 10 minutes they had a very good get-your-shit-in bout w/ everybody getting time to shine. The highlight was the Cesaro vs. Ricochet exchanges; Cesaro is such an incredible base for Ricochet's incredible athletic flippy stuff. ***1/2

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

This was really good. Might even be the best Shane McMahon singles match ever. Shane's heat segment that started off the match was awesome - loved the cat & mouse game that he played, which lead into that said heat segment, and as he keeps on punching Miz with those ridiculous strikes of his, he comes off as such a massive dickhead. The showdown between him & Miz's dad was a perfect segue into Miz's comeback; Miz came back into the thing with a house of fire, and the match quickly spills outside, playing awesomely into the Falls Count Anywhere gimmick. Loved the whole finishing stretch which was just Miz kicking Shane's ass all over the place, until they found their way into that structure where Miz suplex'd Shane from. Loved the finish as well - thought it was pretty much perfect given the character Shane portrayed in the match & in the lead up. AWESOME match. ***1/2

Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. The Boss N' Hug Connection vs. The IIconics

This was just absolutely a nothing match. At least it was nice seeing Bret & hearing his music as Beth & Natalya walked out. *

Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston

I actually had to watch this two times back to back right away, because of how great it was. It's no secret that Daniel Bryan is my favorite wrestler & I truly think that he is the greatest to ever do it - I sure have seen A LOT of his matches, and I feel pretty confident in saying that this easily was one of his greatest performances, maybe even THE greatest. Man, I have loved the whole story they have been telling with Bryan's heel run & Kofi catching that lightning in bottle w/ his crowd reactions - I loved that "...and you should be (scared), because you know what comes next!" line from their contract signing, and the hype video played that line up perfectly. Another thing that stuck to me as the bell rang was the look on Bryan's face - he had a smug, cocky smile on his face, as the whole crowd chants for Kofi. It's the exact same situation that was going in the beginning of Bryan vs. HHH from WM30, but now with Bryan as the bad guy. Just a cool little touch I thought. The match starts & Kofi gets a very good shine to start it off - Bryan does some nice work on the mat & tries to punish him, but Kofi has all the momentum in the world so he is on fire. THEN he hits the announce table, ribs first as he tries to do a diving attack to Bryan on the outside. That's when Bryan's punishment segment starts, and it's just oh so wonderful; he is LASER FOCUSED on attacking that mid-section that Kofi just hurt w/ the dive - he goes to it with kicks, knees, holds, you name it. The whole Bryan control segment is just unbelievably amazing, and the little teases of a Kofi rally are awesome - loved the elbows he delivered w/ the crowd chanting YES with each one of them. Bryan cutting off those comeback attempts is of course awesome as well, and one of the highlights of the entire match was him countering Kofi's double stomp attempt into a Boston Crab. He put that hold in DEEP & Kofi sold his ass off in it. Continuing the fantastic mid-section psychology, I really loved that during the yay-boo striking exchange, Bryan won it by going after the stomach w/ a flurry of punches. A yet ANOTHER amazing mid-section psychology moment was him delivering some elbows to Kofi's ribs to keep the LeBell Lock locked in. So simple, but so terrific!
Another thing that was outstanding about Bryan's performance was his facial expressions & playing of the crowd - that sarcastic YES chant as he was getting ready to hit the knee was amazing, and his facial expressions during the final LeBell Lock were astonishingly good; first he is cocky as shit, with a real bastard smile on his face, but then as Kofi refuses to die, it goes to desperation real quickly. It could've been really cheesy done by some other top wrestlers of top promotions (shout out to Gargano & Omega ), but Bryan is a master of facial selling, he knows exactly how much he should emote to sell the thing & he never goes too far with it to make it embarrassing - in my eyes anyways.
 Overall, what can I even say? This was a masterful display of professional wrestling by the greatest who has ever done it. I don't want to say it was a carryjob, as Kofi definitely brought the goods & his whole story + connection with the fans added a TON, but this really was Daniel Bryan's masterpiece through & through. Everything from his facial expressions, selling, perfect timing of the cutoffs, to his vicious attack on the mid-section -- EVERYTHING he did was just about perfect. One of the greatest single match performances ever anywhere by anyone.
It's gonna be real hard to top it as the MOTY, but I don't want to say it's impossible, because you never know what the goddamn GOAT has planned in his back pocket. *****

Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe

This was actually my 2nd most awaited match of the night, so I am a little disappointed it ended up being a 1-minute bout, but I understand it. We'll get that real Joe vs. Rey singles bout one day! ....right? NR

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns

There was nothing wrong with this, but it was a complete RAW match, pretty much. McIntyre dominates for the most part & Reigns makes some comebacks & wins. **

Batista vs. Triple H

The beginning was very fun with Triple H randomly turning into a CZW wrestler by doing all kinds of nasty shit like destroying Batista's fingers & ripping off his nosering, but then very quickly the match slows down big time & it's just your boring, generic Haitch-having-to-go-30-mins-at-Mania stuff. Not good, but mad props to Batista for going all out in his last match. *

Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle

Baron Corbin definitely isn't the ideal guy for Angle to put over on his way out, but it is what it is. The match was pretty much nothing, but the moment was far more important in this one; got legit pretty emotional as Angle walked out. It was good seeing him go out at the biggest wrestling show in the world after all the problems & struggles he faced all those years ago. *3/4

Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Bálor

Bálor's demon act is super cringe, and I definitely didn't care or enjoy watching him dominate Lashley. Bobby did have a few awesomely explosive bursts of offense though. *1/2

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey

LOVED the special entrances - especially that helicopter entrance for Flair. Sadly the actual match was pretty underwhelming; some awesome moments like "you chop like a bitch!", but overall I thought the flow & energy was missing, even though Ronda did bring good intensity to the thing. The finish was pretty bad too, especially considering it was the damn main event of WrestleMania. **

Thatcher vs. Arquette RULES!

Joey Ryan's Penis Party: David Arquette vs. Timothy Thatcher

I am gonna go full Mauro Ranallo on this one & show that I know my POP CULTURE by borrowing a catchphrase from one of my favorite current artists: YES LAWD! This was one of my most awaited match ups of the entire weekend, and it delivered the funky fun, just like I expected it would. It's a complete Timothy Thatcher torture-show, pretty much - he's brutal as hell stretching Arquette out with his submissions & beating the crap out of him w/ his strikes, especially those knees to the mid-section. His facial expressions are amazing as always as well & oh man I loved him no-selling that diving axe-handle by Arquette. Awesome moment in a match that was full of them. So much fun! Exactly what I wanted out of this Hollywood star going against one of the toughest no-nonsense mofos around meeting. Legit one of the highlights of the WrestleMania 2019 weekend. ***3/4

G1 Supercard cherry pickings

Jeff Cobb vs. Will Ospreay

This was solid, but kind of weird at the same time - it didn't even go 13 minutes, but it still dragged in my eyes. They did tell a solid story of Cobb establishing right away that he is just as explosive & almost as quick & athletic as Ospreay, so Ospreay had to fight from underneath the whole time w/ his springboard flippy attacks. Not the most compelling match, but solid enough. **1/2

Bandido vs. Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori

This was a pretty good sprint w/ plenty of bombs & impressive athleticism all the way through. **3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

The dynamic was the usual for these two with both guys doing some limb targeting; Zack with armwork & Tana with legwork. They didn't sell that very dramatically or anything though, but it wasn't bad, as neither did anything that I would consider ridiculous with a worked over limb. Overall the match lacked some intensity & feel of danger that has been present in their best matches against each other, but it was still a good one & one of the better matches on the show. The highlight for me was quite possibly the finish w/ the crowd reacting big to Zack bending Tana's arm viciously. ***1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Best match out of the ones I watched on this show. Naito has a thing for brutalizing Ibushi's neck, and he sure did a number on it here; some very good work on top by the man, and Ibushi's explosive comebacks were awesome. The whole finishing stretch with the Boma Yes & all was so good. ***1/2

Jay Lethal vs. Marty Scurll vs. Matt Taven

Goddamn this was so long & so boring. For Ladder Wars, you either need to go all out with the crazy spots a la Young Bucks or bring a ton of HATE into the thing a la Kevin Steen vs. El Generico. Neither happened here. Sure there were a couple of "big" spots involving the ladders, but I couldn't care less about them, because of how boring the build to them was. *

Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada

This left me so cold. Everything was so dull, generic & expected - from White's heat segment, to Okada's comeback, to the finishing gear that was your generic Okada counter & 50/50 stuff, but this time there wasn't even a nice "damn they're slick" factor to it, as there have been in his matches vs. Omega, SANADA, Naito etc. And of course it went over 30 minutes, too. A very boring performance by White all around & Okada was Okada. *

AIW recommendations from the WM weekend

AIW Slumber Party Massacre: Dominic Garrini vs. Joshua Bishop

This was a very fun I Quit brawl with them busting out lots of bombs & using loads of different weapons. Brought the HATE, too. Hell yeah I say! ***1/2

AIW Slumber Party Massacre: Eddie Kingston vs. Shinjiro Otani

At first Otani absolutely dominates Kingston - he runs through some of his greatest hits, of course including the FACE WASH, which was awesome & also gave us some legit pretty funny comedy stuff with him repeatedly also hitting Hideki Suzuki, who was serving as his young boy for the match. Eddie eventually mounts a little comeback, and gets back into things by going after Otani's left knee; he is awesome delivering little kicks to it to keep Otani grounded, and Otani's selling is really good. Otani's fiery last offense burst to beat Kingston was a great finish, too. A 3-act match that worked wonderfully; first you get Otani's shine, Kingston's heat segment on the leg & then Otani fired up getting the job done. Was one of my most awaited matches of the entire weekend & I am happy to report it didn't disappoint. ***3/4

WM WEEKEND INDY WATCHINGS

RevPro Live in NYC: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.

The highlight of this was Minoru's absolute PUMMELING of Will Ospreay - very quickly into the match, the lad already has a busted nose, and that makes the beating by Suzuki-gun even more brutal. They stretch him out together, and then Minoru comes & beats the brakes off of him. After Ospreay's FIP portion of the match gets done & Tana gets the hot tag, the quality drops a bit & it isn't very interesting, but the whole Ospreay-in-peril bit was really awesome, so it was still a good match overall. ***

wXw Amerika Ist Wunderbar: David Starr vs. Lucky Kid

Starr is even meaner than usual with his hard hitting offense in this one, and we quickly find out why as he makes sure everybody knows he still isn't over the 16 Carat loss vs. WALTER. That creates a fun dynamic of him on top, but Kid getting some big openings, because of Starr losing focus as the crowd chants shit at him. It went on a tad bit too long & came off as kind of a forced epic of sorts, but overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. Pretty good match. **3/4

BLP Adventures in Wrestling: Nick Gage vs. Swoggle

It's one of the deathmatch kings of pro-wrestling going against Swoggle, who has a shirt on that says "FAMOUS WRESTLING MIDGET". That's about all you need to know about this. FUN

BLP Adventures in Wrestling: Jonathan Gresham vs. Shigehiro Irie

This was a very solid match w/ strong psychology of Irie just bulldozing his way through Gresham, leaving Gresham in big trouble, but he found his openings in submissions, and that's what lead him to victory. They wrestled it like a sprint & that created some pretty good urgency to the thing as well. ***

RevPro Live in NYC: David Starr vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Never kicked out to another gear, but Starr & Ishii told a solid story of Starr trying to slug it out with Ishii, but it backfiring horribly & violently for him. **1/2

TakeOver NYC!

Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. War Raiders

A super generic 50/50 indy workrate tag match. Not interesting in the slightest, and went on for way too long too. *

Matt Riddle vs. The Velveteen Dream

BY FAR the best thing on the show. Two awesome wrestlers & personalities clashing - loved the storytelling with Riddle straight up destroying Dream for majority of the match, but Dream used his small openings to the maximum & in the end caught Riddle by a surprise, as he countered Bromission into a pin. Terrific performances by both; Riddle with his killer work on the offense & Dream with his strong selling & really good hope spots. Loved pretty much everything bell-to-bell, but the moment that made me pop the biggest was Riddle no-selling Dream's German Suplex hope spot. Dream should've been watching his indy tapes, because if he did, he would've known that them Germans don't work on Riddle, BRO. ****

Pete Dunne vs. WALTER

This was very frustrating. There obviously were plenty of solid bits with them brutalizing each other, but overall I wasn't a fan of how it went; I really don't want to see WALTER wrestle these 50/50 overly long generic NXT "epics". I kind of understand it, as Dunne is a big star & has been a very dominant champion for a looong time, so they didn't want his reign end "unceremoniously", but something like WALTER vs. Devlin part 1 would've been much preferred. This was just bleh. **

Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler

A very forgettable multi-person match - some solid stuff with Kairi & Io teaming + briefly going against one another, but overall there just wasn't much to the thing. Io & Kairi playing BASEBALL was fun & the double Psycho Driver by Belair was awesome though. **

Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano

The first fall was literally... nothing? Like absolutely nothing of note happened there, and honestly, the same could be said about the 2nd fall. Then in the final fall they go all out & have an epic w/ million nearfalls & Gargano looking like a superman, surviving everything Cole had to offer & more w/ Kyle, Fish & Roddy interfering. It was pretty ridiculous how many nearfalls they did w/ Gargano kicking out of literally everything Cole had in store. The Fairytale Ending on the announcer table by Cole to Gargano was a perfect example of the forced storytelling I've come to expect from big Gargano matches these days, too. OH WELL. At least the post-match w/ Gargano celebrating with his family, Candice, the crowd & Ciampa was legitimately pretty touching, but this wasn't a good match at all. One of the most hollow feeling TakeOver matches I can recall. *

B L O O D S P O R T

Dominic Garrini vs. Phil Baroni

Baroni kind of runs circles around Garrini in this setting, and he's a real dick about it. It created a fun dynamic, and Garrini's jiu-jitsu-like comebacks were all very good. Good stuff! ***1/4

JR Kratos vs. Simon Grimm

The matwork in this one was really solid, and I liked how they played up Kratos' power advantage into the thing. Both guys are pretty compelling all the way through, and the match kicks up into another gear & level once Grimm asks Kratos to strike him in the face, and from then on, it's even more intense & everything comes with a good sense of urgency. ***1/2

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Killer Kross

Twitter was going bananas for this one, and while I didn't quite think it reached the SPREADSHEET ***1/2+ levels, it was still a very enjoyable bout. Some good "dick measuring contest" psychology with both guys trying to one-up each other by taking on them limbs of one another. ***

Jonathan Gresham vs. Masashi Takeda

MOTHERFUCKER WAS THIS GOOD. Excellent matwork, and then as Takeda gets cut open, the thing explodes & it's like a beast woke up after some light sparring. What a goddamn finishing sequence. ****

Hideki Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher

A legit dream match that delivered. Great back & forth grappling throughout, with lots of little things to love, as I've come to expect by both guys. The slugfest portions of the thing rule big time too, and I especially loved Hideki's disrespectful little stomps & kicks. ****

Josh Barnett vs. Minoru Suzuki

There were some points of the match where I lost interest for a while, but the highs of it were so high it couldn't be anything less than great overall. The smacktalking between them, Suzuki's slowly-turns-his-head-to-the-camera-side-to-reveal-his-sadistic-smile -moment & the last 10 minutes or so were absolutely amazing. ****

"20 best modern-day WrestleMania matches" P2

10) Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle - WrestleMania 20

This most recent watch is the most I've ever liked this match. The back & forth grappling that starts the match off is solid, and I liked Angle establishing control by going after Eddie's mid-section; really good stuff there by him, attacking those ribs pretty viciously, and Eddie's selling was really good for the most part; he's a very good FIP w/ his comebacks & that selling, but I do wish the ribs would've came more into play later on, as it felt like they just dropped it for the sake of kicking things up a notch. It's not offensive in the slightest or anything, but I would've liked to see Angle return to the gameplan & Eddie being more affected by it. I did love Eddie's little "fighting spirit" kind of moment, with him eating those punches by Angle & firing himself up. And of course the finish is pretty iconic - it's really well done & a creative way to end a really good match. ***3/4

9) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins - WrestleMania 31

This really is one of the best matches there have ever been. Lesnar, bloody face & all, selling the stun & shock perfectly receiving those Superman Punches by Reigns is one of my favorite things EVER - Brock's selling in it is just otherworldly, and the blood added a lot to it. Everything else in the match is amazing too - Brock's beatdown is terrific, one of his best ones, Reigns sells his ass off & I love the smiles & smacktalking he gives to Lesnar throughout, as he is getting the shit smacked out of him. Lesnar's storytelling with his facial expressions is absolutely tremendous - at first he is liking that Reigns isn't going down easily, but as he kicks out of the 2nd F5? That's when Brock goes "alright, I've had enough of this shit" - then the gloves are off (AWESOME moment) & he smacks Reigns some more, and shortly after gives him a third F5. Reigns kicks out, then Brock takes him outside w/ plans on punishing him more, but Reigns shoves him to the post, which leads to that Superman Punch sequence which I mentioned, that is just ahhhh so good. In the past viewings of the match, I've always thought that Rollins' cash-in takes something away from it, and who knows, this could've been even better without it, but it definitely is one of the best gimmick endings to a 1-on-1 match ever. Up there w/ the first HIAC. *****

8) Edge vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania 24

Never liked this match. It's just so boring - there's nothing in it's 20+ runtime that stands out as good or interesting. They tried doing something with the story of Taker's back being worked over a bit, but ultimately it went nowhere & felt complete filler. Edge being so boring on top definitely doesn't help the thing at all either, and his over the top facial expressions during submissions were just total cringe. Not good. *

7) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio - WrestleMania 21

Definitely not anywhere near their best matches, but it's a yet another quality bout between 'em. Liked the solid psychology of Eddie targeting Rey's back with his attacks, as well as his really good character work w/ his growing frustration of not being able to put away his tag partner. Furthered their story nicely, and set up what was about to come in the upcoming months. ***1/4

6) Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks - WrestleMania 32

The whole presentation of the thing w/ the big entrances & the title being branded as the Women's Championship = really cool stuff, and the match rules too. It's just very good, three-way dance spotfest action from bell to bell w/ all 3 getting lots of time to shine. No dull moments, they used every second they got to the maximum. ***1/2

5) Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 24

The emotion in this is amazing & creates a really great atmosphere to the thing, and the actual match is very good, too. Michaels worked his ass off, took some brutal bumps & made Flair look great with his big time selling for him. Flair got to play most of his greatest hits, and I absolutely loved his killer instinct moment when he went to town on HBK's leg, to soften him up for the Figure-4, just right after he had barely survived one. A beautiful one last WrestleMania ride for one of the greatest to ever do it. ***3/4

4) Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle - WrestleMania 19

LOVED the beginning grappling - there's a real charming, competitive feel to it, which is to be expected from these two. Loved Angle's mid-section targeting too - he's really vicious with it, with plenty of slams, strikes & amazing holds to damage it. Brock's selling is really good throughout as well + all of his comebacks are explosive & awesome. I do think the match drags at some points though, and overall it feels longer than the official 21-min runtime of it, but it is a damn good one overall. ***3/4

3) Batista vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton - WrestleMania 30

Bryan winning the title is my favorite wrestling moment of all-time, so of course I love this, but the match, even without the moment is really tremendous, too. Bryan is of course amazing with his magical babyface work, but Orton really brings it as well, with a great big match performance. Love the usual viciousness between those two - Batista is clearly the weakest performer, but he doesn't get to do anything boring, because there's always Orton & especially Bryan ruling things. Love the HHH, Steph & that CROOK Armstrong invading, only for them to get their asses kicked by Bryan, and I do love the stretcher job as well. Was really well done, and then there's the finish which is just perfect w/ Batista tapping out. ****1/2

2) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 21

The beginning stuff is awesome w/ HBK starting it off with a SLAP, which then angered Angle, so he did some aggressive grappling to show HBK that this ain't where you wanna play at. I also really enjoyed HBK's headlock control, but shortly after that gets done, the match loses me & doesn't get me again until the finishing stretch, with HBK delivering that great Superkick out of nowhere, as Angle was yelling at him. The Ankle Lock drama, for the most part, is really good too, but it definitely did go a bit too long in my eyes. So to sum it up; I think the beginning is great, I think the ending is really good, but the middle (which goes the longest of all the 3 parts) is very shallow & boring, which is what brings this match down a lot. **1/2

1) Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania 25

I adore the beginning with Michaels playing up the quickness vs. power -game perfectly. Shawn, overall, is absolutely tremendous w/ his character work throughout. From cockiness to desperation. Taker's character work is also really great w/ him getting visibly frustrated that this little rascal ain't going down to his big bombs easily. Of course the whole meat of the match is the incredible drama they create w/ the all-time great nearfalls, and it's truly amazing. It feels like a natural epic, because they built it up so well. Not on the level of Badd Blood '97, but not many matches are, and this sure still is a classic. ****1/2