BOSJ Cherry Pickings part1

DOUKI vs. Ren Narita

DOUKI does some super basic, very meh work on top - it's not interesting at all, but at least Narita brings the heat w/ his comebacks - dat dropkick! So yeah, not a good match at all overall, but at least Narita salvaged it somewhat. Not a good first look on DOUKI, that's for sure. *3/4

Robbie Eagles vs. Rocky Romero

Not interesting in the slightest on paper, but they actually wrestled a very solid match here. The big story in it was Rocky's knee, which Eagles worked pretty well throughout. The highlights were the 450 to the knee, and then the sequence where it buckles as Rocky is attempting to deliver a (FOREVER! ) running lariat to the corner, which then Eagles immediately capitalizes on & delivers a very nice springboard dropkick to that knee. I do think the match dragged a bit, which is also funny to write out because it also got better in some parts as it went on; at first Eagles' kneework wasn't much, just your basic stuff, but then those two moments that I mentioned above happened & he got more creative with it, so I started digging it a lot. Rocky's selling certainly wasn't the most consistent, but overall I'd say he did a solid job w/ it, and all in all this was a pretty solid match INDEED. **1/2

Jonathan Gresham vs. TAKA Michinoku

This was a very neat match. TAKA as the veteran dominated most of the thing, doing some nice asshole'ish work w/ the stomps & all. He also continued where he left off in the match vs. Tiger Mask w/ that ZSJ-esq submission work too, and it was awesome. Gresham also got plenty of time to look good w/ his attack on the arm, and with him having to fight from under, it made all of his offense feel much more important. Good stuff. ***1/4

Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This is all about Kanemaru working Tiger's bum knee, and it's really good from start to finish. Kanemaru is super focused on the attack & Tiger sells well + busts out awesome comebacks. And then there's the awesome beginning w/ them going at it right as Tiger gets into the ring during his entrance - him beating Kanemaru down w/ that sweet ass entrance jacket of his still on & then throwing that said jacket onto Kanemaru was all kinds of awesome. ***1/2

Dragon Lee vs. SHO

Didn't care for the beginning Ishii vs. Shibata cosplay act - it came off as very forced + the million forearms they threw didn't look good. What I did like though was the dueling armwork; both guys did some awesomely vicious work over one another, and both also sold pretty damn well throughout. Now the match definitely went on for way too long, there was no need for it to go 27-damn-minutes, but overall I was sports entertained, which is something I wasn't expecting given how it started. ***

Ren Narita vs. Robbie Eagles

Narita THE HOMETOWN KID brings the heat! His times on the offense are awesome, and Eagles is a tremendous opponent for him in front of this particular crowd, as he does some basic, yet compelling enough work on top, and then sells big for Narita's stuff. Both guys smashed it. Awesome match. ***1/4

Rocky Romero vs. Will Ospreay

I was dreading the concept of Rocky Romero & Will Ospreay going 25 minutes, but goddamn they actually killed it. The match built pretty well throughout the whole duration of it, and then in the finishing stretch of the last 5-7 minutes of it, it all clicked big time w/ Rocky getting a few TREMENDOUS nearfalls, fantastic counters, the crowd going crazy, the one last armbar by Rocky.. So much good stuff there. Also hats off to Caprice Coleman who added a lot with his pure passion on commentary regarding Rocky almost pulling off the upset. This is definitely gonna be remembered as one of the highlights of the 2019 BOSJ and rightfully so. ***1/2