G1 Day 10

Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano

Fun Yano sub-2 minute special. A pretty lovely time. Goto's pin was actually so damn cool looking, too. **1/2

Juice Robinson vs. Tomohiro Ishii

This is a complete war with them trading hard shots & gnarly bombs all the way through. Ishii's selling is fabulous as usual too, and all in all, it's a very compelling match. Though they did, or Juice did, have a few too many fighting spirit no-sell moments for my liking, but thankfully most of them somewhat worked. Them scrapping some of those moments is just something that could've made the match even more tighter as an overall package than it already was. ***1/2

Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi

Definitely better than their match for the NEVER title from earlier in the year. It very well told the story of Cobb's superior power & athleticism vs. Taichi's cheating. Taichi was very good on top, and Cobb was good out there with his explosive'ish comebacks. ***

Jay White vs. Shingo Takagi

White is so good in this. His work on top as the overly confident heel rules, and he sells brilliantly for Shingo when the time for that came. Lots of neat little moments of that shithead heel work like after he collapsed as a result of their strike exchange, he still barely gets up & delivers a lil' slap to Shingo. Shingo is real good too throughout with his usual bulldozer work on the offense, and overall the contrast between him & Switchblade created for a real intriguing dynamic for the whole thing. ***1/2

Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito

Moxley pretty much dominates, with Naito making some brief comebacks here & there, and it's good stuff. They play well off of each others personalities, and both guys are rock solid in their roles. ***1/4

G1 Day 9: KENTA vs Okada!

Kota Ibushi vs. Lance Archer

AWESOME battle. Archer was great as the trash-talking giant of a man oozing confidence & swagger beating Ibushi down, and Ibushi was such a good 'David'. Some neat counters to Archer's big moves & his big comeback towards the end rules. The actual finish with Archer refusing to go down to the 1st Kamigoye was real awesome as well. ***1/2

Bad Luck Fale vs. Will Ospreay

It's a shame that the Bullet Club shenanigans here ended up being VERY overwhelming in a bad way, because the actual wrestling by Fale & Ospreay was really good. They had a good, natural thing going with Fale dominating, and then Ospreay busting out a wonderful comeback w/ some of the best looking forearms (& strikes in general) he has ever lashed out. Truly a shame about the BC shit. **3/4

EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Their usual dynamic of EVIL's brute force vs. Zack's technique. The New Beginning match remains their best one of the year, but this sure was better than the Cup match. Dragged a bit by the end, but for the most part, it was very solid & pretty enjoyable to watch. **3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADAThese two just feel right going against one another. Good, charming wrestling all the way through w/ nice competitive spirits & some fun counters. Not a high tier G1 match by any means, but a yet another strong match to add to the catalogs of both guys. ***

Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA

This was probably my most awaited match-up of the entire tournament, and while I don't think it was as amazing as it could've been, it was still a kick-ass time from bell to bell. KENTA just slowly decimates Okada for most of the match, and it's awesome; stuff like him baiting Okada to try and hit him in the neck, only for him to trip him down & put on a neckhold, was really neat. Though I have to mention that some key moments, mostly by KENTA on the offense, felt surprisingly heatless & had no drama -- the two Triangle spots are perfect examples of this, especially the second one where he transitioned it into the Game Over, to pretty much no reaction from the crowd at all. It's a shame because it was a really cool sequence of things too. The 2 Busaiku Knees in a row had no drama or heat behind them at all either. The overall lack of drama took something away from the match for sure, but overall, I thought KENTA was indeed pretty great brutalizing Okada, and Okada's selling was actually really fantastic. Definitely down for a round 2 between these two. ***3/4

G1 Day 8

Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano

Yano's usual shenanigans don't work too well, because Juice is more focused than ever in this G1, and it results in a pretty fun lil' match. **1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi

Everything Goto does in this feels just LIFELESS, and of course the match suffers from it, but thanks to Taichi being awesome with his kicks & everything, it's still good. Just makes me think how good it would've been if Goto had brought it more. ***

Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi

They beat the crap out of one another with lariats, forearms, jabs, knees -- you name it. It's already extremely enjoyable with that, but what put it to that next level was the leg psychology with Moxley being pretty damn vicious & very focused on the attack + Shingo selling very well throughout. Great performances by both resulted in a great match. ****

Jay White vs. Jeff Cobb

This was a really compelling & neat battle with Cobb running through White with his strength advantage, and White using his in-ring smarts (& some cheap tactics) to counter that. ***1/2

Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii

These two together are almost always a guaranteed hit, and such was the case here. It's Naito & Ishii brutalizing one another in classic Ishii vs. Naito fashion, and I liked it very much. Not their best match or anything like that, but a yet another great addition to their awesome rivalry. ***3/4

G1 Day 7

Bad Luck Fale vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

ZSJ is more urgent than usual with his submissions, with a good example of that being him opening the match by going for a Guillotine on Fale immediately -- its the result of him losing all of his first three matches, so now he REALLY wants & needs the win, so he is more focused than usual, and it creates for a real fun dynamic between him & big Fale here. The count-out finish absolutely ruled too. ***

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer

The best match of the night. Archer absolutely dominates, even when Tana came into the thing with a rock solid game plan of attacking him right away during entrances. Archer continues to shine with his real good work on top, and Tana was just fabulous from underneath getting wrecked by this monster of a man. ***1/2

EVIL vs. KENTA

This actually legit made me fall asleep, so I had to re-watch it to see if it actually was that boring or was I truly just very tired, but yeah, this sure was disappointing. There's a few awesome moments of KENTA being an asshole like him wiping EVIL's eye make-up + him grinning proudly after Korakuen boos him very loudly after he had kicked EVIL in the ear, but overall, his work wasn't very compelling at all. He really needed to be more of a cocky prick here imo. EVIL wasn't interesting in the slightest during his times on the offense either. Extremely underwhelming stuff, and also disappointing coming off KENTA's awesome first-3 G1 match run. **

Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA

Really loved the early stuff with them showcasing their athleticism, as they try to one-up one another. Them milking the crowd to the max after the classic WE'RE EQUALS-sequence was really fun too. "A showcase of showmanship" was kind of perfectly put by Kevin Kelly there. Even the signature move stealing felt like it belonged here, which is something that can't be said about that kind of stuff very often. Overall this sure was good fun. ***1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay

Pretty much exactly how I imagined this match would be. Okada doing some super forgettable work on top, Ospreay getting some flippy comebacks w/ a few strikes here & there, and then a finishing gear full of counters that we've seen about 10 million times already in New Japan. A match that felt longer than it was, and a match that sure wasn't for my tastes. Extremely generic & predictable stuff. *1/4

G1 Day6

Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi

This ruled so much. Taichi is so awesome with his KICKS & Shingo is a true bulldozer with every bit of offense he lashes out. Smack & bomb heavy fun all the way through. ***3/4

Jeff Cobb vs. Juice Robinson

Juice dominating at least 90% of the match wasn't the most expected dynamic going into this, but it ended up being a very welcomed one, as he DEFINITELY was the more interesting of the two when it came to their offense. Juice is very good as usual, and while some first bursts of Cobb's offense weren't interesting at all, he definitely picked up the intensity in his last big comeback rally after countering Juice's Pulp Friction attempt with those sweet German Suplexes. He looked really good in that stretch just throwing Juice around. Good match. ***

Jay White vs. Toru Yano

Not a high tier Toru Yano match or anything close to that, but a pretty fun & solid 3-minutes. **

Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito

A pretty good match, but nothing special, which is pretty much what I've come to expect from this pairing. The in-ring action is just about 'the usual' from the two too, with some work over the leg, neck, a bunch of counters etc, etc. It's definitely pretty enjoyable, but nothing to really write home about. **3/4

Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Moxley brought his own, different charm to Ishii's smackfest formula & it resulted in some real good stuff. Couple of very memorable singular moments too, especially FLYING ISHII THROUGH THE TABLE! ***3/4

G1 KORAKUEN begins! (day 5)

KENTA vs. Lance Archer

KENTA vs. a man much larger than him is historically a great match-up, so I was already intrigued by this one, and that intrigue only got bigger as Archer had two rock solid performances in his first G1 outings vs. Ospreay & Fale. And aye, this was indeed the good shit. Archer largely dominated, and he was real good at it. He threw KENTA around with his power moves and talked shit while doing so. KENTA was a helluva "David" as well, which isn't surprising. Him chopping Archer down with his lethal kicks was awesome & I loved the finish with him busting out the Triangle, and then transitioning that into the good ol' Game Over. The "you're not KENTA anymore, you're HIDEO!" bit followed by KENTA waking up & slapping the taste out of Archer's mouth was absolutely brilliant as well. ***3/4

EVIL vs. SANADA

They have built the tension between these two pretty well, and it translated VERY well into the match. EVIL truly came off as a someone wanting to kind of step out of the shadow of SANADA & the big 2019 he's had, and SANADA was great interacting against the focused EVIL with his facial expressions being on point. Very fun, competitive back & forth between the two tag partners - loved the signature move stealing starting with EVIL doing the Paradise Lock, which SANADA later on made sure to get payback on by doing EVIL's signature STO against him. Quality stuff all around, and a great moment with the post-match fist bump too. Mini-stories like this are what help make G1 so damn awesome year after year. ***1/2

Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada

Fale largely dominates, there's your Bullet Club shenanigans with Chase & Jado, Okada starts getting into the thing & ultimately wins. Pretty much "the usual" between the two, but I almost always enjoy it on some level, and such was the case here. Good match. ***

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Not a surprise in the slightest that this was a banger. Charming & vicious grappling throughout with Zack doing some nasty damage to Tana's always-banged-up arm, which Tana sells greatly. The finish absolutely rules as well. Definitely would rank this over their Cup & MSG (both are very good though) matches when it comes to their 2019 meetings. ***3/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay

Who would've thunk that Ibushi vs. Ospreay would get better as they add 10 more minutes into the thing?! I certainly wasn't expecting it, but this sure was absolutely great; they start it off slower (by their standards), with Ospreay starting to go after Ibushi's ankle injury, and Ibushi responding by attacking Ospreay's banged up neck. It's really great stuff - I very much popped for Ibushi using the CRAVATE, which was probably the first time I've seen him do it. The match pretty much gets more & more brutal as it goes on, with them busting out some truly gnarly & vicious moves to try n' keep one another down. Some of the highlights, for me, were Ospreay's twisting powerbomb, which was just ridiculously explosive + the Hidden Blade after he landed on his feet after Ibushi's deadlift suplex attempt - the Ospreay-landed-on-his-feet!!! -spots are a bit tired by this point, but this one was actually pretty fantastic with him selling the neck big even when he landed on his feet, and there was no corny poses/faces to be detected! And that mentioned Hidden Blade was absolutely brutal as well, the best one he has done so far. My absolute favorite bit of the whole thing though was the tree-of-woe stuff w/ them reversing the roles from their first meeting - Ibushi's blank lunatic killer facial expressions were outstanding during it, as he dared Ospreay to slap him back, and he went to that classic Ibushi-zone with them strikes during it too. The match definitely could've shaved off a few nearfalls & the finishing stretch, overall, a little bit, but for the absolute majority of the thing, this was amazingly compelling. ****

Grapple heavy bangers

EVOLVE 131: Drew Gulak vs. Matt Riddle

A real throwback to the good ol' days when EVOLVE was the best damn pro-wrestling product on the planet. Somewhat depressing in that regard too, because nothing they've put out ever since guys like these two (& of course many others too) left has touched the magic they brought here. They just do what Riddle & Gulak do; greatly spirited, competitive, mat & strike heavy action with excellent urgency, progress & escalation. Exactly what that CATCH POINT name is all about. ****

3-2-1 BATTLE! Wet Hot Seattle Summer 3: Daniel Makabe vs. Timothy Thatcher

It didn't reach the amazing greatness that was their first meeting, but I'd say Thatcher vs. Makabe III was about on par with their second bout, which makes it VERY good. Very nice work on the mat & plenty of nice SMACKS throughout. ***3/4

WWE 205 Live 07/16/19: Chad Gable vs. Jack Gallagher

I didn't really dig their first match all that much, but this one ROCKED. Much better than that said first meeting of theirs; the matwork here was really good, and especially Gable impressed. The way he went after Gallagher's ankle & knee was brutally compelling. He also impressed me with his selling; one standout moment was the corner dropkick by Gallagher, which already looked really great & vicious, but Gable's selling made it even better. Really liked how the match progressed from the matwork into a full-blown war of attrition with them busting out some real violent looking bombs/hits to put one another down, too. ***1/2

G1 Day 4

Shingo Takagi vs. Toru Yano

This is less fun than Yano matches usually are, and I really can't pinpoint the reason why. For whatever reason, in my eyes, Shingo just didn't click that well with him, even if Yano was still somewhat fun with his shenanigans. **

Hirooki Goto vs. Juice Robinson

Really liked Goto's work on the neck throughout with those vicious strikes, and all in all, this was a real good match with them trading slugs & some bombs. ***1/2

Jeff Cobb vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley's performance in this is really great. He goes to town on Cobb's shoulder, and he is vicious & EXTREMELY compelling with it. And if he is not trying to destroy that shoulder, he is delivering awesomely brutal looking knees to Cobb's head. Then there's little touches like him stomping on Cobb's foot to stop him from suplexing him off the apron. Absolutely awesome performance all around, and a really nice & tight match. Great introduction to Jon Moxley in the G1 without any of the weapon gimmicks which were there in his first tournament match vs. Taichi. ***3/4

Jay White vs. Tomohiro Ishii

White is such a good shithead & this is a very compelling story of that shithead getting his ass-kicked, and who better to do that said ass-kicking than the Stone Pitbull himself? White's work on Ishii's neck throughout is viciously awesome, Ishii's selling rules, as does his times on the offense punishing the former stablemate-turned-traitor of his. Very good match. ***3/4

Taichi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Wasn't feeling the first half, but it gets much better as it goes on, and they start busting out some real gnarly bombs as it does go on, which was very enjoyable & made the match real good overall. ***1/4

EXTREME RULES '19

Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon vs. Roman Reigns & The Undertaker

This was a lot of fun. Taker looked pretty damn good & so did all the others involved. The Elias interference added a lot to the thing too, as I feel like that's when it kicked into another gear. ***1/4

The Revival vs. The Usos

These teams have such natural chemistry with one another. They can tell good stories with their very different in-ring styles, and that's exactly what they did here. Jey's whole FIP bit ruled, as the Revival are very compelling working the heat on him. The hot tag fakeout w/ the ref not seeing it was awesome. Good match. ***1/4

Aleister Black vs. Cesaro

A very enjoyable sub-10 minute smackfest with good psychology around Aleister's kicks & his attack on Cesaro's leg. The finishing sequence was pretty amazing. ***1/4

Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Bayley

It's not like a very good match or anything, but it's perfectly fine & probably better than it looked on paper. Pretty good action from start to finish. **1/2

Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman

They fight all over the place, making good use of the LMS & extreme rules gimmicks. And it's real good stuff! It gets better as it goes on, the finish is awesome & I enjoyed the psychology with Lashley targeting Braun's hurt mid-section to gain control throughout. Definitely a good one. ***

Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery vs. The New Day

What a terrific way to end the short, yet awesome tag title reign of Bryan & Rowan. The Bryan vs. Xavier battle in the beginning rules so much - Xavier becomes the FIP & it's great. Rowan just manhandles him in compelling fashion & Bryan is of course great; loved him yelling "OH THATS RIGHT, NO DQS!" when he was cranking Xavier's nose, which lead to him doing it even more viciously, and then also raking his eyes. What an absolute BASTARD. I love it. Otis was a really good hot tag too, doing his wacky shtick while running through Bryan w/ his power moves. Then the highlight of the whole thing was the entire ending stretch with Bryan going against Big E; E getting fired up by Bryan's lethal kicks & that slap was AWESOME, and that lariat was a great follow-up, because nobody bumps for those lariats like D-Bry. The finish was so, so, SO fantastic too with Big E catching Bryan straight to the Midnight Hour position as Bryan went for his backflip. Great, great tag team wrestling bell-to-bell. Easy MOTN. Bryan is the clear wrestler of the year 2019 at this point in my eyes, with so many great matches & performances. That's not to say that it's impossible to overtake him, but it's not gonna be easy. Best in the world baby. ****

AJ Styles vs. Ricochet

Styles as the heel made for a fun dynamic of him slowing Ricochet & his flippy stuff down with his vicious control, and it definitely was a joy to watch. Those hard irish whips into the corner, that vintage backbreaker of his & then that inverted Styles Clash finish - all around this was very good! ***1/2

Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe

Really enjoyed this one. Joe controlled most of it, which is probably why I liked it so much, because I'll never get tired watching him be the dominant force that he is, menacingly talking trash all the way through. Him going after Kofi's finger because of their awesome SmackDown segment was absolutely awesome. They kept the thing really tight too with it clocking in at just under 10 minutes, too. Quality stuff. ***1/2

Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans vs. Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins

This was WAY better than I expected it to be. I was sports entertained through & through. Fun, carnage'ish action from start to finish with good use of the weapon gimmicks; chairs & then especially kendo sticks and tables. The finishing run with Baron doing the End of Days on Becky was really awesome too, followed by Rollins' complete destruction of him. Good match! ***1/4

G1 Day 3 - T A K E O V E R

Bad Luck Fale vs. Lance Archer

It's two big beefy dudes doing big beefy dude things for about 10 minutes. Can't hate on that. Pretty much exactly what it should've been between the two, and it was good. ***

SANADA vs. Will Ospreay

This was a charming contest that was all about one-upmanship. Ospreay didn't do all that much for me, but even his dull stuff came off as somewhat interesting interacting against SANADA. Ospreay definitely had some awesome moments too though, such as that beautiful, long-ass distance SSP from the top. SANADA was extremely compelling with everything he did - he brought (& usually always brings) such fun swagger & unique energy to the thing. He probably also has my favorite pescado in the biz. Awesome match. ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

An Okada singles match going just about 12 (!!!) minutes is one of the many blessings that G1 gives us. ZSJ was definitely a great opponent to go that length with - right from the start he starts grounding Okada, twisting him like ZSJ usually does, and it's pretty awesome stuff. Really liked the way they gave Okada his big comeback too with ZSJ getting way too cocky by letting Okada get up & start trading strikes. Okada is definitely pretty focused on softening up Zack's neck for that Rainmaker, and the whole stretch after Okada's big comeback is more 50/50 with him going for the neck with his bombs, and ZSJ countering a lot of stuff & locking in his awesome submissions. Definitely liked this a lot, and I really like how they made it feel somewhat sprint'ish with its run-time, which was something I definitely wasn't expecting out of the two. ***1/2

EVIL vs. Kota Ibushi

This match was all about Ibushi's struggle with his hurt ankle, and I thought that made for some really damn compelling stuff. EVIL was pretty nasty going after it right from the start, and Ibushi sold the big time pain he was in pretty well throughout. I especially dug how EVIL just stomped on the ankle during their forearm exchange, which Ibushi was seemingly winning, but that sure changed with that STOMP. The whole finishing stretch was absolutely fantastic too + I've said this many times, but I'll never not pop for Ibushi doing the Boma Ye. ***3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA

"The Takeover, the breaks over"... ♫ This was EXACTLY what I wanted it to be. KENTA as the brutal asshole invader taking on the home-promotion legend ace is such a compelling dynamic, and in many ways, it's puro at its purest & best. The staredown during the entrances is intense, and then as the bell rings, things get more intense after every moment. The stiff SLAP from KENTA during the clean break spot, Tana giving a receipt, Tana's aggressive & proud air guitar playing stopped by KENTA's lil kick to the back of his head.. My GOODNESS. Things are escalating at an incredible rate. Then as they take their fight to the outside, KENTA cements control by absolutely brutalizing Tana with kicks & a DDT on the floor. There's this great shot of KENTA's face in there where he has a complete mean-bastard-killer look. The show is his after that outside destruction - he continues beating the shit out of Tanahashi in an absolutely brutal fashion, and it's amazing. Him doing the classic kneepad pull-down spot to him was something that was expected, but oh man, the whole vibe & the setting of him vs. NJPW's golden boy added so much to that spot. Also him corner dropkicking the soul out of Tana's body with Shibata smiling is something I won't forget anytime soon. Other very memorable sequence was the slap one where Tana delivers two dramatic slaps in classic Tana fashion, but KENTA counters the third one with one of his own, followed by his vintage spinning lariat. And the whole PK sequence. Chills when he went for that, and then we he actually hit it - holy shit. This was so great. Like I said; exactly what I wanted it to be. Both guys delivered big with Tana being the fantastic ace babyface that he is with his emotional selling & dramatic comebacks, and that boy KENTA? He sure showed that he indeed is FUCKING KENTA! ****1/2

AEW with a yet another hit; FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN

Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc & Joey Janela vs. MJF, Sammy Guevara & Shawn Spears

Very fun opener with good energy & action. Darby was awesome as usual, Guevara was good as well with his cocky athleticism, all the Spears-MJF bits were pretty funny & I thought that Havoc kicked serious ass throughout. He definitely was the MVP of the thing in my eyes. ***

Allie vs. Brandi Rhodes

This was perfectly fine, and better than it looked on paper. Allie was a very good babyface & Brandi was solid in her heel role as well. Easy to watch & pretty enjoyable. **3/4

A Boy & His Dinosaur vs. Angelico & Jack Evans vs. The Dark Order

The Dark Order are unsurprisingly awesome. Their times on the offense are all real good. Also really enjoyed Luchasaurus just throwing all these smaller fools around like it's nothing + Jungle Boy served as a very solid FIP. Love Angelico & especially Jack Evans, but it definitely felt like they didn't belong here, as they pretty much did nothing of note in the entire thing. Actually the most memorable thing about them here was Marko Stunt's interference bit with Evans looking like a real idiot standing on the top waiting REAL LONG for him to do his move. That took me out of the match for a second, but overall it was very good fun. ***1/4

Adam Page vs. Kip Sabian

Ended up really loving this. It had somewhat of a slower, sluggish pace to it; Hangman was a real stud throughout with his great offense, and they told a nice lil story of Kip Sabian being eaten alive at first, but then slowly coming back, only to be destroyed again, and then coming back again. Lots of great singular moments like the moonsault from Page, the swinging neckbreaker from the top, the absolutely hellacious powerbomb to the outside, Sabian's dragon screw on the ropes to Page's hurt knee. ***1/2

SoCal Uncensored vs. The Lucha Brothers

Lots of shtick to start this off, but once they actually start going at it, it's very good & never lets up. Fast pace, high energy, quality action. Really liked Daniels' involvement & Pentagon Jr. sure proved to be one helluva hot tag here. ***1/2

CIMA vs. Kenny Omega

The one negative in this is that CIMA's knee selling was incredibly spotty at best, but I truly enjoyed everything except that, so this was still very good, BUT goddamn if he had sold more, it more than likely would've been GREAT. Oh well. But like I mentioned, there was still plenty to love here, as they definitely brought the goods; everything was explosive & vicious, especially everything Kenny did, and his times on the offense were definitely the best parts of the thing. That snap dragon suplex, leg lariat to the back of the head, his suplexes, V-Trigger etc -- all an absolute joy to watch. That spot where he caught & threw CIMA into the corner when he tried to top-rope meteora him was so awesome too. And the actual kneework was pretty great as well. If only there was more selling! Definitely a quality performance by Omega all around. ***1/2

The Brotherhood vs. The Young Bucks

This was the clear MOTN in my eyes. Dustin is a legendary FIP, and while he sure was what I enjoyed the most about it, The Bucks sure can work a compelling heat segment too. Them being total douchebags to the Rhodes Bros, mocking their big DoN moment + constantly taunting them & even spitting at Cody was a lot of fun. Cody himself is a very good hot tag, and the Brotherhood gaining control & working the crap out of Matt's shoulder was really great, I thought. Nice stomps, kicks & holds to it, and I especially loved the hard irish whip by Dustin as he threw Matt into the corner shoulder-first. Matt sells pretty excellently throughout as well. Now after Nick's hot tag (which was good btw), the match kicks into its more 50/50 finishing gear, and that is where the length of it is starts to feel, as it does drag. It's still good action, but it's pretty much what makes this match very good, borderline great, rather than just straight up great. ***3/4

G1 DAY 2

Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & KENTA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ren Narita & Shota UminoI usually ignore the G1 undercards, but this looked absolutely BANGING on paper, so had to peep it out. Wasn't disappointed at all! This was indeed a banger, with all 4 young lions being awesome, bringing the fire with their scrappy & hungry exchanges. The KENTA vs. Tanahashi showdown was really awesome as well - they did such a great job building their big singles meeting, and there was this nice feeling of a cross-promotional meeting between two top guys from different worlds. Really good stuff all around. Well worth the watch. ***1/2

Juice Robinson vs. Shingo Takagi

This built pretty fantastically from start to finish with both guys getting plenty of time to shine. Shingo got to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with in his G1 debut, and Juice was his usual great self. Plenty of hard hitting, actually VERY compelling strikes, and equally compelling bombs. One terrific nearfall in particular also. Awesome match. ***1/2

Jon Moxley vs. Taichi

This banged. This banged hard. Best match of the night. Taichi's pre-match attack was vicious & set-up what was about to come perfectly, because that made Moxley even more physical & vicious than usual. It's hard to explain perfectly, but for me, this had such an authentic & somewhat chaotic feel to it. Pure physicality & brutality all the way through. ***3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano

These two play so well off of each others personalities. It's your usual fun Yano antics with Naito answering to them with some games of his own, and it rules. The finish is so damn great too w/ Yano going extra THIEF MODE to get the win. There's some real SHIRT psychology in it too, with Naito being so adamant about wrestling in a shirt when the match started, but then that same shirt costing him the match. Yano is next level, lads. ***1/2

 

Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii

These kind of matches with million forearms, chops & suplexes have lost some of their charm to me, but this was still good. There is no doubting that the strikes came off as pretty deadly, and Ishii's selling was real good throughout. ***

 

Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White

This was very enjoyable. Jay's work on top was pretty compelling for the most part w/ him targeting Goto's neck throughout. He came off as a real arrogant bastard with his cocky facial expressions & constant trashtalking, too. Goto's big comeback towards the end was really good as well, as was the whole finishing run. Good match. ***1/4

Slammiversary '19 Makes it 2 years in a row!

Jake Crist vs. TJP vs. Trey vs. Willie Mack

Fun spotfest opener with good energy & fast pace. Everybody got some of their shit in, and I especially dug TJP's submissions, which were a nice twist for the thing. ***

LAX vs. The North vs. The Rascalz

This was a helluva sprint with explosive action from bell-to-bell. Everyone involved looked very good, even The Rascalz who I do not usually like at all with their generic indy offense. Loved this. ***1/2

Eddie Edwards vs. Killer Kross

Good brawl with the two beating the crap out of one another. That's the whole thing summed up, pretty much. Good stuff. ***

Moose vs. Rob Van Dam

Easily the weakest match on the whole show. Dragged on way too long and neither man offered much interesting stuff in their respective roles. *3/4

Havok vs. Rosemary vs. Su Yung vs. Taya Valkyrie

Awesome chaotic violence all the way through! Everybody got time to shine & looked pretty great as the result. GREAT use of all the weapon gimmicks too throughout. ***1/2

Johnny Impact vs. Rich Swann

Impact rules as the cocky & confident bad guy - his trashtalking & arrogant facial expressions were awesome. Really loved the whole John Bravo inclusion too - all the classic cheating stuff was super enjoyable & had a fun payoff w/ Swann wiping him out towards the end. Good match. ***1/4

Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin

I never in a million years would've thought that I'd end up LOVING a match between these two, but here we are. This kicked so much ass. The beginning perfectly sets up the pace for what's about to come, as they collide in explosive fashion right from the get go. From that moment on, it's just borderline balls-to-the-walls bombfest action with the two, especially Big Mike, brutalizing one another in very compelling fashion. The length was just about perfect for the way they went with it, too. An absolutely awesome match with a big A. ***3/4

Sami Callihan vs. Tessa Blanchard

They naturally go with Callihan doing most of the work on top, while Tessa fights from underneath. It proves to be a winning dynamic with both rocking their roles pretty greatly the whole way through - Callihan is an awesome evil & brutal sleazebag while Tessa rules with her fiery & intense babyface work. The way the thing progresses with Sami at first being real cocky about his brutalization, to ultimately being shocked & low-key desperate about not being able to put Tessa away, is great stuff. The piledriver kickout perfectly showed that progression, and was probably my favorite moment of the entire match. Very, very good stuff overall. ***3/4

ENTER THE G1 29

Lance Archer vs. Will Ospreay

This starts off with beautiful energy & explosiveness, as Ospreay is all FIRED UP & goes for the kill right away, but eventually Archer of course catches him & cements control in kick-ass fashion w/ the chokeslam through the table. Then it's pretty much Archer on on top, completely dominating Ospreay with his awesome power moves. It was a winning dynamic in their Cup match earlier in the year, and it's a winning dynamic here as well. Ospreay is pretty great at getting rag dolled, and Archer was rock solid doing the said rag dolling. That POUNCE spot was awesome. I do think the match loses some of its energy & urgency as it goes - it does drag a bit by the end, but not too much for it to not be a good one overall. On par w/ that Cup match. ***1/4

Bad Luck Fale vs. EVIL

I actually enjoyed this. Very nice brawling start, followed by Fale on top, which I also enjoy & then an awesome comeback rally by EVIL w/ them lariats & all. Very solid match. **3/4

SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

I really like the dynamic between SANADA & Zack - in their little rivalry, they've made this awesome story of SANADA very much matching Zack's submissions & counters, and sometimes even besting him. That's what the match was all about here, and it was really damn good. Kind of a "technical wrestling" spotfest in many ways, but they also got some pretty focused gameplans going - Zack started to target the arm after the best-bit-of-the-match in the Paradise Lock attempt into a pretty vicious looking Armbar spot. SANADA also made sure to do some damage to Zack's neck throughout. Both guys sell those in subtle lil' moments. It's very charming stuff all around. ZSJ vs. SANADA is definitely a quality pairing. ***3/4

KENTA vs. Kota Ibushi

Anyone expecting a crazy fast paced sprint hasn't been watching KENTA in the past 10 years. To quote one of my favorite songs from 2018 - "it ain't 2009 no more". Overall KENTA didn't look much different at all than as Hideo Itami, but what I thought made a huge difference was how brutal his kicks were. I remember watching his match vs. Mustafa Ali & thinking how ridiculous Ali's HBK at SummerSlam 05 bumping & selling looked when all of Hideo's offense looked light as a feather. Here I definitely didn't have to worry about that though. KENTA kicked the shit out of Ibushi with disgustingly brutal sounding & looking kicks. Ibushi sure got the shit beaten out of him overall in the match, and he was extremely compelling taking that beating; selling & bumping fantastically all the way through. He made all of KENTA's strikes look like true shotgun shots. Oh & I definitely loved the vintage KENTA troll spot where he pulls down his knee pad, only for him to kick Ibushi in the side of his head. Always a joy to see that. They even made the generic puro forearm trading pretty amazing, with their facial expressions (especially Ibushi's) adding a ton. Great match! Terrific showcase for KENTA's style of wrestling in his G1 debut. ****

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

Aye, they pretty much played the hits here, and it resulted in their best G1 meeting probably since the original one from 2013. Very nice urgency right from the start, and it never really lets up. Some VERY brief legwork by Tana, which doesn't get sold, but I can forgive that since Tana wasn't very focused on the attack, thankfully. Very good bombfest fun. With it being in the US, it had a nice different vibe to it too. ***1/2

PWG 200: Brody King vs Darby, Gresham vs Starr

Brody King vs. Darby Allin

Darby does Darby, which is always very enjoyable. The Coffin Drop from the balcony was pretty nuts. Where this match fails to connect with me though is Brody King's work on top. He dominated a lot, but he just wasn't any interesting with it. After watching the thing a couple of days ago, I fail to remember pretty much ANYTHING he did. **

David Starr vs. Jonathan Gresham

Gresham targets the arm, Starr targets the neck. Both sell well, with Starr in particular selling REALLY well - my favorite moment of the match actually comes from him selling during his Crossface spot. Good stuff, BUT I do think it wasn't as compelling as it could've & probably should've been, because the whole dynamic of dueling bodypart targeting (w/ good selling too!) is right up my alley. ***

WWE TV goodness by Bryan, Big E, Grimes & Swerve

WWE SmackDown 07/02/19: Big E vs. Daniel Bryan

These two have always had a very compelling chemistry with each other in their past multi-man meetings, so I was pretty excited for this. And they sure delivered the goods. Good stuff with Big E getting a proper shine, dominating with his superior power game. He very much runs wild, brother, until Bryan chop blocks his knee & that becomes a target of his assault. Bryan's work is of course goddamn awesome w/ brutal holds & vicious kicks - one of the standout spots for me was when Big E tried to rally up a comeback, Bryan delivers a lethal kick to the knee to stop it. Brilliant stuff there. Big E's selling of the knee during his actual comebacks is pretty spotty, but it isn't WOAT-tier, as he still shows some signs of damage done, and they keep the match pretty short n' tight, so it doesn't end up being anything offensive. Overall this was very much the good shit. ***1/2

WWE NXT 07/03/19: Cameron Grimes vs. Isaiah Scott

I usually don't like Swerve at all, and much of this match is designed to be his showcase, but with it being non-indy, he tones down a lot of the annoying stuff he usually does, so he actually comes off as pretty good here. Some of the stuff he did actually was pretty unique, in an awesome way! And of course there is GRIMES. My boy. Was marking out for everything he did - he got to show off all his signature stuff & establish himself as the smash-mouth technical savage that he is. Hell to the yeah. Loved this. ***1/2