Dijakovic/Lee, G.O.D./Briscoes X2

WWE NXT 08/28/19: Dominik Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee

Dijak & Lee getting their biggest spotlight yet on WWE TV — I think I actually prefer their February NXT TV match a bit more, but this was still good. They showcased their freaky athleticism to get the crowd going absolute bonkers, and they clobbered each other like they always do. Not one of their best matches against one another, but a yet another good chapter added to their competitive rivalry. ***

ROH Manhattan Mayhem: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Briscoes

Love the naturally chaotic & heated vibe the thing has the entire way through. Really adds that extra something to the already wonderfully brutal action between the teams. Great use of all the weapons too. Awesome match. ***3/4

ROH Summer Supercard: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Briscoes

I already loved their Street Fight, but this was on another level. Amazing violence from start to finish with a natural chaotic & heated feel to it. Mark Briscoe is still a crazy bastard in 2019, Tama Tonga had a few superb spots w/ his sneaky attacks (that dropkick to Mark which sent him over the barricade + that cutter as Mark was climbing the ladder) & Jay mothafuggen' Briscoe. I recommended this match to a friend right after watching it, and his response was "are GOD matches allowed to be good" -- well, when you have Jay rocking the crimson mask like it's 2004 vs. Samoa Joe in a Steel Cage, then I'd say yeah, it's allowed. We'll see how it holds up when I do a MOTYC re-watch before the year ends, but on first watch, this is totally up there w/ the best ROH ladder wars. One of the finest pieces of pro-rasslin in 2019. ****1/2

wXw in Toronto: Thatcher/Ishikawa II, Daisuke/WALTER

wXw Toronto: Timothy Thatcher vs. Yuki Ishikawa

Not as great as their AMBITION SUPER FIGHT, but not many matches are tbh. And they sure still brought a lot of the goods here with some really good grappling & vicious strikes. ***1/2

wXw Toronto: Daisuke Sekimoto vs. WALTER

These two are a hit together, and while this was far from their best match, it was still very enjoyable & good. WALTER did most of the work on top while Daisuke fought from underneath, and both guys definitely delivered in their roles. ***1/4

CATCH UPpings: Triplemania, Gulak/Oney

AAA Triplemania XXVII: Cain Velasquez, Cody & Psycho Clown vs. Los Mercenarios & Killer Kross

Absolutely loving the randomness of the line-up here. Obviously the main selling point of the match is the debut of the one Cain Velasquez, someone who's fan I've been for quite a while. He got a lot of the match to shine, showcasing his very MMA-based offense w/ them strikes, throws & submissions + some very non-MMA based offense in the flippy stuff he busted out! Was quite the sight seeing Cain do all that. He looked pretty good out there overall. Def a good pro-wrestling debut for the man. Fun match. ***

AAA Triplemania XXVII: Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr.

An intense & dramatic bloodbath. Two old men beating the absolute shit out of each other & brutalizing one another with everything they can get their hands on. ****

WWE 205 Live 08/13/19: Drew Gulak vs. Oney Lorcan

Dragged a lot by the end, and the work in the match wasn't quite as compelling as I was hoping for. Some gnarly shots to the throat & all - the match was pretty solid overall, but yeah, I'd lie if I said I didn't expect something better from a match between Drew Gulak & Oney Lorcan. **3/4

SmackDown brings one of the finest matches of 2019

WWE SmackDown 08/20/19: Buddy Murphy vs. Daniel Bryan

Fantastic. Bryan is incredible punishing Murphy - his trashtalk rules, and the little pre-match promo only added for what was about to happen. The way he started to stretch Murphy some more after he refused to give up to the LeBell Lock was so great too, and even his kicks looked & sounded harder than usual. Amazing stuff all around by him, and Murphy definitely was real good himself too. The way he pushed the pace with his explosive offense bursts was awesome, and a real great contrast to Bryan's style. They meshed so well together -- the two definitely proved to have wonderful chemistry with one another in their first meeting. An absolutely terrific underdog story w/ superb energy all the way through. ****1/4

CATCHING UP (Murphy/Reigns, Thatcher in MLW, Kingston/WALTER...)

WWE SmackDown 08/13/19: Buddy Murphy vs. Roman Reigns

The good ol' classic tale of a relative no-name pushing the top dog to the absolute limit. Murphy & Reigns told that story pretty well for sure - it could’ve been better, but it also could’ve been way less interesting too. Definitely a very solid TV meeting if nothing else. Good to see Murphy get such a spotlight on him. **3/4

MLW Fusion #69: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher

Exactly how a match between the two would look like. Lots of awesome grappling, some limb targeting strategies, and eventually the match becomes more of a slug & bomb -trading battle with them looking for that one big move to put away one another with. It's all very, very enjoyable stuff. Always love watching Thatcher do his thing & Davey Boy Jr. was a very solid opponent for him. ***1/2

PROGRESS Chapter 91: Eddie Kingston vs. WALTER

The most interesting looking PROGRESS match in a long ass time. 'twas a good match, but I think it also suffered a little from the crazy expectations I had for it in my head. Good stuff all around with Eddie being a hard hitting underdog & WALTER being the dominant force that he is, but also selling really well for Kingston's comebacks when it came time for that. Never seemed to click into a 2nd gear, so it wasn't anything special, which is something it could've been based on how it looks on paper, but it was a good match & def worth a watch. ***1/4

TakeOver Toronto: I am definitely NOT gonna watch Cole & Gargano go an hour

TakeOver: Toronto: Street Profits vs. The Undisputed Era

The usual Undisputed Era tag formula here, but for whatever reason it just didn't click or resonate with me at all. I like both teams but neither were interesting at all in this match w/ their work. The match definitely dragged too with its length. **

TakeOver: Toronto: Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai

Both gave rock solid performances -- Candice with her babyface from underneath work is always good, and Io got to establish her new heel persona very well. Good match & it's very good to see both of the two get a big TakeOver spotlight to wrestle under, for sure. ***1/4

TakeOver: Toronto: Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong vs. Velveteen Dream

Roddy tried his best to make this somewhat enjoyable, but this was just an absolutely awful match. Dream did nothing of note, and Dunne brought things down big time with his complete shit looking offense -- dude threw some of the worst pro-wrestling punches, or strikes in general, that I've seen. *3/4

G1 Day 18 & FINALS

G1 Day 18: Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Absolutely ZERO shenanigans by Taichi, as he is out to fully prove that he can hang with Ishii without any of his usual fuckery. It creates for a nice lil' story for the match, and all in all, it's a real good smack & bombfest. Definitely tighter & better than their Cup + Dominion matches too. Absolute banger with amazing atmosphere. ***3/4

G1 Day 18: Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson

Really liked how Juice put away all the weapons Moxley tried to bring into the thing, refusing to let the tables & all come into play, having learned from their first meeting. Moxley's attack on the knee rules too, and damn that STF he busted out towards the end looked absolutely fantastic. Thought the whole finishing stretch after that STF-blackout-tease -bit was really good as well, and it very well capped off a real damn good match. ***3/4

G1 Day 18: Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi

This was painfully uninteresting, dull & boring until the last 5 or something minutes. The pace, urgency & overall energy picks up in those last few minutes, and it's pretty good stuff, but for the majority of the 15 minutes Goto & Shingo went, this was a complete bore, straight up. **1/4

G1 Day 18: Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito

Not as dramatic or 'epic' as some of the more general-consensus-highly-regarded block finals of the last few years, but I thought this was a very good match. White was the usual shithead that he is, and Naito was more than happy to return to favor by also acting like a dick to him. Nice character clash there, and the actual in-ring action is them working over each others necks in very enjoyable fashion. Very good stuff all around. Strong tournament closer for Naito & watching this now after the tournament has ended, I definitely think it also perfectly set-up for what was about to come in the finals between White & Ibushi. ***1/2

G1 FINALS: Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi

I actually watched this two times in a row, just because of how in awe I was of the whole thing after the 1st viewing. There's so much that I loved about it, or actually, I could just say that I loved EVERYTHING about it, tbh. Even the entrances are amazing with White & the entire Bullet Club being together, and then Ibushi walking down all alone to the ring to see that corner of pure evil. White has been a tremendous piece of shit all tournament long, and it all showed again here w/ a fantastic performance -- his trashtalk was awesome & I can't praise his facial expressions enough. The moment where he triggers Ibushi into that classic Ibushi murder-mode w/ that slap was so epic, and a major part in why was the tremendous character work by White with those facial expressions. The Gedo run-in is done masterfully too, with it adding lots of more heat to the already super-heated battle, and then his whole tournament long shtick paying off with Ibushi kicking his head off & Rocky carrying him out of the ring. AMAZING STUFF. Really felt like a proper climax to the tournament that G1 29 had been. Ahh, so good! There's so much more I could say about it, but let's just sum this up by saying it's the NJPW MOTY & a bonafide G1 (& NJPW) classic. ****1/2

G1 Day 17: IBUSHIIIII

KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

This was such a gritty battle between KENTA's strikes & Zack's submissions. Both of those said elements looked viciously awesome throughout, and all in all, this was an extremely good & compelling match. ***3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay

Real interesting to watch this after having seen the match between AJ Styles & Ricochet from SummerSlam, because both had the same story going for them inside the ring w/ the veteran taking out the flippy fellas leg, but the difference between this & that AJ vs. Ricochet match is that unlike Ricochet, Ospreay didn't sell that leg much at all. That took some enjoyment out of the thing for me, but it was still a good match, as Tana brought it with everything he did -- whether he was selling for Ospreay or doing damage to that leg, he was awesome. Not a surprise there. More selling from Billy & this would've been pretty great rather than "just good". ***

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi

Quite similar to Okada's excellent match vs. SANADA in that it builds so excellently from the opening minutes to the molten hot action that was the last 5. Okada's performance was real spirited overall, with him showcasing great cocky ace work in the beginning, and then showing some somewhat rare pure fire later on in the bout. Ibushi's performance is wonderful as well -- much like in the great match vs. Tana, he brings his pure passion here into everything he does, and it translates perfectly. What a FANTASTIC match. ****

The interesting stuff from G1 Days 15 & 16!

Day 15: Lance Archer vs. SANADA

Very basic layout with Archer dominating for the most part, and SANADA sneaking in some stuff, playing the part of the smaller underdog. It's not bad, but very, very uneventful & nothing that I will remember when thinking about the tournament. **

Day 15: KENTA vs. Will Ospreay

Good match. They played off of each others styles pretty well w/ KENTA slowing things down, blasting Ospreay with them kicks & tiring him down with them holds, and then Ospreay bringing his high energy flips to counter that. This honestly sounds even better than it was when writing about it, and I sure hope it ain't the last time we see them tangle it up. ***

Day 15: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Definitely liked this a bit better than their IC title match from April. They did their usual with Zack being nasty & up-in-your-face with his submissions, and Ibushi bringing the explosiveness in his offense bits. It's good stuff for sure, but far from their best match against one another. ***1/4

Day 16: Hirooki Goto vs. Jon Moxley

This was a helluva nice sprint. Mostly a total smackfest, but just like in the Ishii match, Moxley brings his own unique brand of violence into the thing, which keeps the bout charmingly fresh all the way through. ***1/2

Day 16: Jay White vs. Juice Robinson

This had a real good first third, dull middle, and then a pretty damn great last third. The main focus of the match was White's attack on Juice's leg, and young Switchblade is viciously focused & compelling with it. Really liked how it came back into play in that last third of the match too, especially with that awesome chop block spot. With a more interesting middle section, this could've been great, but even with them losing me for a while there, it was still a real good one overall. ***1/2

Day 16: Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

You know exactly what you're getting with these two, even when they haven't faced each other before. It's 20+ minutes full of nasty hits & gnarly bombs, with it getting more intense & dramatic as it goes on. Some really good selling too by both guys. Definitely not my favorite kind of a match, but Shingo & Ishii certainly did it in WAY more interesting fashion than Ishii & Goto, for an example. ***1/2

SUMMERSLAM

Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

Certainly wasn't expecting this to be the absolute banger that it ended up being, but I'm definitely here for it! Highly energetic, heated, intense action all the way through with some nice limb targeting, solid selling & very good struggle in everything they do -- just really great use of the submission gimmick stipulation all around. ***3/4

Dolph Ziggler vs. Goldberg

SO MUCH FUN. Everything from Ziggler's pre-match promo, to him catching big Bill off guard w/ the Superkick(s), to his amazing bump for Goldberg's first Spear, to the post-match promos, calling Billy a DIPSHIT & all. Pretty amazing stuff. Such an entertaining overall package. ***3/4

AJ Styles vs. Ricochet

Ricochet does a pretty solid job selling his worked over leg while still busting out his exciting highflying offense. Styles is very compelling working over that leg too, as he brings his usual, awesome viciousness into everything he does. Also a great finish to cap things off, instantly brought me back to AJ vs. Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight strap. ***1/2

Bayley vs. Ember Moon

**

Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon

This built to such a satisfying climax with Owens getting his payback on Elias & especially Shane after all the bullshit he had been going through in the build & then in the match. Even with all of the stuff that could be argued as overbooking, I thought this was extremely fun. ***1/2

Charlotte Flair vs. Trish Stratus

The parallels to Gail Kim vs. Tessa Blanchard are uncanny, and this was about as good when it comes to its quality. Charlotte carried things with her strong work all around -- she was very solid on top, dominating with some vicious looking offense, all the while talking trash at the same time. Thought that her selling of Trish's Figure-4 into Figure-8 was absolutely awesome as well. Good match. ***1/4

Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton

** 

The Fiend vs. Finn Bálor

**

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

I loved & hated Rollins' performance at the same time. I really dug his bumping + his comeback bursts were filled with superb energy & urgency, but what I hated was his complete lack of mid-section selling during those said comebacks. If he had sold more, this could've & probably would've been a top-10 match of the year candidate, but alas, it is what it is. Still a GREAT match though, and easily one of Rollins' best ones ever. ****

Day 14 of the G1 Climax (short, need to catch up)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano

Felt like a better version of their 2018 meeting. Ishii pushes & forces Yano into showing what he really got under all of those comedy tricks, and it results in super fun action. Ishii's selling is otherworldly & Yano busting out them takedowns and lariats is a treat. A G1 gem. ***3/4

Juice Robinson vs. Taichi
***

Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb

***1/2

Jay White vs. Jon Moxley

This ruled. Mox was really awesome with his whole chaotic brawling mixed with viciously focused technique -style, and White continues to deliver brilliant heel performances. Very exciting, quality stuff. ***3/4

Shingo Takagi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Two stablemates brutalizing one another for nearly 30-minutes. Doesn't drag at all, and the whole story between Shingo & Naito made sure that everything felt even more compelling than it would've been had it just been a "random" meeting without any of that said history. ***3/4

G1 Day 13 - everything rules except...

Bad Luck Fale vs. KENTA

KENTA sets up the tone for this as he, in a classic KENTA move, delivers a slap to Fale's face before the bell rings. He runs wild with them strikes for a hot minute, until they switch the control to Fale via Jado kendo shenanigans. I thought it was a solid way to give Fale the control indeed, and Fale was good on top, with him softening KENTA's back up w/ his big man work. Very good performances by both, and an absolute hit of a match, all in all. ***1/2

Lance Archer vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

VERY good & fun stuff all the way through with Archer largely dominating with his power game, but Zack making the best out of any & every opening he got, constantly going for those submissions. ***1/2

EVIL vs. Will Ospreay

The only tournament match of the night that didn't rock my world. Extremely generic New Japan style epic-match counter sequences & big movez -- didn't care for most of it at all, but I definitely thought the whole finishing stretch was legitimately pretty breathtaking, but also silly with them counters at the same time. **

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi 

Unsurprisingly Tana did target Ibushi's knee, but thankfully it didn't last long & it was FAR from the main point of the match. Everything else apart from that kneework & the bad selling of it was absolutely fantastic. The match was charged with so much pride & passion + the perfect amount of drama that it can't be denied. Maybe their best match against each other, even. ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA

I think most of New Japan, and specifically Okada, main events go much longer than they need to, so I was definitely not very excited about the prospect of him & SANADA going just about 30-minutes, BUT this was an exceptionally great New Japan main event. They had built a great story for the match, and the way it built inside that ring from the opening minutes to the unbelievably hot drama that was the last 10 or so, was simply fantastic. ****

G1 Day 12: MOX vs. YTR

Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi

Fun start to the match with Cobb completely owning Shingo, leading to Shingo going for the knee to weaken Cobb down. He basically targeted the knee to get more even in the strike & bomb exchanges, which was a nice strategy, and it created for a good match. ***

Jon Moxley vs. Toru Yano

This was the best match of the night. Just SO MUCH FUN with all the Yano shenanigans & Moxley being the perfect opponent to go against those. ***1/2

Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito

These two have very good chemistry with each other, so it's not surprising that this was a good match. Good back & forth, with some pretty brutal bombs & strikes + fun playing off of each others personalities. ***

Jay White vs. Taichi

I really like both guys, but this sure wasn't it, chief. Felt long as hell, took very long to get somewhat going, and even when it did do that, it still wasn't interesting at all. No compelling hook to the thing, so to say. Very, very boring stuff. *

Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

I feel like I have seen this match a million times, and I feel very confident in saying that for me it's definitely one of the most tired match-ups in the entire New Japan. It was about as uninteresting as expected, with them doing the usual strikes & bombs routine, this time with a little slower pace than usual since they were in the main event spot. I guess the finishing stretch was pretty nice, but all in all, this was indeed very, very dull. *3/4

G1 Day 11

Bad Luck Fale vs. Kota Ibushi

Their 2017 G1 meeting is easily one of Fale's best matches - maybe even THE best one. This one wasn't quite on that level, but was still an extremely enjoyable bout. Fale dominates most of it, with some very good monster work. He mauls Ibushi down, and does a pretty damn good job at it. He even brings some nice psychology into the thing by making most of his onslaught target Ibushi's mid-section, even busting out a good ol' bearhug in there. Ibushi's kick heavy comebacks of course rule as well, making this a very strong little match overall. ***1/4

Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Zack is pretty great here, and the easy highlight of the whole thing is his attack on Ospreay's neck. He is real vicious with them kicks, stomps & holds towards the neck. It's lovely. Ospreay doesn't do much at all for me on the offense, and there's a few straight up annoying moments with him like that cringe FIRED UP-bit with him putting on an "angry" face & all, BUT thankfully Zack kicked so much ass here that it's a good match overall for sure. ***

Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer

Archer gets put over pretty big by dominating Okada for most of the match, and he sure is real solid with his work. That rope walk moonsault was pretty neat. Okada on the other hand wasn't in his most interesting form with his comebacks, but I did think he sold very well for the big man throughout. Good match! ***

KENTA vs. SANADA

I enjoyed the ALL CAPS battle very much. Was actually my favorite tournament match of the night - KENTA was real good as the cocky heel just kicking & smacking the crap out of SANADA, and SANADA was a real good babyface himself. ***1/2

EVIL vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

The centerpiece of this match was the dueling legwork, which of course gets completely no sold by both wrestlers, rendering it meaningless. Other than that legwork, its your usual generic big match wrasslin' with bombs all the way through. It could've definitely been interesting if the legwork had somewhat mattered, but since it didn't, the match just felt extremely hollow. *