A very noteworthy SmackDown; Reigns/KO, Bryan/Uso, Zayn/E

 

WWE SMACKDOWN 12/25/20


Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns
Didn't care for their TLC match much at all, and I'd put this on about same level. Not a bad match; by all means it was a solid bomb-heavy slugger, but Owens & Reigns certainly aren't the most interesting ones doing that kind of stuff, or any stuff really, making it an extremely forgettable match all in all other than the fact that it's a Steel Cage World Championship match on a weekly show. **

Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso
This is the best of the three singles matches they've had against each other this year. The pre-match attack by Jey set the tone for Bryan to be the underdog in this match, and as everybody should know, that man sure can rock that role magnificently. That he did, and I also thought that Jey's performance working on top was rock-solid. He had some nice, nasty & vicious moments in there. There's also a few good bits where they tease the Bryan comeback, only for Jey to not let that happen, and it made the eventual moment when the big comeback started feel all the more better & bigger. The comeback was great, and I loved the leg-injury after Bryan dumped Jey outside -- brought some nice focus to Bryan's attack, and I in particular really liked him transitioning from the LeBell Lock to the half crab. The scrap on the mat which lead to the finish was also absolutely awesome. Just a really good match all around. ***1/2

Big E vs. Sami Zayn
The whole build-up has been really fun as the two characters involved clash with each other so wonderfully, and I thought this match played out almost perfectly according to those two factors; the characters & the build. Zayn delivered another strong heel performance, and one moment in particular that I really liked was the eye-poke one; he really came off as 'the master strategist' with the way he dragged that ring-skirt into the ring so the ref would get distracted & he could deliver the thumb to the eye. Big E powering, throwing him around was good stuff as well, and overall the lumberjack gimmick was worked really well into the bout. A very good, fun, feel-good match. ***1/4

WWE TLC 2020

 

WWE TLC 12/20/20


Big E, Chad Gable, Daniel Bryan & Otis vs. Cesaro, King Corbin, Sami Zayn & Shinsuke Nakamura
A pretty damn packed match-up on paper, and it sure was a pretty fun one. Fun exchanges between Cesaro & Gable + Cesaro & Bryan early on, good continuity of the Zayn vs. Big E story w/ their interactions being awesome, and I also like the Otis n' Gable pairing in my first time watching them together. ***

AJ Styles vs. Drew McIntyre vs. The Miz
This was actually so great. I could just sum it up by saying that Drew McIntyre throwing AJ Styles around like a small child is so much fun & AJ countering that bulldozer-work by going after the bigger man's knee is some extremely good professional wrasslin'. McIntyre's selling was pretty outstanding throughout the whole thing, and AJ had his big match boots on - to say the least - as far as selling & bumping of his own goes. A total match made in Heaven, those two are or at least were here. The last third w/ The Miz cashing in that briefcase wasn't as flat-out amazing as the singles match it "followed" (if you can call it like that?), but I thought it was also solid, and they played it very nicely into the finishing stretch of the match w/ the 3-way gimmick bringing some nice flavor into the ladder/TLC match trope of climbing & fighting on top of the ladder(s). ****

Carmella vs. Sasha Banks
This was solid. Nothing blow-away or close to it, but Carmella looked probably the best I can recall her looking in there, and Sasha was solid as always. The match got better & better and more exciting as it went on too. **1/2

Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
This was some rock-solid tag team action from bell-to-bell. Nothing very memorable in the grand scheme of things, but a strong, good match nonetheless. ***

Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
Not all that interesting, but solid enough action from start to finish. The highlights surely were the interactions between Asuka & Shayna, as those two easily were the performers w/ the most interesting output here. **

Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns
There's no denying the punishment these two (especially Owens, who always goes nuts in matches involving ladders) took; they put on a match that played to its gimmick very nicely w/ quite a few visually impressive spots. I didn't care for the absolute majority of it, though. The slow-flow it was on, which is something all of Reigns matches do these days, just didn't grab my attention at all + all the run-ins by Uso didn't interest me either. With that being said, it certainly isn't a bad match. If you like this type of matches in general, you'll probably really like this one. **

Randy Orton vs. The Fiend
No idea lads, no idea.

PETER Dunne vs Kyle O'Reilly

 

WWE NXT 12/16/20

Kyle O'Reilly vs. Pete Dunne
Had to watch this one after really loving their Ladder match a few weeks prior. That match was creative & just a lot of dumb fun, which both are things I can’t say about this one. Boring, soulless, more-of-the-same action which seemed to be designed to get those Fight Forever and This Is Awesome chants going, all without a true hook or a compelling catch to it. Of course it also dragged as a result, because when the action is that dull, it only can & WILL drag. Stuff like the beginning “scrap” & their version of the Nigel-Bryan post-spot was just bad. *1/2

Kenny vs Laredo Kid in AAA

 

AAA TRIPLEMANIA XXVIII 12/12/20

Kenny Omega vs. Laredo Kid
There's some nice charm to this kind of a "Kenny Omega as the touring champ" type of match, and him as a base for an exciting luchador works more than well, so this definitely looked to be a promising match-up already on paper. I thought it was a real good match. Kenny pretty much brutalized Laredo Kid any moment he got a chance to do so, including big spots on the apron & the guardrail. Very enjoyable work by him on the offense in all of its viciousness. Laredo Kid also delivered with his fun lucha moves, but what I liked the most about him in this match was the legwork; the way he started it early, and especially the way it came into play in the closing stages of the match w/ terrific amounts of great drama, it was pretty great stuff all in all. Kenny's selling was also on point; they milked those what-I-assume-are Laredo Kid's signature submissions extremely well. ***1/2

NJPW BOSJ Finals - Desperado vs. Hiromu

 

NJPW Best of the Super Jr. XXVII 12/11/20

El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Much of the match is centered around El Desperado's work on Hiromu's knee, and I thought he did a nice job targeting it & Hiromu sold it well enough throughout. It was kind of the usual NJPW bodypart-selling, with him still hitting his movez & all, but I thought he sold it really well in some bigger, key moments & Despy's work towards it wasn't ALL that vicious, so it probably didn't require much more dramatic selling. Other than that legwork, there's also of course some good, explosive bombs à la Hiromu Takahashi showcased through it all, and it's indeed good stuff. The whole unmasking sequence was also extremely badass, including the full-on wild scrap they went on to have after the mask got thrown away. All in all it's a very good tournament finals feeling epic, and it doesn't feel forced at all. ***1/2

WWE NXT TAKEOVER: WARGAMES

 

WWE NXT TAKEOVER: WARGAMES 06/12/20


WAR GAMES: Team Blackheart vs. Team LeRae
This wasn't much. There's maybe one or two pretty cool moments in the whole match. And even those moments weren't really that neat in all honesty. The action upped a little bit once Io entered the match, but still wasn't very interesting. The nicest thing I feel like I can say is that I thought it flowed nicely & didn't drag, so there's that at least. Gentleman's **

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa
This was easily the most appealing looking match-up from the show on paper, and I thought it ended up being kind of a best possible match between Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa. Meaning it was fantastic. Loved the early work on the mat - felt slick, looked tight & violent + there's a good struggle behind it all. Awesome stuff, as was Thatcher's big control seg w/ him targeting Ciampa's neck. Thatchman brought lots of nice, focused, creative, vicious work there, and I thought the whole gameplan was sold extremely well w/ Ciampa feeling like he was in true peril. Ciampa's big comeback w/ that clothesline flurry was very nice as well, and the spot & the visual with him locking in that badass looking choke (Ciampa legit has one of the best looking chokeholds in pro-wrestling imo) w/ Thatcher bleeding from the ear, 'twas badass. Also loved the whole finishing stretch; beautiful amount of grit, struggle n' brutality there. It ended this match perfectly. It was a great one. In many ways it was the Timothy Thatcher show, and boy what a glorious time it was, but at the same time I don't want to say that, because Ciampa was also really good, suited the style extremely well & simply brought it. ****

Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis
Dexter Lumis isn't very interesting at all, but Cameron Grimes was so good throughout, this match ended up being good as the result as well. He put it all into making Dexter look good by bumping big for each move he ate, and he also brilliantly used the strap-gimmick in awesome, interesting ways as he gained the control multiple times via using it. What a man. As far as my enjoyment of the match goes, he certainly was the driving force behind it all. And I sure did enjoy the match quite a lot. ***

Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Leon Ruff
The whole dynamic with Leon Ruff being the champ, but being overlooked by the other two, especially Damian Priest, was really fun. There's some nice moments in the match centered around that, with Ruff bringing the fight & getting thrown around, and it's indeed fun stuff. Priest & Ruff both looked overall really good throughout I thought. Gargano was also there; he didn't stand-out like the other two, but he also did his thing & looked solid - the fast-paced spotfest nature of the bout certainly fit him pretty well, and funnily enough, I actually liked his talking here, as the bit with him teaming up w/ Ruff for a while to beat the bigger man up in Priest was one of my favorite moments of the match. The whole ghostface-mask-dude invasion at the end was pretty wacky & I do think it sucked some energy out of the match which it was shining with beforehand, but even with that, it was still a really good and fun match all in all. ***1/4

WAR GAMES: The Undisputed Era vs. Team McAfee
Comparing this to the women's War Games match, this one was much better. They portrayed the dislike between the teams pretty nicely throughout, with the match at its best feeling like a chaotic brawl, doing the gimmick solid justice. However, unsurprisingly with its 45-minute runtime, there was some periods of time where things weren't as interesting as one would hope. For the most part I enjoyed it very much though. It was a good one. ***1/4

Sakuraba vs Kenoh

 

NOAH The BEST ~ Final Chronicle 2020 ~

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kenoh
This was the same kind of charming fun that Sakuraba's match vs. Go Shiozaki was. Kenoh was an interesting opponent to go against him, as he nicely portrayed a guy who did hang well in there against Sakuraba, but there was quite a few times where Saku put him in real trouble, both in the striking department & the mat-game. The finish demonstrated that excellently with Saku locking in that unique, super neat submission & Kenoh turning it into a desperation pin for the win. Very fun 10 minutes! It had that Sakuraba charm w/ it feeling a little messy, and while not being chaotic, still feeling a little chaotic with its structure. I enjoyed it. ***1/4

A Couple of Moxley Title Defenses I Missed

AEW Dynamite 08/05/20: Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin
A bit of too much melodramatic TALKING by Moxley for my liking, but other than that, this was a pretty darn awesome underdog bout. The opening of the match with Moxley making Darby bleed with the very first punch delivered was badass, Moxley's control section was solid - of course made all the better by Darby's great bumping & good selling, as well as his always lovely, explosive comebacks. The finishing stretch after the MJF interference was real good too, with nice urgency by Darby & great selling by Mox. ***1/2

AEW All Out 2020: Jon Moxley vs. MJF
This actually ruled so much, damn. The dynamic was that MJF is the better pure wrestler of the two, while Moxley destroys him when it comes to brawling on the outside. They played that dynamic brilliantly into the match throughout, and I thought it was a really cool, clear, interesting narrative between two different characters. There's also some pretty great armwork by MJF throughout, which Moxley sells wonderfully + the whole stip w/ the Paradigm Shift being banned was played extremely nicely into the match with that one sequence where Moxley almost went for it, but as he contemplated a little too long, MJF took advantage & went back to that arm with his Fujiwara Armbar finish. I do think it dragged a LITTLE BIT towards the end, and that's what separates it from being "great" rather than "very good" - I'd actually say it's one of the best very-good matches of the year. ***3/4

AEW Dynamite 10/14/20: Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer
Wow, this sure was a disappointment. Their Wrestle Kingdom match remains one of the best matches of the year, but this was such a far cry from the greatness of that bout. Slow, painfully unenergetic & plodding. Literally nothing good or interesting about this one. *

MOXLEY vs OMEGA

 

AEW DYNAMITE 12/02/20 - WINTER IS COMING

Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega
The result, or actually the way we got there & what it implies, is pretty cool. The match itself might just be the most disappointing one of 2020. The "brawling" (if you can call it that), which filled the first third or so was extremely uninteresting. As was the filler kneework done by Kenny - his targeting of the knee wasn't interesting in the slightest and lead to nowhere. Complete filler, which is what Moxley's selling also said about it. The last third is where the action gets more exciting on paper, but in reality it just continued the trend of this match feeling completely uninspired for the most part. I did like the sit-down punch-trading & the V-Trigger destruction scene towards the end though, but that's about it for the whole match. Moxley has been one of the best wrestlers in the world since leaving WWE & Kenny usually always delivers when he is against wrestlers of that caliber + both guys have had very good years in-ring wise this year, so this was indeed super underwhelming any way I look at it. *3/4

ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR II - PART 2

 

ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR II - PART 2 07/24/04


Chad Collyer vs. Rocky Romero
An absolutely awesome opener here. Lots of nice technical work in the early going, but what I truly enjoyed the most about this was Rocky Romero & his amazing KICKS. Watching him the tar out of Collyer here, and in particular target that arm of his was simply lovely. ***

Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. John Walters & Matt Stryker
Solid paint-by-the-numbers tag stuff. Nothing particularly stood out, but this was good action from bell to bell. **3/4

Austin Aries vs. Doug Williams
Early on Aries outsmarts the champ & the ref by hitting Williams with closed fists behind the refs back, to which Williams answers back with some punches of his own under the refs eyes, which results in him losing one of his three rope breaks. I thought that was such an extremely fun, great new twist worked into the Pure rules. It brought some rarely-seen intensity in Doug's work later on too, as when he gained the control back after the little brawl on the outside, he was fully set on making Aries use all of his rope breaks by viciously stretching him in those submissions. That all lead to the great finish where he locked in the armbar for the win on the ropes, as Aries had indeed used all of those rope breaks. This was so much fun! Beautiful, strategic wrestling. Pretty much exactly what I love about the Pure Division. ***1/2

Low Ki vs. Mark Briscoe
Low Ki's first one-on-one match in ROH in almost a year. I thought this was a very good match. It did a great job further establishing Ki's new character in the company going forward; he dominated most of the match, just kicking Mark's ass all the way through with some dirty tactics & The Rottweilers shenanigans thrown in there. Mark got just enough offense of his own in too, so he didn't look like a scrub or anything close to that - this was just a match he was never going to win with Low Ki riding a wave of momentum with his stablemates. "Ain't no cops here tonight, kill him!" - Julius Smokes for president. ***1/2

Homicide vs. Jay Briscoe
Comparing this to Ki vs. Mark, this just couldn't compare. It had a nice, intense start, but after that it became kind of a generic workrate-match of sorts. Just not an interesting match in the slightest, sadly. *3/4

Colt Cabana vs. Samoa Joe
Nice little underdog story with Joe bullying Cabana for most of the match, but Cabana starts getting some nice comeback chains later on in the match, which lead to some nice sequences. Good match. ***

Ace Steel & CM Punk vs. BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff
There's PLENTY of brutality in this featuring lots of blood, chairs, ladders, tables, barbed wire. It's a good street fight indeed & lives up to the expectations of the gimmick, but it does also go on a bit too long & doesn't flow as magically as something like Homicide vs. Steve Corino, as that would be a pretty suitable comparison given the nature of the bout. The crowd throwing their chairs in the ring is still a helluva scene, and so is the wrestlers trying to fight it out in the ring afterwards in the sea of those said chairs. It's a good match with some memorable moments. ***1/4

ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR II - PART 1

ROH DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR II - PART 1 07/23/04


Alex Shelley vs. Doug Williams
Doesn't match the greatness that was their bout the week before at Reborn: Completion, but this was a really good one as well. This felt like a good follow-up to that said previous match of theirs, as it felt like both guys, especially Alex Shelley, had learned from that match & came to this w/ a new mindset. I really liked how Shelley seemed much more focused here - he was still cocky as hell of course, but it felt like he wasn't gonna let Doug expose any weaknesses this time around. His work over Doug's neck throughout to soften him up for his finishing submission was some good stuff, as was Doug's performance being in peril for most of the bout. ***1/4

BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. Low Ki & Rocky Romero
This started off with way too much Whitmer & Maff on the offensive side of things. They're not the most interesting duo anyway, but watching them dominate the early sections of the match was very unappealing ESPECIALLY with this being Low Ki's first match back after turning heel & joining The Rottweilers. Pretty baffling stuff in all honesty. This did become a very good match by the end of things though, because thankfully Ki came in & took charge of things, leading up to a really nice Maff FIP segment, which then lead to a pretty great BJ Whitmer hot tag. Awesome finishing stretch as well + the finish was was really nice considering the fact that Rocky & Ki did target Maff's shoulder quite a bit. ***

Austin Aries, Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs, John Walters & Matt Stryker
A yet another banger of a tag match featuring Generation Next. They did such a compelling job cutting the ring in half, so to say, here; really enjoyed their work over Stryker's leg - watching them execute their number on the bodypart with frequent tags & great teamwork was a joy. I thought that Jacobs' hot tag at first was a bit weak, but the Gen Next lads cut that shit off very quickly by utilizing their great teamwork to distract the ref & triple-team to gain the advantage back. Jimmy's FIP segment was really good with all three Gen Next members looking good dominating him - in particular Roddy looked really good in there almost ragdolling Jimmy around. Everything from Jacobs' hot tag afterwards is some chaotic, fun stuff too, even if it is a bit annoying that it mostly is with everyone involved fighting in the ring - this match had some great bits revolving around the ref getting distracted & the heels using that to their advantage, and that certainly made that said finishing stretch w/ all six men being in there feel extra silly, but as mentioned, it was still a fun & chaotic conclusion to the bout. Mark Nulty on commentary also covered for it really well with him explaining what-might-be the reasons for the ref to allow it happen, so a shout-out to him as well. ***1/2

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
Sadly this didn't reach the greatness that was their meeting at Generation Next. I would put this on par with their Reborn match, meaning it's a good one. It didn't truly hook me in like that said match of theirs at Generation Next, but with this being Homicide vs. Samoa Joe & it having such a heated, hot angle behind it? Of course it was good shit. Lots of violence as they peppered into each other throughout with brutal strikes & bombs. A couple of real nice nearfalls towards the end as well. ***

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This completes the 2004 trilogy between these two teams. It's a very good match. It goes almost 40-minutes, and it doesn't really feel like it because of how well it naturally builds from fall-to-fall-to-fall. I loved how the first fall ended with The Briscoes brilliantly isolating Punk; Punk manages to get the hot tag to Cabana though & they run wild on The Briscoes for a bit, but THEN Punk makes the crucial mistake of tagging himself in, which ends up in him eating the Jay Driller moments later for the challengers to go 1-0. A pretty great way to get this match going, that whole fall was. 2nd fall wasn't as interesting as the first one w/ its action, but it's still solid stuff & continues the good story they're telling so it's all good. And the final fall completes that story very nicely with the action obviously hitting that second gear once Punk returns. Quality stuff. I would probably rank this as the weakest of their matches, but that just goes to show you how good of a tag team pairing The Briscoes & The Saints were. ***1/2

ROH REBORN: COMPLETION

ROH REBORN: COMPLETION 07/17/04

Doug Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. John Walters vs. Nigel McGuinness
Not compelling all the way through, but the best parts of this were really nice. Namely everything involving Doug Williams & Nigel McGuinness going at it was awesome, especially in the early going when they were first teasing it for a bit, and then their first exchanges already lived up to the build. Fun match! ***

Alex Shelley vs. Doug Williams
The early technical wrasslin' between these two is so charming & compelling to watch. Doug especially busted out some truly neat stuff; one of my favorite moments of the bout was the sequence that lead to him tying Shelley up in that Paradise Lock. Extremely fun action! Shelley was of course coming into this with a bum arm, so that's obviously a big story here with Doug working it over throughout. Loved all of Doug's armwork & Shelley's selling was very good. Shelley on the defense was overall a role that he rocked well, and him finding success by doing a number of his own on Doug's neck was also awesome. All kinds of good focused work over that said bodypart. It's a banger of a match with a compelling in-ring story being told, and the absolutely fantastic finish puts it over the top as a truly great one. ****

Homicide, Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero vs. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe & Samoa Joe
Billed as a Six Man WAR with all the issues between the teams, this one goes over 30 minutes, so it's a pretty long boy. It's full of some hard-hitting & VERY intense action though, so it kept me entertained for the entirety of it. The Briscoes & The Havana Pitbulls serve in their roles wonderfully, and I thought that especially the Pitbulls - in particular Rocky Romero - delivered some really compelling offense in the form of submissions & kicks. Homicide & Joe are definitely unsurprisingly the clear stars though, with the energy being off the charts whenever they come in & start smashing fools in their nasty, vicious ways. ***1/2

ROH SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

ROH SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 06/24/04

Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans
This looks like an absolutely LOVELY pairing on paper. And the match does rule; it's pretty much a 10-minute squash with Danielson showcasing his submissions, but man what a blast it is. Bryan twisting & stretching Evans is all some superbly vicious stuff, and much of it is thanks to Evans' willingness to bend & twist his own body in visually stunning ways to make each hold look all the more brutal. And then there's that amazing bump he does off of Bryan's uppercut. If I was a wrestler, I would sure love to face that man, because he truly can make people look like a million bucks in there. What a fun-ass match. Also a shout-out to Evans bringing up Danielson's backyard-gimmick, THE DAGGER. Very amusing. ***1/2

Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana vs. Homicide vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
The final one-on-one showdown between Aries & Danielson covers over half of the match & it's some great stuff. Everything beforehand is rock-solid with stories progressing between participants, but Aries & Danielson take it to another level w/ their battle; I really liked Bryan's work over Aries' back, especially with his bodyslams becoming angrier & angrier as the bout progressed. The finish with the bear-hug sequence ruled too, that vicious finishing submission was a great pay-off to Danielson's focused attack. At 40+ minutes, it's a real lengthy match, but it's a very good one. The action is solid all the way through with the peaks (Danielson vs. Aries) being great. ***3/4

ROH WORLD TITLE CLASSIC

ROH WORLD TITLE CLASSIC 06/12/04


Alex Shelley, Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave, John Walters & Matt Stryker
Really liked how the babyfaces established the first control period of the match - them isolating Roddy & executing a nice number on his knee ruled. Also really liked how Gen Next came back into things by utilizing their numbers, which is something that ended up being a pretty big story in the match overall, in my eyes. Rave works a big FIP segment, in which he sells his beating very well & Gen Next do a pretty compelling job working him over, utilizing great teamwork & their numbers every time they needed to. I keep mentioning the "numbers", and I wanna say that it was indeed a 3-on-3 bout, so they didn't have more members than the babyface team or anything like that, but they were certainly more willing to come in there & use 2 or 3 men at the same time if needed, and that narrative ended up delivering some pretty big moments in the thing. Very good FIP segment w/ Rave indeed, and I really loved his big flurry before he finally tagged in Matt Stryker for that hot tag. Stryker's hot tag is solid, and the rest of the match is them going at it on the "usual" 2nd gear that matches like this usually kick into in the last third of 'em. It's good stuff, but I did prefer the first 2/3rds w/ the babyfaces looking good doing their thing working over Roddy, and then that big Rave FIP seg. Really loved all of that + the finish is also absolutely great, so this quality trios match truly ended on a high note. ***1/2

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
Going through ROH chronologically, I never would've expected CM Punk & Samoa Joe to be a duo to deliver a 60-damn-minute draw with 99% of it being SUPER compelling & straight-up fantastic. They keep me hooked for the entire duration, with my favorite thing about it being watching CM Punk's strategy unfold; the way he controlled Joe w/ HIS pacing & those headlocks -- it's such fascinating pro-wrestling. Punk sells & tells the story perfectly with his work, including some brilliant moments of his body language & facial expressions. Joe is also absolutely superb with everything he does throughout -- I thought he especially sold brilliantly, as through that, it really feels like Punk's masterful gameplan might pay off. The overall pacing in this is also exceptional; in classic 60-minute-match fashion, the battle of course gets more dramatic as minutes pass, but they don't go overboard with it, as they instead have a few major dramatic moments - namely the Pepsi Plunge one & then the DDT in the closing moments - and both of those named moments are absolutely terrific. There's maybe a few stretches here n' there where I wasn't as interested as I was in the early going or in the closing stages, but it's still at least very good action for the entire 1-hour runtime, with the most compelling stretches (which goes for most of the match) being simply wonderful. There's just nothing phony or hollow about this one. It's the first match of THE trilogy in 00s indy pro-wrestling, and it's a stone cold classic. Can't wait to revisit the other two. ****1/2

Ace Steel & Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries & Jack Evans vs. BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This is an Ultimate Endurance match, meaning it's an elimination match with three different gimmick matches inside. First one is a submission match, and I thought that was the best out of the three. It started off pretty cold, but once Jack Evans' back became the big story, I got into it. Evans makes every hold & every backbreaker look more vicious than they normally would look. It's real lovely. The focus on the back by the other participants pays off when they make him tap. It's good stuff! The 2nd fall, which is a Scramble match, is absolutely nothing. Completely hollow 5-minutes or something, I have nothing to say about it. The final fall is between The Prophecy & The Second City Saints; they have feuded for the entirety of 2004 up to this point, so on paper a no holds barred brawl between 'em was a fitting finale to this match. It's by far the longest segment in there, and it drags. There's some good brawling there, yes, and some neat singular moments, but ultimately it just isn't very interesting for the absolute majority of it. Overall this whole match isn't much. It's not completely boring thanks to Jack Evans from the Heavens, but that's where the match peaked. In the first fall of this 3-fall match. The first ~15 mins or so of this near 40 minute match. Having to follow the excellence that was the 1-hour draw between Punk & Joe didn't do the match any favors either, to say the least. **1/4

THE BOYS doing APRON BRAINBUSTERS

WWE SMACKDOWN 11/27/20

Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn
This felt a bit rushed & had a storyline-finish, so obviously it isn't the best these two could do, but it was a helluva match regardless. The boys really went out there & did an apron brainbuster, huh? Godddddamn. Loved Bryan's early control with his technical prowres superiority being the main force behind it. Nice armwork throughout, with him going to it early on & then bringing it back in the closing stages when he countered Sami's (presumably) Blue-Thunder Bomb attempt into that very neat armbar takedown. ***1/4

RANDOM REWATCH: Edge, Foley, Lita, Dreamer, FUNK, Beulah

 

WWE ECW ONE NIGHT STAND 2006

Beulah, Terry Funk & Tommy Dreamer vs. Edge, Lita & Mick Foley
Foley's pre-match promo is pretty hilarious with his banter being lovely. LONG LIVE THE ALLIANCE. This match is just pure goddamn clunky chaos & it's so damn good! Funk & Foley going at it rules - Funk in general is such a madman here at 61 years of age with awesome punches, old-man hardcore insanity, huge bumps, awesome selling. What a GOAT. And I didn't even mention the "MY EYE" bit, which instantly reminded me of you know what. I love that man. All the barbed wire stuff, including the bats, the board, the FLAMING bat/wood/whatever it was that Funker brought -- it's all such gnarly, brutal, EXTREME stuff, if you will. Like I already mentioned, this thing is just pure uncoordinated-feeling having chaos & violence. It's one of the best matches each person involved here has ever been in. Long Live The Alliance, and long live this match. ****1/2

NXT w/ Kushida/Thatcher, Dunne/Kyle LADDER WAR

 

WWE NXT 11/25/20

Kushida vs. Timothy Thatcher
Loved this so much. An absolutely lovely grappling exhibition with everything looking slick & coming with such a nice sense of urgency. It never feels like they're sitting & waiting for the other one to do something either -- there's a good feel of lil' competition & having to earn what you're going for, whether it's a hold or another position. Some terrific selling in there as well, especially by Thatcher, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest. And of course when they throw in some strikes in there, all of those look great & fit the match well. It's a jolly good time. Really hoping that we get some more Thatcher vs. Kushida goodness eventually, because this truly rocked. ***3/4

Kyle O'Reilly vs. Pete Dunne
This was creative, this was brutal, this was dumb. That's a 3-piece recipe for ladder match success. There's some nice limb-targeting, quite a few very brutal n' dumb spots & some nice little touches that I totally loved. One of them was in the early going when Kyle went to climb the ladder for the first time, Dunne came in & just quickly and bluntly pushed the ladder down; usually they always milk them for at least some amount of time, so just pushing it as quick & bluntly as he could made it feel super neat. The ladder also hit Kyle when it went down, so that's some more brutality for ya. Sure there's some moments that felt pretty unnecessary & pretty silly in there, such as Kyle popping up like one second after being hit with Dunne's finish on the barricade, but even with those & the finish, this really was a big PPV-level effort from the two, and I would say it is one of the best ladder matches of recent years. ***3/4

ROH GENERATION NEXT

 

ROH GENERATION NEXT 05/22/04

Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Jacobs
A nice little midcard exhibition showcase for both guys, especially Nigel. Nigel is charming as usual with his very good technical work over Jacobs, focusing on his arm in particular. Jacobs himself also rules, being the kind-of-an-underdog ball of high energy. ***1/4

BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. CM Punk & Colt Cabana
Punk & Cabana are such a well-oiled machine together - watching them isolate Whitmer & do a real sweet tag team number on him ruled. As did Dan Maff's eventual hot tag; he is at his best when wrecking shop in short bursts, and that's pretty much what he got to do here. Both the hot tag & the build-up to it was some good stuff. They eventually brawl all over the crowd, with this being a no dq match & all, and during & after it there's this very nice chaotic feeling to the match, and I really liked that as well. The more "traditional" first half ruled, but so does the frantic second half. Banging match. ***1/2

Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave, John Walters, Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
At over 41 minutes, this is a real long boy. It's an absolutely phenomenal one, though. They pace it perfectly from start to finish, with the action being good for each step of the way & never going down, as it instead gets hotter & better as the match progresses. It's a very good match all the way through with the peaks of it being superb. It naturally & gradually built into an amazing, show-stealing affair. Everyone involved delivered big time & looked great in the process. ****1/4

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
  Intense build-up to this one, and they start the match accordingly by going at it right away, fighting in a sea of streamers. It's a great, chaotic scene. It doesn't take long for Joe to establish early dominance, and he dishes out punishment in such a lovely fashion & looks cool doing it w/ him sidestepping Homicide's dive attempts n' all. Badass shit. That big dive through the table? Sick. Homicide always puts everything he has into those dives & he did so here, but also went indeed through a table as a bonus. Him bringing out the FORK & going to town on Joe's forehead with it was nasty as hell, and I loved every second of it. Then he continues the violence by throwing a chair HARD right at Joe's face for good measure. The whole match has been superb brutality, and the All Japan-esq section leading to the finish fit right into it, imo -- they started dropping each other on their necks with so many absolutely VICIOUS looking kick-ass bombs, and in-between all that there's Joe slapping the taste out of 'cide's mouth with sweat flying everywhere + 'cide bringing back the fork to repeatedly stab that forehead some more -- it's all such glorious stuff. Definitely the best match they have had up to this point against one another. ****

A pair of Sheamus vs Riddle matches

 

WWE RAW 10/26/20: Matt Riddle vs. Sheamus
This was full of badass physicality. Both guys own such great arsenal of kick-ass moves & they busted out some truly lovely, vicious ones here. The early submission work by Riddle was awesome, and the back-injury towards the end which set up the finish was great. Real tight, physical, sprint-y match. ***3/4

WWE RAW 11/23/20: Riddle vs. Sheamus
Another very good match between these two fellas. They get a lot more time here than they did in their previous meeting, and this really feels like a bigger PPV-version of that said previous match of theirs. Great feel of physicality, with both guys always looking to do some more damage without letting the other guy breathe. Both of them once again showcased their wide array of offense with lots of nice strikes & vicious bombs. Sheamus also looked really good going on the ground w/ Riddle! That heel-hook he busted out seriously popped me. Banger of a match. I liked that October match more, because it felt a bit more tight w/ its sprint nature, but this one also kicked ass. Very good chemistry between the two. ***1/2

ROH ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE III

 

ROH ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE III 05/15/04

Homicide vs. Spanky
Homicide isn't the most compelling guy to watch do a dominant match like this, as while most of his work is really solid, it isn't the most interesting or truly grabbing stuff. It's still a good match though, as he does indeed perform his role in very solid fashion, Spanky rocks the plucky underdog role well & I can always appreciate a well executed gameplan in my rasslin, which is something this match did offer w/ Homicide having a focus on Spanky's neck, softening him up for all of his big signature moves. ***

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
Not as great as their previous meeting, but still a really awesome match in its own right. This had almost the same lay-out on paper as that said previous match of theirs @ Reborn: Stage Two, but with the teams assuming different roles & putting some new touches into things. I thought the highlight of the entire match was pretty easily the Mark FIP segment with him selling well & The Saints doing a real lovely, focused number on his banged up ribs. ***1/2

ROH REBORN: STAGE TWO

 

ROH REBORN: STAGE TWO 04/24/04

Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. Rocky Romero
This was a simply magnificent four corner survival. Everyone involved delivered a show-stealing effort - it truly felt like I was watching four hungry young guys go out there & make a little statement. Aries was the most over man at the start of the match & he looked really good with everything he did, I absolutely loved the pure intensity & aggression Rocky brought into the thing, and then there's Nigel McGuinness. Goddamn I love that man. Maybe my favorite moment of the entire match was when there's one very vocal fella in the crowd making noise that gets rest of the crowd to focus on him & get distracted from whats going on inside the ring, then Nigel busts out this amazing sequence w/ a bit of some WoS-like charm, and the crowd explodes into a standing ovation. He's probably my pick for the star of the match honors, even though everybody indeed looked great -- and that brings me to Jimmy Rave, who didn't get too much time to "shine", as in he didn't get as much time as the others to showcase his signature offense, but he still looked absolutely tremendous getting his lunch eaten & shit kicked out of him throughout. Played his role perfectly. Loooved Romero & Aries destroying his arm, his selling was on point, and Nigel coming in & smartly getting the victory by targeting that arm some more ruled. Such a great match! ****

Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide
Homicide had some lengthy matches against AJ Styles & CM Punk earlier on in 2003, and comparing this one - another lengthy match - to them, this is so much better it's not even funny. Goes on for about half an hour, and the wrestling is really good for the entire duration with both guys employing nice strategies; Homicide softens Bryan's neck throughout to prepare him for his finish, and Dragon answers to that by beautifully & viciously manipulating 'cide's hand after he banged it against the guardrail. It's a very good match, even with extremely long matches like this certainly NOT being Homicide's strongest suit, but he looked real good in there against an opponent who knows how to make each moment of a long match like this compelling. ***1/2

Matt Stryker vs. Samoa Joe
Joe has a big tape around his face, and it is quickly revealed that his cheek is all burned up due to the FIREBALL busted out by Homicide the night before. Gnarly. This was a good match, on par & maybe even slightly better than that said match against 'cide that Joe had. The early technical work is fun, and once Joe says screw that & starts just beating Stryker up it gets even more fun. Joe is a joy to watch do his thing, and Stryker takes the beating well, as well as gets some nice nearfalls & a nice little sequence of things happening leading up to his Strykerlock. ***

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
 I thought that the first 2/3rds of this were some really great, extremely fun-to-watch stuff. The Chicago crowd gave this an amazing atmosphere w/ them obviously being fully behind The Saints, which gave us a real nice traditional babyface team vs. heel team dynamic. Punk & Cabana get a fantastic shine to start things off, and I loved it all -- the nice lil' touches of comedy with them embarrassing Briscoes were oh so good, and the fact that the crowd ate it all up made it even more sweeter. It really felt like it was the perfect stuff to do on this night. It just all came off as SO spirited because of the atmosphere. Loved Punk's FIP segment as well w/ the Briscoes doing a very good, compelling job of cutting the ring in half & isolating him + even utilizing some old-school heel tactics while doing it. Cabana's eventual hot tag rules, and after that they kick the thing into its 2nd, finishing gear w/ them essentially saying fuck the tag rules, as most of the action for the rest of the match is with all four men inside the ring. Usually stuff like that doesn't really annoy or disturb me at all, because I'm so used to it I guess, but this felt like such a traditional tag bout before that section, so it did bother me a little bit. It was still good action though, but I preferred the lead-up to it. It's a great match overall with a fantastic start, great middle, and a solid last third. Then you add in the absolutely terrific atmosphere and you got yourself a real banging tag outing. ****

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2020

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2020

Men's Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Match
Owens had a really nice run in the match before getting eliminated by AJ. Otis was also really good throughout & was pretty easily the all around MVP of the thing; his BEEFY showdown vs. Keith Lee was neat & the hot tag he delivered where he threw people around with them sweet suplexes & beheaded one fool with a lariat - it was awesome stuff. This was a good match I thought, but it definitely falls into the "just one of the Survivor Series tag matches" category, as it wasn't very memorable or anything. ***

Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
Off the top of my head I can't think of a better Street Profits match that I've watched. This had a charming dynamic of two babyface teams going at it, with Kofi & Xavier kind of assuming the role of vets protecting their spots. I thought the early stuff with Kofi going against Montez ruled & had a couple of really nice moments. The New Day lads isolating Ford & doing a number on his mid-section also ruled -- not many times have they come off as so focused, but watching them execute their attack here w/ such a great focus indeed was truly a joy. The multiple Boom Drops by Kofi, Woods' big gutbuster etc, such good stuff! Ford's selling was also solid; he did his badass dives, but also always remembered to sell the big pain caused by the assault on his mid-section. Dawkins' hot tag was also pretty damn great. Everything about this was at least good in all honesty. Just some real fine tag team wrestling. ***1/2

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
Zayn is always good at being thrown around, and I enjoy his heel shtick, but this wasn't much to write home about. Kind of a prolonged squash with Lashley not being interesting being the man to squash the chickenshit-heel. There was still some bits that I enjoyed, so a gentleman's **

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
This had some general awkwardness, especially with Asuka just standing still quite a few times seemingly waiting for Sasha to do her move/transition, and it just looked dumb, straight up. Other than those, this was a real solid match. Liked the mat-heavy start, and later on I really liked Asuka's Ankle Lock sequence, followed by her lovely kicks. It's not their best match, but I think it's for sure better than the last one between 'em that I watched, which was the SummerSlam match. ***

Women's Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Match
EXTREMELY paint-by-the-numbers SurSer tag match. There was really nothing very interesting or compelling about this, maybe other than the start of Bianca's run 1-on-3, but even that wasn't all that good overall. *1/4

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns
I was actually pretty hyped for this one, because while I'm not the biggest fan of either man, I think WWE has handled both of these guys super well this year, and this match-up actually feels like it's on some Batista vs. John Cena shit, you know? Sadly the match wasn't good at all. 20+ minutes of slow & plodding action with no interesting hook or catch to it whatsoever, and then they suddenly start doing tablespots & a shitload of nearfalls. The match got a bit more interesting once they kicked it into that finishing gear, but yeah, it still was your generic big match big movez & nearfalls for 'em. And what came before it was soooo dull & boring. There was one legit very neat moment in there though with Drew countering Reigns' Spear attempt into an Armbar, but that's about it. *1/2

ROH REBORN: STAGE ONE

ROH REBORN: STAGE ONE 04/23/04

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero
It's the ROH debut of the Havana Pitbulls, and they get to look extremely credible here by pushing the tag champs to the absolute limit. I thought the match, while at times felt a bit all over the place with its structure, it was really fun & good w/ especially young Rocky Romero offering lots of interesting, intense offense. The "all over the place" description isn't all negative either, because at times that helped give the match a nice little intense, bit of a chaotic feel, which fit the work of Reyes & Romero extremely well. It's a good one. ***

Bryan Danielson vs. CM Punk
This is actually their first ever 1-on-1 meeting, which makes it quite noteworthy on paper. It's a really good match! At 26 minutes, it definitely goes on for a bit too long & there's periods where it isn't as compelling as you'd like, but for the absolute majority of it, the wrestling is lovely. Danielson seeing a target in Punk's mid-section, going to work over it & then getting the win with the abdominal stretch was awesome. Also have to say that knowing what happens years later, the dueling "YES! NO!" chant when they're battling on the top rope towards the end always pops me. ***1/2

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
Didn't reach the greatness of their Do Or Die title bout, but it's still Joe & 'cide doing their thing, so it's obviously good. Both guys, especially Joe, deliver some vvverrry nice offense throughout, and I dig the fireball ending, giving Homicide's character some new direction. ***

ROH AT OUR BEST

 

ROH AT OUR BEST 03/13/04

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk
This is a rematch between the two coming off of the Pure Title tournament finals where AJ came out victorious, but the match had some controversial reffing against Punk. So here the special guest referee is none other than RICKY STEAMBOAT to hopefully make things right. Spoiler alert: he didn't, because in the end, Punk got screwed again. BUT what it did lead to, was an absolutely lovely post-match segment with Punk confronting Steamboat about it -- all ending up with Steamboat kicking his ass vintage Steamboat style. That was some truly epic shit. The match itself was real solid & on par w/ that previous meeting of theirs. It maybe went a bit too long, as it felt like Punk & Styles simply didn't have much of a truly compelling hook to this thing for some periods of time - it was still solid the entire way through, but it never felt must-see or made me go "wow, this is pretty damn great", you know? It really is one of those rock-solid, perfectly good matches between two names who you think could produce something more memorable given who they are. Their first ROH 1-on-1 match remains their best one against one another, but this completes a solid trilogy. ***1/4

Jay Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
Jay Briscoe's crimson mask is one of the most stunning blood-related visuals that I've ever seen in pro-wrestling. It's what I thought when I first watched this match yeaaaaars ago, and it still strikes me on that same level. It's amazing & truly helps this already-totally-great match kick things up to another notch -- the Briscoes vs. Joe feud comes to its conclusion beautifully with Joe dishing out amazingly compelling punishment throughout + Jay taking it all like a champ and also delivering big time with all of times he is on the offense himself. Him hitting the Jay Driller towards the end was such a fantastic moment. To put it simply, both parties involved were absolutely on point w/ their roles in this match. It's constant, superb violence, and the big spots, such as the cutter from the top, Joe's backdrop driver from the top & that match-ending super Muscle Buster -- it's all holy-shit worthy & simply amazing stuff. This is an essential watch for anybody looking to get into prime ROH, as it really is a bona fide classic for the company. ****1/2

ROH 2ND YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW

ROH 2ND YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW 02/14/04

CM Punk vs. John Walters
Punk mocking Daniels' entrance was very fun, and the match itself is rock solid. Some nice, "usual" bodypart-targeting by both men, and both of them also sell pretty good. ***

AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave
AJ Styles had taken Jimmy Rave under his wing & he had been trying to motivate him to find that killer instinct within him to succeed. Styles actually requested for Rave to be his opponent here. The match plays out excellently into that storyline between 'em, with it having a lovely little young boy dynamic; Styles is pretty dominant throughout with his viciously excellent looking offense, but Rave gets some very nice chains of offense in himself, and in the end he finds that killer instinct by going after the knee AJ seemingly hurt. I really, really enjoyed this one. Clocking in at under 8 minutes I thought they told their charming story very well bell-to-bell. ***1/2

CM Punk vs. Doug Williams
This is just really good wrestling throughout, with things kicking up a notch once Punk goes after Doug's knee. He's like a shark smelling blood attacking it, and that finish where it came to play was SO awesome. Seriously love, love, LOVE the crap out of that finish - everything leading up to it was already awesome, but that is the cherry on top of the cake. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Matt Stryker
Jimmy Rave assaulted AJ's knee at the closing minutes of their tournament match earlier on in the night, and it didn't take long for that same knee to become the main target of Matt Stryker's onslaught in this bout. I thought that Stryker did a really good job being the aggressor here; his work on that said knee was focused n' vicious, and when he wasn't attacking it, he was doing other awesome stuff like smashing AJ's head into the barricade on the outside. AJ sold really well throughout too, even if his match-finishing springboard maneuver was maybe a bit too clean given the amount of pain he was supposed to be in, but it still worked, as it felt like everything kinda just fell into the perfect place for him to hit that move. A really good match and real good performances by both as well, especially Stryker. ***1/2

BJ Whitmer vs. Dan Maff vs. Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe
Whitmer & Maff are of course stablemates in The Prophecy, so they really are teaming up throughout this 4-way dance, which causes Joe & Ki to form kind of an alliance to combat against that. It's good stuff; BJ's & Maff's heat seg on Joe towards the end was really good I thought, but the ultimate highlights of this one, unsurprisingly, are the exchanges between Joe & Ki -- the one true sequence they had very late in the match where they just slap, knee & kick the shit out of one another was pure joy. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk
This is a good match, but not as good as their match at The Tradition Continues, aaand they both also had better matches on this same night; Punk against Doug Williams + AJ against Rave & Stryker. It's still very good though - a nice tournament finals bout, which also sets up the rematch between them nicely with the controversy~! ***1/4

ROH THE LAST STAND

ROH THE LAST STAND 01/29/04

CM Punk vs. Homicide
Much like Homicide's extremely disappointing match against AJ Styles a few weeks prior, this was needlessly long & came without a true hook or catch to keep you (or at least I) interested. Seriously 95% of this was painfully uninteresting. *3/4

ROH THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN

 

ROH THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN 01/10/04

AJ Styles vs. Homicide
When talking about ROH WOTY contenders for 2003, Styles was #3 in my eyes (Joe = number 2) & Homicide was THE wrestler of the year for the company, so safe to say that on paper this match-up looked quite promising. It sadly wasn't very compelling at all though -- there were a few good moments, especially towards the end as the match got more & more vicious as it went on, but ultimately the 20+ minutes they went dragged like a mofo. Solid psychology with the bodypart targeting & all, but yeah, the work here just didn't capture my interest much at all for the vast majority of the bout. **

Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This is on par with Joe's match alongside AJ Styles against The Briscoes. The thing rules, to put it simply. Bryan & Joe are all kinds of awesome when they're working over the Briscoe Bros, wrenching their arms, stretching them boys out & blasting them with vicious strikes. Briscoes are great as well with especially their heat segment on Bryan being absolutely lovely. ***3/4

Ace Steel, CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. BJ Whitmer, Christopher Daniels & Dan Maff
The heel-face roles in this are a bit confusing given the whole backstory leading up to the match, but everybody plays their roles in solid fashion regardless. It's a solid match too, but really nothing to write home about; goes on for a long time, and other than Dan Maff's very nice FIP segment, there really isn't anything noteworthy about it. The pure post-match chaos after the bell rings is unironically more memorable & better than the actual match in all honesty. **1/2

ROH FINAL BATTLE 2003

 

ROH FINAL BATTLE 12/27/03


Bryan Danielson vs. Jay Briscoe
Such an awesome opener. Starts off with some very nice, charming technical wrestling that covers the first half of it. Then they eventually start unloading the more heavy offense & things get more intense, and it's equally awesome. ***1/2

John Walters vs. Xavier
Comparing this to the very good battle Homicide & Trent Acid had of the same match type earlier on the year, this is a level above. There's A LOT of truly insane spots, such as the springboard 450 to the outside through the table, Xavier's Arabian Press onto Walters who was laying on the ladder, Kiss-Your-X-Goodbye from the top rope & of course also that absolutely BRUTAL finish -- but even more importantly, on top of all that, I felt like these two here captured the true essence of a Fight Without Honor, which could be summed up to the one word of "dislike". That's where I think it edges out 'cide vs. Acid, which also had some great, vicious spots/moments, but this one felt simply more heated. ****

Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe
A very, very basic dominant Joe performance/match. He indeed dominates almost all of it, with Mark getting a few hope spots & comeback chains in. Other than Joe's always-awesome slaps & knees-to-the-head, it's really nothing worth noting. **

CM Punk & Colt Cabana vs. Kazushi Miyamoto & Tomoaki Honma
The first half (or so) wasn't very interesting, but once they kicked it up a notch & hit that 2nd gear, this got really good and remained very exciting till the end. The finish with Punk spiking Honma on his head with the Pepsi Plunge looked devastating. It's a pretty good match! Nothing must see, but it's a pretty fun watch for sure. **3/4

ROH WAR OF THE WIRE

 

ROH WAR OF THE WIRE 11/29/03


AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
This is as hard hitting as one would expect and has some neat, interesting bits of storytelling with AJ having to counter Joe's big size advantage. Joe is on top for a lot of the match, and it's of course some pretty great stuff with his arsenal looking brutal as always & AJ bumping like AJ does for it. That's already a winning combination, but then you add in AJ's explosive, vicious n' excellent comebacks, and you got a real kick-ass bout. Going back to that interesting storytelling mention, I also really liked the whole little narrative they did with AJ busting out big power moves on Joe, which ultimately caused him to essentially gas himself out. ***3/4

Homicide vs. Steve Corino
It's a No Ropes Barbed Wire match to end this feud. When you talk about pure nastiness & sheer violence, this probably ups their previous match. There's some stuff here that's legitimately pretty hard to watch, and I mean that in the best way possible. I don't think it's as good overall as that said Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies match-up of theirs though, but it's not far off. One slight negative that bothered me was Homicide going for multiple flash roll-ups in the beginning; it didn't fit the match, and it ESPECIALLY didn't fit Homicide of all people at all. Other than that, this was him & Corino doing pro-wrestling grudge match violence brilliantly, once again. ****1/4

ROH THE CONCLUSION

ROH THE CONCLUSION 11/28/03


Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Rave
This is an awesome little match. The early back & forth is really good, and so is Rave taking over by targeting Daniels' arm. Daniels' initial selling is on point, and him taking the control back by going after Rave's back ruled -- the whole heat seg he did on it was great stuff w/ his full focus being on that one bodypart. Then add the always charming young boy vs. an established cocky superstar of the company dynamic to the thing, and you got yourself a big hit. ***1/2

AJ Styles & Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe
This is probably the best 2-on-2 tag team match ROH had held up to this point in time. It's just full of super exciting tag team sequences & overall kick-ass action -- Joe & Styles wrecking shit n' cleaning house together was so much fun, and The Briscoes were awesome as well, matching the viciousness & straight-up awesomeness of their opponents throughout. Them working better as an unit with the little things and capitalizing on the one miscommunication AJ & Joe made in the end was the most obvious narrative to go with it, and it worked super well, I thought. This match was such a super good time. ***3/4

CM Punk vs. Raven
This is their final match in ROH -- the CONCLUSION, if you will. And it honestly is sadly pretty disappointing. It's the worst of their ROH meetings. There's plenty of violence & blood, but the vast majority of it just doesn't translate well. I thought Punk lowkey came off as the babyface when he was taking a slow beating from Raven. And I thought Raven was missing the fire that made some of the previous entries in this feud extremely good -- he just offered a totally nothing-of-note performance. It's not a bad match, but so, so forgettable & disappointing when you consider the other awesome matches they had against one another, tag & singles. **1/2

AEW BUNKHOUSE TAG

 

AEW Dynamite 11/11/20

The Blade & Butcher vs. Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall
They truly did the gimmick justice here. This was fantastic grudge-match violence mixed with perfect touches of lil' fun -- very much exactly what I wanted out of it. Dustin & QT wearing kneepads over their jeans, every participant wearing white to show off those eventual bloodstains, haystacks flyin', fire extinguishers, handcuffs, BLOOD, epic ladder & plywood spots, super satisfying babyface ending to the match. QT Marshall absolutely killed it. What a BLAST. ****

ROH MAIN EVENT SPECTACLES

 

ROH MAIN EVENT SPECTACLES 11/01/03

BJ Whitmer vs. Homicide
This is billed as a "fighting spirit challenge", and they sure wrestle the match accordingly to the billing. It's a very good exhibition with both guys bringing some nasty, brutal offense into it -- 'cide with his usual badass array of punches, chops, boots & more, and then BJ with his vicious suplexes, solid strikes & a nice powerbomb. I do think the Cop Killa kickout was very unnecessary, and the match drags after that, but at least they executed it nicely with Homicide being so sure it's gonna get him the victory, resulting in him taking too much time before actually going for the pin, which ultimately resulted in that kickout. Good match. ***1/4

The Backseat Boyz vs. Special K vs. The Carnage Crew vs. The SAT vs. Jack Evans & Teddy Hart
This match is just fucking ridiculous. It's a pretty infamous match in Ring of Honor's lore, mostly due to the post-match, but it's also EASILY the silliest & most ridiculous match they have held up to this point. And I loved it. It's pure chaos & carnage for every single passing second of it -- a full-on brawl with fists flying & wrestlers being thrown into the steel cage walls, and then there's so many absolutely RIDICULOUS, if I may repeat myself, highflying spots from the top of the cage, mostly involving dem boys Teddy Hart & especially Jack Evans. It is 100% worth a watch, even if there's a good chance that you would hate it, because it's such a ridiculous (word of the day) kind-of-shitty spectacle. I wouldn't call it a full-on "it's so bad, it's good" kind of deal, because it really rules in a good way for most of it, but some of the absolutely nutty flying spots sure work with that saying. Madness. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs. Bryan Danielson
This is Dragon's first appearance in ROH since his MOTYC vs. Paul London. So what does he do in his first match back? Has another classic for the company. GOAT shit only. And it's against a man he had one of the finest matches of 2002 against. So their first match already was an amazing contest, and their 2nd match here is just as good. They bring that now-signature Danielson vs. Styles strategic pro-wrestling aggression & competitiveness into it. You know right from the first time they touch that it's gonna be a good one, as they quickly move into some grappling, which indeed comes with a nice sense, look & feel of aggression & violence. Extremely intense, just the way you would expect from the two. Eventually Bryan sees a target in AJ's shoulder/arm as he ties him up on the ropes; Bryan's work on the arm is SUPERB in all of its vicious glory. AJ also bumps & sells for it big time, which makes it all feel & look all the more brutal n' amazing. Styles eventually finds an opening by dumping Bryan on the outside legs first, which results in him returning the favor from the arm-destruction that Danielson did on him by going after his knee. AJ is also brutal as hell targeting it; he is dumping Bryan knee-first into the post n' guardrail, which actually also cuts the knee open, really putting over the brutality of it all. The dueling bodypart-targeting story that is going on is wonderful to watch unfold, and the pure sense of competition is so grabbing throughout. Absolutely adore the whole finishing sequence too, especially everything leading up to that one-armed Styles Clash -- so much struggle in display, but that could be said about the whole match, because they brought that in spades. Absolutely WONDERFUL stuff all in all. Everything they did felt like it had purpose, and everything they did felt earned. If I had to choose which is a better match between 'em, this or the first one @ All-Star Extravaganza, it wouldn't be an easy one, because they really are just as good. ****1/2

ROH EMPIRE STATE SHOWDOWN

ROH EMPIRE STATE SHOWDOWN 10/25/03


Christopher Daniels vs. John Walters
This was looking to become a full-on Chris Daniels 03 classic akin his matches vs. Doug Williams & Xavier, but in the last third (or so), they decide to pretty much say "fuck you" to the whole story of Walters' working over Daniels' leg vs. Daniels doing a number on Walters' back. Daniels in particular disappointed me a lot when it came down to that, as he was doing his moonsaults as clean as ever & running full speed -- I think it's especially disappointing when you know that he could also sell extremely well if needed. OH WELL & all that. I still enjoyed this tremendously, because the hold-for-hold back n' forth technical rasslin' in the beginning was really good, and then the mentioned bodypart-targeting story that happened was really great. More selling and this could've & probably would've been one of the years highlights. ***3/4

CM Punk vs. Steve Corino
This is SUCH a blast right from the introductions to the post-match promos by both men. It's two huge personalities going at it, and they play off of each other wonderfully throughout. The "actual wrestling" part of the match rules too, with them blasting each other with some fantastic looking punches, forearms, chops & kicks. Corino faking that ear injury in a nice ode to his fantastic fight vs. Homicide was awesome, and the flurry he went on after revealing that he wasn't actually hurt was some truly great stuff. And yeah, then there's indeed the joyous pre-match w/ their ridiculous introductions + the post-match with them bonding over Corino swerving the crowd & Punk giving them a usual Punk-like jawing on the mic. A real lovely piece of business as an overall package. ***3/4

Homicide vs. Samoa Joe
This doesn't reach the level of their ass-kicking match at Do Or Die, but it's a pretty badass match in its own right. There's some minutes in the match that feel kind of "dead" & don't keep you (or at least me) hooked, but then they redeem themselves with some awesome violence like a lil' slapfest or the finish w/ Homicide choking Joe out. Definitely worth a watch if you love these two motherfuckers like I do. ***1/4