New Japan Cup: Ishii/Togi, Okada/Nagata

NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2020 - DAY 5

Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii

In the early going, I was about to say that the empty arena setting that was forced upon them actually gave the Ishii vs. Makabe match-up some much needed new life, but the reality is that by the end, it was exactly as boring & uninspiring as I'd expect + it even managed to drag pretty badly, which is quite something when it was a sub-15 min match. *3/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Yuji Nagata

One of my favorite Okada matches, and maybe even more importantly, one of my absolute favorite Okada PERFORMANCES is his 2017 G1 match vs. Satoshi Kojima. He was the perfect cocky young brat ace in that match, and looking at this match on paper, I thought it had some similar potential, but sadly the execution was far from the greatness of that said match vs. Cozy. Okada & Nagata essentially had the exact same match they would have in front of the fans, making sure that the action didn't translate well into this empty arena setting, and even if this would've had the fans there, it still felt like a very lackluster Okada performance. He didn't show much swagger at all, and instead gave a very robotic feeling performance all around. Not that Nagata was much better at all, but I do think this match was always in the hands of Okada & his performance -- at least when it came down to my enjoyment of it. Oh well. At least I can appreciate the different finish. *

New Japan Cup Day 3 STUFF

NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2020 - DAY 3

Shingo Takagi vs. SHO

I didn't like their match from the year before, but this one was good. Lacked a true "hook", so to say, for me to get completely invested in it, but the lads sure gave me lots of meanness in the form of hard forearms, lariats & bombs, and I definitely dug most of it. ***

Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

These two are always good together, but I do feel like this match-up feels completely overdone at this point. But then again, as I say that, I come back to that first statement, as this was indeed really good. Some of Zack's early matwork didn't translate too well into the empty arena setting, but once he set that focus on Ibushi's leg, it became very easy to enjoy & follow along, and it was indeed the good stuff. ***1/4

New Japan Cup Days 1 & 2

NJPW New Japan Cup 2020 - Day 1: El Desperado vs. Tomohiro Ishii

I can appreciate Ishii's (always tbh) extremely good selling, and the legwork did give the match some charm & identity, but as an overall package, it didn't do a whole lot to me. Felt like a generic Ishii match with a different opponent, BUT to immediately backtrack that statement a little bit, as mentioned, the legwork did somewhat freshen things up & there was one genuinely fantastic moment in the match in Ishii's comeback when he just ran through Desperado with that shoulder tackle, making this definitely not a COMPLETELY dull & forgettable affair all in all. **1/2

NJPW New Japan Cup 2020 - Day 2: Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata

First of all, a big shout-out in order is for that finishing sequence - loved how out of the nowhere the urgency rose & just like that the match was over. Totally caught me off guard in the best way possible. That was the highlight of the entire match for me I think. Didn't care for the (thankfully pretty brief) stuff on the outside w/ Minoru's chair-shtick & that classic NJPW count-out tease, but all in all, this was a pretty fun match. They sure brought out the hard hits for this one as one would expect, and as one would also expect, every strike looked & sounded pretty nasty. I do think there were points where the action wasn't quite compelling at all though, and as a summary I would say that if you'd trim the fat in this, it would be a very, very good to borderline great smackfest, but as it is, it's a _good_ smackfest. ***1/4

NJPW New Japan Cup 2020 - Day 2: Gedo vs. Kazuchika Okada

I would say that this was the most fun & intriguing looking match-up on paper from the entire round 1. At best, this could've been pretty amazing. Sadly it wasn't nowhere near that, and actually really goddamn boring. Gedo's heel shenanigans didn't translate well into the empty arena setting, and Okada's reactions to those weren't complimentary at all, thus making all of it feel just.. bad. Gedo actually controlled most of the match, and oh boy was it boring as hell + Okada continued that trend of this match being boring in his comeback bits, as he didn't bring any fun energy into the thing either. Such a disappointing match. *

WWE BACKLASH 2020

WWE BACKLASH 2020

Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce

I think the whole 3-way rule freshened this up quite a bit -- it made the action stay not-dull for the majority of it. A gentleman's **

Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus

Strong showing by both. Comparing this to his PPV match vs. Cesaro, I thought Jeff's performance here was much better & much more spirited; he was a rocking scrappy babyface with awesome fiery times on the offense & good selling of Sheamus' beatdown. Sheamus was rock solid as the heel bully throughout as well. They got a pretty lengthy amount of time to do their thing, and they kept me entertained from bell to bell. Maybe the best match of the night, even though there was one other one that gives it some tough competition. ***1/4

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

These two have had some bangers against each other in the past, and while this one didn't reach the level of those said bangers, it was still pretty good n' all. I did think that Nia's performance was very lackluster though -- she has had some genuinely very good monster performances in the past vs. Asuka (& others too), but here she offered nothing interesting to the table, BUUUUT thankfully Asuka absolutely ruled w/ all of her kick & submission heavy work. **3/4

Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre

Lashley delivered one of his most compelling performances since his WWE return here. He was an AWESOME aggressor throughout, laying out a vicious beating to the champ, and McIntyre sure matched that viciousness himself as well. A very enjoyable bout. It's between this & Jeff/Sheamus when it comes to my favorite match of the night. ***1/4

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Yeah... The whole marketing line sure did them dirty, but ignoring that, this was essentially exactly what you (or at least what I) would expect from a Edge vs. Randy Orton match, but it's stretched out to 40+ minutes & they add a shitload of more finishers n' kickouts to fill out that time. If you like the two, you probably liked this, but I can't say that I am a fan. By far the best stuff in the thing was the beginning minutes with Orton at first trying to embarrass Edge, and it eventually turning into Edge returning the favor by successfully baiting Orton a couple of times. That was a legitimately pretty charming lil' dynamic they got going for a little bit. All the finishers from other wrestlers they busted out; Angle Slam, Pedigree, Unprettier, 3 Amigos, a goddamn Rock Bottom, just felt cheap & them going "look at how smart we are pal!!!" -- not my kind of stuff to say the least. And then there's WWE adding the piped-in crowd noise, which was ridiculous, and then there's also the PC wrestlers crowd, of which chants make the whole thing feel extremely masturbatory. I totally get why some people loved this, but this was so not for me. *

Styles vs Bryan NEVER disappoints

WWE SMACKDOWN 06/12/20

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

Same week when WWE is promoting a PPV match between Edge vs. Orton to be the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever", they give two of the actual best in the world, two of the greatest of all-time 30+ minutes. And what we ended up getting is one of the best TV-matches ever. Thought that's quite funny to think about, and shows what a giant rib that whole marketing line for Edge & Orton is.

This was unsurprisingly amazing. Bryan is in the lead for the WOTY 2020 race by a pretty big margin at this point, and while AJ hasn't been in too many stand-out matches lately, he is still who he is, and he is the 2nd best wrestler in the world. The two have had an amazing, competitive chemistry with one another ever since their very first singles meeting in 2002, and here we are, 18 years later & they still bring that fantastic feeling of competition out of each other. Every single thing they do in the match matters & goes perfectly with the story they are telling -- it's two guys who operate at a higher level than everyone else going at it. The MEAT of the match is the dueling bodypart-targeting; it's something that has been present in their matches for a loooong time, and as always, it's amazingly compelling to watch & follow. Both guys are nasty & vicious as hell bringing the hurt to one another, and the selling is great throughout. Everything looks phenomenal, there's no wasted motions as mentioned, and the body-language by both guys is sublime. Comparing this to their previous matches, this honestly doesn't offer much new, but it doesn't need to. Their rivalry has always been about two of the best wrestling the fuck out of each other, and that's what they did once again here, producing a real clinic & a stone-cold pro-wrestling TV classic. ****1/2

TV Stuff ft. Grimes, Balor, FTR, Cody, etc

WWE NXT 06/10/20: Cameron Grimes vs. Finn Bálor

About on par with their first singles meeting. This time Grimes took the loss, but he looked extremely competitive against Bálor, which I am a big fan of. His periods on control were of course awesome, as was his trashtalk, and Bálor shutting him up w/ that awesome comeback run of his was real good. Liked the finish with him busting out the Bloody Sunday, too. ***

AEW Dynamite 06/10/20: Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. The Blade & The Butcher

A very solid post-WWE debut for FTR, as they got to showcase what they're all about in this one. The Blade & The Butcher complimented their wrestling styles more than well, and as a result, this ended up being a pretty charming, smash-mouth'ISH tag bout. ***

AEW Dynamite 06/10/20: Cody vs. Marq Quen

The commentators are quick to inform me that Marq Quen has a bum ankle going into this, and it doesn't take long for that to become the main story of the bout; Cody goes after it w/ a nice focus - Quen's selling is really solid throughout. He still does his exciting highflying flips n' all, but they have that extra sloppiness to them, because of the hurt his ankle is in. Good stuff, and the finish w/ Cody catching him with the Ankle Lock was great. ***

NXT TAKEOVER: IN YOUR HOUSE

WWE NXT TAKEOVER: IN YOUR HOUSE

Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart & Tegan Nox

This was an extremely solid opener. Good energy throughout, everybody got solid time in the ring to look good & it went the perfect length at under 10-minutes. Hardly anything to truly rave about, but definitely very, very solid. **3/4

Damien Priest vs. Finn Bálor

This only went about 13-minutes, which was shocking to read, because it dragged like a mofo. I thought Bálor was a chore from underneath, and most of his offense looked really bad -- a special shout-out to those stomps n' forearms. Priest largely didn't interest me either, but I thought he was the stronger of the two performers in this one, surely. So yeah, definitely a very boring match for the absolute majority of it, but I did love the finish though; they actually treated that hellacious steel-steps moment as a big thing, as it lead to the finish w/ Bálor busting out those diving foot stomps, both of which looked GREAT & were the best things he did all match long. **

Johnny Gargano vs. Keith Lee

Nothing special & definitely not as good as it could've been, but I just gotta appreciate the fact that this wasn't the "usual" what we've come to expect & see from Gargano every big match. His periods on control weren't very compelling to watch, but I did like the finger-targeting that went on throughout the match -- it also created for my favorite single moment of the thing w/ that single-armed powerbomb spot. Sure there were some silly kick-out-at-2 faces, but as I mentioned, definitely refreshing not to see Gargano bust out 200 finishers & no sell 100 of them by his opponent in return. **3/4

Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream

On paper this sounds like a fun & somewhat fresh idea, but sadly in reality it was an extremely dull affair. Literally nothing to write home about.

Karrion Kross vs. Tommaso Ciampa

This was by far my favorite match of the night & the only one that truly felt like worth watching. 6 minutes of badass action with two mean motherfuckers going at it -- Kross' dominant work with him throwing Ciampa around with ease was a joy to watch, and Ciampa's big comeback run was epic in all of its urgency & explosiveness. ***1/2

Charlotte Flair vs. Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley

The end result is something I can fully get behind, as Io obviously RULES, but as a match, this was oh so meh. The whole thing just felt clunky w/ its flow, and the action just wasn't very compelling at any point. I guess I could say that there were a few pretty nice moments here & there if I wanted to be nice, but in reality I am struggling to name anything I liked about this, other than that outcome. *3/4