AEW ALL OUT 2023

AEW ALL OUT 2023

Better Than You Baybay vs. The Dark Order
Classic hot babyface opening act right here in Better Than You BAYBAY. MJF is rocking his shit wonderfully. This was a solid match - very much nothing out of ordinary, but a good-time-thing to start a show with. AEW PPV's usually get the openers right & such was the case here. FUN! ***

Samoa Joe vs. Shane Taylor
They kept this simple, just as they should have. It's two big beefy bois doing big beefy boi things in the form of smacking each other around. A solid match with the finishing sequence-destruction by Joe ruling a ton. **1/2

Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin
This was pretty awesome. Darby's back is all banged & taped up, so naturally he takes quite a lot of punishment here. He obviously is great at that. He gets thrown around as Luchasaurus puts on a pretty nice monster performance; there were moments where he legitimately felt like a suffocating, scary monster in there. Some creative & explosive attacks by Darby in there to keep things exciting as well. It all makes for a good match. ***1/4

Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
This was a HOOT. Meat forever indeed - just two big bulls colliding & not giving each other an inch. Everything was earned, hits were hard, the bombs were awesome, just a pretty darn charming deal all in all. ***

Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks
A goddamn warfare. Violent spectacle. They beat the fuck out of each other with amazingly gnarly usage of the strap gimmick, amazing visuals with their facial expressions & Danielson's perfect rocking of the crimson mask. Starks had a really great showing all around with his punches n' selling as well as terrific overall heel mannerisms & swagger. A one to remember to say the least, and one of the very best of 2023. ****1/2

Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. Eddie Kingston & Katsuyori Shibata
What a line-up. It was more than surely gonna be a banger, and that's exactly what it ended up being. Loved seeing Shibata get so much time to shine - all 4 men had some great moments throughout the match, but my favorite bits definitely were the ones with Shibata & Claudio going at it. ***1/2

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita
This wasn't exactly my type of a match, but I appreciated some stuff in it. I really like the entire dynamic of Takeshita rising to the occasion against Omega, especially given their history & all, and the match played pretty accordingly to that, especially in the finishing stretch (which was great). Now I must say I just wasn't into the match for the vast majority of it, but even in those stretches, there was a move or 2 here n' there that I thought was neat, so I'd say this was pretty good overall. **3/4

Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley
The perfect ending to Orange Cassidy's epic title reign. Against the ace of the company. The most vicious man in the company. Moxley just completely brutalizes him throughout - the blood makes for stunning visuals throughout, especially in the closing moments, and OC is wonderful eating that brutalization that is dished out on him. His comebacks are absolutely awesome too, especially the pocket-kick deal where he upped the intensity. It's just a great, storybook ending for this run of his. ****

AEWxNJPW FORBIDDEN DOOR II

AEW x NJPW FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023

MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
This wasn't very memorable or particularly great, but I thought it was a solid match. Tanahashi is definitely showing his age + wear n' tear, but he still of course makes for an effective babyface. MJF with his usually-always good work as well make this for an all around okay fun-time opener. **3/4

CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
LARIAT, LARIAT, KOJIMA, KOJIMA. FOR DEE. Oh hell YES. This was a pretty fun little PPV midcard number. Kojima played the hits & Punk continues to deliver wonderful performances in his return run. ***

Orange Cassidy vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Loved this. Shibata & ZSJ cock-fighting throughout, Cassidy getting the shit beaten out of him by them two & ultimately finding a way to survive + escape with the title.. Banging stuff. ***1/2

SANADA vs. Jack Perry
This felt like one of those mid-2010s Tokyo Dome ROH Title matches. It felt like those in that there was just absolutely nothing to take away from the match. It's just a match that happened in the middle of the card. *1/2

The Elite, Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino
A straight up multi-man tag team bangeroid here. When The Jackson bros do this kind of match well, they do it WELL, alright. Everybody got their shit in & looked fabulous. ***1/2

Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay
My goodness what a match! In their previous match, Kenny was absolutely fantastic dishing out punishment at yung William, but he might've been even better here taking a wonderful beating from Ospreay. Loved how that dynamic flipped from match to match between 'em. Phenomenal visuals, amazing moments, great dynamic continuing from that previous match of theirs. This was amazing. Tiger Driver 91 forever. Unreal Kenny Omega performance. Fantastic fucking match. ****1/4

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
Didn't reach its full potential for obvious reasons, but I still loved the hell out of this. Big match feel between two living professional wrestling legends - watching the GOAT kick & stretch the shit out of Okada was an absolute joy. I can't wait for the eventual rematch if it ever happens, and if it does, this will be such a sweet first chapter to remember. ***3/4

WWE BACKLASH 2023

 

WWE BACKLASH 2023


Bianca Belair vs. IYO SKY
This was really a signature IYO performance with exciting, explosive offense all the way through with a really fun gameplan in the form of her targeting of Bianca's arm to watch unfold as well. Stunning bumping to boot as well, but that should go without saying. Bianca was really good as well, gave IYO a lot: she sold well & had fun moments on the offense too. A super fun opener! ***1/4

Omos vs. Seth Rollins
A super basic "giant vs. a smaller man" match-up. Watching Omos do inhumane giant-things is always a joy, so matches like this are very easy to watch. **

Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest
This was a fun time with all the run-ins & shit. Priest was selling his ass off & Bunny once again impressed with his entire performance. A good time, a good time. ***

Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes
So fucking meh. Brock in 2023 as the heel doing work akin to the stuff that dominated the 2nd half of the 2010s feels so boring & Cody ain't the dude to get anything interesting out of him. A waste of time. *

2023 MOTYC (****+) LIST

★★★★★
Bryan Danielson vs. MJF (AEW 03/05)

★★★★¾

Bryan Danielson vs. Rush (AEW 02/08)

 

 ★★★★½

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston (ROH 03/31)

Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta (AEW 05/28)

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe (AEW 08/27)
Chuck Taylor, Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy, Penta El Zero Miedo & Trent Beretta vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Mike Santana, Ortiz & Wheeler Yuta (AEW 08/27)

Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks (AEW 09/03)

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW 09/20)

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (AEW 10/01)

Bryan Danielson vs. Christian Cage (AEW 10/14)

Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW 11/18)

 

★★★★¼ 

Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (AEW/NJPW 06/25)

Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW 12/02)

Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia (AEW 12/08)

★★★★

Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (WWE 04/01)

Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther vs. Sheamus (WWE 04/02)
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe (AEW 07/08)

Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW 09/03)

Andrade El Idolo vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW 12/09)

Brody King vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW 12/16)

WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT 2

 

WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39 - SUNDAY

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
This was the simple sub-5 minute banger it was always destined to be. The certified human-thrower Brock Lesnar gets thrown around & dominated by a dude who towers over him before he ultimately catches him slippin' & gets the dub. Hell yeah. Brock's selling is superb as per usual. ***1/4

Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
*1/4

Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Dudes ROCK. ****

Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
This certainly wasn't the best possible Belair vs. Asuka match, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It took them a while to get cooking-cooking, but even when the match wasn't all that interesting, there were moments of awesomeness throughout in Asuka picking Bianca apart with her beautiful, creative arsenal. And then especially the entire finishing sequence was terrific. A good match all in all. ***1/4

Edge vs. Finn Bálor
This wasn't a bad Cell match. The little break as Finn was being attended didn't take much, or really anything, away from the thing, and overall they delivered a good, pretty intense grudge match. Not "intense-intense" ya know, but intense enough imo. Obviously not a top tier HIAC or anything close to that, but an extremely enjoyable & watchable one. ***

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
Man, what a deflating finish. This was a really well wrestled big drama big WWE match, but the finish leaves such a bad taste in your mouth. ***

WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT 1

 

WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39 - SATURDAY

Austin Theory vs. John Cena
Awesome seeing Cena, but this wasn't much of anything. Theory dominates most of the match & is extremely generic with it. Cena hits the hits in his comeback bits. Super basic & super forgettable. *3/4

Alpha Academy vs. Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders
Mindless fun for 8-something minutes. Full on action packed with everybody in the match getting their moments. ***

Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins
This was good. Logan continues to put in good performances at big stages. Nicely focused on big moments & those big moments were really cool, so it was a really nice WrestleMania-like big feature singles match. ***

Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL
Surprisingly lengthy, and that's not a positive. There was no heat whatsoever to the thing, but you're bound to have at least 1 of these matches at Mania, so it is what it is. A bunch of nothing. *1/4

Dominik Mysterio vs. Rey Mysterio
I was entertained thoroughly by this. The entrances were incredible, and while the match could've been more, it was still really good & took care of business in delivering a satisfying conclusion to this super fun storyline between Rey & Dom. ***

Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
Hmm, I can definitely see why many people liked this, but I thought it was a very hollow & "paint-by-the-numbers" feeling epic. Generic big match sequences, nearfalls, cringey facial expressions, you name it galore. Definitely not bad, as it didn't overstay its welcome (which is something most matches of this kind do), but it certainly wasn't for me. *3/4

Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. The Usos
This ended up being a super satisfying conclusion to the Zayn vs. Bloodline saga. The match started hitting some pretty sweet high notes during/after the Superkick Party on Zayn & it never let up from that moment on. Seeing & hearing Zayn's theme end a WrestleMania is just amazing in all ways possible. ****

SUPERCARD OF HONOR stufffff

ROH SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander
I feel like a cranky old man writing this, but this one wasn't for me. A couple of cool, athletic, crazy spots sure, but I thought the overall flow of the match was kind of awkward & it felt longer than it actually was. The stuff between those gif-moments were extremely dull at best. It's certainly not a bad match though & more-than-definitely served well in the opener spot. A gentleman's **

Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe
A basic underdog dynamic that fits both wrestlers well. Slugs being thrown all the way through. Big emotion up in the air obviously too, which added to the thing. It was a good match. ***

Wheeler Yuta vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Neat storytelling with Yuta being the one to call out Shibata, but as it turns out, he ends up biting more than he can chew, and has to resort to some dirty tactics. Yuta's work between the ropes isn't the most interesting, but the storytelling carried most of the load & Shibata is Shibata. A king. It's a blessing seeing him wrestle, and this was another good little match during this comeback-run. ***

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston
This was a fucking epic scrap. Beautifully referred to their history. Claudio is an absolute beast of a pro wrestler, and oh man, what an absolutely amazing performance by Eddie Kingston all around. A fantastic World Title fight with so much big & little things to love. ****1/2

AEW REVOLUTION 2023

 

AEW REVOLUTION 2023

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks
AEW PPVs usually get the openers right, and they definitely did so here. An energetic, good action bell-to-bell having match that was wrestled at a really fun pace. Starks coming into it with taped up ribs created a nice, fun dynamic right from the get go, and really made it easy to get into the work the lads gave us in there. Didn't overstay its welcome & had the right winner. A rock solid ***

Christian Cage vs. Jack Perry
This was a solid little brawl. Christian obviously excels as the total asshole-heel, right down to fighting this fight with a sleeveless turtle neck lol. Was missing some spark to be on that next level, but it was still a good one forrrr sure. ***

Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks
You know what you're getting when you see this line-up on paper, and it ended up ruling a lot. The House of Black got a proper spotlight here, and each one of 'em put in some real good performances showcasing their signature arsenals. The Elite were Elite; Kenny was the overall MVP of the thing and The Bucks had many of the best spots of the entire match. Matches of this kind are usually very hit-or-miss for me, and this one was a hit. ***1/2

Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley
MOX brings some FORK action into big time wrestling. Hell to the yes, man. Hell yes. This was quite the battle - it had its share of memorable visuals & moments throughout, with the best ones being pretty damn awesome. Certainly lived up to the billing when it comes down to the feud & the stipulation. I didn't think it was as stunning as the general consensus seems to be liking it, as it (imo) went a bit too long & was a bit too cute at many times, but it most definitely still fucked pretty darn hard. ***1/2

MJF vs. Bryan Danielson
Maaaaaaaaan. This match got me so good. All overanalyzing & thinking be damned; this match brought emotions in me that I didn't know wrestling matches still could. Bryan Danielson is the greatest professional wrestler of all-time & MJF gave an amazing, true-to-character performance that definitely helped boost this incredible match into that incredible level it was at. The best kind of art is the art that genuinely brings emotions out of you, makes you think, moves you. This clicked all those boxes for me & more. Danielson vs. MJF, forever. *****

NJPW Battle In The Valley; Mercedes/KAIRI, Tana/Okada, Switchblade/Kingston

NJPW BATTLE IN THE VALLEY

Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White
This was an awesome, mean-fight between two stubborn ass dudes. Some really good bits of character work, selling & overall a nice slight rugged feel to the battle. Could've done without the melodramatic stuff at the end, but I understand it given the result & the stipulation. ***1/4

KAIRI vs. Mercedes Mone
Yeah, this rocked. An epic that built organically & featured two great wrestlers delivering great performances. Great armwork throughout by Mercedes, some awesome moments of that signature explosive offense by KAIRI, great big moments. A really good match. ***1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
In some ways, this reminded of a house show version of the big Tanahashi vs. Okada epic. Gave it quite the charming vibe, and I mean of course it was good. Obviously not an upper echelon match in the legendary rivalry, but a yet another good addition. ***

ELIMINATION CHAMBER 2023

WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER 2023

Asuka vs. Carmella vs. Liv Morgan vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Cross vs. Raquel Rodriquez
This was alright. Some awkward moments here & there, and really not much to remember the match by, but I did think Liv Morgan had a pretty good overall performance, taking some big bumps & having the most interesting moments of big offense. Asuka was solid as always too, unsurprisingly. **

Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
Ehh. The most uninteresting Brock Lesnar type of match possible. *1/2

Austin Theory vs. Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Montez Ford vs. Seth Rollins
This was actually quite a fun Chamber match! Every man involved got plenty of moments to shine & things flowed nicely from start to finish. A good one. ***

Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn
This had a lot of the Roman Reigns main event match features that suck: you get him controlling things way too much w/ spotty (in regards to how interesting it is) work on top, melodramatic dialogue of course (even though it wasn't actually THAT bad this time - still annoying tho), Bloodline run-ins, a super lame, energy-sucking finish, but goddamn it, there was still that magic in the air that this match was bound to have. There was close to zero fucking chance that Sami Zayn was gonna win the World Championship here, especially right before WrestleMania, but he still made me believe. One of the best, man. One of the very best. ***3/4

A CERTIFIED HOOD CLASSIC

 

AEW DYNAMITE 02/08/23


Bryan Danielson vs. Rush
ROOSH gets to be the best nasty, violent, charismatic motherfucker that he is possible as he delivers an absolutely lovely & brutal pummeling. A pummeling which Danielson sells absolutely perfectly throughout. Perfeeeeectly. Just a motherfucking badass match, man.  ****3/4

DYNAMITE: Mox/Hangman, BRYAN/THATCHER, JOE/Darby

 

AEW DYNAMITE 02/01/23


Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley
Quite a generic big match formula in play here, but it was fine. Didn't feel it as much as I did their previous bout, but both Mox & Hangman have such good arsenals that there is plenty of moments that I liked. Big moves, blood, big moments. A big TV-match, that's how I would describe it. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it was still alright. **3/4

Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher
Now THIS is what I am here for. Can't think of many more appealing-looking match-ups on paper than the American Dragon vs. Dirty Tim, and hell yeah it ruled. It was exactly what it promised to be with Thatcher torturing Bryan, just wringing on that arm, hitting it hard & stretching it with holds. Bryan's selling is class. Obviously it's not the blow-out amazing match they could easily have, but it's an absolute TV-banger & more than fitting first meeting between these two exceptional wrestlers. ***1/4

Darby Allin vs. Samoa Joe
This was fucking awesome. Exactly what a No Holds Barred match between these two should look like. Memorable spots & visuals throughout. Joe gets to be the best Samoa Joe-in-2023 possible because of Darby's willingness to get completely ragdolled. Fuck yes. ***3/4

AEW Dynamite; Danielson-Bandido, KUSHIDA-Darby

 

AEW DYNAMITE 01/18/23


Bandido vs. Bryan Danielson
Such a super-fun styles clash match-up. Bandido got a lot here, as this was designed like a true coming-out-party for him (not that he needs one at this point) -- he got to showcase his freaky strength, amazing athleticism & innovative offense, all while the crowd is going bonkers for him. Love to see stuff like that. Bryan was great at eating all of that, and obviously also great at roughing Bandido up, leaning a bit over to his heelish side. 'twas a banger. ***1/4

Darby Allin vs. KUSHIDA
KUSHIDA is like a shark on his usual arm-targeting-shiet. It's usually always good, but you just KNEW it was gonna be good-good when it's Darby receiving that punishment. A really good, fun TV title defense. Not far off from Bandido vs. Danielson as far as bangers on this Dynamite episode go! ***

WRESTLE KINGDOM 17

 

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 17

Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Lio Rush & YOH
A very tame, run-of-the-mill lil' spotfest jr tag opener. Absolutely nothing offensive, but also absolutely nothing that I'll remember. *3/4

KAIRI vs. Tam Nakano
I love me a good violent sprint, and this was that, but goddamn it would've been awesome if they got more time. It is what it is I guess, but aye, this was indeed a good get-your-shit-in sprint with plenty of badass offense by both women. ***

FTR vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
FTR do their thing in the Tokyo Dome, baby. It goddamn rules & Bishamon were rock solid dance partners for them with Goto in particular (unsurprisingly) mashing really well with Big Match Cash & Big Match Dax. ***

Ren Narita vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
This was good. You could sum it up to "both guys did their thing", which was the case & it created for a pretty neat dynamic + overall made for a match that told its narrative nicely n' effectively. ***

Karl Anderson vs. Tama Tonga
The Gun Stun finish-mess is very unfortunate, but this was actually a super solid match otherwise! Very surprisingly. I thought that both guys rocked their roles pretty damn well -- Machine Gun being a very good dick throughout & providing good work on top with a couple of truly awesomely vicious big match moments + Tama's fighting from underneath had a nice little spark to it. Especially those forearms. A simple, honest 10-minute heel vs. babyface match with rock solid wrestling & a story to it. I liked it. ***

BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Keiji Muto & Shota Umino
Muto, Tanahashi & Umino really is the perfect squad for this particular match. This was pretty fun. Obviously nothing blow-away great, but it didn't need to be. Cool seeing Muto in the Dome. **3/4

El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori
Master Wato had a few pretty cute nearfalls, but other than those, I wasn't feeling this one much at all. Very generic four-way action all the way thru with none of the guys really bringing the heat. *1/2

Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay
Not gonna lie, I wasn't feeling the first half (or so). It wasn't until Ospreay got busted open & Omega went into nasty murder-mode that I got into it, but oh boy did I love that shit. Kenneth was looking like a killer out there, and Ospreay was selling like a king. Cringe overselling is always a possibility with him, but here he was truly fantastic; selling just the right amount of big, you know? Moments like Kenny smashing Ospreay's head onto the table repeatedly, all the beautifully brutal V-Triggers, the Croyth's Wrath & the whole sequence leading to it w/ Will's amazing selling = *chef's kiss* beautiful goddamn stuff, beautiful goddamn stuff. There was stuff that I disliked too, though. I thought that all of Will's comeback bits towards the end were pretty bad & actively brought the match down. Especially that Hidden Blade after he had just ate the V-Trigger; wrist control stuff like that just feels like a parody at this point. It's still a great damn match, but yeah, it would've been on an entirely different level had I liked Will's work on the offense more. Or cared for the first half. Just says how otherworldly great Kenny brutalizing Ospreay was when it's still overall such a banger even with those factors. ***3/4

Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada
A very generic NJPW main event sadly. Super long & not much of a catch or hook to it. White offered nothing of note & Okada was Okada: always good, but these IWGP Heavyweight Championship main events rely so much on his opponents & what they have to offer against him. **

NOAH '23 Presents: The Return of KENTAFuji & SHINSKAAAAAY

 

NOAH THE NEW YEAR 2023


KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Satoshi Kojima & Takashi Sugiura
Seeing KENTAFuji back together as grizzled vets warms my heart. Had to give this a watch. It was a pretty good, "paint-by-the-numbers" kind-of a match. Four dudes just bringing the beef and smacking each other. Ya know the deal. Nothing more or nothing special, but it really didn't need to be. **3/4

The Great Muta vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
First of all, it's super cool seeing Nakamura back in Japan. He came off as the ol' Swagsuke of the past right from the gate with that awesome entrance. The match was exactly what one would expect from the two in one of Muta's retirement matches. You get his hits, Nakamura sells for him big throughout & brings the physicality with his kicks. It's good fun that gets a lil boost due to all the classic puro retirement match pageantry, emotion, atmosphere & shine. ***