Bryan/Jeff II, Umeda/BigShuji, Halftime Heat

WWE SmackDown 02/05/19: Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy

Not as great as their 2018 match, but still really good. Jeff was very solid with his comebacks, but this was the Bryan show. He was amazing as always on the offense; knee drops to the face, nose grabbing, brutal kicks, vicious arm targeting - all really great stuff. Also that kick to the rope to hurt Jeff's chin; creative & brutal as hell. Loved it. ***1/2

DDT Sweet Dreams: Kota Umeda vs. Shuji Ishikawa

This was a pretty badass underdog match. First time watching Kota Umeda, and the dude has some brutal kicks to say the least - he was awesome with those, and the big dog Shuji was brutal shutting him down with those forearms & slams. Gave him a lot of the match to shine, and let him kick out of a lot of stuff, too. Very giving performance by the man in that. ***1/2

WWE Halftime Heat: Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black, Ricochet & The Velveteen Dream

If you're a fan of this kind of wrestling, this probably was awesome. I don't really particularly care for stuff like this though, and I've seen so many better spotfests in PWG & other indies over the years. It pretty much did nothing for me. I did like the Dream's very brief 1 vs. 3 moment w/ those PUNCHES though, that was very nice. **

wXw Brings On THE MOTY (so far)!

wXw Back to the Roots XVIII: David Starr vs. Timothy Thatcher

Starr has a taped up shoulder, but Thatcher doesn't go for it right away. They do some lovely work on the mat; it's all very tight & has a great sense of realism to it, as both Starr & Thatcher are among the best in the world. Loved Starr trying to actively fight out of Thatcher's single leg boston crab attempt, and Thatcher answering to that by kicking him back & then applying the hold. It's the little things folks. Thatcher eventually gets tired of this back & forth shit, and goes after the taped up shoulder - Starr sold his desperation there brilliantly, as when Thatcher grabbed a hold of that arm for the first time, he just started rapid fire punching him in full on panic-mode. He tries to go for his signature lariat, but Thatcher headbutts the arm, and then it's a full on arm torture-show. Dirty Tim's armwork is really great, super compelling to watch with brutal stomps, uppercuts & holds. Starr excels in the FIP role w/ his terrific all around selling. His comeback attempt with those chops was awesome; Thatcher just absolves them, because Starr had no power behind them w/ his shitty arm. It has probably happened in some other matches too, but I first saw it done in Danielson vs. Shiozaki, and it's one of those spots that has stuck with me ever since I first saw it there, so it's safe to say I popped big time for it here. Another great Starr comeback attempt moment was when he once again tried to go for that signature lariat of his, but he did it with the bad arm, so there wasn't much impact to it. Thatcher just absolves it like he did the chops, and tries to put him in a chickenwing right away. Oh & yet another awesome comeback moment by Starr was when he countered Thatcher's suplex/bodydrop attempt into a crossbody, he got Thatcher stunned for a bit, but he can't capitalize, because of how much hurt has been put into the arm. That cartwheel spot was absolutely amazing too with that arm giving up & Thatcher going to it immediately like a shark. And the finish was real lovely & pretty creative; great scramble & struggle with the counters, and Starr gets the flash roll-up victory. Fantastic ending to a truly fantastic match. Really tight psychology & amazing performances by both. All in under 10 minutes. The first high tier MOTYC of 2019 for me. ****1/2

Stardom, CWF, MLW, NJPW

Stardom 8th Anniversary in Osaka: Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora vs. Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita

Liked the start with JAN rushing Momo during the introductions to get the quick advantage, and I also liked Momo quickly escaping from their onslaught to make the tag to Utami, which then lead to a very solid FIP segment where they punished Tora in very enjoyable fashion. Soon after that, the match just kicks into the second gear, and they pretty much do some real good finishing stretch wrestling w/ a good sense of urgency to it. Really good match. ***1/2

CWF Mid-Atlantic STRONGER!: Arik Royal vs. Brad Attitude vs. Cain Justice vs. Kool Jay vs. Roy Wilkins vs. Trevor Lee

This goes 73 MINUTES, so it's a real long boy, but if there's one man I trust in wrestling to have an awesome, super lengthy match, it's the Carolina Caveman himself. Having just watched it, I can confirm it was indeed an awesome one. Some very good storytelling throughout with the three heels in Attitude, Royal & Wilkins working together to try and eliminate the babyfaces. High-key felt like a trios tag match for the majority of it, but the babyfaces did go at it w/ each other too; Trevor had some really fun exchanges w/ Kool Jay in the beginning, and then the final battle between him & Cain was of course great. I'd say for like 95% of it I was thinking it's a really good match, but not really 4*-level great, but oh man, I can't deny the FEELS I was FEELING during & after it. I remember a while ago Chris Hero tweeted something along the lines of "Wrestling still moves me. I think it always will." - and that tweet instantly came to my mind when I finished watching this one. An emotional ride starting from Trevor's entrance to his post-match speech. Was in near tears listening to him talk about calling his dad after Regal offered him an NXT contract. Now next up in a couple of weeks is him vs. Cain, 1-on-1, End of an Era. Might have to buy some tissues just for that one. ****

MLW Superfight: Low Ki vs. Tom Lawlor

Not sure if there were some timing issues before this, but it definitely felt a bit rushed. Far from bad though, as they wrestled a real good sprint - both Low Ki & Filthy Tom sure can throw some good strikes, and there was a solid sense of urgency to the thing, too. Good match. ***1/4

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo: Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask

IS IT A TIGER MASK VS. A COUPLE OF YOUNG LIONS MATCH THAT I SEE? Oh yes it is! Of course I had to watch this one after the 1/3 performance by him, and while he wasn't as grumpy as he was there, this was still a real good performance by him. His kicks were vicious, and he sold greatly for the Young Lions when it was time for that, and they sure did get a lot of the match to shine. Very good fire shown by both of them. Good stuff all around. ***

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo: Taichi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Overall this was good with exciting action & Taichi sure always brings out some solid viciousness in Naito, but goddamn the whole beginning pre-match attack & injury bit went on for way too long. Also didn't like how early Naito busted out that Piledriver through the table, but Taichi sold the neck pretty well throughout the match, so it's not that big of a deal. Not on the level of their 2018 matches, but still a very enjoyable one. ***

2019 MOTYC (****+) TRACKER

★★★★★
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE, 04/07)

★★★★¾
Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 02/16)

★★★★½
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 03/23)
Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes (AEW, 05/25)
David Starr vs. Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 01/19)
Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shinjiro Otani (ZERO1, 06/22)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA (NJPW, 07/14)
Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 08/12)
Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (ROH, 08/09)
Bobby Gunns vs. Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 10/05)

★★★★¼
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro & Sheamus, Daniel Bryan & Rowan, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE, 03/26)
Timothy Thatcher vs. Yuki Ishikawa (wXw, 03/09)
Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 06/09)
Buddy Murphy vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE, 08/20)
Dragon Lee & Rush vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (ROH, 06/29)
Kassius Ohno vs. WALTER (EVOLVE, 09/21)

★★★★
Naoya Nomura vs. Suwama (AJPW, 04/28)
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE, 01/27)
Josh Barnett vs. Minoru Suzuki (GCW, 04/04)
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Ren Narita & Yuya Uemura (NJPW, 01/03)
Starlight Kid vs. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom, 01/03)
Shinjiro Otani vs. Yuji Hino (ZERO1, 01/01)
Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal (ROH, 01/13)
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe (WWE, 02/17)
Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens vs. Mustafa Ali (WWE, 03/10)
Jonathan Gresham vs. Masashi Takeda (GCW, 04/04)
Hideki Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher (GCW, 04/04)
Matt Riddle vs. The Velveteen Dream (WWE, 04/05)
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE, 05/06)
Lucky Kid vs. Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 03/08)
Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama (AJPW, 03/19)
Cain Justice vs. Trevor Lee (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 01/05)
Arik Royal vs. Brad Attitude vs. Cain Justice vs. Kool Jay vs. Roy Wilkins vs. Trevor Lee (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 02/02)
El Barbaro Cavernario vs. Titan (CMLL, 02/22)
Angelico & Jack Evans vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Berreta (AEW, 05/25)
Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson (NJPW, 05/06)
Chris Jericho vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 06/09)
Eddie Kingston vs. PACO (Glory Pro, 02/24)
Eddie Kingston vs. Thomas Shire (HMW, 03/01)
KENTA vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 07/06)
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Otis & Tucker (WWE, 07/14)
Drew Gulak vs. Matt Riddle (EVOLVE, 07/13)
Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 07/18)
Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW, 07/24)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 08/03)
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA (NJPW, 08/03)
Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (WWE, 08/11)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 08/10)
Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. (AAA, 08/03)
Cody vs. Shawn Spears (AEW, 08/31)
Matt Taven vs. Rush (ROH, 09/27)
Eddie Kingston vs. Timothy Thatcher (Beyond, 10/10)
Chris Jericho vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 10/16)
Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend (WWE, 11/24)

New Beginning in Sapporo SZKGN vs. LIJ singles stuff

Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA

The Paradise Lock stuff in the beginning was fun, and MiSu's angry beatdown after that was also fun, but once SANADA makes his comeback inside the ring, goddamn this got boring. No energy in it whatsoever & SANADA is an absolute bore on the offense. **

EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

This was really good in parts, but it dragged pretty badly as well. Really hoping we see a re-match in the G1 or something, because these two have a banger of a (max) 15-minute match in them. This was still good though; Zack was really good with on the offense as usual with some very nice neck targeting, and I liked the whole dynamic of his technical superiority vs. EVIL's brute strength. ***

 

THE E: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

Drew Gulak vs. Mark Andrews

It's so easy for these two to tell a good story w/ their in-ring styles. Gulak is a gritty grappler who hates flips, and Mandrews on the other hand does quite a bit of FLIPS. A pretty lovely dynamic, and they sure had a pretty damn fun match here - Gulak was really awesome all the way through from his first, brutal takedown on; loved how he owned Mandrews on the mat, and his matwork overall was really great. Mandrews makes some good, flippy comebacks, and eventually the match gets more & more intense as Gulak starts lightning Mandrews up with his very nice strikes. ***1/4

Keith Lee vs. Travis Banks

These two had some absolute BANGERS in PROGRESS a few years back, and while this one was never gonna reach the level of those ones, it was still really enjoyable. Simple formula of Keith Lee mauling Travis w/ his strikes & throwing him around, and Travis answering by being the aggressive little man he is, with his very good work fighting from underneath. They did an angle w/ his knee in some match earlier apparently, and I liked how it subtly came into play here with him not being able to be as fast with his combination set-ups as usual. Good stuff. ***1/4

Dominik Dijakovic vs. TJ Perkins

What a funky looking match up, in a very compelling way, and they sure delivered a very good one. There's a pretty big size difference between the two, so they went with the most obvious dynamic possible of Dijak dominating, and TJP having to fight from underneath. TJP brought some very nice, creative stuff in his comebacks, and I loved the arm targeting of his. That Armbar counter was so awesome. Dijak was really good too with his vicious work on top & selling of the arm. Impressive stuff by both men, and one helluva sub-10 minute match overall. ***1/2

Dominik Dijakovic vs. Tyler Bate

This was also real good. Dijak was very vicious throughout, even made some of the most simple & basic holds, that are often just restholds in matches, look absolutely amazing. Bate from underneath was awesome as well; he brought the energy, and I really liked some of the brief arm targeting he did in the beginning, and then during the finish. ***1/4

Drew Gulak vs. Jordan Devlin

Loved Devlin's aggression here; he borderline matches Gulak's viciousness on the mat, and that was pretty surprising. Gulak also kind of worked the match as a babyface, and he sure rocked that role very well against Devlin who was 100% the heel here. Good match. ***1/4

Jordan Devlin vs. The Velveteen Dream

Dream has his mid-section taped up, so that was the psychology of the match. Devlin was pretty awesome with his work over it - also loved his smugness throughout. Dream's selling was sadly pretty spotty; he sold really good when Devlin was dishing the offense on him, but then he was doing his Death Valley Driver roll set-ups perfectly one moment later. It didn't drag the match down too much though, as it was mostly Devlin on the offense, and I dug the dynamic between 'em, but it definitely could've been even better than it was had Dream sold better. ***

The Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Bate

The story of Dream's taped up mid-section continued here, and I am happy to report that his selling was better here than it was in the match vs. Devlin. He sold dramatically when Bate had him grounded, and then on the offense he did some solid fighting-through-the-pain selling. ***1/4

5-STAR RE-WATCH: AJ/MiSu, AJ/Lesnar, Trevor/Chip

NJPW G1 Climax 24: AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki

Still an obvious classic, and one of the best matches of both guys' careers, but missing that extra something to be a 4.75-5* one. This was really the match that made AJ Styles in New Japan; Suzuki was vicious with his focused arm targeting, and AJ's selling was really good throughout. IIRC in the lead up to this MiSu had been talking about how he hates the Bullet Club guys making the gun sign w/ their fingers, because they aren't shooters, and that translated here with how intense & angry he was at AJ. Even more grumpy than Minoru Suzuki usually is, that is. Fantastic moment in when AJ had him grounded, he put the finger gun on his head, and MiSu has this amazing pissed off look on this face & gets up and tries to rip that damn finger out of AJ's hand. ****1/2

WWE Survivor Series 2017: AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar

Two of the best wrestlers of all-time in one of the greatest matches of all-time. No one takes bumps like AJ does, and no one delivers a beating like Lesnar does. They were always gonna have a great match, but both guys delivered special performances & created something SPECIAL. It starts off with Brock manhandling AJ, and it's one of his more lively beatdowns; him just dragging Styles from corner to corner, stepping on his face & dumping him out of the ring like a child is all amazing stuff. Another amazing bully moment by him: after he had been beating the crap out of Styles for a while, he DARES AJ to fight him, and then just kills him with a lariat. AJ eventually rallies up & brings the fight in a big way; Brock hits his knee on the steel steps outside, and now that knee is the target of AJ's assault. The Calf Killer spot was soooo great, and Brock getting out of it by smashing AJ's skull repeatedly on the mat was an all-time great bit. The finish was absolutely brilliant too with them perfectly teasing that AJ might actually get the victory, only for Brock to catch him & deliver a killer F5, all the while still selling the knee big time. Two masters at work - it's just super compelling stuff between Brock's beatdown, bully antics, amazing selling & AJ's terrific bumping + selling, kneework, aerial attacks. One of my all-time favorites. *****

CWF Mid-Atlantic Kernodle Brothers Tag Team Tournament 2017: Chip Day vs. Trevor Lee

Trevor Lee is still the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion almost two years later. His reign has been the best title reign of the 2010's, but it definitely lost a lot of it's steam in 2018. Now he's most likely losing the title in his next defense, so I think it's safe to say that this match right here vs. Chip Day was the apex of his reign. It holds up pretty damn well to say the least. Trevor conveys emotion into big matches like no one in wrestling today; he very much reminds me of Shinya Hashimoto in that regard. Got goosebumps during his entrance when he proudly hoisted that championship up in Chip's face & then got them again after he won. The match built masterfully from the beginning, with a very compelling feeling out process between them, to then being a full on slugfest war by the end. Loved the storytelling of Trevor trying his hardest to avoid Chip aka "Kick Jagger's" kicks until he just couldn't anymore. Him saying "I need you" to the crowd is still as magical as it was the first time watching it, and the finish sequence is absolutely amazing. They did the fighting spirit & 1 count stuff masterfully. ****3/4