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

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

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

ROH Manhattan Mayhem: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Briscoes

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

ROH Summer Supercard: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Briscoes

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

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

wXw Toronto: Timothy Thatcher vs. Yuki Ishikawa

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

wXw Toronto: Daisuke Sekimoto vs. WALTER

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

CATCH UPpings: Triplemania, Gulak/Oney

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

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

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

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

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

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

SmackDown brings one of the finest matches of 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PROGRESS Chapter 91: Eddie Kingston vs. WALTER

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

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

TakeOver: Toronto: Street Profits vs. The Undisputed Era

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

TakeOver: Toronto: Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai

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

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

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

G1 Day 18 & FINALS

G1 Day 18: Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

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

G1 Day 18: Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson

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

G1 Day 18: Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi

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

G1 Day 18: Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito

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

G1 FINALS: Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi

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