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. ***