TJP vs Tiger Mask IV, NJ 5/26
OK match. The matwork was solid but unspectacular, but Perkin’s 450 was pretty cool (didn’t know he could do that) and the finishing submission was pretty sick.
The Great Sasuke vs Taka Michinoku, NJ 5/26
Dissapointing match. TAKA looked off, a couple awkward moments and botches. Sasuke was pretty solid and hit some smooth highspots like his dropkick dive and a senton off the apron. Weird to see Sasuke being the crisper of the two.
Koji Kanemoto vs Fujita Hayato, NJ 5/26
These two just work so well together. They do a really job of getting across the vet vs young lion story and always super heated. Those kicks were insanely stiff, and I like how Hayato sold his leg like he was hurting himself just from kicking Kanemoto so damn hard. The striking exchanges were really great thanks to the selling as much as the stiffness and the dragon screw counter and ankle lock into choke were both highlights of an awesome finishing run. Damn good match.
Prince Devitt vs TJP, NJ 5/28
Totally forgettable and dull match. The only thing that really stuck out to me was how akward some of Devitt's kicks looked, especially in comparison to Perkins.
Jushin Liger vs The Great Sasuke, NJ 5/28
This was solid and perfectly acceptabl wrestling. There was some solid matwork at the start, before a bunch of legwork filler then the end run. The Koppo kick off apron was cool, as was the struggle on the apron. Both guys hit big dives and they did a fine job setting up the finish.
Fujita Hayato vs TJP, NJ 6/7
Dissapointing match. There was the stiffness you would expect from Hayato, but that was pretty much it. This was a small show, and this was a small show effort.
The Wrestling Bucket
Thursday 30 June 2011
Saturday 25 June 2011
The Briscoes vs The All Night Express, ROH "Revolution: USA" (First Blood)
This wasn't as good as their previous matches due to the stipulation, but was still another crazy, stiff brawl. Titus in particular seems to have really improved. First blood matches usually lack drama, and this was no different, but there was still plenty of nasty shots to the head, forehead biting from the Briscoes, headbutts, chairs getting tossed around and the like. Didn't love nor hate the screwy finish, but both Rhett's and Mark's bladejobs were really fucking gruesome.
CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio, WWE Capitol Punishment
I didn't like this as much as their matches from last year, but it was still real good. There were plenty of cool spots like Rey getting dumped chest first on the barrier from Punk's senton counter and the ring post 619, but the best thing about this was how they kept the focus on the "Punk keeping the high-flier grounded" story. All of Punk's cut-offs were well timed, and Rey slowly fighting out of holds made the match feel like a real struggle. The crazy kick sequences was some Low Ki vs Red level shit, and the finishing run was great.
Randy Orton vs Christian, WWE Capitol Punishment
Following the theme for this post, this wasn't as good as their previous PPV match at all, but was still good shit. I think this confirmed that Christian working as a heel isn't half as compelling as Christian working as a babyface, but the real revelation for me was Orton. Over the last couple of months he has really developed into one of the best on the roster and knows how to play his role as the "ace". He not only worked fairly stiff, but his selling of the concussion injury angle was really great and gave the match some structure. As with their last match, all of the nearfalls were really big without being overkill, and the finish did a really great job of making me want to see the final chapter in this rivalry.
This wasn't as good as their previous matches due to the stipulation, but was still another crazy, stiff brawl. Titus in particular seems to have really improved. First blood matches usually lack drama, and this was no different, but there was still plenty of nasty shots to the head, forehead biting from the Briscoes, headbutts, chairs getting tossed around and the like. Didn't love nor hate the screwy finish, but both Rhett's and Mark's bladejobs were really fucking gruesome.
CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio, WWE Capitol Punishment
I didn't like this as much as their matches from last year, but it was still real good. There were plenty of cool spots like Rey getting dumped chest first on the barrier from Punk's senton counter and the ring post 619, but the best thing about this was how they kept the focus on the "Punk keeping the high-flier grounded" story. All of Punk's cut-offs were well timed, and Rey slowly fighting out of holds made the match feel like a real struggle. The crazy kick sequences was some Low Ki vs Red level shit, and the finishing run was great.
Randy Orton vs Christian, WWE Capitol Punishment
Following the theme for this post, this wasn't as good as their previous PPV match at all, but was still good shit. I think this confirmed that Christian working as a heel isn't half as compelling as Christian working as a babyface, but the real revelation for me was Orton. Over the last couple of months he has really developed into one of the best on the roster and knows how to play his role as the "ace". He not only worked fairly stiff, but his selling of the concussion injury angle was really great and gave the match some structure. As with their last match, all of the nearfalls were really big without being overkill, and the finish did a really great job of making me want to see the final chapter in this rivalry.
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Sami Callihan vs MASADA, CZW “Proving Grounds”
Even better than their match last year (which was very good). Typical stiff Callihan brawl and MASADA brought plenty. This also had clearer roles being played, with MASADA being the pissed off veteran beating the hell out of Sami and trying to put him in his place. Plenty of knarly bumps, including a Sugiura/Okada-esque head drop that was scary as shit. All of the striking exchanges were quality, not just because they were stiff, but because they felt like a struggle. MASADA's spinning backhands were also nasty as all hell.
The Briscoes vs The Nigerian Nightmares, CZW “Proving Grounds”
For those who don’t know, the Nigerian Nightmares a couple of 400lb+ monsterous fat dudes working foreign savage gimmicks. On paper this looked great but in practice it was a flop. The Briscoes don’t treat their opponents as a threat, they are the Briscoes and they are badasses who will fight anyone. That is all well and good but it really stopped the Nightmares from looking as intimidating as they should have done. There was one good section in the middle where the Nightmares were working over Mark with lots of devastating looking shit and crushing him with their weight, but then he effortlessly rolled over and tagged in Jay. Ugh. Maifu then fell of the top rope in embarrassing fashion and the match never recovered.
Chris Hero vs KENTA, wXw/NOAH "Genesis In Germany"
This was pretty good if you can get over the amazingly bad crowd that wXw has. Stiffff as fuck, including some straight right jabs to the jaw from Hero and sick punts from KENTA. The claustrophobic nature of wXw kind of worked to their advantage, as they can't do a billion highspots and therefore the focus was much more strike-orientated. Hero once again did some amazingly awful RAWR FIGHTING SPIRIT!! hulk-up for the finish, was almost killed this for me, but the rest of the match was good enough. I found myself saying "Ow" a lot watching.
Mike Quackenbush vs Hallowicked, Chikara “Aniverario And His Amazing Friends”
This was fun, if not on the "go watch now" level. There was some nifty stuff like the armdrag into pinning combo, and Quack working over Hallo's arm with some nasty looking holds. Hallo's dive was really weak, but he sold the arm really, really well and he did a good job when controlling Quack with a cravate. It was a bit too cookie-cutter for me, and the strikes were weak as expected, but the finish was pretty great.
Virus vs Guerrero Maya Jr., CMLL 6/7
This was pretty fucking great and up there with the best match of the year. Loads of wacky submissions throughout, Virus was a vicious bastard in the second fall, Maya's comeback was energetic and the big end run was BIG. Plenty of great moments and highlights: Maya's slingshot armdrag off apron was nuts, Maya's dive, the running knee to back of head, Virus's flying senton to floor which looked devestating. All were totally nuts. There was some crazy pinning combos, and the final chop exchange which ended with Virus cheapshotting Maya was just peachy.
AJ Styles vs Bully Ray, TNA Slammiversary (Last Man Standing)
Another MOTYC, and the best TNA match I have seen in a good couple of year. Both guys threw some great punches and there was plenty of violence (Ray squashing AJ with the steps was particularly nasty). Both guys worked stiff, and Ray is such an asshole and his bladejob was gruesome. I think the best thing about this was actually not the violence, but how it was laid out. Ray wailing on AJ, only for AJ to ask for more then just get pissed and beat the fuck out Ray was really compelling to watch. The big dive spot was insane, and dug the bullshit finish. When it was all said and done, this felt like a war.
Even better than their match last year (which was very good). Typical stiff Callihan brawl and MASADA brought plenty. This also had clearer roles being played, with MASADA being the pissed off veteran beating the hell out of Sami and trying to put him in his place. Plenty of knarly bumps, including a Sugiura/Okada-esque head drop that was scary as shit. All of the striking exchanges were quality, not just because they were stiff, but because they felt like a struggle. MASADA's spinning backhands were also nasty as all hell.
The Briscoes vs The Nigerian Nightmares, CZW “Proving Grounds”
For those who don’t know, the Nigerian Nightmares a couple of 400lb+ monsterous fat dudes working foreign savage gimmicks. On paper this looked great but in practice it was a flop. The Briscoes don’t treat their opponents as a threat, they are the Briscoes and they are badasses who will fight anyone. That is all well and good but it really stopped the Nightmares from looking as intimidating as they should have done. There was one good section in the middle where the Nightmares were working over Mark with lots of devastating looking shit and crushing him with their weight, but then he effortlessly rolled over and tagged in Jay. Ugh. Maifu then fell of the top rope in embarrassing fashion and the match never recovered.
Chris Hero vs KENTA, wXw/NOAH "Genesis In Germany"
This was pretty good if you can get over the amazingly bad crowd that wXw has. Stiffff as fuck, including some straight right jabs to the jaw from Hero and sick punts from KENTA. The claustrophobic nature of wXw kind of worked to their advantage, as they can't do a billion highspots and therefore the focus was much more strike-orientated. Hero once again did some amazingly awful RAWR FIGHTING SPIRIT!! hulk-up for the finish, was almost killed this for me, but the rest of the match was good enough. I found myself saying "Ow" a lot watching.
Mike Quackenbush vs Hallowicked, Chikara “Aniverario And His Amazing Friends”
This was fun, if not on the "go watch now" level. There was some nifty stuff like the armdrag into pinning combo, and Quack working over Hallo's arm with some nasty looking holds. Hallo's dive was really weak, but he sold the arm really, really well and he did a good job when controlling Quack with a cravate. It was a bit too cookie-cutter for me, and the strikes were weak as expected, but the finish was pretty great.
Virus vs Guerrero Maya Jr., CMLL 6/7
This was pretty fucking great and up there with the best match of the year. Loads of wacky submissions throughout, Virus was a vicious bastard in the second fall, Maya's comeback was energetic and the big end run was BIG. Plenty of great moments and highlights: Maya's slingshot armdrag off apron was nuts, Maya's dive, the running knee to back of head, Virus's flying senton to floor which looked devestating. All were totally nuts. There was some crazy pinning combos, and the final chop exchange which ended with Virus cheapshotting Maya was just peachy.
AJ Styles vs Bully Ray, TNA Slammiversary (Last Man Standing)
Another MOTYC, and the best TNA match I have seen in a good couple of year. Both guys threw some great punches and there was plenty of violence (Ray squashing AJ with the steps was particularly nasty). Both guys worked stiff, and Ray is such an asshole and his bladejob was gruesome. I think the best thing about this was actually not the violence, but how it was laid out. Ray wailing on AJ, only for AJ to ask for more then just get pissed and beat the fuck out Ray was really compelling to watch. The big dive spot was insane, and dug the bullshit finish. When it was all said and done, this felt like a war.
Saturday 18 June 2011
Weekend Watching
Yoshihito Sasaki/Shinya Ishikawa vs Shinobu/Kazuki Hashimoto, BJW 4/28
A match of two halves. Ishikawa and Hashimoto were solid, but kind of underwhelming and just doing the basics. Sasaki and Shinobu still hate each other though, and they both brought it here. Their exchanges weren’t as stiff as they have been, but made up for it by being super un-cooperative and intense. The finish was pretty abrupt, felt like the match was just about to take off, but atleast we got a taster of the hate.
Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi vs Manobu Soya/Ryota Hama, BJW 4/28
After being left cold by every Strong BJ tag this year, and seeing that this went 25 minutes, my expctations for this were pretty low. But make no bones about it, this was one of the best matches I've seen this year. Tonnes of interpromotional heat, tonnes of BEEF, tonnes of action. Hama was born to be a fat boy heel - everything involving him squashing dudes or being diffcicult to lift was gold, and he reveled in the boo's. Sekimoto and Soya pick up where they left off in All Japan, Okabayashi stepped up big time and there was practically no downtime, filler or restholds, which is just amazing for these guys going this length. The finishing run was also shockingly well done with very little overkill and loads of build to a small number of huge nearfalls instead of a dosen 2.999 counts over and over. My favourite moment was Ok coming in for a hot tag only to get flattened by Hama. Tremendous. Puro kind of stinks in 2011, but this felt like the kind of heavyweight epic we've been needing.
Black Terry/Romano Garcia/Dr. Cerebro/Oficial AK47/Comando Negro/Oficial Fierro/Cerebro Negro v. Rocky Santana/Robin Maravilla/Sadico/Yakuza/Herejia/Rambo/Terry 2000, AULL 5/15
This was fun but I wasn’t in love with it. There was tones of interpromotional dissent with shit boiling over before the match even began. The crowd were loud and there were sirens and horns going off, which made the match feel like a riot at times. Awesome. Loved the out of control brawling, and there were some crazy highspots from Sadico and Terry 2000 (who was the standout of the match). My gripe with the match was more with the Cibernetico format, which requires lots of falls to happen in a short space of time, which took me out of it slightly, and the lack of any real structure. Still, a fun match in a spotfest-y kind of way.
Freelance vs Avisman, IWRG 6/12 (Hair vs Hair)
This was a fun match brought down by a lot of bullshit. It was essentially a hate-filled sprint with the first two falls only lasting a couple minutes each, but being really intense brawls with Avisman beating the shit out of Freelance all over the arena. Then he botched the finish to the second fall really badly and it all went downhill from there. The final fall was OK but they didn’t really keep the hate going and there was a bunch of shit with interference and refs and a bunch of other stuff that lost me. Oh well.
Best Of 2011
A match of two halves. Ishikawa and Hashimoto were solid, but kind of underwhelming and just doing the basics. Sasaki and Shinobu still hate each other though, and they both brought it here. Their exchanges weren’t as stiff as they have been, but made up for it by being super un-cooperative and intense. The finish was pretty abrupt, felt like the match was just about to take off, but atleast we got a taster of the hate.
Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi vs Manobu Soya/Ryota Hama, BJW 4/28
After being left cold by every Strong BJ tag this year, and seeing that this went 25 minutes, my expctations for this were pretty low. But make no bones about it, this was one of the best matches I've seen this year. Tonnes of interpromotional heat, tonnes of BEEF, tonnes of action. Hama was born to be a fat boy heel - everything involving him squashing dudes or being diffcicult to lift was gold, and he reveled in the boo's. Sekimoto and Soya pick up where they left off in All Japan, Okabayashi stepped up big time and there was practically no downtime, filler or restholds, which is just amazing for these guys going this length. The finishing run was also shockingly well done with very little overkill and loads of build to a small number of huge nearfalls instead of a dosen 2.999 counts over and over. My favourite moment was Ok coming in for a hot tag only to get flattened by Hama. Tremendous. Puro kind of stinks in 2011, but this felt like the kind of heavyweight epic we've been needing.
Black Terry/Romano Garcia/Dr. Cerebro/Oficial AK47/Comando Negro/Oficial Fierro/Cerebro Negro v. Rocky Santana/Robin Maravilla/Sadico/Yakuza/Herejia/Rambo/Terry 2000, AULL 5/15
This was fun but I wasn’t in love with it. There was tones of interpromotional dissent with shit boiling over before the match even began. The crowd were loud and there were sirens and horns going off, which made the match feel like a riot at times. Awesome. Loved the out of control brawling, and there were some crazy highspots from Sadico and Terry 2000 (who was the standout of the match). My gripe with the match was more with the Cibernetico format, which requires lots of falls to happen in a short space of time, which took me out of it slightly, and the lack of any real structure. Still, a fun match in a spotfest-y kind of way.
Freelance vs Avisman, IWRG 6/12 (Hair vs Hair)
This was a fun match brought down by a lot of bullshit. It was essentially a hate-filled sprint with the first two falls only lasting a couple minutes each, but being really intense brawls with Avisman beating the shit out of Freelance all over the arena. Then he botched the finish to the second fall really badly and it all went downhill from there. The final fall was OK but they didn’t really keep the hate going and there was a bunch of shit with interference and refs and a bunch of other stuff that lost me. Oh well.
Best Of 2011
Thursday 16 June 2011
Jun Akiyama/Makoto Hashi vs Manobu Soya/Masa Fuchi, All Japan 4/13
Fuchi failing to escape a headscissors early on was a great way to establish his role as being “past it”. It was also interesting to see Soya losing an opening exchange to Hashi of all people. Neither of them really lead to anything exciting though. Fuchi just got some token offence in before tagging in Soya to do some basic stuff with Hashi and token stuff with Akiyama. That’s all I got from this. More “interesting” than “good”.
Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes, Smackdown 5/27
This fell just below the bar of “worth recommending” but was still really fun. The matwork was nifty and I dug Cody’s use of his protective mask. The Beautiful Disaster after Bryan’s corner backflip was sweet, and the finish was also well executed.
Randy Orton vs Sheamus, Smackdown 6/10 (No DQ)
The No DQ stip was tacked on just for the sake of the finish, which annoyed me, but this was still good stuff. Intense, hard-hitting match with both guys looking like badasses. Orton isn’t really a guy you think of being that stiff, but uppercuts looked nasty here. Also liked the spot with Sheamus hung upside down in the ropes and getting caned.
Avisman vs Freelance, IWRG 5/29
There was some bullshit with a heel ref, which brought this down and stopped it from being a great match, but was still real good. The first fall matwork was solid but not mind-blowing, a couple neat counters and a couple awkward moments. But this really kicked into another gear once they started brawling. Avisman was really great at beating the shit out of Freelance and throwing him all over the arena. His elbows to Freelance’s bloody face in particular were brutal. Freelance also brought it and his dives reckless dives will never stop being awesome. I’m not sure wether it was great selling or legit, but his second dive looked like it knocked Avisman the fuck out. Also dug up BT Jr. getting a close up of the welts on his chest from the stiff chops. The heel ref stuff sucked, but crazy IWRG brawls are about sure-fire things in wrestling these days, and this delivered.
Dr. Cerebro vs Multifacetico, IWRG 6/2
Pretty cool lucha title match. There was a good amount of struggle between holds, which prevented it from falling into the pitfall of being mindless submission trading, and most of the matwork felt like it had a natural progression to it. Multifacetico is a green rookie who had to re-adjust his mask every five seconds, which was a little distracting, but Cerebro could carry anyone in this style of match. His facial expressions are also great and I thought the couple of sneaky headbutts he threw to escape holds he couldn’t counter “cleanly” were a cool, subtle rudo touch.
Best Of 2011
Fuchi failing to escape a headscissors early on was a great way to establish his role as being “past it”. It was also interesting to see Soya losing an opening exchange to Hashi of all people. Neither of them really lead to anything exciting though. Fuchi just got some token offence in before tagging in Soya to do some basic stuff with Hashi and token stuff with Akiyama. That’s all I got from this. More “interesting” than “good”.
Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes, Smackdown 5/27
This fell just below the bar of “worth recommending” but was still really fun. The matwork was nifty and I dug Cody’s use of his protective mask. The Beautiful Disaster after Bryan’s corner backflip was sweet, and the finish was also well executed.
Randy Orton vs Sheamus, Smackdown 6/10 (No DQ)
The No DQ stip was tacked on just for the sake of the finish, which annoyed me, but this was still good stuff. Intense, hard-hitting match with both guys looking like badasses. Orton isn’t really a guy you think of being that stiff, but uppercuts looked nasty here. Also liked the spot with Sheamus hung upside down in the ropes and getting caned.
Avisman vs Freelance, IWRG 5/29
There was some bullshit with a heel ref, which brought this down and stopped it from being a great match, but was still real good. The first fall matwork was solid but not mind-blowing, a couple neat counters and a couple awkward moments. But this really kicked into another gear once they started brawling. Avisman was really great at beating the shit out of Freelance and throwing him all over the arena. His elbows to Freelance’s bloody face in particular were brutal. Freelance also brought it and his dives reckless dives will never stop being awesome. I’m not sure wether it was great selling or legit, but his second dive looked like it knocked Avisman the fuck out. Also dug up BT Jr. getting a close up of the welts on his chest from the stiff chops. The heel ref stuff sucked, but crazy IWRG brawls are about sure-fire things in wrestling these days, and this delivered.
Dr. Cerebro vs Multifacetico, IWRG 6/2
Pretty cool lucha title match. There was a good amount of struggle between holds, which prevented it from falling into the pitfall of being mindless submission trading, and most of the matwork felt like it had a natural progression to it. Multifacetico is a green rookie who had to re-adjust his mask every five seconds, which was a little distracting, but Cerebro could carry anyone in this style of match. His facial expressions are also great and I thought the couple of sneaky headbutts he threw to escape holds he couldn’t counter “cleanly” were a cool, subtle rudo touch.
Best Of 2011
Wednesday 8 June 2011
More gripes about current puro...
Yuji Nagata vs Ryota Hama, All Japan 4/12
This had some nice continuity, with Nagata going after Hama's leg and Hama trying t go for the KO, both of which played directly off the previous night's results, but I was still kinda boring with this. Some stuff was executed weakly, Hama's lack of mobility is a detriment and Nagata's KO selling was unbelievably goofy.
Jun Kasai/Jaki Numazawa vs Yuko Miyamoto/Isami Kodaka, BJW 5/5
Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi vs Yoshihito Sasaki/Shinya Ishikawa, BJW 5/5
Ryuji Ito vs Takashi Sasaki, BJW 5/5
Once again I watch a few matches from an interesting looking puro show and come away regretting it. These were all painfully dull and un-exciting. They were better than the last NOAH show I watched, but that's not saying much. Miyamoto and Isami are willing to eat a lot of shit, and the tag had a good final couple minutes but everything before it was boring trash. The Strong BJ tag had an OK section with Ishikawa as FIP but was still massively dissapointing. The main was the best match, as it had the violence is promised and they kept the match moving. Still, the cinderblocks gimmick is a really awkward one, and it lacked the build and dramatic escalation of their 2007 match.
This had some nice continuity, with Nagata going after Hama's leg and Hama trying t go for the KO, both of which played directly off the previous night's results, but I was still kinda boring with this. Some stuff was executed weakly, Hama's lack of mobility is a detriment and Nagata's KO selling was unbelievably goofy.
Jun Kasai/Jaki Numazawa vs Yuko Miyamoto/Isami Kodaka, BJW 5/5
Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi vs Yoshihito Sasaki/Shinya Ishikawa, BJW 5/5
Ryuji Ito vs Takashi Sasaki, BJW 5/5
Once again I watch a few matches from an interesting looking puro show and come away regretting it. These were all painfully dull and un-exciting. They were better than the last NOAH show I watched, but that's not saying much. Miyamoto and Isami are willing to eat a lot of shit, and the tag had a good final couple minutes but everything before it was boring trash. The Strong BJ tag had an OK section with Ishikawa as FIP but was still massively dissapointing. The main was the best match, as it had the violence is promised and they kept the match moving. Still, the cinderblocks gimmick is a really awkward one, and it lacked the build and dramatic escalation of their 2007 match.
Saturday 4 June 2011
Roderick Strong vs Willie Mack, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
This was Willie Mack's coming out party, and I am officially on the bandwagon. The guy not only dishes it out with strikes and has a fun personality, but does some shockingly athletic flying too. He absolutely launched Roddy with some HUGE suplexes, and his kip-up to standing moonsault was nuts. I wasn't so hot on the match overall, because it went on way too long, and Roderick is still Roderick, a total black hole, but fat guys flying round is one of the coolest things in pro wrestling, and Willie Mack looks like one to watch.
Low Ki vs Akira Tozawa, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
This was not a great match, maybe even a little dissapointing, but thats more to do with expecations, as it was still very good. The early parts were pretty weak, too much "we are equal" cliches and a couple mistimed spots, and Ki getting on the mic to diss WWE was kind of lame, but once they started slugging it out it became the match we want it to be. Chops, kicks, stomps, all were stiff as fuck, and the selling was top notch. Quality slugfest.
Johnny Goodtime vs Ryan Taylor, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
Bad. I like Goodtime but it's obvious he's much better at tags than singles, and Taylor sucks. Goodtime's huge dive at the start was cool, as was his pancake bump on the apron and Taylor's standing Stretch Muffler but ultimately this felt like two guys throwing shit at the wall and seeing what stuck, and it flopped.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Joey Ryan, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
Again this was good, but far from great. Ryan throws nice punches but otherwise is pretty useless and even with all the armwork and effort into getting his finisher over his submissions felt like restholds and the crowd was totally flat for them. Claudio sold the armwork quite well, especially for a dude who's main offensive moves are uppercuts and lariats, and the superplex out of Ryan's finisher was nuts. The finish was great and paid off the legwork, and the openeing minutes were also really fun.
El Generico/Ricochet vs The Young Bucks, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
Boring. I thought this could have atleast been a fun spotfest, but instead the Bucks tried to work a normal tag and they just aren't good at it. Couple cool spots from Ricochet, otherwise this sucked.
Chris Hero vs Zack Sabre Jr., wXw "Kreuzzug ZXI: Union City"
I was actually kind of shocked at how good this was. As a fellow Brit, I feel like I should like Sabre Jr, but he strikes me as English Kyle O'Reily, but here he proved he can atleast be lead to something good. All of the openining matwork and grappling was really fun stuff. Felt like a mix of faux-shoot style and faux Euro style, but it clicked and both men had some cool counters. Once Hero cracked his arm on the ring post, this reached another level. Great selling from Hero, switching to using kicks more to compensate, and Zabre Jr went after the arm effectively for some big nearfalls. They built to the finish really well, and Zabre Jr came out looking strong in defeat. Good shit.
Best Of 2011
This was Willie Mack's coming out party, and I am officially on the bandwagon. The guy not only dishes it out with strikes and has a fun personality, but does some shockingly athletic flying too. He absolutely launched Roddy with some HUGE suplexes, and his kip-up to standing moonsault was nuts. I wasn't so hot on the match overall, because it went on way too long, and Roderick is still Roderick, a total black hole, but fat guys flying round is one of the coolest things in pro wrestling, and Willie Mack looks like one to watch.
Low Ki vs Akira Tozawa, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
This was not a great match, maybe even a little dissapointing, but thats more to do with expecations, as it was still very good. The early parts were pretty weak, too much "we are equal" cliches and a couple mistimed spots, and Ki getting on the mic to diss WWE was kind of lame, but once they started slugging it out it became the match we want it to be. Chops, kicks, stomps, all were stiff as fuck, and the selling was top notch. Quality slugfest.
Johnny Goodtime vs Ryan Taylor, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
Bad. I like Goodtime but it's obvious he's much better at tags than singles, and Taylor sucks. Goodtime's huge dive at the start was cool, as was his pancake bump on the apron and Taylor's standing Stretch Muffler but ultimately this felt like two guys throwing shit at the wall and seeing what stuck, and it flopped.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Joey Ryan, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
Again this was good, but far from great. Ryan throws nice punches but otherwise is pretty useless and even with all the armwork and effort into getting his finisher over his submissions felt like restholds and the crowd was totally flat for them. Claudio sold the armwork quite well, especially for a dude who's main offensive moves are uppercuts and lariats, and the superplex out of Ryan's finisher was nuts. The finish was great and paid off the legwork, and the openeing minutes were also really fun.
El Generico/Ricochet vs The Young Bucks, PWG "Card Subject To Change III"
Boring. I thought this could have atleast been a fun spotfest, but instead the Bucks tried to work a normal tag and they just aren't good at it. Couple cool spots from Ricochet, otherwise this sucked.
Chris Hero vs Zack Sabre Jr., wXw "Kreuzzug ZXI: Union City"
I was actually kind of shocked at how good this was. As a fellow Brit, I feel like I should like Sabre Jr, but he strikes me as English Kyle O'Reily, but here he proved he can atleast be lead to something good. All of the openining matwork and grappling was really fun stuff. Felt like a mix of faux-shoot style and faux Euro style, but it clicked and both men had some cool counters. Once Hero cracked his arm on the ring post, this reached another level. Great selling from Hero, switching to using kicks more to compensate, and Zabre Jr went after the arm effectively for some big nearfalls. They built to the finish really well, and Zabre Jr came out looking strong in defeat. Good shit.
Best Of 2011
Thursday 2 June 2011
Blue Panther vs Negro Casas, CMLL 4/24
This was pretty great. Loved Casas's cocky taunting only to get caught in a flash submission for the first fall. All of the brawling in the chairs, the finger biting and submission work was also top notch stuff. Casas escaping the Nudo Lagunero by spitting in Panther's face was just so great.
The Kings Of Wrestling vs Go Shiozaki/Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 4/29
Yoshihiro Takayama/Takuma Sano vs Takeshi Morishima/Yutaka Yoshie, NOAH 4/29
Jun Akiyama/Akitoshi Saito vs Takashi Sugiura/Mohammad Yone, NOAH 4/29
Holy hell, what a terrible show this must have been. All three heavyweight tags were absolute borefests, with half the guys being total slugs. I am amused slightly that Hero was the hardest working guy in all three tags and the only guy who seemed even remotely over. Shit is looking real bleak for NOAH.
Best Of 2011
This was pretty great. Loved Casas's cocky taunting only to get caught in a flash submission for the first fall. All of the brawling in the chairs, the finger biting and submission work was also top notch stuff. Casas escaping the Nudo Lagunero by spitting in Panther's face was just so great.
The Kings Of Wrestling vs Go Shiozaki/Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 4/29
Yoshihiro Takayama/Takuma Sano vs Takeshi Morishima/Yutaka Yoshie, NOAH 4/29
Jun Akiyama/Akitoshi Saito vs Takashi Sugiura/Mohammad Yone, NOAH 4/29
Holy hell, what a terrible show this must have been. All three heavyweight tags were absolute borefests, with half the guys being total slugs. I am amused slightly that Hero was the hardest working guy in all three tags and the only guy who seemed even remotely over. Shit is looking real bleak for NOAH.
Best Of 2011
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