Deranged Wrestled 3 Way Dances Worth Watching

Deranged vs. Azrieal vs. Grim Reefer USA Pro 10/19/02 - GREAT

ER: This would have been better as Deranged vs. either in a singles match, but that's not what USA Pro was about and it wasn't what it would ever be about! You get the full flavor by running this three card monte and it only highlights how amazing Deranged was at the style. Seeing Deranged in three ways made his skills stand out more, made it more clear he was a step above the other small fliers. 

Grim Reefer's execution and timing wasn't as good as the others. He has good ideas on his bumps but sometimes takes them a bit early or mapped out. But his chops hit hard, and a guy like Deranged can build some special sequences around a guy with good ideas who hits hard. Reefer is wearing his snapback through half the match, and the Elk's Lodge crowd boos Azrieal when the hat comes off (after Reefer took some kind of crazy arm clutch brainbuster). To get the booing to stop, Azrieal expertly starts kicking Reefer in the back as hard as he can, and it works! 

But Deranged won't be upstaged in a three way. Impossible. Piling onto Azrieal's kicks, Deranged shows how good HE can kick backs, getting then into position with nicely executed snapmares and punctuating them both with kicks. It's kind of shocking how good Deranged's basics were. He knew how to glue flashy spots together, had great punches, had a snapmare that Bret Hart would have to rate, a strong sense of how to get from A to B. The key to his greatness is how he used all these basics to build to wild shit like a hiptoss facebuster slam, or breaking up a pinfall with a double stomp off the top. If you have to break up a pin anyway, why not do so as painfully as possible? His pop up rana is as smooth as any luchador's, and he can take a full backflip selling a facebuster without making it look ridiculous. I mean, it looks ridiculous, but he's great at making it look like that's just what his body does in response to offense. 

Azrieal is eliminated first and it gives us a chance to see Reefer alone with Deranged, see what they could cook up. I don't remember ever seeing a Deranged/Reefer singles (it must have happened but I sure don't remember seeing one) and it's cool. Deranged does more of his Great Basics when he misses a clothesline thrown like he thought it would hit, and thrown hard. If Reefer had somehow gotten crossed up, Deranged would have broken his face with it. He uses that miss to set up a spinning headscissors that at first looks like Reefer messed something up, but then I see he was intentionally laying out flat while taking it to get Deranged into a sick crossface. When Deranged gets to the ropes, Reefer abandons the crossface and runs across the top rope to hit a swanton. One of Deranged's greatest skills is the way he facilitated everyone's whims and ideas, an amazing canvas for guys with playground death wish creativity. 

Deranged vs. Jay Lethal vs. Tony Lazaro JAPW 11/8/02 - VERY GOOD

ER: As part of his entrance, Deranged flips himself into several unprompted bumps, including a cannonball into the guardrail. He wasn't putting himself through tables, but he's like if Sabu had been part of a breakin' crew. It rules. This man is truly deranged! I liked everyone in this match, but it's another instance of Deranged giving two guys a canvas to do some of their best work. You watch something like this and ask "Did Jay Lethal have a really great spinebuster...or was Deranged great at elevating everyone's offense? Did Yeyo have a really great clothesline...or does Deranged make me think it hits like a truck? Does Deranged snap off huracanranas better than anyone...or is every New Jersey resident great at taking pop up ranas?" Lethal and Lazaro do work really well with him, and with each other, and everyone in 2002 New Jersey probably did take huracanranas really well. Except for Slyk Wagner Brown, I guess. 

Early in the match Deranged backdrops Lethal to the floor, sending him pretty far away from the ring, and Lazaro saves Lethal's life with a catch. Lethal would have been busted over the guardrail without a guy like Yeyo out there catching dives like a pro. Lazaro can catch dives, and he can take a mean bump. I think every time I've ever seen Deranged throw Lazaro into the corners with an overhead belly to belly, into another opponent, it has led to Lazaro landing on his head. Lazaro will fall on his head, but he also solos over the bridge with some out of nowhere Chris Hamrick bullshit. He stops the whole match for two minutes selling an ankle injury after taking a pancake. There is not a soul in Bayonne buying it, so Lazaro just keeps it going, long enough that the crowd gets audibly annoyed when he's being helped up by referees and runs through Deranged and Lethal with a clothesline. The man points at his head after, which means we must officially Stan 4 Yeyo. I love when a guy eats up that much match time with bullshit, especially in a match that's designed to be nothing but fast action. 

There are some ideas that don't quite work due to fudged timing, but they are good ideas! My favorite - in concept - was Lazaro  trying a low dropkick to break up a sunset flip, but Deranged flattens out and Lazaro flies over him into a Fuerza bump. It doesn't quite get pulled off, the timing was off, either Deranged flattened out early or Lazaro came in late, but I've never seen a Fuerza bump set up by a guy trying to break up a pin. Speaking of breaking up pins, Deranged hits a senton onto both Lazaro and Lethal while Lethal is holding a surfboard, leading to Lazaro's elimination, and it's disgusting. Lethal kicks out of one of Deranged's sickest Code Reds, landing Lethal high up on his shoulders, and Lethal wins with a crazy pumphandle Gotch piledriver. As with every crazy move, I love how Deranged set it up. Lethal caught a Deranged clothesline then ducked a high kick, Deranged a master at spinning and twisting himself into someone else's brutal offense while making it look like he organically wound up in an impossible physical position. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE SPECIAL K

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 5/20 - 5/26 Part 2

AEW Collision 5/25/24

Bryan Danielson/FTR vs Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh

MD: I thought about skipping this because I already said everything that needed to be said for the Dynamite singles match. I thought about just mentioning how great the commercial break was with Satnam doing damage while Jarrett and Jay (and Karen) sat on chairs on the outside and Nigel had a great one-liner about how he never called Tony "Whipped him into the ropes" as that would be silly. I thought about just noting that I'll write five-thousand words if they ever give us a Jarrett vs Danielson singles match. But this was really good. I don't need to say too much about it, but it was really good. You had Danielson getting one upped by Jarrett early and then instead of it working into a shine where the heel gets his comeuppance, it not playing out until the end. You had Satnam showing how dangerous he could and should be by just reaching over and cutting off Dax's shine and draping him over the top; it's as easy as that. You have the protection of Satnam by him not doing all of his big spots every match. He didn't do the body press here. He did do the head-dribbling; he hadn't done that in the Danielson match. That's a huge failing of modern wrestling, the Andrade Effect. Andrade's double moonsault should happen one out of five, maybe even ten matches. He should hit the moonsault most matches and only do the double one on the rare occasion that someone is going to organically roll out of the way. It's 2024 here. We're not all so bull-headed that we're trying to power bomb kidman when we've never done a power bomb in a life. I know that Ric Flair felt like he needed to get all of his signature stuff in because he would have been disappointed if Ray Stevens didn't, but it's better to draw the crowd into something immersive than just give them rote ritual. Don't do anything for the sake of doing it. If Satnam has a number of physically amazing spots, the fans will appreciate seeing the one or two that they actually got to see that sometimes others didn't get to see, as opposed to everyone always getting to see all of them.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Danielson vs Jarrett. Jarrett feeding for Danielson's stuff was so great, just the way he'd slam his whole body back and forth in response. I hated that they were doing the quick camera cuts on Danielson's dropkicks. It's Danielson and Jarrett! We're not talking someone from the Nightmare Factory who only has 40 matches under their belt (and those people will get there but at least then I get the impulse, right?). Don't do the camera cut and rob me of the chance to see Jeff Jarrett respond and react to Danielson flying at him! It'll be ok. I trust them. They trust each other. Production guy who will never, ever read this; please trust them too.

So yeah, this was good. In this case, it was even better at 15 minutes than it would have been at twenty five and it gave them so much to go back to. I just hope there's time to before it's all said and done.

AEW Double or Nothing 2024 5/26/24

Anarchy in the Arena

MD: There's no way to talk about any of these matches coherently. So let me tell a story instead. I caught this the morning after but hadn't been spoiled. Kind of weird thing happened midway through, though. My 11 year old woke up. One of the firm and fast rules of pro wrestling in the household is that it never gets in the way of my family life. I've told this story before but I basically moved in with my then five-year old stepson the same month of the Benoit incident and it was very informative on how much wrestling I have the kids consume. My main feeling is that if they came across it on their own and took an interest, great, I'd show them stuff. Otherwise, there was a firm line. I don't necessarily hide it from any of them, but I usually do stop watching if they come around and want to do something. But she was up early and I wanted to see the end of the match so I tossed her a headphone and we watched the back half together.

I'm not saying this was absolutely her first match ever, but she really doesn't have a working knowledge of the tropes, even if she great at English and has a strong sense of fiction in general. We came in at the point where all of the babyfaces were put through tables which built to the fire spot. And I have to admit, it was pretty tough. I had to explain why they set up the table instead of just laying someone on and jumping on them. Thankfully pro wrestling logic more or less works out. More importantly, I had to explain why everyone was bloody right at the get go. The first time she saw Dax or Danielson, she let out a "Ohhh!" in shock, and then was even more so when I explained how that happened and she was aghast and wanted to know why anyone would do that, to which I reminded her that the second she saw it, she went "Ohhh!" She was more shocked by the fire spot as you can imagine. But she didn't get how he was able to recover and come back later. In general, I repeated, multiple times, that this is the sort of thing they only do once a year.

The nicest thing I can say is that overall, I was able to explain the way causality and consequence worked here. Once Darby got tied up, even as his partners tried to save him, there was a sense that he just had to end up hanging up. It was inevitable. Once upon a time, the sheer threat of it would have been enough, and it would have been like knights saving a princess from a tower before a dragon devoured them. Now, the fans demand to see the dragon devour the princess, even if he spits her out later. But the idea of the Bucks' shoes ending up in Danielson's hands made total sense to her. That sense of hubris and comeuppance is universal. The heels did something that was dangerous but also the height of vanity and it backfired upon them. That sort of thing is primal. All of that is to say that the match mostly held together. If anything, you could be annoyed as a viewer that Perry was able to come back in and even get the win but you're sort of supposed to be annoyed by that, so long as he ultimately gets his comeuppance later on. But still, it would have been better if something like that could have mattered more. But you could say that about almost everything on the card, right?

I did go back to show her the beginning again, because she likes Final Countdown and I thought she'd get a kick out of it. That meant I had to explain why Perry was the Scapegoat so that was another headache. The match was full of things (fire, exploding weapons, gimmicked shoes, the music) that all were callbacks; it's very true that this drained some of the organic sense of violence of it all and the next time they run something like this it needs to be raw. At times it felt more like the Jarrett vs Briscoe Concession Stand Brawl (a WWE style food fight) than, let's say Mad Dog vs Demus. Next time they run this, they should be sure everyone is expecting the former and lean hard with the latter. Some of the individual moments were transcendent though, most especially some of the things Darby let happen to him and the two big musical moments: Darby hitting the coffin drop right as the words hit and the shot of Danielson reveling in it all with the wide shot. Still, it's best to remind yourself that it only happens once a year, give or take Stadium Stampede. It just means that the rest of the year should try harder to be like the two Satnam matches and define a baseline of meaning so that the rare match like this can play off of it. Anyway, right after this we watched To Catch a Thief together and that was a more wholesome family experience.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death (And Friends) 11/13 - 11/19, Part 3

AEW Full Gear 11/18/21

Eddie Kingston vs. Jay Lethal

MD: Variety is making Eddie's run fascinating and this was Eddie in 1983 AWA against the Heenan Family. That would make Lethal Ken Patera maybe? There's been a commonality about all of his title matches so far, that spirit of sportslike competition, no matter if he was facing Serpentico or Dalton Castle. Here, early, when Jay had to take a powder and was hiding behind Jarrett and Sonjay, you could see it in Eddie's bemused glare. He was very much in a world he didn't make and didn't want to be in. He'd been dragged into this through the loss to Jarrett. He still stood tall, still had Lethal scouted (blocking the Lethal Injection with suplexes twice), but he had to trudge through plenty of bullshit to get there.

One thing that makes this run enjoyable to me is that every match has an undertone of external narrative driving it, but the main thing is the title and the match. With Angelico, that meant Eddie's merciless (though businesslike) treatment of Serpentico and the idea that Eddie felt like Angelico was stepping to him just like everyone else. With Dalton, it was Castle thinking he'd be a more dynamic champion and Eddie feeling like they were doing it for Brodie. Even with Komander, it was the commentary-driven logic that Eddie might be particularly vulnerable to luchadores traditionally. That this was almost so overt, with so many moving parts relatively, made it almost less interesting on its own to me, but it still served well as part of a greater whole. I don't know how much longer this run is going to go given the upcoming tournament. Moreover, there's every chance Eddie is going to stumble back into a "fighting spirit" mode through it instead of this more agile and flexible ace mold we're seeing now (and a lot of the people who like him best would be overjoyed with that anyway so I'm shouting at the wind probably). Hopefully he finds a way through it all, though, because I'm not nearly done watching this particular version of Eddie Kingston.

Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland vs. Christian/Luchasaurus/Nick Wayne

MD: Christian's the best guy on the roster, right? He's the best at putting together a sequence. He's the best at milking a moment. He's the best at working other people's stuff into something coherent and meaningful. I was blown away by his match with Trent on Rampage. I've been down on Trent lately. Maybe I've always been down on Trent. I like the idea of Trent but not the reality of him. He's a guy who does a lot of stuff, has it all look good and sharp and crisp, but it's too much, especially consummate to his place on the card and what he's asked to accomplish. Too much, too soon, why him, why then? Over and over again. It's a little like Lucy pulling the football away with me when it comes to him. But the Christian match, that I liked. It's true with a lot of the roster in AEW. There are a ton of guys that if paired up against the right (or wrong) opponent will either have a great match or a terrible one, lots of guys with great mechanics and a sense of abandon and even commitment, but that are prone to excesses and leaning towards sensation instead of sense. These are guys who will probably still frustrate me against someone like Danielson or Cassidy even if I'll find them way more frustrating if they're up against Page or Takeshita. But never will I be disappointed when they're up against Christian. I'll be outright amazed.

Everything he did in this match was great, from the entrance with the choir to staring off against Copeland until he tagged out to Luchasaurus to the great transition to control on Darby to the callback low blow on Flair to set up his final comeuppance and the rabbiting that followed. Narratively, wrestling lives and dies on a few things most of all: entry points, transitions, hope spots, cutoffs, the comeback (which is a transition, of course, with hope spots/cutoffs as false transitions), and the finish. What makes Christian a wrestling savant is how well he works his own stuff and his opponents' into these key moments, and then how he builds to them with the space between by using those tools at his disposal. He's the glue that holds everything together, spot after spot, sequence after sequence, match after match.

It helped that everyone else did their part here. Luchasaurus looked like as much of a force of nature as he ever has. Yes, it means he wrestles more like Kane or Lord Humongous than like a lucha dinosaur but we're all better off for it. Wayne based surprisingly well for Darby early and then ate everyone's offense as well he should. Copeland hit a press slam on Nick Wayne which is exactly what I want the giant Adam Copeland to be doing to the far smaller AEW roster. Sting knows exactly who he should be and can manifest that person better than anyone else in the world could. Add in a killer entrance and an emotionally resonant post-match and you get a nice, balanced, feel-good PPV opener.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 11/14 - 11/20 Part 2

AEW Full Gear 11/19

Eddie Kingston vs Jun Akiyama

MD: It's not every day you get to watch a guy live out his dream. We hear about dreams a lot in pro wrestling. Stuff like the Hardy brothers or Edge and Christian growing up to be tag team champions, Shawn Michaels with the boyhood dream fulfilled, Sasha Banks learning about Eddy passing in the arena, that sort of thing. And then there's Eddie Kingston, with a different life and a different dream. He'd been pushing for this match through social media and interviews and just wishing on a star, and we live in a pro wrestling world in 2022 where sometime wishes and dreams can sometimes can sometimes come true. That's the joy of AEW more than anything else, the dream of TWA and ROH fulfilled. And on this night, we got to come along for the ride.

Look, I'll be totally transparent here. If you read me talking about Eddie and Ishii and Eddie and Takeshita, you know that Eddie vs a Japanese guy isn't always my favorite Eddie Kingston. It can bring out the worst and the most excessive and all of the things that I, personally, don't love about the style. And yet, I loved just about every second of this. Some of that was Eddie, who put his heart out there, who wanted the perfect match, who threw his face into every forearm, who let out a scream, one of the many screams on this night actually, that was primal and true. It was, in part, Eddie going for a killshot on the apron so early or outright biting his hero to get an edge, completely unafraid to leave his mark on his idol's flesh. So much of it, however, was Akiyama, genuine, the real deal, no degrees of separation, with just enough grit and age to make the real even realer. So much of it was how much he threw himself into this, the way his knees buckled as Eddie lit up his chest, the bump he took the outside, the steel in his eyes as Kingston met his gaze, the amazing way his feet flew up on the DDT's impact. When he rolled through on the half and half and ducked under to hit the first exploder, the sort of thing you doubt again and again or at least that I do, that takes me out of a match each and every time, I bought it, or at least I let myself buy it, just this once. Call it a Thanksgiving week miracle. Call it yet another thing Eddie Kingston willed into the world on this night. 

As good and visceral and true as the match was, the post-match was all the more so. If you're here and reading this now, you probably got choked up a bit. There's nothing I can write that's more meaningful than that. When wrestling makes you feel, there's nothing better. He shared his dream with us, through pain and sweat and effort and persistence and hope, all from a guy who self-admittedly doesn't find that last bit so easy. The stuff pro wrestling dreams are made of.

Chris Jericho vs Sammy Guevara vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Bryan Danielson

MD: Maybe I'm feeling particularly forgiving due to the magic of Eddie Kingston's wish, but I'm going to go out and forgive most of the inherent failings of a 4-way here. Yes, at one point Claudio was out on the floor for a bit too long. Yes, Jericho really shouldn't have kicked out of the G2H/Shooting Star Press; someone should have broken it up instead, as is the point of having other guys in there. In general, though, this was really good and it was because all four wrestlers brought the best of what they could do and it was all pretty structurally smart, more focused on story than spots, or at least having the story drive the spots. I've said recently that Sammy is, in a lot of ways, the perfect opponent for 2022 Claudio and 2022 Danielson, but they're his perfect opponents as well. Danielson's able to make use of Sammy's agility and speed and intensity and creativeness. No one in the world can catch Sammy better than Claudio; the basing on the shooting star to the floor was like very little I've ever seen. Against these two, things that Sammy does that shouldn't work, whether it's his Snuka tribute leapfrog/backflip/standing Spanish Fly or the bonkers cutter followed by a Spanish Fly in rapid succession, simply work. The reason why we value execution in pro wrestling, whether it's great punches or incredible agility is that it allows for suspension of disbelief and when put against Danielson and Claudio, a new level of such suspension is unlocked for Guevara. 

Anyway, they quickly went into the story here, with the BCC pinballing the JAS and then facing off against one another. Later on, when they faced off against each other again, it was like two masters of a fighting style knowing exactly how to counter one another as they switched through the hammer and anvil elbows. Jericho and Sammy rained small slights upon one another before outright going at it to the crowd's delight. Jericho was astoundingly opportunistic here, channeling the most craven villains imaginable (full Bobby Heenan, really) and not paying for it and paying for it again and again until he made a daring leap during the giant swing, what felt like such a dangerous spot, whether it was or not, and then capitalizing for the victory. All four ways have the decked stacked against them and therefore, just by the sheer level of difficulty involved, this was better than it had any right to be.

Sting/Darby Allin vs Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal:

MD: I had some misgivings about this one because Jarrett being there made Sting seem a little older and you didn't want that given how many other main acts he's gone over in the last couple of years, but between Jarrett's condition and the fact that the first half of the match quite smartly saw young paired with old as they brawled around the arena, it worked out pretty well overall. I had wanted Singh in there or maybe a Sonjay/Singh/Lethal handicap, but at his stage of his development, it was probably better to just have Satnam in there for a few big moments, and what big moments they were, the two almost impossible catches, Sting's dive, the chokeslam, and the missed splash into the combo Death Drop/Coffin Drop which had been set up previously, but never hit as no one was quite big enough until now. Jarrett added a lot too, with reactions for the last row as he encountered Sting for the first time at the start, bouncing appropriately between Sting and Darby on punches, and then beating down Darby with fairly credible stuff when it was time for it.

I, and Taz along with me, thought that they steered off course when they took about three minutes to shift to more conventional tag rules. Immediately thereafter, Sonjay and Satnam just walked into the ring casually, so building to a hot tag for the sake of it was dubious at best. Sting couldn't quite land the finishing spot, but I was okay with this, as it was set up by Darby basically hulking(Stinging?) up after the just nuts guitar shot and there was a sense that maybe the student is becoming the master finally. Despite some grumblings about either Lethal or Jarrett from various quarters, this felt like it belonged on the card, no question.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 10/31 - 11/6

AEW Dark Elevation 10/31

Eddie Kingston/Ortiz vs Breaux Keller/Myles Hawkins

MD: Not a ton to say here. Eddie was super intense in how he charged right in. Ortiz has a way of almost constantly be in motion that makes him stand out a bit. The STO/Russian Leg Sweep combo looked especially good. Eddie goes way too far and the fans just chant for him all the more, so I'm not sure what the endgame will be here. Good news is that this upcoming week we should have the Slim J/JVSK tag and the Ethan Page tournament match so some of what they've been building will get to start paying off.

AEW Dynamite 11/2

Darby Allin vs Jay Lethal

MD: Hey, it's Jay Lethal working more or less how everyone would want him to work all the time. He was super aggressive, pulled out all sorts of tricked out offense that Darby made look like a million bucks, and was hyperfocused on bodyparts as mean as could be. He met a charging Darby down the ramp and immediately started on him into the ringside table, barrier, stairs, utilizing Satnam as a human shield to cut off Darby's fiery fighting back (and then later on as Darby completely wiped out by diving into the one in a billion brick wall). Darby unlocks so many different spots and possibilities for a wrestler and Lethal is a guy who can galaxy brain his way into utilizing at least a large number of these (like the figure four under the rail!). That said, he can't always work this way. There has to be hierarchy on a card and not everyone should be everything at all times. Theoretically, someone like Lethal understands that as well. This was the second match in a series, after an injury angle to heat things up, starting the show and building to the Jarrett reveal. It doesn't necessarily serve the overall show for Lethal to come out exactly like this next time he's putting over Penta or Ricky Starks in a match that's just meant to be a solid fifteen minutes to give a babyface a good win to set them up for something else. This was a moment and he capitalized on it, and maybe it'll lead to more moments for him. Maybe it won't. At the least it should lead to some sort of gaga-laden blowoff with Jarrett and Sting involved. Last note: unsurprisingly, Darby was great here, the early fire, taking all of Lethal's stuff (some of which were fairly obtuse), the big counters off of the elbow drop and the Lethal Injection, an amazing looking coffin drop off the top and the all-time-highlight clip crash into Satnam, plus selling two different bodyparts at once. I have a feeling the blowoff will be less heated and not more, but again, sometimes that just serves greater needs (just like making the Cole Karter reveal as underwhelming as possible, down to the camera barely catching him using the bat; that brought down expectations to build to the Jarrett surprise... or maybe he just framed his big moment poorly? I tend to err on the side of competence over happenstance, as you likely know by now).

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AEW Five Fingers of Death: 10/3 - 10/9

AEW Dynamite 10/5

Darby Allin vs Jay Lethal

MD:  I don't think we've written a word about Lethal in four years. I guess we were ahead of the curve in thinking he was pretty good except for the finisher ruining everything? That's about the least interesting thing you can say about him now, but solid 2018 commentary right there. Anyway, Darby's inclusion in the Fingers is an endless bounty of me writing about stuff I might not write about otherwise. It's good for me, I suppose. There's a lot of griping on the internet around Lethal lately. The simple fact of the matter is that he's relatively credible given his past accolades including just the sheer length of his career, and his ability to competently work a competitive match, not to mention the fact he's got a literal giant for a heater and a pencil-wielding maniac as a manager. Yet, almost every time he's out there, he loses. AEW needs heels that can lose. No amount of losses will take away the above. If you need the Jungle Boys and Darby Allins and Ricky Starks of the world to win a solid 10-15 minute match on TV, he's a good choice. The roster isn't full of heels who can afford to lose and still remain credible, ones that you're not looking to push long-term. You don't want Hobbs losing too much. You don't want Brody King losing too much. As much as I'm a fan of Serpentico or Peter Avalon's act, they're just not credible in the same way. JD Drake is, and maybe preferable, but there aren't too many other people on the roster (People would complain even more about QT!) that can serve in the specific role Lethal does. One thing that AEW does sometimes, and that they should probably do more, is have a heel tag team wrestle as a singles act for a night which helps to give a guy like Isiah Kassidy (Darby went over Quen in March) or Anthony Bowens (last year at least) some attention and means you don't have to rely too much on the few Lethals they have. Butcher and Blade are right there after all. 

So this was a good ten-fifteen minute match. That's the point. It may not be the match people wanted to see. It may not be structured the way people wanted to see it. But it was a good match, that was over with the crowd, that let Darby look good and more than that, get over an aspect of his character, and may lead to future stories. Like a lot of Darby matches that don't start with an ambush of some sort, they led with the wrestling, and escalated to a mistake/banana peel/capitalization, in this case, Lethal taking out the leg. Darby's basically 2022 Ricky Morton (just crossed with Jeff Hardy) in multiple ways and one of those ways is how well he utilizes roll-ups as hope spots. He's not always going to punch up and out of something or fight out of a corner, but he can draw you in and almost score a quick win before getting beaten on some more. Lethal's had years to learn how to effectively work over a leg and it got the fans clapping up, popping for the figure four, and believing that this would keep Darby on the ropes. They dealt with the albatross that is the Lethal Injection in a fairly clever way. The finish was fairly story heavy but settled back to the pin exchanges. Like the hope spots, Darby benefits from being the only guy on the roster with a flash pin as one of his real finishers and I liked the fight for it here. Usually the Last Supper looks slick and inevitable and here it seemed like Lethal was doing all he could to stop it. He just couldn't do enough. This was good. The fans were into it. It served one, if not more than one purpose. I'm not going to sit here and pretend it wasn't because people are bored with the idea of Lethal. If you want to go find Darby vs JD Drake instead, it's happened at least. 

Bryan Danielson/Daniel Garcia vs Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara

MD: This was to heat up Danielson vs Jericho next week, a surprisingly tall task considering that it'd be for the ROH title in Canada and with Jericho a theoretically vulnerable champion and Danielson having the edge based on the previous two matches and the fact Garcia's gone over to his side, but they've run it twice very recently (including once with Jericho working the same Liontamer gimmick) and it needed some heating up. The appeal here then was fresh matchups: Sammy vs both Garcia and Danielson and Jericho vs Garcia. They went right to the latter, with Garcia clowning Jericho on the mat after a quick handshake. That was important as I imagine at least half the crowd came in expecting a Horsemen style beatdown. To make that sort of thing work, you have to keep Garcia on the apron and not have him scrap with Jericho. Therefore, by leading off with that exchange, they managed the crowd's expectations. 

Given everything that had happened backstage earlier in the day (and in the weeks leading up to this) Sammy had nuclear heat, and he capitalized on that here by inserting himself at almost every moment, starting from tripping Garcia early to stop the initial exchange and really never looking back from there. Sometimes it was breaking up a Garcia advantage. Sometimes it was trying to leap into the fray between Garcia and Jericho (only to get nailed by Garcia for his troubles). You got the sense that Danielson was eager to work with him and he took multiple Spanish Flys and caught a huge dive (but also cut off another one with a forearm). While Sammy stooged plenty, he also stood tall against both Danielson and Jericho. I'd argue that Jericho and Guevara worked better together for the first half but that Danielson and Garcia began to gel more (like resonating with like) as the match went on, all leading to the tandem submissions and hammer-and-anvil forearms. The finish was all about Jericho cementing the split with Garcia and ensuring Sammy went over at the height of his ire with the crowd, heating things up more for the match with Danielson next week. Instead of any prolonged heat with this one, it was more the stuttering annoyance of Sammy and Jericho's antics and both of them getting pushed back repeatedly by Danielson and Garcia. Really, it was more of a tease for the new matchups that could come out of it than anything else.

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ROH at UMBC 10/12/18

TKG: So I haven’t been to an ROH show since maybe Sinclair maybe earlier. But a couple guys at bar had gone to All In (my favorite story being asking Blue Meanie at Meet and Greet if he had any of his merch in XXL and him responding “Of course all I have is 2XL and up” and they were talking about going to ROH in Baltimore and a couple more guys were down for it, and I was like “sure”. We kind of got lost stumbling around UMBC for a while but got there a little way into the Jeff Cobb v ROH trainee match

Jeff Cobb vs. trainee

TKG: This was surprisingly back and forth. The trainee had a second who you expected was the manager who was going to eat a bunch of suplexes after match and didn’t. I was told that was trainee’s tag partner who was legit injured. Not sure why he was out there.

Briscoes vs. Beer City Bouncer/Bryan Milonas

TKG: Also thought this was going to be worked less evenly. Briscoes still have that kind of Sabu/Sandman aura of anything can happen. Mark did a kick through ropes, chairs were thrown in air, guys were thrown into guardrails and there was a tower suplex spot. But this was mostly really impressive showcase for Mark and Jay’s selling as they really made you believe in the Bouncer/Milonakas team and made you buy into idea that any moment all hell could break lose.

Marty Scurll vs. Hurricane

TKG: Last two matches had no real face/heel structure and then this one which was advertised on paper as hero v villain and they could have theoretically worked as Hurricane heel v Scurrl face but….Scurrll is super over with crowd and was going to get cheered for everything and any move done against him was going to be booed. First four minutes I thought they were going to go with a Hurricane heel v Scurll face dynamic with Helms working over Scurrl in a cloverleaf. But then it Scurrl just went to his stuff. Scurll was also a guy who had a real Sabu/Sandman what the fuck is he going to do feel when I first saw him on tape but here he was just a guy running through his stuff some heelish (match died whenever Scurll slapped on a hold), some faceish, some just there…till a shmozz finish. Post match, Hurricane’s mask is stolen and Helm’s makes sad-contemplative-and then-serious-Command Bolshoi-with-mask-off face.

Summe Sakai and____________vs. ____________&_____________

TKG: I think Sumie Sakai’s tag partner may have been an Adam Cole girlfriend, cousin or sister or just facially looked like Cole as audience yelled “Adam Cole Baby” whenever she hit a move. I think her belly ring may have snagged the woman who speared her which was kind of interesting but this felt like it went way too long. I went to find the Brothers Cooke during this and we talked wrestling and they’re both still hilarious. No intermission, I swear ROH used to have intermissions.

They do a backstage interview segment with Bubba Ray hosted by Caprice Coleman. Always liked Coleman, is he no longer wrestling? He kind of did more bug out eye selling off Ray’s mic work then necessary but fine interview segment.

Bully Ray vs. Jonathan Gresham

TKG: I had mostly seen early niche grappling Gresham and on way to show talked about this match not making any sense on paper. I’ve no memory of ever seeing Bubba work a mat exchange. But it ended up easily being my favorite match on show. Bubba comes out takes the mic and does less profane but more obese Joel Gertner mic work. He calls out audience talking about how there is no one with any athletic experience in the crowd, challenging people to fight him, mocked fans inability to hit him with streamers and talking about how proud he is of his New York heritage, mocks the Orioles does more about the greatness of New York, when Gresham comes out he points out that supposed fan favorite got no standing ovation and cheers (of course leading to crowd standing and cheering), don’t anyone say Tracy Sucks, don’t call me Paula, etc mic work and it was great. The women's match may have been face v heel but not sure, this was first one on show where it was really clear and Bubba doing essentially Dirty White Boy’s “I’m from New York” act but without any of DWB’s big brawling spots made for a really fun match. I have no idea how this will play out on tape but live this was the match of the night. Bubba brought a table in ring which got knocked over and forgotten for a big chunk of match, no one chants for wanting tables at this point and I was super looking forward to idea of match with table in ring where never gets used. Eventually set up and you get the PE in WCW, guy brings table in ring to eat a spot on table. But outside of that no real big bumping a couple chair shots , just match structure, selling and cool setting up of face offense and comebacks. Gresham with dropkicks, an octopus, sleeperhold and chair stuff was perfectly at home in this match too. Gresham not niche guy but well rounded in way wouldn’t be out of place working fired up babyface opposite no knee pads Budro.

Cody Rhodes/Team Macktion vs. So-Cal Uncensored

TKG: SCU started with some “I hate the locals “ mic work which was absurd to do after the Bubba match where entire match was built around I’m from New York City. Rhodes and Kazarian are apparently co-owners of a cigar company and both wear wearing shirts advertising it and they did a bit at beginning of match where they cut an insincere commercial shocked to see the other in matching shirt and talking about the cigar company they owned together. In the 90s I remember wrestlers telling me about how Jimmy Valiant was a genius because he understood the money in wrestling wasn’t in the gate but in the merch sales, and he wouldn’t want to work main events but instead the last match before the intermission to increase merch sales and would make sure to work a gimmick he was selling at his merch table into the match. He understood that better than anyone not named Vince Sr or Jr. With internet on demand sales, you don’t need to actually spend the time hawking wares at table and can work a semi main. The Gabe by way of Heyman booking is you work this spotfest multiperson match at end of show to send crowd home happy and enthusiastic. PE v Eliminators, Chilly Willy, Balls v Baldies, Smackdown Six, SAT v. XL/Devine Storm, Special K, Second City Saints v Generation Next, etc. This was that although worked in the semi-main. Christopher Daniels was kind of a known quantity in 2002, felt like a guy from a veteran of earlier generation as opposed to rest of ROH guys who were experimenting and trying to find themselves work out something new. Everyone felt like that here or maybe less like that and more like I was watching a solid workrate sprint between Riggs, Kidman, and Riggs v Riggs, Riggs, and Kidman. Both a throwback style and match that was less of a “HOLY SHIT I have never seen that before” and more like an AJPW old man wrestling match/or Russo era WWF where it was all built on pops for signature spots. It was interesting, nothing was missed that I noticed, Cody & Kazarian had more presence than I expected and fans left it happy. Some un-masked white guy named Savion came out with a belt and started filibustering about how he’s beaten everyone and deserves respect.

Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young

TKG: This was a fine title match with challenger coming out confident, champ takes control with wrestling, challenger responds to wrestling with putting up dukes and wanting fisticuffs instead, some ringside brawling, champ continues to control with wrestling, challenger keeps on threatening dukes, they do a I have a reversal of your reversal segment, than heel takes over for a big run, face champ tries finisher and build finish run. I dug this. The “reversal to reversal segment” never became as corny as those things can become. That’s a segment that normally goes about three minutes longer and it didn’t. Segment that often ends in a standoff restart and it didn’t do that either. It ended right where it should have with heel control. For a match where heel challenges fisticuffs, I never bought that it would happen. But this won the crowd back after the 6 man. Post-match Cody came out to challenge for the title and was interrupted by Kenny King who did the same speech as Savion about all the people he had beaten and how he was deserving of title. I haven’t seen King since maybe a Jeff Peterson memorial and he was really good at doing this bit and kind of stupid to have Savion who isn’t as good stumbling over the same talking points earlier on the show. Cody then did a Tommy Dreamer, Triple HHH, Ian Rotten post show state of the biz thanking fans for coming, “we do this all for you, and this company that means so much to us” speech. Cody was surprisingly endearing at that speech. He moves really well from smarmy to Eddie Marlin sincere and then back and then back again.

Overall fun show with both Bubba v Gresham and Lethal v Young being things I would be interested in revisiting.

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Low-Ki was the Cause of Dope Fiends Getting AIDS Infections

Low-Ki/Homicide vs. Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal ROH 8/13/05 - EPIC

ER: Fantastic rematch to their killer tag a few months prior, which ended with a double stomp/cop killa combo that could have snapped Lethal's neck. And in this match they attempt to make Lethal wish he hadn't been cleared back for competition. This is one of the greatest Homicide performances, he's such a badass taunting Joe, repeatedly going after Joe and Lethal's eyes (Joe's because it's an equalizer, Lethal's just because he can). Ki and Homicide cut off the ring after a few early dives from Joe/Lethal, and it's brutal. Ki's chops appear to get harder the longer the match goes (Joe throws some super hard ones too), and both are great at running distraction for the other. The best moment of the match was Lethal locked in a sub, trying to reach for the ropes, and whenever he would get close Homicide would rap him across the back of the knuckles. And the best moment of the match was a couple of great pinfall saves by Joe, and Ki paying him back with a completely brutal top rope double stomp to Joe's back. But the best moment was when Ki and Homicide stopped caring if they got DQ'd, so we get Ki kicking the ref in the eye after Lethal kicks out of a pin, and Homicide saving the match by hitting an all time great elbowdrop on the ref when Ki was about to be pinned. He could have just as easily hit that elbow on Lethal, but I loved the character touch of him dropping it on the ref. My only real complaint is that Lethal got involved back in the match too quickly after Joe's hot tag, but otherwise the structure of the tag was a real winner; we didn't need a boatload of 2.9 counts, we got a couple of expertly timed saves and some great momentum cut-offs (Ki flying into Joe with that shot out of a cannon dropkick, or Homicide smoothly sliding in with a perfectly timed cutter). We get an awesome post-match brawl, after Ki and Homicide are disqualified, with Ki leaping off the bleachers with a stomp, everybody getting into a chair throwing battle on the floor that somehow did not inspire the crowd to all start throwing their chairs around the gym, Ki gets busted open, and the Rottweilers keep pretending to get chased to the back but then just come back and continue beating ass. Awesome match.

PAS: When you consider how good the first match was, and how good this is, this has to be one of the great two match series in wrestling history. This was off the charts stuff. Ki and Cide were just such evil fuckers, constantly cheap shotting, eye raking, shit talking, spitting in Joe's face,  total badass heel performances by both guys. The match started off at a crazy pace with Joe hitting a big tope on Cide and hurling him into guard rails and Ki and Lethal going at it in the ring. The Rotts brutalize Lethal in the ring and Joe has an awesome hot tag dumping Ki and Homicide with high backdrops, just a classic bit of wrestling business. Joe gets Homicide in an STF and Ki leaps three quaters of the way across the ring with a double stomp which obliterates Joe's back, I am shocked his Pancreas didn't fly out of his nose. I super dug the finish with Lethal hitting this monster Dragon Suplex on Ki, and the crowd is ready to explode at Lethal getting this huge victory, and instead Homicide just elbow drops the ref and gets DQed, just an epic fuck you to his opponents and the crowd. Then to add on to a great match, we get a killer post match brawl with Ki leaping off the bleachers, everybody recklessly hurling chairs and Ki getting bloodied up (probably hardway, he isn't a guy I remember blading very much if at all). Loved this unreservedly, and think it might be one of the best ROH matches in history.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LOW-KI

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Low-Ki Straight From the Ave of Trinity

Low-Ki/Homicide vs. Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal ROH 5/7/05 - EPIC

PAS: This was an impromptu main event, and a total balls to the wall sprint. Everyone in this match is throwing the kitchen sink. This version of the Rottweilers was one of my favorite acts, with Ki in full asskicker heel mode, Homicide as a psycho and the great Julius Smokes on the floor. Joe was great in this era too, and he is throwing huge bomb. All time great hot tag where he wastes Ki with an STO and hurls Cide to the Bronx with a belly to belly. His muscle buster gets cut off though, and he eats a huge double stomp while being draped in the ropes. The finish is an all time brutal classic, with the Rotts debuting the double stomp/cop killer combo which really looked like it might have crippled Lethal. I think I may have missed this match in 2005, but I loved it, four guys close to their peak unloading on each other for 10 minutes, great stuff.

ER: I'd never seen this match before, and it's a crazy twist ending because for the last 13 years I didn't realize I have been watching Jay Lethal's ghost. I don't know how he did not die during a couple moments of this match. Lethal's all-timer of a beating is the important meat to this match, with Homicide and Ki keeping Joe on the floor and murdering a not-able-to-legally-drink Lethal in the ring. Joe and Lethal jump them to start and hit a couple of huge dives into the entryway, but it soon settles down into Lethal getting demolished, which gives us our great Joe rampage. Joe is an absolute ball of energy here, and that corner charge STO slam was something in that era that always looked like it would knock a guy out, or knock a guy's teeth out, or both. Ki taking Joe offense is always going to be spectacular, as there's nobody maybe in wrestling history who has the body control Ki has. Joe crushes him and Ki goes superballing across the ring, and Homicide was a nice explosive bumper around this time too. Joe was such a force of nature around this time, that it's a testament to 2005 Ki and Homicide that they look like equals and not just like tiny guys who Joe has to sell for because that's how it's done. I love how they take Joe out of the match and the palpable tension when you realize they're going to wreck Lethal. Lethal gets a couple nice non-dying moments, loved his big falling clothesline to Ki, showing he was contributing more than just his own lifespan. Julius Smokes was distractingly great on the floor, just being the absolute worst annoying little brother, just teasing a fully beaten down Lethal. Smokes had his baseball bat and kept raising it up and bringing it down with violent axe blows, but not actually touching Lethal. Then he started treating Lethal's head like a cue ball, lining up his cue shot with the bat like he was the Hustler, about to take out Lethal's eyeball. It really felt like he was the annoying brother in the backseat, and his parents were yelling at him to not bother his sister, and he was going "I'm not even touching her!!!" It was amazing. The finish is disgusting, and Lethal looked like he would have a permanent kink in his neck after having it stomped and driven straight into the mat, just a wild and violent 10 minute match, totally what you'd want with these four in this era.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LOW-KI

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It's Old Vader Time!!

Vader vs. 2 Cold Scorpio  Pro Wrestling Syndicate 6/1/12

ER: Vader ceased working full time in 2003, 15 years ago! And I can't recall anybody talking about his post-NOAH career. Now Vader was a late starter who didn't get to WWF until he was in his early 40s, and was still working full time in Japan into his late 40s. His career had to wind down at some point, so it makes sense that a really large guy working occasional matches in his 50s wasn't getting the same amount of attention. Outside of a couple other Japan matches and random appearances in WWE or TNA I know I wasn't seeking out post-prime Vader. I saw this match out there and knew these two were always on the same side in Japan so never fought there, really only crossed paths during Scorpio's Flash Funk run 15 years earlier. Vader was in his late 50s at this point and by far the biggest I'd seen him, Scorpio looked...well, the exact same as he's looked for the past 15 years. I wasn't expecting a lot out of this one as I assume there was a conversation before the match that went "I can't bump anymore, so I'm just going to throw a lot of hands." It's gotta be tough going into a match knowing that you're going to take a beating without getting a lot of glory, but man did I dig this match a LOT.


Vader is REALLY big here but still knows how to work a match, still knows how to build to things, knows how to make his few bumps matter, doesn't attempt anything that he can't pull off, etc. And Scorpio does take a beating nicely. They start off with a nice slow build but it's always tense as you know both guys can throw big shots. Vader is first to do so, and we start getting some chest puffing as both guys take turns seeing who can hit the other harder with a short arm clothesline, a harder version of what they would do before tag matches in NOAH, and the fans win. After Vader hits him with a big lariat and bear attack we get more classic Vader shots, and it's awesome seeing him older, fatter, but still using that same Vader muscle memory. I've made a big deal about Vader being in his late 50s, but Scorpio is in his late 40s here and spry as hell, bumping around big for Vader and springing quickly back to his feet. At one point Vader hits a mean kick right to the balls, and the announcer covers nicely with a "well who's going to tell Vader that you can't do that" explanation. Scorpio lands some stiff punches to the face, and works in some cool big moments like attempting to lift Vader only to get flattened with a crossbody. Vader is smart enough to make even the obvious resting spot of the match engaging, not just holding a chinlock but fighting over a Rings of Saturn while shoving on Scorpio's jaw. Vader was clearly breathing heavy but doing cool work, getting his weight on Scorpio, Scorpio fighting to not let up his other arm, turning it into a cool part of the match when it could have been a drag. We get some cool moments out of big Vader misses, like a nasty missed elbowdrop right into the mat. Scorpio misses on a big moonsault and in a moment I was completely not expecting, Vader absolutely crushes him with a Vader Bomb. Even more impressive, he appears to protect Scorp. This match was so much better than I anticipated, and until otherwise informed I will promote this as the last awesome Vader match. I could not imagine fans of both being disappointed in this one.

PAS: This was great, exactly how you want to work a match with a minimal number of bumps. If you aren't going to bump (well Vader didn't bump, Scorpio landed damn hard on a couple of throws), beat the shit out of each other and the definitely did. Feels like the kind of match you would expect old buddies who are tough as shit to have with each other. There are lots of moments where Vader throws a potato, Scorp throws one back and Vader smiles a bit and just pastes him. Scorpio's missed moonsault was gorgeous and that final Vader bomb was a splatterer. I remember digging this match back in 2012, and it was great to revisit it.


Vader/2 Cold Scorpio vs. Jay Lethal/Devon Moore  Pro Wrestling Syndicate 6/2/12


ER: This was just unexpectedly great. With no exaggeration Scorpio and Vader work as quickly here as they worked their last NOAH tag match a decade prior. Except now their combined age is 104. Old Vader was not in any way old Andre. There was no built in sad vulnerability, no constant pain etched across his face, no moments where it looked like he couldn't bend down to climb through the ropes. Vader looked linebacker quick here, and Scorpio looked as agile and graceful as literally any time you've ever seen Scorpio. This match is just outright shocking. Vader doesn't just stand in the middle of the ring and let people bounce into him, as you might expect from a 400 pound man with AARP eligibility. Vader RUNS and still has quick burst speed, still is an actual wrestler on the offensive. He and Lethal start with a rope running exchange that sees Vader pivoting and moving just as quick as ever, and when he's lacing into Lethal with clotheslines, big Vader arm attacks and punches, we get actual footwork and skill, not just "hold still and walk into my fist". When Moore is in Vader just absolutely FLATTENS him with two of the best elbowdrops you've ever seen, dropping them fast and hard across the upper chest, laying out with full extension, not once approaching gingerly dropping down. He continues squishing Moore and working a nasty arm submission while I actually giggle. Scorpio was just phenomenal here. He's a guy with some of the wildest high flying and strikes around, and he clearly aims to use ALL of it. His ringwork is so lightning fast, he throws this great violent spin kick, hits an awesome rolling heel kick, several variations on a twisting splash, all great. He and Vader are such an awesome complementary team, love Vader just slamming these guys then slingshotting Scorpio into the ring with his heavy flying. We get a hilarious violent stretch, where Vader hits a full extension Vader Bomb on Lethal, but Moore makes the save, so Vader hits another one, and Moore makes the save. Vader is looking at more like "Are you serious?" and while Vader is yelling at Moore we get Scorpio sneaking in with a slingshot legdrop on Lethal, then a rolling splash. Lethal is just a total grease stain on the mat and Moore keeps saving him, and it's great. Lethal and Moore do get a brief but nice comeback, ending with Moore hitting a nice shooting star press. Vader comes in with the save, just hammerfisting the back of Moore's head and clearing the ring with a violent chokeslam on Lethal. Scorpio is truly crazy and drops the bomb to end the match, crushing that moonsault legdrop. This match was just a total shock. I really dug the Vader/Scorpio singles the night before, but to see the two of them here working as if a decade hadn't passed since their last tag match, I was just flipping out the entire match. This one delivered some completely improbable thrills. These are the last of the great Vader matches.

PAS: Devon Moore must have broken some old school locker room rule or something (maybe he didn't share his drugs) because he gets merked by Vader and Scorp in this match. Lethal gets a chance to do some offense and work exchanges with Scorpio, while Moore just gets smashed. That chokeslam by Vader looked like he was trying to Joe Thurman Moore. I was amused at Devon continuously breaking up the pin while Lethal was getting flatter and flatter. The Drop the Bomb may be my favorite top rope move ever, it is so beautiful and lands with such violence, fun match and both the oldsters looked awesome. Colorado represent!!

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H Effect Are Losers and Users So Don't Need No Accusers

Wasted Youth (Insane Dragon/Deranged) vs. The SAT (Joel/Jose Maximo) vs. Rainchild/Jay Lethal JAPW 6/7/02 - EPIC

PAS: This is just what you want from a turn of the century skinny Jersey fliers match. Rainchild is a guy who wrestled for maybe six months, but he looked good here, especially early doing some nice fast arm drag and rana exchanges with Wasted Youth. Maximo's were working pretty stiff I don't remember them as Dynamite Kid/Beniot style juniors, but they were all about stiff chops snap suplexes and head drops. The match finishes up with a great dive train right next to the Bayonne wall, so lots of height but not a lot of distance, Lethal hits a tope where he basically piledrives his head into the concrete, but all the other dives were beautiful. Insane Dragon then gets finished off with some truly harrowing head drops, the kind of thing which you want to watch through your hands like a horror film.

ER: This was right in the middle of when I was most excited about indy wrestling, with tons of skinny hyper athletic freaks all competing to see who could take a more dangerous bump on their head, shoulder or neck, and everyone wins! I always like Rainchild, he was in an early match of the first JAPW tape I bought (against Ghost Shadow!) and I thought he was really good, was shocked to learn years later how little he actually worked. It's great seeing Lethal when he was working as a Waltman disciple, just a skinny guy dropping fast legs and dives with bad landings. I also didn't remember the SAT as Benoit disciples but I liked that here. I think they were better at dangerously dropping skinny guys with fast suplexes than working quick sequences with them. And for quick sequences you can't really do better than Wasted Youth. These guys were so fast and so damn clever, falling in ways you wouldn't expect and working sequences you had never seen before, adding new twists to familiar wrestling. I flipped when Izzy came off the topes with a double ballshot, then did a flipping dropkick (one guy for each foot) with no regard for his landing. And there were a dozen moments like that, like Rainchild doing cool dodges for Maximo clotheslines, or Izzy jumping and flipping backwards over guys to set up ranas, Deranged flipping himself onto his shoulder with a spinkick, these guys are all just fearless. The dive train is one for the ages, into the Bayonne wall as Phil said. Everyone tries to one-up and they were all a blast, even Rainchild's Space Flying Tiger Accidental Rope Bounce Tope en Reversa. Izzy not only has the best punches in the match, but also takes the nastiest bumps, getting absolutely dismantled by suplexes at the end. I can't wait to watch more of this stuff.

H Effect (Dixie/Insane Dragon/Deranged) vs. JAPW Legends (Magic/J-Lover/Skinhead Ivan) JAPW 11/12/16 - FUN

PAS: Insane Dragon comes out of a nearly decade long retirement to land an awesome looking tope con hilo and take a few crazy bumps. Dixie (who had come out of retirement on the last show) still has great execution, and took Magic's insane Tiger Driver 98 style finisher right on his neck, there was some goofy over bumping by Deranged and a not great section built around J-Lover's hard head, but it was really good to see all of these Wes Hatch comp tape legends back and doing their thing.

ER: This was the match that started the idea for a Dixie/Dragon C&A, seeing these two nutbars come back and still bring their specific brand of rich kid stoner crazy was so much fun, I called Phil and suggested we revisit their entire output. We were both fans of the early 2000s NE indy scene, and shoot one of our earliest interactions was me buying Phil's Low-Ki comp tape off him. It feels appropriate. Skinhead Ivan really should be wearing a khakis and a white polo these days, needs to be more in touch with his people (though their uniform hadn't changed at this point, so he gets at least a pass on the uniform, nothing else). Deranged hits a deranged flip dive that flings him hard into his opponent AND the guard rail, Magic is still a compact powerhouse, and Izzy and Dixie still know how to die. That Tiger Driver '98 was just an insane bump to be taking, and I'm glad these guys haven't changed.

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NJPW G1 Special in USA - Night 2 Live (as it airs) Blog

So the first of these didn't go too terribly, so I figured WHY NOT. Why not do it again. He never knew when to quit.

1. Jushin Liger/David Finlay/KUSHIDA vs. Yoshitatsu/Yohei Komatsu/Sho Tanaka

Boy Yoshitatsu sure does have an epic entrance song for a guy loathed by everyone in attendance. It's still hard for me to distance Finlay from his father. Any comparisons will be unfavorable. I like how Liger works Komatsu, and it seems to wake up Komatsu more than when up against other guys. Liger hits a nasty baseball slide dropkick and Komatsu flies gloriously into the rail. Tempura Boyz also nicely catch a KUSHIDA flip dive, and I really dig how Tanaka fights KUSHIDA over the hoverboard lock. I'm happy as Tanaka catches a KUSHIDA handspring into a german, just because I get so damn tired of handsprings. They must be punished. Finlay throws a great back elbow...but then he throws another that's not as good...and then does a silly diving European uppercut. I was hoping for more Yoshitatsu gloating, rubbing it into the fans how he knows they hate him, but he doesn't care. This is about as base level as you can get for a trios match. I see that Meltzer gave it ***1/4 which just means that a random CMLL episode must be total ecstasy for him. Nothing will be remembered about this match. ***1/4 seems fairly memorable to me.

2. Kenny Omega vs. Jay Lethal

This starts great as Lethal has his ribs taped up and Omega just kicks him hard a couple times right in the tape, then does a front suplex right onto the apron. Fuck your ribs, Jay. They do some do-si-do stuff, Lethal gets into the OWA in about the least convoluted way I've seen, then Omega somehow plausibly makes the lethal injection look good. Lethal didn't take forever setting it up either, and it actually looked good! Then Lethal warms my heart by nailing Omega with three straight topes into the barrier. I like when guys capitalize on big moves. Omega gets his leg worked over and after a dragon screw Lethal yells "He's a dead man!!" and then proceeds to measure his distance, hit a slow motion handspring, and get caught in a backstabber. I take back me liking the move a few sentences ago, the lethal injection remains the stupidest finisher in wrestling. I cannot think of another instance where you'd go in for the kill by walking momentarily on your hands away from an opponent. I saw Keith Hernandez on a 1986 episode of Dick Cavett, and he was talking about when they started allowing women in the locker rooms. And on the very first day it was allowed, Keith came walking out of the showers naked, on his hands. IF 1986 Keith Hernandez had delivered a totally nude lethal injection (the terrible finisher, not some gross euphemism for penetration) to the first woman allowed in a locker room, that would have been the only acceptable lethal injection ever performed. Lethal gets caught by the transition dragon suplex, because, you know, he points to the ropes opposite his opponent, yells that he's going to slowly bounce upside down off of them, and then gets caught. Lethal matches have become an exercise in getting caught doing stupid things. He has strikes that are good enough to make him maybe the most frustrating wrestler in the states, because he keeps insisting on working his matches entirely around his awful finisher. And speaking of awful finishers, both men then carefully balance while doing a couple reversals based around the one wing angel. If Omega can do a bad handspring into getting his opponent somehow on his shoulders...I think we could reach nirvana.

3. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii

I love this total style clash match-up, and love Sabre for coming out and trying to slap Ishii. Sabre foolishly playing into Ishii's one strength is great, and then Sabre ups things by headbutting him. Sabre takes some shots and finally kicks Ishii in the bicep and Barnett is talking about his "Lancashire style" and it's pretty great. Sabre eats a big shoulderblock and nice delayed superplex, then kicks Ishii's bicep again, lands a great short uppercut and then hits a killer jumping northern lights. THAT looked freakish, like some mutant Alexander Otsuka move. Ishii finally gets wise and catches one of those kicks aimed at his bicep, but Sabre rolls him through with a bridge. Here's a neat thing about Sabre's bridge: he pins Ishii's shoulders down by standing on his armpits. That's some fine detail work right there. Sabre locks on a great twisty sub and keeps grabbing each Ishii limb that gets close to the ropes, great moment where the crowd kept getting louder every new iteration of the sub, and finally Ishii reached ropes and lay there holding his arms and body. Sabre leaps at Ishii to try to lock on his nasty wristlock, comes close, opts to hit the penalty kick...but modern offense cannot hurt Ishii, and he barrels through him with a lariat and delayed brainbuster. Satisfying match, fun to see Ishii out of his brainless stiff exchange pattern.

4. Juice Robinson/Dragon Lee/Jay White/Titan/Volador Jr. vs. SANADA/Hiromu Takahashi/Tetsuya Naito/BUSHI/EVIL

I look up and think Takahashi's tron video said "Tickling Time Bomb", which would be a decent gimmick. BUSHI is wearing the super cool black/red gear, looking like a final boss ninja. SANADA continues to warm my heart by dropkicking Titan during his handspring. Death to all hand springs! EVIL mostly sucks, but American fans still like him because he has that Japanese credibility. SANADA plays lucha maestro by locking on a couple Nieblinas and JR chooses the first strike of the match to gush over as a sliding kick by Naito that whiffs. Boy, Titan has been in this whole match. There are 4 other guys, buddy. Naito takes Juice's leaping sidekick better than any man has taken it, and then Juice throws a great lefty lariat on SANADA in the corner before hitting a couple cannonballs. Our first strike exchange of the evening actually belongs to Lee and Takahashi, which is like the least interesting thing they can do to their bodies. Having them match up in a 10 man is kind of pointless as we've seen them in multiple long singles matches, there's really only so much they can do during a 90 second exchange. White throws some cool off balance strikes that shouldn't look as good as they do, and SANADA continues burrowing his way deep into my heart by being the only guy doing interesting things on the apron. JR starts talking about Tony Garea while BUSHI takes forever setting up a missed move off the top. Juice hits a weird/cool short left hand to KO Takahashi off the apron and Jay White finishes things by running through a few 1999 Power Plant graduate finisher moves.

5. Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa/Hangman Page vs. War Machine/Michael Elgin

This match and one other I'm weirdly excited for are the ones that Meltzer did not give a ***+ rating to, which makes me more excited for both of them. Has someone less threatening ever been given a cool nickname like "Hangman"? "Christ Stomper" Stephen Hawking. "Throat Slasher" Eddie Deezen.  Yeah this match kinda blows so far, but no more than our first trios. A lot of cracks showing through in this match, guys waiting in position for other guys, delaying moves that are supposed to get interrupted...but then Tonga takes a crazy fast bump over the top to the floor, and Page gets hiptossed into Loa (while Loa is draped over the ropes) and I'm in. The War Machine springboard clothesline german suplex is cool - indy as hell, but cool. But then we do some lame "hit me so I can show you how tough I am" stuff that takes me back out. BUT, Hanson hits a big top rope cannonball and I'm back. Rowe always does a couple cool things in his matches, here I dug him headbutting Tonga's arm as Tonga threw a forearm, and he also bumped a Page lariat bigger than it probably deserved. Match was okay.

6. Roppongi Vice vs. Young Bucks

Pretty early "fuck this match" as they do a bunch of goofy as hell missed somersault legdrops, then everyone throws a dropkick at once and the crowd ERUPTS in applause. Then they all do the worst phone booth fighting you've ever seen. The rest of this is going to have to be incredible to get it to its ****1/4 designation. Romero always has an incredible knack for moving in far enough so that he never catches his opponent on dives to the floor. They always end up flying just over his head, in the same way John Morrison has been overshooting his twisting moonsault for a decade now. Bucks always do things I like, and I'm probably higher on them than most humans (at least ones that run in our niche nerd circles), but they're better than what this match has been. This has been a bad Eliminators "hold still so I can do spots" match, with dodgier execution. "A jumping piledriver on the apron should spell disaster for Nick Jackson." I mean...you would think that, wouldn't you, JR? But even with another piledriver back in the ring, it wasn't enough. There are several more moves that don't finish Nick Jackson. They cut to someone in the crowd marking out, and that someone MAY have been Marty the Moth. He looked like he was having the time of his life. Man, I do not need a "We're having a WAR!!" strike exchange with fucking Rocky Romero. Matt just completely no sells a Romero dive, which makes sense, it looked terrible. But it looked no worse than any Romero tope, and those all get sold. So it's weird for him to just take this one and decide "Wait a minute these are terrible, I didn't get hurt at all!" and pick him up. They do an insane Meltzer driver to the floor (and toss in a nice tribute to Herb Meltzer, which was genuinely nice), then they do another in the ring that doesn't hit at all. This match was terrible. I mean really, really terrible.

7. Cody/Yujiro Takahashi/Bad Luck Fale/Marty Scurll vs. Briscoes/Will Ospreay/Kazuchika Okada

Scurll found a way to make me lose interest during a Mark Briscoe sequence. That's a special kind of boring right there. This has more stalling than an '89 Rougeaus match, but is nowhere near as entertaining. This match and the prior one are finally making this live report seem like a terrible idea. Man this match is bad. Ospreay the only one with a raised heart rate. Everything in this match is taking so long, and guys are selling without taking hardly any moves of any kind. Yujiro gets his head snapped nastily on a Jay neckbreaker, then bites Jay's thumb, hits a couple light sliding dropkicks and thankfully Jay levels him with an elbow. I think guys are trying to work comedy spots? Nothing is very funny, but I think that's what's happening. That's the problem with having offense that looks like shit, is it's never quite clear if you're just having a laugh. This match is just interminably long. Ospreay hits a big flip dive and hits a flipping...knee? elbow? on Cody. Cody sells it by doing his finisher moments later. God this match was fucking awful. Here's hoping Billy Gunn can save this show!

8. Billy Gunn vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

The crowd boos Gunn because they're shitty. I've never been a Billy Gunn fan, but this kind of match-up seems way more interesting that seeing another wankfest rematch against any number of NJ natives. And Gunn is great doing all this slow annoying stuff that must be infuriating the live crowd. Showing off his height during lock-ups, yanking Tanahashi's ponytail during a headlock takeover, and then going after Tanahashi's taped up arm. Single arm DDT, smacking it into ring posts, and the fans hate it!! Gunn even punches Tanahashi out of the air, but Tanahashi doesn't bump his missed axe handle like Arn. Gunn is awesome punching Tanahashi while holding his ponytail. The man is wearing a ponytail in a wrestling match, it needs to constantly be used against him. Gunn gets his trunks pulled down and awesomely continues working with his trunks down. Only weenies give a shit if their underwear is showing. Tanahashi finally goes on his first run of offense, and exclusively uses the arm we've seen get worked over the past 10 minutes. Flying forearm, hip toss, leaping elbow, I mean literally all the moves he did at first opportunity used his bad arm. Tanahashi only knows how to work New Japan Main Event Epic and it is embarrassingly on display here, though has been hinted at in the way he completely disappears during trios matches. Not a good match, but a match that should have been good, and all it would have taken was a LITTLE bit of effort from Tanahashi. He showed no interest in selling, showed no interest in being engaged while in holds, clearly put half ass into his offense. Terrible Tanahashi performance.

9. Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

I'll be honest, I'm probably not in the best mood for this match. The Tag match was terrible, that 8 man match was embarrassing, and that Tanahashi match was one of the more phoned in performances you've seen this side of an Orton main event. 30 minutes of NJ epic is not going to be what I need. Let's see if they can win me over. But 10 minutes in we've just predictably got a lot of "I'll show YOU how tough I am, hit me!!" junk. The floor brawling was inspired but too brief. Ishii will take a DDT right on top of his head, and he'll do the same with Omega's stupid high jump bulldog. The nastiest part of the match so far is a flip dive from Omega, caught valiantly by Ishii, who also gets his head smashed into the concrete upon catching him. We build to a big stupid table suplex spot, with some amusing stuff like Ishii biting the top rope to prevent Omega from throwing him. Does Ishii have strong teeth strength as one of his known attributes? Because it comes off kind of funny for a guy to try to Jaws his way through things. If you were suplexing Richard Kiel, this would be a familiar spot. Here it felt like an odd joke that was told moments before the joke teller got head-dropped through a table. It's amazing how Kenny Omega is so good at making huge suplex spots mean so little. Top rope dragon suplex against Okada, a dragon suplex off the apron through a table here, they all mean as much as any other move done in his matches. Big deal, I saw a 20/20 piece on backyard wrestling 15 years ago and a kid took a burning hammer on a picnic table in a park. There's a good chance it meant more to whatever match those two idiot teens were having. Finishing stretch sees Ishii dumped on his head by the snapdragon, kneed in the face, and go down with fighting spirit to the end. Good for them. This sure was New Japan-y.


I never know when to quit. This show was fucking awful. I liked the Sabre/Ishii match and the 10 man, couple other matches had their moments...but man there were some dogshit awful performances peppered throughout this show.

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NJPW G1 Special in USA - Night 1 24 Hrs Later Not Live Blog

Even if I'm not very interested in the New Japan product, it's inarguable that it's the hot trend among our niche online wrestling culture. Even though I rarely match up with the popular opinions on New Japan, the appeal kind of fascinates me because I don't totally understand it. A lot of things that I see and think "Wow this looks terrible!", and it's still oddly jarring to see plenty of people see the exact opposite. Still, I think it's cool they're giving the US some shows, and I think it's cool they got broadcast live. We were out all day yesterday, and against my instincts - and without knowing much about the card or the results - I figured I would waste some time on a Sunday checking it out.


1. Bullet Club (Young Bucks/Bad Luck Fale/Marty Scurll/Yujiro Takahashi) vs. CHAOS (Briscoes/Will Ospreay/Roppongi Vice)

30 seconds of Scurll and I'm already kind of regretting this decision. His act feels composed entirely of movements that you've seen before, done better. But the Briscoes make me feel better about this decision. We get a great double team jab/chop combo, Mark hits a nice dive, Jays hits a dynamite baseball slide and then a crazy blockbuster to the floor, and this is getting good. The Bucks collapse a ring barrier on a dive and Ospreay hits the most gorgeous possible springboard SSP. That Scurll finger breaking spot is one of those things you flip for the first time, and at a certain point you realize how completely stupid it is to expect any wrestler to sell broken fingers 2 minutes into a match. Mark Briscoe is looking great though, flying in with a great rana and leaning deep into a Bucks superkick, and this whole thing is really good whenever it's not Scurll in the ring. Fale seems really out of place in this 10 man, doesn't look very plausible taking Romero offense. This whole thing was quicker than it should have been, and they easily could have dropped a few guys and made it into a better 6 or 8 man, but I assume they're trying to get as many guys on the card as possible. Matt Jackson: "I can't lose on TV, I got a deal with Hot Topic!"

2. Hiromu Takahashi//SANADA/EVIL/BUSHI vs. Jushin Liger/Dragon Lee/Titan/Volador Jr.

Weird they would frontload all these multiman matches, seems like they would be better served having them between tournament matches. Liger seems slower than the last time I saw him. I think he's better now in singles, that don't require the go go pace of an 8 man. SANADA takes a high bump to the floor and a sharp back elbow. Lee and Takahashi are guys whose match-up benefits from a multiman, because they don't have to kick out of absurd moves, but instead come in for some lightning in 15 second bursts. Takahashi whips himself into a German faster than anybody, it's nuts. SANADA mans up and catches Titan on a nutso dive, and suddenly this match is making me really want more SANADA. Titan ups the crazy by sprawling spectacularly into the buckles on a bump and eating a chairshot. Another short match, really feels like a major waste of some of the guys involved. I both appreciate them not making this a 6 hour card, while being disappointed in the match lengths so far.

3. Hangman Page vs. Jay Lethal

These flimsy ring barriers have already made a couple of nice spots look spectacular, I think we've had a barrier get knocked over every match so far. Here a nice Lethal dive looks devastating as Page gets plastered right through it. This just in: Page's shooting star shoulder block STILL the most "indy" move in wrestling. I say that, of course, before remembering that the Lethal Injection is somehow considered a finisher. I think I really like Lethal, except for that move's glaring stupidity. But considering matches often build to that move, it's a major problem. His rolling elbow and enziguiri look nice here, he eats a big clothesline, but we keep going back to that stupid slow handspring. When he finally hits it, he totally whiffs on it and Page sells it the same anyway. My god the move is the worst. And we get a 4th attempt and it lands short, but thankfully Page leaps forward right into it. If he literally just used any other boring finisher, his matches would be so much better, as all his in between stuff looked really great: great variety of kicks, elbows that land heavy, nice punches, but when so much of the match is built around something that stupid...

4. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Juice Robinson

I think every match has featured someone with a strike combo that ends in a standing senton. I shouldn't complain as the senton is one of the most logical moves in wrestling, just dropping your body on a guy's ribs, but it's weird how many of these guys just aim to wrestle so similarly. Heel Sabre is wonderful as he has a great mug for smug showoff shit, and has a nice arsenal of cocky spots. There's mocking stuff like the dreadlocks cravat, but meatier stuff like nasty wrist bends, and subtler stuff like stepping on Juice's hand before applying a hold. People who discredit him as someone who just puts on "holds exhibitions" don't give him credit for cool stuff like that, distracting his opponent with one bit of pain before applying something more dangerous right after. Juice is good at setting up Sabre's nastiest stuff, and the powerbomb out of a triangle was a nice comeback spot. The match ending octopus hold was sick, and I love the set up with Sabre kicking Juice's bad wing, Juice instinctively punching him but doing further damage to the arm in the process, and leaving himself open to be stretched to submission. Really satisfying 10 minute match.

5. Yohei Komatsu/Sho Tanaka/Yoshi Tatsu/Billy Gunn vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/David Finlay/Jay White/KUSHIDA

Boy this feels like a lopsided match-up. I don't know if Tempura Boyz are actually any good. I really loved a Komatsu/Liger match from a couple years ago, but I think I more loved the structure of vet vs. rookie than his actual ring work. I do love the heat Gunn is getting. He knows he's as out of place on this card as the ticket buyers think he is, so I love him going in there and just soaking it up. His lightly hurt face after his 1999 Suck It draws boos was perfectly done. People dump on Tatsu but he's got the Toecutter hair, gets dumped on his dome by Jay White, hits a fast low angle spinkick, and has no problem getting suplexed into the buckles. Finlay works like 2005 Roderick Strong mixed with current Barbaro Cavernario. His dad needs to teach him how to stomp hands and headbutt chests. Tanahashi's slingblade looked like crap against Gunn, and I don't think it was Gunn's fault. Overall, this wasn't much.

6. War Machine vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

I don't think I actually knew Camacho was Meng's kid when he was in WWE. They make this No DQ, but that just means they use some flimsy trash can lid shots, when their normal match strikes look better. I'd rather see them headbutting War Machine in the nose than hitting them in their meaty backs with a lid. I hate how "agile" Hanson tries to wrestle. Rowe embraces the hoss and is better for it. Hanson has too many spots that get too cute. But him getting powerslammed off a springboard is an impressively nutty spot to take. Tanga hits a nasty diving headbutt, and diving headbutts are still a thing guys are doing in 2017. Rowe eats a powerbomb through chairs, and probably lucky for him he parts them instead of bending through them with his kidneys. Hanson uses his cartwheel smarter than normal, organically using it to dodge a charge. It usually feels so much more planned out. And his dive is always impressive. But, I will say, the few times Stan Hansen did it in All Japan are so much more memorable because of how seldom he did it. The powerbomb/legdrop through the table was impeccably timed.

7. Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii

This is fine but I'm kind of numb to Ishii's masochistic style at this point. Naito doesn't work as stiff a style as other guys who he's just endlessly stood and exchanged with, so it rings a little hollow to see him selling thigh slaps more than he sells say Shibata elbowing him in the throat. Naito makes amusing faces while eating gross chops, and I like a few of the cockier touches that he brings, like wiping his boots on the back of Ishii's head. His spit spot is always stupid and gross, but we ramp up to a whole new level when he spits blood in Ishii's face, and it actually makes me cheer when Ishii clobbers him with a vicious headbutt and snaps him with a folding powerbomb. I can't actually tell if Naito just botched running up the ropes a couple times in trying to the tornado DDT, but if they did then they expertly covered it and made it seem like Ishii was just pulling him away from the ropes to block. Either way, it made the DDT mean a lot more. They lost me a little bit with each guy showing how they can get dropped on different parts of their dome, but the 15 minute run time was far more satisfying than if this same match was in the Dome. I imagine it would go 25 and the pinfall here would just be the beginning. This was fine but felt a bit too much like they ramped up to "we're having an epic".

8. Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega

Elgin has a great shoulderblock and back elbow, and Omega has no problem leaning into a huge shoulderblock. Taking offense is obviously not Omega's problem. Love powerslam spots and Elgin always has a nice one. I would love it if he did more, really. JR talks about how they're starting "slow" but we've already gotten a powerslam, a shoulderblock dive off the top, and a brainbuster. Omega nails the leg lariat on the concrete and he actually hits it, usually he just leaps all the way over his opponent and they take a faceplant. Omega always has really weak looking chinlocks, and his backpack sleeper was even worse. His arm didn't even look like it was touching Elgin's neck. It was barely touching his beard. Elgin always has a lot of great looking slams, but it's the same problem as Angle letting everybody reverse his ankle lock, it just makes his own moves look weak. They all look spine crushing, but they're all treated like early match bodyslams. Like, holy shit, here's this German suplex on the freaking apron, followed by a freaking crucifix power bomb off the middle buckle, and Omega kicks out of it the EXACT same way he kicked out of the brainbuster 4 minutes into the match. The previous match ENDED with a brainbuster, and here it was nothing. But we now know that apron German and crucifix bomb are not much either. Elgin lays Omega out with the burliest clothesline on this show by far, but Omega still kicks out all the same. Seriously, he only knows how to kick out one specific way, always at the exact same time, every count. Every move *almost* puts me away, but no moves actually finish me! After Omega gets the back of his head blasted into the mat a few times, that unlocks the "do all your offense in a row" part of his brain, so we get a bunch of running knees (some looked great, some looked like femur bruising slaps). I admire Omega's restraint to not drop Elgin vertically on the clutch tombstone, and he eventually does all the right dance steps in the right order to unlock his finisher.

9. Cody vs. Kazuchika Okada

I will never not love when a heel postpones the opening bell so that he can go and kiss his attractive spouse. And Cody's shiny America tights and stars n stripe boots are glorious. HOWEVER, not using red/white/blue kinesio tape is that little touch to detail that shows that Cody JUST DON'T FUCKING GET IT. He gets it...but doesn't totally GET it. But then Brandi is wearing a fucking sequined American flag cocktail dress and he obviously fucking gets it. That dress would boost the ticket sales to any fucking USO show out there. I could be completely crazy, but has anybody else noticed the AXS cameras specifically focusing on couples in the crowd? 80% of the up close camera shots are of two slender, charming couples, chanting for their favorites and occasionally smiling at each other. Were they given a directive of "hey, no fattie neckbeards, okay? We gotta make this look like it's worth 4 hours of schedule." Okada having to find a way to get his opponent on the buckles so he can dropkick them off, yet always doing it the same way, is just as stupid as "you can't powerbomb Kidman" or somebody trying to sunset flip Super Porky or Rikishi. It needs to be said. Okada is a prettier face, conditioned haired, Billy Kidman except without all the deathwish bumps. Okay, they just showed a couple guys in the crowd who didn't APPEAR to be a couple, but one of the guys looked kinda like between-shoot-body Dan Stevens, so they may have thought they were showing a celebrity. Okada calls for the Rainmaker which just shows he's never heard of Albert Hammond Sr. before. Cody is the only guy in New Japan who understands how to use slaps. You mockingly smack a guy to muss his hair, or you do one after wide-eyed shit talking, or you use them to allow your opponent to get angry enough to justify their transition to offense. Cody gets - and uses - all three of them. You just don't stand and trade them. Cody understands the best way to use the Rainmaker is to make scared fans think that Cody was somehow going to get the title. When I wanted Brian Kendrick to desperately win the CWC and he got that one great nearfall on Ibushi? That joy I felt is tantamount to the fear these fans felt when they thought Okada would lose. Okada, however, does not lose.


You know, this could have been an absolute disaster of an idea. But this was a nice high floor low ceiling show. No blowaway great matches, but nothing that made me want to lean on the FF. A lot of the best stuff were the matches that hit the proper time, that money 10-15 minute zone. So it was nice to see this NJ style that I dislike, worked slightly toned down (I say toned down only because only one guy dumped himself on his head 3+ times, and nobody lost feeling in the right side of their body from a shoot strike on a nearfall). I liked tons of individual performances on the show, thought Cody looked great in the main, thought Sabre and Juice complemented each other well, SANADA looked like a guy I would actually request recommended matches from (any SANADA matches that would make our MOTY List from the last few years?), so it was a breezy view. I drank good coffee, played with my cat son Tacos, goofed off on Twitter, and watched some decent wrestling. It's a quality Sunday.

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Wrestlemania Weekend Cherry Picking

Way too much wrestling Wrestlemaina weekend to watch, but we cherry picked some non EVOLVE indy stuff that looked good

Matt Riddle v. Dan Severn GCW 3/30/17

PAS: Really fun match with Riddle and Severn just in there rolling with each other and laying in every time the threw. Severn is a little awkward, but mean old football coach is really the best wrestling role he has had, I loved his knees to the kidneys and how he would walk through Riddle's shots to grab him. I really think Riddle doing his fighting spirit german no-sells was weak shit, especially in this kind of match, but I liked everything else. Finish was especially awesome with Severn landing these nasty knees to the spine, getting a really close near fall with a bodylock dragon sleeper, only to have Riddle squirt out, land some vicious elbows to the temple and lock on the twister. This really makes me want to see more 2017 Severn, totally fun stuff.

ER: "Old man grappling" sounds like a top contender for the Segunda Caida masthead, so I was expecting to enjoy this, and it delivered. Severn is pushing 60 and pretty stiff in the ring (as in, inflexible), but he's got the size and the strength and the literal decades of muscle memory bore into his brain, so he's a fun lug within the current grapple-heavy style. He's also pale, which made Riddle's knee and palm strikes read terrific, as Severn had tons of pink and red areas minutes in. Severn kept bullying through Riddle's finesse while Riddle just wanted to land strikes in bunches. I liked the commentary as they brought up things like Severn being a part of MMA infancy and how far it advanced by the time Riddle was brought in, but they also made me genuinely laugh out loud a couple of times (talking about Severn's "dad strength", which is funny and true, and as Severn is fishing for "Beast" chants one of them points out his crowd work, calling him "the Todd Barry of wrestling". That's funny). I really hated the Riddle German no-selling, and I was hoping it was leading to Severn just destroying him with those knees to the spine into the dragon sleeper he was going for, like Phillip Jennings breaking that dude's neck on The Americans. This was all fun stuff.

Dominic Garrini v. Martin Stone PPW 3/31/17

PAS: I thought this was pretty disappointing. Garrini is a new Segunda Caida favorite, but lack much of the style which made the Cain Justice match so special. Stone is a guy with a positive rep, but I thought he was pretty terrible in this, this was Garrini forced to work a Stone match, full of tough guy elbow exchanges and goofy finger breaking spots. Garrini had a couple of leaps into triangle chokes which were cool, but this did very little for him. Finish was lame with Stone just breaking a triangle choke from a Ju-Jitsu world champion and putting on some sort of weak crossface for the tap, totally lame, the equivalent of Shane McMahon out wrestling Kurt Angle.

Low-Ki v. Shane Strickland WrestleCon Supershow 3/31/17

PAS: My Killshot thoughts are well documented, so this wasn't an ideal Ki opponent for one of his 6 or so matches we might get this year, still they worked this mostly as a quasi-competitive squash and Strickland is a perfectly fine guy to get squashed. Ki is in the Game of Death gear and no matter what he is wearing he will kick a dude hard in the chest, his downed elbows looked especially nasty here, thought they might slice Strickland. Stricklands moments of offense looked kind of dumb, but they were few and far between. Really liked the finish as both guys fought on the top rope, until Ki set up his hanging double stomp onto the ring apron, which was a finish for sure. Ki's base match is so high right now, not sure this was anything more then his base match, but I enjoyed it.

Jay Lethal v. Cody ROH 4/1/17

PAS: This was a bullrope match with a member of the Rhodes family, so I figured I would check it out. I mostly enjoyed this especially when they were hitting each other with cowbells. Cody breaks out a nice blade job (wasn't at the level of Dusty or Dustin, but not bad for a first time), there was a great moment where Lethal went for the Lethal injection but Cody pulled the rope causing Lethal to piledrive himself. I thought this got a bit move tradey at the end for a match which should be all about gouging and choking, but I still enjoyed this more then I would have any other version of this matchup.

ER: Decided to add Riddle/Severn to our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List. What other WM weekend matches should we look at for possible inclusion?


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE MATT RIDDLE

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LOW-KI

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Ring of Honor on Destination America 11/25/15 Review

1. Moose vs. A guy with the last name Carter

Silly flipping spear, match over. "What a way to kick off this hour of ROH television." Okay, Kevin Kelly. Elgin comes out after prompted by Stokely Hathaway. and gets in Moose's face. Moose says "we can do this right now". Never before has anybody who said that, actually done something right now. Truth Martini says a bunch of stuff I don't listen to. Any Truth Martini is too much, but it sets up this match...

2. Moose & Michael Elgin vs. Donovan Dijak & J. Diesel

And it's not bad! It's brisk, almost worked tornado style. Everybody except Moose looked good. Moose had these terrible standing headbutts to Diesel's shoulder, and Diesel looked like he had no idea what he was supposed to be selling. Elgin hit a fun somersault senton off the apron, Diesel took an absolutely disgusting spinning back chop to the face from Elgin (that one got a couple rewinds), Dijak takes a crazy Psicosis ropes bump off a lariat, Taeler Hendrix looked like a weird plastic monster, Dijak's 360 pump kick is goofy but resulted in Moose getting kicked in the neck (even though Moose doesn't get that whole selling thing at all). So yeah, this was good. Moose is not good.

3. Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal

Damn this was goooood. I strongly dislike most of this Jay Lethal touring heel champ run, as he has terrible offense for a main event heel, the worst finisher in wrestling, and just doesn't have the persona for the style he's trying to work. Strong I like, but wasn't expecting anything when I dislike 50% of the guys in a match. But the match kicked ass. It's probably, easily, the best match from the whole run of shows shown on Destination America. Strong beat Lethal's ass the whole match, tossing out big elbows and nasty chops, really working him over all around the ring.  There was a minor blown spot that I think helped things, where Strong tried to pick Lethal up to drop him with a backbreaker he dropped him. BUT then he muscled him up hardway to redo the spot and planted Lethal over his knee. I'm not usually the biggest fan of immediately redoing spots, but it just made Strong look determined. Least favorite part of the match was Lethal hitting the Lethal Injection only to have Strong kickout. The kickout itself was really well done, nicely placed, made sense in the match, but Lethal made this impossibly goofy face afterwards to express "shock" and the camera just lingered on this awful face. He had half his lip tucked into his mouth and was doing these exaggerated stage breaths, like the community theatre cast of Godspell coming out for a minorly deserved curtain call. His horrible facial expression, with that weird tucked lip and heaving breath, looked like he was doing an impression of Oklahoma doing his impression of JR. I'm not sure what face he thought he was making, but it couldn't have possibly been that face. Lethal did keep going for his bad offense, his wimpy dives, his horrible finisher, but Strong just kept beating ass. His knees are a thing of beauty. He's got the timing down pat, and I've seen few better jumping knees. The finish run was great with Strong throwing every single thing at Lethal, one right after the other, and you knew it was building to something big, like when they shoot up tons of fireworks right at the end of 4th of July, all at once, with Lee Greenwood playing somewhere. Strong hits some big ass knees, a big gutbuster, his running kick, backbreaker, really just stacking up all his offense for one big blowoff. By the time he locked on the Stronghold Lethal tapped almost to just make it stop, which was the proper finish. Really really good match, not just because it exceeded expectations, but because it was legitimately good. And also, because that means less Lethal in big title matches, some distance for Strong and Lethal, and puts everybody in a better place.

If this was the last episode on DA (and I think it was) they at least went out on a nice high note.

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