NO-MAS: Omos in NOAH, New Year Reboot

 

Omos/Jack Morris/Yu Owada vs. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr./Galeno Del Mal/Saxon Huxley NOAH 1/2/25

ER: Omos's second match with the company felt like an incredible step backward. It's his second night with the company and he's working a throwaway trios match at a half sold Shinjuku FACE show, in a match where the focus is on Yu Owada's heel turn and not the gigantic black man entering your small building. The fans boo Owada in his Team 2000X when he enters the building after Omos as their mystery partner. To start the match, Omos locked up with Wagner. Obviously he won the lock up, easily, but why is this giant man locking up with a luchador half his weight? It would have been preposterous if Undertaker had worked a test of strength spot with Crash Holly, but at least it would have made sense within Holly's character. Omos doesn't need to be doing collar and elbow tie-ups with any other wrestler.  

I liked the stretch where Morris came in and cut Wagner off, Wagner selling a pump kick like Terry Funk before powering through and headbutting Morris, falling hard first, recognizing it was a bad idea as Morris was plopped on his butt rubbing his jaw. I liked how Morris set up Huxley's offense, selling a kneelift falling chest first into the middle rope with his arms draped over the top, getting bounced off the ropes as Huxley built steam, turning around just in time to catch a boot under the chin. Morris himself has bad hand clap offense but he can sell some difficult stuff well. Owada, the true focus of the match, is at minimum good at getting blown up by a shoulderblock. 

I wanted more from the Omos/Galeno shoulderblock exchange climax. They kept the big men mostly out of the match and they didn't even let Omos bump Galeno with a shoulderblock. Omos shoulderblocking Galeno into the ropes and then celebrating was like Luger celebrating his count out win against Yokozuna. The big double chokeslam was a nice ending and I especially love that it was so sudden. Galeno took one bump for Omos but it was for the finish. Crazy that Galeno took the slam so much better than Marufuji. 

TL: The only match I know Eric likes more than a battle royal is a NOAH six-man tag. To hear him glowingly praise Tamon Honda busting out freaky Rolling Hell variations or IZU throwing gnarly headbutts and sumo rushes or waxing poetic on Kikuchi's facial expressions brings me great joy; this is, predictably, a far cry from that, but does have its highlights and retains some of the spirit those matches had in their heyday.

Omos gets less to do here but does look markedly better than he did in the tag title win. Him single-handedly taking out Los Wagnercitos and Huxley with two big body slams and a lariat came off well to establish the gap between him and everyone else in the match. Eric mentioned how Omos needs to really lean into his strikes more and while the lariat was his only one in this match, it looked fine. There wasn't much of note from Morris or Owada. Morris did some basic stooging and bumped big on Huxley's knock off Brody running big boot, but Owada did a bunch of half-hearted stomping and striking in his faction debut and quickly faded into the background. Those performances by default made Omos being so dominant look that much more impactful.

Huxley got the shine here, which was odd. The Wagner Brothers were over pretty strongly and the crowd was playing along with their shtick. Hijo did well starting the match when Omos again got the early tag in, taking a powder and then trying to goad him into rushing him down, even stepping on his feet to try and get an advantage. I liked Galeno as NOAH's resident power brute knowing he was screwed but also knowing his best shot was bringing the fight to Omos anyway, even if it did fail spectacularly and he ate the fall.

Omos got a bit of a chance to show his staggered sell and recovery during Galeno's tackle rush, and it's obvious he's really trying to control the atmosphere as soon as he's between the ropes. He's working methodically like most big men, but he's aware of his surroundings and has the charisma to make it entertaining. He's also talking a lot of shit, and I think he could talk even more at this point; shit-talking in wrestling today is often either contrived or ironic, but Omos could make it his calling card if he wanted. While I was excited after the tag, this was more of a wakeup call. There's more to be unleashed and it will be interesting to see the path they decide to take to get there.

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NO-MAS: Omos in NOAH

 

Team 2000X (Omos/Jack Morris) vs. Takashi Sugiura/Naomichi Marufuji NOAH 1/1/25

ER: Around Christmas, Tim told me that NOAH was bringing in Omos as a Nigerian Kaiju and wondered if I'd be interested in checking out how they handle a guy who's completely different than any NOAH wrestler in history. Omos has been in WWE for four years now and for whatever reason they are scared about using an Actual Giant in a wrestling match now. There are fewer Big Men in wrestling than ever before. Why!? It can't be the "quality" of the ring work, that doesn't make sense. I've seen plenty of fucking Xyon Quinn or Cora Jade matches. They can't care that much about people looking bad in a ring. 30% of their roster is made up of people with lifted asses and blown out knees working spots in half speed, but I guess a literal Giant moving at the speed of a Giant isn't something they can visualize working in Pro Wrestling. Pull the damn trigger on a guy who is 7'3 and Looks Cool. Omos looks cool. He's a Black Giant who looks cool. He's not Eli Cottonwood. He's not Shanky. Is it because he's the only black giant? Is that why they're so afraid, because he's the tallest black wrestler they've ever been around? Suddenly the tallest black wrestler in history comes along and can pull off facial hair and dress well, and they get too racist to understand what they have? He's the tallest black wrestler since Karl Malone and that means something.  

Now I don't think there are any guys on the NOAH roster I actually care about seeing against Omos - this is a far cry from MY NOAH of 20 years ago - but the idea still intrigued me. I don't know why they scared the Big Man away from pro wrestling but it fucking sucks, and now NOAH is courting one with the intention of making him a big attraction. Their first step in making him a big attraction? To have him do something he's never done before: Win the tag titles in his first match with the company. 

This tag was a fine way to debut Omos, even though it was nowhere close to as good as his debut 4 years ago. I thought Jack Morris and Marufuji looked awful. Morris had really bad stomps and clubbing shots, and is a real bland guy to pair with your new giant. As I was thinking about how bad most of Morris's offense was, Marufuji blazed out of the corner with a 5 hit combo that missed so badly I assumed was intentionally thrown as a 0 hit combo. I thought he was just backing Morris up with near misses like they were breaking into Low Ki vs. Red but then Morris took a big Sean Salmon bump and I had to rewind to see what had made him bump. 

I don't know how Marufuji came up through All Japan and has strikes that look this bad. He's in his mid-40s and has a fuckboi perm and I wish he had gotten the shit kicked out of him by Kanemaru and IZU or Makoto Hashi in 1998 because he blows. His work with Omos is really bad too. He has no idea how to work a giant and he's terrible at setting up spots. He throws a punch to be caught and he throws it like he was fighting AJ Styles. Omos has to deadlift him on a backdrop and Marufuji hops early on the double chokeslam. It means more symbolically that he easily pinned Marufuji on his first night in Japan but it would have been much better to pair him off for a big match with Sugiura. I like Sugiura and he knew exactly how to work Omos. He was also much better at doing something with Morris, burying knees in his stomach and leaning into Morris's one cool bump (one his shoulders taking a brainbuster off the middle buckle) and he knew he could actually throw some elbows at Omos for him to no sell. Sugiura's looks after Omos absorbed those elbows were well above the level of the same expected looks from any Performance Center alum. 

As for Omos, I don't think he did enough, and he needs to actually throws strikes. Sugiura can take a club to the back, dude. Marufuji's best moment was getting kicked off the buckles to the floor, and it was Omos's best moment too. He needs to swing harder and not be afraid to be a giant. Stan Hansen swung big and missed big. Swing to hit. Miss like a Giant. 

Tim Livingston: WWE has been sending talent to Pro Wrestling NOAH for two years now. That exchange has led to predictably blah stuff (outside of Mutoh becoming an Hall of Famer, an outright cool distinction), but it all pales in comparison to the most intriguing thing of all to come out of this relationship.

In an interview during their August excursion, Josh Briggs and Tavion Heights asked Mutoh and Marufuji who they thought would do well coming over from WWE to NOAH. Mutoh excitedly exclaimed OMOS, citing his love for big guys and later saying he could help make Omos a star attraction. The homogenization of outsider talent in Japan has led them to be so same-y and tryhard over the past several years. Being able to drop f-bombs and flip people off = cool in 2025, apparently. Someone like Omos being in Japan has a chance to make an actual impact if done correctly.

Lo and behold, Omos DID get announced for the NOAH New Year show, as the mystery partner of Jack Morris. No, not the fringe Hall of Fame pitcher; this guy is a Scottish pro wrestler, although now I wonder if Verne ever approached Jack about making an appearance at an AWA show at one point. They were even facing Marufuji and Sugiura for the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. I asked if Eric would want to check in one someone I know he likes and figured we'd follow his exploits for the green brand as long as he's there. Or, given he's still in the throes of his '97 WCW project, get his comparisons between OMOS and Ron Reis at the very least.


Omos immediately jumps off the page here, especially standing next to Morris, who is a bit generic. The wide shot of Omos walking down the aisle was a great production choice. You can see just how much he stands out in the arena, and it hammers home how a simple presentation can get so much across. Him staring down Wakamotoharu at ringside, a high-level sumo and big pro wrestling fan doing guest commentary, was downright mesmerizing given he hadn't even entered the ring and had already created a buzz.

The match layout could not have been better here: instead of teasing out his eventual tag into the match, Morris tags Omos in right away and the match becomes immediately intriguing. Omos rightfully comes into this match knowing he owns the two legends across from him in nearly every facet, even withstanding Sugi trying a few tricks and failing hard. Another great piece of production, inadvertent or not: Omos hits a corner avalanche and the impact is so strong it shakes the corner cam out of focus.

Omos' second control segment on Marufuji was even better. I love how Marufuji tried what Sugi tried only to eat even more shit. The Omos big boot knocking him off the buckles to the floor looked amazing; a prelude to him getting bieled back in right on his hip after being lifted off the floor by his cranium. Omos busts out the basketball shooting taunt, and it's one thing for someone like Carmelo Hayes to work basketball gimmicks into his stuff, but a 7'4" dude doing it just hits harder.

It should be pointed out Marufuji hits nothing but air on a strike combination "towards" Morris that was so hilarious it would lead any blooper reel. This is a guy who looked up to Misawa, came up in the All Japan dojo, and after nearly three decades can only really throw a chop with any authority, with two of those spent on top of a promotion. Boggles the mind.

The finishing stretch hammered home Omos as a difference maker and was tremendous. You get the splash from Morris standing on Omos' shoulders (with the low camera shot to sell the height Morris jumped from), the murdering of Sugi on the apron with a chokeslam, and then the double choke bomb to give Omos (and Morris, I guess) the belts.

Omos has roughly 200 matches under his belt, a majority of those being off TV, but this is as good as I've ever seen him look. There was meaning in every spot, his overall presentation was superb, everything he did was efficient and impactful. He wasn't hidden or limited in any way. In ten minutes, you learned everything you needed to know about what Omos can do while leaving plenty in the tank for the weeks and months to come. A great piece of business and a great start. 

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WWE Extreme Rules 9/26/21 Live Blog

Peacock is concurrently broadcasting the commentary of every single language they have right now, so watching and reviewing this PPV live certainly feels like a dubious way to spend my Sunday evening. 

Liv Morgan vs. Carmella

ER: This was a fun way to open the live show, a spirited match that went for more drama than these openers usually aim for. Carmella is quietly having a really nice year and is operating from a real natural character, leaning into a nicely balanced annoying heel role. Liv has been pretty aimless for a couple years now, and I'm not really in love with her current style. She used to be one of the women (along with Mandy Rose) who I kept seeing in strong house show performances without having any TV matches as good. Morgan doesn't feel anywhere near the person who was gluing together good house show tags, but now someone doing some bad indy offense with off rhythm timing. It's an offense that doesn't work with someone bad at taking offense, but Carmella is good at taking this dumb yet complicated offense. There are some hard strikes and kicks, and Morgan maintains a good enough 2:1 ratio of nice folding bumps to every off-timed flat back bump. The Liv win was a real surprise. Carmella has been the way more interesting TV character, and this feels like the weakest Liv work we've gotten. 

AJ Styles/Bobby Lashley/Omos vs. Big E/Kofi Kingston/Xavier Woods

ER: Quality trios with a big Bobby Lashley threaded throughout, kind of taking away from Big E's recent title win even with Big E getting the win here. Lashley looked like a dynamic traffic director, usually the role Styles inhabits in a match like this. New Day split the ring time well with Kofi playing the most effective babyface. Styles was a cool guy asshole and Lashley had some explosive stuff, hitting big on his spears and shoulder tackles. Omos was integrated well and is still good at playing into his big moments. This felt a bit more like a house show match than a big stops pulled out PPV match, but house show style always gives a high floor to a match like this. Lashley's big spear to Styles looked good, and I liked Big E instantly capitalizing on it. Weird to see the new champ E in this kind of opener though. 

Street Profits vs. The Usos

ER: Very good tag that didn't quite hit the heights it could have, but hit all the notes of the strong match you assumed they would have. I think Jey has had a real breakout year over the past calendar year, while I think Jimmy's return has been welcome I think Jey pulled ahead of him as a worker in the latter's time away. Montez Ford has also been on a tear this year, really standing out as a unique high flying babyface in a promotion with several prominent versions of that. He gets great height on offense and defense, and here he has some real standout moments. Ford hits a huge tope con giro over the ringpost, and eats knees painfully on a sky high frog splash. Dawkins came in hot on his hot tag and both Usos really fell into and threw the ropes for his impact. Crowd got more vocally involved in the match the longer it went, which is a good sign they were doing the right things. The crowd responded big to the extended nearfall home stretch, which is what you'd want in a long title match. I thought the build to the home stretch was a bit more interesting and felt more organic. Still, very good tag match. 

Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss

ER: This is a real battle of disappointing 2021s. Both could use a strong performance in a big singles match. Bliss has been trapped for too long in a gimmick that is antithetical to good wrestling matches. Charlotte has been working with an attitude that I'm not sure anyone understands. I personally don't understand what the chip on her shoulder is supposed to be, but she comes off like a real asshole because of it. And in a match like this, where her being an asshole is supposed to be the focus, it works best. She does not make any sense to me as a babyface, and this match was a much better use of who she is right now. She still badly apes offense, with her doing fewer bad Flair knife edge chops and more difficult timing Andrade offense. She's at her best when she is taking surprising bumps for Bliss, and I think her cocky heel facials after getting knocked on her ass are one of her best features. Bliss feels a little off timing wise, but it also feels like she has consistently barely seen the inside of a ring for too long. This was the weakest match on the show so far, but it was one of the better Charlotte matches of the year. I have no comment on anything that may have happened to Alexa Bliss after the match, as I turned it to the 49ers game. 

Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Damian Priest

ER: This was pretty dull for the most part, but they saved their good fireworks for the final two minutes. Going out on a high note earns a match a lot of forgiveness for what came before earlier. Because again, a lot of this was dull. Hardy figured out early the best way to work this, which was to let Sheamus and Priest work a one on one brawl that he stayed would mostly stay out of, then fly in with a dropkick or plancha when neither was paying attention. It was some of Hardy's best offense in months. But then, once Hardy went on a long run against Sheamus, he looked as lethargic and completely washed as I've ever seen him. He entered in fits and starts, with perhaps the best entrance being his swanton that landed heavy on Priest's back (while he was pinning Sheamus). The move chain finish lifted this out of the realm of total disappointment, but this was a drier match than it should have been. Then again, the build for this match was probably the weakest of any match on the card, so that couldn't have helped. 

Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch

ER: I love Becky's striped tube sock hear, but don't love the horse hair. And the match was about on the level of the Carmella match earlier, but went on too long to only to end with Sasha running in and elbowing Lynch. I'm happy to have Sasha back, but I'm not quite feeling the motivations within the Bianca/Sasha/Becky program. This had some cool Bianca strength spots, like a great high arcing fallaway slam, a press slam that Lynch managed to reverse, and a big Backlund spot where she stood to her feet with Lynch sitting on her shoulder. Lynch threw her forearms with her whole body and has some nice looking suplexes. Both have a couple of nice suplexes, actually, with Bianca hitting a nice delayed vertical. Looking back with knowledge this was going to end with a Sasha run-in, I wish they would have worked a more go go pace, and it made some spot placement seem odd. I didn't like when Bianca was raining down on Becky with hard corner elbows, the crowd was counting along with them, and Lynch just escapes out the bottom to yank Belair's braid. I always like Belair's hair getting integrated into things, but hated Lynch shrugging off Belair's best strikes of the match like she hadn't taken eight straight. The eventual triple threat match/es we're going to get won't be as good as any combination of straight singles matches they can run, but I Believe In Sasha. 

Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor 

ER: We finally get rid of The Fiend and now we just have to deal with the Rasta Demon whose special powers I do not understand. Head of the Table Roman has been my least favorite iteration of Roman Reigns. I do not like the slow paced main event epics, nor do I like the meandering weapon brawls. This was a lot of meandering weapons brawl with some stunt falls peppered in, and it never grabbed me. Luckily for them, it grabbed the crowd and seemed to keep their interest. Roman has been on a hot streak and has worked some tight TV matches, and his biggest hand to hand stuff here looked great. I loved his strikes, and his spear was skeleton damaging. Balor took some big falls through tables and took a big tackle through the ring barricade. It was a lot of damage, but I forgot that the Demon has super powers and is the Undertaker/Fiend. He is able to fully shrug off every bit of pain that Roman put him through...but sadly the Demon's kryptonite turns out to be ring ropes. Lightning crashes, the top rope breaks, the Demon is put down by and unexpected fall. This felt like it was really really dumb. Pretty sure this was dumb. 

This was not a very Extreme show, which was probably a blessing in disguise. I wasn't really in the mood to see ladder matches or whatever else they could have done. The show ended on a down note but had a strong first 2/3. The final two matches were intentionally overshadowed by match ending angles. Extreme Rules started with a good head of steam but ended too flatly to recommend as a show. 

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WWE Money in the Bank 7/18/21

The Usos vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio

ER: This feels like a pretty high profile tag to throw on the pre-show, although I also felt like it was too big a match to do on Smackdown and they already did that. This is a tag title match, wasn't expecting it on the pre-show, but honestly the match didn't quite gel the way I expected it to. Jey felt a little off, looked sluggish on back bumps, didn't work with Dominik well, just didn't feel right. Things picked up when Rey tagged in, but the match never felt totally clean. It was laid out well and built to a couple of big reactions (including an excellent late Rey kickout that really looked like the finish), but there was an occasional hitch in the timing. There were a couple great moments down the stretch, with Jimmy saving Jey by jumping face first into the 619 a highlight, and I like the belts on the Usos more than on the Mysterios, so the heart of this was in the right place. I just think there is a list level match between these two teams and this was not that. 

Alexa Bliss vs. Liv Morgan vs. Nikki A.S.H. vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Zelina Vega vs. Naomi vs. Asuka

ER: This feels like it could be a mess, but I'm rooting for them. Apparently, I did not root hard enough. This is one of those bad modern MITB matches where WWE only likes to focus on two people at once, so less than 2 minutes into this several of these women just disappear to the floor. Naomi hit a great Rear View and then was gone, lying hidden for 5+ minutes. Nikki vanished, they all vanish for long stretches here. It's awful. God bless the crowd for staying with this one, as there were many long gaps between some brief inspired moments. Asuka had a nice tear midway through but that ended with a flat Tamina ladder tipping spot when Asuka was maybe 3 feet off the ground and acting panicked. Natalya throws a nice clothesline but also frequently looks like someone who has never handled a ladder in their life. Tamina can be a wrecking ball but is also a klutz. Nikki got a big reaction for doing a ladder dive off to everyone else but soaked in the crowd for ages before corgi jumping the ladder. I'm torn on the two big Nikki moments, as I appear to be one of the few who actually views this ASH gimmick as a major positive for her, but she really hung 7 people out to dry during both her big moments. It's hard for 7 people to all fight amongst themselves while waiting on one person, and we got to see that ugliness for far too long while Nikki climbed ladders. This whole thing was a mess, just a series of seeing people calmly hiding out of sight, waiting for their turn. It's a terrible way to work this kind of match and I don't think there are any 8 wrestlers who could have succeeded with a similar layout. 

Viking Raiders vs. AJ Styles/Omos

ER: This may have gone a touch too long and a couple things felt a bit repetitive, but this was the kind of tag necessary to bring things back after that trainwreck of a Money in the Bank match. Styles has been tremendous in his tag with Omos, the perfect partner to mentor that giant, and they have been really good at tailoring matches around Omos. He's got decent timing already and at that size timing will take you incredibly far. Their teamwork is already strong, and the Vikings are a team with cool double teams, so this is a naturally fun pairing. Styles is so great at both making up the size difference by working stiff with the Vikings, but also running headlong into their big man offense. Styles gets tossed and slammed by Erik, smooshed by Ivar, gets thrown into several Erik kneelifts, and nails the timing on several (needlessly complicated) Ivar tumbles and cartwheels. Styles is great at being thrown, a guy who can pull off a sky high backdrop, yet also get absolutely LAUNCHED by Omos into a rana on the floor. Great catch by Erik, great throw by Omos, great death wish from AJ. I loved how this whole thing shook out, thought the Raiders looked strong against a dominant team, but really I just want Styles and Omos to hold the belts for a couple years. This is a good dominant team, perfectly complementary. It's the perfect way for Omos to continue to grow, and it's almost surely true that we haven't even seen their best work as a team. 

Bobby Lashley vs. Kofi Kingston

ER: This was not at all the match I expected. I honestly wouldn't have been shocked at a surprise Kofi title win due to someone costing Lashley the match, sending Lashley off in a different feud before sending him back to Kofi. But I did not expect Kofi to get steamrolled...and also I kind of liked it? I'm sure people will complain, but I think Kofi is as bulletproof as a babyface can get. I don't think there is any kind of loss that will make the fans stop wildly cheering for Kofi, certainly not while he's getting annihilated by the monster Lashley. Kofi will recover, and if they play their cards right they can build to a Kofi return challenge the could be a REAL money match. It was more valuable to give Lashley a dominant win, and this was a GREAT dominant win. Kofi sold his beating really well and Lashley looked savage, ragdolling Kofi on throws and throwing hard hammer blows at the side of his head. I like when a babyface gets run over by a heel, victim of an opponent that started out too hot to comeback from. It's not a match you can do often, but a match that is super effective when done right. A lot will depend on what they do with both after this, but I welcome this kind of violent squash. 

Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte

ER: This is a feud that has done very little for me, with bad chemistry and little good coming from it. But I was still curious how it would work with the live crowd, and I guess I still don't know? This was probably the most actual chemistry Charlotte and Ripley have shown together, and there were still big stretches where things didn't look good. It is just always going to be a bad thing for anyone who gets into a feud with Charlotte. She is a heel who doesn't know how to work heel (outside of really getting rattled by the fans' Becky chants and flipping off the arena, but she stopped that behavior almost immediately after starting it). So we get one of those Charlotte matches where every spot they build to is a big babyface Charlotte spot, and so the crowd just keeps reacting for Charlotte and clearly viewing Rhea as the lesser babyface. It's no good, even if the 3rd act is better than the first two. Charlotte looked gaunt and actually ill during the match and made an unfortunate makeup decision to have a bright red underline, making her look like she'd been crying the entire match. Her making crying faces after every single kickout didn't help things either and only added to the match confusion. Rhea looked like someone with no chance, Charlotte looked like someone who really knows how to whip her head into the mat whenever she attempts a moonsault. Charlotte hasn't hit the Andrade back elbow cleanly one time since she started doing it in every match, but maybe before the year is out she'll manage to hit one without tripping over her feet. This match was an ugly mess at times, but the crowd got into it as they built to the finish so it wasn't a total loss. They just don't look good against each other, and I am tired of Charlotte's heel babyface routine. 

Kevin Owens vs. Matt Riddle vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ricochet vs. John Morrison vs. Big E vs. Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

ER: This one also did not work at all, for the exact same reasons as the women's MITB. This layout was atrocious, and the number of disappearing participants was absurd. You would hardly know that Ricochet was in this match, he's completely absent for a 10 minute stretch but at least gets a highlight worthy springboard dive. But everyone disappears!! Because we can only focus on a couple of guys, and the other six are not allowed to do anything distracting while those two people are being focused on. It's the same exact kind of agenting that has ruined the Royal Rumble, where you have 14 guys leaning against the ropes barely fighting, because the newest entrant has to run in and do several one on one signature moves. They now do that in ladder matches. Owens took the biggest bumps, McIntyre had the hardest chops (he seriously moved Morrison and Rollins back two steps with chops), and Rollins brought good energy to limited moments. Riddle and Nakamura had a terrible strike exchange, Morrison did a flipping cannonball that caught 100% mat, I'm pretty sure every single person hit some kind of cutter off the ladders, just a badly done gimmick match. It blows that we're married into these gimmick match PPVs and I'm not sure what it will take for them to get rid of any of them, but my god would they benefit from it. Either nobody knows how to agent these gimmick matches any longer, or fewer guys understand how to work them, but this trend is dire. 

Edge vs. Roman Reigns

ER: I knew this was not going to be for me, was going to feel way too long, and was going to feature a lot of Edge face. It certainly went too long, and while I loved Roman laying a long headlock on Edge to troll the fans, there were plenty of boring dull moments where nobody was being trolled, just losing interest. The big spears through the barricade played well with the crowd, but there was a lot of trash. The Charles Robinson ref bump lead to a few blatantly dumb moments, beginning with Robinson being kept out for a long period of time just from standing near Edge when Edge got punched. This is a man who took one on the chin from Tank Abbott! Surely he can stand a couple feet away from another man being punched. The Usos/Mysterios interference was quick and well done, slick rana from Rey and a silla from Dominik, but it lead to a rough moment where Roman kicked out of an Edge spear after possibly being tricked by the crowd's chanting? If it was HHH or Charlotte you instantly assume that it's a power move, but this just looked like an embarrassing mistake that blew the nearfall. Roman awesomely stands by and lets Edge and Rollins battle it out, so not only does Edge not even get a visual pin on Reigns, you immediately DO get the visual of Reigns being the smartest man in the room and letting the other beardos fight amongst themselves. The Cena return is a huge surprise, the exact kind of thing you do your first PPV in front of a live crowd.

I thought this show was a real flop and only the Raw tag title match really worked for me, but every major news outlet will be talking about John Cena's return tomorrow, and Roman is positioned strongly for Summerslam. I didn't love a lot of the in ring execution of the matches tonight, but the results set a pretty nice looking card for Summerslam and that feels more important than me hating the MITB matches and being tired of Charlotte title reigns.

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WrestleMania 37 Night One 4/10/21

I couldn't watch the promos guys, couldn't do it. Not with the frequent audio glitches. This is going to be too much wrestling over a couple of days, and I gotta preserve myself as much as humanly possible, gotta save my wind a little. It's bad enough that I came back into it during a dreadful Hogan/Titus segment that nobody trustworthy could have possibly wanted. 

Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

ER: I'm into the idea of a big heavyweight title match starting off the show, especially two heavyweights who actually work like heavyweights. And I thought this was a banger. They lost the crowd a little bit after Drew's kimura, but this felt like a big scale heavyweight match. They worked tentatively for the first bit (possibly working around a damp ringside area), but it picked up when Drew started throwing suplexes. McIntyre's throws all looked strong, didn't look like Lashley was leaping into them. Several belly to bellys, and a a great northern lights, and a big Saito suplex from Lashley. But the best part of the suplexes was that in between them they just hit each other with fists and elbows, there was never any laying around for suplexes. The three straight future shock DDTs Lashley took were real nasty, tucked head and not rolling through them. I thought both submissions came off well, with Drew really looking like he could have gotten the tap with his kimura. Again, they lost the crowd a bit after the kimura, and the MVP interference could have come off more smooth. I actually really like that they didn't do a Big Moment Title Change to lead off the show, because you know they love that. 

Women's Tag Gauntlet

ER: I am personally ecstatic that they got Lana out of the way fairly quick, as I thought there was a non-zero chance we'd get a "Could Lana DO THIS!?" story throughout this whole thing and I didn't want it. Billie Kay is still not there in ring, but I have gotten a real kick out of her the last few months so I'm just happy she's on the show. I really want this big win for the Riott Squad though. This would be a great time to get Riott back up ladder and finally give Liv something substantial. They've been waiting long enough for some elevation, and deserve it. My girl Mandy Rose slipped on her butt and is such a collected badass that she knew she had to get right in the ring and knee Riott in the side of the head to move past it. Rose works stiff during every part of her match, and they isolate Liv Morgan which leads to some nice stuff (Liv really stuffed Mandy running into her boot in the corner). Riott's hot tag felt a bit off, wasn't quite as hot as I wanted, and the blown win call didn't help and otherwise good Morgan small package. Now, the thing I didn't ever expect, is me actually happy that Tamina is motivated and getting instantly rewarded. I would rather watch practically anyone other than Natalya get a more featured role (we've had to get through so many Natalya's Dream moments), but Tamina finally has actually proper gear and and actual proper pro wrestler look a decade in, and she looks motivated. Her Nia Jax match on Smackdown was a great fight, and her superkick in this match was an awesome cut off spot. That Superfly Splash hit with real heft, so I'm all in on seeing her and Nia go at it again so soon after their singles match. Natalya is about the worst baggage a person can bring into a situation, and I wanted this to be Riott Squad's moment, but I'm unexpectedly rooting for Tamina right now and that's cool. 

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

ER: The Cesaro hit piece is really funny, the best thing Rollins has been involved with since who knows when, and I'm excited for Cesaro's first WrestleMania singles match. I still think Rollins can work like a real putz in ring, and you know you're going to get some floaty looking sling blades and dumb serious indy era spots like a superplex > falcon arrow. That stuff sucks, but he's a fun guy to hit hard. Cesaro hits so many uppercuts that it leads to an arm injury (hitting the turnbuckle when Rollins moves), and so you get Cesaro working stiff uppercuts with a hurt arm, and they build a huge portion of the match around Rollins not wanting to take the giant swing. I always love a match that's built around one guy not wanting the humiliation of being hit with a specific move, almost more than he's trying to avoid being beat, so that gives this whole thing a high floor. The fans clearly want a big Cesaro win, and it is great to gear a crowd react excitedly to these guys who have been working in a vacuum for over a year. A few of them will probably die, but this would be a pretty cool Cesaro win to see in your final months. Again, you build a match in 2021 around somebody trying to avoid a bearhug or giant swing or a stomach claw, and Cesaro hitting this triumphant no hands airplane spin looked like Superman throwing General Zod into a skyscraper. I don't think we could have expected a better Big WrestleMania Match from Cesaro, and I'm happy for the guy. 

Kofi Kingston/Xavier Woods vs. AJ Styles/Omos

ER: I have been so excited for the debut of Omos. There are few things I love more in wrestling than a debuting giant who hardly any people have seen wrestle. His gear isn't as cool as it should have been. I think him wrestling as 7' tall Mr. Hughes would be my favorite wrestling look of the year. His black sleeveless button down looks to Giant Chippendale. World's Tallest Stripper having to duck under hanging lights isn't as cool as 7' tall Mr. Hughes. Gear disappointment aside, I seriously loved this debut for Omos. Woods and Kingston have been having a good year, adding to shows more often than not, and they played a tough role here really well. It's a tough role to be a super popular babyface tag team, while also keeping a crowd excited to see them get tossed around by a giant debuting heel. They have to be a babyface team who is more focused on making a huge heel have a memorable in screen debut, than getting sympathy for themselves. Everybody had a tough role in this match, and everyone crushed it. AJ had to bump around getting his ass kicked so New Day can get at least some big offense before getting their limbs torn off by Omos. Styles built really well to the big Omos entrance, and Woods showed the right amount of fear and awe. Omos worked like a great classic giant, and nothing would make me happier than a 7'3" giant who has never seen any wrestling past 1991. Omos had big overhand chops, a powerful running hip attack, and his high slam backbreakers looked like a proper 1985 finisher. He added a brutal full face claw to Woods while holding a backbreaker, and this made me even more excited about Omos' potential. Styles got this awesome kamikaze flying elbow, vaulting off Omos' shoulders, and I love that they didn't have New Day get anything on him. I want a dominant giant pushed to the top and this is now my favorite wrestling. This kind of debut is the kind of thing that needs to happen in front of a live crowd, potential superstar debut. I am An Omos Guy. 

PAS: Considering how badly the WWE has fucked up giants since Andre, it was pretty cool to see them hit every beat here damn near perfectly. Kind of strange to work the match around heel in peril, but it really worked. AJ is great at being a pinball, and has really developed a scumbag youth pastor vibe which makes you want to see him beaten up. I loved the smirk on his face when he realized he had gotten enough distance to tag in Omos, and Omos came in and wrecked shop. He didn't show off his ability to do a cartwheel or some shit, he just ran through the New Day, killing them with backbreakers and a killer spinebuster throw. I really think if they keep doing this, it will be a huge deal the first time he takes a bump, and totally make a star if someone is able to beat him.

Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

ER: This is my least anticipated match of Night One, but it still has a chance at being a real spectacle. Both guys get purple real easily and that adds to the freakshow element of wrestling that WWE needs to bring back. This show has some real quality vibes. The real danger to a match like is the length, and they hit the runtime mark well. This could have been way overblown, but it was exactly what it should have been. Shane looks a step away from a heart attack immediately, takes several bumps he shouldn't be taking including getting launched into a swan dive off the top of the very tall cage. Elias and Jaxson Ryker have been a really underrated duo. I don't think Ryker sounds like the kind of human I'd want to hang out with, but he is a very good worker with some of the strongest basics on the roster. They added to the match with a couple of big bumps off the cage side. Braun ripping a cage panel off it's clasps was the kind of spot that would play as an all time great moment on a show closing video set to the WrestleMania theme, so that means it's a great spot. This could have been a 20 minute drag, and instead they kept it tight, with the right amount of bullshit. 

Damien Priest/Bad Bunny vs. The Miz/John Morrison 

ER: This show has a debuting giant and a debuting pop star. This is really a night of wrestling booked directly at me. I get excited every time any celebrity actually wrestles. It's great. I love seeing the ones that really get it, love seeing pro wrestlers show off their chops by integrating a non-wrestler into a match, and Bad Bunny is a genuinely big modern star. I don't get how anyone couldn't be excited seeing a big star show how well he can wrestle at the biggest wrestling show of the year. That's exciting!! How great would it be to see Taylor Swift against Carmella and see Swift hit a decent la magistral? Miz is a good opponent for Bad Bunny, and I loved seeing Bunny pull off semi-complicated armdrags that he couldn't quite pull off, and the way his bumps looked slightly more dangerous than they should have been. I love slightly untrained bumps. They feel way more like me missing a step and falling on my butt. Bunny's offense keeps getting better the longer he's in the ring, and his multi-rotation headscissors is better than 80% of that same spot I've ever seen in Chikara. He throws a great goddamn headbutt and sells it with an eyes-crossed wobble, his sunset flip is very good, and he throws genuinely good punches from a far enough distance that's harder to make look good. He went with an ambitious worked punch style and he does it shockingly well. Bunny's selling is strong, watch how well he sells a great Miz low left hand to the spleen. By the time Bunny was hitting a falcon arrow, I was convinced this man has to have a backyarder video from 2007 on YouTube. Priest's hot tag plays a decent enough 2nd fiddle to Bad Bunny, and Bad Bunny hitting a Puerto Rican Destroyer on the floor and two fantastic crossbodies (one his now trademark plancha) is fucking GREAT pro wrestling. Miz was excellent and fed into every single Bunny spot perfectly. This was his best in ring performance since his match with Shane at WrestleMania 35. I love celebrity pro wrestling matches, and this belongs with the good ones. 

Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

ER: This show has been excellent so far, and this is the match I am most excited to see. It has some pretty big shoes to fill, as this show really has been a top to bottom fun watch. This knocking it out could put this into easy Show of the Year status. Not sure how to feel about Sasha's look, but my instinct is she's going Strange Days club scene so I want to say I'm for it? The build for this match has felt really off, but the early parts of this really felt like the popular slugger who slumps the last month of the season but then rakes in the playoffs. I was always going to be excited for the in ring of this match, but the build left a lot to be desired. But they work this great and Sasha more than almost anyone feels like someone who knows how to turn it up on the big important shows. She deserves the Jeter rep. Bianca's chicken wing slams looked appropriately nasty, and she has a couple of big powerbombs too. Sasha kept getting her knees into Bianca's rib, grabbing Bianca by the braid and kicking her a bunch in the ribs and shoulder, getting her knees up on a great 450, Sasha really just excels in big main event singles matches. She really comes off like a great modern take on the reckless 90s AJW babyface. I love the way she throws her self hardest into her own misses, like jamming her knees into the barricade or into the bottom buckle. The home stretch to this was really good, with Sasha finding several ways to use Bianca's braid against her in the match finally paying off with the return of Belair's hair whip offense. For some reason the wrestler with the among the top 5 hairdos in wrestling history came in with her hair as her gimmick, and now they've spent the last couple years pretending she doesn't have this amazing head turning hair. So we finally go back to a great heel who keeps yanking on it while kicking Bianca in the face, and it pays off with one a hair whip to Sasha's stomach that is louder than anything on the show. Banks had a huge welt from it, legendary spot. This was an perfect way to close out a great night of wrestling. 

PAS: Really excellent match, in the top tier of Wrestlemania main events and something which felt legitimately meaningful and emotional. So much of WWE emotion feels forced and spoon fed, but the moment at the beginning of the match where Sasha and Bianca took a moment to absorb that they were two black women main eventing Wrestlemania actually got me in my feelings a bit. It is a lot of pressure to trailblaze, and they both delivered. I am a huge fan of strength based highspots, and Bianca had some corkers here. The roll through of the plancha into a press slam, where she walks her up the steps was a spot of the year contender, and I liked her repeater powerbombs a bunch too. That is a spot which can feel cooperative, but Bianca hoisted her with ease. I dug how down and dirty Sasha got, basically turning this match into a impromptu bullrope or chain match with Bianca's braid, super creative and nasty. I bet Bianca's scalp was burning after this match. All of that cheapshot work was paid off with that huge hair whip shot near the end. I don't watch the WWE regularly at all, but if they downplayed Bianca's hair whip on the main roster, it was worth it for the impact of that one shot. My one complaint was the overuse of WWE face near the end of the match, but I guess that is just the style now. Otherwise this hit every beat. Tremendous achievement by both wrestlers. 

This show was a total knockout, nothing worth skipping on this show. It had some real high points with the great debut of Omos, the great debut of Bad Bunny, and a tremendous main event, and the low points were non-existent. Great show top to bottom, with everybody wanting to bring it in the ring. The Omos debut is going on our Ongoing 2021 MOTY List, and Sasha/Bianca is our new #1. A great night of wrestling. 

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