Two MOTY Additions from Progress Wrestling 12/15/19

91. Meiko Satomura vs. Jinny

PAS: I clearly need to do a deep dive on 2019 Meiko, as she still looks completely incredible here. Early in the match Jinny looked like she didn't belong in the ring with Meiko, but she kept scrapping and by the end this was a pretty great underdog match. Loved Jinny trying a drop toe hold take down at half speed, only for Meiko to do the same move with incredible speed and precision. I was ready to give up on Jinny at that point, but then she started throwing sharp elbows and actually standing toe to toe with Meiko Satomura. I loved how she flipped off Meiko, only for Meiko to kick her head off. I also liked how it played into the finish with Meiko pulling up at two, only to get pinned on a flash roll up when she was too nonchalant. If you have to take the belt off of Meiko this is a pretty good way to do it.

ER: I like Jinny a lot. She's one of a handful of people I actually go out of my way to see on NXT UK, and I love how her sharp features give her the most natural ice queen vibe, coming off like the Persian Tessa Blanchard. So it's even more fun seeing her pull off the underdog babyface role in her home fed, getting pummeled by one of the best wrestlers in the world. It's hard to work a match like this, where the champ takes 95% of the match without the match feeling like a total steamrolling, but I think they pulled it off. The mat scrambling was cool, with Meiko showing off her supreme talents with sick rolling takedowns, floating effortlessly in every pass she wanted to make through Jinny's body. Meiko showed she could hop from the legs to the arms to the neck essentially whenever she wanted, and every time they stood up I thought Jinny was great at showing she barely escaped with her arm or leg. Jinny is not a tall woman, but she reads like a tall woman. She has long legs and arms, and I like the way those come into play in her matches. They always seem to play into her rope break game, and here Meiko sank in a nasty hold only to see Jinny's long leg reach the ropes, big toe barely making it. When Jinny finally managed to get her head above water, she used those long limbs to throw sharp elbows, and soon she's hammerfisting Satomura's back to lock her arms and pendulum slam Meiko's chest repeatedly into the mat, and hitting a big dive into Satomura and a couple security guards. But I knew Meiko would go into killer mode, and when she does it's the very best, and I thought the big kickouts were very well done. They hadn't spammed any big moves early in the match, so by the time Jinny ate that decapitating cartwheel knee it was still feasible that she had some gas left in the tank. The end stretch felt like Liger/Sasuke to me, with a vet getting too cocky when met with insolence (middle finger fighting spirit spots have been used in some lame ways in the past 15 years, so I like that Jinny got her finger moment in and then got smashed), absolutely folding her with a death valley driver...but picking her up for 2? I loved Meiko's reactions to the crowd after breaking up her own pin, as the crowd really isn't into it, so Meiko feels the need to justify her decision, allowing Jinny to get a flash roll up crucifix pin. I really liked this, but it made me even more excited to see a rematch, curious how the dynamics would change with Meiko as the fired up challenger and Jinny the champ.

15. Timothy Thatcher vs. Kassius Ohno

PAS: This was tremendous violent wrestling. Ohno was in full brutalizer mode just beating Thatcher horribly, with Thatcher toughing it out and firing back with some really big shots of his own. Loved the transition with Ohno catching Thatcher's leg and kicking him right in the patella. Ohno then gets straight down to torture, just mauling with nasty submission holds and brutal stomps and elbows. At one point he ties up the legs in a modified Indian death lock opening up Thatcher's head for ugly forearms. Really liked Thatcher's knee selling, at one point he tries to plant and loses his balance briefly which was enough time to get kicked in the head. Finish was Fujiwarian, with Thatcher countering a rolling elbow with a headbutt right in the elbow, and snapped on a Fujiwara for the tap. Great stuff, didn't outstay its welcome, and every bit of it was violent and nasty.

ER: These two separately are always must see, but these two together? I don't know how much more must see you can get. I was there live for their first ever match in 2015 and it was one of my favorite live wrestling experiences of my life. They match up all through 2015 and have barely fought since, so you knew this was going to be a treat. And this was a quieter match than their prior bouts and I liked that. This really wasn't focused on bomb throwing or big spots, and as Phil pointed out it feels more like a classic Fujiwara match, with Thatcher being tortured and overwhelmed while always being fully in the match and pulling out a last second magic trick. Ohno keeps powering Thatcher down to the mat, and every time he has him there he unleashes something mean, primarily focusing on Thatcher's ankle. Ohno found all sorts of ways to step on, stomp on, and twist Thatcher's ankle: stomping it over the bottom rope, cruelly stepping on the ball of his ankle while getting to a standing position, wrenching and twisting it, doing clever leverage spots, even things like pressing his forehead into Thatcher's arch while cranking the ankle. The hard strikes and big spots we do get are used sparingly and came off effective as hell: Thatcher's stuffed piledriver sell was an all-timer, his arms stiffening and his back rounding into a C. I loved the moment where Thatcher went to put weight on his ankle and buckled under the weight, looking up in time to see a boot land flush in his eye. The finish was that sudden Fujiwara blast, Ohno setting up KO blow only to have Thatcher headbutt his ulna, sending a lightning bolt up Ohno's arm, allowing Thatcher to sink the armbar. Let's make sure these two don't go another 3+ years without crossing paths.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Kingston vs. WALTER

20. Eddie Kingston vs. WALTER Progress Wrestling 7/6

PAS: If Eddie Kingston is retiring this year, he is going out as the best wrestler in the world. This is another absolute corker and exactly what you want from this match up on paper. Kingston is going try to stand up and fist fight with a bigger stronger guy, and going to fail in a spectacular way. This is a perfect combination of a guy who chops super hard, and a guy who sells chops better then anyone. They have a chop exchange, like every other indy match ever, but in this one Kingston does this incredible delayed sell of the chop, he rears back to crack WALTER and all of the synapse in his body collapse. I loved how both guys adjusted their normal offense as they got deeper in the weeds, Kingston can't drop WALTER with normal backfist, so he switches up to a fucking spinning straight punch, and instead of the slap down German, WALTER slaps down one arm and does a head and neck suplex which straightens Kingston's toes. I really loved this, heavyweight professional wrestling at its absolute best. Don't go Eddie, don't go.

ER: I like the different Kingston approaches to matches depending on his opponent. Here he comes in like a guy who knows odds are not on his side against a opponent who outguns him in nearly every category. WALTER hits harder, he's bigger, and he's got less injuries; Kingston is going to stand with WALTER, and Kingston knows more than anyone that is likely a losing gambit. Kingston's selling was great here - great enough that it seems almost too obvious to bring up - and I loved all of his reactions to WALTER's chops. I love when the pain hits him at different times, love when he crumbles and feebly slaps at WALTER's leg to keep him at bay, love him playing possum since he knew he was at WALTER's mercy at a couple points, love him wiggling his fingers to get some feeling going in his arm, love how he holds back midway through a chop as his shoulder flares up, etc. 

WALTER crushes as WALTER will crush, caving Kingston with chops to the chest and kicks to the head, and is right there when King starts throwing brutal backfists (not sure if intentional, but I loved that when King threw three backfists the third was lighter than the other two, like he used up "the good backfist energy" on the first two and his body was naturally holding back because his hand was hurting by the third) and a brutal rolling elbow which was arguably the nastiest shot of the match. The finish was pretty sick, Kingston getting tossed right onto his head and shoulders with a savage trap suplex, then floating over to sink in the choke on an already passed out King. I didn't love King getting thrown rudely and violently off his shoulder and popping up to hit a lariat, felt a little too on the nose 1999 All Japan (and the suplex was arguably the meanest part of the match up to that point, though little did I know what the finish would be), but that was really the only time that kind of moment was used, so the restraint actually made the other nasty throws mean a bit more. Kingston is the best in the world in 2019, the pure master of a competitive and timely losing match.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Gallagher vs. Dunne

27. Jack Gallagher vs. Pete Dunne PROGRESS Wrestling 12/30

PAS: Really nifty match to close out 2017. I loved the matwork, Gallagher is super slick, he has this takedown and almost MMA mount which he turns into an armbar. Most of the match was a stiff juniors match, and a pretty good one, Gallagher hits a flying crossbody into a bunch of chairs, and some sick uppercuts one of which may have broken Dunne's nose. I also loved Dunne catching Gallagher's dropkick with a huge powerbomb. Finish run was dope with Gallagher borrowing Kendrick's Choke Sleeper and Dunne trying to fight his way out.  I really need to dig into all of the WWE Gallagher because he was dope in this. Dunne was fun too, and this would be a great PPV opener.

ER: Phil wrote this early in 2018 and I totally missed it, but this was great. The opening matwork was my favorite part, which is saying something as there were a ton of great parts to this. But watching several cool transitions, Dunne standing on Gallagher's face while locking in an ankle lock, Gallagher floating out of that into a standing kneebar, it all looked cool but violent (Cool But Violent is a script I'm still working on for late 80s Richard Grieco). But Gallagher was a total savage through this whole thing. Dunne is sold as the more powerful wrestler, so Gallagher dutifully sold all of his strikes 3x as much as Dunne sold his, bumping back fast for elbows in the ring and up on the entrance way, but in between all that he was uppercutting and kicking the piss out of Dunne. Gallagher is real mean in this one and that's the best Gallagher; loved his crossbody that sent both crashing through several rows of chairs, and his low thrust kicks up on the entranceway (and later in the ring) look so simple but so perfect. Dunne has a lot of Rube Goldberg slams and suplexes, moves that involve a lift, a hitch, a flip around, before the slam. Some of it seems superfluous but the moves all hit with huge impact and that's the most important part. Too many cool things to list from the last 5 minutes, but I especially loved Gallagher muscling Dunne over with a tough butterfly suplex that almost lands like a brainbuster; loved Gallagher going for his nasty corner dropkick but getting caught by Dunne in a way I didn't expect; loved Gallagher co-opting Brian Kendrick's Captains Hook finish, and LOVED the actual finish with Dunne yanking Gallagher up into a sick and quick tombstone. All of this was awesome.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

2016 Ongoing MOTY List

84. Will Ospreay vs. Matt Riddle PROGRESS Wrestling 11/27

PAS: After seeing their awesome match at the WWN Supershow, I wanted to check out their early matchup. This was worked as a total sprint, with Riddle jumping Osprey at the bell with a big jumping knee, it pretty much stays on 10 for the whole 8 minutes, and really builds to an exciting finish. Riddle is really good at Hearns vs. Hagler style all out matches, and while this had some goofy Osprey stuff it moves at such a pace that it is easy to gloss over. Loved the out of nowhere wall flip by Osprey and the intense ground and pound leading to the twister was awesome by Riddle. Weird pair of guys to have such good chemistry, but they really do.

ER: It’s really fun seeing two hyper-athletic guys match up and go as hard as they can for 10 minutes. There are a few of these super athletes that I love watching in short bursts, and usually end up hating their matches that go 15+. Give me something like Low-Ki vs. John Morrison and all their weird landings and crazy body control for 10 minutes, all day. Give me a 20 minute John Morrison match? I’ma pass. Riddle and Ospreay are amazing athletes, who don’t always work a match structure that I’m going to enjoy. But I liked their bonkers WM weekend kickout-fest, and this was even shorter and sprintier. I couldn’t be more happy with the beginning of this match, as Riddle is introduced and opts to skip past much of Ospreay’s introduction, sprinting to center ring and pasting Ospreay with a leaping knee and dumps him with a deadlift German. I’m in. Riddle on the attack with Ospreay reeling is really fun, Ospreay is a very capable seller and can put over a beating, and Riddle is someone who is going to lace in the elbow shots and kicks. I thought Ospreay working his way back into the match was done well, especially liked him getting a drop toehold that sent Riddle flying face first into the turnbuckle. I was watching this match at the Phoenix airport and some stranger sneaking glances thought Riddle had just tripped and landed face first into the buckle. I tried to explain to him and show him that Ospreay tripped him, but the person was convinced that Riddle messed something up. I'm never getting that time back. But hats off to these two for convincing this man that the thing that was supposed to happen (Riddle hitting the buckles with his face), actually happened. These two did not save me from this man then sitting behind me on the plane and having a 2 hour one-way conversation with another man, who said perhaps 40 words the entire flight in response. Sample conversation from this casual observer: "I don't typically like Corona, and I never buy them. They're a little too...I don't know...cliche? I typically go for Bud Light with Lime. You try it and it's like beer with lemonade and you're going 'okay I can get used to this'." Fuck this guy so hard. At the end of the flight the victim of this one-way conversation got off the plane with only a paperback in his hand. I bet he was looking forward to getting two solid hours of reading time on his knew book, and Mr. "I once knew a girl from Boston. Never been there though. Always been curious, just haven't been" went and ruined that for him. Anyway, Ospreay gets a big flying comeback, runs up a freaking wall out of nowhere, big Space Flying Tiger Drop, and they do some stupid stuff that I don't care about: Riddle can kind of zombie in place waiting for moves to hit sometimes, the sequence ending with the Pele kick was too dance-y and ended with Riddle selling as much as Ospreay for some reason, and the strike exchange on the knees was horseshit. But a 10 minute sprint with guys like this (and there really aren't many "guys like this") should always tear, and this one tore.

2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Thatcher v. WALTER

7. Timothy Thatcher vs. WALTER PROGRESS Wrestling 1/28

PAS: These two had a fun Ambition style mat wrestling match last year, this however was these two doing their variation on Wahoo v. Johnny Valentine, and it was pretty great. WALTER just laces Thatcher with chops early, turning his chest all kind of different colors, there is a real thud to WALTERS chops, they don't just make a snap sound, it is like a high hat and a bass drum.  Thatcher gets an advantage when it spills to the floor and WALTER really smashes his hand on the ringpost with a missed chop, and the Thatcher hurls the hand back into the ringpost a second time, which was even nastier, and then he is able to hit some big uppercuts. It pretty much just evens up the playing field and allows you to buy Thatcher standing and trading with WALTER. Like most worldwide main event wrestling, this probably went five minutes too long, but if you have a couple of big guys work their way through a war like this, I am always going to enjoy it.

ER: We got a nice appetizer with their Ambition match last year, but this was a full on overstuffed main course, their first big time singles match, and a chance to see them go full Ikeda/Ishikawa. It peaked weird, and I wish it had ended sooner than it did, but these two savages wrecked each other so badly that after awhile I was in awe that they were able to keep getting back up. It doesn't take too long for WALTER to slap Thatcher before smothering him with a headlock, and the zoom on Thatcher's confused face is perfect. WALTER unleashes quite a beating, throwing those baseball bat chops and really making me wonder how Thatcher was going to get back into this thing...and while I was wondering that, WALTER whiffs a chop and pings his hand right off the ringpost, and in case he wasn't positive that it was a ringpost he hit, Thatcher makes sure to grab that same hand and throw it right back into the ringpost. I love a good chop-the-ringpost spot, and this was a great one, a real match turning moment. It doesn't really stop the beating from WALTER, but it gets his foot in the door. And the rest of the match is an exercise in punishment. Both men show bruising at this point, but Thatcher takes the worst of it. WALTER clubs him with huge chops, big kicks, and in an inspired bit he shifts weight on a Thatcher belly to belly attempt and just deadweight splats right onto Thatcher, coming down with such force that he almost spikes himself. Thatcher gets some hope spots - he's no softie - and is still somehow able to chuck WALTER with some low angle heavy Germans, and maybe it's me projecting due to seeing so many Fujiwara and Ishikawa matches, but I kept waiting for him to pull an ace out of a bruised sleeve (it also could have been the nice job of WALTER selling the wrist/hand, making me buy into that being what ends him). But WALTER is a machine, and there are only so many head-whipped-into-mat powerbombs that one man should take. Epic war, and while I do think it went too long, I think it more than deserved to go for epic war status.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

WWE Global Cruiserweight Series: Progess Wrestling Qualifying Matches

The entire WWE Global Cruiserweight series seems like something fantasy booked by RSPW-F in 1998. Really weird that is something that is actually happening. Since Segunda Caida are 90's Kids at heart we will review it all.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Flash Morgan Webster 4/24

PAS: I am not 100% sold on Sabre Jr. yet, but he has been in some of my favorite matches of 2016. In those matches he mostly plays game underdog who takes a beating and uses his guile and craft to sneak advantages. This however was Sabre working on top as a Fuchish torturer of a young game kid. He was really nasty here, he threw a Tiger suplex which looked like it dislocated Webster's shoulder, he had some neck cranks which looked like he was trying to twist the kids head off. Webster showed some spunk, and had some ok highspots, although he didn't have the vertical leap to really make them look great. I liked heelish Sabre Jr. a bunch, and hope we get to see more of that from him.

ER: I think I am totally sold on Sabre at this point. Maybe an older version of him wasn't as good, but now I'm pretty sure he's legit. And as things start this whole thing is just tremendously British. Webster looks like Jay from the Inbetweeners, and the ref looks like Neil. Made me want to snack on some jammie dodgers while watching. Or some pickled onion meanies. Mmmmmmmm. Sabre was an awesome dick here, and Flash had plenty of cool stuff of his own (although Phil is right in that he doesn't totally have the leaps to make all his highspots look good, but it kinda adds to his charm). That tiger suplex spot is devastating, set up perfectly and I really kind of wish was the finish, but damn what a spot. Even not being familiar with Webster's offense it looked the whole time like he was going for a rolling cradle and not just setting up a spot for Sabre, and I like how that brutal move grew from that. Sabre cranking on limbs and contorting Webster's spine made my body ache. I have no clue how Webster's arms weren't just hanging limply from two dislocated shoulder sockets by the end. This whole thing was really fun.

Pete Dunne vs. Jack Gallagher 4/24

ER: We're fast becoming big Gallagher fans at SC, and this was another great performance. Even though I thought the whole match could have added up to more, I really liked both guys in this. Dunne I had never seen before and he had some cool things (really liked him using his own leg to yank his leg out of Gallagher's grasp, or digging his knuckles into the back of Gentleman Jack's neck), and Gallagher did great little spots of selling that were so well done and so natural that they easily could have gone unnoticed. Him rubbing out his neck the same spot where Dunne was digging in his knuckles, minutes after that was done; him locking on a gorgeous rolling half crab and sucking teeth while shaking out his left hand that had moments before been worked over; he has just so many nice attention to detail moments that make you really want to focus on all sorts of stuff, as you know your focus will be rewarded. I'm really loving this "new" wave of UK indy guys, it's the most I've been actively interested in present day UK wrestling ever, at least since 2001ish when I first saw guys like James Mason and Doug Williams. It's a shame Dunne is eliminated as I know there's going to be people in the tournament who won't be nearly as fun, but I loved that I didn't actually know who was advancing while watching it. I *assumed* it would be Gallagher, but didn't know, so when Dunne got a couple really great nearfalls I totally bought them. That one with him grabbing the ropes totally got me, which is a testament to how nicely these two let things play out. Fun stuff.

PAS: I am totally in the bag for Jack Gallagher he is the best grappler in the world right now and really delivers some awesome little touches, countering a suplex by slipping into an guillotine choke, delivering a kneecap kick float into an ankle lock, he is just doing things on the mat no one else is pulling off. I do want to give some love to Pete Dunne though, what a marvelous dickbag. His meathead faces, his little ponytail, his Bruiserweight nickname,  his nasty cheap shots like digging his knuckles into Jack's neck or twisting his fingers, just a complete asshole. I thought his bar brawl bullshit melded really nicely with all of Gallaghers mastery.

PAS: It will be really interesting to see how these guys do on WWE TV, they are both such idiosyncratic wrestlers, and I am curious to see how they look against guys like Sombra or Busick. Gallagher I imagine will be first round cannon fodder, but I just hope he makes a stop off at EVOLVE when he is the US, Gallagher vs. the Catch Point guys would be amazing

ER: I'm really excited for both guys going over, excited at all the potential match-ups. This really does feel like a tournament that 17 yr old me would be booking, and it still doesn't totally seem like a real thing. It's surreal to see clips from a tiny British indy show on WWE's website and youtube channel, but I am loving that this is a thing.

Read more!