AEW Five Fingers of Death 5/4 - 5/10

ROH TV 5/7/26

The Infantry vs Eddie Kingston/Ortiz

MD: I don't get a lot of chance to talk about the Infantry. I'd like to talk about the Infantry. I'm going to talk about the Infantry. 

If you asked me my take on Bravo and Dean in 2023, I'd tell you that they had a real WCW C-Show vibe to them, that sort of Men At Work or Disorderly Conduct feel. Mean Mike and Tough Tom. Nothing wrong with that. My kind of thing. Good hands. Guys you want on a card. Guys who could put over people you want to push and make them look good in a five minute or seven minute or ten minute match, whatever time you had to fill. A good team, but a low ceiling as high energy babyfaces who could engage the crowd early in the night and do their job well. 

They have come so far from that point and I'd argue without a ton of machinery behind them. You want me to liken them to someone now? I'd compare them to DDP, someone who put in the work, honed his act, got better and better, and ultimately was undeniable. Obviously, they're not entirely (definitionally) undeniable yet, but no one that takes the time, seeks them out, and pays attention would think of denying them. Right now, I don't see a ceiling except for the imagination of bookers. 

They're an incredibly alive, immersive, engaged act. Constant movement, constant working (their opponents in the ring and on the apron, the ref, the camera, the crowd, each other, other members of STP at ringside), constant jawing, constant innovation. They keep adding to the act. That could be anything from Ishin Gundan style clubbering in the corner to Dean utilizing the Bronco Buster to Bravo sitting on the apron and talking to the camera or playing to Christyan XO at ringside. Bravo has fun strikes, and I think his crossover punch looks a good as almost anything else in AEW/ROH. 

And they manage all of this while leaning into the strengths of tag team wrestling instead of just letting it fall to excess and become a structureless mess. 

Look at the Eddie/Ortiz match. Ortiz scrapped with them early, but they managed a blind tag and took over on him. They cut off the ring in about six different ways: Dean knocked Ortiz from a neutral corner into the Infantry's with a European uppercut. When Ortiz tried to proactively fight his way out, they caught him and started the tandem clubbering. That drew Eddie in and when the ref pulled him back, they Dean took the initiative to choke Ortiz into the ropes with his foot. He tagged right before Ortiz could start to fight back and Bravo cut him off. 

Ortiz was great here, constantly fighting back and looking for opportunities. When Bravo put him up in the tree of woe so he could throw punches, Ortiz proved himself to be anything but helpless and started biting Bravo's hand. Bravo in turn, stomped away. That drew Eddie and Dean took advantage. Eddie chased Dean around ringside, Bravo ambushed him, and they both attacked Ortiz. This is just great tag team wrestling, great heeling, using the rules as something to push off of to create a compelling narrative instead of running from them in the name of "creativity." The things they were doing here were far more creative than most endless bomb spotfests, because it was all creative within meaningful boundaries. 

From there, it's more cutting off the ring. Bravo shot off with Garvin stomps to Ortiz' extremities, but each one drove him back towards Dean in the corner. Dean came in, worked a hold. Ortiz fought up, got some hope, got cut off to Eddie's chagrin, and they took back control in their corner. That meant a tandem whip in, the Carlie Crossover punch, and Dean adding insult to injury while Bravo talked to the camera. They're just an incredibly complete, multi-faceted act at this point. 

After drawing in Eddie one last time, the match made it to the hot tag, but only after making Ortiz really earn it. The belly-to-back suplex he got just opened the door; he still had to dodge one last attempt to cut the ring in half and roll his way to the corner. Things broke down accordingly. Eddie cleaned house, trapped Dean and then both in the corner with his Kobashi chops (stooging; another facet to the act), and Ortiz got some revenge with a spinebuster and tandem Russian Leg Sweep/STO.

They transitioned quickly from comeback to finishing stretch by breaking up a Doomsday Device attempt and then took it home sharply, focused, avoiding sixteen false finishes and going with a banana peel instead. They hit a powerplex, which I'm not sure I've ever seen them do. Ortiz broke up Boot Camp, Eddit got his exploder, Ortiz snuck out a a drive forward pin, and they cycled into the post-match with STP going on the assault and Mance Warner making the save, building to the next thing.

Really good, focused, character-driven, technically sound, dynamic tag team wrestling that was built upon all the fundamentals of building up pressure and letting it all boil over that the art form is all about. They could have had a similar match a couple of years ago, but it wouldn't have had the same over the top confidence that makes them stand out so much now. It's the combination of the two, the substance and the style, that makes the Infantry special. People may not always consciously notice the substance, but it's there as strongly as any other team in the company, and they've picked their own stylized lane when it comes to laying sizzle on top of it, the chip on their shoulder driving an aggression that sticks with you as a viewer. You could slot them anywhere on the card and they'd deliver. 

Between Eddie's frustration on the apron, Ortiz playing his role extremely well, and the Infantry owning every aspect of this match, this reminded me of an entirely different sort of WCW match, something like Horsemen vs Rich/Morton where it was still a TV match, still niche, still relatively low stakes, but where some of us still remember it very fondly.

AEW Dynamite 5/6/26

Kevin Knight vs Darby Allin

MD: This was a solid and clever progression from the previous couple of weeks. It started out as a babyface title match, and rarely do 2026 title matches really feel like traditional NWA style title matches in the build. This did. They began by wrestling. There's something really refreshing about that. It was character-driven too. Darby's dangerous on the mat, but Knight is dojo trained. He saw how Darby kept luring people or dragging them into endless escalation, into mutually assured destruction. Darby is, as previously noted, a cockroach, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. He survives the escalation when others cannot. That's how he wins.

For most of the match, Knight was ready for it and he kept his head. That meant sticking to wrestling for as long as possible. The problem, of course, is that Knight didn't get to fully decide. Darby is a proactive, engaged competitor, a champion, one who feels like he is fighting for his life. Where Knight slipped was when he let Darby control the pace. That's when they crashed into one another with flying clotheslines, when they started rope running only for Darby to change things up again and go to striking instead. In that regard, it really felt like a world title match, like a game of human chess.

Still, Knight showed restraint and maturity. Darby has a need for excess, a need to push things farther. It's how he wins but it's also how he feels alive. Kevin Knight? He feels plenty alive all the time. He's doing fine. He's living his best life while Darby's living the only life possible for him. So when he dropkicked Darby out of the ring, he didn't go diving after him. He took a beat, took a breath, slid out and kept control. Very smart pro wrestling.

Darby is, however, a raging river, and even the strongest dam can only hold off against the rapids for so long. Knight took every opportunity but Darby kept coming. He tried to go after the leg, but Darby would have no part in it. He tried to control the pace, but there was only so much he, or anyone else, could do.  Eventually, Knight could put up with no more. Darby positioned him into a chair on the floor like he'd done with previous opponents. Knight avoided their fate (usually a missile dropkick from the top downwards), but Darby ended up in the perfect position for an insane Knight aerial attack, and Knight couldn't refuse. 

The subsequent clothesline from the top over the announce table was spectacular but also clearly a strategic mistake. Knight came out of it worse off, hobbled. Darby was prone, but Knight was a half step slow in taking advantage. He followed up with the Coast to Coast dropkick that had previously taken out Darby (at least that's what they tell us), but despite that and the UFO that followed it, he couldn't cover Darby in time due to the injured leg. When Darby rolled away on a second attempt, Knight had no choice but to follow and he walked right into a trap: Darby kicked out the leg and got the guillotine that eventually set him up to win.

Overall, another strong title defense driven by Darby's penchant for escalation and his opponent having to weigh the cost/benefit of keeping up or pulling back. Knight had managed well right until he didn't. I'll be honest that I would have been happier if the finish was set up by Knight coming up short with the Coast to Coast due to the injury. There's a tendency for AEW to overdo finishes here. Knight wiping out on the Coast to Coast would have been just as dramatic as him hitting two huge moves but not being able to capitalize and would have gotten over the consequence of what happened even more. That's a nitpick though. Overall, this, like the previous two matches and the PAC match that followed was very good. Hell of a title run so far.

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Found Footage Friday: 1980 HANOVER~!

9/17/80 Hanover

Chris Colt vs. Axel Dieter

MD: Watching Chris Colt in dark blurry 1980 Germany footage is a real joy. There's no other word for it. He wrestles like the whole world is out to get him. Like he can see them coming from every angle. And they're also purple elephants. What a guy. He was complaining about hair pulling before they even locked up. With every exchange he won he tapped his head like he was a genius. Then he walked right into some immediate comeuppance and he complained some more. Just antics with every exchange. Some great bits that were clearly bits but that never felt like bits. They just felt like him being off his gourd. He'd press a dirty advantage between falls just kicking and stomping away but Dieter would just come back and give him the what for. Post match, he tried to charge in an attack only to end up upside down in the turnbuckles. That's Chris Colt for you. We're lucky to have had him even for a moment.

ER: Chris Colt wrestled this like he was Eddie Gilbert in Puerto Rico, a foreign invader stooge who threw cheap shots and resorted to punches when home hero opponent wasn't even considering them, meanwhile getting completely upended on 90% of all exchanges. If you had told me Chris Colt doesn't have any offense and just gets by on drama, stooging, and bumps, I'd believe you. He wrestles this like a manager who doesn't think he's going to win the match but wants to be as disruptive as possible before losing. Even the ref is through with this guy before his entrance music has stopped. Colt takes forever getting his clothing off and the ref just pulls his shirt off over his head. It's like Colt took that moment and tried to have a defiant tantrum until he lost. I loved how most of his cheap shots lead to him getting hit, trying to attack after the bell and getting tossed aside, attacking Dieter after his loss and getting dropped off the turnbuckles onto his head. The man took a back body drop like someone who didn't expect to get flipped in the air, like an America's Funniest Home Video where someone gets double jumped off a trampoline and breaks their collarbone. 

Steve Wright vs. Sal Bellomo

MD: This went the full five rounds and it was a lot of fun. Babyface vs. babyface. Sportsmanlike though it did boil over a bit down the stretch with a fast-paced big bumping (Wright) strike exchange and some wild rope running where Wright would keep getting Bellomo off balance as they worked to the bell. Before that, it was very back and forth. There was one round where Wright had a headscissors on the whole time, but a lot of the early stuff was Wright being a nuisance with his cartwheels and escapes, only for it to build to Bellomo to have a cartwheel of his own. Lots of hanging on to holds as well, even though escape attempts. When Bellomo got one over on him, Wright would be good spirited for the most part, clapping even on his back. They did some very high level work, including some monkey flip spots where they changed direction and pin exchanges going back and forth. I don't know how much substance it had over all, but everyone watching enjoyed themselves a great deal. Just good, strong professional wrestling for its own sake.

ER: This was so good, real pleasant, watched the entire long draw with a big smile. It's tough to do babyface vs. babyface and do it sincerely, and these two might have been the best to try it with. The German fans obviously love Wright, but Bellomo is the Germany revelation that we love so much. These fans get behind their home hero and love this spry Italian, and it creates a real nice environment for their work. Anyone who is only familiar with Sal from seeing some kind of awful 20 minute undercard draw against Samula has no idea what Hanover Bellomo is like. He and Wright don't hate each other, even though it gets more competitive and the handshakes get a bit more teeth clenching, and instead we build to a bit of competitive oneupmanship that never feels like the same kind of grating athletic display as Eddie/Malenko. Bellomo works like a World of Sport legend, I was stunned by his skilled headscissor escapes and the way he works Wright's brand of tough guy athletics. I don't know what 70s matwork exist of Bellomo but his German work is different than any US work of his I've seen, yet he never looks out of place doing it. He is adept at doing complicated exchanges with last minute twists, and there's this great moment where things tip over and Wright shoulderblocks Sal off the apron to the floor. It's a different kind of toughness than they'd been showing and came a bit out of nowhere, a fall bigger than the back body drops and other spills he'd taken. Great way to peak the action, great match to spend some time with. 

Caswell Martin vs. Le Grand Vladimir

MD: Night and day from the last match. The second Vlad hit the ring, even before getting announced or taking gear off, he had tossed Martin out over the top rope to huge boos. When things got settled and he WAS announced, the boos came back even louder. This went the full five rounds as well, but it was a different animal. At the bell Martin got some revenge but Vladimir kept trying to contain him. Early on that didn't go so well. Martin kept slipping out including a great up and over on a top wristlock and the Zangiev escape on a headscissors. Vlad would pull the hair to keep the arm and then express to the ref that it couldn't be possible for him to do that as he, himself, was bald (even if Martin wasn't). There was a whole round where Martin controlled on a cravat going in and out of it and that was well done. After that, Vlad had enough and goozled and stomped and got carded once or twice but controlled until a big comeback from Martin down the stretch. Fans were super into it as you can imagine, and things kind of bounced around with that until the bell and the draw. 

UFO vs. Tom Shaft

MD: Shaft is sort of limited by this point but he does those limited things pretty well. Against someone like UFO, that's enough. His shots look good. He had some nice rapid fire punches to the gut as they were firing back on one another. He had this clothesline to the top of the head and some sort of jumping knee or kick that worked. And he'd bump when it made sense. First round was a lot of UFO using holds and controlling but at the end of the second, Shaft went flying over the top on a shot. He came back in between rounds to get revenge, and then they slugged it out for a lot of the third before UFO won with a sunset flip. Shaft yelled at people after the match. It's interesting to see him since we don't have a lot of footage at least. 

Achim Chall/Michael Schneider vs. Moose Morowski/Ed Wiskoski

MD: Fun while it lasted but it didn't last long enough. You never know coming into these if you're going to have a near classic or if things will just end off going off the rails early. They worked over Morowski's back to start with Schneider bearhugs and these great jumping double knees to the back from Chall. Wiskowski is a wonderful stooge in these matches, eating a bunch of dropkicks and then doing a Buddy Rose-esque fall through the ropes to the floor. Heels took over by swarming and drawing in Chall, and it all sort of led to nothing as Morowski hit a backbreaker and Wiskowki came off the top with a diving headbutt to draw a DQ. If it was just for a fall, that would have worked because then they could have gotten it back quickly from the damage done and the babyfaces would have had to fight back from injury but that was just the match. I'm sure it paid off later but we get these scattershot.

9/20/80

Kim Duk vs. Louis Laurance (JIP)

MD: We come in at the end here. Laurance is far smaller but he hits a bunch of dropkicks until he gets trucked by a Duk dropkick the pin. Not much to say. 

Steve Wright vs. Takashi Ishikawa

MD: Wright really is the Johnny Saint of Axel Dieters. It's a good act, but it gets a little old. The cool thing is that Ishikawa could completely keep up. And the other good thing about Wright, of course, is that after all the cartwheeling and bounding and kip ups and laughter is done, he is actually a tremendous bumper and seller, and he did so here for Ishikawa after a pile driver. that was in the second round and they went into the third more even, slugging away a bit until Wright caught him with a very impressive twisting backslide for the pin. Could have had a bit more of this.

Chris Colt vs. Caswell Martin

MD: This was a lot of fun, the most fun you'll have watching wrestling this year, maybe. Colt has those voices in his head and a chip on his shoulder. He'd try all sorts of things and Martin had not just an answer, but often a hilarious answer to everything. He'd climb around in a headcissors and toupie out. He'd suddenly have a hard head and goad Colt into punching it. He'd have Colt walk up the ropes in a full nelson and give everyone a thumbs down before dropping him. He'd get dropkicked and then drop him right back. Bit after bit after bit after bit. During the round breaks, Colt would flail about to the music and mess with the crowd. He'd get a few shots in or toss Martin out but he could never hold the advantage for long and it was all so entertaining that we're probably happier that way. Martin finally twisted and turned him all around before bridging his way for a pin. Great fun.

 

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Mimi! Devil!

Volume 3  

5. Devil Masami vs. Mimi Hagiwara (WWWA Singles Title Next Challenger Tournament Final) 3/7/82

K: So this is the state of play going into this match. Monster Ripper just returned to AJW, she tagged with Wild Kazuki in the match before this one defeating Jumbo Hori & Nancy Kumi. She has a title match against Jaguar Yokota booked at the next big AJW show on April 7th at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, which they're already promoting. This match is the finals of a #1 contenders tournament, but that title shot will be against the winner of Monster Ripper vs. Jaguar Yokota at the next big AJW show after that, which is July 19th at Ota Ward. GOt that?

This has one of the wildest starts to a match you'll ever see. Right at the bell Devil grabs her cane and charges at Mimi swinging. Mimi flees to the outside with Devil chasing after her, Mimi picks up a chair and they have a medieval duel on the outside swinging cane and chair at each other. It's kinda funny when the bell rings, I hadn't noticed the match hasn't formally started yet.

That crazy start makes everything feel high energy and heated as they start wrestling in the ring. That and Devil's disturbing yells as she takes delight in maiming poor Mimi. This is hardly original insight here but yes what makes this rivalry work is you've got an all-time great offensive wrestler beating up a great sympathetic seller. Less talked about though is Mimi's got some great offense of her own. Her first big comeback (that doesn't last long) is just her throwing flurries of punches that knock Devil down. She doesn't scream 'great puncher' when you look at her and her skinny arms but she actually makes it believable with how much conviction she throws into them. 

Devil has a cool hold where she wraps up Mimi's arm in a sitting armlock, and then does forward rolls to clinch it in more, like she's countering a rollup but she just rolls all the way through. This is a start of a really good heat segment where Devil deploys a new method of torturing Mimi's arm every 30 seconds. A bit later on she's got Mimi's arm wrapped up in the ropes, contorting it around while her Devil Legion goons are getting cheap shots in. 

Mimi does a bit of prolonged arm selling that gives Devil's heat section feel like it had consequences for the whole match. When she puts Devil in the figure four she lifts herself up with only the good arm instead of the usual two. She goes for her special backdrop but isn't able to hit it properly with her arm hurt. To correct this injustice caused by the interference earlier, Lioness Asuka runs in and bodyslams Devil while Mimi goes up top to hit her flying knee, but the referee won't count the pin. Can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but AJW refs are very reluctant to call for DQs, so they'll do stuff like refuse to count a pin if someone just did something illegal rather than DQ them.

The finish is Mimi getting beaten up by Devil & goons on the outside and is counted out. It's a fine idea but the execution was lacking. Firstly, the babyfaces are completely ineffective at stopping the heel seconds from attacking her and it makes them look a bit useless, secondly it looked like Mimi had got into the ring in time but was counted out anyway. I don't think we needed a double injustice when her being attacked by Devil Legion already achieved that, so that just made the referee look bent. But still this was a very good match, almost great, and now we have Devil Masami world title match to look forward to.

***3/4




MD: This was the finals of a tournament and there’d be a big trophy at the end and everything. And I suppose a title shot? Devil had left her cane on the top rope as she was getting her robe off. The second she got it off, she grabbed the cane and charged and we got a fun bit of dueling with Mimi snatching a chair, before things broke down. Duel is actually a good word for the early goings here. It felt almost like a joust with each wrestler flying at one another simultaneously to see who would get the hair/head and whip the other down. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it done quite this way and it was neat. There was much more of a sense of urgency to it than some of the face offs we see today.

Match opened up when Devil pried off an arm and really went to work with it. There was a nice long short arm scissor sequence where Mimi was able to roll her over but not do much else. Devil also used pumphandles over her shoulder but she decided to drag Mimi across the ring at the same time and it looked brutal. And of course they wrapped her arm in the ropes and everything broke down again, Mimi’s close-up emotive selling stealing the show. Mimi did escape and took Devil down to put on a figure-four. The selling never lasts too long in any of these matches but I really appreciated Mimi trying to manage the figure four with just one arm. While it got broken up by Devil’s goons, Mimi had some help too and after an assisted body slam came off the top but the ref wouldn’t count it due to the interference.

Beginning of the end here was Mimi flying off the ropes and tragically missing a cross body, landing on her arm and rolling to the floor. This broke down once again but this time half the seconds were keeping her from getting back in to beat the count and the other half were trying to push her back in. Devil just stood there, feet towards the rope, to block her and draw the count out. The commentary treated it a bit like a loophole in the rules, and Devil won the big trophy in a very unsatisfying way. That didn’t stop her from blowing big kisses to the crowd though. Mimi is really one of the most interesting and emotive sellers of all time. I don’t think that’s a crazy statement. 

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The Top of the Mountain (AEW Five Fingers of Death 4/20 - 5/4)

AEW Dynamite 5/22/26 and 5/28/26

The Top of the Mountain 

Darby Allin vs Tommaso Ciampa/Darby Allin vs Brody King

MD: Imagine yourself at the top of the mountain. Not just any mountain. Everest. The top of the world. You overcame injury to get here. You trained. You planned. You paid in both money and sweat. Hard work. People have chased this literal high for centuries. There you are. You made it. You planted a flag. 

You look out upon the world. For a brief moment, you feel one with the universe. You feel at peace. Everything is okay. 

Then you look down.

You realize that what comes next is a climb back down. You realize you have to reenter society. You realize that your communing with nature is over. What's next is life. 

The mountain was a hard challenge, but it was also an easy answer. 

Why live? Why strive? Why fight? Why grow? Why try? 

Because there is a mountain.

What is my purpose?

The mountain.

What now?

Revenge.

Another easy answer. Darby Allin, I am afraid to say, seems to gravitate towards easy answers. Hard outcomes, but easy answers.

The Death Riders put him out, so he spent months fighting them. When he vanquished Mox, it was on to Gabe Kidd who had gotten in his way when he was going after Mox.

And when that was done?

Well, it was time to find another mountain to climb, wasn't it? Mountains are easy. Mountains make sense. 

In professional wrestling, Darby's chosen trade, the mountain to climb is the World Championship.  

So he went off. He planted his flag. He claimed it.

Oh he said that the problem was he cared too much. I wouldn't call his promos heartfelt, but they were raw, a man trying to convince the world that he had convinced himself. I wasn't convinced, but I found them compelling nonetheless. That's Darby Allin for you. Compelling. You don't want to look away. Or maybe you want to but you can't. 

Darby was on top of the mountain again. He was one with the universe. He felt that peace. He found that purpose. 

You could see it on his face. Watch him come down from the rafters to save Kevin Knight after his match with MJF. Listen to the fans chant for him. This is a man who has found nirvana. Who found the easiest answer in the world, even if it he had to take the hardest road to get there.

But this time, there was something different. 

Unlike Everest, he didn't have to leave.

So long as he could defend the title.  

The purpose of a champion is to defend the title. 

An easy answer. No introspection needed. Just blood, sweat, and bruises.

So that's what he's done and that's what he's offered.

Everyone wants the belt for different reasons. For Adam Page, it was redemption. For Jon Moxley it was validation. For MJF, it was legacy. And the challengers want it for different reasons as well. 

The common truth is that they'll do whatever it takes to get it, and that it's up to the champion to define what that is.

"What that is" when it comes to Darby, is escalation. He throws himself at his opponents (literally, as he did at the start of both of these matches), uses his own body as a weapon, and endures, and endures, and endures some more. He is the exception to every rule.

He shatters so many narrative norms, takes so much damage, causes so much damage, does three insane things in every match, comes back and does it the next week. Could he do just one and it be framed to be all the more important? Probably. Is the sum still greater than its parts nonetheless? Undeniably. 

He is excess. He is overwhelming. Yet, it's all grounded in the wear and tear upon him, in the scars upon his body, in the way he drags himself instead of moving. There's a moment in the Brody King match where he just clings on to the protective mat as Brody drags him, pulling it back. I've never seen it done quite that way but it sums up Darby. He hangs on.

How does he win? By pushing his opponents to his level, past their own point of survival. He drove Ciampa to hit the Psycho Driller to the floor, a move that took as much out of Ciampa as Darby. He drove Brody to charge through the barricade. Darby managed to move and it was the beginning of the end for Brody. 

They had size advantages, especially Brody. They had strength advantages. They controlled. But Darby kept coming. He kept taking every risk, kept using his own body. Maybe if they kept their cool, stayed the course, remembered their advantages, they could have defeated him and won the title. But he raises the temperature more and more until he forces mutually assured destruction. He raises the stakes to a point where no one can survive, no one but the cockroaches. No one but Darby.

That's where Darby finds his peace, the only places, at the top of the mountain, and in the dust of annihilation.  

He kicks out again and again, probably too much. It felt like too much in the Ciampa match. It would be too much if anyone else did it. It will be too much when someone else someday copies it. But with Darby, it makes sense, because he is fighting for his life. He'd rather die than lose the title because to lose the title means to fall from the mountain, to be left without answers, without purpose, to have to figure it all out again, to have to live life like everyone else. He'd rather die. He can't bear that. He has to stay on top of the mountain. 

His body will give out before his will does. And we'll watch every second of it. It's a trainwreck in motion, not just one of the body either, not just one of spots and bumps. It's a trainwreck of the soul, and who are we to look away?

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Found Footage Friday: OMNI 84~! SPOILER~! GARVIN~! JAKE~! ROAD WARRIORS~! ROOP~! ROGERS~!

GCW Omni 4/22/84

Tommy Rogers vs. Bob Roop

MD: We come in JIP here and you get the ambiance immediately as people in the crowd are shouting "hit him!" and "break his arm!" These two matched up very well for an opening match. They had a nice rope running exchange where Rogers ducked a clothesline and hit a cross body and some really good hammerlock switches. Rogers had an interesting sunset flip in this stretch too, one where he had to really struggle to get over and it's so different from anything you'd see today. He controlled on the arm for a bit but Roop took over just by grinding his heel into Rogers's face after standing up out of an armbar. So simple, so nasty, so effective. He really kept things moving on offense, switching between jumping knees and neckbreakers to just holding the ropes to step on Rogers' throat and and using an abdominal stretch. Rogers just punched his way back but it was with a perfect bit of 'fed up' head shaking and the punches looked good, especially after Roop sent himself sailing off the ropes right into one. Then they went into Roop bumping around for him until Rogers lifted up on a corner charge and got a roll up out of the corner. Different sort of opener than usual given the contrast. I enjoyed it.

ER: Based on the 10 minute call, this is only JIP by 30 seconds or so and it's great. Rogers is small but has real power, Roop leans into Rogers' offense and bumps with real respect, and punishes Rogers when the match calls for it. Roop is a dense, tough guy, and Rogers hits him and uses leverage in a way that makes his long control compelling. Roop is great at selling Rogers' focused arm work, at one point gripping the rope to slowly stretch out his arm, using the ropes to provide restraint while he rolled his shoulder. Roop is Shooter Ned Beatty, strong at injecting realism into matches where you might not be looking. When Rogers holds onto a bodyslam and turns it into a quick nearfall, it's the only time I've seen that spot look like a shoot. Bob Roop can be so realistic in everything he does, that every part of my brain believed he was trying to bodyslam Rogers. I wasn't expecting Rogers to snare him and drag him over when Roop tossed him away from his body. 

Roop moves to control by standing up in an armbar, one of my favorite spots. I love when a guy holds the bar, legs straight to his opponent's body. As he's standing, trying to break, Roop pulls himself up straight by the ropes, ref Nick Patrick focusing on Rogers' shoulders. When Patrick makes Roop break, he does so while stepping down onto Rogers' nose and mouth. Roop is great in control. He does no unique offense, but he does it using movement that nobody else uses. His elbowdrop lands heavy and his legdrop looks clean. His backbreaker has great bounce, truly backbreaking. He throws a straight right punch that might be the single best punch on the show. Several of his punches are in consideration. He bumps for Tommy Rogers' comeback like Tommy has the best punches on the show, arms slapping the mat in big rolling back bumps, going up for a back body drop, toppling over for a knee to the gut. There's a great misdirection before Rogers gets the win, as he wriggles out of a bodyslam and throws a dropkick upon landing, but Roop coolly takes on step back to avoid the dropkick. Roop doesn't capitalize, but the last minute doubt in Rogers win made his sunset flip after ring more true. Georgia was great at that kind of finish, setting up the win with a near loss like a marathon runner briefly stumbling down the final straightaway. Fantastic back and forth, a real tough opener. 

Tim Horner/Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Les Thornton/Rocky Jones

MD: I think Rocky Jones was Mike Masters. Again, it's weird to have a tag as the second match of the card on these Omni shows (from what we've seen at least). This was a fun one though. Jones and Thornton were in matching blue. There was a long shine where they got clowned a ton, first by Sugar on his own and then with phantom tags in headlocks. The heels did something similar with headscissors but it was a phantom heat too as the babyfaces took over soon enough. Horner got greedy and attacked Thornton on the apron and got swarmed for his trouble. Lots more switches behind the ref's back by the heels and the crowd hated each and every one of them, making that same audible buzz that you'd get for punches back then, just the negative version of it. Some good hope spots and Horner getting dragged back before he got a maybe-too-easy tag to Sugar and the babyfaces romped the heels on the way to a Sugar missile dropkick and Horner roll up and victory. 

ER: I'm not going to pretend I know who Rocky Jones or Mike Masters are, but now I have 15 minutes of this man who is shaped like an approximation of Buzz Sawyer and The Gambler. I don't think he has a whole lot to offer the babyfaces while being controlled, clunky about getting into headlocks, but when the match - too late - moves into Thornton and Jones controlling and isolating Tim Horner he suddenly comes into his own. The match comes into it's own once they go full heel control. While I wasn't engaging with Sugar and Horner's babyface headlock control, the Omni crowd was. 

I perked up when Horner tried to cheap shot Thornton on the apron, a confident move that backfires instantly as it grazes Thornton and Thornton sells it like a graze, returning fire and bashing Horner's face into the turnbuckle. Rocky throws an elbow to Horner's eye as he's tagging out. I loved the heel control, Rocky picking Horner's leg really close to a tag out, the physical weight of them dragging Horner back to their half of the ring, the energy Thornton puts into kneeing Horner in the back from the apron, heels trading headlocks behind the ref's back. Sweet Brown Sugar's hot tag has some hot punches, and his butt wiggling dropkick off the middle buckle was fantastic, whipping his legs out in front of him in flight to catch Rocky over halfway across the ring. When Horner tags in for the O'Connor Roll, he rushes into his so enthusiastically that he runs face first into Rocky Jones as he's shoving his body into the ropes, and I liked his dumb guy babyface dedication to not half-assing it. 

Jake Roberts vs. Brad Armstrong

MD: Definitely a tale of two or three matches. Jake is fascinating to watch for the first five or six minutes of this. Go back, if you've already watched, and watch again and just focus on his feet. Usually that's not the sort of thing we tell you to do around here (it's not that sort of blog) but he has these lanky legs and the long pants and just the way he moves around the ring, a stutter start or a bound towards the corner, is really interesting. There are inputs that I don't know enough about the actual mechanics to pick up or judge and on the top of that list is footwork, but I can tell you that his here is fascinating. 

Likewise, he's so good at playing around in the corner, drawing Brad in, complaining to the ref, taking up time, frustrating everyone, getting heat. For the first few minutes of this, I barely remembered he was wrestling someone or that Brad was in there. I was just watching Jake do his thing. 

And his thing for most of the match was to sell his stomach. Anytime there's motion, either him flailing about or Brad cutting him off with a shot to the guts, it's great. Even when Brad lifts him up for a bearhug, it's really good. The problem is that there's probably six or seven minutes of this match where Brad is just laying on the ground with Jake in a bearhug. The issue isn't that he's laying on the ground with Jake in a bearhug. It's that neither of two things are at play: 1) it's not the heel doing it to the babyface and 2) there's nothing that I know of on the line here. Jake's not the champion. So while the fans do care about the outcome; that's clear from the finishing stretch, there's no major stakes that would benefit from Jake being super vulnerable and on the verge of losing (not having ball control) for a brunt of the match. And since it's the babyface doing it to the heel, while the fans are fine seeing Jake writhe and hurt, they can't get behind Brad from underneath in the same way.

When Jake does take over he focuses on the gut too and it's good stuff, especially how he conducts Ellering to interfere or distract the ref. The finish is good too as Brad comes back with some shots to the gut and a great dropkick and Jake is able to just slink his leg over to the ropes to survive the Russian Leg Sweep. Brad gets revenge on Ellering for jumping in the ring to point that out but then eats the DDT. Fans are definitely into it. But that middle section was rough, not because it was a hold, but because it was the wrong person doing the wrong hold in the wrong match.

ER: I am not a Brad Armstrong fan. I acknowledge that he is a Good Hand but his Good Handedness gets in the way of him being a Better Worker. He limits himself in ways that undercut his talent, positioning himself in an underdog position that defined him in ways that could have been avoided. I can't get invested in his work, I rarely get invested in his matches. The right thing has to happen for me to engage with Brad. 

One of the things that makes me engage with a Brad Armstrong match, apparently, is a tremendous 20 minute selling performance from Jake Roberts. I'm not sure if it mattered much what Brad did here, because I could not stop watching every single shiver, shake, and cringe that Jake did. Master class. Did Brad Armstrong have good offense? Maybe? For a guy with a great body who was never taken seriously against heavyweights, I don't think his offense was as good as Tommy Rogers'. But Jake's selling sure made me buy into Brad's offense for a startlingly long match. Does Brad have a really good headbutt to the stomach? I'm not sure, but I sure bought into it seeing the way Jake covered up and flinched after taking it. Jake sells Brad's whips into the turnbuckles like he's feeling them in individual vertebrae. The way he falls to his butt multiple times after taking an unexpected shot was the kind of selling we praised Kawada for on message boards 25 years ago. Every little movement of his, every recoil, is worth a note.  

But what you want here is the way Jake sells Brad's bearhug. It's beautiful, even if it seems ridiculous that this tall drink of water who looks like a drunken little league coach would ever be found in a bearhug. You don't enter into a Jake/Brad match expecting it to be this long, and you definitely don't expect Brad to be wearing Jake down with a bearhug for any number of reasons, but it happens and I loved it. You get to see all the ways Jake tries to escape, all the bargains he makes with God and the Devil to be released. Trying to break with a handful of Brad's tight perm, his hands shaking as he's brought to his knees and Brad meets him there. When Brad tightens the bearhug, Jake actually leaps up into his arms the way Scooby would leap in Shaggy's arms after being scared by the ghost of an old prospector. Jake slowly falls to his back and Brad follows with the hug, Jake trying to fend it off by pressing his forearms into Brad's face bones. I found all of it captivating. 

When Jake is in control, he does some things totally unique to him, the way he drills offense to take small advantages. He hits a pair of sliding punches/shoulderblocks into Brad's kidneys that reminded me of the sadism you see in Abdullah The Butcher matches, a targeted missile that had fast closing speed and real impact, and something I've never seen before. I love Jake's messy fighting, how he kicks and shoves Brad to the floor when they're both on the mat. You don't see enough guys kicking at each other from prone positions, it's all getting into position now. Jake kicks at Brad from his back in smart and opportunistic ways, not caring if it looks messy and dirty. Boots hit just as hard from your back and side as they do standing. 

Jake Roberts made me buy into everything Brad Armstrong did, which is no small feat. It was a given that eventually Brad would focus his attention on the wrong man, and it's hard for people to mentally overcome that inevitability while watching his matches. Jake made me take interest, and when Brad actually hit the Russian legsweep it felt like others believed as well. It might sound easy to fill nearly 25 minutes with a Good Hand, but there's a difference between filling time and actually making it interesting. Jake did both. 

 
Ron Garvin vs. The Spoiler

MD: Really interesting set up here. Garvin's title is on the line for just the first ten minutes and Spoiler comes in with a plan. That's to work a headlock for the first half of it or so to really wear down Garvin. Then when there's just a few minutes, he really hones in on the throat. He has this amazing move he does where he puts the neck against the throat and kicks at the rope causing Garving to spiral back. But he also hits a neckbreaker and drives Garvin's head into the mat and climbs the top to drop neck first on the top rope as he drops to the floor himself. And then the last minute or two is all about Garvin just surviving. He does, but keep in mind he's basically not got a single piece of offense in the whole match.

But the match goes on with the title no longer on the line. And that's really interesting, because then what's it going to be? Usually, it's the babyface who is chasing and then he's going to get the win on the heel after the time limit. Now it becomes Garvin going for revenge for what's been done for him and trying to survive a pissed off Spoiler who knows he can't get the belt. The match switches between those two themes. Garvin starts by wielding a chair to get back into it. 

Once into it, he tries to get his punches in or to work on Spoiler's leg, but Spoiler is too big and strong. At the same time, Spoiler goes for the claw at times but can't get it on, in part because he has to defend against the punches. He is able to work the leg however. Things build past a few comebacks and momentum shifts to a great ref bump where Spoiler redirects Garvin into him. That allows him to start with the claw. Garvin fires back but Ellering gets a chair in on him. There's an awesome comeback where Garvin has to punch his way back into the ring and a great finish where Spoiler comes off the top but Garvin catches him with a punch. This was a little aimless after the ten minutes were over, but that almost worked in the match's advantage because it was about both wrestlers trying to score points and make something out of the violent opportunity given to them now that the title was no longer on the line.

ER: I love this shit. The crowd didn't seem to want a 37 minute match where Spoiler works holds while weathering punches from Hands of Stone but I sure do. Spoiler has such a unique way of using the ring and using his opponent, and I'm not actually sure the crowd enjoys watching him do anything. That doesn't matter to me, because I am so enthralled with his style. He's great at selling for Garvin, he's greater at beating Garvin's ass, stretching his leg, strengthening his neck with choking. When a match starts with a collar and elbow tie up this good, I guess I'm locked in for 35 minutes or so. I love a tough lock up, the legitimacy of it, the struggle. Spoiler shoving off the bottom buckle to get the small advantage. Spoiler's wide base on his side headlock to bring weight down on Garvin. Spoiler's perfect chinlock that looked like the most violent thing in the match, perfect camera angle on it like we were observing a cell phone recorded crime. I lost it when he rolled to his back to wrench it in tighter. 

Spoiler utilizes the ropes in ways that nobody else has, facilitating chokes that seem like something we should have seen in French Catch. The fans get so annoyed when Spoiler does rope chokes, and he has enough different variations that I'm not sure I can ever tire of them. When he's lying on his back, bending Garvin's neck back over the bottom rope, pulling down and back on Garvin's chin, that's wrestling. Nobody else does wrestling that looks like Spoiler's and that always makes me gravitate towards wrestlers. It's more common that when they do something different, they do it well. Not as many are just allowed to keep doing things wrong if they aren't any good. Spoiler finds endless ways to be annoying, tough ways to work holds. When Garvin misses a kneedrop off the middle - a great magic trick, great form on the miss - he takes over with holds targeting Garvin's leg. 

There's an honest to god reaction from Depressed Ordinary People Donald Sutherland, a man who I can't make sense of. He and his wife are front row center at every Omni show, and neither has shown any kind of interest in professional wrestling. I don't know why they're there. The most logical assumption is that their teen son drown to death practicing for a swim meet and they've been left in his wake to attempt to maintain their routines and move forward while being stuck in a specific year. Like the territories in 1984, I guess. Maybe his wife loves pro wrestling and drags him there every single week and forces him to sit through tough matwork that is the least interesting thing in his world. He doesn't react to any wins or losses or dangerous spots or adept exchanges, but he laughs with the two hesher teens sitting next to him as Buns of Stone Ronnie Garvin has those tight cheeks aimed directly at them. Spoiler has a knuckle lock held from his back, thrusting his crotch upward, to meet Garvin's Stone Buns, the arc of his thrust aimed directly at Depressed Atlanta Donald Sutherland and two teens that aren't made like that anymore. He laughs and shows emotion for the first time I've seen on any Omni show, a man who hates wrestling to his core and just misses his dead son, but can still laugh at wrestling when it looks gay. 

Road Warriors vs. Masked Superstar/King Kong Bundy

MD: I really enjoy 84 Road Warriors. They were raw but had such energy and didn't calcify into what they would someday be. They could have been anything. Hawk just flew around, both on offense and bumping for people. He came off the top at Bundy with an atomic elbow smash and then went for another and took the punch to the gut flip bump. A lot of this was just wondering how they'd be able to contain Bundy which is a great feeling for a Roadies match. Eventually they did it with a missed elbow drop, working the arm (including Hawk going up to the top to do it) and double teaming. Superstar was wonderful here. I haven't seen him as a face with the gimmick much but it had all of 89 babyface Ax fighting the Twin Towers which is a personal favorite. And of course the fans OOOHed for every babyface punch, a magical time. Bundy came back (with Superstar's help; all it took was a little) and hit that interesting inside elbow drop to win it which led to...

King Kong Bundy vs. Paul Ellering (3-minutes)

MD: I like how Ellering almost worked this like a cage match, desperate to escape the ring. Bundy had a lot of fun with him, tossing him about. He hit one kneedrop in the middle which was the most crushing thing I've ever seen. Looked amazing but I get why a big guy wouldn't do it often. He squashed him with a power slam and then lifted him up before finally finishing him and demanding the 5 count as time was ticking down. They really gave the fans their money's worth on this stip.

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For the Love of Pro Wrestling: Lee Moriarty vs. Cheeseburger

Lee Moriarty vs. Cheeseburger Labor of Love PHL 4/25/26 

Cheeseburger loves pro wrestling. 

It's undeniable, right? You follow his career. You watch him wrestle. You see what he posts. He loves wrestling. Undeniable. Pure wrestling. Technical wrestling. Tricked out holds, reversals. Fundamentals. Clear as day. Even as a layperson, it's obvious.

In a world with so, so many belts, the ROH Pure Championship belt means something. It stands for something. What does a TV Belt stand for in a world of streaming in 2026? It's only as good as the champion, right?

But the Pure Championship stands for something. It's not just the rules, the rope breaks, the judging. The person who holds it is a pure wrestler, is someone who finds the art in technique, who finds beauty in joint manipulation, in the secrets of the craft. 

Lee Moriarty is an artist. He's an artist over multiple modalities. Hell, there was his art up on the wall during this match. 

But if you're reading this, you care most, like I care most, that he's an artist in the ring. He moves with style and swagger, with confidence. The ring is his canvas and upon it he paints victories of twisted limbs, clever escapes, and the ever-driving, inescapable knowledge of the rules of the game. He paints outside the box at times, but all eyes go to the center nonetheless.

He's going to put you in danger, is going to force you to use up your rope breaks, and is going to have you looking every which way as he ties up any possible chance you might have to beat him and take his title.

Cheeseburger might be world famous, but the world comes to Moriarty. He's the champion. That's the difference.

And it's everything Cheeseburger wants. Not the fame, not the fortune, but the validation, the proof, the opportunity to be that person that everyone in the world hunts to prove their technical superiority. To show it's all been worth it. The title is a symbol and object. It's what it represents that Cheeseburger wants. 

And here, in front of a crowd that saw him as the home team, in a match he had trained for, had prepared for, was ready for, he was going to do everything possible to get it.

Things were friendly enough at first, playful even. There was a sense of exhibition, of showing off for the crowd. Look, Lee might have been from Pittsburgh and given recent hockey happenings, maybe he was a natural antagonist in Philly, but they welcomed him well enough to start. There was a "Both These Guys" chants. It was congenial.

The shift happened quickly. The first exchange ended with Cheeseburger taking Lee down, but finding himself unable to hook on a hold in the face of Lee attempt at an early Border City Stretch. The second exchange had Lee turn Cheeseburger's wrist control around, allowing him to flex and preen only for Cheeseburger to kip up and twist and turn his way out, leaving Lee staring at his hands in mild disbelief.

That was bad enough. What made it worse is that in that twisting and turning, Cheeseburger took the crowd along with him. No longer were they chanting "Both These Guys." Now it was "New Champ." 

Over the next few exchanges, Cheeseburger pressed his advantage, always seeming one step ahead of Moriarty, half out of a hold before Moriarty could even lock it on, anticipating where he'd end up next, hands already outstretched. To their credit, it never seemed collaborative. Cheeseburger come off as just that good and Lee came off as just that frustrated, and it all worked. 

Lee was able to jam Cheeseburger's attempt to mount him, was even able to knock off a rope break with a Border City Stretch, but Cheeseburger was undaunted and finally did mount him and wrench both arms back at once. Lee's only escape? Grabbing the ropes with his teeth as the judges took notes before him. 

Bad had gone to worse and now, despite the ground Lee had gained back, things were even between them, and the humiliation was starting to sink in.

How dare Cheeseburger? How dare he ride him, stretch him, humiliate him? This is Taigastyle Lee Moriarty, longest Pure Champ ever, who beat Shibata, Blue Panther, Nigel McGuinness. 

The tiger saw red and lashed out. Cheeseburger fought back but Lee honed in on the gut, pressed hard. He pressed too far and too soon though, was emotional, was heated. He went to the well once too often and Cheeseburger was able to fight back.

The rope breaks felt like goals in a soccer game. 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2. It was wrestling as art and wrestling as sport all in one. The sport was the trappings; the art, the means, the purpose, the impression it left with you.

And like all great art, there was humanity underneath, Lee's frustration, Cheeseburger's desperation, and both men's pride when it came to their chosen art/science/trade. 

Lee utilized a camel clutch, not one of his usual moves, but it was a way of presenting Cheeseburger's pained faced to the crowd, to the judges, to the world, nowhere to hide as he used up one of his rope breaks. 

Cheeseburger, firing back, hitting bombs, almost scored a win with a clutch seatbelt cradle. It was one of those nearfalls where, even watching it back, knowing the result, it still gets you just a little. That's how good it was. 

But in 2026, this is Lee Moriarty's world, and no matter how much heart Cheeseburger showed (even valiantly fighting his way back up from what looked to be a knock out shot), and no matter how hard he trained, once Lee got that third rope break, it was the beginning of the end. Cheeseburger crawled to the ropes to escape another Border City Stretch but that left him open to a rope assisted Camel Clutch and he had no choice but to tap.  

Cheeseburger loves pro wrestling, lives it even, but so long as Lee Moriarty holds that belt, he IS pro wrestling.

So where does this leave Cheeseburger? Was it truly all for nothing? After a match like that, after inspiring a crowd to support him, after pushing the Pure Champ to the limit, maybe, just maybe, he can take a step back, and find validation within. Pro wrestling, like life, is a journey. The true practitioners never stop learning, never stop growing. So long as that's true, they never know true defeat and there's always tomorrow. And sometimes it takes a match like this to remind us of that.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Where's Chicky?

Week 61: Where's Chicky?

EB: The August 3 house show was a memorable one, with a wild brawl between Carlos Colon and Abdulalht Butcher that had Profe humiliated due to Carlos tearing Profe’s pants off. We also had the first match between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, and any hope of a reconciliation was gone once Huracan attacked Miguel Perez Sr when he got involved to try to stop them from fighting. An angry Miguelito is not going to let that pass and a rematch has been set for Fan Appreciation Day weekend on August 10. One other notable development from August 3 was Fidel Sierra defeating Super Medico #3 to win the Caribbean title, so there are changes occurring in CSP. 

As we move to August 10, a large new arrival has joined the ranks of El Ejercito de la Justicia, a man named Solomon Grundy. August 10 is also the annual Fan Appreciation Day, headlined by the Bronca Boricua match. The big rivalry of Castillo vs Perez will have two chances to get at each other that night as both are entered in the Bronca Borcicua. Let’s go to the August 10 west coast version of Super estrellas de la Lucha Libre, where  we will hear all about their lineup for the August 11 Fan Appreciation Day show.

WWC Super Estrellas 8/10/91 west coast edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbVC5EjlzKo

EB: We join the episode with Hugo already in the midst of his show intro, where he announces we will see the debut of the enormous Solomn Grundy on this week’s episode. We will also have the new Caribbean champion Fidel Sierra, who defeated Super Medico #3 last week in Bayamon to become the new champion. Since this is the west coast version of Superstrellas, the big news is that tomorrow in Aguadilla it is Fan Appreciation Day with special prices and a meet and greet with the tecnico wrestlers before the show. It also means the return of the Bronca Boricua match, where wrestlers will compete for a $10,000 cash prize. Hugo also mentions some of the other matches scheduled for tomorrow, with the big one being a rematch between Huracan Castillo and Miguelito Perez. They had a big brawl last Sunday that ended with Castillo knocking out Perez with an object and then Miguelito dragging Castillo out of the locker room afterwards. Let’s go to our first match.

The State Patrol vs. Super Medico #3 & Invader #4

We have another version of the State Patrol, this time Lt. James Earl Wright is joined by Sgt. Billy Joe Barber. Their opponents are the team of Super Medico #3 and Invader #4. Wright and Medico start off for their teams, with Wright complaining about hair pulls and Medico keeping the upper hand on their early lock ups. Wright briefly works Medico’s arm, but that gets countered and the tecnico team tags in and out while working over Wright’s arm. Barber is tagged in and does not fare any better. The State Patrol takes control once they are able to back Medico into their corner, giving them an opening to bait Invader #4 into the ring and double team Medico behind the ref’s back. Wright and Barber control the next few minutes, keeping Medico in the ring and cutting off any hope spots. An elbow to the back of Wright’s head gives the opening for the hot tag to Invader #4, who briefly handles both Patrol members. All four men end up in the ring but despite the tecnicos whipping the State Patrol into each other, Wright recovers quickly and hits a neckbreaker on Invader #4. This sets up an interesting finisher for the State Patrol (like a Doomsday Device only with a shoulder tackler to the body) and the State Patrol get the win.

MD: Theoretically, the State Patrol are perfect for Puerto Rico. Very much a Rock’n’Roll RPMs deal where they have the skills to really shine with the opportunity, but so far we just never get the real State Patrol. Here it’s James Earl Wright with “Billy Joe Barber” and other than being from Florida, as we’re told by Hugo, we don’t know much about him. He’s competent, but that’s not the same as being an arch stooge. This was pretty straightforward for the most part. Babyfaces controlled the arm. Heels ground down once they took over. Transitions weren’t super interesting. Finish was good after the hot tag as Medico and Invader were firing off hot, and the finishing move, which was a Suplex with a top rope shoulder block was good (set up by Wright cutting Invader off with a neckbreaker out of nowhere, so not even a cheating win). 

EB: Our first round of promos for this episode features the combatants in tomorrow’s Caribbean title match. Up first is new champion Fidel Sierra, who first talks about the Bronca Boricua. He expects to win the $10,000 prize and already knows what weapon he is bringing with him to the match. It seems there was some controversy last Sunday in Aguadilla, where the fans feel Sierra tried to steal the match from Medico #3 (something Sierra denies). Sierra is defending his newly won title tomorrow against the former champion, Sierra is going to show Medico #3 why Cubans are number one.

Medico #3 is next and also first mentions that he wants to win the Bronca Boricua tomorrow before talking about tomorrow’s rematch. Looks like last Sunday Sierra got caught with his legs on the ropes trying to gain leverage for a pin. The ref caught it but tomorrow Medico will be ready for Sierra’s shenanigans. He is also looking forward to the fan meet and greet before the show.

MD: Sierra won the Caribbean Championship from Medico III, though I think it was a little contested. They’re hyping up the Bronca Boricua. Fidel Sierra fashion watch has him less Cuban Assassin here with the flag, but a button down shirt and hat and sunglasses. So he is bouncing around a bit I suppose. They’re also hyping up a rematch and Fan Day where you can ask the wrestlers questions and get autographs with special prices for tickets.

EB: We get our first look at new arrival Solomon Grundy, who will be in a handicap match tomorrow against El Profe and Alex Porteau. Grundy is happy to be in Puerto Rico and is counting on his size to help him win the Bronca Boricua. Grundy is not worried about taking on two men tomorrow and sends a message in Spanish to the Puerto Rico fans (including sending a lot of kisses to all the ladies).We then get the card rundown for tomorrow’s Fan appreciation Day show featuring a fan meet and greet before the show and special prices: A 14 wrestler $10,000 Bronca Boricua match; the rematch between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo; Giant Warrior vs. Great Kokina; Caribbean title rematch as Super Medico #3 challenges Fidel Sierra; The Invaders vs The State Patrol; Solomon Grundy vs. El Profe & Alex Porteau and Ray Gonzalez vs El Galan Mendoza.

MD: Grundy did pretty well here, talking about how he was bigger and meaner than everyone, but seeming like the nicest guy as he did. Bronca Boricua is a natural fit for him. It’s 14 guys (Invader #1, Castillo, Warrior, Sierra, Perez, Kokina, Grundy, State Patrol, Super Medico, Invader #4, Gonzalez, Porteau, Mendoza). We don’t have it. He tried to say some things in Spanish at the end which no babyfaces ever do. Again, it felt endearing. He’d be facing Porteau and Profe 2 on 1 as well, which sounds like it was probably fun. 

Great Kokina vs. Mr. Ito

EB: Kokina is back in Puerto Rico for Fan Appreciation weekend, so we get a match from his earlier appearance from about two months ago. His opponent is Mr. Ito and Kokina just steamrolls the poor guy. Ito gets a couple of dropkicks late in the match but Kokina brushes them off. A Samoan Drop quickly follows and Kokina gets the pin.

MD: This is a month or two old as Akbar was still there and Kokina had only been in for a limited run before. As weird as Nogami vs Yoko is on paper, there wasn’t a ton here. Nogami brushed him back with a few karate kicks but Kokina took over quickly and barely looked back. Nogami came back with a couple of dropkicks but got flattened with a clothesline and samoan drop.

EB: El Profe is in the studio to talk up the Bronca Borciua, specifically that Great Kokina will handle ‘El Ejercito de la Inmundicia’ and maybe some of their fellow rudos as well in order to win the cash prize. But more importantly, Profe expects Kokina to finish Giant Warrior. This is followed by Giant Warrior talking about how he wants to win the Bronca Borica and that Kokina is stepping into his backyard tomorrow.

MD: They talk up the 10k prize and the upcoming Kokina vs Warrior match. Warrior is an AJPW guy and Kokina is a NJPW guy so that’s kind of interesting I guess and a natural match. I bet it was probably pretty decent too.

EB: Invader is next in the promo lineup and also hypes up tomorrow's Bronca Boricua match. Also, they’ll see tomorrow who the better tag team as the Invaders take on the State Patrol 

MD: Invader is teaming with Invader IV against the State Patrol. Bronco’s off doing whatever I guess. With Colon out for this week and TNT MIA too, Invader’s sort of the top guy alongside the Castillo vs Perez feud.

The Samoan Swat Team vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk

EB: We get a repeat of the SST vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk match from back in May. The SST are still around and gunning for tag gold.

MD: It’s more Memphis SST. Actually, I think we saw this already. This is the one where Santana takes a huge beating, Duk comes in, immediately screws up by doing a double nogging knocker and loses.

EB: The State Patrol makes sure that we all know they hate Puerto Ricans and they want to win the $10,000 tomorrow. Barber talks about putting down the Invaders tomorrow.

MD: This was pretty bleak. Wright references LA riots. Barber’s definitely got the accent for this. They would not be using the money for good things if they win it. That’s for sure.

EB: Galan Mendoza talks about all the luxury stuff he could buy and do with the $10,000 prize. He also says it will be difficult for Ray Gonzalez to defeat him tomorrow.

MD: Mendoza on the other hand, would be living the high life with the money! Lobster dinner. An island getaway. Good for him. I hope he won it. (He did not win it).

Handicap Match: Solomon Grundy vs. El Exotico & The Fly

EB: Matt’s going to be happy to see Exotico back. It’s very brief screen time though, as The Fly lives up to his name and gets squashed in about a minute by Solomon Grundy.

MD: Hey, it’s El Exotico! My favorite enhancement guy. We haven’t seen him in ages. This did not go well for him. Grundy made short work out of these two. I think he got off his feet once for a dropkick of sorts but hard to tell with the camera cut.

EB: The hottest rivalry in Puerto Rico wrestling is set for a rematch tomorrow as Huracan Castillo is in the studio to talk about tomorrow’s match against Miguelito Perez. Hugo says that the fans are saying a lot of unpleasant things about Castillo, that last Sunday Castillo knocked Miguelito out with a foreign object as they were fighting after the dq. Castillo does not understand what the fans and Miguelito have against him, he does not need objects to knock down Perez. Castillo is complaining about Miguelito going into the locker room to attack him after he had laid Miguelito out. They’ll settle things tomorrow, even if they have to fight in the street or beach. 

Miguelito responds by saying that he does not care about the prize money tomorrow, he just wants to get his hands on Castillo in the Bronca Boricua and in their singles match. Hugo brings up that Castillo denied using a foreign object last week and an indignant Perez says of course he’s going to lie and deny doing that even though everyone saw him do it. That’s why he chased Castillo down to the locker room and kicked his butt back out. If Castillo is going to be using objects, then Miguelito will bring them as well.

MD: Got to keep the big feud churning. I still would have liked to see a heel Castillo squash match but ah well. Strong stuff from Castillo where he talks about how he didn’t need a knuckle duster to defeat Perez and how Perez was an out of control savage (obviously lies but he’s leaning well into the delusion). He mentioned how his teaming with Perez is why he never won these big money matches and how he didn’t care about the money, just getting his hands on Perez. It’s a good act.

Perez could barely even respond to such absurdity and he was obviously flustered. He said he didn’t care about the money either and he came off as very sympathetic in the face of Castillo’s behavior.

Fidel Sierra vs. Jerry Mercado

EB: We join in progress our next match, as the new Caribbean champion is making a point of making an example of Jerry Mercado. Hugo reminds the viewers about not using holds such as the sleeper (which Sierra uses to win the match) at home and also brings up that he feels that the way Sierra uses the flag to cover his opponents is disrespectful. Hugo then closes the show by hyping up tomorrow's Fan Appreciation Day show.

MD: Total control by Sierra here. He’s quick to pull Mercado up just to beat him down again. He wins with the sleeper (but does wake him up post match). No one had been using it like this for a couple of years in Puerto Rico so it’s a nice touch.

EB: Before moving to the next weekend, a quick note about the August 10 card in Bayamon. The WWE Vault just uploaded a Great Kokina vs Solomon Grundy match from that house show (something we did not have available before). We’ll make sure to cover this match in our next post, but what tremendous timing for the drop.

With that said, let's now go to the August 17 Campeones episode, where we have an announcement regarding the vacant Caribbean tag titles.

WWC Campeones 8/17/91

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBMj-VcVhcI

EB; As usual our hosts are Hugo and El Profe, with El Profe doing his usual preening and posing during the show intro. They talk about the matches they will feature on today’s episode. Tonight we’re getting another Fan Appreciation Day, this time in Ponce. The main event is Carlos Colon vs Kareem Muhammad. There will also be a tournament for the vacant Caribbean tag titles, Hugo explains the rules and mentions the teams participating. When Hugo mentions the team of the Latin Connection (the new pairing of Ricky Santana and Ray Gonzalez), a surprised Profe remarks ‘They teamed up the Barbie dolls.’  Profe feels confident the SST will win. Hugo also mentions that their latest VHS releases highlighting Carlos Colon's greatest battles and Volume 4 of Super Estrellas  are now available for rent and purchase. Also tonight the World Kickboxing Federation is holding an event in Manati so make sure to check that out if you are in the area. 

MD: We lead off talking about upcoming events, including Fan Appreciation Day and the upcoming tournament for the Caribbean Tag Titles. 8 teams. 20 minute time limits for all matches until the final. Some of the teams are Super Medico III and Perez, Sierra and Castillo, Gonzalez and Santana, State Patrol, Mendoza/Porteau, Warrior/Grundy, Samoan Swat Team, and maybe Invader and Bronco. Not a bad look at the roster overall, noting that Colon vs a returning Kareem Muhammad is on top. 

Atkie Mulumba vs. Giant Warrior - No DQ match from July 20

EB: This match is from Carolina and is a no DQ. Hugo mentions that this was when Profe brought in wrestlers to get back at Giant Warrior for injuring his jaw with the big boot. Giant Warrior runs to the ring and immediately attacks Atkie by choking him with Atkie’s attire. Mulumba bails to the outside and takes his time heading back in, while Hugo on commentary mentions that Mulumba is the size of a hippopotamus and is bigger than before. Atkei heads abc in, Warrior gets the advantage again before Mulumba takes over and controls most of the match. Back from a commercial break and both men are outside of the ring with Warrior making a comeback. They fight by the barricade before heading back into the ring, where Mulumba again takes over. The match ends when Mulumba goes for his top rope splash but Warrior gets a boot up to counter. Warrior follows up with the big boot and gets the win. El Profe was not avenged.

MD: Not sure when this was from, but it was a good win for Warrior. He controlled early using Mulumba’s garb to choke him. Mulumbua got some shots in out of the corner and took over with chokes (including over the top rope) and nerve holds. It spilled to the floor and Warrior fought back tossing Mulumba around, which looked good. Back in the ring, Mulumba got the advantage but leaped off the top for a splash right into Warrior’s boot and he loaded it with a stomp and hit a mafia kick for the win. Not the world’s most compelling match, but it had a moment or two and, like I said, was a good win for Warrior.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. TNT

EB: This match is joined in progress and likely is from one of the late July TV tapings when Abdullah made a short return.TNT hasn’t been featured much in recent months, it seems he has been doing more foreign tours. TNT is getting the better of Abdullah here, with several strikes keeping Abdullah against the ropes. A well timed karate thrust from Abdullah cuts off TNT however,  and Adbullah starts his attack. Headbutts, biting and gouging. Eventually the fight spills to the outside where they keep attacking each other and are counted out.

MD: This went how you’d expect. They barely moved ever further than a foot away from one another, just all close up combat, starting with TNT headbutts, then a lot of Abby choking and headbutts of his own. He tried to use the claw a lot, even as they spilled to the floor, but TNT kept cutting that off, and they brawled to a countout.

EB: Alex Porteau and Galan Mendoza cut a promo on going for the Caribbean tag titles tonight. The bigger news is that Alex Porteau beat Ricky Santana last Friday for the World Junior title. Mendoza says luck is everywhere for them and they’ll be the next Caribbean tag champions. 

MD: Porteau is the Junior Champ now apparently, having just won it. Now he and Mendoza are coming for the tag titles. 

EB: Fidel Sierra and Huracan Castillo are also competing in tonight’s tournament. Huracan tells Fidel that the fans are already looking at the Caribbean tag champions and that he's hoping to get a shot at facing Miguelito Perez in the tournament so he can wipe the floor with Perez. Fidel says that they are the number one team whether the fans like it or not. 

We then get a card rundown for tonight in Ponce: Carlos Colon vs Kareem Muhammad; the Caribbean tag title tournament featuring Invader #1 & Bronco #1, Miguelito Perez & Super Medico #3, the Samoan Swat Team, Alex Porteau & Galan Mendoza, Giant Warrior & Solomon Grundy, Ricky Santana & Ray Gonzalez, the State Patrol, and Huracan Castillo & Fidel Sierra. 

Also this Wednesday at the TV taping in Miramar featuring a main event of Miguelito Perez & Invader #1 vs. Fidel Sierra & Huracan Castillo, and a 15 wrestler coal miners pole battle royale featuring Solomon Grundy, Giant Warrior, Bronco #1, Ricky Santana, Super Medico #3, Alex Porteau, The Heartbreakers, Galan Mendoza, Dusty Wolfe, Ray Gonzalez, and more.

MD: I had missed the Castillo/Sierra announcement at the top of the show but these two make sense as a team. Same sense of swagger so long as Sierra isn’t in the camo. 

EB: The last match on this episode of Campeones is the barbed wire match between Carlos Colon and the Polynesian Prince from early June. In between match segments there is a promo from Invader #1 and Bronco #1 where they talk about wanting to become double tag champs and that they know it’s a tough field tonight. Hugo and Profe close the show by doing a final hype job for tonight’s house show.

Before ending this week’s post, it has been about a year since we last saw Chicky Starr in CSP. I think it’s about time we checked in on what he’s currently up to  around this time period in summer 1991.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p900bECT9qE

EB: This is footage from an independent company that is running on the west coast of the island. I remember seeing this show on one of the local channels (either channel 12 or 13) and I mainly remember Chicky and the host doing talking head segments and airing matches from different places. This specific clip is a compilation of interview promos hyping up one of this company's house shows.  The presentation reminds me of the early 80s TV from CSP where Rickin Sanchez was at the studio sitting and wrestlers would pop in and out to do their promos. Chicky is in the middle of cutting promos for the matches his guys are having, we see someone leaving as Chicky brings in two more of his organization's wrestlers. Chicky says his organization keeps growing and now he has brought in Crusher #2 to team up with Crusher #1. The Crushers are doing the black glove claw gimmick and Chicky wants the cameraman to zoom in on their hands. They will deal pain to any who stand against them. Chicky then rattles off the names of his wrestlers: The Crushers, Cubano Loco (which I’m guessing was the guy we saw leaving the interview area as the clip started) Solid Gold (hmm…), Los Vaqueros, and his Sports Organization is on the upswing and will keep growing. Chciky then starts rattling off the names of the tecnicos that need to watch out, such as Ricky Sexton, the Super Medicos (hmm...), Los Acrobatas, El Cobra, El Rockero, they have open contracts for any and all of them. 

The next clip is of the North American champion of the company, Ricky Sexton. His opponent is Cubano Loco and we get a promo from Sexton about being wary of how dangerous Cubano Loco and Chicky Starr are, how he beat Loco last time they faced each other and how he will do everything in his ability to keep the title. We also get the Super Medicos in the studio, this is Super Medico #2 and Super Medico #4. They are facing The Crushers and Medico # 4 does the talking for the team. If you're wondering who they are, Super Medico #4 is the same one we’ve seen before in CSP, one Julio Estrada. The silent Super Medico #2 is Nick Ayala, someone we have also seen before in CSP. 

This is a rare look at some of the other goings on in Puerto Rico wrestling. Chicky seems to be earning a paycheck at least but this seems a bit low rent (it is an independent company based in the western region after all). Ricky Sexton as North American champion, second rate Super Medicos, a bunch of generic sounding team names (just what the heck is a Solid Gold anyway?)…probably the last we’ll hear about them in any shape or form.

MD: The second you see Chicky on screen here, no matter what happens around him, he feels instantly iconic. I miss the guy, even though Profe is doing an admirable job and Akbar was fun. No idea what’s going on here but he’s got two masked guys flexing their hands over and over and over ago and then we see some fake Medicos too. It feels like Public Access Puerto Rican wrestling.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the feud between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo rages on and brings Carlos Colon and Fidel Sierra into its orbit, new Caribbean tag champions are crowned, and Great Kokina vs Solomon Grundy (thanks WWE Vault!). 

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Yokota! Hori! Martel! Martin!

Volume 3 

4. Jaguar Yokota & Jumbo Hori vs. Judy Martin & Sherri Martel 

This is the last match Judy Martin and Sherri Martel would have in this tour of Japan before heading back to the United States. From what cards I can see Sherri actually tagged with Kaoru (later Dump) Matsumoto for most of this tour. Those are matches that'd be interesting to see if there's any evidence she had an influence on Dump (they certainly have 'act insane' in common). No footage of any of them though. 

To the match, Jaguar has her arm taped up and Judy & Sherri immediately go after it. There's no shine at all. Barely 30 seconds into the match and this is the heels working over a body part. It's a lot less hectic than their previous outing, which maybe doesn't suit them at first, but it also gives them something to build up to. They were going somewhere with the heat but I thought Jaguar's tag out was a bit anti-climatic, she literally just throws one punch to the gut and then rolls over to the over side of the ring to tag in Jumbo Hori. Could have done with a bit more struggle there.

This was basically a set up for a double figure-four spot. Sherri Martel sells Jaguar's figure four by shaking around like she's in the most unbearable pain ever. When she rolls out of the ring and Judy Martin gets in, Jaguar does one of the best rolling handstands I've ever seen her do into a dropkick. I find it mesmerising. 

This is my favourite part of the match though. Judy and Sherri have an argument after a miscommunication, they're driven to the outside and are still arguing. Then Jaguar and Jumbo chase them around the ring going in opposite directions, until Judy and Sherri meet on the other side and crash into each other! Perfect. I don't remember seeing that anywhere else but it's such a simple and funny spot to make the heels look like clowns.

We then get a double countout, which in AJW 2/3 falls rules means the score is 1-1 so this next fall is the final one. 

I'm not some big limbwork obsessive but in this match I think it would have been better for Jaguar's arm to come into play. Mainly because if you're going to spend the first few minutes of the match setting up that and nothing else, it doesn't make much sense to me for it to then have no impact on the rest of the match. It's like spending the opening chapter of a novel establishing that the main character has a fear of heights but then that trait having zero impact on the plot.

Instead, this final fall is more heel shenanigans, but relatively tame compared to what we've seen before. There's a beatdown on the outside, Jaguar gets thrown onto a table. There's a decent comeback where she ducks a double clothesline and then has Jumbo lift her up for a couple of double thrust kicks. Jumbo actually gets the pin with a top rope crossbody, which would have been a good win for her.

Fans of Judy & Sherri will appreciate seeing this. It's a better opportunity than they usually got in the USA to show how good they were and it has some uniqueness going for it. Pretty good. I don't think anyone gave a standout performance though nor did we really learn much.

***

MD: A lot going on here. Less chaotic and more focused to start as they target Yokota’s damaged elbow but that does go away after a while. Early transitions aren’t super interesting. Hori gets swept under on the outside when she tries to help save her partner but then she comes back with just a punch to the gut. Love the end of the fall though. Yokota handsprings through but ends up 2-on-1. It bleeds into heel miscommunication and the heels shouting at each other and shoving. Hori and Yokota take over and chase them around ringside where they crash into each other. Then it becomes a mad dash back into the ring, really putting over the countout in a way you can only do in a ⅔ falls match. Yokota makes it back in but I don’t think it’s in time so it’s 1-1.

This had more of Hori working big too. She crashed into both Americans in the corner like Andre might do. Martin sold a Vader Attack from her by almost being taken out of the match. They had Yokota barely survive another count later on, but the finish was pretty definitive with Hori hitting a big flying body press for the win. It had a lot of disjointed stuff (I didn’t mention the double figure fours) and lacked the overall chaotic feel of the last Martin/Sherri tag but the highs were pretty high and very fun here. 
 

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A World He Did Not Make. A Truth One Cannot Return To: Greco-Malenko vs Connelly

Karl Greco-Malenko vs Mad Dog Connelly [Battlarts Rules] ACTION 4/17/26

MD: Look, we watch a lot of wrestling. Too much wrestling. That can be a thing. We live it. It's fine. We're ok. We're mostly sane around here. But that means that we turn on a match, when we tune in and lock in, we have a pretty good sense of what we're going to get. When they announced this one (and as always, I am not privy to this stuff ahead of time), I had no idea what to expect.

Once upon a time, a guy named Austin Connelly wrestled a bunch of UWFI rules matches. All sorts of opponents. Daniel Garcia. Max the Impaler. Blade. Garrini. Davey Richards even. He won most of them, most of them under five minutes. That was before he found his truth, before his eyes went wild and enraged, before he learned to lean into the secure, stifling tug of a dog collar around his neck. He's a different beast now. 

And Karl Greco-Malenko? He's come back to a world of American independent pro wrestling that he never made. This isn't some sort of soft and casual homecoming. The indies were never his home. PWFG. Battlarts. All Japan. Even a tiny but of Rings and Fu-Ten. This? This is the wild west. Matt Mako, dangerous as he was, deadly as he can be with that cross-armbreaker. That was familiar territory. Greco-Malenko is the interloper here. He's the one who's crossed territorial lines, literal coonskin cap on his head. A pioneer. A man of science and technique. An adventurer gone grey. Gone exploring right into the cave of the beast. 

This was Battlarts rules, sure. Fine. That would define the rules of engagement, not the style, not the tenor, not the tone, not the attitude. You try to put Mad Dog Connelly in a box and he'll tear down a lot more than four walls. That's what I thought at least.

Yet, that's not entirely what happened. Oh, this was Mad Dog. It was unquestionably Mad Dog. But for the first time in years, I think I saw glimpses of Austin peek out. Yes, Greco-Malenko had crossed on to his territory, but the specific nature of this challenge seemed to reawaken something in Connelly, some last vestige of civility behind the seething rage. 

If Greco-Malenko was such an expert, such a practitioner, such a legend. If he had the temerity to barge in on Connelly's world, to challenge him on his turf, to face him in his ring, then it wasn't enough to just beat him in Mad Dog's ineffable way, to make Greco-Malenko live his truth. Just this once, Connelly needed to stretch, to reach back, to remember a Truth that was no longer his own but that he once carried with him. 

So he faced Greco-Malenko on his own terms. He wrestled.

The thing is, not even Mad Dog himself can force himself into a box, not even with all of his will and focus and intention. Yes, he was able to lean on technique, was able to latch on to limbs, was able to jam an elbow in for leverage, was able to ride and control the great Karl Greco-Malenko. But he couldn't help himself. He just couldn't. He taunted, vocal in a way that you never see him in matches, the human slipping through, tainted by the beast, haunted by the fury, but recognizable nonetheless. 

More than that, he hammered, swiped, punched, pounded. Against a lesser opponent, it would be overwhelming, exhausting, destructive, but for Greco-Malenko, it was an opportunity. He placed a hand behind his head, nominally absorbing blows. That just infuriated Connelly more and he pounded even harder. That let Greco-Malenko seize a hand and reverse things. 

Because Connelly was limiting himself in his attempts to conquer Greco-Malenko's world, because he was trying to force himself into a box, because he was trying to win on terms that were not his own, he provided Greco-Malenko answers to questions that should have been unanswerable.

Momentarily frustrated, Connelly rushed in. Greco-Malenko was ready, caught him in a butterfly position, lifted and dropped him into a knee, and rendered him helpless with a submission. Just like that, it was over.

Except for it's never really over with Connelly, is it? That's the thing about truth. It doesn't simply just end and go away when it's convenient. It's always there following you, lurking around the corner. And when Connelly is involved, truth is always, always, always found at the end of a chain. 

Congratulations, Karl Greco-Malenko. You donned your cap. You marched off into the belly of the beast. You took your hide. You survived to tell the tale.

But if you ask me, and I bet if you dare to ask the Mad Dog, I don't think you've lived your truth yet. 

But you will.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 4/20 - 4/26 Part 1

AEW Collision 4/25/26

RUSH vs Adam Priest 

MD: Adam Priest knows the score. He might be Any Style. He might be the heir to Alabama wrestling. Some days that means he's a Dirty White Boy. Some days it means he's virtually an Armstrong, a modern day Bullet. He might be in his own lane when it comes to getting under people's skin or even getting them to back him when it matters most. Hell, he might even be in his own lane when it comes to finding a way to scrape out even the most unlikeliest of wins.

But he's smaller. Lower on in the rankings. An underdog. Not the biggest fish in a new pond that's a hell of a lot bigger.

Adam Priest knows the score. He knows it as well as anyone.

And he doesn't give a damn about it.

RUSH isn't a wrestler. He's not a luchador. He's someone whose name is in all caps. He didn't ask for that. He didn't demand it. He earned it. It's undeniable. He's an out of control bull. He's violence and volatility. He's two fists, two feet, one head, no mercy, coming right at your face at all times.

He's the embodiment of seething fury mixed with smug assurance. He wears a bull mask out from the back and somehow seems more dangerous when he takes it off. He slaps his chest and the fans chant his name. He rolls back and makes the center of the ring his home, calm as can be, fist outstretched into the air, potential energy just waiting to explode.

So what does Adam Priest do? He takes a few steps out and punts that mask down the ramp. He puts his life in his hands and then outstretches that selfsame hand for a shake. When RUSH kicks it, he shrugs it off like it was nothing. "Now why did that guy go and do that? I'm a sportsman." He knows the score. Don't let him fool you about that.

They start wrestling. It's inconclusive. Priest ducks away and puts his fingers on his forehead, bull horns, bucks a bit for good measure. RUSH sees red. 

Was Priest trying to throw him off? Make him make a mistake? No, I don't think so. Priest knows the score. You can't fight the tide. Priest knows all about the tide. You can't beat it, but maybe you can make it work ten times harder than it ought to along the way. You can't kill the bull but you can leave your mark on it, and give the people a hell of a show in the process. 

Because what's a man without his pride?

They get scrapping. RUSH gets the better of it. And Priest? He just asks for some more. The commentators take note. The crowd takes note. RUSH takes note. If you can't win, then lose as big and bold and bright as possible.

RUSH controls through the break. The feed goes for a minute and we come back and somehow, miraculously, Priest has fought his way back. No idea how. We're almost better off not knowing. He's Any Style Adam Priest after all. Could have been anything. All that matters is that he's taking his pound of flesh, and that Tony Schiavone calls him hitting an Alabama Jam. Living the dream. 

It turns to a nightmare quickly enough. RUSH sidesteps, hits a German off the ropes, takes Priest outside to thrash him against the guardrails a bit, pulls him back inside. Priest  absolutely messed with the bull. So he got the horns. 

But no one's going to remember the horns. For once, all anyone's going to remember is that this bastard was brave and daring and sharp and good enough to mess with the bull. 

And what about us? The people viewing this. Why do we watch wrestling in the first place? It's not to count kickouts and give out star ratings. It's not. Some people have lost sight of that, but it's not. 

It's to feel something. You know what made me feel something? Priest kicking that mask down the ramp. It wasn't a 450. It wasn't some tricked out counter. It wasn't barbed wire or light tubes. It was just one absolute bastard drawing a line in the sand because he could. He knew the score. We knew the score. He just didn't care. He REALLY didn't care. He didn't care so much that we couldn't do anything but care for him.

There's a magic to that. There really is. And wrestlers like RUSH and Priest help us remember it when the rest of the world has worked so hard to make us forget.

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SEGUNDA CAIDA DECLARES WAR!! 2/8/97

 

1. Ryo Miyake vs. Tomohiro Ishii

ER: Miyake is representing Tarzan Goto, and Sensei Goto is lurking in the crowd just waiting to invade. Goto is sitting alone in Korakuen wearing a purple suit and a white collared shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned. He appears to have an entire row to himself and looks smug, and powerful. They cut to him a lot during the match and they're right to do so. Where can I get Miyake's yellow Tarzan Goto shirt? I would pay very good money for it. Miyake is representing W*ING and Tokyo Pro and Japanese sleaze in general and the Goto shirt is firing up Shinichi Nakano at ringside. Ishii has neon green tights, and a neck. 

It gets good when Miyake starts toe kicking Ishii in the back and side of the head as the latter was getting up. There hadn't been any kind of Kurisu energy and that sparked something. When they go into an elbow exchange, Ishii works his a little and Miyake just runs through him with extra pounce on impact. Ishii kind of tenaciously goes after a hammerlock and that's a cool Ishii I don't know. Ryo Miyake looks like Satanico crossed with Akitoshi Saito but in a fucked up way and not a cool way. Ishii lays out for a Dynamite Kid diving headbutt 2/3 of the way across the ring and this Ishii is so much better. Miyake throws a WAR level lariat running out of the corner. His single leg crab and Texas Cloverleaf looked back backbreaking. I don't think Dean Malenko had a better application and execution of the Cloverleaf any time in '97. I've seen fucking all of them. 

Miyake invites Tarzan Goto into the ring and he takes his time walking from the 15th row of Korakuen, carrying an attaché. Nakano and now Arashi get hot and riled up at the sight of Tarzan Goto in a perfect suit jacket looking The Most Dapper Tarzan Goto Can Look, meaning his stubble is only 6 days old. Koji Kitao comes down, Goto just leaves and holds court outside the building, taking questions on the street as he's hailing a cab. You ever seen a god? 

2. Onryo vs. Choden Senshi Battle Ranger

ER: This is going to be an exciting mess with more crashes than hits and I love it. Onryo's pescado sends him crashing to the ground in front of Battle Ranger, who is still wearing his cape because Onryo hid under the ring and jumped him. Ranger takes a great ringpost bump that looks greater because he's still wearing his big cape. Onryo is remembered for his bumps and risks but his worked punches are a lot better than you remember. He throws an excellent dropkick and is good at leaning into kicks, including Battle Ranger's missile dropkick to the floor, springing off the middle rope. Battle Ranger takes a fucking Jerry bump (!) and Onryo runs up the buckles and dives into him with a Jerry bump AS OFFENSE! It all looks great. 

All of Onryo's offense is tighter than I remembered, and Battle Ranger does little things like kick Onryo in the face hard before hitting an Asai moonsault, not just focusing on hitting the move but actually thinking about believably neutralizing his opponent before hitting it. There's an unexpected and fantastic fight over a rear waistlock, where Onryo keeps trying to kick back - hard - at Battle Ranger's legs but Ranger keeps dodging while holding the waistlock, before suplexing Onryo onto the back of his head. Battle Ranger looks like he damn near snaps Onryo's neck with a muscle buster and this whole thing started cool and kept getting better. We used to seek out WAR tapes for Ultimo Dragon matches and here are two better WAR undercard juniors in the post-Ultimo Dragon era. I don't think anyone was ever getting tapes for the Onryo or Choden Senshi Battle Ranger matches, because we didn't know anything then. Now we can change. 

3. Kamikaze vs. Atsushi Kikuchi

ER: Yume Factory mentioned. Kikuchi is a black trunks white boots no kneepads guy like Riki Choshu but with Tenzan's head. Their matwork is strong and tough, locked in, forearms across jaws. Kamikaze's moonsault has impact like 2 Cold Scorpio's. Kikuchi throws a lot of weight behind lunging elbow smashes and a dropkick, and jumps off the apron with a clothesline the way someone who wasn't totally thinking it through would do. He throws a butterfly suplex with real physics and hits a lariat even harder than Riki's. Kikuchi is one of our great post-peak lost WAR guys; a guy who was only around a few years during the WAR era with less available TV. We need the 1999 Atsushi Kikuchi handhelds. Every suplex thrown is stiff: vertical suplex with brainbuster drop, a German that snaps Kamikaze's legs over his body, a Kamikaze back suplex that was clearly meant to drop Kikuchi on his neck, with intent. Kamikaze returns the lariat from earlier and these lariats are Made in WAR, for WAR. A great lariat is the best roster prerequisite of any wrestling company in history. Kikuchi has no human idea how to take a tornado DDT but that's great because instead it just folds and crumples his body in a painful way. Kamikaze kicks him in the head a bunch after the match, after dropping him on his head with a fisherman's buster. Kamikaze knew WAR so well for a guy who didn't wrestle there very often. He was a natural fit who should have been a regular.  

4. Miho Watabe/Michiko Omukai vs. Sayuri Okino/Michiko Nagashima

ER: I don't know these women. I wasn't watching LLPW tapes in the 90s and I only know a few who have since. I know Watabe I guess. She's the one who looks like a small child. Watabe gets whipped around all over the ring by her hair and it's one of those women's wrestling spots from the 50s that can look so violent when done to a woman who is 90 pounds. Okino's snapmares are more violent but Nagashima's were quicker. Omukai has strong pinfall saves, always taking advantage of the situation and kicking Okino in the back of the head a few times, and Okino bumps nicely for Omukai's hot tag. Watabe can't get any weight behind her dropkick because she has no weight but she does it 20 or so times, spamming quantity, which is important. Omukai's dropkick hits like a joshi dropkick should, and she is very good at small things. Watabe has one good neck bridge spot that's very effective, and Nagashima is really good at hot girl dead eyed interference. She's like one of the Heathers, only with a kendo stick instead of a croquet mallet. 

5. Osamu Taitoko vs. Masakazu Fukuda

ER: WAR show giving us a sumo vs. freestyle match, which is why you watch WAR shows. Fukuda is listed as having a sumo background but wrestles with amateur single legs and pins like Takashi Sugiura or Chad Gable when he did that stuff a decade ago. Fukuda died tragically during the start of his New Japan career. Taitoko - the future Tachihikari - wants to treat him like a punk and Fukuda keeps fighting back against the charges. Fukuda tries to bulldog Taitoko and pretty soon (and pretty easily) gets him in mount with an elbow held across this throat. When they start hitting each other it's one of those great exchanges you get so consistently in WAR, as the much smaller Fukuda is fighting with speed while Taitoko punches him in the nose. Fukuda is small Sugiura, Taitoko is large Kamikaze. Taitoko hits harder and has a great standing sleeper, but Fukuda is relentless and hits a cool uranage on a very heavy man. Why do sumo guys always have such good kicks to the face? Were they all bullied and kicked in the face so much in training that they know how to deliver them naturally and pay them pay gleefully? Powerbombs are real in WAR. They are never faked. They are sincere. Fukuda keeps refusing to stay down for Taitoko's back suplex and powerbomb and chokeslam, all of which were delivered with intent, so Taitoko just clotheslines him in the back of the head and Gedo clutch's that wrestler of inferior style. 

6. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Nobutaka Araya 

ER: 1997 Araya is still trying to do trunks and this boy is too beefy for these orange crush trunks to contain. Everybody's pants look a size too small in WAR and it's one of the best unsung features of WAR. Mochizuki throws six kicks to six different parts of Araya and they all make loud contact. Sumo vs. Kicker is going to be so damn good. It always is. The matwork is rugged, Araya is like Greg Valentine on the mat but his half crab moves into classic WAR torture. Araya is a real prick and he's so good when he wrestles as sadistic sumo Valentine. It's not enough to lock in a crunching STF, he starts pulling at the side of Mochizuki's eye with his fingers for leverage. Araya can really take - and sell - good kicks. He flies back into the ropes so convincingly and takes more than one cool bump to the floor. He also has a WAR level clothesline, per the prerequisite. His corner clothesline hits like Dr. Death, big impact. 

Araya drags Mochizuki's body through a good Korakuen brawl, throwing him down so hard on a bodyslam in the stands that some people around it reacted in real shock. His piledriver is perfect, and Mochizuki is bleeding, and bleeds even more when Araya starts throwing full force headbutts. Araya can absorb all of Mochizuki's good kicks, because he punches back so much harder. Araya starts suplexing him around like a corpse, then hits this killer running lariat and pounces into the cover, an excellent example of a man Trying to Put This Away. Araya even does a Valentine timberrrrrr bump after taking a kick to the face, and when he leans head and neck first into a springboard spinning heel kick it's an incredibly done nearfall. All the nearfalls down the stretch are great nearfalls because Araya starts spamming clotheslines and powerbombs until Mochizuki stays down. It genuinely felt like the real finish was Mochizuki taking as many of them as possible until physically incapable of lifting his body. This rocked in all ways, a near 20 minute match that kept getting stronger the longer Mochizuki persevered. 

7. Arashi/Shinichi Nakano vs. Yuji Yasuraoka/Lance Storm 

Storm and Yasuraoka are dressed like Fruit Stripe gum and they are one of the worst fucking teams of the 90s. Neither man looks like they belong in WAR and this match confirms that repeatedly. It's a minor miracle that Arashi and Nakano were able to make anything about this work, as Storm/Yasuraoka never looked like they belonged in the same ring as them. This is lavender tights/mullet era Arashi. Not to be fucked with. Lance Storm opts to fuck with him all match by hitting the worst offense in WAR history which leaves Arashi and Nakano wondering how to even acknowledge it. Imagine you're Lance Storm, coming into WAR, hitting your cartwheel clothesline and dropkicks that wouldn't budge a soul. Storm's matwork with Nakano is more interesting than watching him attempt any other offense. Are there any good mat-based Lance matches? The man was trained by one Hart brother for one day, there must be some matwork Lance out there. 

The match peaks when it's time for Storm and Yasuraoka's big comeback, where they manage to string together several pieces of offense that either miss entirely or land but wouldn't hurt a fly. It all starts when Lance slingshots himself to the floor with a cannonball...and launches himself far over Arashi's head, landing on his ass on the floor without making contact with a human body. Perhaps he was paying tribute to his partner, who tagged in early in the match with a slingshot senton that completely overshot Nakano. The two of them set up a kind of Total Elimination on Arashi that sees them both throw spinning heel kicks (Storm to the back of Arashi's head, Yasuraoka to the face) and both kicks mostly miss their target, so Arashi is left just standing there while they crash around him. Panicking, Lance follows it up with a dropkick that mostly misses and Yasuraoka has to hit a clothesline just so something finally connects with the largest man in the match who has been standing perfectly still this entire time waiting for anything to make contact with his body. 

You know who is a pretty badass tag team? Arashi and Nakano! They look like two men who should be able to effortlessly hit offense on Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka, and they do! They are especially punishing to Yuji. Arashi lands heavy on elbowdrops, piledrives the man. When Nakano hits him with a brainbuster, Arashi comes in just to stomp him in the head, as it should be. Arashi is such a beast. He hits a big boy frog splash and an awesome nodowa otoshi where he lifts Yasuraoka up by the rear waist of his rights, then slams him forward by the throat. It's brutal having to see Lance Storm try and break up their offense to save Yasuraoka, because we are forced as a viewer to have to pretend a Lance Storm forearm had the power to knock Nakano off the apron. We are forced, as fans of wrestling, to treat Storm's silly leap to top buckle back elbow as a thing that could move a man. It's foolish. I liked how they finished Yasuraoka, him charging straight into a powerslam upon tagging in, Arashi giving him a couple powerbombs on a hard part of the ring, then finishing the job with a twisting frog splash. 

I don't know why WAR fans accepted these Fruit Stripe goofs. 

8. Genichiro Tenryu/Koki Kitahara/Tatsuo Nakano vs. Koji Kitao/Nobukazu Hirai/Hiroshi Hatanaka

ER: Not to the level of the highest of high end WAR trios, but the same kind of memorable as the best WAR trios. What made this match great, is Tenryu working simultaneously as the aace of the promotion babyface AND as a shitheel cheap shot artist. Tenryu is the god king of the promotion, the chairman, yet all match he's taking cheap shots whenever he can, kicking guys in the eye to break up pins, directing his boy Kitahara to do the same shit, that air of unprofessionalism running rampant. It is incredible to see Tenryu both humbled by Kitao, and act as a guy who doesn't want Kitao around. He cheap shots him, and takes liberties with Nobukazu Hirai just because the boy happened to be teaming with Kitao. It leads to the best parts of the match. 

Every Tenryu/Hirai interaction is good. Hirai has the fucking nerve to powerbomb him and Tenryu gets up pissed and starts kicking him in the face, then punching him in the face and eye. Tenryu tells Kitahara to do the same, so Kitahara tags in to kick Hirai in the face, but it's not hard enough so Tenryu comes back to show Kitahara how to kick Hirai in the face while Hirai is downed. Learning from the master, Kitahara tags back in and he throws even harder kicks at Hirai's head and face. This is the kind of wrestling storytelling I can follow and understand. We are all here for Nobukazu Hirai getting kicked in the face any time he steps over the plane of the ropes. It enrages Kitao while offering us nothing but joy. 

This is also a match that makes us ask the question, "Was Koji Kitao getting good at this?" The more he worked, the more his in ring confidence grew, the better he looked in the ring. This is one of those matches that highlighted his upside that was always there. How could there not be upside in a tall, 300+ pound disgraced sumo who can't control his anger? Kitao, in his large yellow pants and large yellow exposed breasts, attempted to mock Tenryu, and I loved all the exchanges between Kitao/Tenryu and Kitao/Kitahara. Kitao actually looked surprised at the fight Kitahara brought to him, as Kitahara came with hard leg kicks, and kept kicking at his legs after Kitao got dropped to a knee. When he has him suitably ripened, he tags Tenryu in, and the fireworks get bigger. Tenryu hits an enziguiri and cannonball, and you know it's good because Tenryu does that thing where he gets to his feet pumping his fist...only to turn around directly into a hard Kitao clothesline, then gets to feel what a fat boy senton really feels like. As Tenryu is recovering on the floor from his flattening, Kitao hits a baseball slide dropkick....and that is when it is officially Okay to ask if Koji Kitao Turned Actually Good in February 1997, and dare yourself to go back deeper to find any earlier moment that compares. 

The breakdown of the finish is excellent stuff, as we knew it was going to come down to Kitao and Tenryu going full unleashed on the other, and they do. Kitao is completely unmoved by two punches to the nose and rocks Tenryu with a right. Kitao walks through Tenryu's punches and throws great jabs, and anything Tenryu tries Kitao just spam blocks with kneelifts. Tenryu, getting nowhere, hilariously tags in sacrificial lamb Nakano, who gets immediately BURIED by a Kitao sitout tombstone. With Kitao distracted by a different body, Cheapshot Babyface Tenryu comes in and starts kicking Kitao in the face to chase him from the ring and bring the weaker members into the fray, because he is great at slapping and clotheslining Hirai and Hatanaka around. Tenryu's whole team is great at kicking and clotheslining and powerbombing Hatanaka. When the clear weak link of the match manages to hit Tenryu with a missile dropkick, all it does it back Tenryu into the ropes, giving him momentum to wreck him with a clothesline. This was a WAR heavyweights main event, driven by complicated relationships and in-fighting that we wouldn't understand but is tangible in all actions. 

THE COMPLETE SEGUNDA CAIDA DECLARES WAR!

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