The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Week (2023-05-19)
Some serious 2019 progress! I believe I should have my match of the year list for 2019 up next week, and the top 25 wrestlers of 2019 are a few weeks off!
#11
Rush vs Tracy Williams
ROH Road To G1 Supercard
March 31, 2019
An opener full of two wrestlers trying to stiff each other. Rush has such an amazing presence and Williams does a decent job matching the intensity.
Rating: 7/10
#10
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs Rie Tamada & Yumiko Hotta
AJW Zenjo Movement 1995
June 27, 1995
A fun tag with lots of great spots. Double Inoue was especially tremendous and they hit a super cool finish where Takako did a chokeslam as Kyoko came off the top for extra force!
Rating: 7.25/10
#9
Buddy Murphy vs Roman Reigns
WWE SmackDown
August 13, 2019
I’m a sucker for a big star vs a “rookie” on TV and this delivered. Buddy was on fire and working really stiff, while Reigns gave him everything he could to make Buddy look legit, while still having Reigns go over. Perfect TV match.
Rating: 7.25/10
#8
Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera vs Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi
“International Ribbon Tag Team Championship”
Ice Ribbon New Ice Ribbon #1004 ~ Osaka Ribbon 2019
November 3, 2019
An exciting tag match with lots of cool stuff, a great pace, and nearfalls. Although a tad sloppy, it was a blast to watch!
Rating: 7.5/10
#7
A-Kid vs Jonathan Gresham
“Quarter-Finals”
PWG Battle of Los Angeles
September 22, 2019
This had tremendous technical wrestling mixed in with some amazing flying spots with an absolutely tremendous finish, however, the PWG’esque of it took it down a notch. There is just something about PWG that taints everything for my enjoyment. With that being said, still a great match.
Rating: 7.75/10
#6
Akira Hokuto, Etsuko Mita, & Mima Shimoda vs Kaoru Ito, Mariko Yoshida, & Reggie Bennett
AJW Zenjo Movement 1995
June 27, 1995
I loved the early going of this as Bennett was a real force, but it was all about the showcase of LCO being back together. It really picked up as Hokuto bleed a huge gusher and there was a really good dive segment. Lots of excitement and a damn good match!
Rating: 8/10
#5
Daniel Makabe vs Jonathan Gresham
3-2-1 BATTLE! BattleMania 2019
April 19, 2019
Two all-time great technical wrestlers having a technical battle in front of a rowdy crowd is great wrestling. I loved both focused on a different body part, and I really loved when Makabe realized he was outmatched, he resorted to cheating. It leads to Gresham being a great underdog leading to a great finish!
Rating: 8/10
#4
Dynamite Kansai vs Mayumi Ozaki
“Dress Up Wild Fight”
JWP
July 9, 1995
This was a match of two minds for me. On the one hand it’s everything I want. They brawled into the balcony, and they destroyed the ring. They destroyed each other with parts of the broken ring! It was awesome. Heck, Kansai even taped a wrench to her leg to make her kicks more deadly.
However, it’s 36 minutes long and that really takes it down, because it led to down moments.
Rating: 8/10
#3
Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Zenjo Movement 1995
June 27, 1995
The prematch staredown was so awesome, they completely tuned everything else out and it started the story well as the bell rang, Kong went back to her corner to be immediately sneak attacked by Toyota. From there the match started off slow but was intense. Kong’s missile dropkick was really devastating. The last half of the match of going for finishers and dramatic kick outs was awesome.
Rating: 8.5/10
#2
El Barbaro Cavernario vs Mistico
“2/3 Falls”
CMLL Super Viernes
May 24, 2019
This match is kind of ridiculous, but I loved it. The first two falls are all Cavernario kicking ass, including a great segment on the floor where he used the guardrail and whipped Mistico with wires. The 2nd Fall ends with Cavernario ripping off Mistico’s mask to be DQ’ed, after Mistico finally made a comeback. The final fall was unreal. Mistico was flying all over the place with such speed and grace it was unbelievable. Cavernario held his own and did awesome stuff like grabbing Mistico’s legs and swinging his head-first into the guardrail. It was exciting and it wasn’t ruined by silly kick outs since most of the big stuff hit on the floor. The finish was dramatic and this is a match I think most of you will enjoy.
Rating: 8.5/10
“Match of the Week”
Jacob Fatu vs LA Park
“MLW World Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Match”
MLW Saturday Night SuperFight
November 2, 2019
A wild bloody violent LA Park brawl with an amazingly athletic Jacob Fatu. These two were out there for war and it was everything you could ever want plus it had fire! It does start a little slow, but soon enough Park is bleeding so bad everything from there is compelling and a real epic.
Rating: 8.75/10
Upcoming!
I’ll be back next week with whatever I’m watching. Remember to join the discord for Sunday at 4pm EST for this great Joshi Night lineup:
- Kyoko Inoue vs Sakie Hasegawa, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-23
- Manami Toyota vs Mima Shimoda, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-23
- Bad Nurse Nakamura vs Chigusa Nagayo, GAEA, 1995-07-29
- Sakie Hasegawa vs Tomoko Watanabe, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-31
- Manami Toyota vs Toshiyo Yamada, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-31
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Jonathan Gresham vs Tracy Williams (Beyond Battle of Who Could Care Less, 8/28/2016)
It’s been a long time since I’ve done a “Fan Favourites” review, so here we go. This request came from BohsJohnny on twitter, follow him @BohsJohnny.
This match features two of the break out indie wrestlers of 2016 and two of the top technicians in all of wrestling. Both had amazing years and will do well on my top wrestlers of 2016 list (soon to come?).
I had actually watched this match earlier this year, when I subscribed to the amazing Beyond Demand service. I highly recommend this streaming service, a great price to follow a great promotion.
What I loved about the early going of this match was that it was a competition, not a fight. They grappled for advantage, traded submissions, and hit a few suplexes. It was never about hate, it was about getting the win.
Even when Williams had his hand slapped by Gresham, taunting him, it only pushed him to wrestle harder. The match from there kept with that competitive edge with Williams more motivated than the early going.
The problem Williams had in this match is that Gresham is more of a veteran and is a better technician. Williams could gain the advantage, but never get fully in control. For example, Williams would go for a Russian Legsweep, but Gresham rolled through to subvert the damage. It was kind of interesting that Gresham wrestled a defensive match, where most of his offense came from the defense.
The match continued to build, keeping in the competitive spirit, but both men seemed to become equals as the match continued. A great spot, to show that off, was both men hooking legs and doing headstands and trading slaps. They rolled a few different ways from that spot, with neither men gaining full advantage as they had to break it up in the ropes. In fact, that spot lead to increased aggression as they felt the referee broke the hold up too slowly and Williams held onto the submission a little too long.
That lead to the first real strikes of the match as that aspect of the match exploded, included an incredibly vicious lariat by Williams for two. Which injured Gresham’s neck.
As the match picked up his pace, Gresham’s strategy started to focus on the knee of Williams, while Williams focused on Gresham’s neck. It felt like very move had that kind of focus, including some innovative knee attacks by Gresham.
From there Gresham worked for a single leg Boston crab until he was able to hook it on. That move combined with a barrage of punches forced Williams to tap out. Gresham had to struggle to get the submission on correctly, but once he did it was over.
I’ve got to say I liked this match a lot more on second viewing, as the story stood out more. The psychology and story were top notch, as each segment of the match was a natural progression from the last. A really good match that would be in my top 25 matches of the year.
Rating: **** 1/2
EVOLVE 74 (December 10, 2016) Review
EVOLVE 74
December 10, 2016
La Boom
Woodside, Queens, New York, USA
Shown live on FloSlam
This show is the start of an action packed weekend with two EVOLVE shows and a BEYOND show all on FloSlam, plus other events like CZW Cage of Death.
The show starts with Lenny Leonard in the ring welcoming everybody to the show, there is something about starting a show with the announcers talking that just feels right.
Special Attraction Match:
Drew Gulak vs Jaka
I signed up for BEYOND on Demand a few months ago and Jaka was one of the few guys I really fell for, just feels like a really untapped talent. A bigger guy with a lot of noise and force into his work. He’s taking on Drew Gulak (from the WWE) with his amazing theme music.
If you like grapplefuck mixed with some incredibly stiff shots, this may be the match for you. They laid it all out here with snug submissions and killing each other with chops and kicks, where neither men could gain an advantage too long. The nearfalls were very dramatic especially the one off of Jaka’s spinning heel kick in the corner. After another intense strike exchange, Gulak choked out Jaka. A great showcase for Jaka, thanks to Gulak.
Rating: *** 3/4
Larry Dallas appears post match and asks Gulak if Catch Point is really dead. Gulak says it is and wants to be the champion here. This brings out Tracy Williams who tells Gulak that Catch Point is not dead. Dallas interrupts to let Williams know he’s in Gulak’s shadow. The tag titles shows Williams is not in anyone’s shadow. Gulak walks away and I can’t wait for their match tomorrow at EVOLVE 75. Larry Dallas is fine stirring up shit here and this was smart to build towards tomorrow.
Bonus Match:
DUSTIN vs. Chris Dickinson
I enjoy Dickinson for what he is, he’s a real beast in BEYOND. Chuck Taylor, now DUSTIN, was always good for a laugh in IWA-MS, however feels out of place in EVOLVE. One thing DUSTIN does bring is being a legit heel, which is difficult on the indies.
This match was here to make DUSTIN look like a legit challenge to Chris Hero tomorrow night. Dickinson kicked a lot of ass, and DUSTIN was slimy and got his offense that way. Finish came when Dickinson went for a top rope Death Valley Bomb, but DUSTIN slithered it into a counter and an Awful Waffle for the win.
Rating: **
David vs. Goliath:
Darby Allin vs Brian Cage
If you haven’t seen Allin, you need to see Allin.
This started off with a bang, as Cage was making his entrance he got nailed with a dive. The high flying from Allin is just out of this world stuff, including an incredible coffin drop. Although one of his dives was countered into a vertical suplex to start the Machine’s power offense which continued the David vs Goliath story they were going for.
There was an incredible hope spot by Allin, as he moved out of the way of the charging Cage and went to the top rope, only to be chucked into the guardrail. The crowd was really into the classic story as the power kept Cage in control, but his cockiness led to hope spots.
Cage then tells the crowd from one section to move out of the way which leads to him tossing Darby onto the stage in the second row. Darby Allin may be dead or insane, or both. As the referee got to the 19 count out, Darby dived to try to get into the ring, but he was too dead and got counted out. Just an incredible spot match with a great story and crowd.
Rating: ****
After the contest Ethan Page and The Gatekeepers come to the ring. Brian Cage shakes their hands. Page gives Cage a cheque, since he paid him off to destroy Allin after Allin got into Page’s business in the past. Page cuts a pretty good promo running down Cody Rhodes and calls him out here to start their match.
Special Challenge Match:
Cody vs Ethan Page w/ The Gatekeepers
This is actually the first time I watched a Cody match since he left the WWE. Let’s see how the newest member of The Bullet Club looks in EVOLVE.
A really weird contest, as early on it was comedy and stalling. Page was really great flipping off fans and Cody. Then we settle into an okay match. Referee bump and Brian Cage attacks Cody, but referee wasn’t up in time to count. Low blow by Cody, Cross Rhodes and he sneaks out a victory over Page.
Rating: ** 1/4
The Rivarly Comes to EVOLVE:
Matt Riddle vs Jeff Cobb
The story is they fought in other promotions and it’s awesome, so now this match will take place in EVOLVE!
What do you get when a former Olympic wrestler who is a power house takes on a former MMA fighter with unlimited charisma? Well, you get this awesome match!
This was a fight where both men just threw everything they could at each other. It didn’t go too long, but felt like a legit battle. Cobb counters a move by Riddle with the Tour of the Islands for a shocking win in his EVOLVE debut. This ruled and I hope this is the future of wrestling.
Rating: ****
At this point the power in my building went out! It came on and it’s time for the tag titles match. Seems I missed a fun Stokley Hathaway promo, so that sucks.
EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match:
Catch Point (Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi) vs Ricochet & Peter Kaasa
Catch Point got dumped by Drew Gulak and then proceeded to win the titles at EVOLVE 73, now they are facing a huge challenge here in Ricochet & Kaasa. Kasaa’s mullet is really great here!
Yehi and Ricochet have amazing chemistry and all of these guys are awesome is the clip notes from this match. This wasn’t your southern style tag, as there was no long face in peril segments or anything, but what you did get was all action with spectacular spots. Catch Point and the Kasaa & Ricochet team are a good contrast. Grapplefuck vs high spotters lead to an awesome spot fest.If you are into that style, you will love this.
The finish comes when Kasaa goes for the Shooting Star Press, but Williams moves and locks on the Crossface for the submission.
Rating: *** 1/2
Special Attraction Match:
Chris Hero vs Dick Togo
One of the greatest wrestlers ever Dick Togo comes out of retirement and gets booked to face the greatest wrestler today, Chris Hero.
A few minutes into this great match that was building like an old school All Japan classic, the stream went dead, for everybody. We probably missed about 5 minutes there.
Dick Togo took the short piledriver here and wobbled around, then hit a dropkick before passing out. That’s a new take on the no sell of a piledriver spot that I absolutely love and why Togo is an all-timer.
Hero keeps control for awhile with some great forearms and nearfalls, until Togo does an amazing fired up comeback eating forearms and flipping Hero off. A Pedigree by Togo gets 1, which leads to him going for the kill. Kicks, second Pedigree and then the HUGE SENTON by Togo gets the win! Obviously I will have to rewatch this, but it felt like an epic.
Rating: **** 1/4 (tentatively)
After the match Hero praises Dick Togo for awhile and calls EVOLVE special. DUSTIN comes out with a chair and wants to fight now. Hero slaps him and walks away, they will wrestle tomorrow night at EVOLVE 75.
In conclusion:
Get this show somehow, even though it had some lower points, everything was average to great. The three big matches are must watches. EVOLVE continues to deliver and is not making me regret the year long subscription I purchased from FloSlam.
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