Red's Wrestling Blog

We are getting closer and closer to the next big W1 show (9/1) and this episode did well to keep my excitement high. Seiki's curb stomp was awesome and he continues to be one of my favorite roster members, the Pegaso and Pentara tag matches both looked good, and the Enfants rolled on once again The show closed with a T-Hawk sitdown interview. I am pretty sure he's retaining the belt in a few weeks but I'm not certain and I love that.

Steve Stone was forced to retire a few years after suffering a near life ending injury in a match with AJ Styles. He is now wanting to get back in the ring at least one more time so that his kid can see him perform live. If you are interested in booking Steve, please check out his Facebook page here .

Match from NOAH N-1 Victory Night Two 1.Kenou vs Taniguchi ***1/2 Thoughts: This is the first proper match I've seen from this year's rebranded N-1 Victory tournament and it was a very good start. Kenou is my favorite roster member in NOAH and Taniguchi can hold his own well enough. I look forward to seeing more and I'd remind you to not sleep on this promotion, especially if hard hitting wrestling is your cup of tea.

I'm hearing reports that Fenix was injured tonight during a tag match with his brother versus Teddy and Juventud. Updates will be posted as they come but he apparently had a limp which ended the match quickly and he needed helped to the back. Props to Eric Mutter for the initial news. UPDATE: Fenix has confirmed that it wasn't a break and that he thinks it's okay. As of now, the ladder match for All Out is still on.

Matches from CNL Batalla Real: 1.CNL Metro Title: Francis(c) vs S2S **1/4 2.CNL National Tag Titles: Chilean Empire(c) vs Mala Influencia vs Pable,Alessandro ***1/2 3.PNL National Women's Title, Last Woman Standing: Engel(c) vs Alexandra ***3/4 4.CNL National Title: Engranaje Jack(c) vs Levy *** Thoughts: This is CNL's Royal Rumble. I watched and rated everything except the battle royale itself. I just don't care much for those matches and I lack enough of an attachment to CNL's roster to want to see an hour of random names and faces in such a situation. The Metropolitan title defense was ok, but honestly nothing special. The follow up, on the other hand, was a very good sprint with everyone making the best of the little time they were given.  Engel and Alexandra faced off in a last woman standing contest next which was the main contest I wanted to see from the show. The finish could have been better, but it was still a great showing from bo

The escalera de la muerte ladder match gets the opening focus this time around. This will be the 5th match involving the Bucks and the Lucha Bros since AEW began and each has been worth seeing. I have no doubt this one will surpass the others and might even hit MOTYC levels. Private Party versus Gueros del Cielo at All Out. We then get a sit down with Page and JR. Hangman does well but there's still no chance he wins. Now, will he turn heel at the show or are they going for a major underdog performances to try to get him over? Perhaps a double turn, even? That last one's not likely here. I like the guy but I still think he's a poor choice to main event All Out. I hope he makes me look stupid next week.

Best Matches & Match of the Year Contenders: 1.Ishii vs Moxley ****1/2 2.Ishii vs Juice ****1/2 3.Naito vs SHINGO ****1/2 4.Okada vs Kota ****1/2 5.Okada vs Ospreay ****3/4 6.Okada vs SANADA ****3/4 7.SHINGO vs Ishii ****3/4 MVP: Ishii Honorable Mention: Okada

Matches from Nights 17-19 Night Seventeen 1.KENTA vs Sabre ***3/4 2.Tanahashi vs Ospreay ****1/4 3.Okada vs Kota ****1/2 Night Eighteen 4.Ishii vs Taichi ****1/4 5.Juice vs Moxley ***3/4 6.SHINGO vs Goto ****1/4 7.Naito vs White **** Night Nineteen 8.Bullet Club vs CHAOS, KENTA **3/4 9.Suzuki-gun vs Okada, Tanahashi ***1/2 10.G1 Finals: White vs Kota ****1/4 Thoughts: This has been one hell of a ride and one of the best tournaments in wrestling history. It took a bit longer than I wanted to finish it off for a variety of reasons but I'm glad to have been able to see all of these fantastic matches and I am thankful New Japan exists. The storytelling on display during the G1 met a great conclusion here. Ospreay beating Tana, Kota winning the block with victory over Okada made night 17 special. Night 18 saw Taichi actually try (a rare sight), Juice get a victory back over Mox, SHINGO show once again how awesome he is, and Naito taking a shocking fall to White. Al

Match from CHIKARA Aniversario: Apes of Wrath 1.Hallowicked vs Missile Assault Man ** Thoughts: I've been waiting for PCAGG to return and when it did...well, this was disappointing. The wrestling we did get was decent and this could have been a very good contest, but instead they focused on making it about the story and ended things on an iffy note. Skip this one. This is not the way CHIKARA is going to win over new fans (or get old ones back). Overall Rating: 50/100%

Match from DDT E Ja Nai Ka 1.Block Toy Hardcore: MAO vs Shunma ***1/4 Thoughts: Want to see one of the most hardcore matches of the year that somehow doesn't feel hardcore at the same time? While I have a hard time calling this must-see I still think it's worth considering if you're bored and want to see one of the most brutal finishes of 2019...

Match from AKE vs DTU 1.Dement Extreme Torneo Final: Crazy King vs Crazy Frank ** Thoughts: To be blunt, this was disappointing. The overall format just didn't work here and neither came off looking good as a result. There was just enough going on to keep it in out of one star territory.

Dramatically climbing a ladder will forever look different after this one. They announce yet another sell out (or two, in this case) which is pretty good for a t-shirt company. Those pretending WWE doesn't see them as instant competition are laughably wrong. Sammy was a face for a majority of this episode, which was a jarring sight that I'm thankful is over now. Knox gave Orange his first L in his AEW debut. Jobbing the former Fire Ant out already. Shame. This week's BTEmailbag was highlighted by a simple positive response to the question of plans for an AEW videogame. I am pretty sure they've mentioned that before on the show, though my memory sucks, but it's great news either way for any wrestling fan that isn't stupid enough to believe that playing one will make them murder strangers. They closed things out this time around with Pittsburgh and West Virginia TV location announcements, but Cody really needs to never sing again. EVER.

Match from NOAH The Spirit 08/16 1.Kenou, Nakajima, Taniguchi vs Go, Marufuji, Sugiura ***3/4 Thoughts: The goal here was to help promote the upcoming N-1 Victory tournament and honestly they nailed it. It speaks to the quality of the talents as well as the promotion that a match that was basically a general simple house show contest turned out to be a truly great six-man. I know they had a purpose, but it's still worth commending. The group had fun and we had a few interesting teases along the way. The AXIZ fighting in particular was well done, Kenou played his role well, and Taniguchi got a nice surprise win over Sugiura to close things. They nailed it, is what I'm trying to say. Check this one out if you get a chance and keep an eye on the blog for more NOAH reviews and general coverage.

Week of 08/11-08/17 1.McIntyre vs Cedric ***1/4 WWE RAW Good stuff, letting Cedric get time to shine before taking the fall. 2.Roman vs Murphy ***1/2 WWE Smackdown Very good match, though imagine if Roman had been willing to put Murphy over here.... 3.WWE Cruiserweight Title: Gulak(c) vs Oney ***3/4 WWE 205Live Great title defense, as expected, with Gulak winning and both talents coming off looking good. 4.Lifeblood vs Villain Enterprises ***3/4 ROH TV This was a great atomicos match continuing the rivalry and putting Lifeblood on top once again as the story continues. Props to Flip for even working the match, even if he did largely sit it out. I'm pretty sure he's being set up to take Scurll's spot when Marty leaves ROH soon. 5.Bestia 666 vs Rey Horus **3/4 MLW Fusion I was actually disappointed by this one as neither worked as hard as I expected and the match suffered as a result.

WWE has officially announced NXT's move to USA Network, set for September 18th. Episodes will reportedly be added to the WWE Network 24 hours later. TakeOver events will remain exclusive, for now, to the WWE Network. No word on Hulu changes.

Matches from The CRASH 05/24 1.Tiago vs Craven vs Dinamico vs Karma vs Ryan Kidd vs Super Calo Jr vs Terror Azteca vs Torito Negro **3/4 2.Brooks vs Black Danger vs Flamita ***1/4 3.CRASH Tag Titles: Lucha Bros(c) vs Rebelion Amarilla ***1/2 Thoughts: This is the last show of CRASH pulls for me to feel caught up. I started with an undercard match this time full of unknowns because those tend to have a bunch of hungry guys with something to prove. While a tad clunky, partly due to eight guys being involved, it was still largely enjoyable. A run-in distraction finish closed the contest. The next pull was a good spotfest three-way. Yea, not much story here and instead just an exciting sprint but that's all I expected and I enjoyed the experience that hit just below recommendation levels. All three of these guys are talented enough that they could break out sooner than later, and Flamita, in particular, is well overdue. The main event was very good with both teams providi