So, we got a special edition of BTE after I had already posted last week, two episodes of Dark, and a whole lot more this week as we head into Full Gear. Let's just add that all in here shall we with the special event getting a separate review... BEING THE ELITE #177 Thoughts The opening scene had an Arrow sighting, Meltzer being robbed for stars by Kenny "Woody" Omega, and a dead Adam Cole on the railroad tracks, so what's not to like. BTE Story needs to be a full movie. A sacrifice of bad merch is made in vain. Let the horror consume you. Page takes a walk but how does he deal with a dinosaur being the most over roster member? Also, did you know Chucky T has powers? I did, but did you? Also, did you know Kenny takes care of pet disposal duties when he's off the clock? They closed things with a Black Mirror reference. The crew outdid themselves with this one, for sure. Oh, and since everyone was wondering, my kids went as Kiki and Gigi this year. BEING
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Match from CMLL Puebla Oct 14th 1.CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title: Niebla Roja(c) vs Gran Guerrero ***1/2 Thoughts: Jump about an hour and forty-two minutes in for this one. It's funny, but loosing your mask is supposed to ruin your career (not really true most of the time for the record) but Niebla Roja has been 1000x better since unmasking and in the right situation the dude shines. For all of the issues CMLL has going on behind the scenes right now, they still have a lot of quality talent on the roster and here two of their best worked hard to make for a memorable title defense. That's especially surprising since Puebla shows tend to suck. This was very good, with the right amount of drama and action mixed in making it worth checking out if you skipped out.
Match from ROH TV #424 1.Shelley vs Gresham ***1/2 Thoughts: It's sad that Gresham is arguably getting his best push in ROH this year yet still continues to drop matches like these. It is what it is, though. Two commercial breaks hurt this a tad, but if you enjoy technical showcases, this is for you. This one built up nicely until the sudden finish and was a very enjoyable outing in general. Borderline great, actually. Watch this and let it be a reminder that Ring of Honor is still a good source of quality wrestling, especially if you are selective about the way you watch.
Match from DDT Dramatic New World 1.ALL OUT vs HARASHIMA, Billy Ken Kid ***1/2 Thoughts: I'm a sucker for Takeshita content. While not as smooth as I might have liked, this was still pretty good in general and a nice teaser for the recent title match between HARASHIMA and Takeshita that I need to check out soon. Don't expect to be blown away, but this is worth considering if you're bored enough and/or love Takeshita as much as I do.
So, I have a lot of fandoms, with wrestling obviously being the top one. That said, my time is so stretched out that you might have noticed that the blog has been fluctuating a lot of late. With fatherhood always taking top priority, and then adding in everything else (especially with Nets and Devils seasons starting up), I have been simply feeling a weight on my shoulders that simply isn't needed. So, going forward, I will say that I will be shortening my wrestling pulls down a bit. It'll generally take stronger recommendations for me to watch stuff going forward. I still love DDT, NOAH, AAA, etc. But know ahead of time that I will limit my focus a bit on the best of the best, giving my personal thoughts on them, and then confirming how I fall on them. That means the weekly roundup is dead for now. The only weekly feature you should expect is the new AEW roundup posts and Wrestle-1 episode thoughts. Past that, everything else will be a "select match review"
Matches from New Japan Super J Cup Tour 1.Ospreay vs Amazing Red ****1/4 2.Ospreay vs SHO ****1/4 3.Finals: Dragon Lee vs Phantasmo ****1/4 Thoughts: The atmosphere of these was pretty cool and hopefully a sign of what to expect from the expansion that's coming up. The first match was a fantastic display of what junior style wrestling is in 2019, with arguably the best flyer today taking on one of the most influential names in the genre. I actually kind of wish Red had gotten the surprise victory but Ospreay winning allowed our next match, so... Up second, Ospreay and SHO went longer than I expected but ended up being an epic, near-MOTYC by the end. If SHO isn't booked as a true star in a few years, New Japan will have made a rare mistake. The last pull of the tour was the finals match, which is a little bittersweet now considering what's happened since with Dragon Lee. I actually really like the outcome here as it worked well for the situation. The entire to
Matches from IMPACT Wrestling Bound for Glory 1.Elgin vs Marufuji **** 2.X-Division Title, Ladder: Jake Crist(c) vs Tessa vs Ace vs Daga vs Romero ***3/4 3.Impact World Title, No DQ: Cage(c) vs Sami **** Thoughts: First and foremost, I know TNA did a good job of dropping basically every fan they had. I also know that as Impact, they've been putting on their best shows since the early days. I get why people are staying away, to a degree, but I sincerely do think a lot of wrestling fans are missing out and as far as WWE alternatives go, they are one of the best, more resembling a super indie these days than a diet pop knockoff of Vince's empire. The true dad of NOAH coming over to take on the Canadian meat bag turned out to be as good as hoped in our first pull, with Elgin in particular working his ass off in what you can tell was a big match for him. Check that one out. Our next match was a great ladder contest for the X-Division strap. I, along with most people, want
Matches from... Destruction in Beppu 1.RevPro British Heavyweight Title: Tanahashi(c) vs Sabre ***3/4 Destruction in Kagoshima 2.IWGP Jr Tag Titles: Bullet Club(c) vs Birds of Prey ****1/4 3.KENTA vs Kota ***3/4 Destruction in Kobe 4.SHINGO vs Goto **** 5.IWGP IC Title: Naito(c) vs White ***3/4 Thoughts: Time to catch up on the true kings of pro wrestling, starting with the Destruction tour pulls. With luck, I'll be up to date by the end of the week. The Beppu selection was another worthwhile watch between these two. New Japan might go to the well a lot, seemingly rarely giving us truly original matches, but at least the repeat encounters tend to be enjoyable. This was their 8th singles match by my count, for context. All hail Sabre-ism. Over in Kagoshima, we start with junior division tag action. I haven't been able to update the recommendation posts much lately, but Ospreay remains #1 on the best workers of the year list and his Birds of Prey team work i