Red's Wrestling Blog

Matches from Pro Wrestling NOAH Starting Over 11/26 1 .GHC Jr Tag Titles: RATEL'S(c) vs Stinger ***1/2 2 .GHC National Title: Sugiura(c) vs Shuhei **** Thoughts: Here's some recent NOAH padding matches as we near the end of the year. A very good tag clash that had nice energy and decent drama and a fantastic, hard-hitting meat bag battle for the company's newest prize. Both worth watching, both available for free simply because NOAH loves us. Show them some love in return and give these two a click.

Here are the matches covered this time around, all coming from the D-Ou Grand Prix Tournament: 1.Yukio vs Naomi 2.Soma vs Bull James 3.Chihiro vs Ueno 4.Endo vs Brookes 5.Takeshita vs Keisuke 6.Sasaki vs Tanaka The winner of the tournament will challenge for the KO-D Openweight Championship at Judgement next year, which will see DDT trying to start the year off hot. Everything here looked pretty enjoyable, but I'm rooting for (trip-master) Endo to win the entire thing. Chihiro would be a nice backup option or a good finals opponent for Tatsuya, assuming DDT isn't ready for another Takeshita reign (something I'm always open for). The reset following Ultimate Party is now complete, so if you care about DDT consider watching this one in preparation for Judgement. There are a few surprises and it's simply 20 minutes of fun!

Here 's the card for this one. It pains me a tad to see Endo, after doing so well as the top dog for a recent span, working a throwaway mid-card at Ultimate Party and then opening in a throwaway match here. It is what it is and the dude still finds ways to shine, at least in what looked like a fun cluster. A heavy touch of comedy and spectacle came next with an Iron Man Battle Royal and a Dino tag match. Not my thing but it existed. The joshi okibariyasu trial came off well in the follow up, with this serving as the first of seven for Saki Akai. The DDT women are just so good. The rest of the show is where things really picked up. Takeshita and Jiro took on, and defeated, the duo of Honda and Miyu. Maybe have them face Endo and Paulie with the winners getting a title shot? Wishful thinking. The last two saw gold on the line, starting with DAMNATION surprisingly retaining against Brookes and Masahiro. Sasaki and Soma teased some issues here, but they made up before the win

Matches: 1.100 Plastic Case Match: Isami vs Sanshiro ***1/2 2.KO-D Ten-Man Titles: ASUKA,Dino,Trans Am,Ino vs Yamato,Jiro,Oishi,Sasadango,Yuna **3/4 3.Gauntlet: Nautilus vs BAKURETSU Sisters vs Brookes,Ito vs Hall,Naya vs Nakatsu,Yukio vs Iwasaki,Shuichiro *** 4.Independent World Jr HW Title: Ishii Keisuke(c) vs Fuminori Abe ***1/2 5.UWA World Trios Titles: Team BASARA(c) vs DAMNATION vs Ohka,Mongol,Yumehito ***1/4 6.Princess Tag Titles: NEO Biishiki-gun(c) vs Rika, Miu ***1/2 7.KO-D Tag Titles, HxC: DAMNATION(c) vs ALL OUT vs Sento Mizoku vs FUMA, Kubo ***1/2 8.Union Pro MAX Title: Sekine(c) vs Masahiro ***1/2 9.Princess of Princess Title: Shoko(c) vs Yuka **** 10.Omega, Riho vs Honda, Miyu ***1/2 11.KO-D Openweight Title, DDT Extreme Title: Takeshita(k) vs HARASHIMA (e) ****1/4 Thoughts: I really grew to love DDT this year, and this being their last big show of the year I figured I'd take a dive. The wide variety of content on this show alone just cemented my stan

We're in between tours for this episode, so we just took a look at some highlights from older matches and something that I choose not to translate and just write off as very entertaining comedy. If you're going to skip an episode, this would be an easy one regardless of the minor laughs and general entertainment it gave. Instead, read this !

Match: 1.Falls Count Anywhere: Nautilus, Sanshiro vs Aoki, Shunma, Naya NR Thoughts: Every once and a while, you have to say fuck it all. DDT does this often. I enjoy these weird ass releases from the company. They make me smile, they're just generally entertaining, and it's nice to just have some fucking fun now and then, you know!?! Like throwing a question mark in between two exclamation points. So yea, if you want to see a deconstruction of pro wrestling with some solid performers pretending to attempt murder in (and outside of) a book store, here you go. Thank you, DDT! Overall Rating: FuckItAll/100%

MEN'S Champion: Jericho 1.Mox 2.Omega 3.PAC 4.Cody 5.MJF Thoughts: Mox is set to face Jericho at some point, but they're playing slow at it and it's a good move. Especially so since we have no idea when the next special event (other than the Bash/Cruise stuff) is going to be. Expect a possible rematch with Omega before we get to that, though, especially because Mox appears set to be the one to eventually de-throne le Champion. WOMEN'S Champion: Riho 1.Shida 2.Nyla 3.Emi 4.Baker 5.Stratlander Thoughts: The only rankings category that really changed much this week, and that's mainly because Kris beat the #1. Shida appears to still be set to maintain her spot, for now, but we have no clear next challenger for Riho as of now. Speaking of, she must be in Japan right now or something. A quick check shows I was correct. I need to catch up on STARDOM soon. TAG TEAM'S Champions: SCU 1.Pride N Powerful 2.Young Bucks 3.Best Friends 4.Lucha Bros 5

Matches: 1.Young Bucks, Dustin vs Inner Circle ***3/4 2.Trent vs Fenix ***1/4 3.Bates vs Nyla NR 4.Shida vs Stratlander *** 5.Pentagon vs Daniels **1/2 6.Mox vs Janela ***1/4 Thoughts: This week's episode kicked off with an all-action trios match, setting a nice tone for the rest of the two hour stretch. Dustin has been so...revived in AEW and it's just an awesome sight. The follow up was a fairly good bout to continue the Best Friends/Lucha Bros threads. If Trent had won I think he'd arguably be set for a nice spot in the rankings but, alas, that wasn't to be. Some heat post-match kept things between them alive. Last week, the celebration stuff was entertaining but a bit much for my taste. I'll admit that I'm more of a shut up and wrestle kinda guy but Cody once again made me care about a promo here with this one. Dude is a great talker. Audio issues were surprisingly common this week for some reason, but hopefully that's fixed going forwar

Matches: 1.Cutler vs Havoc **1/4 2.Spears vs Kiss ** 3.PnP vs Jurassic Express *** Thoughts: Pretty average episode this time around, with only the main event really coming close to recommendation levels though it did fell like a quick hour, at least. The companion show does dip from time to time and this is certainly one of those lesser editions. Props on the main event tying into this week's Dynamite, by the way. Perhaps just skip ahead til about 1/2 way through if you're interested in this one. Overall Rating: 60/100%

This week, I try out going back to splitting up the AEW content. BTE is different this week, too. As teased last week, the latest installment is Inner Circle based. Leva had story time with the boys, and they learned a lesson on kidnapping and turning their lives around. The sickest super kick ever took place soon after. Hager is arguably the best video editor in the game, it seems. I guess I should give up. Sammy is also a fucking psychopath. Who does milk first? Merchfreak!

Matches from New Japan Power Struggle 1.Naito vs Taichi ***3/4 2.Super Junior Tag League Finals: RPG3k vs Suzuki-gun ***1/2 3.NEVER OW Title: KENTA(c) vs Ishii ****1/4 4.IWGP Jr Title: Ospreay(c) vs BUSHI **** 5.IWGP IC Title: White(c) vs Goto ***3/4 Thoughts: I'm close to caught up on New Japan before WK, so let's dig in! Naito and Taichi used their time very well and cut the bullshit in our first pull, and the match was well worth seeing as a result. All hail Naito! Up next, the Super Jr Tag League concluded with a very good match. Suzuki-gun attacked during the walkouts setting the tone, and both teams used the trope well here to ensure it didn't hold anything back, instead adding nicely enough to the overall storytelling. The champs go full heel afterwards. Three title matches finish out our review selections this time around. First up, the ever-awesome NEVER strap, which has become one of my favorite championships over the years, and KENTA/Ishii was an

Match  from AAA Lucha Capital 11/27 1.Lady Shani vs Keyra vs La Hiedra ***1/2 Thoughts: It's a bit funny but AAA's women's roster is actually a lot better than most people give it credit for and is actually one of my favorites in the world. The talent is there and, when put in the right spots, they have the potential to really put on one heck of a show. Here, these three did exactly that.

Match from Pro Wrestling NOAH Starting Over 11/16 1.IPW:UK Jr Title: Kotoge(c) vs Harada ***3/4 Thoughts: The finish alone makes this worth seeing, but the match in general was great. There was a great display of fighting spirit here, with a nice combination of technicality, precision, and impactful strikes from both men and the entire thing made for a fun experience.

Match  from Big Japan 08/24 1.Elgin vs Sekimoto ****1/2 Thoughts: When it comes to this style, few are as good as Seki and Elgin. Any denial of that, in my opinion, is ignorance or heresy. I mean, yea, Michael is a bit of a dick , but I can still enjoy his work. So, anyway a match between the two should serve as proof of their dominance of the genre, right? Yup. The hits were hard enough to echo from the speakers into my soul and the drama was enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. The overall match was not only a must-see encounter between the two big men, but it was also one of my favorites of the entire year. If you missed out on this MOTYC, fix that mistake NOW!

Matches  from Pro Wrestling NOAH The Best: Battle of Aesthetics 11/02/19 1 .GHC Jr HW Title: HAYATA(c) vs YO-HEY ***1/2 2 .GHC Tag Titles: AXIZ(c) vs The Tough ****1/4 3 .GHC National Title: Elgin vs Sugiura ***3/4 4 .GHC Heavyweight Title: Kaito(c) vs Kenou ****1/4 Thoughts: This is from that huge NOAH show they ran recently, and was one I was pretty excited for. I held off on catching up on New Japan to watch it, actually. Props to NOAH for making this show feel truly special, by the way. The Junior contest was pretty good, showcasing both nicely enough though it could have been a touch better. The Tag was a near MOTYC and an old-school style puro tag contest that I loved. The crowning of the first National Champ saw a great hoss battle between two of the style's best. And the main was truly fantastic, with Kaito once again showing that underdog spirit that he's been perfecting and Kenou again displaying why I consider him the best guy on the NOAH roster. Do yours

1.Cole vs Riddle 10/02 (NXT) ****1/4 2.Omega vs Janela 10/09 (AEW) ****1/4 3.Kento vs Jake Lee 10/24 (AJPW) ****1/4 4.Marufuji, Tadasuke, Yo-Hey vs Kaito, Harada, HAYATA 10/11 (NOAH) **** 5.Liger vs Suzuki 10/14 (NJPW) **** 6.Ospreay vs Phantasmo 10/14 (NJPW) **** 7.Kota vs EVIL 10/14 (NJPW) **** 8.Okada vs SANADA 10/14 (NJPW) **** 9.Mistico, Fugaz vs Valiente, Star Jr 10/18 (CMLL) **** 10.Omega vs Fenix 10/19 (AAA) **** 11.Elgin vs Marufuji 10/20 (IMPACT) **** 12.Cage vs Sami 10/20 (IMPACT) ****

Hulu actually has a rather solid lineup of classics on their platform if you take the time to search for them, including Stargate, Star Trek, X-Files, Buffy, etc. But, if you want to look a bit deeper, you'll find some real gems that a lot of people seem to have either forgotten about or, perhaps, that just failed to transition to the next generations and are being lost to time. So, here's my top five sci-fi series gems on Hulu. Let me know what you think. 5. Dollhouse Made by Joss Whedon, Dollhouse is one of those many shows axed by Fox early in a run. Remember Eliza Dushku? Yea, she stars in this interesting series with a unique plot. At two seasons and less than 30 episodes, consider this one next time you're looking for something random to check out. 4. Roswell Based off of a YA novel line called, Roswell High, this scifi meets teen soap was far better than it had any right to be and had a pretty rabid fanbase at the time. The show has been recently revived and

Matches: 1.Poder del Norte vs Hamburguesa, Octagon Jr, Mr. Iguana *** 2.AAA Mini's Title: Dinastia(c) vs Laredo Boy vs Mini Psycho vs Demus vs Drago Kid ***1/2 3.OGT's, Escorpion vs Pentagon, Pagano, Psycho Clown **1/2 Thoughts: I have the flu right now and watching the latest AAA episode seemed like a fun idea. The opener was a fun little filler contest, and Golden Magic looks like he's going to do well in his new role as Octagon Jr. We get a brief look at Pentagon issuing an open challenge for him and his brother's Tag Titles. Next, we get the Mini division title on the line, which is pretty cool especially considering the people involved. Lots of "new" faces on this episode (repacked ones to be more accurate). This was an exciting, all-action cluster of alternating spots and truly, just a load of fun. Next up, we got a bit of a formulaic trios main event. Pagano's early botch (there's usually at least one a match with him) surely made b

Match  from EVOLVE 134 1.EVOLVE Tag Titles: Fox, Ruff(c) vs Riddle, Stallion ***1/4 Match  from EVOLVE 135 2.WALTER vs JD Drake ***1/2 Match  from EVOLVE 139 3.EVOLVE Title: Theory(c) vs Briggs **3/4 Thoughts: I just bulked up my DGUSA DVD collection with their big special, so while I wait for those to come in let's take a look at recent EVOLVE stuff. They made it easier by actually uploading most of what I wanted to see for free, and the links to the matches I am reviewing are linked above. It was nice seeing Riddle back in the first pull. The dude was one of the best parts of the company during his run. The jackhammer was a clever addition, especially considering the crowd they drew. Fox was good as usual and the other two played their roles well. While a touch below expectations, this was still fairly enjoyable. If you like big boys beating the shit out of each other the second pull is for you. It didn't feel as epic as I had hoped, mind you, but I still thought

So, I am sick right now with the flu and with the holidays catching up was a bit of a bitch, too. As a result, this week we're doing select match review style for Dark. Being the Elite 181 Thoughts Nakazawa tries to get Kenny to play a game. Of course, they boot up a retro Chip n' Dale game. He then gets him worked up and makes him realize that defending the AAA Mega Championship is a good idea of what to do next. We've seen that teased previously with a match versus Evans actually happening on this week's Dark, but this was more fleshed out. Nick and Cutler hang out minus Matt. Kaz is still a nerd. Nick replaces CD for Matt and harasses him about the shirt. Merchfreak Nick gets his magic on. Havoc gets the finger treatment. Roberts and Nick have a fun moment in what's part of my favorite new ongoing segments of BTE. A recreation of an iconic Titanic scene will make you cry. Private Party then hyped Page up and shit gets lit. Inner Circle fuck shit up and

So, regular followers of the blog know that WWE products don't get covered much here. In fact, this year 205 and NXT were the only main sources of WWE that I frequented. Now, without warning, WWE has stopped the trend of putting TakeOver events on Hulu and as a result it's very unlikely that you'll see much in the way or reviews etc regarding the company going forward. While they have a lot of talented performers on their payroll, some of which I know, I have maintained that I have no interest in giving Vince a dime any time soon. Add in the dip in quality of 205Live, my general lack of time, etc, and it just solidifies my choice. Instead, I hope this blog continues to be a little gem for those who like alternatives to Vince's vision and thanks to those who continue to visit.

Chapter Two The Stacked Deck nightclub, having recently opened near the docks, has already established a seedy reputation. Ran by the newcomers to town, the Falcone family, Carmine is said to be the patriarch. I have yet to see him. The men I've conversed with haven't either. He is becoming more myth than man in record time, and the stories aren't good. A wife under the name of Louisa seems to run day to day operations of the venue, and has been serving as the face of the family. Her Italian features are easily recognizable, and her beauty would have been worthy of poems and lyrics in days past. Two young sons, Alberto and Mario, round out the family. Innocents. My business life is handled only at work. My personal life at home. This life is handled on the streets and in the cave. Below my home is a natural cave system that I've turned into a secure location to aid me in my duties. I keep a list of names there. Big fish needing caught and the best way to catch o