Episode Card: 1.Honda vs Ganseki + 2.Strong Hearts(Seiki,Lindaman) vs Jun, Pegaso ++ 3.Soya vs Ito + 4.Hajime, Koju vs Andy Wu, Niki ++ 5.Alejandro, Hijo del Pantera, Kono vs Fujimura, Seigo, Kondo + 6.Enfants Terribles(Ashino,Kodama,Kuma) vs Inaba,Kaz,Doi ++ Thoughts: Long-term visitors here know WRESTLE-1 is one of my favorite promotions. It saddens me to say that they've announced that, starting April 1st, they are closing down. They are officially calling this an indefinite hiatus, just in case someone wants to resurrect it later, but it's dead, for sure. There are many rumors suggesting this is in part due to WWE's expansion into Japan that's set for this year. Note, I cannot confirm with complete certainty right now if it is true but there are several signs pointing that direction. A reminder that my cross system for this series translates to stars like this: +:*-***1/4 (skippable) ++:***1/2-****1/4 (worthwhile) +++:****1/2-***** (MOTYC) The op
Posts
Just watched the NASCAR Cup race this week with the kiddo, skipping the lesser series competitions. Tomorrow, AEW Revolution will get my main focus but I'll catch up on everything else slowly after (like NJPW, NOAH, DDT, etc) as soon as I can. Just a heads up. First thing of note is this felt pretty clean with a few nice touches of drama sprinkled in. I disliked the stage concept at first, but honestly it's growing on me. The set restarts help add some excitement that works well for the style of racing that NASCAR provides. Color me wrong on that one. Chase Elliot had a good run for a large chunk, but it's how you finish more than anything else. Speaking of, Logano, Bowman, and Blaney had an entertaining end stretch here with the 22 taking the W in the end. That yellow is what really changed things here and the final lap itself was interesting to say the least. Solid race, solid fun. Next up, Auto Club Speedway. TOP FIVE STANDINGS 1.Blaney-85 point
Card: 0.SCU(Kaz,Sky) vs Dark Order 1.PAC vs Orange 2.Darby vs Guevara 3.Dustin vs Hager 4.MJF vs Cody 5.AEW Women's Title: Rose(c) vs Stratlander 6.AEW Tag Titles: Omega, Page(c) vs Young Bucks 7.AEW World Title: Jericho(c) vs Moxley Predictions: The dark match sees Dark Order take on SCU and, if we're getting the reveal of the Exalted One to close the show, than the cult unit should get the W against the former champs. Hopefully it's a pretty good match to get some people to buy in that are on the fence. Archer will likely make a statement on the show and don't write off the possibility of Cobb popping up, either. Just something to mention. PAC looks to bounce back from failing against Omega while also further cementing his role as the bastard by taking out one of the most over dudes on the roster. I expect that exact thing to happen, and it should be pretty dang fun. The Best Friends are MIA from the card and might be seconds for the former CHIKARA sta
Matches: 1.Ironman: Omega vs PAC ****1/4 2.Inner Circle(Guevara,PnP) vs Jurassic Express ***1/4 3.Best Friends vs Butcher & Blade *** 4.Yuka vs Shida vs Shanna vs Big Swole *** Thoughts: Admittedly, I was actually really hoping they'd open with the ironman match. I just didn't expect it, though. I still think it's a missed call to not include the AAA Mega Championship on AEW television at all. Anyway, this was a ppv level encounter between two top shelf talents. The Bastard used the stip well to build extra heat with his DQ spot, the near-falls were all nice touches, the spots were pretty insane at times, the storywork was great, and the entire thing was simply awesome. I love that they had a sudden death finish, too. This was arguably the best thing Omega has done is an AEW ring, which is saying something, and I applaud him for working such rough matches so frequently lately. He even dug into his bag of tricks and dusted off some classics. AEW has been giv
MEN'S Champion: Jericho 1.Mox 2.Cody 3.PAC 4.Omega 5.MJF Thoughts: Mox and Jericho meet this weekend for the title, Omega takes on PAC tonight in an ironman match, and Cody faces MJF at Revolution. What's next for everyone remains to be seen. WOMEN'S Champion: Rose 1.Stratlander 2.Riho 3.Shida 4.Yuka 5.Baker Thoughts: Kris is getting a shot at the new champ! Swole might get fed to Nyla at some point considering the moment last week. Riho will likely be MIA for a bit. Shida is ranked decent but in purgatory. Yuka might not be back anytime soon, sadly. Baker is still trying to get over as a heel. Nyla will murder them all slowly until Kong returns from her other obligations. TAG TEAM'S Champions: Omega, Page 1.Young Bucks 2.SCU 3.Dark Order 4.PnP 5.Best Friends Thoughts: So, the tensions with Page continue and I am unsure what direction they'll take with it now that he's gotten over so well. We'll see this weekend when him and Ome
Matches from IMPACT Wrestling 02/25: 1.Edwards vs Elgin ***1/4 2.X-Division Title: Austin(c) vs Tessa **1/2 Thoughts: We're back for this week's IMPACT to take a look at two pulls. The first was match four in the best of five series between Edwards and Elgin. So far, everything has been worth seeing though I do wish that the intensity level would have elevated a bit more as it went along. It's been largely well done, but not quite as much as I would love to have seen. This one was taped via Wrestling Revolver show, and came complete with a low fan which Eddie had some fun with. I will say that this was the weakest of the four so far, sadly, but I still have hopes the final contest will finally hit four star territory. Watch it if you've been following the rivalry, but skip it otherwise. Closing this one, as we head toward Tessa's defense against Austin, the X-Division Champion put up his own belt here. I like Ace, though I'm not really big on this maj
Matches: 1.Havoc vs Stunt **3/4 2.Dark Order vs Strong Hearts(CIMA,T-Hawk) ***1/4 3.Falls Count Anywhere: Janela vs Kip **3/4 4.Dustin, QT vs Spears, Avalon *** Thoughts: Time for some AEW action ahead of this week's Dynamite. The opener saw Havoc continue to rise with his second victory in a row since returning. This was one of those crowd pleasing, quick back and forth style matches that Dark sees a lot of. Enjoyable, but nothing major. Just note that Jimmy is getting a solid little push right now as he heads to his date with Luther. Bye, Tommy Pickles. Up next, a Strong Hearts sighting! Dark Order are finally getting over better, which is nice, but what'll really start pushing this forward better is allowing them to work quality matches. Anyone who remembers the Super Smash Bros knows they are more than capable of doing that, especially against a pair like T-Hawk and CIMA! Note, that while happy to see Uno and Stu getting over better, I still would love to
Matches: 1.Goddesses of STARDOM Titles: Tokyo Cyber Squad(Jungle,Konami) (c) vs Bea, Hayter *** 2.World of STARDOM Title: Mayu(c) vs Momo **** Thoughts: Time for a new episode of one of the best new wrestling shows out there. We start with tag team action with the promotion's tag belts on the line. I like how they cut to a clip in the corner showing why the challengers were targeting Jungle's weak spot. It just felt like a nice touch. There was a nice energy here, though the entire thing was lacking just a tad to really hit recommendation levels. That's especially sad since there was a title change, making the situation feel a bit underwhelming as a result. Good, but not enough so let's move on to #2. Luckily, the main event was awesome! Loads of action and near-falls, drama and excitement. Basically, about what you'd expect considering this was a title match between two of the best women's wrestlers in the world. A fantastic battle, well worth seeing
Matches: 1.Poder del Norte vs Octagon Jr, Myzteziz Jr, Dragon Bane ***1/2 2.Blue Demon Jr, Monsther Clown, Chessman vs Pagano, Drago, Aerostar *** 3.Faccion Ingobernable(Rush,Park,Bestia) vs Lucha Bros, Psycho Clown ***1/2 Thoughts: I was pretty high on last week's episode, so let's see if they can follow that up properly. Up first, one of the best heel units in the game against a random assortment of flyers. PdN are elite together but it is worth noting they failed as a group more than once at their base responsibilities in this one. Regardless, there was still a worthwhile spectacle on display and it served as a strong way to open the show. After, Argenis murdered Myzteziz Jr and then we had a trip down memory lane, looking at Valentine's Day segments from the past. Remember Gato Eveready? Match two was chaos defined. Good, sure, but too disjointed to be truly recommendable. I did enjoy the finish, even if it led to a rare AAA disqualification. Post-match,
I love the ad for the Killing the Business book that kicked off this week's installment. I'll get a copy, for sure. Orange and Kris shared a moment, again. We got a little bit of behind the scenes from last week's episode, as usual. I wish they had known the cost, roughly, of the cage. This section included the crew getting their first looks at the new action figures. These are some of the best looking figures I've seen and I'm pretty excited about the release. My kids are getting a few, for sure. Nick's magic hits a new level this week! Angel would be envious. Even more impressive, Dark Order has crept into CD's dreams. Even more than that? Matt getting coffee tips from Tony! I need a trip to the EVP Room, clearly. Nakazawa suffered for Justin Robert's transgressions because that's his role right now. Kenny suffered through rehab because of PAC ahead of his ironman match this week, because that's his role. The Toy Fair also got som
Match from New Japan Road to the New Beginning 02/04: 1.Elimination: CHAOS(Okada,Ospreay,R3k) vs Suzuki-gun(Sabre,Taichi,Desperado,Kanemaru) ***3/4 Thoughts: Are my blog entry titles too obscure? Fuck it... So, we continue to catch up on NJPW, the true kings of professional wrestling. This time, we head to the show from February 4th, as CHAOS and Suzuki-gun factions go to war in elimination tag action. Seeing as New Japan has essentially perfected the sport, it should be surprise to know that this included loads of tiny little story additions sprinkled throughout for diehards to enjoy, alongside quality action in general. I love the way the company utilizes the elimination rules stipulation, by the way. Also, due to this being set on a road show, there was a casualness here with the workers seeming a bit more relaxed. That's not to say this was phoned it, but to applaud them for the opposite, actually. See, while they did appear more casual, the action still climaxed nicel
So, frequent visitors here will know one of my biggest, non-wrestling passions is tabletop role playing games. Let's combine the two for a second, shall we. Oh, and note that I have something I'm working on that will also combine the two...But more on that later. So, let's say you're having trouble deciding what to watch. I mean, with so many options, it can be hard when there's so much quality in the world right now. As a result, consider using this to help you pick. Just roll a d20 (if you lack a physical one, just google a dice roller) and check below to see what you're going to be enjoying. Oh, and I'll be doing this with a lot of different subjects by the way. RESULTS 1-New Japan 2-AEW 3-AAA 4-AJPW 5-PWG 6-STARDOM 7-CMLL 8-Dragon Gate 9-OTT 10-DDT 11-IWRG 12-wXw 13-Wrestle-1 14-PROGRESS 15-IMPACT 16-NOAH 17-BEYOND 18-ROH 19-BJW 20-NWA
Matches from NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo Night Two 02/02: 1.RevPro British HW Title: Sabre(c) vs Ospreay **** 2.Okada vs Taichi ***1/2 Thoughts: We continue to catch up on New Japan, this time with two pulls from night two in Sapporo. Up first, Sabre defends gold against the aerial assassin. The noodle-tech style was on full display throughout and they elevated things as they went by slowly unleashing Ospreay. The drama and story work in general here was awesome and the entire thing was a fantastic display of pro wrestling. Note that Fire Pro World is super cheap on the Playstation Store right now, by the way. Rejected Capcom character, Taichi gets the main event spot next since he's up against Okada. I was hopeful here as I had heard good things from people I trust and because, at times, in big matches, Taichi can actually be enjoyable. Luckily, they were right. This was indeed very good stuff though, perhaps a bit below the quality some had suggested. Worth seeing b