Consider this the first entry in a new concept that I am attempting. Consider the last entry in the series a post zero, meant as a primer for what I'm attempting here instead of something else. Admittedly this is inspired by one of my top five sites, and I hope it comes off well. Let me know what you think or whatever. Also, note that this post officially ends my recent WWE protest. I care about the talent far more than the shitty billionaires and their logos anyway and I've made my point.
I do not post things here in support of Vince nor his logo, nor of the 100000 camera cuts per episode of their barely watchable content. I don't care about him and dislike the production quality, but appreciate the workers trying their best to make that shit work.
Remember folks, there's no such thing as a moral billionaire.
I hope this helps make things far easier for me time-wise and more entertaining for y'all to read instead. Anything that I don't watch a full event or episode of will end up here, specifically moving forward starting with content from 11/01/21.
I hope this makes sense.
On Tuesday night, I checked out some of the higher rated stuff from Raw. I used their YouTube channel to do so.
Up first, Becky versus Bianca.
This match rocked hard. I appreciated this lead in video too. Truly, a great contest and some good story work here. Becky is a great heel champ and Belair has really grown as a worker. Props to both.
Raw Women's Title: Becky Lynch(c) vs Bianca Belair
Rating: ***3/4
Next, I watched a highlight video on a recent ladder match and then a build up segment with Seth and Big E that was pretty well done, too. Kevin Owens interrupted to set up a match as well. Sweet.
The second match was the Prince himself against Chad Gable.
I'm big on both of these dudes and appreciated the hard work. These are workers that will go out and always try to make the best of situations. Looks like a rematch is on the horizon.
Finn Balor vs Chad Gable
Rating: ***1/2
This shit right here is what I watched next. From what aired, I liked it. Good intensity from Priest here, who is apparently the United States Champion. I've never been big on the dude, but really liked what he put in here.
Crews came out to issue a challenge after. It was okay, but I feel that Crews' current gimmick rubs me the wrong way. I love the dude as a worker, though. He's making the best of it.
No Disqualification: Damien Priest vs T-Bar
Rating: ***
WWE can actually be pretty fun to watch when you do it like this, catching it in just digest form.
This battle between Big E and Kevin Owens was pretty legit. Yeah, it had a bit of overdramatic stuff tacked on, thanks to some Seth shit, but I like soap opera shit sometimes and really liked this. Big E didn't accept an apology from KO, who actually had nothing to really apologize for, and gave him his finisher. Yeah, very soapy yet fun.
Kevin Owens vs Big E
Rating: ***1/4
Wednesday night I jumped in for one match from DDT's D-Ou Grand Prix II night one gig.
The match saw HARASHIMA and Higuchi in a hard-hitting battle. Fantastic stuff for sure and I am always finding myself amazed at how fucking good HARASHIMA is time and time again.
Try to give that one a spin for sure. Tomorrow night I'll likely watch a bit more and then see what happened in AEW and maybe MLW, too.
Higuchi Kazusada vs HARASHIMA
Rating: ****
Okay, so I'm back a few days later. I tried an edible I got from a local shop that is selling them and it was far stronger than I had expected, which made me fucking sick as a dog. The next day I felt like shit, too though that's seemingly for a different reason more than anything else. It said eat half to chill and I only ate 1/4th and that wasn't fucking chill. It was like that K2 shit from several years ago, but if that feeling lasted for hours. When I am in a state that has legalized this special plant, I utilize it in very small doses for pain relief. Basically, an alternative to Ibuprofen that doesn't upset my stomach. I do not like getting baked, personally. I'm not a teen any more. Anyway, enough of that.
On Saturday night I checked out the rest of the matches that seemed worthwhile from that DDT show first.
Hino and Endo put in for a truly great dynamic battle. I appreciated them leaning heavily into the size difference and, while the finish was a bit rough, the style worked in a way, too. Still, the finish itself was the only true critique from me on this one.
Yuji Hino vs Tetsuya Endo
Rating: ***3/4
Up third, we have Ueno and Grandpa Akiyama. I loved the intensity from Jun here as he beat the shit out of Ueno throughout while the far younger worker continued to come back time and time again. Fantastic shit.
Yuki Ueno vs Jun Akiyama
Rating: ****
Last from the show, an awesome time-limit draw. I know that 30-minute (and longer) draws can be a bore for some and they have a point at times. There's a delicate trick, in my opinion, to making them work. Here, they made it fucking work. Make time for this one for sure.
Takeshita Konosuke vs Yuji Okabayashi
Rating: ****1/4
Next up, I checked out what was going on with MLW this week.
This one started with Not Dario insisting on someone being sacrificed tonight, with Not LAX interrupting. Not Dario asked them if they were high on glue because....their behavior was a bunch of "stick nonsense" and I have to say that I sighed the biggest fucking sigh at that shit. Konnan replied that he's always high on weed. That's true and he's one of the most chill people in the business, for the record.
The entire thing turned into a brawl with 5150 and Familia Park.
At least it ended on a high note.
Nevermind, it's not over as Lawlor is out next to chat with Not Dario. He has to wrestle King, not Mil, Muertes in a casket match.
I skipped ahead to the opening bell for the women's tag team match next. I dig the division thus far, because it's basically SHIMMER but in a way that people can actually fucking see for once. I believe I had read that the head of that fed is a consultant with MLW. Those two dudes deserve each other.
It was perfectly fine for what it was; a throwaway tag. Seeing the tag champs of SHIMMER pin their top dog is interesting I suppose. Too bad they don't just incorporate the belts from that fed into MLW. Maybe that's a shitty idea.
Holidead got involved to set up the finish.
Sea Stars vs Willow Nightingale, Zoey Skye
Rating: **3/4
I skipped largely through the next one. They're building Kane big. It was cool seeing Warhorse on TV again.
I bet the Scott math promo made sense to Lawlor. He's dropping pals.
I jumped ahead to see Tajiri eating candy.
The show closed with Not Mil beating Lawlor in a casket match. It never kicked out of second gear, but was good overall. El Mesias' knees are so fucking shot these days that I am always amazed that he can even walk.
Caribbean Title, Casket Match: King Muertes(c) vs Tom Lawlor
Rating: ***
Next up, I checked out this week's We are STARDOM!! episode, catching two of the three matches aired.
This week's edition featured two recent Artist of STARDOM Championships matches, starting with Cosmic Angels' Tam, Mina, and Unagi against DdM's Natsupoi, Himeka, and Maika. Good action, tight pace, nice nearfalls and drama, and I appreciated the title change outcome. A strong start to what already promises to be another strong episode of WaS!!.
Artist of STARDOM Titles: Cosmic Angels(c) vs DdM
Rating: ***1/2
The second saw the new champs defending the same belts against Queen's Quest's AZM, Momo, and Saya. The champs wore new attire and looked great as a trio, selling well, landing their shots, and besting the QQ reps in a borderline great encounter. Both were worth watching, but this one was a touch better.
Artist of STARDOM Titles: DdM(c) vs Queen's Quest
Rating: ***1/2
For AEW this week, I watched both Dynamite and Rampage utilizing YouTube uploads, starting with the countdown videos.
FTR defended the AAA Tag Team Championships against a makeshift duo first. Aero didn't look himself in the video and the timing of him and Kalisto was off. FTR didn't play their roles super well either in my opinion. Oh well.
AAA Tag Titles: FTR(c) vs Aerostar, Samuray del Sol
Rating: **3/4
Next, we have Orange falling to Miro in an Eliminator match. I appreciate Cassidy being sold strongly here, adding drama and making him actually look like a possible victor before Miro snuffed him out.
Good stuff.
After, Bryan came down and tried to shake his hand ahead of their tournament match. Miro declined.
Well done overall.
Orange Cassidy vs Miro
Rating: ***1/4
The next video was MJF on the mic, building up the Darby angle further.
MJF really is a fucking master on the stick. While the segment had some peaks and dips, it overall worked nicely enough, largely thanks to MJF's mic work and Darby being a stick of dynamite.
This is the last of the countdown videos. A pretty nice promo from Punk, giving props to Mox for being brave, which I loved, and setting up more between him and Kingston. The promos alone are going to be gold.
Here's a fun tidbit to add on to this, from a good bud of mine:
From Dynamite, I also watched an upload to their official YT that saw the closing moments of Kenny vs V, which was so short I didn't rate it. It looked okay and ended with Page running off Kenny. Watch that HERE if you want.
Last from Dynamite, Christian and Jurassic Express getting some payback on the Superkliq, in a segment that can be seen HERE that ended with a conchairto to Cole.
Before crashing for the night, I watched the junior match from Power Struggle.
Despy won the gold from Eagles in a great junior battle. Eagles is a good worker and so is El Desperado. The company in general feels so far from the hot streak they were on so recently ago, but the roster is so stacked that there is still a lot of hits to be had either way.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Robbie Eagles(c) vs El Desperado
Rating: ***3/4
I didn't watch the full match, but did catch the closing bit of KENTA's win over Tana. The match itself didn't get well-reviewed and felt a bit off in what I had seen, but KENTA winning the belt over Hiroshi feels like a big deal, at least.
I went back to AEW to check out Rampage before crashing.
Bryan and Bowens had a fun throwaway. AB is honestly a solid worker and BD is...well, one of the best ever. Good stuff.
Bryan Danielson vs Anthony Bowens
Rating: ***
Next, Cole versus Silver.
Am I the only one that is bugged by Cole being fine after eating a conchairto days before?
This was very good content, regardless. Silver remains an underrated beast and Cole one of the most fluid dudes on the roster.
Adam Cole vs John Silver
Rating: ***1/2
The last thing I checked out was an amazing segment with Punk and Eddie. Kings of the mic, across the ring from each other, doing what they do best.
I'm a fan of Punk's work. Note that the screenshot above is from a dude that has, over the years, made his thoughts on the dude very clear. He has a bit of a reputation, especially with dudes that knew him back in the old days.
Watch that HERE and enjoy. Sincerely one of my favorite things from the week.
I went and checked out some reviews of IMPACT and a list of the matches. It seems like another solid episode, but only one match actually stood out as being something I should check out.
I'll talk about that later tonight. Let me know what you think of the Digest series so far.
Hey, I'm back. Magical how that works, isn't it?
I'm afraid this post has too many videos embedded in, so I'm gonna just stick to HERE style links for things now.
So, on IMPACT I watched a six-man main event that had Alexander and Suzuki on opposite sides. Watch it HERE. If you didn't know, they post full matches listed as "highlights". It's a good problem to have.
In all, it was a competent, serviceable multiman seed setter.
Moose, W. Morrissey, Minoru Suzuki vs Eddie Edwards, Josh Alexander, Matt Cardona
Rating: **3/4
Back to New Japan, I watched Okada best Tonga to maintain his WK title shot. It never felt like a real surprise was set, but it was still a pretty good match in a vacuum and one of the best singles matches I've seen from the Bullet Club rep.
Kazuchika Okada vs Tama Tonga
Rating: ***1/2
SHINGO and Sabre Jr admittedly could have been far better, but I still found their title match to be fantastic stuff overall. Like the previous match, the outcome was never a question mark but they worked hard regardless. I really wish New Japan was better right now.
IWGP World Heavyweight Title: SHINGO(c) vs Zack Sabre Jr.
Rating: ****
Before we close with some shit from Smackdown, I watched a bit of CMLL's Day of the Dead gig. First I had to run outside to get some groceries that were being delivered, though. The delivery dude decided the best image to take to confirm was apparently my ass.
So, CMLL.
First, THIS one with Infernales vs UG, Rojo, and everyone's favorite caveman. I had a lot of fun with this and I once again loved the pageantry of these special events. CMLL might suck more often than not, being the Mexican WWE, but when they land a hit they land a hit and the roster is always capable of fun shit.
Los Infernales vs Barbaro Cavernario, Ultimo Guerrero, Dragon Rojo Jr.
Rating: ***1/2
Lastly, THIS one. I read the entry Cubsy did on this show and was laughing internally at the way CMLL apparently teased a heel turn for the son of the legend only to do nothing in this big match. Anyway, I might be high on this vs others, though I have no idea, but I found it to be great stuff. Worth watching that highlight video at the very least.
Rey del Inframundo: Terrible(c) vs Atlantis Jr
Rating: ***3/4
I'm closing this set with a few from SD.
The Ricochet and McIntyre video starts with the set up for the contest, which was fun enough. MAYBE a minute of the actual match aired here, but it came off very well. This is the most excited I've been with Rico for a while.
Next I watched THIS which had King Woods. I dig it. I really like the New Day dudes, though. An okay segment simply because Kofi and Xavier are so entertaining.
Hit Row took out Sami for being a dick. Verbally. I guess.
Not enough of the main event ran HERE to rate, but that's fine. King Woods pinned the Uso brother with a flash win off of some interference spot. After, Bloodline beat down Woods and Kofi which came off well.
Thanks for joining me for the week and thanks for reading.
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