Looking for coverage of the best wrestling content from the last week of August? Fuck yeah, you are! Well congrats because you've found the right place. What follows is coverage of the fifth installment of BOUT BLITZ, which takes an entire week and compacts it into about 2-hours. The only things missing from the week that might be worth your consideration would be:
- WWE, NWA, and MLW content. I don't cover them right now.
- PPV and special events like All In and Emergence.
- This:
- Ring of Honor, which supposedly sucked last week anyway.
- Effy's Big Gay Brunch 7.
Daisuke beat Toi in a fill-in match, following MAO being pulled with an injury. Ueno made the save after when the heel went for the attack and Daisuke asked him if that's who he really wants to be. Does Ueno want to stay where he is forever or join him and Takeshita and change the world?
Chris Brookes and Ueno then would defeat Irie and Jun Akiyama thanks to a praying mantis bomb being dropped from the champ. Chris and Irie face each other on the 9th.
Good building block stuff from DDT this week.
N-1 Victory Block Finals
The N-1 block finals show was legit. The undercard was all rather entertaining and the last three rocked hard! If you'd like, you can watch N-1 coverage you can catch it all via BOUT BLITZ 6 by clicking HERE.
Go versus Nakajima, with AXIZ gear on for an added bonus, was a dynamic battle worthy of being added to their catalog of great battles together. Kenoh in blue would then beat the shit out of Jake Lee until he won the A Block side. Last from the three standouts, we had Go and Soya working a Block B decision match that really did well in the main event spot.
If you can only watch the finishes reel included in BOUT BLITZ, then do so. If you can watch the whole show instead, do that! NOAH remains a source of excellence even in 2023 and you're making a big mistake if you aren't checking in on them. I consider those three recommended matches to be the best wrestling content covered in the set and I strongly suggest you make them the priority.
Dynamite
Chris apologized to Sammy. Then tensions occurred thanks to Chris whining about not beating Will at All In. Eventually Jericho tried to stop the fire, suggesting they team up to go after the tag belts. A stare down eventually led to the two shaking hands in agreement. Okay stuff.
The New Japan STRONG Openweight Championship was on the line next as Eddie Kingston defended against Blackpool Combat Club's Wheeler Yuta. Misawa versus Kawada colors on display and the two used their 10-minute window to give us a pretty good title defense. Compact fighting spirit.
Claudio appeared after to make a statement and to help his fallen comrade. The Ring of Honor World Champion and New Japan STRONG Openweight Champ are rivals right now. It's funny because ROH and NJPW's relationship not that long ago was very different.
Cole was in the ring for Story Time next. He bragged about the new hardware and to talk about the main event. MJF's neck was hurt but he'll be ready for Dark Order. Strong and The Kingdom came out to interrupt. Roderick whined. Bennett reminded Adam of their past with some cheap heat added on, of course. Taven talked some shit, too. Cole told them MJF was his best friend and that triggered Rods to whine some more. He'll be trying to get a shot at MJF and claims he'll win. Meh.
Pentagon challenged Orange for the International strap next. This is the one everyone was whining about. Y'all were as annoying as Roderick Strong doing that shit. No one's opinion, not even mine, needs that much weight. Anyway, this was fun. It wont be for everyone, but I enjoyed the entertainment provided for sure and think it's certainly worth a look.
After, the finish seeing Cassidy keep the strap thanks to yet another flash pin while increasingly looking like a broken action figure held together by tape, Orange would grab a mic and do something rare.
Talk.
He sat down and said he was a broken action figure held together by tape. Basically. He said he's a fighting champion and put over his role. He told Mox he'd need more than a fork. He does not have a catch phrase. Jon, of course, came down and the two traded shots.
Doesn't anyone else wish AEW would've kept the arm break realism that Lucha Underground ran with?
Anyway, that was excellent television.
Impact!
The brand's Tag Team Champs, The Rascalz, are out and it's problematic Zachary Wentz taking on Chris Sabin in our first of two pulls from the latest edition of Impact Wrestling on AXS. This show followed Emergence, the latest special event for the company, where Wentz and Trey actually won the straps, taking them from Subculture. The World Champ, Alex Shelley, seconded his Motor City partner in this one for those keeping track.
This was a nice, technical focused match that went about ten-minutes, but it didn't pump much outside of second gear. Still, it was a good building block contest and a good tease for a MCMG/Rascalz title match that's currently set for Victory Road in a few days. Trey at one point tried to get involved, Shelley stopped it. Sabin would win moments later after a missile dropkick from the top and a cradle shock that would land him the three-count. Trey attacked Sabin for a moment after and the champs ran off.
I should elaborate a bit, actually. For those that didn't know, Wentz was allegedly very abusive of Kimber Lee and is a complete dipshit in general. That might keep you from wanting to watch the last match, so I figured I should be clear and fair and let it be known so you can decide if it matters to you in advance.
The main event, labeled an All-Star six-man, saw Moose team with Myers and Edwards to face SANADA, Kazarian, and Jake Something. This one also ran 10-minutes. While a bit simple, there was still a bit of steam here. I've been away from the company for a bit myself, so I'm not fully aware of all of their storylines right now but seeing Something get the nod, pinning Myers of course, was an interesting sight. SANADA was booked in an interesting manner. Good overall, though not really must-see.
This show, the first to build to Victory Road and the 1000th episode of Impact, also featured a segment with Dreamer and King. If you're interested in such things, you can find that HERE. Decay also had some drama occur if you care. If you don't, at least consider the two pulls I did cover above. Both work decently as a way to jump back into the program for fans that have been away, even if they aren't in my normal must-see range.
Super Viernes
Soberano Jr vs Mistico main evented Mexico City on Friday night, using the usual 2/3 falls rules. A spotfest supreme, they went move for move and bomb for bomb but eventually the expected victor stood tall. With Aniversario looming, Mistico got a big win in front of a big crowd. Good shit!
Rampage
Adam Page and Texas standout, Bryan Keith, kicked us off for Rampage. I have a write-up on the Texas scene coming soon once I finish getting some replies from movers and shakers in the scene. I really appreciated them not making this a random squash as Keith actually got to show off a bit even though it only got an extended squash time window. Not enough meat to be something super special on its own, but it was important nonetheless.
Kip and Gringo fucking Loco faced Wayne and Vikingo next. What a crazy matchup and the last minute or so was nuts. Good spotfesty stuff.
Giant Series
Note that before the match covered next, the Tenryu and GLEAT tag division belts were on the line with Voodoo Murders versus Evolution ending in a time-limit draw.
What I did watch saw Kento, Kojima, and Anzai beat Yuma Aoyagi, Shuji, and Ren in Karuizawa. You won't be blown away with this one, admittedly, but it was a fun six-man match that worked in a way to showcase AJPW at the moment. Kojima, the bread loving bastard, got the win for his team. We got some backstage promo stuff after, so turn on your translators.
Collision
On to Collision. We have to talk about the CM Punk situation, don't we...
The dude was fired for being a cancer. It was overdue. He's a talented prick, but a prick nonetheless. The reason for Tony Khan's wording seems to be to cover them from a legal standpoint. I don't think the dipshit is going to push the issue much due to what we have heard about his contract, but we'll see.
Dipshits gonna dipshit.
The entire thing is embarrassing and the fact that two years in a row, both after moments that should have been major notes in what will be the overall history of AEW, the main story is how Punk was involved in something stupid. Basically no one looked good in any of this one.
Ricky and Ricky joined Tony Schiavone in the ring. Starks wants a dragon and Steamboat has a contract. Bait and switch, as it was Danielson instead that was listed instead of Steamboat. The strap match is on. Ricky likely couldn't go anymore anyway, so this is fine.
Aussie Open took on Komander and Wayne next. Cubs mentioned Nick being a second generation wrestler seems to have triggered instant acceptance from the lucha boys in AEW. Worth a good laugh if nothing else? Of the spotfests of this set, this one was arguably the best and it served nicely as a bounce back win for the former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champs, too. Mileage will vary and ultimately this was just a throwaway more than anyway.
Wayne, when interviewed by Schiavone after, whined about Darby forgiving Fox in a segment most fans would have preferred to forget. Allin came out to explain himself. Cringe television. Christian and Luchasaurus eventually came out to save us. Cage said he wanted to know about Wayne's mother and said he should become his new daddy. He added some Blackhawk knocks for good measure. At least it ended on a high note.
The Outcasts are in action next, taking on Kris, Shida, and Brit. The heel unit got the win and it was just a safely played, average trios match with a shit finish. More tensions teased, but largely this was nothing with very little time or reason to care. The division remains 2D.
Last up, Jay White took on Dax in singles action.
Following the Bullet Club Gold/FTR series, this one was a lock to be good shit. That both dudes, especially the amazing Jay White, are great helped, too. The promise on paper was delivered luckily too as both worked a nice, tight main event battle with a lot of time allowed. Just old-school, hard worked wrestling for a quarter of an hour with a strong pace and nice drama and action ratios.
Honestly, this might be the best thing of the week that aired on American television from the world of murder gymnastics.
With Punk gone, make Collision the White show!
After the match, BCG attacked until Matt and Nick ran down for the save. The brothers were booed heavily. FTR refused to shake their hands. They took victory laps after the show went off air.
All Out feels like such a b-show and the Chicago fans are likely to revolt. Oh well. The attendance drop has been major there too since they wont stop running there. Oversaturated markets aren't cool, TK. Run some shows in cool, small European cities and venues. Run NYC. Run Mexico. Run Japan. Chicago ain't it this much, this often.
Anyway, there was a lot of good shit this week but almost nothing here really will be remembered for long if I am being honest. A week full of build, more than anything. NOAH was responsible for the best stuff so if you want only the best of the best, look to Japan.
You do you, though.
Be kind to yourself and others, wolfpac. You are appreciated.
Match Ratings
- Daisuke vs Toi NR
- Brookes, Ueno vs Irie, Akiyama NR
- Huxley vs Anzai NR
- Yoshioka vs Inamura NR
- Thatcher vs Masa NR
- Morris vs Brooks NR
- Soya vs Wagner Jr. NR
- Shiozaki vs Nakajima ****1/4
- Kenou vs Jake Lee ****1/4
- Shiozaki vs Soya ****
- NJPW STRONG Openweight Title: Kingston(c) vs Yuta ***1/2
- AEW International Title: Orange(c) vs Pentagon ***3/4
- Wentz vs Sabin ***1/4
- Moose, Edwards, Myers vs SANADA, Something, Kazarian ***
- 2/3 Falls: Soberano Jr vs Mistico ***1/2
- Page vs Keith ***
- Gringo Loco, Kip vs Vikingo, Wayne NR
- Kento, Kojima, Anzai vs Shuji, Aoyagi, Ren ***1/4
- Aussie Open vs Wayne, Komander***1/4
- The Outcasts vs Baker, Shida, Kris **1/2
- White vs Dax****
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