Sunday, October 13, 2019

New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/6/2019 - G1 Climax 2019 Day 1 - KENTA vs Kota Ibushi

New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/6/2019 - G1 Climax 2019 Day 1 - KENTA vs Kota Ibushi

From: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7cprhq



Ibushi gets slapped hard early on, and then Ibushi gives it back harder. Ibushi hangs on the middle rope and gets a 2nd ope kneedrop. Kenta hits lots of hard kicks. Kenta teased curb stomping his face into the mat, then instead back heel kicked him. I didn't think it was funny because it would make sense to do it. They trade some nice shots, and Kenta boots him in the face. They get another nice exchange soon after. Ibushi moonsaults from the 2nd turnbuckle for 2. Kenta hits a stiff leg lariat . Ibushi does a pele kick that the camera's miss. Ibushi goes for a dive and Kenta tries to catch him with a kick and can't, so Ibushi has a bad fall. Ibushi gets hung on the barricade then Kenta double stomps him from the apron. Kenta has Ibushi sitting in the corner and dropkicks him in the face. Kenta double stomps him from the top for 2.

They collide on a clothesline then Kenta does some sloppy double knee/busaiku knee kick. They trade some forearms then kicks. Kenta does two hard head kicks. For the finish, Kenta hit a go to sleep, but it only hit Kota's ribs, so it sucked.

I wanted this to be the kicking version of Goto/Ishii. That didn't happen. We got some of it, but the middle and 2nd half of the match had very little of it. There were also a lot of sloppy sections here and the finish wasn't any good. I still did like most of it, but it wasn't as good as it could have been.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/11/2019 - G1 Climax 2019 Day 18 - Hirooki Goto vs Shingo Takagi

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/11/2019 - G1 Climax 2019 Day 18 - Hirooki Goto vs Shingo Takagi

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fspxm



We start with an okay forearm exchange. Shingo jerks him around with boots early. Shingo gets seated on the top and then neckbreaker'd. They trade some shots and Shingo backdrops him quickly. Shingo hits a nice lariat. Shingo had Goto on his back and then quickly fell back. Shingo hit a great sliding lariat. They had a real nice lariat exchange with Shingo going down. Shingo hit a great made in japan and the crowd is really into into it. He then had another nearfall with a big lariat. Shingo hits some great combo forearms and it ends with a Goto headbutt. Shingo then comes back with a big lariat of his own. We get a freaking nuts lariat by Shingo, sending Goto flying, then wins it with a wrath of the dragon soon after.

The second half picked up and ended up making it a good match, but the first half wasn't as good as it could have been. I thought Shingo really showed up Goto here and the crowd really liked him. This was a star making performance for Shingo and Goto really sold for him to get him there.

AEW Dynamite Episode 2 10/9/2019

AEW Dynamite Episode 2 10/9/2019
JR, Tony Schiavone and Excalibur are on commentary. It's great to have Tony and JR back and that's really the main reason I'm watching. Excalibur sounds like Reggie Miller.

As for the overall look of the promotion, I really think they need something to stick out. Their set-up doesn't have a distinct look and reminds me a lot of old Impact. 

Private Party vs The Young Bucks


The Bucks really look indy on TV and the pink just doesn't work for Private Party. I do like their entrance though. One of the Bucks is losing their hair which is a big problem with their douchey Rockers gimmick. The Bucks have no end to their flippy spots and probably did a million of them here. Cassidy is definitely the Michaels of the Private Party group and is a decent seller. PP did a cool hurricanrana while a Buck was on the top into a cutter and Marquin of PP did a real nice SSP off the top. PP got a surprise pin here, which no one saw coming at all. There's been a lot of discussion online whether it was the right call or not as the YB's are kind of one of the big names of AEW. I think it worked out well here and really got them over as a possible foes to the Bucks.
Special Needs Ortiz of the worst faction ever
Chris Jericho did an interview segment announcing his group is called "The Inner Cicle" and doing some other stuff. I think the Inner Circle is the most random mish-mash of people in a unit ever and if this was WWE doing it, they'd be ripped to shreds. They just have nothing in common. The one LAX member kept playing with tongue during the whole thing and came across as special ed.

#1 Contenders - Jimmy Havoc vs Darby Allin


Tell me both of these dudes couldn't be Jimmy Havoc.


I have a hard time telling who is who. Both of these people could easily be Jimmy Havoc. Allin wears booty shorts and leggings for some reason. Havoc is skinny Sami Callihan. Allin gets suplexed from the apron to the outside early and is release sleeperhold suplexed. He also gets double underhooked and dropped on his neck and I refuse to call it the Tiger Driver '98. The reason is because when you name a move with a year on it, the year has to be when the move was first done, which is not the case. Darbin gets curb stomped as well and then bites Havoc's fingers. Then he does his back elbow from the top and wins. Allin took too much and didn't get enough in before winning.

Emi Sakura and Bea Priestley vs Riho and Britt Baker

Emi needs to lose her gear. It looks awful and makes her look chubby. Britt and Rhea fight outside forever and should have been counted out, but the commentary crew said she is using discretion. I never liked Japanese style countout and DQ rules, because breaking the rules doesn't mean anything if everyone breaks them. AEW does picture-in-picture here during commercials and I'm not a fan. It's hard to watch either and it makes everything feel longer than it is because we are so used to getting breaks. This really wasn't special and was only noteworthy for Britt the Dentist using a mandible claw on Emi to win. We get a Britt/Bea fight after this and that match is not very appealing.

Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta did an interview. We saw a video of them hugging in the park. They were asked how they are feeling and they said to ask Orange Cassidy who had his thumb up. We then cut to Shawn Spears for no reason.

Shawn Spears vs Jon Moxley

Spears is with Tully Blanchard. Moxley's tights don't work for me just as Spears' haircut doesn't work for me. Pac is on commentary. Tully puts his hands on Jon and JR brings up why the ref doesn't DQ him. They explain it away as "ref's discretion". Tully pushes Moxley into the steps. Spears puts Mox on his shoulder in a DVD position and then falls sideways into the barricades. They do picture-in-picture again which I found it hard to pay attention to. Spears a does a weak tope, goes to pose then gets tope'd. Moxley hit a nice lariat.  Mox pulls Spears into his head for a headbutt and I think it hurt him worse than Spears. Mox then won with a lifting double hunderhook DDT in what I thought wasn't anything special of a match.

Kenny Omega comes out after the match with a barbwire bat and broom. Him and Mox stand off and Omega throws him the bat. Pac then comes from behind and hits Omega with a running chair shot. Moxley isn't happy about it and ends up letting Omega go.

Dustin Rhodes and Hangman Adam Page vs Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho


IIRC last week, Page and Rhodes brawled with the inner circle which built this. Dustin looks like a giant here as everyone else is much smaller. Page does a cool reverse fallaway slam. Guevarra had Page up like a death valley driver on the 2nd rope then dropped him off on the top rope. Page and Guevara run the ropes and Page goes into it and hits a nice spinning lariat. Dustin then hits a nice lariat too. Dustin goes up top and does a turn around crossbody on his 2 opponents. Page moonsaults from the top to the bottom but the camera's miss most of it and then Hager(who is with Jericho and Guevara) runs him over with a lariat. Guevara distracts the ref and Hager lariats Dustin then Jericho hits the judas effect back elbow to win. It was just okay and wasn't anything special. There's just a lot of people with different styles that don't easily match.

Hager, Jerico and Guevara beat up Dustin then Page and Hager fight to the back. The lights go out and Cody Rhodes comes out and hits the cross rhodes on Guevara. LAX then come in and jump Cody. MJF, who is a heel, then comes in with a chair and beats up the other heels, turning face. Why? They said because he claimed to be best friends with Cody. Jericho codebreakers MJF though. The run-in's arent over though as the Bucks come in and super kick and tope LAX. Jericho poses with the belt and you think it ends there, but then Darby Allin comes in on a skateboard and jumps Jericho. He then hits him with a skateboard. Jericho yells saying Cody will pay and he'll get Darby next week.

Oh, but it doesn't end there. Jericho grabs the mic and says the Inner Circle is taking control, saying it's Darby's funeral.

Overall thoughts:
It was okay. Private Party getting the big win was the major highlight but I'm really not seeing the amazing show that everyone was hyping. I didn't think the wrestling was too special and they really don't have the non-wrestling stuff together yet. I also hope we are done with the overbooked endings with everyone coming out.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Dramatic Dream Team 9/29/2019 - Who's Gonna Top 2019

Dramatic Dream Team 9/29/2019 - Who's Gonna Top 2019

DDT gets a bad rep. You pull your pants down one time and no one wants to watch you..but in all seriousness, once you get past the comedy, there's usually some good wrestling to be had.

MAO & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Mizuki Watase & Shunma Katsumata
In order - Shunma, Mizuki, MAO and Masahiro




The finish
Mao hits a big dropkick early on Shunma. MAO hits a big back body drop on Shunma. MAO spinkicks Shunma as he tries to springboard. MAO does a capoiera backflip, they block superkick attempts then he does a capoiera headkick. Masahiro gets double suplexed, and then double dropkicked from the top. Shunma does a nice flip tope on MAO. Masahiro then got the win with a leg clutch pin randomly. This was too short to be anything special.

KO-D Tag Titles - DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao) (c) vs. ALL OUT (Akito & Yuki Ino)
In order - Akito, Ino, Sasaki and Takao












Sasaki throws a rugby ball at Ino. Then he tries to spear him, but Ino doesn't budge. Akito gets tossed into  Ino and goes down. Sasaki then chairs Ino on the outside. Takao stands on Ino in the corner. Sasaki beats up on Ino for a bit, then gets tossed overhead. Akito karelin's lifts Sasaki. Takao jumps over the ropes and in and dropkicks Akito in one swoop. Then he sits on the top rope and DDT's him. Takao and Akito try to pin each other in various ways but can't do it. Akito does a nice rolling kneebar, then turns it into an anklelock and a deadlift wheelbarrel suplex. Ino gets back in and misses a haka dance into an elbow. Takao runs the ropes and hits a forearm after each one then finally hits a flying forearm.

Takao throws Sasaki into Ino, who then knocks him down and Takao too. Takao doublestomps Ino's back from the top as Sasaki holds him then they double superkick him. Sasaki doves a nice diving elbow from the top and finally gets his spear in on Ino, but he only gets a one count. Ino full nelson's him then jumps up and sits down. Ino accidentally hits the ref and Sasaki hits him with chairs, making them stack around his neck. He tries for a 4th chair, but Ino spears him with the chairs around his neck!

Sasaki tries for a hurricanrana on Ino, but gets caught. Then Ino runs the ropes multiple times and makes him flip with a lariat. Ino then spears him and Sasaki bumps nice for it. Takao pulls the ref out to save the pin, then he mists Ino. Ino accidentally spears his partner since he is misted, then Takao does his version of the MK Ultra, where he ends up sitting on Ino. Sasaki then wins it with a crippler crossface.

This was really good. Ino was a bit silly, but they really put him over and Sasaki was just great all throughout, doing everything. The first half was so so, but the second half really picked up with a great finishing stretch. 

DDT Extreme Title - 3-Way Elimination Match -  Jiro Kuroshio (c) vs. HARASHIMA vs. Tetsuya Endo
















Jiro has a great entrance. It goes on forever and he visits every side of the arena while teasing entering the ring. Endo takes a seat during it. Is there anyone more fit for DDT than Jiro?

They do 3 way spots early with each person grabbing an arm and then everyone getting behind the other. Jiro gets his jacket put over his face and they fight in the stands. Endo and Jiro double leglock Harashima and he double heel hooks them. They take turns chopping Harashima, then he stacks them across on the ropes and knees through them. Endo does a running shooting star. Jiro backflips out of a backdrop and then Endo pele kicks him. Endo rushes Jiro in the corner, gets thrown up and goes to the floor. Harashima tries to superplex Jiro, but Endo jumps up and powerbombs Harashima during the superplex.

Harashima dropkicks Endo, who flies into Jiro. Then they are both down and Harash tries the double knees on both, but they move. Then they try to pin him, but both have feet on the ropes and it isn't counted. Endo handsprings into the ropes, but Jiro grabs his hand and pulls him out to hit him. Harashima goes for a springboard, Endo sees it and tries to intercept him in mid-air, but Harashima doesn't go and then splashes Endo, who did springboard(see gif). Jiro then swanton's both of them! Jiro goes for a moonsault and Harashima gets his knees up, tossing him across the ring. Endo spinning racks him and tosses him, then gets goes for an SSP that Jiro gets his knees up for. Jiro MK Ultra's Endo, but Harashima catches him with the double knee press and pins him.

Endo flying space tiger's Harashima, then springboard 450's him. Harashima reverse hurricanrana's Endo and double knees him into the ropes, before taking a reverse hurricanrana, and getting his double knees in. Harashima hits an overhead DDT, where he flips him into the DDT, then he wins it with double knees.

The first half was boring, but the second half was great with tons of action and cool spots. Due to it, I ended up liking it.