UFC Fight Night 210 9/17/22

Andre Fili vs. Bill Algeo 3R. A very competitive, high paced fight where both fighters had enough answers to keep the other from really getting into their groove. Fili was taking advantage of Algeo holding his hands so low, especially early on, mixing the body kick under the hands with the with the right high kick over the hands. He landed two big high kicks in the first round, the second cutting on Algeo's forehead. Algeo's corner kept calling for him to be first, and eventually, in the middle of the second round, he finally began to score by pressuring Fili coming in behind his combos. Fili looked to counter to the head, but only had sporadic success timing it. Algeo also got his jab going in this round to even it 1-1. Fili was really just headhunting, but he began to have more success with the check hook when Algeo was coming in. Fili ducked under a left hand a minute into the third for the first takedown of the fight, and the match stayed there for the duration. Algeo quickly gave his back as Fili was setting up the arm triangle. It looked like Fili had the fight all but finished with the rear naked choke 2 minutes in, but Algeo not only survived the next 3 minutes, he landed so many big punches while Fili had his back that some people thought he won the round. Fili won a split decision 29–28. Good match.

Gregory Rodrigues vs. Chidi Njokuani R2 1:27. Njokuani opened up a ridiculous cut early on with a knee just above the nose/between the eyebrows, exposing the skull, and basically being so long that they upper nose just sagged. Any normal person would be like, my face is melting, I want out of here, but Rodrigues really didn't seem to notice or care. This wound up giving him a huge mental edge, as Chidi was now kind of hesitant, thinking what do I have to do to even bother this crazy dude. Rodrigues dropped Chidi with two right hands 3 minutes in, and then was just using a half clinch to mix punches and elbows to the head. Chidi recovered, but definitely the fight had turned to Rodrigues' advantage so long as the doctor didn't stop things. Rodrigues was just walking Chidi down in the second. Once he got him against the cage, he just tossed him down like a sack of potatoes and worked right hands from side mount until the stoppage. This was a very intense fight, with a bunch of huge shots. It wasn't amazing in terms of being back and forth or dynamic, and certainly wasn't that long, but the sick cut that Rodrigues was somehow even given the opportunity to come back from really made it surreal. Good match.

NJPW 3/12/17 Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium, New Japan Cup 2017 First Round: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega 29:45.
DC: This was the first singles match between these two, and even though this was an excellent match, they would have more chemistry in later battles. At the time, Kenny Omega was still focusing a bit more on his gaijin act, which featured a bit more exaggerated mannerisms and behavior than in their next battles. 2017 was certainly an interesting year in the career of Omega. Omega had just wrestled the famous and excellent first match against Kazuchika Okada on 1/4/17, a bit more than two months prior to this match. While this was an excellent match, it feels like they would be on the same page a bit more in their later battles, mostly because Omega would become more willing and able to do an Ishii style match that is spiced up with some flavors of his own style mixed in. Here it was more like they did an Omega-style match, and Ishii even did a top-rope huracarrana, which is rare for him. The match got more exciting once they started working at a slightly faster pace and started bringing more intensity and counters, which are elements that would make some of their future bouts so exciting. One of the coolest spots in the match was Omega’s tremendously spectacular tope con giro. Later in the match, Omega tried to hit his one-winged angel finisher on Ishii, but Ishii escaped and then attempted to hit the move on Omega, who escaped as well. Ishii hit a released German suplex that took the wind out of Omega’s sails for a bit. The finishing stretch was exciting, because they put it over well that nearly every near fall could have been the end. Maybe the coolest counter was Omega going for a one-winged angel, but Ishii turning it into an Ace crusher. They kept the action going at a pace that was steady for most of the match, with an increase of speed during the finishing stretch. In the end, Ishii pinned Omega to get the victory. ****  

NJPW 5/3/17 Fukuoka Kokusai Center: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii 23:55.
DC: What made Tomohiro Ishii so much of a better opponent for Kenny Omega than Kazuchika Okada was Ishii showing the ability and willingness to create opportunities to enhance the intensity level of the match. This is very much unlike Okada’s approach, which is more an approach that shows less intensity and interest in what is going on than someone waiting to catch the same daily train or bus they've been catching for the past decade. On the contrary, you really get the sense this was a match of great importance that saw Omega and Ishii give as strong of an effort as they could, which is always a lot more interesting than a one-man show by one worker. They both approached this like a war. They had previously met in an excellent singles match on 3/12/17, which was the last singles match Omega had worked until this rematch. Omega had been involved in a bunch of tag and multi-man tags during the weeks in between these two matches. On commentary, Don Callis emphasized how good it was to see Omega in a big singles match again: “Putting Kenny in a multi-man tag is like putting Wayne Gretzky in beer league hockey.” Omega wanted revenge for his loss, and he also wanted to show that he was the top guy in NJPW, as a win here would surely propel him back to #1 contendership status for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. This match started off with more urgency than their previous battle. Omega also seemed more intense and more ready to challenge Ishii to more of an Ishii-style match, which meant more head-on and hard-hitting offense. Of course, Omega would still make use of his own creativity to turn this into a very dynamic match. Omega’s athletic ability obviously also played a big role in this match being enjoyable. A particularly cool move was Omega’s tremendous springboard plancha to the outside over the guardrail onto Ishii. In general, Omega’s attack in this match was more focused than in their previous match, and this seemed to trigger Ishii to turn into the super intense Ishii we all like to see in action. At some point in the match, Kenny Omega got a bit too confident and started making Ishii mad by slapping, kicking, and even spitting at Ishii. Omega did everything he could to take down the seemingly indestructible Stone Pitbull. Omega’s urgency is what would really help make Omega such an important worker in the NJPW heavyweight division. You really get the sense Omega cared about what he was doing. The main reason this is such a memorable match is that they really put this over as a true in-ring war. The selling in this match was really good, as they did a good job of selling the toll the match was taking on them without overdoing it and while maintaining a steady pace. After a lot of hard-fought and intense action, the finishing stretch was amazing, as they showed even more urgency than before. Ishii even did a reverse rana, which made it feel like Ishii had to do something desperate and surprising to try to stop the determined Omega. Ishii hit Omega with a series of elbow smashes. Omega hit a couple of v-trigger knee strikes, a brainbuster and the one-winged angel for the win. Great match. ****½     

NJPW 7/2/17 Long Beach, California Convention & Entertainment Center, IWGP US Heavyweight Title Tournament Final: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii 31:20.
DC: On American soil, this new championship created by New Japan Pro-Wrestling would be decided in a match between a Canadian wrestler and a Japanese wrestler. After a few minutes of them getting warmed up, the match spilled into the crowd for a bit. This match was all about being hard-hitting. When Kenny Omega was on offense, we got to see more flashy moves. When Omega had a lot of momentum, Omega hit a tremendously-executed tope con giro. The craziest spot was Omega dragon suplexing Tomohiro Ishii off the apron through a table. Once they recovered from the table bump, they gradually went to work on the finishing stretch, which saw Omega hit several v-trigger knee strikes, while Ishii hit several hard-hitting lariats and chops. Ishii hit a big superplex, but Omega kicked out. Ishii executed the one-winged angel, which is Omega’s own move, but Omega managed to kick out. The finish came when Omega hit a reverse rana, followed by a jumping v-trigger knee strike and Omega’s one-winged angel. Omega became New Japan’s first IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. While it did feel like an important match, and was the longest of their 3 matches so far for better and worse, it didn’t quite have the impressive big match vibe of the matches these two had in Japan earlier that year. This was a really good match, but it never quite reached the level of intensity that their previous matches did. ***¾   

NJPW 1/4/18 Tokyo Dome, IWGP US Heavyweight Title, No DQ: Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho 34:36.
DC: Both participants grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Don Callis, who did commentary at ringside, is also from Winnipeg. For many wrestling fans, this was a dream match on paper. This was Chris Jericho’s first match back in NJPW since 9/23/98. Jericho used to tour Japan extensively during the 1990s, back when Jericho was still a good worker who was athletic and energetic. By 2018, 47-year old Jericho certainly wasn’t the worker he once was, especially after spending most of the previous 20 years in the sports-entertainment industry. Kenny Omega was 34 at the time, at the peak of his career and arguably the best worker in the world. Early in the match, Omega went for a plancha to the outside over the guardrail, but Jericho moved, so Omega landed on the English announce table, and Callis got knocked over in the process. Omega and Jericho brawled a bit on the floor, and Omega started bleeding from the mouth. Jericho was still able to execute a few of his old moves quite well, like the Lionsault quebrada. Most of this match was distraction spots though, such as brawling on the floor, a ref bump, chairs getting involved, etc., presumably in attempt to mask the fact that Jericho obviously didn’t come close to matching his own ability, which even at his peak was nowhere near Omega’s ability. After getting his head rammed into a chair, Omega juiced. After Jericho had been dominating for a while, Omega hit a v-trigger knee smash. Omega went for the one-winged angel, but Jericho blocked and countered with the Walls of Jericho Boston crab, which he then transitioned into the Liontamer high-angle Boston crab. Omega was able to reach the ropes. Omega hit two more v-triggers, followed by the one-winged angel, but Jericho grabbed the bottom rope. Eventually, Omega was able to win this match by executing the one-winged angel on a chair. The right man won, as Omega is obviously the best wrestler from Winnipeg ever. ***¼  

NJPW 8/4/18 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, G1 Climax Block B: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii 22:42.
DC: It had been over a year since these two met in a singles match. Some things had changed, as Kenny Omega was rightfully the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Omega was one of the five best workers in all of pro wrestling at the time (and arguably the very best at the time), but one of his main rivals from the previous year was about to take him to the test in 2018. What better way than to give the champion a run for his money in the G1 Climax, a grueling tournament that takes place each year in the middle of the summer. Up until this match, Omega hadn’t lost any matches in the tournament. If Ishii would win this one, it would be quite an upset considering Omega’s momentum. In the early portions of the match, Omega acted quite arrogant, which only seemed to enrage Ishii. Ishii’s hard-hitting, no-nonsense style was the main theme of the match. Omega initially wasn’t going for spectacle or flashy stuff here, at least not for his standards. Of course, he did moves like a second-rope moonsault, but Omega can probably do that in his sleep. Omega seemed mainly interested in trying to beat Ishii at his own game, focusing on wearing and beating his opponent down in a vicious manner. This was certainly a gutsy and admirable approach by the champion, not only because this meant this match would be worked differently, with more intensity and focus than their great 2017 matches, but also because this approach would certainly bring out the best in Ishii. As always, we still got to see Omega’s tope con giro, which looked fantastic. What made this match different from the 2017 matches is that Omega acted more cocky, trying to enrage Ishii. From a kayfabe perspective, it is debatable if this was a smart move or not, as Ishii isn’t the type of guy you want to see mad. On the other hand, Omega seemed to hope that an enraged Ishii would eventually make a mistake. Omega’s cockiness was only an act to try to play mind games with Ishii, as the “Best Bout Machine” Kenny Omega is a man who takes his craft very seriously, and is always out to challenge himself to have the best match of the night. The way Omega went for the cover in an attempt to beat Ishii was that of a man who really wanted to get this over with, which made every near fall feel like it could have been the finish. Of all their matches, this was probably the stiffest, most vicious and intense. There was a lot of focus on hard-hitting action, and the execution of their moves was important for them. They certainly didn’t do anything half-heartedly, which in combination with their intensity and high workrate resulted in a great match. Omega got a bit of a bloody mouth in their first two matches, but in this particular match, there was significantly more blood dripping from Omega’s face. Great match. ****½ 

NJPW 8/11/18 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, G1 Climax 28 Block B: Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi 23:13.
DC: Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi, the Golden Lovers, have a special bond. However, they were placed in the same G1 Climax block, which meant they had to wrestle each other. This was a big and important match in this tournament. What made it even more dramatic is that the result of this match would decide who would advance to the final. These two being very familiar with each other was definitely a good thing for this match, because it meant their sequences were executed very smoothly. Omega’s tope con giro was as amazing as always. Ibushi’s moonsault off the top to the floor was amazing as well. Ibushi was on a roll now, and he hit several well-executed strikes. Omega hit several well-executed v-trigger knee strikes. The action went back and forth. The final minutes were very intense and spectacular. They really put over the idea that both tried all they could to win this match and this block and that they were willing to eliminate someone they have a special place in their heart for from this tournament. That’s how competitive these two are. Ibushi even hit a tiger driver off the top rope. Ibushi then hit Kamigoye to win the match and the B block. While Omega was disappointed he didn’t win, he was happy for Ibushi that Ibushi would go on to the final (which Ibushi would lose to Hiroshi Tanahashi). ****¼ 

NJPW 9/7/18 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay & Tomohiro Ishii 19:30.
DC: This was an excellent match that featured tremendous tag team wrestling by both teams, but it was in particular the team of Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi, the Golden Lovers, that performed like a well-oiled machine together. Tomohiro Ishii brought a different dynamic to the match with his more high-impact brawling type moves, while the other three stood out mostly because of their amazing athletic ability and agility. It was really cool to see Omega and Will Ospreay wrestle each other. The amount of great high flying moves in this match was essentially too much to keep track of. One of the highlights was Ospreay hitting a tremendous space flying tiger drop on both Golden Lovers. There were many cool counters, and there was a lot of dynamic action. After a lot of back-and-forth action, the Golden Lovers were able to put away the opposition, and Ibushi scored the pinfall over Ospreay. The high quality of the timing, execution and creativeness made this a really enjoyable match. All four workers were impressive, and even though the Golden Lovers gave an awesome showing, Ospreay was the one who was the most outstanding worker of the match. ****¼ 

NJPW 9/15/18 Hiroshima Sun Plaza, IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii 30:55.
DC: Kenny Omega and Tomohiro Ishii wrestled each other in many tag and multi-man tag team matches, but, as of this writing, they only had five singles matches against each other. This was the fifth and final battle in the series of matches Omega and Ishii had in 2017 and 2018. The main reason this match wasn’t as interesting as their best matches against each other was a relative lack of intensity and a more deliberate pace. After having beat the champion during the G1 Climax in their great 8/4/18 match, Tomohiro Ishii had earned himself a title shot. They seemed to work this more like a regular NJPW main event though, with not as much urgency as in their best matches together. They did some back-and-forth striking. They did some brawling on the floor. Omega hit a springboard double footstomp over the guardrail onto Ishii, who was on a table. Omega just slightly overshot the move, and he still hit Ishii, but the table was left standing, which may or may not have had something to do with the table being a high-quality Japanese one. The next big spot was Ishii hitting a superplex. There was some back-and-forth action, but the action was overshadowed by overly long selling. They didn’t seem as energetic and focused as expected, and it seemed like they kinda played along with how NJPW wants a main event to be, long for the sake of being long rather than because they have more material or more meaningful action. Things picked up when they came closer to the finish. It was cool to see Ishii hit a top-rope huracarrana around the 24-minute mark. From that point onward, things got a little bit more exciting than earlier in the match. Omega eventually won the match, and retained the title after hitting the one-winged angel. Overall, it was a very good match, but this was the least interesting match in the Omega vs. Ishii pentalogy, as it was even slightly less interesting than their match in Long Beach. It’s telling that their two least interesting matches were also their two longest matches (and both over 30 minutes), because this seems to show that NJPW’s idea of longer matches being better is an idea that needs to be adjusted. ***½   

Hard Hit 4/30/22 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5 Lost Points: Hikaru Sato vs. Kohei Tokeshi 15:00.
DC: This was the main event of what was quite a decent show overall. For this bout, each participant had five points to start with, and they would get a point deducted whenever they went for a rope escape or when they got knocked down (or were shown a yellow card). Both participants started off somewhat cautiously, but they would throw a kick whenever they saw an opening. The referee gave MMA fighter Kohei Tokeshi a yellow card for kicking Hikaru Sato when he was on the mat. Sato wasn’t happy and gave Tokeshi a headbutt, which resulted in Sato getting a yellow card. Both guys had now lost a point each due to being shown the yellow card. It was an intense battle, both when they were grappling on the mat, and also when they were in stand up striking mode. They were very focused, and didn’t give each other much space. I like how they gave each other a quick high five, as a sign of respect for each other, like fighters do in an MMA match when they’ve had a particularly hot round of action. Sato was on top of Tokeshi, and Tokeshi hit Sato with several blows, but it didn’t stop Sato from applying juji gatame. Tokeshi realized he was in danger and used a rope escape, which meant he lost a point. Sato lost a point after he was knocked down by one of Tokeshi’s strikes. Both men now had three points left each. This wasn’t a high-paced bout, and it wasn’t a very action-packed bout, but the intensity and sincerity they showed made this fascinating to watch. It’s a shame the time limit expired while the match was still in the middle of being an intriguing contest. Hopefully they’ll have 20 or 25 minutes another day. Overall, this was a very good match. ***½ 

STARDOM 7/30/22 Tokyo Ota City General Gymnasium, 5STAR GP Red Block: Syuri vs. AZM 9:31.
DC: Syuri is the World of STARDOM Champ, and AZM is the High Speed Champ. No title was on the line here though, because this was a tournament match. Both workers worked hard, and this match consisted of non-stop action with excellent execution. This was about as good as it gets for a current STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix match. It was a nice blend of AZM’s high speed style and Syuri’s striking-based style. That means we got a lot of fast-paced sequences and some good-looking strikes. Most importantly, these two were wrestling with great urgency and high energy. AZM hit a dropkick off the second rope while Syuri was still making her ring entrance. AZM went for a move off the top rope, but Syuri anticipated it and greeted her with a kick. AZM hit a second-rope double footstomp to the floor. Syuri won the match via submission. Instead of a middle of the card match that’s less than ten minutes, this should have been a main event match longer than 10 minutes, since these are arguably the two best workers in STARDOM right now, but we’ll take what we can get. At least this was a very good match. ***½  

STARDOM 7/30/22 Tokyo Ota City General Gymnasium, 5STAR GP Blue Block: Hazuki vs. Giulia 11:54.
DC: This was the main event of the evening, and it was surprisingly good. Hazuki worked very hard, and this was one of her best performances. Giulia was not annoying, and she showed interest in having a good match. Her execution was better than usual, as well. This is possibly the best singles match of Giulia's career so far. Giulia hit Hazuki with a stiff elbow smash on the floor. Giulia then dragged Hazuki towards the entrance area. Giulia used the referee as a stepping stone to dropkick Hazuki on the rampway. Giulia took a bump off the stairs and down the rampway. Once back at ringside, Giulia headbutted the ringpost when Hazuki moved, and it sounded like Giulia must have hurt her head. Hazuki hit a tope suicida. Once back in the ring, Giulia hit a top-rope double-arm suplex. Giulia went for an STF. After a lot of back-and-forth action, Hazuki headbutted Giulia and then scored the deserving pinfall win via a well-executed brainbuster. ***¼  

TJPW 7/31/22 Tokyo Otemachi Mitsui Hall, Tokyo Princess Cup Quarter Final: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Hikari Noa 12:55.
DC: Most fans are used to Yuka Sakazaki’s matches being all about her showing some good-quality fun-loving wrestling while being super happy and energetic. Plus, she’s quite adorable. Basically, when you look up the word kawaii in a dictionary, there’s a good chance you’ll see a picture of Sakazaki. However, on this day, we definitely got to see a different side of hers. Despite being the type to always come across as ageless, Sakazaki was in grumpy veteran mode here, and it was a breath of fresh air, because that meant things got a bit rougher than they usually do in Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling. Plus, it’s a good thing that Sakazaki, who has been one of the best workers in TJPW for more than five years now, is giving some of the newer wrestlers a bit of a wrestling lesson, not in a mean way, but in an encouraging way to promote growth. Hikari Noa has been one of the most fun and most promising TJPW workers of the past few years, but this type of teaching by Sakazaki is definitely beneficial for Hikari, because while Hikari has potential to become better, there’s certainly plenty of room for growth. Apparently some people seem to think this was some sort of burial of Hikari, but it wasn't. It was a competitive match between a wily veteran and an up-and-coming talent that saw a good amount of serious struggle. Sakazaki’s brainbuster on the apron looked wicked. Hikari managed to go for a series of superkicks that would have made Shawn Michaels proud, as Hikari missed five superkicks in a row. Sakazaki gave the only appropriate response, which was no-selling all five missed superkicks and hitting Hikari in the face with an elbow smash. It was certainly a somewhat unusual match, but it was a good match overall. It was interesting to see Sakazaki being slightly uncooperative at times, but it all made sense, and it made for a more interesting match than it would have been otherwise. Sakazaki would eventually win this tournament by beating Miu Watanabe in a decent final on 8/14/22. For those interested in watching more current TJPW matches, the Tokyo Princess Cup semifinal between Miyu Yamashita and Miu Watanabe from the TJPW 8/13/22 show was pretty good, even though it wasn’t quite as interesting as this quarter final match featuring “grumpy” Sakazaki. ***¼     

NJPW 8/6/22 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, G1 Climax 32 Block D: Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi 21:55.
DC: This was the fifth singles match between these two. Their previous match (5/4/21) was a very long one, but this time they had a 30-minute time limit, since it was part of the G1 Climax tournament. The first half or so of the match was solid, but nothing special for these two. About halfway through the match, the pace started picking up, and their counter sequences were being worked quicker. At some point, they did each other’s moves. Ospreay performed Takagi’s Made in Japan, which meant it temporarily became Made in England, and Takagi hit an Ospreay-style OsCutter. Both wrestlers showed good strength and impressive athleticism, but overall, this match wasn’t nearly on the level of their best matches. Maybe it’s because these two always seem to be in a long match storytelling mode, and that’s why their two least interesting matches against each other were their two G1 Climax matches (they previously had a G1 Climax match against each other on 9/27/20, which was excellent). These two having “only” a very good match means that it’s still a match that’s better than most wrestlers have, and it was the highlight of this year’s weak and disappointing G1 Climax. Just like on 9/27/20, Shingo was able to beat Ospreay in a G1 Climax tournament match. However, Ospreay still has more victories over Takagi, and Ospreay’s three wins over Takagi were arguably more important victories (Ospreay had two great tournaments final victories over Takagi on 6/5/19 and 3/21/21, and Ospreay also had a great title defense victory over Takagi on 5/4/21). ***¾