UFC 283 1/21/23 UFC Light Heavyweight Title Decision: Jamahal Hill vs. Glover Teixeira 5R. I haven't been impressed with the UFC light heavyweight division since Jon Jones lost back-to-back 5 round fights to Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes, but still conveniently managed to leave with the belt both times. And I haven't been that impressed with Jamahal Hill, nor almost anybody from Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series for that matter, but Hill fought a great fight tonight, this wasn't merely Glover being old and slow. Teixeira looked himself early in the fight, and set out to do what would win him the fight, which was get it to the ground. Unfortunately for him, Hill has improved quite a bit in all areas, and didn't wilt to the pressure, the moment, or the Brazilian crowd. He was ready for not only all Glover's takedowns, but seemingly everything that former champ would try. Hill was supposed to wear out as the fight progressed, but it didn't happen. He was supposed to falter on the mat the way he did against Paul Craig 19 months ago, but it didn't happen. It certainly helped that Hill stuffed 15 of Teixeira’s 17 takedown attempts, but he was able to defend and get back to his feet the other times, even getting a nice reversal in the 5th to spoil the storybook magic where Glover blows the last title fight in the 5th, but then karma allows him to somehow then steal the title back this way next time. Hill's size was a huge problem for Teixeira, not only in preventing Teixeira from leveraging the takedowns, but particularly the 3 inch reach combined with his speed advantage almost totally negated Teixeira's normally great boxing. Teixeira was reaching all night to try to make contact, which opened him up to Hill's counters, whereas Hill rarely left himself open to a counterstrike or takedown by overextending. This whole dynamic really stressed and fatigued Teixeira because he was missing partly because he couldn't quite reach Hill, but when he sat back Hill picked him apart with his length, using straight punches and the left high or middle kick, so Teixeira had to constantly come forward to have any chance to connect, and while that allowed some punches to land, it also completely exhausted him. Glover was certainly a step or two slow in this fight, but not early on, rather due to the beating he withstood combined with the pace/forward pressure he had to maintain throughout. Hill did a great job of targetting the liver in the 1st round, using the left middle kick, knee and front kick. This brought Teixeira's guard down because these blows were winding him, and as a result, Hill was virtually unstoppable with the left high kick as the fight progressed (at best, Glover took them on the hand). Early in the second round, Hill hurt Glover with a big high kick, and although the other two high kicks were largely blocked, this whole flurry with Glover taking punches against the cage took a ton out of Teixeira despite Teixeira answering with some good boxing that cut Hill under the right eye. Hill went back to two more high kicks, but the key was that he threw the body kick right after, so Teixeira still had to worry about both. Teixeira finally got a takedown turning a single leg into a double leg, and was even able to mount and almost get a rear naked choke attempt out of the scramble when Hill gave his back. Teixeira also attempted an arm triangle before Hill was able to get back to his feet. This fight was one-sided on the scorecards, but it was much more competitive throughout the actual rounds then the stats or scorecards showed, even if to some extent only because Teixeira knew what he had to do to give himself a chance, and managed to will himself to keep pressuring. You could see early in the third where Glover really wanted to be more patient or simply conserve some energy, but Hill would poke him with the jab and then back him up out of range with the right hand follow up, so Teixeira literally had no opportunity to do anything when he was sitting back. Teixeira then fell from another big left high kick, and Glover absored some huge ground and pound because he had so little success putting Hill on his back from standup that he needed to try to be offensive when Hill followed him to the ground. Hill eventually let Glover up, but Teixeira'sface was really busted up by then, with his left eye being particularly difficult to see out of due to all the blood flowing into it. Hill was coming close to getting a culmination of damage stoppage toward the end of the fourth, but overall, I didn't think this was one of his best rounds despite it being the round that all three judges inexplicably scored 10-8. Definitely Jessica Andrade's "worst" round in her absolute brutal destruction of lousy Lauren Murphy (round 1) was a 10-8, yet somehow the two judges who scored both fights, Sal D'Amato & Fabio Alves, had that as the usual 10-9 no matter how much standup damage was done. Longtime trainer John Hackleman was in Teixeira's corner for moral support, six months ago Teixeira requested he be there for one last fight, win or lose, so both wound up retiring tonight from fighting/cornering. Hackleman, infamous for stopping the 3/10/06 Strikeforce Cesar Gracie vs. Frank Shamrock fight literally as soon as Frank punched Gracie on the ground after landing a big right hand 17 seconds into the fight, predictable pushed for the stoppage after the 4th round, but wasn't the primary corner, so he was overruled. Teixeira, always inspiring for his heart, courage, and class, somehow then managed to have his best round in the 5th, finally getting a quick takedown. Teixeira was able to mount, but Hill quickly snuck out the back and took the top. Hill won a unanimous decision 50-44. Teixeira's last act as an active fighter was to walk back with new champion Hill so the rowdy Brazilian crowd wouldn't disrespect Hill the way they did new champion Brandon Moreno, throwing popcorn & soda at him for fairly defeating the Brazilian. Very good match.

NJPW 1/4/23 Tokyo Dome, NJPW World TV Title Tournament Final: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita 10:32.
DC: Katsuyori Shibata joined the Japanese commentary team at ringside. Ren Narita, who has been wrestling since 2017, was trained by Shibata, and Zack Sabre Jr. had wrestled Shibata in the past, so Shibata's presence was fitting. Since this was a TV Title match, it had a 15-minute time limit despite being on PPV/streaming. Zack showed a lot of aggression, and he seemed very determined to finally win a title in NJPW. Zack obviously carried this match, but Narita did well for himself. Zack showed a lot of viciousness, and he was showing arguably the most viciousness he had shown since the New Japan Cup in March 2022. That confirmed that he was super eager to win this title. Narita played it simple, and didn't try things he can't do. Narita is quite a decent worker, but it seems he has been progressing rather slowly. Zack kept the pace high and made sure to sell for Narita at the right time, in order to keep the match having that back-and-forth action-packed feel. Zack focused on Narita's left arm for a bit, but the match started taking more of a hard-hitting turn, as both went for stiff strikes. Later in the match, Zack went back to targeting Narita's left arm. Narita went for a leg submission, but Zack showed his technical wrestling expertise by quickly grabbing Narita's left arm and applying an armbar. Narita had no choice but to tap out. This was quite a good match for a 10-minute match. While Zack deserves more than just the TV title, especially in a promotion where Okada & Naito are perpetually on top, at least  he finally won a Japanese singles title, and it means he gets to carry random wrestlers in fun little 15-minute time limit matches, which is at least better than getting stuck in a bunch of tag team matches with Taichi. It's not the most ideal situation though, so let's hope we'll get to see Zack in longer singles matches at some point (perhaps in the New Japan Cup or G1). After the match, Australian wrestlers Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls showed up to invite Zack to join their TMDK (The Mighty Don't Kneel) stable, and Zack accepted the offer. This wasn't just a random idea, as Zack and TMDK go way back to when Zack toured NOAH in the mid 2010s. Zack joining a new stable comes at a good time, as the stable he was previously a part of, Suzuki-gun, had recently been disbanded by Minoru Suzuki, but having been one of the best wrestlers in the world for years, he should be leading a stable by now rather than banding together with a couple midcarders who just showed up in NJPW. 2023 could be an interesting year for Zack, as he not only has a new hair color (he recently dyed his hair blond) and is part of a new stable, but it will be particularly interesting to see how his run with the new TV title will turn out. ***¼ 

NJPW 1/4/23 Tokyo Dome, IWGP US Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega 34:38. 
DC: As soon as this match was announced for Wrestle Kingdom 17, many wrestling fans knew that this was going to be an early MOTYC for the year 2023. Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega have been two of the very best non-Japanese pro wrestlers of the previous seven years or so. In 2015, NJPW had become the league Omega mainly performed in, and he delivered great wrestling matches for NJPW in 2016, 2017 and 2018 before going to the newly formed American league AEW in 2019. NJPW has been Ospreay's main league since 2016, and Ospreay has been delivering great matches since 2017. Omega is 39 years old, and he has 23 years of pro wrestling experience. Ospreay is 29 years old, and he has 12 years pro wrestling experience. Omega clearly has the experience advantage, but it has become clear that he won't be able to give the high level of performances that we have been so used to see from him for much longer, as his style is a very physically demanding one, and the human body obviously can only be taken to the limit so much when it starts aging more. Going into the match, one could say that Omega is either at the very end of his peak or even slightly past his peak. It's hard to say, because Omega has been spending three years in the United States, and while his work in AEW has been of high quality for the most part, Omega spent most of the previous 12 months on the sidelines due to injuries, and has largely been working in 6 mans with The Young Bucks since his return, as a way of maintaining his high quality without having to kill himself quite as much. And while Omega was one of the top workers in North America during the past three years, it was during his years in NJPW that Omega truly was able to excel as an in-ring performer. It will be a true test for Omega to prove to himself and to his fans that he still has what it takes to be the "Best Bout Machine," as he was known in Japan. Ospreay's style is also incredibly demanding physically and athletically (probably even more so than Omega's), but Ospreay is definitely still in the midst of his peak right now, and he's ready to prove to the world that he is the best wrestler in the world and currently better than Omega. If Ospreay wins this match, this could be seen as a match where Omega passes the proverbial torch to Ospreay as the best gaijin in puroresu. At least, that's what Omega's heel character would like to believe. In actuality, after Omega left Japan in early 2019, Ospreay continued to deliver several great matches in NJPW and has been doing a great job being the top gaijin in NJPW (along with Zack Sabre Jr., one of Ospreay's main in-ring foes). Prior to the match, both contestants released video interviews regarding the match. Omega's interview saw him in heel mode trying to play mind games with Ospreay, while Ospreay's interview made it clear that Ospreay is very focused on the match. A day before this match, there was a press conference at which Omega, along with his guiding hand Don Callis, acted extremely cocky and seemed very confident that Ospreay was going to be the loser, which despite the prevailing logic of NJPW winning the one big interpromotional match on their biggest show of the year, was a somewhat safe bet given how Tony Khan has completely run over Gedo at each and every turn throughout the AEW/NJPW interpromotional relationship. Callis referred to Omega as the God of pro wrestling, "with apologies to Karl Gotch" (the Japanese had nicknamed Gotch 'kamisama no puroresu,' which means God of pro wrestling). Ospreay snapped and basically told Omega that he had enough of Omega and Callis belittling him and that he was going to do whatever it takes to beat Omega and snatch the torch away from him. This match is a match-up of such high magnitude that one could easily forget that this is actually also for a title. However, because of the great anticipation of seeing these two wrestle each other at the biggest stage in all of pro wrestling, Wrestle Kingdom, the U.S. Title being on the line almost seems like an afterthought. The IWGP U.S. Title was first created in 2017, and Omega was actually the first holder of this title. The title switched hands several times until Ospreay became the champion on 6/12/22. This is Ospreay's fifth title defense. What stood out most in this match was the amazing execution and stiffness by both Ospreay and Omega. They both showed a great deal of viciousness, which emphasized the animosity between these two. This wasn't just a contest between two great talented athletes, this was a war till the bitter end. Even relatively little things, such as taking a bump into the guardrail was done with full force to put over the intensity of this battle. Early in the match, Omega went for a huracarrana, but Ospreay landed on his feet and executed a huracarrana of his own. Ospreay hit an aggressive pescado and followed it up with punches to the head. They slowed the pace down a little bit, but the level of intensity never decreased. It made sense for the match not to be worked at a very high pace, because these two knew that the other wasn't going to be beaten very quickly. They definitely tried to do as much damage to each other from the beginning. Ospreay went for an OsCutter on the apron, but Omega held on to the ropes, which sent Ospreay crashing down. After a couple of table spots, Ospreay executed a tremendous sky twister press off the top to the floor. They ended up back in the ring soon after. Ospreay went for an OsCutter, but Omega blocked it. Omega hit a jumping v-trigger knee smash to Ospreay's back. Omega then hit a poison rana, which was executed really well by Omega and taken in spectacular fashion by Ospreay. Omega went for a super dragon suplex when they both stood on the top with their backs toward the ring. Omega executed the suplex, but Ospreay miraculously landed on his feet. Ospreay then hit the human tornado-like 'Robinson special' twisting kick. Ospreay now had things going his way, and finally hit the OsCutter as he came springboarding off the middle ropes. Ospreay went for the cover, but Omega wasn't close to being defeated at this point in the match. Ospreay hit several brutal kicks in the corner to Omega's head. They both went to the top rope, but it was Omega who surprisingly hit a DDT off the top rope onto the exposed metal turnbuckle corner (the padding had been removed earlier in the match by Omega). Ospreay juiced. This was around the 20-minute mark of the match. Omega hit a beautiful tope con giro that he calls 'the rise of the terminator.' Omega rammed Ospreay's bloody face through the already damaged table, which had a particularly brutal visual effect. This table must have been imported, because a true Japanese table doesn't break this easily. Omega then hit a Cactus Jack-esque piledriver, as he lifted Ospreay up by his tights and then dropped him on his head. The selling in this match was great. Ospreay did a tremendous job selling in a way that not only helped sell Omega's viciousness, but also helped Ospreay come across as the sympathetic babyface hero in trouble. There were also several little details that show that these two are really into their performance. For example, at some point, Ospreay kinda slipped off the bottom rope when he tried to climb to the top rope, but instead of just going for it again, he slapped himself in the face to wake himself up in order to sell the idea that he only had trouble climbing the ropes because of him being groggy. They executed several moves in this match that were really risky, but perhaps the most risky one came when Omega stood on the second rope in the corner and had Ospreay sitting on his shoulders, and Omega lifted Ospreay up a bit and then caught him in a released German suplex, as both men came crashing down to the canvas. This move was executed perfectly, and Omega went for the cover, but Ospreay kicked out. Omega hit a few v-triggers. Ospreay blocked one of them. Ospreay hit Kawada kicks, which were alternated with knife-edge chops. Ospreay hit a v-trigger and a big lariat that caused Ospreay to flip upside down backwards, but Ospreay somehow managed to land on his feet. Ospreay hit a Liger bomb and a super OsCutter. Ospreay went for the stormbreaker, but Omega avoided it. Omega went for the one-winged angel, but Ospreay avoided it. Ospreay tried to go for the stormbreaker again, but Omega got out and hit a v-trigger. They started hitting each other with hard-hitting elbow smashes. Ospreay started talking trash to Omega, but Omega hit him with a Kota Ibushi-like kamigoye. Omega then executed the one-winged angel, and this gave Omega the pinfall victory. Omega's right eye appeared to be swollen, but he had won the battle and the title. Both men had shown tremendous fighting spirit. We got to see everything you'd expect to see in a battle between these two greats, as we got to see stiff strikes, crazy spots, lots of athleticism and lots of intensity. It was wonderful to see Omega wrestle like it was 2018 again, and Ospreay once again proved he is one of the best pro wrestlers in the world today, possibly the very best. In spite of the huge expectations going into the match, both workers gave a great performance and delivered an amazing match. We're only a few days into the year, but it will be hard for any match to come close to topping this one this year. ****¾ 

AJW 1/4/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, WWWA World Title: Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto 19:46.
DC: Bull Nakano had been the holder of AJW’s Red Belt for exactly one year at the time of this match. As awesome as her Las Cachorras Orientales (LCO was originally a stable led by Akira Hokuto that also included Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda before LCO was just the great tag team of Mita and Shimoda) and Dangerous Queen years are, Hokuto’s work prior to mid-1992 shouldn’t be overlooked, even though the character she portrayed before mid-1992 could be considered somewhat bland in comparison. This match from 1/4/91, which was from an era before the date January 4 was all about NJPW Tokyo Dome shows, started off with a lot of action that briefly spilled to the floor where Hokuto got beat up by Nakano. When the action came back into the ring, Nakano kept dominating. Occasionally, Hokuto would be able to take Nakano down, but Nakano was quite dominating. This was not a surprise since Nakano had a big size advantage over the challenger. This was around the time the AJW audience had been seeing quite a major change. In the mid and late 1980s, the AJW shows mainly consisted of school girls due to the popularity of the Crush Gals, Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka. However, by the mid 1990s, the majority of the audience would appear to consist of middle aged men. This change in demographic subsequently meant there was less future joshi talent in the audience, which may or may not have played a big role in the decline of joshi puroresu after peaking in the 1990s based on that generation growing up idolizing Jaguar Yokota & Crush Gals. The school girls in attendance at this show were chanting in support of Hokuto, as Hokuto was getting destroyed. Hokuto juiced a bit, and a small amount of blood appeared on Hokuto’s forehead. Nakano felt she had things fully in control, and the match slowed down a bit for a little while. Nakano was getting overconfident and/or was getting a little bit tired, as Hokuto was able to outmaneuver the champ and apply some holds on her. You could never really count Nakano out though, and she hit a couple of big moves seemingly out of nowhere, including a plancha off the top rope to the floor. Nakano also hit her signature guillotine leg drop, but Hokuto managed to kick out at two. Nakano went for another one, but Hokuto rolled away, and almost managed to pin Nakano via a tiger suplex. Hokuto hit several dropkicks off the top rope that all hit the mark. Still, Hokuto was not able to put Nakano away. Hokuto hit a somersault plancha to the floor. Both women showed a lot of desire. Kyoko Inoue interfered against Hokuto, but the referee wouldn’t allow the pinfall to happen right away. Nakano then hit a thunder fire bomb, but Hokuto kicked out. Hokuto suplexed Nakano off the top rope and hit her northern lights bomb. Nakano could not be defeated on this night though. Nakano hit a bridging backdrop suplex that got her the pinfall victory. Nakano showed great athleticism for someone of her size. Hokuto showed a lot of heart and determination. The action was exciting, and these two women showed early on in the decade that the 1990s would indeed be a very interesting decade for joshi puroresu fans. ****½

AJW 1/11/91 Kanagawa Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan, All Pacific Title: Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto 16:20.
DC: Manami Toyota showed a lot of viciousness as she went right after Akira Hokuto’s taped up right arm, completely taking off all the tape so that she could do more damage to her opponent. Referee Daichi Murayama was not pleased, but he allowed things to continue, especially since Hokuto certainly didn’t want to let this opportunity to win the All Pacific Title slip away like this. This definitely was a very different side from Manami Toyota, as we’re not used to seeing her focus on a specific body part at all, much less in such a vicious manner. Hokuto rolled to the floor, and her arm got taped up again. Toyota didn’t seem to care too much about Hokuto’s well-being though, as she continued attacking Hokuto’s right arm as soon as she could. Toyota hit a tremendous tope suicida. Toyota then went for a plancha off the top rope, but Hokuto moved. Hokuto hit a wicked somersault plancha. What was particularly cool about these dives was that they were hit like they were firing off a weapon, purely launching themselves to do damage to their opponent. This is quite different from some of the high flying we see in today’s wrestling, where it sometimes seems the high flying is only done to score a higher star rating from people and/or just for the sake of it. The execution wasn’t always perfect here, but that only added more to the grittiness of the match. Suzuka Minami, who was the other half of the Marine Wolves along with Hokuto, was about to throw in the towel out of concern for the well-being of her tag team partner. Despite Hokuto still being in her spunky babyface years (as she still hadn’t reached her LCO/Dangerous Queen years), Hokuto already was able to add so much drama to her matches through amazing selling. Toyota hit a wonderful moonsault that we were able to view perfectly since they showed the move from the viewpoint of the turnbuckle corner camera. When Toyota went for a second one, Hokuto moved and hit a dropkick off the top rope. Hokuto executed a perfectly executed bridging German suplex, but Toyota was able to kick out. Hokuto went for a somersault kick off the top rope, but Toyota managed to move and immediately started twisting Hokuto’s arm relentlessly. Toyota was awarded the win when the ref felt Hokuto was apparently no longer able to defend herself. This was a great match that was quite different from the usual big Toyota matches Toyota would later become known for, since it really had more of a focus and a very consistent story throughout, which one would assume was due to the influence of the veteran Hokuto. This was indeed the first great Manami Toyota singles match. Of course, Hokuto deserves a lot of the credit for showing so much courage, passion and emotion. Also, Hokuto deserves credit for ultimately guiding Toyota to a great and cohesive bout. ****½   

Pure-J 3/20/22 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall, Daily Sports Tag Team Title: Arisa Nakajima & Hanako Nakamori vs. Miyuki Takase & Rina Yamashita 20:01.
DC: Before the match started, Miyuki Takase walked over to Arisa Nakajima and greeted Arisa with a slap in the face. Arisa has been a regular opponent and regular tag team partner for Hanako Nakamori. Here they were the tag team champions defending their belts. Being the true professionals they are, they purely focused on being a cohesive team. Miyuki Takase showed a lot of aggression when she was in the ring with Arisa. Arisa worked hard, as always. Hanako gave a solid performance, and certainly was a good tag team partner for Arisa. Rina Yamashita’s execution wasn’t the most crisp, but her effort and enthusiasm made up for it. Arisa came to Hanako’s rescue when Hanako was stuck in a half Boston crab by slapping Yamashita in the face. The pace was high from start to finish, and it had the feel of a title match because of the urgency displayed. It definitely felt like both teams were trying their best to show they were the better team. The 111 people in attendance definitely got their money’s worth. Takase hit a nice missile dropkick off the top and a flying forearm off the second rope. The execution was at its crispest when Arisa wrestled Takase. They tried to put over that every time they hit each other, it had an impact. This was definitely one of the most memorable joshi puroresu tag team matches of the year. Takase continued her hard-hitting approach after Hanako was tagged in. Takase doesn’t necessarily really excel at anything specific, but she really puts a strong effort in making each move she executes seem impactful. Both teams just kept going at each other. As the match went on, they showed more and more desperation with the finish seemingly near. In the end, Hanako was able to pin Yamashita with an assist from Arisa. ***½  

RevPro 8/20/22 London, England York Hall, Undisputed British Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay vs. Mike Bailey 24:26.
DC: Not much happened during the first four minutes because of the RevPro crowd being obsessed with chanting and singing. In the fifth minute, we got some nice lucha sequences followed by a barrage of kicks by Quebecois wrestler Mike Bailey. Will Ospreay dropkicked Bailey’s leg when Bailey’s leg was stuck in the ropes. Bailey selling the leg and Ospreay working over the leg was the main story of the match for pretty much the remainder of the match. The focus of the match had really been on wrestling psychology and not so much on pure workrate thus far. This was slightly surprising considering Ospreay and Bailey are known for their tremendous athletic ability. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as it gave them time to build things up gradually and progressively add more exciting spots as the match went on. Bailey was determined to keep selling the leg, even when he was on offense, and pretty much all of his offense revolves around his leg strength in some capacity. Ospreay gradually started incorporating more exciting moves about halfway through the match. The pace still wasn’t very high, and while this meant there wasn’t much urgency, it also meant the moves felt like they had importance and impact, especially with Bailey’s selling of the leg being the main story. In a kayfabe sense, the lack of urgency could also be explained as these two having respect for each other and knowing that the other isn’t going to be beaten very quickly, which then makes it plausible that they kinda pick their spots whenever they feel the time is right. They certainly never came across as lazy at any point, it was more that they came across as careful and methodical, like chess players planning their next few moves ahead. Bailey managed to hit a tremendous super quebrada to the floor. Soon after that, Ospreay was able to hit a couple of OsCutters, first on the apron, and later in the ring. The match started turning into more of a back-and-forth type battle, with several near falls accomplished by both contestants. Ospreay needed a second-rope tombstone, a hidden blade and a stormbreaker to win the match. Overall, this was arguably slightly better than their very good 8/24/17 match because of the superior in-ring storytelling here. ***¾   

DDT 10/23/22 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yukio Sakaguchi 16:12.
DC: Yukio Sakaguchi started off strong with a couple of strikes and a submission attempt. Kazusada Higuchi was alarmed enough to roll to the outside as soon as he could. Higuchi threw Sakaguchi into the guardrail, but Sakaguchi fired back with a kick. Sakaguchi had Higuchi stuck in a sleeperhold on the floor, but of course, that you won’t be able to get a submission victory on the floor. At least the move did its damage. Sakaguchi continued to try to put Higuchi to sleep via submission holds. Sakaguchi sold it with a dazed look on his face. Sakaguchi showed a lot of determination to win this match, as he showed lots of urgency in his attack. Higuchi hit some vicious chops and a big running lariat in the corner. A powerslam wouldn’t keep Sakaguchi down for a three count. A strike exchange started happening when Higuchi hit some more of his vicious chops and Sakaguchi replied with kicks. Higuchi hit a doctor bomb, but Sakaguchi kicked out. Sakaguchi no-sold a Higuchi lariat and hit Higuchi with several kicks. Higuchi went down and once again did his dazed-look selling. Sakaguchi applied a modified cobra clutch. Higuchi was in a lot of trouble against this challenger, who was certainly worthy of the title shot. Higuchi managed to reach the ropes with his leg. Higuchi hit a big lariat that knocked Sakaguchi down. At some point, Higuchi literally ran into Sakaguchi face-first to knock Sakaguchi down, which caused Higuchi to start bleeding hardway around the upper nose area. Instead of slowing him down, it seemed the bleeding only made Higuchi more determined to destroy his challenger. Higuchi hit some more of his vicious chops and eventually picked Sakaguchi up and threw him like a sack of potatoes on the mat. Higuchi retained the title via pinfall. Throughout the entirety of this match, the wrestling was very well executed. The pace suited the style and vibe of the match well. Sakaguchi probably should have tried to use some more kicks than he did, but this was definitely a very good match that didn’t overstay its welcome. ***½  

AAA 12/28/22 Acapulco, Mexico, AAA Mega Title: Hijo del Vikingo vs. Bandido 23:45. 
DC: The match started off with some nice lucha counters. There was obviously a lot of high flying, since both workers are mostly known for their amazing high flying ability. Bandido hit a tope suicida. Hijo del Vikingo hit a tope con giro. One of the most amazing moments of the match happened when Vikingo leaped off the top rope onto the light post, climbed up a bit, and then hit a moonsault off the light post from about 15 feet high onto Bandido on the floor. Once they returned into the ring, Vikingo hit a tremendous phoenix splash that got him a near fall. Vikingo executed a huracarrana off the apron and a shooting star press off the apron. Vikingo then took a nasty monkey flip bump on the apron that also resulted in him hitting the ring pole. They started chopping each other’s chests over and over until Vikingo surprised Bandido with a spin kick. Vikingo’s chest was red from Bandido’s vicious chops. This didn’t seem to slow Vikingo down for too long though, as Vikingo hit an absolutely amazing move that saw him leaping backwards off the top rope, twisting in mid air, and then hitting a tremendous poison rana that Bandido took extremely well. Vikingo wasn’t done hitting insane moves, as he also hit a 630 senton. Vikingo hit a super poison rana that was superbly executed by Vikingo and well taken by Bandido. In the end, Vikingo got the win after hitting an inverted 450. In this match, Vikingo once again proved that he is without a doubt the greatest high flyer in the world today. The spots executed in this match were quite innovative and unexpected. Vikingo keeps raising the bar. This was arguably the best Mexican lucha match of the year (it’s at least one of the three best Mexican lucha matches of the year). What kept this from being great was that it was pretty much purely about the crazy high flying spots. Also, some of the spots took quite a bit of time to get set up (particularly the springboard tijeras) and not all spots were executed excellently (which can be forgiven to a certain extent because of the extreme high difficulty level they were going for throughout this match). Still, this was an excellent match overall, and it was very entertaining to watch the unbelievable high flying action. **** 

GLEAT 12/30/22 Tokyo Dome City Hall, UWF Rules: Takanori Ito vs. Shinya Aoki 15:00. 
DC: The striking in this match was really good, because it didn’t feel like they were doing the type of strike exchange where it’s just two guys mindlessly alternating strikes. Instead, Takanori Ito and Shinya Aoki were trying to sell the idea that they were trying to get a strike in before the other could either strike or block. Also, Aoki simply avoided some of Ito’s strike attempts whenever Ito was too slow. Aoki acted confident (almost to the point he was acting a bit cocky to mess with Ito’s mind) and didn’t want to show any signs of concern. Early on, it seemed he was trying to get Ito to become frustrated. Aoki was very focused and was very quick with his reactions, avoiding strikes whenever he could, and trying to counter moves whenever he saw an opening. Ito was generally the more cautious of the two, but he was certainly not avoiding confrontation. Ito had to use his first rope break when Aoki had him stuck in a leglock, and Aoki managed to put quite some pressure on the leg. Ito soon found himself in trouble on the mat again, but he kept trying to escape and turn things around. This wasn’t easy, however, as Aoki had been the more dominant of the two thus far. Ito had to use his second rope break when his attempts to escape Aoki on the mat failed and found himself stuck in an ankle lock. Aoki showed a bit of frustration now, because he felt he was so close to making Ito tap. Ito realized he had to be a bit more aggressive now, since he was two points behind. Ito hit a backdrop suplex, which gave Ito some much needed confidence. Aoki was able to get to his feet quickly though, and he was able to get Ito stuck in another leglock. Ito used his third rope break. Aoki lost a point when he held onto the ropes when Ito tried to go for a suplex, because the referee counted it as a rope break, which seemed a fair decision. Aoki started playing more mind games by sitting on the mat, trying to trick Ito into getting on the mat with him, believing that he would be able to counter whatever move Ito would go for. Ito went for it, and Aoki was indeed able to counter Ito’s offense on the mat. Aoki went for an armbar, but couldn’t quite extend the arm, as Ito was trying with all his power to block the move. Ito used his fourth rope escape when his feet were able to reach the ropes. Ito tried to go for a suplex, but Aoki went for his second rope escape, which he could afford going for, because he was ahead on points. This was a smart move, because Ito’s suplexes were probably his main weapon in this match. Ito’s strikes shouldn’t be underestimated though, and he actually managed to score a point when Aoki was knocked down after a series of strikes. Aoki was now quite shaken up, and he ended up being knocked down again when Ito hit a released German suplex. Both men only had 1 point left after Ito had been able to close the gap. Aoki went for an armbar, but Ito was able to escape by reacting quickly. Things were looking good for Ito, and Aoki was at this point seemingly just hoping the time limit would expire soon, which was indeed the case. The match ended in a draw. It would be nice if these two would meet again at some point in the near future so that they can settle the score. This match was lots of fun to watch, and it was a well-worked match that was interesting from start to finish. It was particularly exciting because of the way Ito was able to overcome the odds and even things up after being down several points. ***¾