7/19/82 AJW, WWWA World Single Title Match: Jaguar Yokota vs. Devil Masami 21:16.
PA: Jaguar Yokota had won the World Title from Jackie Sato on 2/25/81. After a lackluster first year as champion, where she didn't have the confidence yet, which was understandable given she had to follow the most beloved wrestler in the history of the company up until that point, and houses were dropping. She didn't have any really memorable matches in 1981 except the match where she won the belt (but that wasn't a regular match), but she gets better later in the year, and in '82 she's something else.1982-85 is peak Jaguar GOAT level. The champion was always put into the role of defending against the evil gaijin, a role no one has ever done better than Yokota (her matches against Monster Ripper from 4/7/82 and Wendi Richter from 10/5/82 being two such examples), but here she had the chance to go with the second best wrestler in the company. Devil Masami was a juggernaut that had been pushed into the top heel spot, and had taken to the role as effectively as anyone I've ever seen. Her feud with Mimi Hagiwara had produced a lot of highly entertaining matches in both tags and singles matches. She also claimed a singles victory over Yokota in February, and won a no. 1 contenders tournament in April (defeating Hagiwara in the finals). In fact, Devil was so cool and had been built up so strongly that she was more popular than Yokota here, and while this wouldn't seem out of the ordinary in modern day wrestling, it's something that just didn't happen in 1982 (and probably foreshadowed her babyface turn the following year). While I won't go so far as to say this was the first great match in the history of All Japan Women (at least from what's available), it was a level above anything up to this point technically. Jaguar is so smooth and fast, yet believable. Masami is a brute powerhouse, and everything she does looks mean and nasty. They didn't work a complex match, they just played to their strengths and weaknesses. Masami is capable of bullying Yokota if given the chance, but like a bull seeing red, she's too aggressive for her own good. Yokota is the more wily, skilful and speedy one. The early going is well done, basic wrestling with Yokota's trademark speed bursts keeping you on edge. She looked to work Masami down on the mat, and at her first chance to overpower her, Masami simply dragged Yokota outside and mugged her out there. Jaguar used the breather to regain her bearings, and got some revenge on the outside going after Masami's leg with a figure four after regaining control. Masami's regrouping efforts weren't as simple as Jaguar's with her knee being injured, and Jaguar had a bullseye on it as soon as Masami returned to the ring. Jaguar was relentless and vicious until Masami was able to fire up and headbutt her way out. This portion was so effective you'd be forgiven for thinking they turning Masami babyface here. They got into the big moves afterward with the intensity and action picking up. They exchanged tombstone piledrivers. Masami began dominated with her power offense and looked like she was sure to claim a second victory over Yokota. Yokota slipped out with her trademark bridge up and hit all of her trademark moves, but couldn't put Masami away either. This eventually led to Masami getting dropkicked out of the ring, and Jaguar hitting a big dive over the top. From that point the match descended into chaos with the two brawling outside again. Yokota started wailing on Masami with a chair, and they ended up having a chair vs. bokken duel. The whole thing ended up in a count out. I suppose the finish was a bit disappointing, but I wasn't too bothered by it. The chaotic brawl looked chaotic and was memorable, and tempers were flaring by that point. No matter your thoughts on that, the action throughout the match was tremendous, and it was easily women's Match of the Year for 1982. ****1/4

AJW 4/6/85 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Fuji TV Cup Japan Grand Prix '85 League: Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo 30:00.
DC: This was the battle of the Crush Gals, the most popular tag team in joshi puroresu at the time. The crowd reaction was tremendous. The school girls in attendance were chanting and screaming as loud as they could to show their support. Despite being tag team partners, Lioness Asuka and Chigusa Nagayo made each other struggle throughout the entire match. Every move they executed had to be fought hard for, and they didn’t give each other an easy time. Lioness certainly didn’t hold back any of her viciousness. Chigusa showed her tremendous passion and fighting spirit, and of course, back in the ‘80s, Chigusa was still a great worker. The fact that they were so into what they were doing helped make this an intriguing battle you couldn’t stop paying attention to. The execution was quite crisp, especially for ‘80s standards. This could be an unpopular opinion, but this was arguably the best singles match these two had against each other. Great match. ****½

NJPW 3/19/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Shiro Koshinaka 19:44.
DC: This was a really fun match, and it’s a match that still holds up watching it with modern era eyes. The best thing about Shiro Koshinaka is that, unlike someone like Nobuhiko Takada, for example, he always kept moving. While he was keeping things relatively simple, Koshinaka’s workrate was high and he understood how to make a match dramatic and exciting. Koshinaka had originally started his pro wrestling career in 1979 in AJPW and he wrestled there until March 1984, but then after spending some time in Mexico, he ended up making his NJPW debut in 1985. Hiroshi Hase was a talented amateur wrestler who had spent over a year as a pro wrestler in Calgary before making his NJPW debut in December 1987. In his NJPW debut match, Hase defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, which shows that NJPW had high hopes for Hase. It’s safe to say that Hase ended up showing NJPW that their intuition was right, as Hase ended up having quite a successful career. In this match, there were several weardown holds applied by both Hase and Koshinaka, but they never stayed in them endlessly, and they would mix it up with some more exciting moments. What they did really well is build up the heat by having more back-and-forth action and more near falls as the match progressed. It also felt the match had a natural and organic flow to it, which didn’t make it feel like they were just randomly moving from a beginning to a middle part and then a final part. This was definitely significantly more exciting and more intriguing of a match than most matches from this era. Great match. ****½ 

WWA 5/17/91 Tijuana Auditorio Municipal, UWA World Welterweight Title: El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas.
DC: They didn’t rush things, as they took the time to really play out all the matwork sequences fully. Towards the end of the first fall, the pace quickened, and they showed more of that tremendous chemistry they have together. Hijo del Santo ended up winning the first fall, and Casas won the second fall. In between the second and third fall, Casas gave Santo a low blow. Things got even more heated now. At some point in the third fall, Santo hit a tope suicida. Santo took revenge for what happened earlier and hit Casas with a low blow of his own. Santo tried to make Casas submit, but Casas showed his determination and hit a tope suicida. Both workers really put over the will to win. In the third fall, the referee disqualified Casas for repeatedly trying to choke Santo. Excellent match. ****

NJPW 12/5/91 Chiba Koen Taiikukan: Negro Casas & Katana vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami 13:48.
DC: Negro Casas and Jushin Thunder Liger started this match off at a fast pace. Katana was a Mexican wrestler who was also known as Leon Chino. Katana was getting involved while not being legally involved in the match, so Liger challenged him to face him man to man. Katana didn’t back down from this challenge and tagged in. Liger vs. Katana was fun, but Katana wasn’t anywhere near the level of Casas as a worker. Akira Nogami has always been an underrated worker, and he worked quite well against Casas. Casas and Liger worked hard. Nogami was a solid hand as well. Katana dragged the match down. This meant that this was quite an entertaining match overall, and they did a good job of making the final minutes the most lively ones, but the match suffered whenever Casas wasn’t in the ring. Pretty good match. ***

NJPW 12/16/91 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Negro Casas vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 9:43.
DC: Negro Casas wasted no time, and started attacking Jushin Thunder Liger right away. What was cool about these Casas vs. Liger matches was that they were so different from Liger’s usual matches. Liger was in lucha mode here, and did a bunch of lucha armdrags. Casas did his backflip off the top rope where he lands on his feet and tried to pin Liger with a surprise pin, but Liger kicked out. After a tombstone piledriver, Liger went for a flying headbutt, but Casas moved and went for la casita, but Liger kicked out. Liger hit a tremendous Asai moonsault. Soon after, Liger hit a top-rope huracarrana for the win. This was arguably their most action-packed match together, and it was probably their best match together. It was shorter than their 12/26/90 match, but it feels they made better use of their time here in this 12/16/91 match. Very good match. ***¾

LLI 1/5/92 Naucalpan El Toreo: Negro Casas vs. Hijo del Santo.
DC: Tala Menendez interviewed both participants before the match, and they seemed fired up and ready to go. Both workers showed passionate matwork early on. Negro Casas was particularly aggressive. Not to be outdone, Hijo del Santo showed his own mat skills and even made Casas tap out to win the first fall. The second fall was a bit underwhelming, with relatively less excitement compared to the first fall. Casas won the second fall via la casita. The third fall had a bit more grittiness than the second fall, and at least they showed that they were bitter rivals. We also got a spectacular finish. Santo hit a tope suicida that sent both Santo and Casas over the guardrail. While that was a cool moment, it also resulted in the referee declaring the match a draw. This was perfectly fine lucha overall, and the match had its moments, but it never seemed to reach the level you would expect from these two. Good match. ***  

LLI 1/19/92 Naucalpan El Toreo: Negro Casas & Pegasus Kid vs. Hijo del Santo & Villano III.
DC: The great rudo team of Negro Casas and Pegasus Kid showed a lot of viciousness in the first fall. Being the superhero that he is, Hijo del Santo didn’t back down from the challenges posed to him, and he fought back with his typically graceful lucha offense. Villano III was a step or three slower than the other three participants in this match, but he was solid in his role as Santo’s tag team partner here. The work Casas and Santo showed here was more exciting and fast-paced than in their singles match from two weeks prior. The final minutes of this match had the most excitement and culminated when Pegasus missed a flying headbutt, as Villano moved out of the way and scored the pinfall win. It was a pretty straightforward match with some fun and energetic action. Good match. ***¼    

NJPW 4/26/92 Oita-ken Hita-shi Sogo Taiikukan, Top of the Super Junior III: Negro Casas vs. Koji Kanemoto 9:15.
DC: Kanemoto did some good stuff, but this was before he became truly a good worker. Casas did a good job of carrying the match and setting Kanemoto up for success. However, the match turned out to be a collection of a few memorable spots amidst a lot of non-essential randomness. Although, things definitely picked up as the match progressed, as things became more urgent. Overall, it was definitely a match that was fun to watch. Good match. ***

CMLL 7/17/92 Mexico City Arena Mexico: Negro Casas & Felino & Bestia Salvaje vs. Ultimo Dragon & El Dandy & Blue Demon Jr.
DC: For the most part of Negro Casas’ career, LLI (a.k.a. UWA) had been the main league he’d wrestled in. However, in June 1992, CMLL became Negro Casas’ main league, and this would remain the case for the next 30 years. The first feud CMLL gave Casas was one against El Dandy. Their big CMLL World Middleweight Title Decision Match won by El Dandy on 7/3/92 was decent but not quite the great match some people claim it was, since it was a slow, low-impact, dragged out type of match. Casas was still booked opposite Dandy in several trios matches following the 7/3/92 match, and this is one of those trios matches. In this particular match, Casas teams with one of his brothers, El Felino. Casas and Dandy showed more speed and intensity than they had done in all their previous meetings thus far. Ultimo Dragon (Yoshihiro Asai) executed some spectacular moves with some help from solid rudo base Bestia Salvaje. Casas executed a really cool-looking dropkick on Dandy. However, the tecnicos ended up winning the match, because Dragon hit a quebrada on Salvaje for the win while Blue Demon Jr. made Felino submit after Felino missed a moonsault. Felino wasn’t a very sophisticated worker, but he was fun enough to watch thanks to him giving a good effort and occasionally hitting some spectacular moves. Demon was the weakest worker in this match, but he was okay enough to play at least his role in this match adequately, and he hit quite a nice tope suicida on Felino in the third fall. In the second fall, Casas made it clear he wanted to wrestle Dragon. His wish came true, and they worked some of the best spots and sequences of the match together. This match marked a switch from Casas’ program with Dandy to a program with Dragon, which was definitely an upgrade in in-ring quality. These two were familiar with each other from Casas’ Universal tours. Near the end of the second fall, a typical lucha brawl broke out, and everyone was just randomly beating each other up in and outside of the ring. The match remained quite chaotic from this point onwards, but at least not so chaotic that cool moments weren’t possible. Salvaje pinned Dandy to win the second fall for the rudos. The match ended when Dragon missed a quebrada after Casas side-stepped. Casas followed this up with la casita for the win. Overall, the work ranged from quite decent to quite good, but the best aspect of this match was that it set up Casas’ new feud with Dragon. Good match. *** 

CMLL 8/28/92 Mexico City Arena Coliseo, UWA World Middleweight Title: Negro Casas vs. Ultimo Dragon 15:21 (7:22, 2:44, 5:15).
DC: After about a seven-week build-up in trios action, Negro Casas and Ultimo Dragon finally faced each other in singles action. This much-anticipated match was for the CMLL Middleweight Title, a title Casas had been holding since 1/29/91 when he won the title from Super Astro. Both contestants of this big title match had minis in their respective corners, as Casas had Piratita Morgan in his corner, and Dragon had Mascarita Magica in his corner. The match started off with a solid display of lucha matwork, as they were trying to tie each other up and trying to prove their superiority on the mat. The second fall merely served as a quick way to set up the equalizer, as Casas took revenge by making Dragon submit. In the third fall, Dragon hit an awesome tope suicida. As good as Casas was in this match, it felt like Dragon was the better performer in this match. Casas thought he was Bret Hart for a moment, scoring the pinfall victory via an inside cradle that came out of nowhere. This match was enjoyable from start to finish, but it never reached the levels you’d hope this match would reach. Good match. ***¼  

WAR 9/15/92 Yokohama Arena: Negro Casas vs. Ultimo Dragon 14:55.
DC: Casas made his 2nd appearance in WAR on the 6th show in company history, a co-promotion with WWF headlined by Ric Flair retaining the WWF World Heavyweight Title by drawing with Genichiro Tenryu. Right from the start of this more interesting bout, Negro Casas vs. Ultimo Dragon match was a lot more action-packed than their CMLL 8/28/92 match, which was merely good. Not only was there more action, the action itself was of higher quality, as there was more intensity and struggle shown by both participants. Both wrestlers were far grittier and more snug even during the early matwork. That being said, this match never quite reached the excellence you’d hope these two reach together. While it was clearly superior to the 8/28/92 match in terms of pure execution, the match felt disjointed in the sense that after a promising finish, it became less and less promising as time went on until we got to see some cool high spots during the last four minutes of the match, including Negro Casas executing the Silver King plancha to the floor, and, of course, Dragon’s very own Asai moonsault. It definitely feels like the 8/28/92 match was stronger in the storytelling department. Either way, it seems like Universal 6/7/90 was easily the best match these two ever had together in singles competition. Good match. ***¼  

CMLL 3/26/93 Mexico City Arena Mexico, UWA Middleweight Title: Negro Casas vs. Ultimo Dragon 23:41 (10:00, 5:02, 8:39).
DC: Negro Casas’ brother, Felino, was in his corner. Ultimo Dragon had El Pantera in his corner. The first fall mostly consisted of solid, but slow-paced lucha matwork. They did a good job of making the final minutes of the first fall feel more dramatic, mostly thanks to going for more spectacular moves and near falls. This included Dragon almost scoring a pinfall after a quebrada. Dragon eventually scored the win in the first fall after a bridging German suplex. In the second fall, they continued where they left off with their solid junior heavyweight action. Casas started having the upper hand and tried to make Dragon submit. Dragon tried to reach the ropes, but Casas kept persisting, which resulted in Dragon tapping out to a sasorigatame. In the third fall, being the rudo that he was, Casas started showing more heelish behaviour. In fact, he sneakily hit Dragon with a low blow just before the third fall when the referee wasn’t paying attention. Once Dragon was able to fight back, the match started reaching its most exciting portion. The action started culminating in more dramatic and spectacular fashion. Dragon hit an awesome tope suicida and a tremendous Asai moonsault. Dragon kept coming closer to victory. Casas wasn’t just going to let Dragon snatch his title away though, as Casas kept hanging in there and occasionally fought back. Ultimately, it was Dragon who executed a tiger suplex for the win. Dragon had become the new UWA Middleweight Title holder after Casas had been holding the title 787 days. This was a wonderful culmination of their 8-month feud in CMLL. Better storytelling and a more satisfying overall product are reasons for this match being more memorable than their singles matches from 1992. Very good. ***½   

AJW 4/2/93 Yokohama Arena: Kaoru Ito & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Plum Mariko 16:32.
DC: This was the opening match of the legendary Dream Slam show. It featured four promising young talents that had the reputation of being good workers but weren’t quite main eventers. What stood out most in this match was the fast pace these girls worked at. They clearly knew that this was a match of importance, as the opening match of such an anticipated show obviously would have to be a hot opener to set the tone of the night. All four workers displayed a lot of passion, and they all gave a strong effort. What was particularly great was that they were so deeply sincere about what they were doing, which helped put this over as a somewhat serious attempt at presenting this as a sports contest, which is exactly the type of feel that set puroresu apart from other pro wrestling during puroresu’s golden decade of the 1990s (for the most part). When Plum Mariko was in the ring, the mat work was really intense, as there was constantly a battle and struggle going on. Sakie Hasegawa was a solid worker, but it was Kaoru Ito was truly the most outstanding worker of her team, as Ito went above and beyond, giving a performance that forecasted her future excellence (as she would be quite a big name in AJW later that decade). Hikari Fukuoka hadn’t quite reached her peak yet, but she tried hard and she certainly contributed more than sufficiently. This was a hot opener with a display of high workrate that was exciting from start to finish. Both teams really embodied the fighting spirit you’d hope to see from teams representing rival organizations that were battling it out at a major event. Great match. ****½ 

AJW 8/21/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Japan Grand Prix Semi Final: Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota 16:36.
DC: Akira Hokuto was working with an injured knee, but that didn’t stop her from giving an awesome performance. She did a great job carrying the match thanks to her great wrestling psychology, and she did a particularly great job selling her knee. The great timing and execution really added a lot to the great drama of this match. Manami Toyota showed her impressive agility and performed many exciting moves. Especially towards the end of the match, Toyota delivered numerous high-risk moves. This was a tremendous high-workrate and highly athletic contest featuring great non-stop action and lots of great near falls. It was pretty much everything you’d want from a high-quality joshi puroresu match. Even during the portions of the match that took place on the mat, there was a great level of intensity shown. This was easily the best match these two ever had against each other, and it was one of the match matches to take place in pro wrestling in the amazing year of 1993. Great match! *****

AJW 8/21/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Japan Grand Prix Final: Akira Hokuto vs. Yumiko Hotta 19:52.
DC: After an amazing semi earlier in the night, Hokuto came back in the main event to deliver another classic. It was Akira Hokuto’s selling that really made the match, as Yumiko Hotta was kicking away at her leg. Hokuto’s selling deserves praise because it’s a useful kind of selling, an active kind of selling, as she isn’t just merely lying around. This match wasn’t quite as good as the match Hokuto had with Manami Toyota earlier, but that’s hardly a knock on this match, as that match vs. Toyota was a very strong MOTYC for 1993. This match against Hotta arguably had a better display of selling and drama, though. This was when Hokuto was still at her absolute peak, and she showed tremendous energy and fighting spirit, much more so than in later years. In fact, Hokuto is a very strong candidate for 1993 Wrestler of The Year (along with Toshiaki Kawada and Mayumi Ozaki). This match didn’t feature a particularly great Hotta performance, but she played her part well, and as the match started coming closer to its conclusion, Hotta’s performance became more spirited. Great match. ****½ 

AJW 12/10/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Tag League the Best: Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada 15:36.
DC: Four of AJW’s best workers of 1993 battled in this important tag team match. This was a match from the round robin portion of the tournament. It was an important match, because both teams had done quite well in the tournament, and both teams were still able to win this tournament. The dream team of Akira Hokuto and Manami Toyota had the most points so far (10 points), but the interesting team of Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada were very close in points (8 points). Hokuto had a great year in 1993, and she was arguably the best wrestler of 1993 in all of wrestling. This event marked the end of Hokuto’s run as a full-time worker in AJW, though. There was a great sense of struggle in this match. Both teams didn’t want to give the opponents an easy time. However, both teams were also willing to take risks and they were willing to execute spectacular moves, not necessarily just to awe the crowd, but more to simply take out the opposition (with the aweing of the crowd being a bonus). It looked like Hokuto & Toyota were the favorites to win this, and they certainly displayed great determination to get the job done. However, Kyoko & Yamada, despite being somewhat the underdogs here, worked well together and knew they had a chance as long as they were able to hang in there and survive the onslaught by the team of Hokuto & Toyota. Whenever they saw an opening, Kyoko & Yamada would get offense in, but Hokuto & Toyota were able to counter often. However, Kyoko was able to pin Toyota for the win! Kyoko & Yamada won the match, but that meant both teams were now tied in points, as they both had 10 points at this point in time, and an immediate decision match (the final of the tournament) had to be wrestled right away! Perhaps this was ‘only’ an excellent match on its own, but when you consider the compelling complete story this match is a part of (along with the actual tournament final), it’s hard to not rate this more than excellent. Great match. ****½  

AJW 12/10/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Tag League the Best Final: Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada 14:49.
DC: The tournament final took place immediately after both teams had just wrestled each other for over 15 minutes to decide this would indeed be the tournament final. The battle picked up right where it left off. The team of Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada were now feeling the momentum and the confidence to win this tournament. While Yamada and Manami Toyota were battling it out in the ring, Akira Hokuto and Kyoko were brawling elsewhere in the arena, as this battle had now become incredibly heated. Hokuto returned to the ring soon, though, as she realized that’s where she ultimately had to get things done. Kyoko & Yamada showed more confidence than before, while Hokuto & Toyota showed more frustration than before, giving this final a different feel from the round robin match earlier. Toyota gave a particularly spirited performance, as she would interrupt the momentum of the Kyoko & Yamada team quite often with her daredevil flying attacks. Kyoko’s ability to execute spectacular moves shouldn’t be underestimated, though. Hokuto spent most of this match selling, but she also delivered spectacularness when the situation called for it. Yamada was the least spectacular worker of the match, but her ability and understanding of how to be part of the flow of the match was great and exactly what was needed. Finally, Hokuto nailed Yamada with a northern lights bomb for the win. The dream team of Hokuto & Toyota won the tag tournament! Both matches really have to be watched in succession, because, in the end, both matches (the round robin match and the tournament final) played an equally important part of what was essentially one great story. Great match. ****½ 

MWF/CMLL 7/9/94 Los Angeles, California Olympic Auditorium, UWA Middleweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas 16:07 (4:44, 4:23, 7:00).
DC: In addition to at least seven matches they had against each other of which no footage apparently exists, these two had good matches against each other on 3/2/90, 8/28/92, 9/15/92, and they had very good matches against each other on 6/7/90 and 3/26/93. So, this was at least their 12th singles match against one another up to that point in time. The match started off in a strong manner, as the matwork was executed with care. They both put really good effort into the matwork right from the start, which is always nice, since that’s obviously a lot more interesting than guys doing matwork just for the sake of it. There were plenty of fast-paced counters, displaying not only their technical proficiency, but also their junior heavyweight speed. While Negro Casas is definitely in rudo mode, his rudo act doesn’t take anything away from the quality of the match, and, if anything, it even adds to the drama of the story. Casas won the first fall with the help of some rule breaking behind the referee’s back. In the second fall, Casas continued to be merciless towards Ultimo Dragon, as he continued the beatdown. Casas would break the rules whenever the referee was distracted, which on one hand made Casas come across like a cowardly heel, but on the other hand also showed his desperation to beat Dragon. Once Dragon was able to finally fight back, Casas interrupted Dragon’s brief momentum by claiming Dragon hit him with a low blow (which wasn’t the case). Luckily, the referee didn’t fall for it, and the match continued. Dragon hit some cool offense, which culminated in a nicely executed bridging German suplex for the pinfall win in this second fall. In the third fall, Dragon would attempt the more spectacular type offense, while Casas would go for more of the weardown type holds. One of the more spectacular moments was a tope suicida by Dragon. This match wasn’t necessarily as spectacular as it could have been, but there was definitely plenty of interesting action, and the storytelling was truly superb. The 3-minute finishing stretch really added a lot to the match, as it gave us a satisfying conclusion, which also meant we didn’t just get a random finish out of nowhere. They really had the crowd going crazy thanks to dramatic near falls. Ultimately, after trying harder and harder to win the match, Dragon won the match via pinfall after hitting a beautiful moonsault. Excellent match. ****

WrestleCon 3/30/23 Los Angeles, California Globe Theatre: Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander vs. Taurus 12:45.
DC: Taurus, who is much larger than his opponents, showed his strength advantage, but then also showed his surprising ability to move around like he was a smaller guy. Vikingo and Komander are two of the very best high flyers in the world today, so it wasn’t a surprise that they showed some amazing high flying moves. Especially when Vikingo and Komander wrestled each other, it was an awesome spectacle of the most modern-looking lucha libre available in the world today. The tremendous speed and agility shown by Vikingo, combined with his amazing timing and instinct makes him one of the very best wrestlers in the world today. Komander didn’t want to be outdone, and showed some crazy moves as well. All three participants worked hard and always tried to constantly make the match more spectacular. The only downside of the match is that it was all highspots, giving the match almost more of an exhibition-type feel, but the highspots were so incredible that it still resulted in a match that’s certainly highly recommended. Excellent match. ****¼

12/5/23 AEW Continental Classic League: Brian Danielson vs Andrade El Idolo 18:33

12/15/23 ROH, AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus 16:29

12/16/23UFC 296: Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa 3R

12/16/23 UFC 296: Alonzo Menifield vs. Dustin Jacoby 3R.
ML: Jacoby was clearly the more skilled striker, and was comfortably winning the majority of the fight, but nonetheless lost due to Menifield’s incredible punching power, damaging him most of the time he connected, including dropping him in both the 2nd and 3rd. This was one of those weird fights that while Jacoby was in control, his primary job needed to be not allowing Menifield to connect because the power difference was tremendous, so I felt like Jacoby not overextending and relying on being the solid, more technical and fundamental fighter was his best chance to win the fight, point fighting to avoid the big mistake. Similar to the Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington main event, when Edwards was content to be the more technical striker, Covington couldn't get his offense going, it wasn't until Edwards became willing to take chances and even grapple with Covington late in the fight that Covington was actually able to actually do anything. It's not exactly the same because Covinton has more wrestling skill and far less striking power, and that was a dull fight because both fought safe for the majority. I would definitely say that Jacoby could have fought a more diverse fight, though his few attempts didn't exactly help his cause. While his jab was dominant, considering his height, reach, and skill advantages, he did a rather poor job of actually keeping Menifield out of range, and was instead focusing on taking Menifield's space away rather than keeping Menifield out of range. Jacoby did a good job of dictating the range, faking and fainting to set up poking Menifield with the jab and then clinching to negate Menifield's power by denying him the space to utilize it. Menifield had a big left straight knockdown early in the second round though. Menfield landed very few shots in this round, but every one seemed to wobble Jacoby. Jacoby was trying to get beyond simply throwing the left jab, but when he would instead lead with the right hand, Menifield would rock him with the left hook counter. Jacoby definitely had more success with the right hand when he threw it behind the jab, but even that was quite risky, as Menifield just had so much power that it hardly seemed worth it for Jacoby to gamble on a combination. Jacoby got off to a great start in round 3, and was flowing well, but when Menifield was able to dodge the right hand, he again dropped Jacoby with a left straight counter. Jacobi's corner wanted him to break the clinch and get back to fighting at distance to try to do something to swing the round back in his favor, but while Jacoby has a hell of a chin, and thus was able to withstand another big shot, he wasn't clear enough to do anything better than hold on to avoid further damage. When they did finally split up in the final seconds of the round, Jacoby still looked bad, and just got hit hard a few more times. Menifield won a unanimous decision 29-28. Good match.