ECW 4/8/95 Philadelphia, PA ECW Arena, ECW World Television Title: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Eddy Guerrero 14:49.
DC: Eddy Guerrero came into ECW with a big reputation. This is why it was plausible for him to get a title shot in his first ECW match. In spite of ECW's reputation as a garbage wrestling league that catered to bloodthirsty fans of the extreme style of hardcore wrestling presented by the Philadelphia-based league, the ECW Arena crowd was known to not only accept but also eat up anything ECW promoter Paul Heyman wanted to put over. In 1994, 1995 and 1996, Heyman put over some of the best international junior heavyweights in the world, as he didn't just want his league to simply be a trashy league featuring mediocre brawlers. Heyman realized that what really would get ECW more attention was showcasing of some of the best pro wrestlers in the world, who were at the time still extremely underrated or extremely unknown by the general public. His problem was he knew that most of these talented wrestlers would unfortunately get swallowed right up by the big money-wasting machine known as WCW, whereas Tommy Dreamer wasn't likely to attract interest from the major American promotions. Top talent like Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, Rey Misterio Jr.  Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera and Dean Malenko all made appearances in ECW prior to joining WCW. Eddy Guerrero really got to show his stuff in this match against 2 Cold Scorpio. The two had already wrestled each other several times in Japan, so they were no strangers to one another. Guerrero pretty much worked the way you would expect him to work in Japan, except here he was wearing Gringos Locos gear and not Black Tiger gear. Guerrero's moves were superbly executed. He did all kinds of cool moves, including wicked suplexes and a big dive to the floor. What prevented this match from being truly excellent was that we didn't get enough back-and-forth action. They mostly just took turns controlling for longer segments, rather than making things less predictable by countering each other more frequently. Other than that, the wrestling was really good and very enjoyable. Scorpio didn't get to really show his stuff until the final minutes, but this match was more about Guerrero anyway, as this was the big introduction of Guerrero to the ECW crowd. In his first ECW appearance, Guerrero wins the TV Title. Very good match. ***¾

2/19/16 CMLL: Volador Jr. & Dragon Lee & Stuka Jr. vs. Negro Casas & Gran Guerrero & Kamaitachi 8:50 (0:48, 1:53, 6:09)
ML: This match felt much longer than it actually was, not because it dragged, which it certainly never did, but because they overloaded it with so much more inspired fast action than you'd normally get that you felt it must have taken longer than it actually did. Just a super action packed sprint with an extra motivated Volador, who was just on fire throughout, and again challenged Casas to a hair match. The rudos jumped the technicos on the runway, but Volador fought 3 on 1 back in the ring, and the technicos prevailed after Casas took his requisite bump off the top to the floor. Volador was doing plenty of superstar elbows and tijeras, and even their mini second Ke Monito got in on the action with a dive to Zacarias. After the typical quick first two falls, the action became a lot more frantic than usual, and this turned into a purolucha style match, with a lot of saves. This felt like a big show main event rather than a midcard tag with all the extra effort they were putting in to make this stand out as something different. Everyone worked really well together, with lots of double and triple teaming and excellent timing throughout. The big multiman spot saw Volador and Stuka give Kamaitachi a double superplex, then Dragon Lee immediately landed a diving body press. Stuka faked that he was going to jump on Casas, who was down in the ring, but instead did a reverse tope to the floor. Unfortunately, Casas got up and fouled Volador for the DQ just to be a dick, which felt extra lousy after they invested us in several good near falls rather than the usual silliness where guys easily lose to whatever no impact move as soon as it becomes convenient. This is the style I want to see from CMLL. ***3/4

3/18/16 CMLL Hair Vs. Hair: Volador Jr. vs. Negro Casas 17:14 (0:31, 1:50, 14:53)
ML: Volador and Casas had two alright singles matches at Arena Puebla leading up to this, a lightning match that should have been a Volador style sprint but instead was a slow Casas technical match, and a regular match that arguably should have been Casas style stiff technical match, but instead was a 2/3 speed Volador style spectacle. They stepped their efforts up considerably for this big Arena Mexico hair match main event. Casas made his best attempt to do the Volador style big match. He pushed himself hard, doing more running and jumping than he's done in ages. This obviously wasn't as impressive as it would have been from numerous CMLL stars half Casas' age, but there was a certain surprise, and an awe factor to seeing Casas do this sort of match at his age that is likely to make people be more forgiving. It was mostly quite reasonably done, though Casas' tijeras off the apron and avalanche Frankensteiner were botched. The back and forth nature of the athletic match made for a more interesting long wrestling match than the usual Casas layout of Casas taking all his younger opponent's great flying until he could counter a moonsault by getting his feet up then win with la casita. They did, of course, try this spot, on Volador's second consecutive moonsault off the 2nd, but Volador just kicked out. Volador hit the Hiromu sunset flip powerbomb with Casas on the apron near the finish, and won with a poisonrana. Though Casas lost his hair to a major star in his prime, Casas showed a ton of heart in largely trying to beat Volador at his own game, and earned respect by putting his body on the line. ***

6/2/13 CMLL NWA World Historic Welterweight Title: Negro Casas vs. Mascara Dorada
ML: This was a really well laid out match that utilized the first two falls wisely, and really took off in the third. They established the main themes of the match right away, with Casas attacking the knee with a low kick, and Dorada being ready for whatever Casas had to throw at him. Dorada was happy to answer Casas right back, kicking him in the knee, or avoid, ducking Casas' chop and firing back with one of his own. Casas became much more aggressive after losing the first fall, taking Dorada out with his kneecap dropkick, and becoming much more assertive with his knee attack. The 2nd fall finish saw Dorada avoid la casita twice, but while he was busy wagging his finger "no" at Casas, Casas arm dragged him and hit la casita for the pin. Though Dorada had dives in the first two falls, most of the big action was reserved for the third, and hence the knee work was largely dropped in favor of favorite moves. Dorada had a big botch trying to do the Fenix jumping from rope to rope, but made up for it with a springboard plancha. Casas got back up to the apron quickly to cut off Dorada's dive, but Dorada won the headbutt battle, and tried a senton atomico onto the apron. However, Casas avoided and used his momentum to post him, then followed with his silla off the apron. Casas tried another silla, but Dorada caught him in midair and posted him, then got greedy trying to post him again, but Casas Frankensteinered him into the post. They had a tijeras battle on the runway, which culminated with Dorada doing a wind sprint tijeras back into the ring. Casas got his legs up for Dorada's moonsault, but Dorada rolled through la casita, and hit a casita of his own to take the title. Casas was really over, with Dorado getting big boos at times, and the fans certainly weren't happy he ended Casas' 475 day reign at 7 successful defenses. This could arguably have been performed slightly better than it actually was, but it was a really good match on paper, and they did come together well in actuality for some nice and even surprising sequences. ***1/4

1/3/14 CMLL Leyenda de Plata 2013 Final: Negro Casas vs Titan
ML: Titan was born on 10/15/90, while Casas debuted on 10/19/79. Whatever you think about an almost 54-year-old wrestler winning the tournament, Casas is smart and knows how to allow Titan to shine. Especially given the relative difference in their standing, Casas certainly did a good job of setting his exciting young opponent up, making the audience believe Titan could win, and giving him enough to still look good in the loss. Casas gave the illusion that he was often doing something akin to Titan's athletic match while actually only moving just enough, allowing Titan to counter him most of the time when he set up his own athletic move. Titan was obviously doing the athletically impressive stuff, but Casas moves well enough that it came off. Due to Casas wrestling smartly, for the most part the massive difference in speed, athleticism, and explosion served to make Titan look more impressive rather than causing Casas to look less impressive. Casas was mostly being mean and nasty with stiff, by lucha standards, strikes, but he did enough different things to have variety and avoid slowing Titan down too much, while also doing a good job of setting Titan up for the various high flying highlights. Keeping this on the shorter side was good because 23-year-old Titan mainly had offense at this point, and overexposing Casas yields diminishing returns at this point in his career. The first two falls were typically rushed, and I didn't like to finish of the third fall where Casas merely got his legs up to counter Titan's moonsault. This was the second Leyenda de Plata win for Negro Casas. ***

1/2/15 CMLL World Welterweight Title Tournament Final: Mascara Dorada vs. Negro Casas
ML: Casas' singles matches have been trending shorter so he doesn't have to pace himself, but this was the closest we've seen to a prime era Casas sprint in a long time. Dorado was still providing most of the excitement, but it really felt like Casas could still go here, rather than having to just facilitate the opponent doing all the cool stuff, and do his work around that. A lot of the moves were the same as their 2013 match, but this was a sped up version of the traditional lucha libre sprint the entire time, losing the leg work and everything Casas did to slow that match down. This match was more like a 3 fall lightning match, so it wasn't cleverly laid out, but had a lot more drive and urgency, especially on Dorado's part, as the Casas character has enough confidence in his abilities that he never gives in to the urge to force things. Casas was able to engage in some traditional lucha sequences here rather than just having the opponent run and jump at him, using a leapfrog, but taking a tijeras and tope. The first two falls were very brief, but quite exciting. Dorada took the first fall with Casas' own la casita, which was the finish of their 6/2/13 match. Casas took the 2nd fall with a sidewalk slam into a scorpion then watched Dorada charge at him to start the third, and actually just casually turned out of the corner to avoid. This is obviously what should happen all the time, but never actually does, bringing a smile to my face. In the 6/2/13 match, Dorado avoided la casita twice in a row then got caught in it. This time he avoided it three times in a row then pinned Casas with it a second time. Mistico (Dralistico) had vacated the title in November after breaking his leg in May, only to return 11 days after a Dorado's was crowned the new champion. ***1/2

5/23/14 CMLL: Cachorro & Hechicero & Virus vs. Dragon Lee & Barbaro Cavernario & Negro Casas
ML: These aren't regular teams, but rather the final four of En Busca de un Idolo plus students Dragon Lee & Cachorro, who were both stealing the show from the veterans. Hechicero's team were impressive both individually and as a team, and were the big reason this stood out beyond the usual level, mixing strong technical wrestling with quality athletic wrestling, and avoiding most of the tropes. Though Casas and Cavernario are wrestlers I enjoy, the match felt a bit unbalanced because they were outshined by the opposition. This match nonetheless really overachieved, largely due to the effort. Lee debuted 5 months earlier, but is such a great athlete, and was already able to do all his spots impressively. He took a massive bump on a hip toss over the top from Cachorro, who followed with tope. Cachorro, one of Blue Panther's sons, was also quite good as the other energetic athlete in the match. Virus gave a nice showing, including a slingshot senton atomico to the outside. Casas mostly work the technical portions, which Hechicero was doing his best to spice up. It's often hard to stand out among the plethora of weekly 6 mans without any help from the booking or doing things reserved for the big matches, but this match definitely went above and beyond while staying within its parameters. ***

5/24/15 CMLL: Negro Casas vs. Volador Jr. 1:49, 1:42, 6:22
ML: I'm sure that prime Casas would have been an amazing opponent for Volador, but the old version isn't one of my favorite Volador opponents because Volador wants to be on the move all the time, and Casas doesn't want to move more than he has to. To his credit, Casas did a flashy Volador style match here, and while it was mostly exciting due to Volador constantly running and jumping at Casas, I'm okay with that. It was a short sprint Volador highlight show that probably felt even more sprinty due to some editing. Casas, of course, understood how to showcase Volador without exposing himself or compromising the match Volador was doing. Casas beat Volador with his own back cracker to earn a shot at the NWA World Historic Welterweight Title the following week, where Casas unfortunately may have gotten knocked out 10 seconds in when the back of his head hit the barricade taking Volador's tope. ***

6/22/24 UFC: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon 3R
ML: High pace, high output striking match, though Gordon did his best to fight a grindy style. Gordon attempted several single leg takedowns, backing Haqparast into the cage, then releasing to land the right hand. Gordon was the one applying the pressure, and he was winning when he was able to take away Haqparast's space and movement. Haqparast had a decided advantage in handspeed and footspeed. He was able to pick Gordon apart when he had room, so it was important for him to hold the center of the octagon. Gordon cut Haqparast under the left eye midway through the 1st. Haqparast was doing a good job using circling left, and allowing Gordon to pursue into his left hand. Gordan was winning the majority of the round, but Haqparast came on with his quick hands in the final minute and a half. Gordon continued to grind in the second, doing a better job of dictating an inside fight, where he was able to score with his dirty boxing. Haqparast landed a number of solid uppercuts though. Gordon came on big late in the round with a series of right straights then right uppercuts. Haqparast managed to avoid the high kick and circle away, but Gordon hurt him against the cage again with right hooks and uppercuts. The final portion of this round was some of the best action of the fight, with Haqparast trying to mount a comeback when he got back to space. Haqparast rejuvenated between rounds, and started the third round strong, holding the center. This was definitely the most action packed round, as both were doing their best to will themselves to victory. There were a lot of nice exchanges in this round, but Gordon had more in the tank, and was thus willing it a bit more effectively. He managed to start walking Haqparast down again, and his fighting out of the southpaw stance, leading with the right hook was giving Haqparast trouble. Gordon's right jab was also doing good work in the third. Haqparast was the more tired of the two, and while they were landing roughly an equal number of shots, his strikes didn't have the same zip on them as they did in the first round. Neither man's right eye was looking too great by this point. I think Gordon did enough to win this round based upon quality of strikes, but it was a really good, back and forth round we're Haqparast outlanded Gordon 74-70. Gordon losing the split decision 29 to 28 felt extra bad considering he already lost one of the all-time robberies to Paddy Pimblett. Good match.

4/3/19 Pizza Party Pro: Daniel Makabe vs. Fred Yehi 19:50.
ML: This doesn't look like much that we are seeing on the US indies, or really anywhere in the world today. It's something of a mix between modern day World of Sport and Bryan Danielson style technical wrestling. Definitely the strengths of the match were the struggle to execute the holds, and the escalation. They weren't trying to be too slick or too smooth. They were instead trying to show some sort of resistance to their holds from the opponent. There was a seriousness and intensity to what they were doing that kept it from feeling like an exhibition of holds. The second half of the match was a lot more impressive than the first, as they were performing with more speed and explosion. They were definitely trying to make it look nasty throughout, but early on it felt a bit cutesy because the counters and appendage work were performed too slowly. Makabe is definitely the more interesting and creative of the two, while Yehi is the better athlete. Makabe is one of the only guys that actually sells his hand after throwing a punch. Makabe tied Yehi up in the turnbuckle cover and tried to hit his dropkick, but Yehi escaped by then. Yehi then avenged by putting Makabe's arm down the hollow ring post, and elbowing him. There was some nice UWF style struggle for Makabe's doublearm suplex. There was a crazy flash pin sequence after Makabe fought off the power bomb, and dropped down into a cradle that was temporarily broken up by Makabe's rear naked choke. Makabe got a near fall with an interesting leg captured German suplex. The finish came when Makabe escaped the Koji clutch, and scored the flash pin with the Pattullo Bridge. ***1/2

6/19/24 AEW Owen Hart Foundation 2024 Men's Tournament Quarterfinal: PAC vs. Claudio Castagnoli 11:06.
ML: Rematch of the 7/21/23 ROH Title match where PAC got injured and was out for 8 months. They had an overrun, but they didn't start walking out until 9:53, so it was still very rushed. It was exciting and well worked, but they definitely sacrificed some of the development, and the finish was just plain unconvincing. PAC was flying around from start to finish, with Claudio actually not being as great a base as usual because most of PAC's stuff doesn't require much from the opponent. Claudio seemed to injure his right hip going down on the opening dropkick, but wasn't really selling it until PAC ran him into the guardrail. PAC hit a quebrada, then tried a moonsault off the apron, but Claudio caught him, only to have PAC turn it into a tornado DDT. Claudio was mauling PAC with uppercuts, particularly a running one after avoiding the black arrow for a near fall. The match was quite interesting, but they ran out of time, and just did a series of flash pins back and forth until Claudio got caught. ***

4/3/92 JWP Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka 23:09
PA: This was the main event of the new JWP's first show. They had the right people in the match in terms of it being the two best homegrown wrestlers from the original JWP (Kansai and Ozaki), their popular idol wrestler (Cuty) and their future star (Hikari). Ozaki and Kansai were the best, holding the match together and providing most of the interesting moments. Cuty was there. She wore black instead of white. She was good with picking her spots and helping Ozaki. Hikari was eventually exposed. She did a good job throughout most of the match, and showed improvement since the original JWP. She contributed some good spots here, such as a corner sunset flip, the Yamazaki armdrag (which she did from the middle of the ropes), the cartwheel counter, but lost the plot towards the end when she failed to execute the dumb rolling cradle move and screwed up much of the finishing sequence with Ozaki. The match started out hot. Fukuoka hit a dropkick off Kansai's back to start the match. Ozaki did her springboard body press outside. Kansai threw her into the guardrail to eventually even the exchange. The slow build was good in the way that kept things interesting, and there was some loose focus even if it was never maintained for long. Kansai was the highlight, either steamrolling through her opposition or working them over, and when they got her down it felt like a big deal. She wasn't as intense as we saw in the Original JWP, particularly against Harley, but there was no reason for her to be when she was wrestling Ozaki and Cuty, who were junior ranked wrestlers coming into this. They worked to a hot finish with Fukuoka and Ozaki. Fukuoka wasn't up to pulling the finish off, but it was still alright thanks to Ozaki. Cuty and Kansai were outside fighting while Ozaki got the pin with her diving body press. Kansai got in Ozaki's face after the match, so Ozaki spat water at her, kicking off their rivalry. ***1/2

4/11/92 JWP 2 Count Fall Match: Dynamite Kansai vs. Plum Mariko 16:10
PA: JWPs second show saw the first two count fall match. The rules worked to give Plum a chance against Kansai, and made the match feel more urgent. Kansai generally dominated the match, grinding Plum down or brutalizing her with kicks. Plum kept getting up, and would find a way back, whether it be a fast paced fight back or grabbing Kansai's foot to get a submission on. Later in the match, she got on roll. She hit a fisherman's suplex for a one count, and Kansai quickly got up and looked to continue mauling her, but Plum dumped her and hit a planch, then a dropkick off the apron to the floor. She was able to dump Kansai over the guard rail and blasted her with chair shots. A missile dropkick in the ring that followed made a close one count. Kansai got back on top and Plum got another run in, and they both looked to put each other away. Plum survived the flying headbutt, and kept trying, but her runs would get cut off, and Kansai had something stronger to come at her with, eventually catching her with a backdrop suplex and a sidebuster to get the win. ***3/4

4/25/92 AJW All Japan Tag Title Match: Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue 18:13
PA: Rematch from 1/5/92 where Malenko & Hasegawa won the All Japan Tag Titles. This was another hard working, quality match. Takako and Yoshida mainly dominated Sakie early, and Malenko would come in and take over on the mat now and then. In the second half, it turned into a hot match, starting with Malenko and Takako slapping each other and firing up. Lots of exciting spots towards the end. Malenko was the most solid of the bunch here, the best technically, while Yoshida was the most exciting. Sakie struggled. She tried hard, and had the most ring time, but was blowing spots, which extended to missing the finish. Takako and Yoshida regained the belts. They hit a double DDT from the second turnbuckle, and Sakie was supposed to kick out but didn't, so the ref stopped counting anyway. Takako finished her on the next move with an Aurora Suplex. ***3/4

4/25/92 AJW IWA World Title Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota 24:36
PA: This was the first of the supposedly great Kyoko vs. Toyota matches from 1992 – 1996. The TV version, which showed 9:13 of the 24:37 duration, made the match look like a mindblowing spotfest that never slowed down. I've said before, and will say again that Fuji TV were untouchable when it came to clipping matches for TV. Unfortunately, the full version wasn't that. The queen of spot blowing thankfully disappeared for this match and a good version of Toyota, who could execute, turned up. Kyoko still badly outworked Toyota because she actually put thought into what she was doing. She could match speed with Toyota, but always did it to outsmart Toyota and counter her, follow up with her own offense or try to wear her down with good submission work. Toyota busted her ass like she always did, but just came off like she trying to blow Kyoko away with no real game plan in mind, and that's eventually what happened. She went a million miles an hour and made her typically horrible comebacks that were too predictable and too fast. Toyota's selling on the mat wasn't bad while she was in the holds. She put over what Kyoko was doing, but she just counters Irish Whips, and in the process, gets regenerated back to 100%, which nullifies the matwork as even a temporary weardown. It's so predictable that, I suppose Kyoko is the stupid one for Irish Whipping her. The bad traits of Toyota had been on display throughout 1992, but none more than in this match because there was no senior to keep her under control. What redeems the match is the spots, and a great final five minutes. Starting with yet another Irish Whip comeback from Toyota, and then Kyoko getting her knees up on a Body Press, leading to the Giant Swing. Toyota kicked her way out of a Texas Cloverswing, and then killed Kyoko with dives to the outside. A tope, a plancha, and the quebrada, which was an incredible run of moves, probably overkill, but that's Toyota. In the ring, she partially blew a Tiger Suplex, which worked out for the best because it made the Kyoko comeback plausible after all those huge dives she'd been hit with. Kyoko set up the Niagara Driver, but Toyota countered it. Kyoko kept coming, and was able to hit it on the second try for a two count. Toyota came back off an Irish Whip (how else?), and hit a Japanese Ocean Suplex for two. Kyoko managed to chokeslam her, but when she tried to follow up, Toyota caught her in the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex to win. ***1/2

4/25/92 AJW WWWA World Title Match: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong 22:02
PA: The classic battle of the two monsters. Their first major singles match since the cage match in 1990. Aja wasn't ready for Bull at that point, but she was now. The beginning was the hard hitting, no-sell opening with lariats and charges typical of these two. Aja got the upper hand with a quick dropkick, and won a brawl on the outside, busting Bull opened and proceeding to completely dominate her in the ring. Aja worked the cut and wore down Bull. She fought back a little, but Aja shut her down, eventually delivering three piledrivers. Aja's offense was slow and punishing. Bull was great at looking vulnerable, and played the underdog well, making this look 9 minutes of agony. She came back into the match and mounted a comeback. She pounced when Aja took too long to follow up after ramming her into the turnbuckle. In contrast, Bull delivered a better beating on Aja, but Aja wasn't as vulnerable. Bull hit a brainbuster and a pair of lariats, then took some revenge on the outside, which saw Aja juice as well. Bull worked her over and went for the cut in the ring. Aja fired up while Bull was throwing kicks and wildly lashed out with a pair of urakens, but they were easily avoided with the first outright missing, and the second one barely connecting. Bull just stayed on her with a lariat and a backdrop suplex. Aja kicked her way out of a straightjacket hold and immediately went for the oil can, flattening it over Bull's head. The referee wouldn't count the fall on that, but that wasn't the point. Aja was desperate to regain control, and that tactic worked. She hit a diving splash and a suplex before hitting three urakens, with Bull getting up slower after each one. Bull kept struggling her way up, but Aja kept knocking her down. Bull managed to reverse an Irish Whip and clobber Aja in the back. She knew she had to finish, so she went for the guillotine legdrop and got a near fall with it. Another one, this time the somersault version missed. Aja German suplexed her for a two count, then sliding kicked her out of the ring and hit a plancha. Aja looked to continue in the ring. She missed something, and then a waterwheel drop, which Bull tried to counter but didn't quite manage it, giving Aja another near fall. Aja went up and Bull shoved her outside, then went in for the kill with a tope, which hit. Somersault guillotine legdrop hit and only got two, leaving Bull in shock with a classic facial expression that said more than words ever could. There was only one thing left to do, and that was the moonsault to give Bull the win. Every bit the brutal war expected, with some great high spots thrown in. Bull carried the match and gave her best performance since her title defense against Hokuto. Aja wasn't that great here, but did what she needed to. The story came across throughout, and was put over in the post match. Bull was more of a survivor than a winner, and didn't celebrate the win. She just held her head and wanted to get out there to lick her wounds. ****1/2

1/4/92 AJW IWA World Women's Title Match: Kyoko Inoue vs. Akira Hokuto 24:53
PA: Kyoko was wearing a mask for this, similar to the Vader mask so at least it didn't hide her facial expressions. She ditched it during the match, and it was never seen again, which was a good choice. This match had one of the best openings salvos ever, just an intense and frantic scramble at the start, with stalemates and a dive tease from Kyoko before she got outsmarted and dumped outside, with Hokuto scoring the first big blow with a plancha. Kyoko hurt her leg and sold it, which led to the mat phase where Hokuto worked over the knee for a while. There was opportunity to work the knee angle throughout the match, in favor of the usual sleepers and stretching later. Kyoko came back with her usual holds, and even managed to do the Romero Special properly. Her second control segment was better, although short, because she had some focus, going for Hokuto's arm. Hokuto came back, and had a couple of attempts at a piledriver, which saw Kyoko almost pin her before she hit one. Hokuto used a diving body attack, which Kyoko rolled through. Kyoko did a fallaway slam to dump Hokuto outside, and hit a slingshot to the outside. Kyoko maintained control in the ring, hit her run up elbow drop and put Hokuto in a sharpshooter. Kyoko continued trying to grind Hokuto down, but struggled to hold her down. Hokuto ended up slapping her way out of the situation. A pair of nasty kneel kicks, and missile dropkicks got a near fall. Hokuto went back to stretching to wear Kyoko down some more. Kyoko came back though, and used her slingshot, but changed it to a kick this time. It was less effective, as she missed her run up elbow afterward, and Hokuto's timing on the move was late as possible, which looked amazing. Hokuto went up and tried something, but Kyoko hurled her down and gave her a giant swing. She couldn't finish with that, so she went for the Niagara Driver, but Hokuto got a reprieve on the ropes, and fired back with a German Suplex. Kyoko tried the slingshot elbow, but got dropkicked and bailed outside. Hokuto quickly followed up with her somersault plancha. Both sold that one and struggled their way back in. Kyoko was in second, but gave herself enough time to recover to get a burst in. She dove over the top rope and hit a German Suplex for a near fall. She tried to follow it with her Mongolian Chop, but Hokuto clutched onto her and belly to belly suplexed her. Hokuto did one of the nastiest Tiger Driver's you'll ever see. A powerbomb followed that wasn't any less vicious. Kyoko somehow survived both. Hokuto followed up with a Tiger Suplex, but Kyoko didn't really go over for it. Hokuto hit her somersault dive in the ring, but missed a second one. Kyoko did a Texas cloverswing and hit the Niagara Driver to get the win, which was a little out of nowhere, and somewhat anticlimactic given how it was set up, and the viciousness of Hokuto's big run that preceded it. That minor complaint aside, this was an exceptional match with great pacing. Hokuto led another classic, and Kyoko was more than up to it. She got a win over the company #2, and now her work was finally catching up to her popularity (I say finally, but Kyoko was still a junior here technically, and was already one of the best workers in the league already). ****1/4

1/5/92 AJW All Japan Tag Title Match: Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida vs. Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko 10:03 of 18:44
PA: This was good junior action. What they lacked in skill, they made for with fire and urgency. Sakie and Takako were the lesser halves of their teams, but had some memorable encounters, particularly when they got into a spat and slapped each other. Though it was a fast paced spot match, Malenko's submission work was really good, and put over well, particularly the kneebar she put on Takako. They did all kinds of big near falls at the end with the partners making frantic saves. Malenko was mostly good, and certainly game to try anything, but couldn't pull off everything, most notably blowing an assisted dive over the top rope which saw her crash into the apron. I wish they just let her do stuff she was good at instead of trying to turn her into a spot machine like everyone else, or worse, the lucha stuff they had her doing later. They did bring it back to her submissions though, and she submitted Yoshida with a sleeper hold. ***1/2

1/5/92 AJW 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Title Match: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada 7:10 of 9:13, 5:33 of 8:04, 8:52 of 14:37
PA: Kyoko and Yamada won the tag league, defeating Jungle Jack, so they got a title shot at them. Aja was in a mood, hurling chairs around and throwing one of the announcers as she made her entrance. They didn't waste any time jumping Kyoko and Yamada as they were making their entrance either. They didn't let them get out of the blocks, and Yamada got isolated and thrashed in the ring. She finally caught a kick on Bison and made the hot tag. Kyoko was a house afire with the crowd chanting for her. She killed her own momentum by putting her holds on Aja though. Aja powered out eventually, and Kyoko got worked over as well. Yamada and Kyoko next found their advantage double teaming Bison. Yamada hit her kick from the top rope, but Aja interrupted the pin with an oil can. That took the fall into a great finish where Kyoko got the oil can and laid into Aja with it while Yamada drilled her with head kicks. It took some time, but they eventually knocked Aja out long enough to finish Bison with a double team powerbomb. Bison came back on Kyoko with Bison hitting a diving headbutt, which had a good touch with Aja making her way into the ring in case it failed. It didn't, but Kyoko bailed out, which wasn't a good idea since Aja met her on the outside and slammed. Bison went for some sort of dive and splattered herself on the floor as Kyoko moved. Aja was mauling Yamada in the crowd while this was going on, so Kyoko dragged Bison in the ring and tried to capitalize. Bison made it back though, and chained together Bison chops. Aja finished killing Yamada and poured some water on her, then came back to help Bison finish of Kyoko. Kyoko survived one double team, but fell to a flying headbutt. Aja continued to dominate into the third fall, and Kyoko tried to come back with a slingshot elbow where she slipped and Aja nailed her in the back. Yamada was next to her, and assisted her by softening the blow, but they tumbled out together, leaving them both open for Bison and Aja to both hit a planchas. The outside beating continued briefly until Yamada and Kyoko reentered the ring. The best part here was Yamada teeing off on Aja with kicks. It looked like she'd put the monster down, and her and Kyoko set up for Yamada's kick from the top rope. Kyoko thought it was too easy though, and took her eyes off Aja to check Bison wasn't coming in. Aja blocked the kick, and then wiped out Kyoko with a uraken, Bison did come in, and they double suplexed Yamada. She survived that, and they went into the actual finish, which was a powerbomb from the top turnbuckle that took two attempts to complete. This was definitely a match that was too long, but that didn't matter because with Fuji TV editing 10 minutes off it, it seemed right for them. While not always the most interesting match, each fall built logically and nicely and each of them had great finishes, even if they third fall finish was blown. Signifantly better than their TLTB '91 matches, and Yamada and Kyoko used their good double teams and left the goofy ones at home. This was the end of the two as a regular tag team anyway (just as I was beginning to enjoy them). ****

1/26/92 JWP (Original) Mayumi Ozaki & Harley Saito vs. Dynamite Kansai & Eagle Sawai 13:06
PA: The final JWP match is a reminder of how good the promotion was. Lots of good action, plenty of good stuff from everyone. Eagle got a chance to shine in this one since she had the smaller Ozaki to beat up, and both were really good. Kansai was having a great time kicking the crap out of Ozaki. The highlight was Kansai vs. Harley, as it usually has been, sadly it's the last time, as they went in opposite directions when the new companies formed. They all hugged and cried after the match, with the whole roster joining for a final bow as “Bye, Bye, JWP” flashed across the screen. ***1/2

3/7/92 AJW Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto 8:06 of 14:33
PA: This was a condensed Nakano vs. Hokuto match, but only just disappointing given that these two could have a match of the year contender if given the time. This was when the Matsunaga's had pretty much given up on Hokuto, and she was way down the list as far as popularity with the fans went. Bull used a lot of submissions and ground Hokuto down early. Hokuto came back with her fiery hot moves, and ended things strongly with some really good near falls. Hokuto hit the Northern Light's Bomb. Bull finished with something I've never seen before, she did a dragon sleeper and Hokuto tried to spring off the ropes, so Bull basically turned it into a reverse DDT and won with that. ***1/4

3/7/92 AJW UWA World Tag Title Match: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta 22:47
PA: This one took a little while to get good, but never really got full. Each team had a control segment. Yamada and Toyota didn't bring much to the table, unless you like watching Toyota blow through every leg submission she knows. The one with Minami and Hotta working over Yamada was quite good and fun to watch, with tempo switches and interference spots. The match really picked up when Toyota got the hot tag. She was in at a million miles an hour, injecting her excitement into the match with her dropkick spam on Minami, and hitting suplexes and a rolling cradle. Yamada followed up with her kicks, nailing her in the face with one. Minami superplexed Toyota and Hotta took over with kicks, at least one potato, which had Toyota checking on her teeth, and high impact moves. Minami followed up with a flying knee and a flying kick. Toyota came back on Hotta, and tagged Yamada, but Hotta got the better of her. They all hit spots on each other, and from here they went wild. Toyota and Yamada did the double backdrop suplex from the middle turnbuckle. Toyota missed the moonsault and Yamada saved Toyota. Hotta fought them off both, but ended up outside with Toyota hitting a plancha, Minami missing a tope that hit Hotta, and Toyota doing her quebrada, which Hotta avoided. Toyota tried to superplex Hotta, but got thrown off, then Hotta missed a dive. Toyota got a near fall with her Japanese Ocean Suplex. Minami cut Toyota off, and Hotta did a Jumbo Suplex from the middle turnbuckle, which didn't quite come off. Hotta hit a Tiger driver with Minami adding a flying headbutt. Toyota came back with a backwards dropkick, and hit a moonsault. Then Yamada added a flying kick, and that finished Hotta. This was quality, the heat section on Yamada in the early going was really good, and it the final third was wild with all kinds of spots and exciting near falls. ****

3/20/92 AJW 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title & UWA World Tag Title Match: Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota 11:13, 10:01, 15:59
PA: The first fall was really solid, good action. The challengers needed to hit and run. When they did, they found success with their bursts, but Jungle Jack overmatched them, slowing things down, and working them over. Everyone was good here. The big moment saw Aja using her oil can, which got her booed, until it backfired, and she wiped out Bison with it. This led to a hot finish where Toyota was able to get a Manami Roll and they did a double sideslam. Jungle Jack recovered, attempting the double team Toyota, but Bison missed her flying headbutt, and Toyota hit her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex to take the first fall. Jungle Jack's response to losing the first fall was to drag the challengers all over the building and unleash a beating using tables and chairs. Destruction. Bison tried to finish Toyota in the ring while Aja had Yamada at the back of the building, but Toyota wouldn't die. Aja did a piledriver to Toyota on a chair, and the referee wouldn't count the fall, so she just plundered her with it. This was a massacre. Toyota hit a German Suplex on Bison and scrambled to make the hot tag. Yamada scored some kicks on Bison, and kicked her teeth out while she doing it. She was also competitive with Aja until she walked into a uraken. Aja caught Toyota running in, and broke off the pin to slam her, which was neat, but that only ensured the Toyota and Yamada would get crushed some more. They both got stacked in the corner and avalanched before Aja finished with a super Ligerbomb on Yamada. Yamada was at Aja's mercy, and Aja worked her over. Toothless Bison came in to continue with a little extra aggression on Yamada, but Toyota was the one who made her night even worse. She tried to give Toyota a superplex which Toyota countered in midair, but landed on her face. Toyota hit her dropkick spam, and it was back to Yamada. Bison received another kicking, it was either whiff or potato. Bison caught another bad one to the head, and was noticeably trying to block the blows with her hand. Yamada put a stretch muffler on, and Aja drew some more boos for breaking that up, but this was getting needlessly long. They didn't need another control segment, they needed to go home. Toyota followed it up, and did sloppy transition with Bison, where Bison put her in a half crab. Aja and Toyota lifted things, but their segment was filled with execution problems. Bison and Yamada followed them with a good exchange of kicks and chops. Yamada evaded an Aja dive, and the challengers took over again. Aja ate kicks from Yamada from the top rope, and avoided a moonsault from Toyota, but she recovered to rolling cradle Aja. Aja kept fighting back against the double teams and dives. Yamada took Bison out with a plancha, which left Aja and Toyota. Toyota tried to finish with German Suplexes, and Yamada came back in to help. The missed a sandwich lariat, but recovered to place Aja in the corner, albeit it took two attempts, to hit their double backdrop suplex to win the tag belts. This was a case of a brutally long match that was great for two and a bit falls, and then turned to garbage in the closing minutes, dragging along and getting sloppier until they finally limped to a (blown) finish. Toyota and Yamada celebrated like it was the biggest day of their life, while Aja was a good sport about the whole thing, trying to smash up one of the tag belts and attacking the new champions with a chair. ***3/4

6/15/24 AEW: Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Lio Rush & Rocky Romero & Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste 13:21. ML: This BCC vs. NJPW match was better than the general BCC vs. CMLL stuff because it's more or less the same style, rather than a style clash. The outcome was never in doubt, but they did a high effort, energetic sprint that was a good showcase of the talent involved. I started to write a good showcase for the talent involved, but the big problem with this match was that they didn't do much to even make it seem like the New Japan team had a chance. This wasn't the typical almost 50/50 AEW match, it was more like an extended squash, with Nicholls and Haste, the guys that really need to be given something because this audience isn't necessarily familiar with them, getting almost no offense in. It's good that there's one Rush working in AEW that's actually impressive, and if they want him to ever have a good match, it's good that they are keeping him away from MJF. With so many gymnasts around these days, Lio is one of the only guys that can actually impress with his quickness. As always, Claudio, the 6'5 strongman who can work with anyone and should be a main eventer wound up being the guy that made the opponents look good, while the unimposing Moxley sold almost nothing and got all the glory, scoring the pinfall, though keeping Jon on the apron was the reason this was good. Claudio did at least get the hot tag from Danielson. Tony Schiavone got to have a purpose again, screaming "swing" rather than Sting when Claudio took Romero for a ride. This definitely seemed better the first time. Looking over it again, it seemed more entertaining than good because they didn't allow you to even momentarily believe in the NJPW team. **3/4

5/24/24 CMLL Copa Jr. VIP 2024 Semifinal Cibernetico: Angel de Oro vs. Atlantis Jr. vs. Dark Panther vs. Esfinge vs. Felino vs. Magnus vs. Mephisto vs. Mistico vs. Stuka Jr. vs. El Hijo del Villano III 28:55.
ML: These matches are kind of chaos, as guys do 2 or 3 spots then switch out, but hopefully the good sort of chaos, where everyone is being spotted well, and you basically just get their best stuff. They're essentially tossing 10 mostly good workers together, keeping everyone fresh, and hoping for the best. Last week's semifinal turned out kind of sloppy, but this week things ran quite smoothly. This match was always entertaining, and everyone contributed positively. Esfinge was probably the standout of the guys who didn't make it to the final stages. Mistico is made for this sort of match, as he just does spectacular stuff, and since he's the big charismatic star, he winds up being on offense almost the whole time he's in. Angel de Oro had a much better balance of give and take, making others look good, as well as impressing with his own offense. He finally was able to do some damage to Mistico, if only because we were down to the final 3, and Magnus helped Oro team up on Mistico. Angel ripped Mistico's mask around the eye. Mystico eliminated Magnus with la Mistica, but a salty Magnus tripped him up before he left ringside. This apparently wasn't the proper time cue though, so Magnus had to reappear a little later. This time when he tripped Mistico up, Oro low blowed Mistico then won with the Michinoku driver II. ***

6/9/24 NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 31 Final: El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori 23:36

6/8/24 AEW: Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood 20:00
ML: This was maybe a bit underwhelming given the high level of talent involved, but it's arguably impressive it was as good as it was given Dax, who is normally the standout, was dealing with a hematoma in his back that's now unfortunately going to put him on the shelf. This was definitely one of the better done draws in that they went hard the whole time, and there was no mention of the time limit until the final minute, so it didn't feel like a match that wasn't going to have a finish until it was already almost over. They had also already done several fairly believable near falls before this point, so you were really thinking there was going to be an ending a long time before you were thinking it wasn't. The Young Bucks refusing to allow the extension gets everyone off the hook, while playing into the storyline that no one deserves a shot at their tag titles. Claudio was all around impressive, as always, but overall the quality here was more the sum of very consistent action for a reasonably lengthy period of time. ***

6/3/24 NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 31 Semifinal: El Desperado vs. DOUKI 22:28
ML: Neither of these semifinals felt like anything beyond overlong house show matches, but the quality of the fundamental and technical wrestling was much higher in this match. Unlike the other semifinal where Ishimori was content to hold a headlock without even working it or having the opponent resist in any manner, or any other filler filled Ishimori match I watched in this tournament, Desperado & DOUKI at least actually tried to put forth the illusion that they weren't just cooperating with each other the whole time they weren't laying around doing nothing. This also started slowly, and was never particularly fast, but at least there was some sense of struggle and resistance. They put enough effort into making you believe they were trying to do something with their limb work, and they also could pick the pace up when they needed to without it feeling like they were going between standing in front of each other staring at one another waiting to be hit and motioning about how they wanted to feed the next hold. This was going along pretty well for a long New Japan match until Desperado reinjured DOUKI's knees, following up on DOUKI's big win over Robbie Eagles to advance to the semis. Given Desperado actually knows how to work a body part, this should have improved things, but now the urgency greatly declined, as Desperado was giving DOUKI seemingly endless time to writhe in pain. The match really began to lag, as Desperado refused to press his advantage because they had to stretch this out to 22 1/2 minutes. Desperado's trick of making DOUKI run and jump was kind of undermined by DOUKI immediately doing a cartwheel jumping elbow of his own volition, though at least that was interesting. They tried to pick things up from here, though DOUKI selling his knee kind of helped one idea while hurting the other, as Desperado just took a front row seat anytime DOUKI was selling. DOUKI turned to tope into a DDT on the floor, then returned to the ring with his daybreak DDT. Ultimately, this match never picked up that much though, and the finishing segment was pretty disappointing with Desperado surviving an overlong Italian stretch 32 then just coming right back and winning with two pinche loco, in between a couple flash pin attempts. The last 5 minutes of TJP vs. ishimori when they finally actually did some things was better, but the first 10 minutes of that match offered nothing beyond a few escapes from TJP, and Ishimori was the worst and least motivated worker of the four by a mile. A big problem for both matches beyond the length just slowing them down was that they didn't really show you more energy or anything that they weren't already doing all tournament. Ultimately, these blended together with what we'd been seeing all tournament, and I'd be more inclined to go lower on this than higher on TJP vs. Ishimori. ***

5/30/24 NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 31 Block A: Kosei Fujita [6] vs. Blake Christian [10] 10:43
ML: Christian needed to win to potentially advance, while all Fujita could hope for in his first Super Jr. Tournament was to play spoiler. These two closed out their tournaments well with a flashy sprint. They were energized from the outset, with both doing dives in the first minute. Fujita's shoulder was all taped up, so there was some arm work by Christian throughout, but the match was too short for this to be any kind of focus. They instead put their effort toward keeping the pace high and countering each other back and forth, with Fujita's German suplex progression being the main thing they kept going back to. The German suplex sequences were definitely more interesting than whatever arm work there was, or that they would have done with a few more minutes anyway, although there was one impressive spot where Christian did an avalanche reverse Spanish fly into a wakigatame. Christian is definitely the more spectacular of the two, but he's not as well rounded and doesn't execute as well. The coolest of the German suplex spots saw Christian elbow out near the ropes, so Fujita held on to the top rope with his left arm to maintain his balance, and Christian nailed him with a backflip kick. Christian elbowed his way out of a German suplex again, but this time Fujita was ready for it, and jumped into a guillotine choke. Fujita finally executed the German suplex, but Christian landed on his feet and dropkicked Fujita in the back. Fujita ate a jumping knee, but then countered the casadora with his German suplex. Fujita hit his German suplex again after avoiding a springboard 450 Splash then won with abandon hope. 21-year-old Fujita was one of the better wrestlers in the tournament despite not being focused on, while Christian was entertaining if not the most solid or consistent. ***

5/30/24 NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 31 Block A: TJP [10] vs. Titan [10] 13:21.
ML: Titan made the final last year, but hasn't been featured at all this year outside of headlining the opening night against Desperado, who has headlined most nights. Given that, you kind of knew TJP was going to be the one to advance to the semifinals, completing his storyline comeback after starting 0-4. TJP wore his Aswang mask, which purposely looks similar to Muto's mask, but he actually upped the pace here, and did one of the only fast paced, exciting matches of the tournament to suit Titan's high flying style. This was basically a lightning match that went a few minutes longer. Due to it being fast and energetic, and then putting effort into the near falls, we believed this was going to end a lot earlier than it actually did. Wrestling wise, this very much succeeded in being an entertaining high octane match despite being in the middle of the card, which we didn't see many of this tournament. Story-wise, I wasn't a big fan of TJP relying on himself the entire tournament, which got him strong face reactions, then at the final step, shifting to his heel alter ego, which garnered little of his usual support, and resorting to spewing mist to win, although Titan did kick out a couple times first. ***

5/26/24 NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 31 Block A Match: TJP [8] vs. El Desperado [10] 21:10
ML: An actual interesting technical wrestling match where both guys were working really well with one another other, and showing some struggle and urgency. This was especially refreshing right after epitome of New Japan junior completely implausible boredom where Hiromu sat on his butt making silly faces for the last 15 minutes, without Eagles being able to beat the cripple or the ref just stopping it because he couldn't stand, then Hiromu magically won with a flash pin. TJP has taken his matches more seriously than most in this uninspired tournament, and arguably been the most consistently watchable performer. Desperado isn't a great pure worker, but he is one of the few guys around right now who manages to get more out of what he's been given. He's carved his own niche rather than being a lesser version of the interchangeable jumping beans, and still tries to actually craft a match. After the technical beginning, the middle portion was carried by TJP, with his fluid work and Eddie Guerrero style action. All the bursts and fast action came from TJP, bringing sort of action that Desperado isn't going to, but the slower and mid tempo portions were at least equally as good because that's when they were really working with one another. Anytime they were locked up, Desperado was a threat to reverse into an armlock. The match picked up when Desperado started countering into his suplexes, as well. TJP had to win to stay alive after losing 4 straight to start the tournament, and he got Desperado with his mamba splash to stay alive. ***1/4

4/12/24 NJPW World Television Title: Matt Riddle vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 13:15.
ML: ZSJ brought out the serious, highly skilled technical wrestler Riddle could be. The chemistry between ZSJ & Riddle, now in their 8th singles match, was exceptional, and they showed numerous great reversals and counters. It was a pleasure watching them trade submissions and mirror one another early on in this exciting sprint. Even though Riddle was a UFC fighter, he was no match for ZSJ on the ground. He mostly abandoned the technical wrestling that he was losing in the second half, trying to instead rely on his athletic offense, only to have ZSJ pull him back into the grappling game with an incredible transition or counter. Riddle tried his senton, but Zack countered with an armbar. The match started off friendly enough, but fighting Zack barefoot isn't the brightest idea. Zach got nasty, pretending to break the toes and potentially the ankle of Riddle with his joint manipulations. Riddle tried a diving knee attack, but Zack turned it into a half crab. Riddle hit the senton this time, but hurt his knee when Zack avoided the moonsault, and Zack came back with a shining triangle. Zack had a nice tornado DDT into a guillotine. Riddle tried to make Zack pay for his groundwork by throwing elbows from the guard, but got caught in a triangle. Riddle tried to slam his way out, but Zack landed on his feet, and got a near fall with his Zack driver. Riddle turned the penalty kick into a half crab. The finishing sequence saw Zack nearly get a flash pin off the brostone, then after Riddle came back with a jumping knee, Zack sidestepped a second jumping knee and went into a crucifix for the flash pin. I'm not the biggest Riddle fan because he's usually not very serious, but he had his working boots on here, and apart from a segment of painfully wimpy kicks, gave a nice performance that made it much easier for ZSJ to show his stuff. ***3/4

6/5/24 AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Roderick Strong 14:09
ML: A good TV match that didn't drag, though I thought at this length, especially with Strong, it would have been a little faster. Definitely not a major effort, though it picked up quite well, and obviously it's a problem that no one believes Strong has any chance. It was nonetheless the second best Swerve match of 2024 behind the 4/27/24 defense against Claudio Castagnoli. Strong gave a strong performance as always, and did a good job of carrying this, working the back, although not as much as usual. He had a few big moves to contribute though, including a backbreaker on the top turn buckle and one on the ring apron. Swerve turned the end of heartache into a Swerve stomp, but it was a little sloppy. Swerve mostly ran and jumped at Strong, but obviously didn't do it as well as Ospreay, and didn't seem on top of his game, in general, but he was trying. Strong had a cool spot where he set up like he was going to vertical suplex Swerve into the guardrail, but instead just kind of flipped him in midair so his neck landed on the edge of the ring apron. Swerve did a swerve stomp from in the ring onto the apron. The finish was somewhat abrupt, with Swerve catching a jumping knee, and throwing Strong off. I'm not sure if Strong was supposed to stumble trying to get up, but it was actually a good excuse for him to not be able to avoid the Swerve stomp this time, and get fionished with it. ***

5/30/24 AEW International Title Match: Will Ospreay vs. Kyle O'Reilly 21:17
ML: An O'Reilly style technical match that lacked energy, intensity, and urgency. They started well, but the quick break killed their momentum, and it took forever to get hot because they were pacing themselves. They tried to make up for Will being an overwhelming favorite by having Will sell O'Reilly's arm work, with Will trying some comebacks when he could speed things up. Will wasn't really working with O'Reilly here though the way he does with ZSJ in their technical matches, just selling his arm attack while standing there threatening to Hulk up. There either needed to be more comebacks or more interplay, preferably both because there still wasn't a moment where you believed Kyle could win, despite the predictably fun armbar counter to the Oscutter, and the crowd wasn't that involved throughout. There was a ridiculous spot where Will was stuck in rope forever, flailing like an idiot because O'Reilly trapped his knee in the ropes on the floor, then had to walk over to the corner and climb all the way up to deliver the knee drop to the shoulder. There were cool spots like Will taking O'Reilly's suimengiri, but kipping up and coming back with an enzuigiri, but these were mostly saved for the end. Things really picked up for the finishing sequence, and this portion was excellent, albeit brief, because now we got the energy and they finally put some sequences together. This was a nice enough TV match, but they are capable of way better. ***

6/1/24 UFC 302: Bassil Hafez vs. Mickey Gall 3R

5/29/24 AEW TNT Title Qualifying Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Penta El Zero Miedo 13:09
ML: A fun little match that I'm glad exists, but certainly not a full effort because it was Rampage. They have too much talent not to succeed, but this felt like a house show match for the most part, staying in low gear, and just being explosive when it needed to be. Takeshita did a really good job of carrying this, as always, and looked impressive even in the Lucha sequences. Penta did a bunch of good spots, and was much more motivated than he normally is because he actually had someone useful and hard-working to wrestle rather than some big brawler like he somehow always seems strapped with anymore. A few spots took too long to set up, but overall they did a nice job of countering each other back and forth, making the match feel like an interesting blend of their styles rather than just exchanging moves. Good action, but definitely not a major Takeshita match. As with virtually every match Tony Khan is booked in 2024, the outcome was never in doubt, and that hurt things. ***

Satoru Sayama - Hall Of Talent

4/29/24 Diana World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana World Title: Haruka Umesaki vs. Mei Seira 15:29
ML: Haruka Umesaki is a 23-year-old protege of Kaoru Ito and Sareee who has held the Diana title for a year now. She would be Sareee's rival in Diana had Sareee not moved on. Mei Seira is 22-years-old, and was a protege of Chigusa Nagayo. She would be Mio Momono's rival in Marvelous had she not quit for 2 years then resurfaced later in STARDOM. Umesaki and Seira have been linked since the start of Umesaki's career 5 years ago, with Seira being her first opponent in tag then singles. It's weird seeing two wrestlers so young headlining Korakuen Hall in 2024. They are actually even pretty well trained since they didn't start in the idol leagues, but unfortunately, the leagues one can actually learn in these days are too small to get or keep much talent. Umesaki is the more solid and safe of the two, with the Sareee influence being pretty apparent as she focuses more on elbows and suplexes, mixing in a dropkick or two. Seira is a lot faster and flashier, normally relying on pretty fancy sequences that showcase her speed and creativity. While Umesaki prefers to strike, she has the skill and athleticism to pull of Seira's more complex sequences. Since Seira was the only one initiating the fast sequences here, it didn't feel like they were randomly taking turns doing whatever came to mind the way most post Kagetsu STARDOM matches do. Seira is definitely the more talented and evolved of the two, and the one who was making the match. Umesaki did a good job of followin. She executed well, and she was contributing to the match as well. This wasn't an attempt at a match of the year, but rather staying within themselves and doing the quality match they could pull off. It did pick up considerably in the final few minutes when they started exchanging flash pin attempts, and it was unfortunate they couldn't wrestle the whole match with a similar level of urgency and intensity. Umesaki used her bridging suplex called blast to make her 4th defense. ***

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