10/30/93 NWA,  Steel Cage Match: Sabu vs. Chris Candido 17:54
ML: This was much better than their WWA match from 11/14/92, largely because Candido was a lot better now. He was in his third year, and seemed to have come into his own. His work was a lot more fluid, and had developed his move set quite a bit. This match was a lot more back and forth. Sabu was actually more under control in the confines of the cage than in a normal match. He had less issues than usual, and I didn't find it detrimental that he couldn't use a table or chair. They largely did a regular wrestling match even though it took place in a cage, ramming each other into it now and again. Candido did his Avalanche superplex, and a little later tried to do another one off the top of the cage, but Sabu front suplexed him into the ring and missed a moonsault off the cage. Somehow the ref was down for minutes after Sabu landed on him, which helped Candido in the short term because Tammy sprayed Sabu in the eyes, but then there was no one to count Candido's pinfalls. Sabu kicked out of a German suplex when the referee finally recovered, and botched a shooting star press. Candido survived the Arabian press, but for some reason then lost to a small package. Tazmaniac came in and beat Sabu with a chair afterwards, and they double teamed him for quite a while. ***

6/19/94 CCW Heavyweight Title Decision Ladder Match: Chris Candido vs. Sabu
ML: This wasn't the cleanest worked ladder match, but for the most part that was to it's advantage. It was a junior style gimmick spotfest where they tried to hurt each other in different, dangerous ways, and the props cooperated or they didn't. Nothing came easy, and nothing was overdone or overdramatized. They took it seriously, and didn't make it silly and overacted like Michaels vs. Ramon, trying to win like they should without doing all the goofball phony climbing and writhing around shenanigans. The stunts were largely confined to the ladder, but the ropes were so loose that balancing and flying off them was almost as hard as the ladder, before the ladder broke. Candido showed flashes of slick work, but this was mostly showy offense back and forth. They did a better job of making this seem like a grudge match initially, but it quickly devolved into just taking bumps off the ladder. They went to the gimmick much earlier than in the last year's cage match, with Candido trying to get the ladder almost immediately, but Sabu stopping him a couple of times before it came into play. Candido missed a body press off the ladder then Sabu missed a moonsault off the ladder. Sabu tried to use the shaky ropes to climb a ladder set on the ring apron and put Candido through a table on the floor, but everything was so wobbly that he just jumped off as soon as he got to the height of the top rope. The ladder was falling apart before long. Sabu tried to grab the title belt by just standing on the first rung without actually opening it up since the spreaders broke, and also to jump off the top rope to grab the belt. Since they didn't have an extra ladder, the ref had to start holding it so it wouldn't just collapse. Eventually, Sabu was able to climb up two rungs and jump off to grab the belt before the ladder fell. I'm not sure how much the broken ladder compromised this, I kind of enjoyed them having to make due though. This wasn't quite as good as the cage match, it was mostly chaos, but it was unconventional and flashy enough to be quite interesting throughout. ***

2/22/97 ECW: Sabu vs. Chris Candido 18:22
ML: Candido returned to ECW in October (he had a brief run in 1993) after being put under by the silly Body Donnas Skip gimmick in WWF. This main event was supposed to help get him over, while Sabu had a long night, having already lost a 20 minute opener with RVD vs. Eliminators. Without the cage or the ladder, this was much more of a normal junior style match with Sabu's usual assistance from tables and chairs. That style utilizes Candido's ability a lot better, while still having enough chaos to be true to Sabu. This was mostly just doing flashy spots like 2020s wrestling, but without all the stalling in between them. There was also more struggle and more flying moves that backfired. One of the things I always appreciated about Sabu is how many of his high flying moves he was willing to miss. This added to his "Suicidal" moniker, but since they are among the slowest and most deliberate moves in wrestling, it makes sense for them to be much lower percentage than they are. Candido missed a diving headbutt into a chair. Sabu took an avalanche piledriver despite his perpetual neck issues. This was a cleanly executed performance for Sabu that he won with a triple jump leg drop. ***

5/10/25 UFC: Aiemann Zahabi vs. Jose Aldo 3R
ML: Aldo is arguably too old for this weight cut, or just doesn't have the same burning desire to torture himself down to 135, having already retired from the sport once. He definitely dropped the ball on this weight cut, and got the advantage over Zahabi, who wanted to fight in his home country, and is smart enough to know that UFC won't pay him and will unjustifiably look down on him for not accepting the fight at a higher weight to keep their card together. That being said, Aldo still owned this fight for the first 12 1/2 out of 15 minutes. Aldo was backing Zahabi for the first 3.5 minutes, with Zahabi not even trying to hold this ground. Zahabi finally began fighting, and stood his ground, but that made it a lot easier for Aldo to hit him, obviously. Aldo didn't do a ton of damage in the 1st because Zahabi ran most of the round, but Zahabi basically did nothing beyond landing a couple solid shots at the very end. Zahabi pressed more than backed in the 2nd, which was a much better strategy for him given Aldo's suspect conditioning. Aldo was only taking glancing blows for the most part, but he was too patient now. Aldo had more speed and a lot more power, but didn't seem to trust himself, or knew he didn't have it in him to go that hard. Zahabi did a lot better job of taking advantage of his cardio advantage in this round. Zahabi landed 2 low blows in a short period, which wasn't helping with Aldo's already slow pace. Aldo did cut Zahabi outside of the right eye with a jab. The announcers all thought Zahabi was down 2 rounds, but I'm willing to give this round to Zahabi barely because he was a lot more proactive, but it could have gone either way, as the numbers were even and Aldo cut him. The first two rounds were just decent, but things really heated up in the third. Aldo did a good job of using his straights to set up his step knee early. Aldo was able to drop Zahabi with this about a minute and a half into the round. Zahabi was right back up, but dropped with a left kick as he was standing. Zahabi scrambled all the way across the cage this time when he got back up, but lost his balance again. This was crazy. If only there was more of anything near this level throughout the rest of the fight. Aldo was 1 good shot from the finish, but was suddenly exhausted from having chased after Zahabi, and Zahabi began to recover. Aldo looked at the clock with 3 minutes left, and just shelled up. Aldo tried a painfully slow telegraphed takedown that backfired because he was so gassed, and he just fell to his back instead. Zahabi spent the last 2.5 minutes on top, landing 25 strikes. He did cut Aldo with an elbow, so he had some damage going for him, but there's no way some top control is worth more than two knockdowns under the current scoring where damage is king. Maybe in 1997 you could justify this scoring when top control was king, but even if Aldo really only had a strong 30 second stretch, he won the first half of this round huge, and then did his best to hold on. He lost the 2nd half clearly because he was totally out of gas, but he lost to his own lack of conditioning, rather than to whatever largely uneventful blows Zahabi was able to get in due to that. It's not a take to assert that 2 knockdowns is clearly worth more than some ground and pound. This should absolutely have been an Aldo round, meaning he won 29-28 or 30-27. Giving Zahabi rounds 2 and 3 is called a hometown decision. And this came after what pro wrestling fan Daniel Cormier dubbed "The Montreal Screwjob" where Modestas Bukauskas got a split decision over Ion Cutelaba, including a 30-27, in a fight he clearly lost 29-28, yet even the judge who scored for Ion couldn't come up with the proper scorecard. The way the scoring was going, I thought Manon Fiorot might actually win the women's title strictly by clinching. On the heels of losing another extremely questionable decision to Mario Bautista, Aldo has had enough of this b.s., and seemingly retired again after the match. Good match.

5/10/25 UFC Welterweight Title: Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena 5R
ML: I don't buy the explanation that Belal lost because he wanted to prove he could beat Della Maddalena in standup. Sure, Belal was too passive in the early rounds in retrospect, but Della Maddalena really wasn't giving him any openings or allowing him to dictate, and there was no reason to start forcing things at that early point. Belal was trying to problem solve, he was trying to come forward and to find the opening for the takedown, it just wasn't there because Della Maddalena did a great job of not consistently giving ground and not providing openings for Belal or putting himself in bad positions. Della Maddalena is longer, and he fought a safe, balanced, technical fight, flicking out straight shots and dipping down after them so Belal couldn't duck into a takedown. JDM was very well prepared, and fought incredibly confident in his 1st title fight. The fact that he has the physical advantages and knows Belal can't bully him may have played a big part, but he was just a step ahead of Belal in general, with more speed, quicker, longer, and more difficult to read strikes, and tighter defense with excellent head movement. JDM was able to come forward throwing body jabs, front kicks, and low kicks to back Belal up. Even with his jabs that he was already keeping low, JDM was dropping lower after throwing them, which gave Belal a better chance to counter with strikes, though Della Maddalena kept his guard tight, but made it incredibly hard for him to get under Jack and at his legs to take him down. Della Maddalena didn't load up on his shots at all, he threw accurate snappy shots that had enough power while being hard to read or counter. He wasn't throwing extended combinations or trying to close the distance behind his lead strike. Belal could move back or stand his ground to match Della Maddalena's footwork, but Jack wasn't trying to get inside, so Belal had to step in if he wanted to counter. Belal was trying to find his moments such as on the stance switch, but JDM was the more proactive fighter early, and he was tight and straight with his punches without overcommitting, so there just weren't easy opportunities for Belal to counter. JDM would give ground as soon as Belal looked to move forward, and then set his feet around the edge of the center octagon, largely avoiding Belal's press forward or getting out of range enough initially that he was ready to counter, resulting in Belal thinking better of even starting a lot of potential attacks. Belal was smart enough to largely avoid getting pulled into Jack's shots, but it just seemed difficult for him to be aggressive or utilize his typical pressure style without exposing himself. Belal had to work his way in, so he was kind of stuck playing Della Maddalena's game, using the jab and the body kick, but he could see JDM was ready with the uppercut or knee to counter him diving at his legs, so he had to stay patient. Belal's corner wanted more deception, and suggested he try to tie JDM up. Belal had some success holding his ground and answering with his punches in the 2nd. Belal was finally able to level change off his overhand right that was a single leg fake 2/3 of the way through the 2nd to get the flash takedown against the cage, but JDM was right back up before Muhammad could secure it. JDM's takedown defense was just all around so much better than in the past, and that started with limiting the number of opportunities he gave Belal to begin with. The 2nd round was definitely closer than the 1st, which 2 judges had given to Muhammad, but everyone scored this round for Della Maddalena. Belal landed 21 strikes in both rounds, while JDM landed 28 and 30, with a lot higher accuracy. Belal had to open up more, press more, chase more starting with round 3 because obviously being safe and taking what he was given wasn't working. This predictably resulted in him landing more, but getting countered more, and a lot cleaner. The strike numbers were more even in this round with JDM only outlanding him 34-32, but Belal was assuming a lot more of the risk, and even in a 5 round fight, it was getting late to start a pressure strategy and have it truly pay off at the end. JDM was doing a great job of avoiding with head movement while throwing his counters, so he still landed the cleaner shots. I had him up 3 rounds, but at least Belal was trying to problem solve and give JDM different looks here. This fight got a lot better as it progressed, and the last two rounds were pretty dramatic after the 1st 3 were interesting enough but certainly not outstanding. Belal really upped the pressure and volume in round 4, knowing he needed the last 2 rounds in the best case scenario. He wasn't doing this on his own terms so much as forcing things and hoping the mistake would come from the opponent rather than himself. He was getting hit cleaner and harder now, but he was landing more too. He wasn't winning the technical battle, so creating chaos and upping both fighters connect percentage by fighting more in the pocket and at closer range was worth a try. This was definitely the most exciting round so far, building on the last round. This also gave Muhammad an opportunity to clinch, but while JDM avoided getting taken down, he was looking a bit winded and hesitant finally in the later stages, and Belal was finally sniping him with some clean power shots. Belal's all out aggression made JDM passive, and JDM was looking for the big counter rather than holding his ground or keeping Belal off of him at the end of the 4th. JDM landed some of his biggest shots early in round 4, but the 2nd half of the round was almost all Belal. JDM was spending a lot of time outside the center in round 5, but was moving more laterally now, trying to land a straight then create space moving sideways rather than worrying about holding his ground or backing Belal up. JDM cut Muhammad with a knee, but Belal answered wobbling JDM with a big right, and finally secured a takedown. When JDM wrapped his left arm around Belal's neck to keep him close, I thought Belal was going to finish the 2nd half of the round on top, and maybe he'd wind up getting the decision if he got 1 of the 1st 3 rounds. JDM quickly became proactive though and got back up. Belal had a lot of swelling under the left eye, and Jack nailing him with a big elbow didn't help. JDM finally opened up, and now he was too fast for Belal, but he made the mistake of clinching to allow him to recover when he had him in trouble, and Belal threw him down out of nowhere. Jack was up quickly again, and finished strong in stand up. He won the round, but this was a round where both did really good work and had some great moments. Della Maddalena won a unanimous decision 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 to become a UFC champion for the first time at age 28, ending 36-year-old Muhammad's title run at 0 defenses. Good match.

5/3/25 AEW: Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong 20:06
ML: Paragon vs. FTR has provided the most consistenly useful tag wrestling AEW has seen in the last few years. This wasn't nearly as good as their last match, partly because the 2 out of 3 fall format didn't do them any favors. This was still a proper tag match, but kind of a slow building strike oriented match with random finishes that really took off in the 2nd half. The first fall was mostly sticking to "credible" offense, striking with a rare submission win where Dax submitted to O'Reilly's ankle lock because Stokely strategically decided they were better off sacrificing the fall in hopes of keeping Harwood healthy enough for FTR to win the next two. I'd like to see more submission wins, but this wasn't played well enough to evoke feelings beyond random or throwaway. Paragon, especially O'Reilly, who was typically the standout were outhustling FTR. The match had picked up considerably by the end of the second fall, with Strong reinjuring his knee from a Cashtackle, and getting pinned after the shatter machine. The Strong injury was done much better in their previous match because they were able to focus on that, and O'Reilly going alone. Here, it was more a matter of convenience since by the time they got around to it they didn't have enough time left to develop it. The 3rd fall was pretty rushed after a 2nd fall that was more than half the match. Kyle going alone is never a bad thing because he's at his best when he's providing energy and fire rather than just technique. O'Reilly pinned Dax after they double teamed with the high low, but the ref didn't see Dax's foot get put on the bottom rope. This was a call back to their first match where the ref missed O'Reilly getting his foot on the rope, and FTR agreeing to restart the match ultimately cost them. This time FTR talked the ref was talked into reversing his decision. The bell had already rung, and Paragon were celebrating, but rather than the ref actually telling them the match wasn't over, Cash just clipped Strong's knee. Kyle then tapped Wheeler to the ankle lock because he wasn't the legal man so he didn't care. Wheeler went to the eyes to break it, shot Kyle off into Dax's schoolboy, and then pinned Kyle after the shatter machine. This finish was mostly annoying. The match had good intensity throughout, but the crowd and the booking didn't help it any. ***

5/3/25 UFC: Mason Jones vs. Jeremy Stephens 3R
ML: I'm glad Stephens got back in the UFC because he usually has entertaining fights, and this was no exception. At 38, I don't expect him to win much anymore, and he's already gone from 28-14 to 29-21, but I'd much rather watch an exciting fighter lose than a boring fighter win. The first two rounds were definitely fun, the third not so much. Jones was really giving Stephens trouble. He was particularly effective at either leading with the front kick or the low kick and then following with the straight punch. Jones showed good variety and kept backing Stephens, and it was difficult for Stephens to hold his ground, much less answer. When Stephens would take the initiative he could land, but Jones kept pressuring him, and was very accurate. To some extent, Jones was winning because he is the younger and more energetic fighter, but a lot of Stephens problem was simply that Jones was bigger and longer. Jones got his elbows going in the second, and Stephens was cut badly in the middle of the forehead. Steven's finally got going midway through the 2nd, and the fight turned quickly, with Stephens knocking the mouthpiece out with a big right hand. Stephens still couldn't slow down Jones attacks though, so once Jones got his bearings back, he was able to start backing Stephens again with his kicks. The difference is Stephens was finally being more aggressive in trying to answer and make this more of a scrap than a technical fight, at least until Jones took him down to finish the round. I still think this was a Jones round, but he definitely knew he had a fight on his hands now. Unfortunately, Jones assumed he was up to rounds and kind of stagnated the fight by taking Stephens down early in the third. Jones was still working, but it took Stephens 3 minutes to get back up by defending the Kimura. Stephens showed no scrambling, and was never able to explode to free himself even when finally stood, so it was always a lot of work to stand only to get taken right back down again. While this was a smart strategy for Jones, it wasn't really a good look for a 6 to 1 favorite to be holding on to grind out the decision. Jones won a unanimous 30-27 decision. Good match.

10/31/52 NWA Chicago: Verne Gagne vs. Red Bastien 9:08 (annonced as 8:00)
ML: Bastien was 21-years old and maybe 150 pounds (the announcer claimed he was 185), a quick and speedy technical wrestler who was overmatched against the larger Olympic team wrestler Gagne. Bastien started wrestling on the carnival circuit at 16, and Gagne wasn't his original trainer, so I'm not sure if he was already a protege or not. This was basically a glorified jobber match, but one that made you want to see more of both men. Bastien's movement and counters complemented what Gagne could do very well and allowed him to do a more energetic match than he'd probably normally do. Gagne had athleticism to back up his technicality here, and worked hard even though he purportedly worked 3 matches that day. It was largely technical wrestling with the few highspots of the day like the flying headscissors and body slam, but they kept things moving and did a nice job of resisting and countering one another. This never felt silly or dull. Gagne won with a well executed rolling cradle. ***1/2

11/6/73 AWA: Billy Robinson & Red Bastien vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens 9:18 + 4:40
ML: This was sort of an impromptu non-title match. Bockwinkel & Stevens supposedly signed a contract for a TV match without the opponents being determined, and wouldn't you know the matchmaker gave them the guys they were trying to avoid. The would be challengers were pushing hard the whole match, trying to force a title shot and get revenge for Bockwinkel & Stevens injuring several of their friends. Robinson & Red were super fired up for this action packed rivalry match, and this was very energetic action from start to finish. They wrestled at a frantic pace, with everyone amped up. There was a lot of movement, moreso than a lot of moves. The offense might not have been great, but they created an excellent mood and atmosphere of the hard fought rivalry match, and I'd rather see whatever offense with no wasted time, silliness, or ridiculous overselling than see great moves followed by posing and phony paralysis. Robinson and Bastien kept coming hard and fast, putting the tag champions on the defensive. Bastien wasn't the athlete he was in the 1950s, but he still still worked hard and showed a lot of fire though. He did land on his feet for a back body drop. Robinson stole the show, even though this wasn't a particularly technical performance from Robinson, or especially Bockwinkel. They just kept things moving, and focused on the conflict causing everyone to want to beat people up. Robinson & Red kind of did the whole match like they had just made the hot tag. Stevens took well, but his offense was just kicking and punching. Bastien pinned Stevens after an atomic drop to take the first fall. Robinson pinned Bockwinkel after his backbreaker to take this in straight falls. It was surprising to see the champs lose straight falls, but being a TV match they probably didn't want to extend things more than necessary. ****

7/4/93 AJW Japan Grand Prix '93 Blue Zone: Kyoko Inoue vs. Bat Yoshinaga 16:14
PA: Bat didn’t get that many chances to have quality singles match, and this was almost certainly her best singles match ever. She hit her brutal kicks and gave Kyoko a good working in the middle, which Kyoko sold huge for. She was happy enough to work holds, but when Kyoko would try to reverse or make comebacks, Bat would kick her down or do a spot. Bat showed some hesitation, so the transitions weren’t always as smooth as they could have been, but it got better as it went along and they didn’t have an issues once they hit the finishing run. Kyoko kept trying to take control, but Bat would cut her off. Kyoko avoided two rolling kicks so Bat drove her face first onto the exposed floor, and then killed her with rolling kicks in the ring. Kyoko bumped all over the place for them. Bat’s kicks looked great anyways, but Kyoko’s bumping added to it. Kyoko made a comeback with a slingshot, but Bat shoved her into the corner to avoid the Niagara Driver. Kyoko punched her off and a quickly dropkicked her. Bat continued to avoid the Niagara Driver, but got caught with a punch and a German suplex. She survived those and got the pin upset with another rolling kick. ***3/4

7/4/93 AJW Japan Grand Prix '93 Red Zone: Akira Hokuto vs. Suzuka Minami 16:20
PA: The first part of this was hilarious with Minami jumping Hokuto unsuccessfully twice trying to hit backbreakers while Hokuto was still robed up. Minami was embarrassed at that, but once Hokuto disrobed, she made up for it by hitting a tope and a powerbomb on the floor. Hokuto had the upperhand after that, torturing her with submissions until Minami came back with a backbreaker and returned the favor. They did another funny spot where Minami kept running away from Hokuto’s somersault plancha and waited in the ring. It seemed like a low effort from two pros with incredible chemistry and the ability to make the most of it to this point, but really kicked things up a gear for the finish. Minami got too aggressive through, and they fought over a suplex on the apron which resulted in Hokuto suplexing her from the apron to the floor and hitting her somersault plancha. Minami avoided a missile dropkick and demolished Hokuto with powerbombs, but she went up top and got superplexed down. They hit piledrivers on each other outside and Minami did a flying kick. Minami hit her diving senton and almost got the win with it. She challenged Hokuto to get up to powerbomb her, which was a bad idea that resulted in Hokuto hitting two powerbombs. Minami made one more mistake, which was Irish whipping Hokuto, as Hokuto reversed it and hit a Northern Light’s Bomb to put her away. ****

7/4/93 AJW: Manami Toyota, Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Aja Kong, Bull Nakano & Tomoko Watanabe 20:14
PA: Typical very good Zenjo six woman tag. Plenty of good stuff from everyone, even Watanabe wasn’t blowing spots today, perhaps losing the mask helped her. Shimoda got worked over in the middle and it might have been a bit slow at times. Toyota actually got to do the rolling cradle on Aja, which was a rarity. Everyone ran in after that, and it was mayhem for a while, with some good near falls. Bull crushed Toyota with lariats and pinned her with a diving legdrop. ***3/4

6/23/24 IR IWGP Women's Title: Mayu Iwatani vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 16:08
ML: The first singles match between the STARDOM and Ice Ribbon aces was a dream match 13 years in the making. For such a historically important battle between two of the top women of the 2010s, this was a surprisingly toned down match. It was more technically oriented, kicks and submissions, with bits of Lucha Libre thrown in. I'm not sure how healthy Fujimoto is or how much she has left. She still moved well, but it felt like a match where she was actively trying not to get hurt, which perhaps is why it happened? Tsukasa wrestled a slower and more methodical style than before her maternity leave, relying more on impact than agility. Mayu wasn't in big match mode. She was still doing her athletic offense, but wasn't doing her big suplexes or dives, enough to make it good, but not special. They built this up pretty well then Tsukasa picked things up with her dropkicks. Tsukasa avoided the Dragon suplex on the apron, and picked Mayu up on her shoulders, but instead of dropping backwards onto the apron, turned and threw Mayu forward off of it. Back in the ring, as they were presumably getting close to the finishing stretch, but Tsukasa dislocated her right elbow landing funny on her venus shot. Tsukasa tried to continue, but something was clearly wrong, so the ref stopped it rather than have Mayu just go to the finish. Unless this was slow because it was supposed to be a draw, Tsukasa was probably going to lose in 3 or 4 minutes, so in addition to protecting her physically, the ref kept her from getting pinned. This wound up requiring a minor surgery that kept her out for a month, and I believe she had already planned to take a "break" at the end of August that she hasn't returned from. It sucked that she got hurt, and in the process we missed out on what would most likely have been the best portion of the match, but I don't think whatever they would have done would have bumped the rating any. ***