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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 8:29:04 GMT -5
99. PROGRESS Atlas Championship: Matt Riddle [c] vs. Trent Seven – PROGRESS: Orlando 3/31/17
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| I can’t help but love the PROGRESS Atlas Championship. Big lads wrestling is among my favorite things in all of wrestling. Trent Seven is one of the best heels on the UK scene, while Matt Riddle is wildly popular wherever he goes. After realizing he was outmatched on the mat, Seven took to chopping the crap out of Riddle. That just angered Riddle, who lit him up with brutal shots around the ring. Riddle was always a step ahead. If Seven chopped, Riddle chopped harder. If Seven hit a suplex, Riddle popped up and retaliated with his own. When Riddle survived Seventh Heaven (a spinning piledriver), Seven wanted to hit one off the middle rope. Riddle slipped out and came back with a jumping Tombstone for a great near fall. Seven kicked out at one after a crazy looking jumping piledriver, but Riddle pounced. He locked in the Bromission and Seven tapped out at 10:47. Before the match, Jim Smallman promised they would beat the crap out of each other and they delivered. This was intense from start to finish and stayed in Riddle’s 10-15 minute wheelhouse. Great stuff. [****] |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 9:35:35 GMT -5
98. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville [c] vs. Austin Aries – WWE WrestleMania 33 4/2/17
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| Moving this match to the Kickoff Show was probably for the best. Instead of getting rushed on a ridiculously loaded and long main card, it was given time to breathe on the pre-show. Austin Aries was the rare cruiserweight to get a great reaction on most nights, while Neville was in the midst of a spectacular run as the “King of the Cruiserweights.” With 15:37 to work with, they didn’t go for the traditionally spotty cruiserweight match. Instead, they started slow and built to something more. Aries was confident early. He felt like the one guy in the division who could hang with Neville. They constantly had an answer for one another, but there was the sense that Aries had Neville’s number. Neville started dropping Aries on his head with German suplexes, but couldn’t put him away. Neville survived his fair share, including kicking out of the 450 splash. Aries applied Last Chancery and Neville knew he was done. He resorted to raking at Aries’ recently reconstructed orbital socket. That got him free and he won via Red Arrow. Their subsequent matches never reached this level. Hell, the cruiserweights have never reached this level again. It was the peak of the division. [****] |
*This is the final appearance for both Austin Aries and Neville. *It is the final Cruiserweight Championship match.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 10:32:10 GMT -5
97. PROGRESS World Championship: Travis Banks [c] vs. Keith Lee – PROGRESS Chapter 56: La Danse Macabre 10/29/17
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| At PROGRESS Chapter 53, Keith Lee beat Travis Banks ahead of Banks’ shot at the PROGRESS Championship. At Chapter 55, Banks successfully captured the title. Therefore, it was fitting for Lee to be his first title defense. Lee was as confident as ever, knowing he came off a win against the smaller champion. They played off their previous match at several points, but the best was when Banks went for a tope suicida. In the first meeting, Lee caught him and dominated. Here, Lee taunted him about it, so Banks used a bit of a cheap shot to open the door for him to deliver three in a row. Banks managed to seriously hurt Lee with a series of double chops. Lee remained dominant though, hitting two Spirit Bombs. The “never say die attitude” of the new champion was evident, as he survived both. Banks escaped a third and hit the Slice of Heaven. He avoided more big offense from Lee, before raining elbows down on his head. He added some stomps to really daze Lee, before wowing everyone by hitting the Kiwi Krusher to retain in 19:38. This was a great start for a new era of PROGRESS. A top notch main event that built off their first encounter, was hard hitting and told a great story. Banks was tentative early, only to throw everything he had at Lee and was resilient enough to win out. [****] |
*This is the final match from La Danse Macabre.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 12:15:43 GMT -5
96. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW Dominion 6/11/17
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| On January 4th, Tetsuya Naito finally got a big Wrestle Kingdom victory by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi and retaining the Intercontinental Title. Naito held the title since September and treated it like garbage. He kicked it around, slammed it on the steps and by the time this show came around, it was broken. Naito wanted to destroy and retire the title, while Tanahashi was out to restore its honor. Knowing Naito’s style, Tanahashi turned the tables on him and attacked before the bell. Naito’s disrespect for the title was too much for him. Tanahashi was aggressive, spitting at Naito and laying into him with punches. Naito went after Tanahashi’s partially torn biceps, while Tana responded by attacking the leg. I appreciated that Naito working the arm was smart and different from a lot of his matches, since he typically worked the leg. Tanahashi couldn’t bump on some spots as well as he would if he were 100% healthy, but he made up for it with his desperation. He knew a loss would mark the end of the IC Title and possibly his time as a top star. When High Fly Flow wasn’t enough, Tanahashi used a cloverleaf to win the title via submission in 25:56. An unexpected finish that played into their next match, though it felt anti-climactic. This was the worst of their trilogy this year, yet it still ruled and was what it needed to be given their characters and story up to this point. Plus, it freed up Naito to win the G1. [****] |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 14:14:40 GMT -5
95. The Chosen Bros vs. The Monstars – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 9/1/17
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| On the first night of the annual Battle of Los Angeles, it wasn’t any of the tournament matches that stole the show. It was this absurd tag team bout. The Chosen Bros, Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle, were becoming a consistent team in PWG, while the Monstars of Keith Lee and Donovan Dijak had formed a bond after some great matches in 2017. Anyone who knows me knows I love BIG LADS WRESTLING. This was not just big dudes beating the piss out of each other, but big dudes doing wacky crap. It’s a trip seeing men like Lee and Cobb doing incredibly athletic things with ease. The match started friendly enough, but soon broke down into some breathtaking action. Spots that stuck out to me saw the Chosen Bros bust out a Doomsday Knee, and the Monstars showing off a chokeslam/powerbomb onto the knee combination. The finish saw Cobb launch Lee (a feat in itself) into a Riddle knee after 18:25. An absolutely bonkers match in front of the right crowd. They could’ve taken it easy with bigger tourney matches the next day, but they went all out. [****] |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 15:22:37 GMT -5
94. Money in the Bank: AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – WWE Money in the Bank 6/18/17
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| If there’s one WWE match you can usually count out for greatness each year, it’s Money in the Bank. The 2015 incarnation is the only one to not crack four stars from me in the last five years. This was another loaded field, with only Ziggler as an uninteresting performer. One of the biggest questions coming in was how Nakamura would fare in a Ladder Match, but Corbin jumped him during his entrance, taking him out of the equation. For now. As usual, there were plenty of bumps and spots throughout this. Sami hit a particularly great sunset flip bomb, and AJ Styles took a scary fall while hanging from the briefcase. We also got a renewal of the fantastic Zayn/Owens rivalry for a bit. Owens was the MVP, being involving in so much and taking wild bumps like an USHIGOROSHI onto a ladder bridge. Around the 20:00 mark of this 29:50 match, Nakamura returned and was at the best we’ve seen since the Zayn match in Dallas last year. He ran through everyone, leading to the showdown with Styles we’ve all waited for. Their exchange stole the show. In the end, Corbin took them both out and got the briefcase to win. It ran a bit long, which keeps it from reaching the levels of some prior MITB matches, but was still good enough to make this list. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn. *It is the final match from Money in the Bank.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 16:59:43 GMT -5
93. PROGRESS World Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Travis Banks – PROGRESS Chapter 55: Chase the Sun 9/10/17
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| I was more excited for this match than anything on the WrestleMania or Wrestle Kingdom cards. No lie. Perennial jerk champion Pete Dunne against Travis Banks, winner of Super Strong Style 16. This was one of those matches where they didn’t do the flashiest moves and had a fair amount of run-ins, yet it all worked. It was a master class on working the crowd. Dunne did every little thing possible to draw their ire. When Trent Seven and Tyler Bate were taken backstage by #CCK, the fans erupted, realizing Dunne and Banks were alone. Banks survived a ton, even drawing the commentary line of, “Travis Banks just took all of the moves.” It even garnered, “You can’t beat him,” chants towards Dunne. Banks finally hit the Kiwi Krusher for a wild near fall, before applying the Lion’s Clutch to win the title in 24:07. It wasn’t the blow away MOTYC I wanted. Still, they had a big time main event match, with the right amount of shenanigans considering the story they told over several months. The feel good moment of Banks winning the title and ending the reign of terror of British Strong Style was a perfect way to cap the company’s biggest show ever. [****] |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 18:46:12 GMT -5
92. Keith Lee vs. WALTER – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 9/2/17
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| Throughout the entire Battle of Los Angeles, no match sounded better to me than this one. Keith Lee and WALTER had awesome encounters during a WWN Title match the prior month, but this was their first singles outing. WALTER grounded Lee at the start, causing him to take a powder. Lee hadn’t been manhandled like that in some time, possibly ever. It was wild to see someone with the ability to take Lee down on just one lariat. Yet Lee was back at it, and showed off his own mat work. It was clear they were evenly matched. The offense grew as the match progressed. WALTER hit an avalanche butterfly suplex, while Lee nailed one of the biggest Spirit Bombs you’ll ever see. None of it was enough. They moved into a huge chop exchange, until WALTER just kicked Lee’s leg out. A smart, but devious move. Lee fought back and got the win with a Samoan drop/powerslam combo in 19:44. The finish was rather anticlimactic and the match went a bit long, but it was high quality big lads wrestling and you can’t go wrong with that. [****] |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 1, 2018 22:53:01 GMT -5
91. PROGRESS World and Tag Team Championships: British Strong Style [c] vs. Ringkampf – PROGRESS Chapter 47: Complicated Simplicity 4/23/17
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| It’s rare that a match features several men in your Wrestler of the Year ballot (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and WALTER), but that’s what we had here. The other three man in the match (Trent Seven, Timothy Thatcher and Axel Dieter Jr.) are no slouches, either. With all the titles on the line and PROGRESS being the British Strong Style show in 2017, the outcome to this wasn’t really in doubt. And yet, they made it work wonderfully. BBS were tremendous douches, which perfectly played against Ringkampf being aggressive. WALTER was especially brutal, because he’s awesome. He single-handedly tore apart the opposition with chop after chop. We got a great trio of submission from Ringkampf, but it wasn’t enough. The finishing stretch was wild and featured the absurd spot where Bate deadlift German suplexed WALTER. Sadly, the finish was kind of lackluster, as Dunne used the PROGRESS Title to whack WALTER and allow Seven to score the pin at 28:01. One hell of a match, specifically for the interactions between WALTER and Dunne/Bate. [****] |
*It is the final appearance of Axel Dieter Jr. *It is the final match from Complicated Simplicity.
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Post by marino13 on Jan 1, 2018 22:55:39 GMT -5
Love that British Strong Style is represented so often. Big fan of Dunne, Seven, and Bate.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 10:18:39 GMT -5
90. GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima [c] vs. Brian Cage – NOAH Summer Navigation 7/27/17
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| Cage always looks massive, but in NOAH, he was basically Godzilla. Nakajima had turned back every challenge as GHC Heavyweight Champion and had to slay the biggest monster yet to retain here. NOAH’s known for slow paced main events (Japan in general tends to be), but Cage was having none of that. He came out the blocks firing and powerbombed the champ into the ring post in the opening minutes. Japanese crowds love monster gaijins, so Korakuen was way into Cage. He has the added bonus of impressive athletic offense mixed in with the power spots. Nakajima had to stick and move, connecting with desperation kicks to slow Cage down. He kicked out at the last possible moment so many times and the fans bought into each near fall. Cage survived the Vertical Spike, leading many to believe the title would switch here. It’d certainly make Cage a big deal in NOAH. Cage busted out a SCARY looking Steiner Screwdriver for a wild near fall. HOW WAS THAT NOT THE FINISH? Not to be outdone, he then no sold a top rope brainbuster, before eating another Vertical Spike to lose in 22:13. Great showing for Cage in his biggest NOAH match. They worked as opponents because Nakajima was a good underdog, while still doing enough to keep the physicality battle going. A bit too much of the fighting spirit stuff and it went too long (I think around 15 minutes would have been ideal) to be upper echelon, but it remains one of the better NOAH matches of 2017. [****] |
*It is the final appearance of Brian Cage. *It is the final match from Summer Navigation.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 11:42:27 GMT -5
89. PROGRESS Atlas Championship: WALTER [c] vs. Matt Riddle – PROGRESS: New York City 8/12/17
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| In their first match at Chapter 46, Riddle retained over WALTER. WALTER dethroned him at Chapter 51 in an even better match (more on that later) and this was the rubber match. They began this with mat work that was fairly even. WALTER took to brutally laying in the chops. Never afraid to give back as much as he takes, Riddle responded with chops of his own. It’s a staple of their matches. In their second outing, WALTER had Riddle well scouted and it led him to victory. This time, Riddle was ready, doing just enough to alter his game and avoid a repeat loss. He started deadlifting WALTER and throwing him around, which is never not impressive. Both guys picked up near falls down the stretch that the fans totally bought into. Riddle’s first senton attempt caught knees, but his second worked. He went into the Bromission, adding a series of chops, to make WALTER submit and become a two-time Atlas Champion after 15:58 of action. Not quite on the level of their second match, but better than the first. They played off their previous outings and the sheer viciousness of their strikes was jaw-dropping. [****] |
*It is the final match from PROGRESS: New York City.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 12:43:38 GMT -5
88. NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka [c] vs. Ember Moon – NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III 8/19/17
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| Over three months prior, Ember Moon came closer to dethroning Asuka than anyone else. Watching this live, I gave it ***¼, and people weren’t pleased. Looking back, I don’t know why I couldn’t get into it, because I thought it was great on the second viewing. Asuka’s special. I’ll come into a match thinking I’m okay with her losing and then I see her entrance and am like, “KILL ASUKA KILL!” Onto the match, Ember felt she had Asuka’s number and dropkicked her instantly, not letting the champ get out of the gate. Even when Asuka managed to take control, Ember fought valiantly and it felt like her life depended on winning this match. Asuka wisely targeted Ember’s shoulder, which she injured in between the two matches. In their first meeting, Asuka shoved the referee to the ropes to avoid the Eclipse. This time, Ember hit it and the crowd bought it as the end of Asuka’s run. The reaction to Asuka kicking out was insane. At a loss, Ember went for it again and Asuka used a slight referee distraction to get an opening. She survived a superkick, frustrating Ember more, and then retained via Asuka Lock at 14:46. Way better than I remembered. [****] |
*It is the final appearance of Ember Moon.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 15:11:33 GMT -5
87. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 5/18/17
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| Jushin Thunder Liger declared that the 2017 would be his final Best of the Super Juniors. The now 53-yeard old legend came in tied for the most tourney wins with 3. On this, the second night, he met the new ace of the juniors division and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi. After a night one loss, Liger didn’t want to lose his final Korakuen BOTSJ match, so he came out firing and hit a brainbuster in the aisle in the opening minutes, leading to a countout tease. That set the tone for a wild sprint that was 8:05 of pure action. Liger threw everything in his arsenal at the champion. Unfortunately, it was never quite enough. The beauty of this lied in the pin at the end. After Hiromu hit Time Bomb, he got the three count, but you could see Liger kicking his feet and desperately trying to kick out. He wanted nothing more than to continue, he just didn’t have it in him to do so. Depending on how much longer he wrestles, this very well could be the final great match of Liger’s career. [****] |
*It is the final appearance of Jushin Thunder Liger.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 17:16:42 GMT -5
86. EVIL vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW G1 Climax 8/5/17
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| 362 days. Coming into this match, that’s how long it had been since Kazuchika Okada was last pinned in singles competition. This was the fourteenth night of the G1 Climax and Okada was 5-0, while EVIL was 4-2. With Okada seemingly running away with the block, EVIL needed to win to stay alive. For the first time in a long time, it felt like Okada wasn’t in control of a match. Instead of his usual cross body over the guardrail spot, EVIL beat on him with chairs. He wasn’t allowing Okada to get going. Okada was forced to fight from behind because EVIL always had an answer for him. There was quite the big spot where Okada took Darkness Falls onto a pile of chairs in the crowd. It had to suck for him. When he beat the countout, it set up the traditional Okada closing stretch. High energy, great action and the usual Rainmaker stuff. After hitting one from out of nowhere, he subtlety positioned himself to land on his back so he could do his wrist hold stuff that everyone goes nuts for. I usually hate it, but liked it here because he was in serious trouble and because it finally backfired. EVIL ducked a third Rainmaker (like everyone else after eating two), but won the exchange by avoiding it again and hitting the STO to win at 22:47. Biggest win of EVIL’s career. Though the rematch for the Heavyweight Title disappointed, this was awesome and cemented EVIL as the MVP for the B Block of the G1. [****] |
*It is the final appearance of EVIL.
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Post by marino13 on Jan 2, 2018 17:18:41 GMT -5
I've only seen some of Matt Riddle and from what I've seen he's very good for his limited time in the ring. Huge upside.
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Post by Sizzle on Jan 2, 2018 17:20:00 GMT -5
That WALTER guy sounds great.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 19:17:27 GMT -5
85. Open The Twin Gate Championship: CIMA and Dragon Kid (c) vs. Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi – Dragon Gate Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 7/23/17
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| Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino were formerly known as DoiYoshi or Speed Muscle. They were one of the most exciting tag teams I’ve ever seen, but they hadn’t teamed regularly in a few years, at least from what I could gather. For Dragon Gate’s biggest show of the year, they got a shot at the Twin Gate Titles against two other company mainstays, CIMA and Dragon Kid. When I was first introduced to Dragon Gate eleven years ago, these were four men who stood out. This was a beautiful match. They moved at an absurd pace, yet everything was precise and expertly executed. It takes true brilliance to do what these guys did and make it look as easy as they did. Not everyone loves the Dragon Gate style of tag matches, and that’s understandable, but this was something I think everyone could enjoy. After 21:37 of wild action, Dragon Kid busted out the Dragonrana, which we don’t see often anymore, to retain the titles. I disagree with the decision, since CIMA and Dragon Kid have had a lackluster reign. Lackluster outside of this match though, which was tremendous. [****¼]
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*This is the final appearance of Masato Yoshino. *It is the final match from Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 2, 2018 23:08:59 GMT -5
84. Evolve Championship: Timothy Thatcher [c] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Evolve 79 2/25/17
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| Timothy Thatcher’s Evolve Title reign was kind of a train wreck. His rise to the top and early title matches were great. In 2015, he killed it against the likes of Johnny Gargano and Zack Sabre Jr. However, his 2016 was atrocious, with his style hampering him and leading to far too many crap matches. Due to that, the crowd turned on him and were very pro Sabre on this night. They came out with stiff strikes and submissions attempts, playing to their strengths. Thatcher got his leg trapped in a brutal looking submission on the ropes, so Sabre went right after that leg with his usual vigor. The heat from the crowd added so much. They hated everything Thatcher did. Down the stretch of this 18:47 bout, there were tons of counters and exchanges of submissions. Sabre applied a sick octopus hold, complete with elbow strikes, extra wrench on the arms and stomps to Thatcher’s head, to finally end his reign of terror. The pop for the Sabre win was incredible. This was easily the best Thatcher match since 2015. He nailed the mannerisms and everything he had to in order to play to the crowd. Great stuff. [****¼]
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*This is the final appearance of Timothy Thatcher. *It is the final Evolve Championship match. *It is the final match from Evolve 79.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 2:16:57 GMT -5
89. PROGRESS Atlas Championship: WALTER [c] vs. Matt Riddle – PROGRESS: New York City 8/12/17
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| In their first match at Chapter 46, Riddle retained over WALTER. WALTER dethroned him at Chapter 51 in an even better match (more on that later) and this was the rubber match. They began this with mat work that was fairly even. WALTER took to brutally laying in the chops. Never afraid to give back as much as he takes, Riddle responded with chops of his own. It’s a staple of their matches. In their second outing, WALTER had Riddle well scouted and it led him to victory. This time, Riddle was ready, doing just enough to alter his game and avoid a repeat loss. He started deadlifting WALTER and throwing him around, which is never not impressive. Both guys picked up near falls down the stretch that the fans totally bought into. Riddle’s first senton attempt caught knees, but his second worked. He went into the Bromission, adding a series of chops, to make WALTER submit and become a two-time Atlas Champion after 15:58 of action. Not quite on the level of their second match, but better than the first. They played off their previous outings and the sheer viciousness of their strikes was jaw-dropping. [****] |
*It is the final match from PROGRESS: New York City.
ing love WALTER, as well as RINGKAMPF. They have the most epic entrance music
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