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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 4, 2021 19:08:41 GMT -5
86. El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 11/18/20
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| I love this pairing. In 2018, they put on two classics. As usual, these two threw a lot at each other and had one of their famously wild matches. It wasn’t just a case of two guys one-upping each other, either. There was a sense of disdain. The opening few minutes of this were glorious violence and I dug it. El Desperado targeted the leg, looking to set up the Stretch Muffler I believe. Plus, it prevented Hiromu Takahashi from being as wild as he might want to be. That caused Hiromu to resort to strikes, which he does quite well. However, he could still be stopped by a simple kick to the legs. It was great work from both men at that point. Hiromu survived the submission and countered Pinche Loco into the Dynamite Plunger. Alas, we got a referee bump that opened the door for Desperado to use a chair on Hiromu’s leg. He put Numero Dos back on and Hiromu had to submit after 23:10. Leave it to Hiromu to put on back to back bangers to start the tournament. Not quite as good as their previous outings but still fantastic. [****] |
2019 Match #86: Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semifinals: Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. #DIY – WWE NXT 3/13/19 2018 Match #86: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks – WWE Raw 1/29/18 2017 Match #86: EVIL vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW G1 Climax 8/5/17 2016 Match #86: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/3/16 2015 Match #86: WWE and United States Championships: Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena (c) – WWE SummerSlam 8/23/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 4, 2021 23:24:54 GMT -5
85. Stadium Stampede: The Elite and Matt Hardy vs. The Inner Circle – AEW Double or Nothing |
| I really do love the way cinematic wrestling has become a thing. Lucha Underground was ahead of its time. This was being held in the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium. They got awesome football style entrances, with cheerleaders, sporting numbers, and everything. Boo on the Elite boys for not wearing football stuff. Everyone charged at each other with weapons like a war. No Page to start but then he came in RIDING ON A HORSE! Jim Ross was in his wheelhouse here. He got to talk all the football nonsense he shoehorns into every match and have it somewhat make sense here. He still didn’t do a good job, though. The guys fought in the ring for a bit, which is the best place to take spots, though they did well to try out other creative things. One example would be a field goal post moonsault. There were some really funny moments, like fighting into the a tiny pool and Ortiz complaining that he can’t swim. Then, as they tried to drown Matt, he reappeared as Matt Hardy Version 1! We even got the Matt Facts on screen and the guys competing could even see it. I loved how Page stopped to get a drink at the bar and was even casually joined by Hager at one point. Of course, they ended up fighting. When Jericho got a near fall, he threw a red flag and challenged the play. The end zone dance and penalty was also good, as was the callback to Sammy running from the golf cart. Omega eventually used a massive One Winged Angel to win in 34:00. That was another home run in terms of cinematic wrestling. It as a blast with some awesome callbacks and comedic moments, as well as mostly good action.[****] |
*This is the final appearance of Jake Hager, Matt Hardy, and Saammy Guevara.
2019 Match #85: IWGP Intercontinental Championship No DQ Match: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 2018 Match #85: NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto [c] vs. Juice Robinson – NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 4/27/18 2017 Match #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 2016 Match #85: Cedric Alexander vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Evolve 67 8/20/16 2015 Match #85: IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – NJPW Dominion 7/5/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 5, 2021 9:46:38 GMT -5
84. AEW Tag Team Championship: Hangman Page and Kenny Omega [c] vs. SCU – AEW Dynamite 2/12/20
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| Admittedly, I’m not a huge Kenny Omega fan. However, there was a stretch around February where he was putting on stellar matches almost every week. One of them was here, as he and Hangman Page defended their AEW Tag Team Titles against the team they dethroned for them, SCU. This was an early indication of how big of a deal Page would be. It was Omega who was isolated by the veteran tag team. They used their experience to completely cut him off. When he finally made the tag, Page was electric. He arguably had the best hot tags in all of wrestling in 2020. Since this whole thing only lasted 13:14, it was filled with action from bell to bell, with next to no slow down. The final few minutes were the highlight and they saw the champions retain by hitting their V-Trigger/Buckshot combination. 2020 seemed like it lasted four years, so the Omega/Page team feels like it was forever ago. They were fantastic. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of SCU.
2019 Match #84: Satoshi Kojima vs. Shingo Takagi – NJPW Dominion 2018 Match #84: Raw Women’s Championship Elimination Chamber: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Mickie James vs. Sasha Banks vs. Sonya Deville – WWE Elimination Chamber 2/25/18 2017 Match #84: Evolve Championship: Timothy Thatcher [c] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Evolve 79 2/25/17 2016 Match #84: WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. AJ Styles and Chris Jericho – WWE Raw 3/7/16 2015 Match #84: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW G1 Climax 7/26/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 5, 2021 12:31:56 GMT -5
83. Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor – NXT TakeOver: In Your House
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| Finn exploded out with a dropkick before the bell. Priest quickly turned the tide and did some interesting stuff like a sidewalk slam off steel steps and onto the apron. Though he wore down Balor, this didn’t really hit a slow spot. They kept the pace moving rather nicely. Balor was back to his old babyface days of working from under and bringing fire. He does it well, so that made this click. Priest was more aggressive than usual, even hitting a Razor’s Edge onto the apron. Priest cut off the Coup de Grace with an avalanche Chokeslam but was too hurt to cover instantly. He went for a Razor’s Edge onto steel steps but Finn got free and knocked him onto the steps, which was a vicious looking bump. The Coup de Grace inside finished it after 13:08. The breakout match Priest has needed for a while. He looked great here and they had a match with some non-stop action and impressive violence. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of Damien Priest.
2019 Match #83: NXT Championship: Adam Cole [c] vs. Daniel Bryan – WWE Smackdown 11/1/19 2018 Match #83: NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Kairi Sane – NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2017 Match #83: IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Special in USA 7/1/17 2016 Match #83: Ricochet vs. TJ Perkins – Evolve 58 – 4/1/16 2015 Match #83: Global League Finals: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Shelton X Benjamin – NOAH Global League Finals 11/8/15
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Post by k5 on Jan 5, 2021 13:45:31 GMT -5
a cinematic on the list! I'd of never guessed. now I'm wondering how high the boneyard match lands
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Post by LK3 on Jan 5, 2021 15:53:01 GMT -5
Or Firefly Fun House. There’s a wide range of opinion on the cinematic style matches, but it seems that for those who enjoyed FFH they view it as the best match out of all of them. Not really sure how a star rating would work for FFH though, but maybe we’ll find out.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 5, 2021 16:47:46 GMT -5
82. Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night Two
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| This was one of the earliest looks at a possible partnership between NJPW and AEW. Had Tanahashi won, he would’ve earned a shot at the AEW Title. Jericho came out wearing it but “Judas” was dubbed. Most of this match felt like the rest of Jericho’s run in New Japan. It was a brawl worked at a methodical pace. I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing, by the way. They lifted the DDT on the announce table spot from the Naito match and Tanahashi sold it like a champ. Tanahashi is a great opponent for Jericho because he can work at his slow pace. Guys like Okada and Naito get going when things are quickened but Tana is a master who can do it all. The pacing here was key, as Tanahashi seemed to lay it out expertly so the big spots came at the right moment. He really is the Ace. The tension down the stretch with the Boston crab stuff worked well. Jericho turned one into the Liontamer to win in 22:24. I thought this was great and just what I wanted from them. Two of the best to ever do it just had a smart match that told a good story. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of Chris Jericho.
2019 Match #82: NXT North American Championship: Johnny Gargano [c] vs. Velveteen Dream – NXT 2/20/19 2018 Match #82: SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW G1 Climax 7/21/18 2017 Match #82: AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor – WWE TLC 10/22/17 2016 Match #82: WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE Roadblock 3/12/16 2015 Match #82: Ricochet vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – PWG Battle of Los Angeles 8/29/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 5, 2021 22:47:49 GMT -5
81. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: BUSHI, EVIL & Shingo Takagi [c] vs. Hirooki Goto, Robbie Eagles & Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW Road to the New Beginning 2/6/20
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| Every year, the “Road to” shows in NJPW go overlooked. That’s understandable as they aren’t major events and mostly feature rematches. That being said, there’s usually a gem or two to be found in some of them. This edition of the Road to The New Beginning delivered just that with a NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title bout. Those championships shine on these shows. What made this work so well is that you had a very good group from Los Ingobernables de Japon against three strong CHAOS members. Robbie Eagles is wildly underrated and made for a great addition here. The match was built around continuing the EVIL/Ishii and Goto/Shingo rivalries, as well as the one that blossomed between BUSHI and Eagles. In the build, Eagles kept beating him but here, BUSHI bested him with MX after 21:44. Tremendous action and paced out incredibly well. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of BUSHI. *It is the last NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title match. *There are no more matches from Road to The New Beginning.
2019 Match #81: NXT Tag Team Championship: The Undisputed Era [c] vs. War Raiders – NXT TakeOver: Phoenix 2018 Match #81: Mae Young Classic Semi-Finals: Meiko Satomura vs. Toni Storm – WWE Mae Young Classic 10/24/18 2017 Match #81: Bobby Fish vs. Jay Lethal – ROH 15th Anniversary Show 3/10/17 2016 Match #81: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 6/7/16 2015 Match #81: NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte – NXT 7/15/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 6, 2021 8:45:01 GMT -5
80. Jungle Boy vs. MJF – AEW Double or Nothing
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| This was a case of two young guys looking to break out. While MJF has done really good character work, he was missing that standout great match. I liked how, early on, MJF was happy to match Jungle Boy with confidence. However, when he slapped Jungle Boy, he got his ass kicked. It was obvious that he was the one bringing the fire. Noticing that, he feigned an injury to get the upper hand back. MJF put the target on the arm and Jungle Boy sold the hell out of it. He combined that with great hope spots for some awesome moments. For example, catching MJF in a submission only to have to let it go due to injury was great. As cocky as MJF might be, you could sense his desperation as this went on. He was in trouble and couldn’t put Jungle Boy away. He finally did, but only by scoring with a clever rollup in 17:34. What a match. It was exactly what these two needed. MJF is such a smarmy heel and Jungle Boy is a great underdog, who killed it in terms of selling. [****] |
*It is the last match from Double or Nothing. *This is the final appearance of Jungle Boy.
2019 Match #80: Drew Gulak vs. Matt Riddle – EVOLVE 131 2018 Match #80: WWE Championship Six Pack Challenge: AJ Styles [c] vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Fastlane 3/11/18 2017 Match #80: Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 7/23/17 2016 Match #80: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) vs. BUSHI – NJPW New Beginning in Niigata 2/14/16 2015 Match #80: Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii – World Tag League 11/21/15
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Post by rkmo: 9 Month Warning on Jan 6, 2021 9:40:06 GMT -5
Just watched that match last night. Best of the event, by far.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 6, 2021 15:33:11 GMT -5
79. The Butcher, The Blade, and The Lucha Bros vs. FTR and The Young Bucks – AEW Fyter Fest 7/8/20
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| Sometimes, all you want out of wrestling is to watch a bunch of people deliver non-stop action for 15:42. That’s just what happened on the second night of AEW Fyter Fest. The recently debuted FTR teamed with The Young Bucks (months ahead of their Tag Team Title program) to take on The Butcher, The Blade, and The Lucha Bros. It seemed like the Young Bucks went back to their PWG roots for this. You had a bit of everything here. The brutes in Butcher and Blade, FTR bringing tag team excellence, the Lucha Bros hitting hard and delivering big spots, and the Bucks flying all over the place. The Bucks and FTR worked seamlessly together, which added to the fun of seeing this go down. The Mexican Destroyer spot to the outside remains one of the wildest things I saw all year long. Seriously, it’s the kind of thing you have to see to believe. The result was a surprise as Dax took the pin following an assisted Package Piledriver. A ridiculous match in the best possible way. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of The Butcher and the Blade. *It is the last match from Fyter Fest.
2019 Match #79: Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel – NXT 3/6/19 2018 Match #79: NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Toni Storm – NXT United Kingdom Tournament 6/26/18 2017 Match #79: CIMA, Dragon Kid, Eita, Naruki Doi & Takehiro Yamamura vs. Brother YASSHI, El Lindaman, Punch Tominga, Shingo Takagi & T-Hawk – Dragon Gate Glorious Gate 3/8/17 2016 Match #79: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW Invasion Attack 4/10/16 2015 Match #79: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI – World Tag League 11/21/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 6, 2021 23:52:21 GMT -5
78. Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 9/19/20
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| If you see Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii on a card, you know they’ll deliver. That’s especially true against each other because they’re both prone to matches that are absolute wars. As you’d expect, they went right into it by hammering away at each other. There’s no wasting time with these two. They are there to beat the hell out of each other and go home. I love that mentality. This reminded me a lot of Suzuki’s New Japan Cup bout against Yuji Nagata in that it just felt angry. You got the sense that they disliked each other even if they don’t have a long history. There were points where they weren’t even hitting each other hard. They were just slapping and kicking each other as a way to talk crap. After tons of strikes, they moved into counters, blocking each other’s suplexes and such. Eventually, Suzuki used the Gotch Style Piledriver to win in 13:00. We’ve seen it a ton from these guys and together, they do it well. A sprint where two guys tried to murder each other. Look NJPW, just keep things short and sweet. [****] |
2019 Match #78: Money in the Bank: Ali vs. Andrade vs. Baron Corbin vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor vs. Randy Orton vs. Ricochet – WWE Money in the Bank 2018 Match #78: IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Jay White [c] vs. Juice Robinson – NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco 7/7/18 2017 Match #78: WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Usos [c] vs. The New Day – WWE Battleground 7/23/17 2016 Match #78: WWE Intercontinental Championship vs. Career Match: The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler – WWE No Mercy 10/9/16 2015 Match #78: Hell in a Cell: Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns – WWE Hell in a Cell 10/25/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 7, 2021 10:04:50 GMT -5
77. The New Day vs. The Street Profits – WWE Survivor Series
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| Remember when AOP and The Bar disappointed in this champions vs. champions match a few years ago? Thankfully, these teams lived up to the hype. New Day was out in Gears of War attire to celebrate their inclusion in the game. Big E was with them. There was a friendly respect at the start between the teams. However, it quickly became clear that the more experienced New Day duo had the upper hand. They dominated at times. Kofi even stopped to pose with the Solo cup. Finally, Ford managed to make the hot tag and Dawkins turned the tide for them. I liked this New Day combo hitting Midnight Hour when that move usually needs Big E. Ford’s Frog Splash remains outstanding by the way.. He also busted out Trouble in Paradise on Kofi, which was sick. After Woods also got to deliver a sweet press slam, the Profits beat him with their Doomsday Blockbuster in 14:05. Tremendous. There was some stellar storytelling in there as you got the sense that New Day wanted to pass the torch of sorts. The action matched up to it and this delivered. [****] |
*This is the last appearance for both New Day and the Street Profits.
2019 Match #77: El Phantasmo vs. Rocky Romero – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 5/24/19 2018 Match #77: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. El Desperado – NJPW Kizuna Road 6/18/18 2017 Match #77: GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima [c] vs. Go Shiozaki – Pro Wrestling NOAH Great Voyage in Yokohama 3/12/17 2016 Match #77: IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Michael Elgin – NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku – 4/27/16 2015 Match #77: IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Karl Anderson – NJPW Power Struggle 11/7/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 7, 2021 13:52:17 GMT -5
76. Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 9/30/20
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| Their G1 match last year was my NJPW MOTY. Needless to say, I was hyped for this. They immediately came out tackling and hitting each other hard, so it was going to be that kind of Ishii match, which are the ones that I’m usually way into. They put on a show and I’m not going to recap it a ton because it was really just two dudes beating the crap out of each other. However, and I’m sure you’re over me saying this, but I felt this went on too long. There’s something about these two that I think would be ideal in a 15-17 minute setting. All of their matches have passed 20 minutes and this one hit 26:01, which I just didn’t think was needed. There was greatness here but it seemed like they were trying a bit too hard to deliver some kind of epic. NJPW has that problem from time to time and I think because last year’s G1 outing was stellar, they tried to recreate it and fell short. I don’t want this to sound like I disliked this because I really enjoyed it. It’s two of my favorite going to war in the main event and feeling like a true fight at times. The wild closing stretch saw Ishii finally get on the board with the Brainbuster. It also lacked some drama since I couldn’t’ see Ishii starting the tourney 0-4. Great but not the all-timer it could’ve been. [****] |
2019 Match #76: NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream [c] vs. Buddy Murphy – NXT 4/17/19 2018 Match #76: WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Zack Gibson – NXT United Kingdom Tournament 6/26/18 2017 Match #76: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 8/6/17 2016 Match #76: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Yuji Nagata – NJPW G1 Climax 7/30/16 2015 Match #76: NEVER Openweight Championship: Togi Makabe (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 10/12/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 7, 2021 16:01:15 GMT -5
75. AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley [c] vs. MJF – AEW All Out
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| For the most part, the win/loss records in AEW haven’t meant much in terms of storytelling. However, entering this, neither man had lost a singles match in AEW. If Moxley used the Paradigm Shift, he would lose the title. MJF had a plan, going after Moxley’s arm almost immediately. However, he was also not quite ready for the ass kicking that the champion was handing out. I loved that story. MJF is a prick but he’s never been booked as a tough guy. That means someone like Moxley should beat his ass when given the chance. MJF even got busted open, adding to the visual aspect of this encounter. When his best offense couldn’t keep Moxley down, MJF resorted to cheating. That meant using things like the Diamond Dozen (I don’t remember the exact name) ring, though Wardlow fumbled that. With the referee distracted, Moxley was able to nail the Paradigm Shift to retain after 23:49. Combined with his performance against Jungle Boy at the previous PPV, MJF proved his skills. The match lacked drama due to an earlier match because there was no way MJF/Lance Archer would be a title match, but the rest of this told a really good story and was highly entertaining. [****] |
*This is the final appearance of MJF. *It is the last match for the AEW World Championship.
2019 Match #75: Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 2018 Match #75: Three and In Finale: Mark Haskins vs. Tyler Bate – PROGRESS Chapter 75: These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends 8/27/18 2017 Match #75: RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [c] vs. Will Ospreay – RevPro Global Wars UK 11/10/17 2016 Match #75: Number One Contender’s Match: AJ Styles vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens – WWE Raw 4/4/16 2015 Match #75: Falls Count Anywhere: Cage vs. The Mack – Ultima Lucha 7/29/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 7, 2021 20:48:11 GMT -5
74. EVIL vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW The Beginning in Sapporo
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| I love how the awesome tag from New Year Dash (more on that later) spawned the top two matches on another show. Tomohiro Ishii dominated the series against EVIL coming into this, being undefeated against him. Interestingly, this didn’t start with them going right after each other. It made for a fresh change of pace given their styles. However, EVIL quickly went back to the greatest hits. He brought out the hard hitting stuff, the steel chairs, and everything we know from him. It’s as if he got so frustrated that he opted to double-down on what he already does. On the flip side, you had Ishii who busted out new stuff like a pretty sweet spinning heel kick. He had more that he could dig down for, but EVIL didn’t seem to. The closing minutes were filled with huge lariats, near falls, and big spots. They saved the good stuff for then. Ishii finally kept EVIL down with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster after 21:14. About on par with what I’m used to from these guys. Great hard hitting action, though I preferred their Wrestling Dontaku match from 2019. [****] |
2019 Match #74: Team Drew Gulak vs. Team Oney Lorcan – WWE 205 Live 8/20/19 2018 Match #74: Tornado Tag Team Match: Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese vs. The Lucha House Party – WWE 205 Live 8/21/18 2017 Match #74: Anthony Henry vs. Fred Yehi – Style Battle S1:E5 6/16/17 2016 Match #74: WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins – WWE Cruiserweight Classic 9/14/16 2015 Match #74: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE Money in the Bank 6/14/15
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Post by rkmo: 9 Month Warning on Jan 7, 2021 21:02:06 GMT -5
It's called the Dynamite Diamond Ring, for #75
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 7, 2021 23:28:22 GMT -5
73. Boneyard Match: AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker – WWE WrestleMania 36 Night One
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| There were some people who were originally not happy with the idea of The Undertaker facing AJ Styles in a Boneyard match. It seemed like a goofy gimmick and cinematic wrestling hadn’t been much of a thing yet. WWE was 100% right to go that route, though. The Undertaker hadn’t looked good in the ring in years outside of squashes against John Cena and tag matches where he didn’t have to do much. So, doing this negated that problem. Was it cheesy? Yes. Wasn’t that half the fun? Absolutely. I’d much rather watch a American Badass fight off The Club and have wackiness happen set to music than see him try to work a regular 20 minute match. This was all sorts of goofy and I loved it. The Undertaker pulled out the win in about 19:00 and it was basically everything you could want from this type of match. Honestly, that was a really good way for The Undertaker to go out if he’s indeed actually retired. [****] |
*This is the final appearance for The Undertaker.
2019 Match #73: WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: Daniel Bryan and Rowan [c] vs. Heavy Machinery vs. The New Day – WWE Extreme Rules 2018 Match #73: RevPro British Heavyweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii [c] vs. Minoru Suzuki – NJPW Power Struggle 11/3/18 2017 Match #73: AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon – WWE WrestleMania 33 4/2/17 2016 Match #73: Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 5/27/16 2015 Match #73: Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – ROH Global Wars 5/16/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 8, 2021 10:04:53 GMT -5
72. G1 Climax Briefcase: Kota Ibushi [c] vs. Jay White – NJPW Power Struggle
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| I didn’t like their Wrestle Kingdom meeting this year but their two G1 matches were great. As usual, Jay White brought all of the heel tactics. There’s not a better jerk heel in wrestling right now (obviously, Roman Reigns is the best heel right now but he’s different type of villain). This was interesting from start to finish. It avoided the tropes of overly long heel control segments and babyface comebacks. Instead, this was a back and forth affair that was very well done, with both men playing to their strengths. A lot of Jay’s stuff came off really well here in terms of snap and looking good. My favorite part had to be the finish, though. Other than Yano, we don’t get many flash pins in NJPW and especially not as many dirty ones. Jay used a backslide and an old school bit of putting his feet on the ropes to steal the briefcase in 18:47. A hell of a match that featured some really good back and forth. It marked the first time that the Tokyo Dome title shot briefcase changed hands. [****] |
*This is the last match from Power Struggle.
2019 Match #72: Falls Count Anywhere Match: The Miz vs. Shane McMahon – WWE WrestleMania 2018 Match #72: Super Strong Style 16 Quarterfinals: Kassius Ohno vs. Tyler Bate – PROGRESS Chapter 68 5/6/18 2017 Match #72: Lucha Underground Championship Career vs. Career Match: Prince Puma [c] vs. Pentagon Dark – Lucha Underground Ultima Lucha Tres 10/18/17 2016 Match #72: WWE Cruiserweight Classic Qualifying Match: Drew Gulak vs. Tracy Williams – Evolve 61 5/7/16 2015 Match #72: No Holds Barred: Timothy Thatcher vs. Biff Busick – Evolve 48 8/16/15
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jan 8, 2021 13:59:45 GMT -5
71. NXT Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley [c] vs. Bianca Belair – NXT TakeOver: Portland
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| Rhea Ripley entered 2020 as the hottest thing in wrestling. That’s not hyperbole or anything like that. She was legitimately on fire as NXT Women’s Champion. So, finding her first (and only) contender at a TakeOver event was tough. Surprisingly, it ended up being Bianca Belair. This was an interesting pairing as Ripley has shined as a powerhouse but Belair is possibly pound-for-pound the strongest person on the roster. That made for a very unique battle that was unlike the rest of what we get from the division. The whole thing lasted 13:32 and was kind of filled with action from the start. The biggest issue with this was that it never really felt like Bianca was a threat. She typically didn’t come through in big title matches and there was no way they were going to have Belair drop the championship ahead of her expected WrestleMania cast. Other than a lack of drama, this was tremendous. Ripley retained by hitting Riptide and proving that she remains one of the company’s top females. Belair is also in that category. [****] |
2019 Match #71: Number One Contender's Match: AJ Styles vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe – WWE Smackdown 1/1/19 2018 Match #71: WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Kyle O’Reilly – NXT 6/13/18 2017 Match #71: IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin – NJPW G1 Special in USA 7/1/17 2016 Match #71: NXT Tag Team Championship: American Alpha (c) vs. The Revival – NXT TakeOver: The End 6/8/16 2015 Match #71: Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW New Japan Cup 3/15/15
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