Top Ten of 2015: Lucha Underground Matches

I plan on turning this into a series where I will be reviewing the best matches of the year from each promotion that I watch. WWE (I'll separate NXT), NJPW, ROH and Lucha Underground. For the other companies, I'll do the list at the end of the year or the start of next year, but with Lucha Underground done until 2016, I figured now would be a good time to make this list. So here are my picks for the top ten matches in Lucha Underground in 2015. That's literally the only criteria. Just take place in 2015 in Lucha Underground.

10. Match 5 in Best of Five Series: Aerostar vs. Drago - 4/15/15

There were a lot of people that I really grew to like thanks to Lucha Underground and Drago is one of those people. His style was just so much fun to watch. Here, he was in the midst of a pretty great Best of Five against Aerostar, with the winner getting one of Dario Cueto's "unique opportunities." Side note, I really love Dario Cueto. He stayed out at ringside to watch this, giving it a bit of a big fight feel. He looked so happy to watch these two just go at it for his enjoyment. They played off the previous matches in the series, which was great. Even though a table was brought into play, this was more about respectable competition. When Drago won with a rollup, Aerostar wasn't upset and showed respect post match. ***¾

9. Cero Miedo: Pentagon Jr. vs. Vampiro - Ultima Lucha

Yea, I probably rated this match higher than most people but dammit if I didn't love it. Throughout the entire season, Pentagon Jr. was breaking arms and became one of my favorite people to watch. While I enjoyed the build to his match with Vampiro, I felt like it was kind of a let down as I was never big on Vampiro throughout his career and he looked to be in pretty bad shape on commentary. He proved me wrong by going out and doing everything in his power to have the best, craziest match possible. Normally, I'm not a fan of the light tubes and the flaming tables, but it all worked here given the angle. It wasn't just violence for the sake of violence and it played right into the angle. The post match reveal of Vampiro being Pentagon's master was fantastic and should make for some fascinating television in season two. ***¾

8. Steel Cage Match: Johnny Mundo vs. King Cuerno - 3/11/15

One of the cool things about Lucha Underground was that I don't recall them doing many specialty matches more than once. This was the only steel cage match they did all season and it worked wonderfully. Johnny Mundo was one of the bigger names in LU and King Cuerno made a name for himself with some top notch performances. Their feud was built up as them hating each other and they just brawled instantly at the bell, which was very much appreciated. Cuerno wanted to escape and win but Mundo wanted to stay in and finish him. It played into the finish as Mundo chose to hit a corkscrew moonsault off the top of the cage, rather than escape. The risk paid off as he got the 1-2-3. ***¾

7. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo - Ultima Lucha

Besides Wrestle Kingdom 9, Ultima Lucha was my favorite show of the year. The second night, which was the better show, started with Alberto El Patron taking on Johnny Mundo. Two guys who have been revitalized since leaving the WWE. Mundo threw Alberto through a window earlier in the season and Alberto wanted blood. Mundo played the cowardly act early on, frustrating Alberto. They built towards bigger stuff later on in the match and there was a ref bump. Normally, I'm not into ref bumps, but it wasn't overused in Lucha Underground and it led to a cool moment where Melina made her debut to attack El Patron. This allowed Mundo to win, but keep El Patron rather strong. I figure the AAA Mega Champion couldn't take a clean loss. El Patron did get some revenge by throwing Mundo through a window, leaving Mundo a bloody mess. It was a damn good opener for a damn good show. ***¾

6. Falls Count Anywhere: Cage vs. The Mack - Ultima Lucha

Technically, the actual opener for all of Ultima Lucha was this Falls Count Anywhere match between Cage and the Mack. Throughout the season, Cage was built up as an absolute beast, even taking Prince Puma to the limit at times. The Mack had more of a fun style but their styles worked really well together for this opener. They kept the match short, going less than eight minutes, but it's hard to find a more enjoyable eight minute match. The Falls Count Anywhere stipulation was taken very seriously as they never even entered the ring. They fought through the crowd, into this strange closet like room, used multiple weapons and it was a blast. Mack parodied Stone Cold in a funny moment but things got a bit serious with the finish. Cage curb stomped Mack through a cinder block in what might have been my favorite finish of the year. Just a great, short, fun match. ****

5. Trios Championship: Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc vs. The Crew - 4/22/15

I absolutely loved the Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc group. Early on in the show, I felt that Ivelisse and Son of Havoc were a bit underutilized, but once Angelico entered the picture, things just turned around. Here, they believed that they won the Trios Tournament and became champions, only for Dario Cueto to throw a wrench in their plans and make them face the Crew in a no DQ match. Maybe I overrated this a bit too because of how much I loved the performers but the story told here was great. Ivelisse was really damaged  while Angelico and Son of Havoc were taken out, leaving her alone. Angelico did one of the biggest spots all year, diving from the top of the Temple to take out the Crew. They went on to win the Trios Title, and it felt extremely earned by the end. Just great stuff. ****

4. Aztec Warfare - 1/7/15

The earliest match on the list to take place was one of my favorites. I remember playing Royal Rumble matches in games like No Mercy where they allowed pinfalls and I thought it was cool. Lucha Underground had a giant Royal Rumble style match that allowed for pins as well as a No Disqualification stipulation to determine their first ever champion. It lasted nearly an hour and took up an entire episode of the show. There are very few Royal Rumbles in history that I liked more than this, as this was just so entertaining. Having no over the top rope rules allowed for everyone to get in their fantastic dives and give it a different feel. I appreciate how they made sure to revisit the rivalries that had been established up to that point. Storytelling was such a great aspect of Lucha Underground throughout the season. The final two were Mundo and Puma, which was fitting as they main evented the first ever episode. Puma won with a 630 to become the first ever champion in a fantastic showing. ****¼

3. Lucha Underground Championship: Prince Puma (c) vs. Mil Muertes - Ultima Lucha

The final act of season one of Lucha Underground saw Prince Puma, the first and only champion in history, take on the monster that is Mil Muertes. The booking of both men throughout the season was fantastic. Puma knew that he had to come at Muertes with speed, while Muertes used his power. They involved Catrina in cool fashion outside, with Puma picking her up and using her as a weapon. Speaking of weapons, this match involved a steel chair and a table. Puma's 630 had beaten everyone but when he hit it here, Muertes kicked out. Then Puma kicked out the Flatliner. See how effective a finisher kick out can be when it doesn't happen every week? Puma went for another 630 but Muertes got up and hit a top rope Flatliner to win the gold. This was a fitting end to a fantastic season of television. ****¼

2. Lucha Underground Championship All Night Long: Prince Puma (c) vs. Johnny Mundo - 6/17/15

Here go these two men once again. They faced off on the first episode and were the last two guys in Aztec Warfare. The difference here was that Johnny Mundo had turned heel. I liked his face work in LU, but once he turned heel, he kicked it up a notch. Similar to Aztec Warfare, this match took up an entire episode, hence the All Night Long name. After Puma won the first fall, Mundo won four straight to take a commanding lead. That was only like 15 minutes in, giving it a really fun start for an Ironman match. The second fall that Puma scored came after they took a huge spill through two tables in a major spot. He scored another and Mundo wisely played prevent defense. He ran away, frustrating the fans and Puma. El Patron returned to stop this and it led to Puma tying it up. Puma would win with a 630 in the final seconds to retain. It can tough to do a match like this since they tend to be hit or miss, but this worked masterfully. They played off their history, worked smart, kept things entertaining, set up the future Mundo/Alberto match and allowed Puma to pick up a massive resilient victory. ****¼

1. Grave Consequences: Fenix vs. Mil Muertes - 3/18/15

Of everything I saw in Lucha Underground this year, nothing topped this match. It's on my overall top ten matches of the year and for good reason. This was a casket match and it was the best one I've ever seen. Considering their rivalry and the booking of Mil Muertes, this was expertly done. It boggles my mind that Judias Mesias sucked so hard in TNA, but found magic in the Mil Muertes role. He brutalizes Fenix, who sold like a champ throughout. The violence in this match is top notch. Fenix bleeds a ton and Muertes even rips his mask, adding to how personal this was, while also giving a great visual. I loved that with this match being so heated, neither guy tried to put their opponent in the casket until the finish. They did a great job in using the casket as a weapon at times. Fenix finally put Muertes in the casket to win and even after this, they managed to build Muertes right back up into champion. Do yourself a favor and check this match out. ****½

Random Match Reviews: Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin

Show: Raw
Date: 5/2/05
Location: Boston, Massachusetts

My brother is a massive Shelton Benjamin fan, so I've seen this match multiple times. This though, is my first time seeing it in a few years. For some backstory here, the WWE was holding the Gold Rush Tournament on this night and the matches were a surprise. When then Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin was in the ring, people wondered who his opponent would be. Shawn Michaels' music hit and everything was perfect. Shelton's stunned expression, Jim Ross' commentary and the crowd's reaction was great. It wasn't just "yay it's Shawn Michaels." The reaction was more of "oh my god, it's Shawn Michaels and he's going to wrestle Shelton Benjamin."

There were so many things about this match that I liked. Shawn, being the veteran, gets outworked on the mat and kind of laughs it off. When Shelton continues to do this, Shawn grows frustrated, knowing this isn't a game and Shelton is serious. They do well to make sure that the first half of the match isn't at a breakneck pace, building towards the climax, which is great. Shawn does a kip up, Shelton does one back. Shawn tries a superkick, Shelton blocks it. Shelton tries one, Shawn blocks it, but gets kicked anyway. They managed to have a great back half without overdoing the false near falls or having people kick out of finishers. The Sweet Chin Music and Exploder both get blocked, protecting them until the end where Shawn hits, arguably the best Sweet Chin Music in history. This is one of the best matches in the history of Raw for good reason.

Match Time - 14:52 ****¼

Raw History: Episodes 17-18

Raw History
Episode #17
May 17th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Commentary hypes up tonight as a huge show, featuring Tatanka, an interview with Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon and a match between Yokozuna and Kamala. Footage airs of the brawl between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect outside of the Manhattan Center last week.

The Smoking Guns vs. Glenn Ruth and Tony Vajda
This is the Raw debut of the Smoking Guns, who would go on to become a rather successful tag team. They come out shooting cap guns which is pretty lame actually. Bart and Billy both get in some offense on the jobbers. They do the WWE video game generic double team move, which is a drop toe hold into an elbow drop. I literally chuckled at the sight of it in real life. The Guns win with an interesting finisher as Billy back body drops a jobber into Bart, who catches him with a piledriver. It’s a nice idea in theory, but it came off very awkward.

Winners: The Smoking Guns in 3:41
A bit longer than I expected, but a good showcase for a new team. With them and the Steiners, the tag division seems to be heating up. SQUASH

Vince McMahon is in the ring for a special interview with the WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Our now weekly “Shawn is Gay” chants ring out. Shawn calls himself a man of his word because he said he would be champion and he is. He said he would walk out of the Lumberjack match as Champion and he did. He badmouths Mr. Perfect as well before talking about how he fears no man. Suddenly, a man in a hoodie comes over the guardrail and gets into the ring. Shawn tells the “fan” to sit back down, but it’s revealed that the “fan’ is Marty Jannetty! I don’t think he’s been around since losing to Shawn at the Royal Rumble. It’s crazy that Shawn put him through the Barber Shop window all the way back in 1991. Marty challenges Shawn to prove he’s a man of his word and defend the title against him tonight.

The Kid vs. Razor Ramon
Two weeks ago, he was the Kamikaze Kid and last week he was the Cannonball Kid. Sean Waltman goes with the Kid only this week even though his ass says L. Kid. Even though he’s a heel, there are “Razor” chants because he was so damn cool. Razor, being so much bigger, just manhandles the Kid. He hits a chop that is louder than the cap guns we heard earlier. Razor nails a fallaway slam, and his was probably the best ever though JBL gives him a run for his money. He misses a move in the corner, Kid climbs and nails a moonsault, scoring the three!

Winner: The Kid in 2:10
Here we have one of the most iconic and historic moments in Raw history. The crowd is stunned because, as we’ve seen in these reviews, the jobbers never win. This would be the launching pad for Waltman and showed everyone that anything could truly happen in the WWF. **¼

Scott Taylor vs. Tatanka
Scott Taylor mocks Tatanka at the start, which just leads to him getting back body dropped. The crowd starts doing the Tomahawk Chop again. Bobby Heenan starts giving us useless facts about toilet paper. Tatanka is just dominating this thing. Heenan is still complaining about the Kid winning, making up stories about him using a double backflip in the air. Vince calls him the 1-2-3 Kid and Heenan complains it will catch on. You think? Tatanka wins with the Samoan Drop.

Winner: Tatanka in 3:41
I’ve grown very tired of Tatanka. He’s been on nearly every Raw and has the same match most of the time. SQUASH

Mean Gene takes us to the King of the Ring Report. He informs us of the brackets so far as Bret Hart faces Razor Ramon, Tatanka meets Lex Luger and Bigelow takes on Jim Duggan. On Superstars this week, Shawn Michaels meets Crush in a non-title qualifying bout while Kamala faces Mr. Hughes. No word on what happened in the second Doink/Mr. Perfect qualifier. Way to be consistent Gene!

Kamala vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji
Both men literally just stare across the ring at each other for the first minute or so. They charge at each other and neither budges, but the second time, Yokozuna stumbles. Kamala chops away but Yokozuna doesn’t go down. That’s basically the entire story here as Kamala just keeps trying to take him down. Mr. Fuji grabs Kamala’s foot, allowing Yokozuna to do this thing. A Banzai Drop later and this is over.

Winner: Yokozuna in 3:39
Well, it wasn’t a squash which was different. I appreciated the story of Kamala trying everything to get him down, but it was still rather boring. *½

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty
So, Shawn Michaels is now defending his Intercontinental Title for the third straight episode of Raw. Bobby Heenan calls Jannetty just another ham and egger. I love that term. After Shawn starts a bit hot, Marty rallies and knocks him outside, following with a baseball slide. He skins the cat back inside before diving out onto him. The crowd is red hot. Marty brings Shawn back in and ducks a superkick before snapping off an arm drag and head scissors for two. This is fast paced, which the crowd needs after the previous bout. Shawn gets out of the head scissors but misses his next shot and takes his signature bump in the corner, sending him outside. Shawn is done with this as he grabs the belt and leaves. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Perfect blocks his exit. After a commercial, Marty tries another head scissors but eats the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot. With that, Shawn starts to wear down Marty, which makes sense since he’s been a ball of fire throughout this. Marty catches a dropkick attempt and slingshots Shawn into the corner. He also hits a pretty powerslam for two and they have the crowd in the palm of their hands. Marty fakes out Shawn and hits a cross body for two. They both get near falls, with Shawn having a handful of tights. He hits the Superkick but smack talks Mr. Perfect instead of pinning. A small package earns Marty the shocking win!

Winner and New WWF Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty in 8:55
Hot damn, this was a fun main event. It was fast paced and played off of the fact that they knew each other very well. The title change made for one of, if not the best ending to a Raw so far. ***½

Overall: 8/10; Great. While the actual wrestling, apart from the main event, wasn’t splendid, this was a very important Raw. First, we get a showcase for the hot new tag team before we see a total shocker in the Kid beating Razor Ramon. Marty Jannetty returning was a nice surprise and the main event more than delivered. This is what Raw is all about. The shock value of anything can happen on a live show.

Raw History: The $2500 Challenge
Episode 18
May 24th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

I don’t know about everyone else, but Raw feels much more important when it’s in the Manhattan Center. Whenever I see an early episode from another venue, it ends up being a throwaway show. Before our opener, Lord Alfred Hayes is outside of the Manhattan Center with Doink, even though he just walked to the ring. TOO MANY DOINKS!

King of the Ring Qualifying Match
Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect
So these two have tried to qualify twice and both ended in draws. Doink attacks at the bell, choking Mr. Perfect with his own towel. Perfect retaliates though and works over the leg, wrapping it around the ring post. Doink knocks Perfect outside with a stiff forearm while still selling the leg work. He takes Mr. Perfect down with a fireman’s carry, only to be put in a head scissors. The straps are down on Mr. Perfect and Doink’s paint is nearly halfway gone but they continues to mat wrestle. Mr. Perfect applies a modified figure four that looks like it hurts a ton. After he gets out, Doink rakes Mr. Perfect’s face across the top rope and we spill outside. Doink has been working the shoulder, which is a great contract to Mr. Perfect’s offense. Doink uses one of my personal favorites, which is a body slam onto the arm that you’ve spent the match working. After a commercial, both guys are just slapping each other until Mr. Perfect nails a clothesline and takes him out. A second Doink comes out and rolls under the ring before switching places with regular Doink. Doink #2 is obviously well rested, but it’s clear that his paint isn’t messed up at all. It doesn’t matter though as he falls victim to the Perfect Plex.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 11:41
This was given a lot of time, had a clean finish and was a damn fine wrestling match. Both guys can work and they focused on an opposing body part, leading to a well thought out contest.***½ 

Bobby Heenan, who the entire match has been saying that it was only one Doink and the others were an illusion, now exclaims that Mr. Perfect beat the wrong Doink. The two Doinks attack until Crush makes the save brudda.

During this week’s King of the Ring Report, we get our first Hulk Hogan appearance since winning the WWF Title. With Mr. Perfect qualifying just now, he will face Mr. Hughes in the first round of the Tournament. Hogan’s promo is about how great it is to be on Raw. Technically, he’s not on Raw. His muscle definition is significantly down. He talks about the five commandments or amendments of Hulkamania. Seriously, it was hard to hear what he said.

Non-Title Match
WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. vs. Mike Bell and Tony DeVito
I have no clue why Money Inc. is still the Tag Team Champions. If there was any title that should have changed hands last week on Raw, it was the tag belts. Before the match, Ted Dibiase gets a fan to shine their shoes for $100. The kid does it but only gets $30 because the tax man comes for him. I’ll admit, I chuckled a bit. We are told that instead of Money Inc. defending their belts and losing them at King of the Ring, they will be in an eight man tag teaming with the Headshrinkers against the Smoking Guns and the Steiner Brothers. This was your basic extended squash.

Winners: Money Inc. in 3:59
Total squash that took way too long. SQUASH

Crush vs. Jobber
Seriously, I don’t know if I missed it or what but I didn’t get this ham and egger’s name. We are told that Crush and Shawn Michaels had a qualifying match over the weekend, but they fought to a double countout. They don’t get a million rematches like Doink and Mr. Perfect? Oh, it’s Bobby Hill or something like that. Crush dominates, but it’s boring as he even does a bearhug. YOU’RE NOT A HEEL DUDE! Crush uses the Kona Clutch to win.

Winner: Crush in 3:26
Another squash that was dull. SQUASH

Vince McMahon is in the ring to conduct an interview with Razor Ramon. Razor personally requested this time but looks pretty funny in sweatpants. His fake Spanish is hilarious. “McMang” and “Silencio” are delivered in a terrible way. Razor offers the “little cockroach” the 1-2-3 Kid $2500 to step into the ring with him again. When they bring up the King of the Ring, his first round opponent, Bret Hart comes out. He starts a “1-2-3” chant. Bret basically just says it’s going to be “1-2-3” when they wrestle at King of the Ring.

Adam Bomb w/ Johnny Polo vs. Phil Apollo
Even though he appeared on Superstars recently, this is the Raw debut of Adam Bomb. Yea, we saw Kronik in the last two matches. I’ve always been a big fan of Adam Bomb. He does a rather impressive dropkick and back suplex. A top rope clothesline is impressive here before he wins with a powerbomb.

Winner: Adam Bomb in 2:34
Another squash, but at least this one was to hype a new star. SQUASH

It’s so strange to see Raven dressed as Johnny Polo. A short interview is conducted with Bam Bam Bigelow as he faces Marty Jannetty for the Intercontinental Title next week. He’ll have Luna Vachon in his corner and Marty will have Sherri. Hey look! It’s continuity.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. This started off so well. Mr. Perfect and Doink had one of the better matches on Raw this year, right up there with Marty/Shawn, Bret/Fatu and Perfect/Flair. The rest of the show was just squashes and, while they make sense sometimes, can be a chore to watch.

Buffalo Raw Review

With the United States Title back in his grasp, John Cena brought back the Open Challenge. It is answered by the sound of John Cena's theme being played on a trombone! New Day came out to save us from another dreary Cena promo and were fantastic. Xavier Woods was the one to accept the challenge, which I loved since he tends to get the least amount of shine, despite being very good. New Day ran in to cause the DQ, bringing out the Dudley Boyz. This led to the Teddy Long Special, as we got a six man tag. New Day would win the fun six man tag, building up their title defense for MSG, while allowing the show to get off to a different start. I appreciated all of this as, while it wasn't great, it was all fine and enjoyable.

Backstage, we have the Authority and a rep from HR who is going to review Kane after an anonymous complaint. It's clear that it was Seth Rollins who complained. Kane was hilarious as the happy go lucky Director of Operations. Raw was off to a pretty fun start but then, right as I was thinking about it, we got Big Show vs. Mark Henry. Yuck. Show won in short fashion to try and hype his MSG match with Brock Lesnar. Moving on, MizTV was next, with Charlotte and Becky Lynch as the guests. This was a mess last time, but went a bit better here. Becky was the star, delivering some pretty good lines, though Charlotte seemed to struggle. Team Bella came out to ramble about nonsense before Paige showed up. She took credit for the fame of the NXT women and delivered some zingers to everyone, especially the Bellas. Teddy Long must be running things backstage as we get a six person tag match playa. Paige teaming with Charlotte and Becky was so dumb here. JBL quickly pulled the "all women are catty and hate each other" mantra to try and cover up for the pointless decisions the Divas make. They did a miscommunication thing that caused Paige to leave. Did the booking team forget that the team already split? She should have gotten the the hot tag, kicked ass and then left because she doesn't need this and proved her point. Natalya tried to take her place, but Paige attacked her and the Bellas won. Also, Charlotte at the pin because "fuck strong champions" right?

Time for the big hype video to promote Big Show against Brock Lesnar for this Saturday. Who gives a fuck? There is a backstage segment with Seth, Kane and HR Ashley that's kind of just there. Going to a tag match, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman defeated the Prime Time Players. Yes, those guys that were JUST Tag Team Champions, are back to losing. Where are Los Matadores? Next, Stardust was set to face Neville for about the 100th time. They worked for a few minutes until Bad News Barrett returned. He laid out both men and told everyone to hail the returning king. There were zero fucks given because none of these three men are booked competently.

Ashley from HR is out to give Kane his evaluation. Yup, in under two hours she's done. Seth shows up to show a video of Kane being evil, so Kane shows one of Seth being a dick. Ashley decides that Kane is fit for the job but Seth could use an evaluation. Seth attacks Kane and takes out his leg with a chair. Kane has to be taken out in an ambulance and Seth gets to look good. Then Kane returns as the "Demon" and proceeds to kick Seth's ass. Kane could still look like a viable challenger without making Seth look like a total joke. Whatever. Randy Orton then beat Bo Dallas in under two minutes. That was fine as nobody was harmed by a loss and Orton got a free win.

The great Tong Po (Rusev) was set for a match against the great Kevin Owens next. I was worried because if one guy turned face down the line, this could be a damn good PPV match. Instead, they wisely threw the match out as both guys attacked Ryback at ringside. This led to Dolph Ziggler showing up to make the save. This was fine as I guess we're going towards a four way for the IC Title. That's okay. Paul Heyman was out for the next segment, to hype Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar. He tried, but it wasn't on the level of the normal Heyman stuff. He can build a match but it's the Big Show and he's no miracle worker.

Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns was the main event. Commentary reminds us that the feud has been going for five months though it seems like it has been about a year. They went through the motions until we got a double countout. Only then did things get interesting as they had a big brawl through the crowd and Reigns speared Bray through the announce table. This is all obviously going to lead to a Hell in a Cell type match between some combination of them. Fine ending but the match wasn't good. Raw started well with the New Day, but as usual, it went way downhill after. There was a sever lack of Sasha Banks and Cesaro as well, which wasn't good. The booking continues to be nonsensical at times and the in-ring work isn't helping the cause. Just another poor episode of Raw. 3/10.

Fave Five 9/21/15-9/27/15

1) Shinsuke Nakamura: The biggest news coming out of the two Destruction shows this week was that Shinsuke Nakamura is once against the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. He's become synonymous with that belt and is the main reason that it has been elevated to the level that it has. Earlier this year, he lost it to Hirooki Goto before also losing the rematch at Dominion in July. During the G1 Climax however, he defeated Goto, earning him another shot. Nakamura was able to hit a big time Boma Ye and entered his fifth reign with the belt. You have to figure that he will carry it into WK10 and co-headline alongside the Tanahashi/Okada main event against a big name. I'm hoping for Styles/Nakamura in the Tokyo Dome.

2) reDRagon: I firmly believe that the best tag team in professional wrestling is none other than reDRagon. reDRagon went 2-0 during the NJPW Destruction shows. On Destruction in Okayama, they defeated Mascara Dorada and Jushin Thunder Liger in what was a bit of a warmup match. It was a decent match but was just setting them up for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title defense in Kobe. They faced the Time Splitters. I went in expecting the Time Splitters to win considering KUSHIDA had just dropped the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title in Okayama, but reDRagon retained in a really fun match. It wasn't on the level of their best work (Power Struggle last year), but it was still good and capped a strong week for Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish in Japan.

3) Togi Makabe: The first Destruction show this week was the one in Okayama. The main event of the show was for the NEVER Openweight Championship, held by Togi Makabe. I badly wanted Kota Ibushi to win the title here but it was not to be. Despite this, they delivered a strong main event and showed that they deserved a headlining spot. The match was hard hitting and damn good, with Makabe having to alter his finisher slightly to win since Kota had him well scouted. I've gone on record in saying that I'm not the biggest fan of Togi. Maybe it's because I'm only just now brancing out and watching his past stuff, but in 2015, I haven't been wowed. This was my favorite match I've ever seen of his. Makabe's team may have lost at Destruction in Kobe, but his main event win was enough to crack the top three.

                              4) Ethan Carter III: The one thing about TNA or Impact Wrestling that I still really love is Ethan Carter III. He has been the single best thing about the company in 2015 and even further back than that. This week, he defeated Rokstar Spud to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. These two had a classic earlier this year in a Hair vs. Hair match, in a star making match for Rockstar, only for TNA to fumble that opportunity. Their rematch this week wasn't on that level, but was still a solid match. EC3 has been having one of the best years in all of wrestling but it often goes overlooked, by myself included, because of the company he works for.

5) Matt Sydal: This may come as a surprising pick for number five this week. With Kenny Omega winning the Jr. Heavyweight Title, Hiroshi Tanahashi picking up a big win over Bad Luck Fale, the Bullet Club retaining their belts and a big win for Tetsuya Naito all this week, this was a tough choice. In the end, I went with Matt Sydal. Sydal made his New Japan debut at the Destruction shows. First, in Okayama, he teamed with Tanahashi in a fun win over Fale and Tama Tonga. That in itself is a pretty nice rub for your debut. He was featured in the Jr. Heavyweight Title match later on and challenged by Kenny Omega to be the next challenger. Then, in Kobe, Sydal pinned Omega in a six man tag and is next in line to challenge for the belt.

NJPW Destruction in Kobe Review

Destruction in Kobe
September 27th, 2015 | Kobe World Memorial Hall | Attendance: 6,120

Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu def. Jay White and David Finlay in 5:01
The Young Lions opened the show here and got less time than I expected. As noted during my review of the last Destruction show, I haven't seen much of these guys. This was a fun little match here, but they didn't get enough time for it to develop into something really good. From what I've seen, I've been impressed by both White and Finlay, even though they were on the losing end here. This served it's purpose and was a solid way to kick things off. **1/2

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Yuji Nagata def. Captain New Japan, Juice Robinson and Manabu Nakanishi in 8:44
So this was the big event debut for Juice Robinson. He has worked the Road to Destruction tour, though those were basically house shows. For those unaware, Juice is the former CJ Parker from NXT. I liked this match. Juice got his most ring time since he started in New Japan and looked very amped up. He was animated in everything he did, trying to get the crowd behind him. There was a pretty funny running gag where Nakanishi would get kicked off the apron and each time he fell, it looked like I was watching a replay because he sold it the same way each time. In the end, Nagata hit a backdrop on Robinson for the win. Enjoyable match here. **1/2

Chaos (Baretta, Rocky Romero, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi) def. Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in 7:48
I wish this got just a bit more time. It was a typical New Japan multi-man tag but that isn't a bad thing. Those can be fun for sure and that's what I feel like this was. I enjoy at least five of the eight performers here. Baretta and Romero got a fair amount of shine in this one, which surprised me, but became clearer later in the night. It was similar to the multi-man tag most of these guys ran on Okayama, but I preferred that one. They continued to hype the eventual Ishii/Makabe NEVER Title match, but I'm not interested in that again so I think that took away from some of this. Roppongi Vice got the win for their team with Strong Zero. ***

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Matt Sydal and Satoshi Kojima def. The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Kenny Omega) in 10:52
Another multi-man tag, another fun outing but another match that I wouldn't consider great. Still, that isn't really the point of these. It continue on the Bullet Club/Kojima and Tenzan match from Okayama, while hyping the upcoming Omega/Sydal match. Sydal's first two performances in New Japan were both relatively good. He got the rub of teaming with Tanahashi in a fun match in Okayama before getting a good showing here. Karl Anderson was a highlight here, overselling the hell out of Kojima's chops in a fun way. Sydal pinned Omega after the Shooting Star Press, giving him a win over the Jr. Heavyweight Champion. It was a good match and cappe a strong first week in NJPW for Sydal. ***

Tetsuya Naito def. Katsuyori Shibata in 11:49
This is the match I was most excited to see coming into this show. The video package they playe beforehand, highlighting Naito's transformation was great. Naito came out in a new mask, which was magnificent. These two became two of my favorites during the G1 and i loved their match during that tournament. here, I feel like despite being really good, I was a bit let down. I wanted this to be better than their G1 match but it wasn't. That s not to say that it was bad by any means. Their styles clash in the best possible way. Shibata kicked Naito's ass and Naito pulled out his best Toru Yano to win. He delivered a low blow behind the official's back and then hit another, before nailing Destino to win. I expected the result and they put on another really solid match. Naito attacked cameramen after the match, until Shibata caught up to him and they brawled to the back. I thought that meant the feud would continue but later events tell me different. They are capable of more. ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada, Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano def. AJ Styles, Cody Hall and Tama Tonga in 12:18
Coming out of intermission, we got a preview of an upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Again, this was similar to the match we saw in Okayama when Yano and Okada defeated Styles and Hall. Adding Tonga was good, since he's better than Hall and while Sakuraba is good, he didn't get to do much here. Yano took a fair amount of the punishment and Okada got the bulk of the offense. His exchanges with Styles were, as usual, breathtaking at times. Sakuraba won by making Tonga tap out in another fun bout. ***

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: reDRagon (c) def. The Time Splitters in 16:17
These are two of my favorite tag teams on the planet and I wanted them to deliver here. I saw their first match during the G1 Finals last year and it was good but they had an excellent one at Power Struggle. I'd say this was about in the middle of those matches. I think the fact that I truly thought the Time Splitters would win made me bite really hard on some near falls. The chemistry these two teams have is pretty great and they worked in some really fun double team moves. reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon to retain and I'm glad they went with this decision because the revolving door of Jr. Tag Champions is pretty annoying. After the match, Roppongi Vice came out and attacked reDRagon, setting themselves up as the next contenders. Great match and effort from both teams. ****

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Bad Luck Fale in 16:37
I've seen the matches these two have had in the G1 the past two years, both won by Bad Luck Fale. They are up there with the best Fale matches I've ever seen. What I liked most about those was that they were kept under 15 minutes. This went a bit over that and it hurt some of the match to me. The early stages ran a bit dull for me, but the final few minutes were damn good. The Bad Luck Fall is a heavily protected finish and the fans bought into the possibility of it ending things twice here. Tanahashi was able to avoid it though and win with the High Fly Flow. I thought this was better than I expected. After the match, Tanahashi called out Naito, who nonchalantly answered. I guess that is the next program for them, as Naito did pin Tanahashi during the G1. ***1/4

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Hirooki Goto (c) in 22:56
This would be the fourth match this year between these two. I didn't catch the first, but enjoyed their match at Dominion and the one during the G1 Climax. I have to say, this one was my favorite. They played off of their past encounters very well, but upped the ante. At one point, Goto hit a top rope Ushigorshi I believe it's called, but it was fantastic. From there, there were multiple false finishes and near falls. Both guys worked armbars, which is how Nakamura beat Goto in the G1 and it made sense for Goto to use due to Nakamura's recently injured arm. In the end, a Boma Ye, not the first of the match, was enough to earn Nakamura his fifth Intercontinental Title. Fantastic stuff. After the match, Karl Anderson came out to face off with Nakamura, setting up the next IC Title match. ****1/4

Overall: 7.5/10. I liked this show more than I thought I would. Coming in, the card seemed lackluster, but they delivered. Like the Okayama show, nothing was bad and everything entertained. 

NJPW Destruction in Kobe Predictions

I've never done any predictions for any non WWE show but I felt like this would be a cool time to try it. With me getting more and more into New Japan, I'm going to try some predictions for their big show tomorrow. I'm only going to be doing the four major matches though as the rest of the card is full of multi-man tag matches that work as previews for other future matches and such.

At the G1 Climax finals, reDRagon captured the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships from the Young Bucks. That was just over a month ago and this is, I believe, their first title defense. Normally, I would say that means they were a lock to retain here but the Jr. Tag Team Titles change hands incredibly often. This year alone they've gone from reDRagon to the Young Bucks to Roppongi Vice back to the Bucks and back to reDRagon. With KUSHIDA dropping the singles Jr. Heavyweight Title at Destruction in Okayama, I can see the Time Splitters walking away with the belts here and that's what I'm picking.

Winners: The Time Splitters

Of the entire card, this is the match that I want to see the most. During the G1 Climax, I became a huge fan of both Katsuyori Shibata and Tetsuya Naito. Their match early on in the tournament was one of my favorites and the build to this has been fun. Shibata with his "fuck you" attitude and Naito's attitude of "I don't give a shit" makes for a great contrast. The brawls they've had have been good and I see this stealing the show. As much as I like Shibata, I sense Naito winning here. First, Shibata won their G1 match and seond, Naito is one of two men that beat Hiroshi Tanahashi during the G1 so he wins here before going on to face Tanahashi for the Tokyo Dome title shot.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito

Speaking of Hiroshi Tanahashi and defending his Wrestle Kingdom 10 title shot, he'll be doing it here. Besides Tetsuya Naito, the other person to defeat him in the G1 was Bad Luck Fale. In fact, going back to the G1 24 in 2014, Fale also beat Tanahashi in that tournament. It would seem that he kind of has Tanahashi's number. That is one of the main reasons I can't see Fale winning. He's not going to beat Tanahashi again. Not only that but there is no way Fale gets the biggest title shot of the year. Expect a solid match as Tanahashi seems to get the best out of Fale, and a win for the ace of New Japan.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi

The main event of this show will be an Intercontinental Title match as Hirooki Goto defends the strap against Shinsuke Nakamura. There is obvious history here as Goto won the belt from Nakamura earlier this year. Goto then defeated Nakamura in the rematch at Dominion in July. Nakamura got one of those wins back during the G1 Climax, earning him this championship match. Honestly, Goto isn't going to go 3-1 against Nakamura this year is he? The IC Title and Nakamura have become synonymous, so I say he wins it back here, building to a big defense in the Tokyo Dome. Maybe against AJ Styles?

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Fave Five 9/14/15-9/20/15

1) Jay Lethal: I bring you this a bit late again due to the busy week of wrestling. It was an interesting week where two companies had a guy with two titles defend them both in one night. Jay Lethal did so with the ROH World and ROH Television Championships at All-Star Extravaganza. He successfully opened the show by defending the Television Title against Bobby Fish. Lethal has made half of the TV Title defense in the entire existence of the belt, which is sick. He then defeated Fish's partner, Kyle O'Reilly, with the World Title on the line in the main event. Both matches were good showings, and despite him retaining through cheap terms (a handful of tights on Fish and interference against O'Reilly), Lethal proved once again that he is the man in ROH.

2) Seth Rollins: The other champion to make two defenses in one night during this week was Seth Rollins.I'd say his performance was better than Jay Lethal's, as he had to wrestle back to back matches, but he did lose one belt. First, he faced John Cena in a good match. It was a notch below their SummerSlam outing and Cena won back the US Title. Now before anyone complains that Cena isn't my list, I preferred the matches of some other people on my list and chose to recognize people capturing their first taste of certain titles. Anyway, back to Seth, he then faced Sting and had a good match with him too. I mean, if you would have told me five years ago that Tyler Black would be headlining a PPV by facing Cena and Sting in one night, I'd have slapped you. The fact that he did so while putting on a great performance and beating Sting, is enough to put him on this list. 2015 continues to be the year of Seth Rollins.

3) Kevin Owens: Two months ago at the Battleground PPV, Kevin Owens should have won the US Title. I stand by that. At Night of Champions though, the WWE righted that wrong somewhat by having Owens defeat Ryback for the Intercontinental Title. I'm not one of those people who was very against Ryback being champion and I think if he didn't get hurt or have to feud with Big Show, he could have had a good reign. Still, Owens being champion could get us back to a place where the IC Title matches were the best on the card. My biggest wish for this is that Owens gets a rather dominant run with the strap and it leads to a match against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. It would not only be a great match but would give an IC Title match a great storyline.

4) AJ Styles: During Ring of Honor's All-Star Extravaganza Pay-Per-View, there was a Four Corner Survival match to determine the next number one contender for the ROH World Title. Adam Cole, AJ Styles, Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong competed. While I don't believe the match was on a Match of the Year level, it was still my favorite of not only the ASE even itself, but the entire weekend, including Night of Champions.After a good back and forth match, Styles won after hitting Cole with the Styles Clash. This now sets up Styles as a future challenger for Jay Lethal, which should be interesting. The Bullet Club are heels, but get treated like faces in ROH. It's interesting that Styles has never held the ROH Title, but I see him losing to Lethal and putting him over down the line.

5) Charlotte: I was pretty torn on who would get this spot, between Charlotte and the Kingdom. The Kingdom has grown on me and they did capture the ROH World Tag Team Titles at All-Star Extravaganza, but I chose to go with the new Divas Champion, Charlotte. Charlotte was unable to end Nikki Bella's title reign before she broke the record to become longest champion, but in her rematch at Night of Champions, she managed to win the belt. She won a solid match against Nikki Bella to become champion for the first time. It's a pretty worth accomplishment to make the list this week.