G1 Climax 24 Day Nine Review

G1 Climax 24 Day Nine
August 4th, 2014 | Aichi, Japan

I honestly don’t even know what more to say about this tournament that I haven’t said yet. It’s been phenomenal. Tonight, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano have the night off. It works out for Ishii, who injured his shoulder the previous night.

Block A
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (6) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
The fight spills outside pretty quickly. We get the guardrail spot but Smith chokes him with some wires, adding a nice twist to it. Smith wisely goes to wear down Honma and take the crowd out of it but they are, as always, way too into Honma for that to be effective. Honma sends Smith outside and does his headbutt to a standing Smith out there. He hits the headbutt inside, but Smith comes back with his dad’s stalling vertical for two. Honma rallies but adds to his streak of missed Hokeshis. One day he’ll nail it in a G1 match. His near fall on a rollup is COMPLETELY bought into by the fans. Smith ends his hopes with a sitout powerbomb.

Winner: Davey Boy Smith Jr. (8) in 8:53
Solid opening contest. Not on the level of Smith/Ishii, but still good. The crowd is always hot for Honma, which helped. This was fun but didn’t wow me. Honma has been a joy to watch during this thing and Smith doesn’t seem to have any bad matches. ***

Block B
Lance Archer (6) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (4)
Both guys haven’t had the best win/loss record but at least Archer has impressed and has the great match with Styles. Takahashi has been the worst performer in the tournament so far. Takahashi must have seen the AJ match as he goes right after the leg. It doesn’t work as well as Archer just tosses him. Takahashi does manage to get in control with leg work, it just isn’t as well executed as it was the night before. Archer rallies and nearly hits his finish, but Takahashi slips out. He shoves the official and nails two low blows, followed by a small package for the two points.

Winner: Yujiro Takahashi (6) in 9:00
This was pretty much just there. It was two guys that I don’t love seeing and it played out that way. I appreciate the leg work from Takahashi since it would make sense given what happened the night before by Takahashi’s Bullet Club stablemate, but it wasn’t as interesting. **½

Block A
Doc Gallows (4) vs. Yuji Nagata (8)
Yuji Nagata having the Pirates of the Caribbean theme is still tremendous. An early test of strength gives Gallows an advantage until Nagata just suplexes him over. Gallows turns the tide inside, clubbing away on Yuji. Gallows steals Yuji’s taunt, which the crowd reacts to as if he fucked Yuji’s mom or something. Nagata attacks the leg to rally, but it’s different from what AJ and Takahashi did in recent matches. This was more out of desperation than as a strategy. Nagata nails a nice German for two and then Gallows hits the Gallows Pole from out of nowhere, getting the three.

Winner: Doc Gallows (6) in 7:53
Similar to the last match, this wasn’t anything special, but I liked it more. Doc Gallows has been down there with the lesser performers but this was solid. **¾

Block B
Togi Makabe (6) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8)
They start hot, just charging at each other with stiff shots. The fight spills outside and guess what? We get a countout tease spot. Someone has to lose quickly by countout for anyone to buy into these. Back inside, Makabe works over Tenzan with some of his rather stiff offense. Tenzan rallies, leading to a top rope headbutt for two. He applies the Anaconda Vice but Makabe breaks free. They exchange blows in the middle of the ring, with Tenzan taking him down with Mongolian chops. Makabe turns it around, hits a powerbomb and the King Kong Knee Drop that finishes things.

Winner: Togi Makabe (8) in 8:22
Solid match here but nothing special. I enjoyed their hard hitting exchanges but outside of that, I didn’t find much to it. **½

Block B
Minoru Suzuki (8) vs. Tetsuya Naito (8)
It begins in clean fashion, with Suzuki even giving a clean break. Then Taka Michinoku grabs Naito’s leg at ringside and Suzuki takes over. Suzuki is great as the dick heel, just choking Naito with his towel and kicking his ass outside. No countout tease here as Minoru rolls him inside. Naito no sells some vicious kicks to start a comeback. His offense is pretty fun but something just doesn’t click sometimes for me. Suzuki catches his corner dropkick and wraps it into a high angel half crab. The leg becomes Minoru’s focus. He works it so well. Naito tries to rally and goes up top, but Suzuki pulls him down in a masterfully executed armbar. Naito uses his quickness to get a rollup, but Suzuki kicks out into a sleeper. Naito breaks free and goes up for the Stardust Press, but it again proves to be too big a risk for him. Naito tries another rollup but gets caught in fantastic fashion with a headbutt and saka otoshi. Naito has to submit.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (10) in 12:16
Best match of the night so far. Naito’s fast paced offense proved to be a great contrast with Suzuki’s style. The leg work was viciously done and Suzuki continues to impress. ***¾

Block A
Bad Luck Fale (8) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (10)
The Under Boss attacks before the bell and just pounds away on Shibata. By the way, thanks to wins over Nakamura and Tanahashi, Shibata leads the entire Block A at this point. He begins to trade forearms with Fale, which proves to be tough given his size disadvantage. Fale looks for the Bad Luck Fall but Shibata counters and starts to pummel the big man in the corner. He then kicks Fale over and to the outside. Fale pulls Shibata outside and levels him. He gets in and when Shibata tries to beat the count, Fale clotheslines back down, resulting in our first countout finish.

Winner via countout: Bad Luck Fale (10) in 7:14
Well that certainly was something. We got the countout finish that I knew was coming, I just didn’t think it would be in this match. I expected it to come for Yano or Gallows or someone who didn’t get many clean pinfall wins. The match itself was decent but they would have a better one in the G1 a year later. **½

Block A
Satoshi Kojima (8) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (10)
Some back and forth chain grappling kicks this match off. It moves outside and the crowd actually bites on the countout tease, most likely due to the previous match. Kojima is in control until Nakamura turns the tide and does whatever the fuck he does in the corner. That foot choke like move where he violently shakes. Kojima hits a cutter and Nakamura hits a lung blower but neither is enough. Nakamura hits a Boma Ye for two and misses a second attempt. Kojima wallops him with a big lariat and both men are down. Kojima nails a Brainbuster but again only gets two. He turns Nakamura inside on a lariat for a near fall. Frustrated, he goes into a series of strikes but unfortunately runs into a huge running knee by Nakamura that finishes things.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (12) in 12:51
Really good match between two really good wrestlers. It was stiff and there were some really good near falls in there. Both guys delivered in a match that could be argued as the best of the show so far. ***¾

Block B
AJ Styles (10) vs. Karl Anderson (6)
The Bullet Club buddies go to start and Anderson lays down for AJ, but chooses to roll him up for a quick two. Their reactions after are absolutely priceless. AJ tries a rollup as well before they get into the actual wrestling. Some of the stuff they do is pretty funny, which is welcome on a show with no Toru Yano. In a great spot that I haven’t seen yet, AJ suplexes Anderson into the guardrail outside. Inside, AJ stays in control with a dropkick and the Indian deathlock. Anderson comes back with a spinebuster and loudly calls for a BRAINBUSTER but AJ blocks it. You probably shouldn’t call for it like that then Karl. He does get two on a leaping neckbreaker. He only yelled “AJ” on that one. AJ came back with his backflip reverse DDT for another near fall. They fight up top, where Anderson nails a massive second rope Gun Stun but can’t put down the champ. They trade blows in the middle of the ring, which AJ wins with a Pele. Anderson is quickly up and tries the Gun Stu but that gets blocked and they do a double clothesline like this is the 80’s or something. When they get up, Anderson tries a powerbomb but it is nearly countered into a Styles Clash. Anderson was ready for it and blocks it, but ends up in the Calf Cutter. He tries to elbow out of it, but AJ yanks harder, so he has to go to the ropes. Anderson hits a Rikishi Driver like sitout piledriver for two. He goes for the Gun Stun but AJ shoves him off and connects on Bloody Sunday. The Styles Clash hits for the 1-2-3.

Winner: AJ Styles (12) in 14:33
There goes another great AJ Styles match that felt different than any of his other matches in the tournament so far. They started with some fun stuff but the match progressed into a really good back and forth encounter between friends trying to prove who is better. Overall, that made it a very enjoyable contest. ****

The two Bullet Club members embrace after the match and Karl Anderson, holding an ice pack to his neck, allows AJ to celebrate alone.

Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (10) vs. Shelton X Benjamin (8)
After starting 4-0, Shelton X Benjamin is 0-4. They go through a feeling out process early, with neither man gaining a clear advantage. As they spill outside, Shelton press slams Tanahashi onto the guardrail and looks for the countout win. Inside, Shelton applies an abdominal stretch and mocks Tanahashi’s air guitar stuff on his ribcage, which is pretty cool. Shelton wisely continues to target the midsection, which Tanahashi does a good job of selling. Tanahashi skins the cat back in the ring and Shelton charges, only to do the same right back. He hits the dragon whip kick for two. He applies the ankle lock but Tanahashi gets free. He counters the slingblade into a German for another near fall. Tanahashi knocks Shelton off the top, but misses the High Fly Flow. Shelton goes for the ankle lock but Tanahashi counters into a rollup for two. He hits slingblade this time and then two High Fly Flows to score the win.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (12) in 12:32
Fun match here but nothing spectacular. They found a body part and worked it, though I wish that Tanahashi found another way to win to avoid hurting his ribs more. I liked Shelton as the dick heel mocking Tanahashi at least. ***¼

Block B
Hirooki Goto (8) vs. Kazuchika Okada (10)
Some fast paced back and forth starts things and Goto clotheslines Okada to the outside. Out there, Okada hits a DDT that brings a 19 count, which the fans buy into. I guess that countout finish earlier did the job. Okada stays in control until Goto busts out a big lariat. From there, they continue to go back and forth. Okada nails the diving elbow and poses for the Rainmaker. Goto counters twice, leading to a frantic series of counters, ending with him hitting a neckbreaker. Okada does try for the tombstone but Goto is able to block. They continue to just have an answer for each thing that each guy does. They stand across the ring from each other and Goto charges, but gets gently placed up top. Goto tries something up there but is back dropped and then dropkicked in the back of the head. Okada hits the tombstone and calls for the Rainmaker again. Goto is ready again and hits a big headbutt. He tries Shouten Kai but Okada reverses into a German for two. He holds the bridge, gets to his feet and scores with the Rainmaker.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada (12) in 15:34
A fitting main event tonight. The constant countering of each other’s offense made for some really exciting work from both men. As usual with Okada matches, the finishing stretch was magnificent, but here, I actually enjoyed the opening stuff as well, making for a well-rounded great match. ****

Overall: 7.5/10. This was on the lesser half of shows in this tournament, but there is nothing wrong with that. The bar has been set so high that when you see a good show like this, it kind of feels like a letdown. Some of the matches on this show certainly disappointed, but some were great. As usual, the second half of the show was superior.

Block A Standings
Shinsuke Nakamura 12
Hiroshi Tanahashi 12
Bad Luck Fale 10
Katsuyori Shibata 10
Satoshi Kojima 8
Yuji Nagata 8
Shelton X Benjamin 8
Tomohiro Ishii 8
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 8
Doc Gallows 6
Tomoaki Honma 0

Block B Standings
Kazuchika Okada 12
AJ Styles 12
Minoru Suzuki 10
Hirooki Goto 8
Togi Makabe 8
Tetsuya Naito 8
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 8
Toru Yano 6
Karl Anderson 6
Yujiro Takahashi 6
Lance Archer 6

Random Match Reviews: Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe

Show: Slammiversary
Date: 6/10/12
Championship: X-Division
Location: Arlington, Texas

To open Slammiversary, TNA went with their X-Divison and two of the top guys to ever step foot in that division. Samoa Joe and Austin Aries, who actually had quite the memorable and historic match in ROH, where Aries won their World Title from Joe. Here you have your classic case of powerful big guy vs. determined smaller guy. They did a very good job of portraying the strength against speed aspect of the match. Joe would hit big offense and Aries would find a way to combat it. At one point, Joe went for elbow suicida, but Aries used his speed to dodge, run in and hit the heat seeking missile. Aries also did a good job in selling just how much Joe's offense took out of him. I appreciate that they didn't overdo the false finishes, with only Joe, the monster, kicking out of Aries' 450. The finishing sequence was also really good as Aries had to hit a flurry of moves, including a sick brainbuster, to finally put down the dominant challenger. Performances like this are why Aries would win the World Title less than a month later.

Match Time - 11:44 ***¾

G1 Climax 24 Day Eight Review

G1 Climax 24 Day Eight
August 3rd, 2014 | Osaka, Japan

More than halfway through the tournament, New Japan somehow either continues to top themselves or at the very least, maintain the very high level of this thing. From what I’ve seen, Osaka is a pretty great crowd usually and the card looks good, telling me that this show should deliver again. Two Bullet Club members, Karl Anderson and Bad Luck Fale, have the night off here.

Block A
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (6) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (6)
Out of the gate, Tomohiro Ishii came out firing, setting the tone for what would be a hard hitting fight. Each shot from both guys was pretty damn stiff. Ishii is well known for this but I give Davey Boy Smith Jr. a ton of credit for holding his own. Both guys busted out cool suplex variations. The hot crowd added a ton to this. Smith nailed an absolutely beautiful German suplex for a close near fall before doing the same with a tiger suplex. The finish came as Ishii busted out a damn rana to counter a bomb. He followed with a lariat for a near fall that the fans bought into. A Brainbuster put away Smith in a great match.

Winner: Tomohiro Ishii (8) in 10:24
I did not expect that. I knew that Tomohiro Ishii has been delivering and that Smith has been consistently good, but this clicked in a way I didn’t expect. It was hard hitting, had a red hot crowd and was just all around awesome. The best Smith match I’ve ever seen. Seeing Ishii hit a rana was pretty sweet too. Ishii injured his shoulder during the match, but soldiered on. ****¼

Block B
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (6) vs. Toru Yano (6)
A quick attack started this match, which, as expected, wasn’t very long. It featured the typical Toru Yano shenanigans including the turnbuckle spot. It was funny to see Yano steal Tenzan’s trademark chops. It was different than when, say, AJ Styles did it as it was more fun here. The finish was cool as Yano had his low blow attempt blocked and he was put in the Anaconda Vice. He got out, they did a slight ref bump and then Tenzan turned the tables by hitting Yano with a low blow before applying the Vice and winning.

Winner: Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8) in 4:33
Fun little match here. It was kept short and did the job of acting as a cool down after the hot opening contest. The finishing sequence helped me bump up the score a bit. **¼

Block A
Shelton X Benjamin (8) vs. Yuji Nagata (6)
Right from the get go, you could tell there would be a fair amount of counters in this. Shelton caught an early kick and slapped on the ankle lock. He also had the backdrop very well scouted, reversing two of them, one into a DDT and the other into another ankle lock. Nagata was ready for Shelton’s finish as well, turning Paydirt into the armbar. All of this was pretty damn good. There were a few more ankle locks attempts until Nagata put him down with a crossface finish.

Winner: Yuji Nagata (8) in 10:52
I’ve seen people pretty split on this online. Some people loved it and some people found it boring. I really enjoyed it and the series of counters. Shelton using the ankle lock throughout the G1 has been cool and I’m glad it played a part in this. I also like how he had the backdrop scouted so well that Nagata had to find another way to win. ***¾

Block A
Doc Gallows (4) vs. Satoshi Kojima (6)
Honestly, this match was kind of just there. I watched it but most of it wasn’t memorable. Granted, it was actually rather solid. Doc Gallows normally isn’t very exciting, but was better than expected here. Satoshi Kojima bumped well for Gallows’ offense throughout, helping him look more like a monster than some. Gallows survived a Brainbuster and blocked the big lariat, but couldn’t continue to do so. He would eat a vicious lariat from Kojima that ended things.

Winner: Satoshi Kojima (8) in 7:11
Better than I expected, but still nothing great. It was a solid match that again, was kept rather short and sweet. They didn’t overstay their welcome and worked about as a good a match as I expected from them. **¾

Block B
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Tetsuya Naito (8)
After starting 3-0, Hirooki Goto has hit a rut and lost a few in a row. The crowd was really into it from the start. They were very much behind Goto, which kind of forced Tetsuya Naito to act a bit heelish. That made it fun for me because I love heel Naito in 2015. I wonder if his dick tendencies here were part of the eventual decision to turn him. Goto pounded on Naito and they tried to build to a Naito rally. He did so, but the crowd wasn’t behind him in the way they wanted. The counters that both guys pulled out were great, including a particular one where Goto stopped a trademark corner dropkick of Naito’s. Naito took a risk with the Stardust Press and paid for it when he missed. Goto nailed Shouten Kai and ended his losing streak.

Winner: Hirooki Goto (8) in 12:21
This is one of those cases where I love the time that G1 matches get. This was brisk and they packed a ton into their twelve minutes, meaning that everything they did mattered. ***¾

Block B
AJ Styles (8) vs. Lance Archer (6)
TNA! TNA! TNA! Anyway, throughout this tournament, AJ Styles has been incredibly versatile. That happened again here as he played right into Lance Archer’s strengths. Styles bumps like crazy for Archer, in the best possible way. It really hammered home the point that Archer was a monstrous threat, which he himself has done a good job of during the tournament. Styles used a favorite of mine, the ring post figure four and then focused on the leg. I always appreciate when the smaller guy goes after the leg. Archer kept things simple throughout, relying on just throwing AJ around and allowing AJ to make sure the bump looked vicious. He did reach into his bag of tricks by trying a moonsault, which is impressive considering his size. He missed it though, leading to the finish, where AJ made him submit to the calf cutter.

Winner: AJ Styles (10) in 12:52
Far better than I ever thought it would be. I’ve gone on record in saying that I don’t particularly enjoy Lance Archer, but this just clicked. I liked the big man/little man dynamic and loved that the leg work played into the finish. It also made sense because Archer was too big to hit the Styles Clash, so AJ had to pull something else out to win. ****

Block B
Minoru Suzuki (6) vs. Togi Makabe (6)
This absolutely worked in the sense that it felt way different than everything else on the card tonight. They just had an intense brawl that spilled all around the ring and involved weapons. Makabe went after the leg and applied a figure four variation. He was more seated instead of laying and Suzuki would try to sit up but get slapped back down. Each shot was pretty damn brutal. Suzuki reached the ropes, but the brutality didn’t stop. Suzuki straight up punched Makabe, hit a kick and locked in Saka Otoshi for the win. Makabe was turning colors from the hold.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (8) in 12:21
These are two of the baddest dudes in the G1, so their match being this style was very fitting. As I noted, I loved that this had a different feel to the rest of the card as the best cards usually give you a little bit of everything. I dug the finish of Togi passing out instead of submitting since he is too much of a badass to tap. ***½

Block A
Katsuyori Shibata (8) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
Going into this, I knew it would be awesome and it delivered. The crowd is always molten hot for Tomoaki Honma. The start of this match was intense, as Shibata beat the fuck out of Honma with some shots, only for Honma to just scream at him and take it like a man. The mixture of the hot crowd with the vicious hard hits of the match made for something really enjoyable to watch. Near the end, Shibata hit a sick slap on Honma but Honma came right back with that headbutt. Honma caught the Penalty Kick attempt so Shibata lit him up with slaps only for Honma to hit one major one of his own that took down Shibata. Shibata then finally won with a GTS and PK, ending a fantastic match.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (10) in 10:47
The more I watch Shibata, the more I like him and I can honestly say the same for Honma. The fans just eat up everything Honma does and they buy into the possibility of him winning, hook, line and sinker. He did have some really close calls here too. I feel like I’m going to have bruises just from watching this. It was two guys who didn’t let up and worked the whole match at a fantastic breakneck pace. ****½

Block B
Kazuchika Okada (8) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (4)
Takahashi attacked Okada during his entrance. This allowed him to be in the driver’s seat far longer than I expected. Okada did a good job in selling Yujiro’s offense and there have been more than a few upsets in this tournament, but I never believed the outcome of this match was in doubt. Takahashi did a good job of avoiding some of Okada’s signature moves and then hit Tokyo Pimps for two but I never bought it as the finish. Okada would counter a buckle bomb with a rana before going into his finish. Dropkick, tombstone and Rainmaker ended this.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada (10) in 12:49
I thought this was a fine wrestling match but it did nothing to stand out on this crowded show. Maybe on a different card it would have come off better, but I never fully got into this.**¾

Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (8) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (10) 
Earlier in the year, these two headlined in the Tokyo Dome, which was won by Tanahashi. Their rematch at Invasion attack was won by Nakamura. They went in knowing each other very well and played right into that, with neither man gaining a clear advantage. It seemed like they might be heading into time limit draw territory early on due to the slow pace, but that picked up quickly. Tanahashi stole Nakamura’s signature corner move/taunt only for Nakamura to turn it around. Nakamura had a cool submission applied, only for Tanahashi to find a way to counter it into the cloverleaf. In the best spot of the match, Tanahashi countered the Boma Ye into a dragon screw, only for Nakamura to spin out of that and hit one anyway, for an incredibly close near fall. Tanahashi then pulled out the win with an O’Connor roll.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (10) in 17:00
I’ve seen three matches between these two and they always manage to deliver. This felt different than the other two. They knew that were going less than 20 and made sure to work within those confines. I liked them playing off their past and some of the near falls were great. I love that the finish came on a rollup, since in the past, it has taken so much for these guys to beat each other, that if the match had to go under 20, it should end with something like that. ****

Overall: 9/10. Somehow they keep either topping themselves or equaling their already amazing efforts. This show was fantastic, featuring four matches that clock in at over four stars. Again, there was nothing bad on this show, the incredibly hot Osaka crowd and the performances of nearly everyone made this another special show. I don’t see how they could possibly keep up this pace.

Block A Standings
Katsuyori Shibata 10
Hiroshi Tanahashi 10
Shinsuke Nakamura 10
Satoshi Kojima 8
Yuji Nagata 8
Shelton X Benjamin 8
Bad Luck Fale 8
Tomohiro Ishii 8
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 6
Doc Gallows 4
Tomoaki Honma 0

Block B Standings
Kazuchika Okada 10
AJ Styles 10
Tetsuya Naito 8
Minoru Suzuki 8
Hirooki Goto 8
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 8
Togi Makabe 6
Lance Archer 6
Toru Yano 6
Karl Anderson 6
Yujiro Takahashi 4

Top Five 11/2/15-11/8/15

1) Timothy Thatcher: Granted, I wasn't able to see the Evolve shows this weekend, but from what I'm hearing, I can't deny this man the top spot. Timothy Thatcher has quickly become one of my favorite guys to watch on the indies, so I'm pretty sure when I see his matches from this weekend, I'll agree with some of the high praise. At Evolve 51, he successfully defended the Evolve Title against Johnny Gargano in what many are calling a Match of the Year candidate. Not satisfied with that, he went out and had another match that people are saying was great when he defeated former champion Drew Galloway in another title match. All in all, it was another successful weekend for a guy that has been having a pretty great year.

2) Naomichi Marufuji: Pro Wrestling NOAH's big yearly tournament is known as the Global League Tournament. The finals took place this weekend and saw Naomichi Marufuji take on Suzuki-Gun member Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin was 6-1 heading into the finals, and went to a draw with the GHC Champion. Marufuji defeated Benjamin to win the entire tournament and earn himself a shot at the GHC Heavyweight Title. That title is held by Suzuki-Gun leader Minoru Suzuki. I expect Marufuji to win it and put an end to Suzuki-Gun's hostile takeover of Pro Wrestling NOAH, saving the company. It would be cool to see him win that considering I've liked the guy since 2006 and saw him wrestle live multiple times with Ring of Honor.

3) Shinsuke Nakamura: The biggest show of the week was probably New Japan's Power Struggle in Osaka. The main event of the show saw IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura retain his belt against Karl Anderson. Anderson had defeated Nakamura early on in the G1 Tournament, so he came in as a bit of a threat to Nakamura's belt. The match itself was great, though it saw a fair amount of Bullet Club interference. The biggest news however, came after the match. Nakamura wasn't allowed to celebrate for long as AJ Styles got in his face and basically challenged him for the IC Title. This will most likely occur at Wrestle Kingdom and will be a first time ever bout.

4) Tomohiro Ishii: The reigning NEVER Openweight Champion competed in my favorite match of the week. He defended that title against his rival, Tomoaki Honma. The quality of the matches between these two is possibly unmatched right now. They never have a bad match and I've given all of the ones I've seen, which is about five, more than four stars. This was another. It wasn't on the level of their G1 match that Honma won, but was among their better outings. Honma put up one hell of a fight and had the crowd firmly believing in him. Alas, Ishii was able to retain and will be the champion heading into Wrestle Kingdom 10 on January 4th in the Toyko Dome. No word on who his opponent will end up being. I just hope it isn't Togi Makabe again.

5) Matt Sydal and Ricochet: New Japan Pro Wrestling's Jr. Tag Team division is incredibly stale. So I appreciated seeing Matt Sydal and Ricochet team up to participate in the Super Jr. tournament. I'm not the biggest fan of either guy, but they are both pretty good. I really love Ricochet as Prince Puma though, he just fits the Lucha Underground style so well. Anyway, Sydal and Ricochet made it to the finals of the tournament against Roppongi Vice at Power Struggle. They pulled out a match that was very good and won the entire tournament. Usually, the winners get a title shot. Unfortunately though, their title shot will be shared with the Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice at the Tokyo Dome.

NJPW Power Struggle Review

NJPW Power Struggle
November 7th, 2015 | Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 5,128

This morning, the last big New Japan show before their biggest show, Wrestle Kingdom, aired. Power Struggle was headlined by an Intercontinental Title match, while also featuring a NEVER Title match and the finals of the Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament.

Jushin Thunder Liger, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV def. David Finlay, Jay White, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu in 7:46
Lately, the Young Lions have certainly been a highlight of New Japan shows, opening things with some really solid matches. This was more basic than those. It was a step below their usual work though I’m not exactly sure why. It just seemed to be missing something. It was acceptable stuff but very skippable. I felt like the finish was rather abrupt. The most important piece of information from this was that it seemed like Jushin Thunder Liger challenged Tiger Mask for the NWA Junior Heavyweight Title and it seemingly was accepted. **½

Cody Hall, Doc Gallows and Tama Tonga def. Captain New Japan, Juice Robinson and Togi Makabe in 7:53
This might have been the most random of six man tags I’ve seen in New Japan, and I’ve seen some random ones. Togi Makabe, Juice Robinson and Capt. New Japan are just strange bedfellows for sure. Despite this being weird, the work in the match was pretty good. Juice still seems to be trying to find his groove and seemingly got hurt during the match. He couldn’t even really put weight on his leg so maybe it was legit. Tama Tonga did well again, and he’s probably my third favorite member of the Bullet Club behind AJ and Anderson. He pinned the Captain after a double arm DDT. **½

Hirooki Goto def. EVIL via disqualification in 8:52
For those that missed it, EVIL is Watanabe, having his first match in New Japan in about two years from what I’m reading. He is now part of Los Ingobernables and has a completely revamped character. It’s actually really way over the top and comes off as campy at times. He came out in a grim reaper robe which was pretty ridiculous but not overly terrible. Goto has had a pretty good year even though he fell some after dropping the Intercontinental Title, so I was curious about how this would end. Tetsuya Naito, who hadn’t been on the current tour, came out and caused the rare New Japan disqualification. They continued the attack on Goto until Shibata ran out for the save. The DQ worked here since it’s not done often here and the match itself was pretty physical. Solid stuff here. **¾

reDRagon and the Time Splitters def. Chase Owens, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks in 8:53
Four of the teams that didn’t make the finals of the Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament compete in an eight man tag. Now, the Bullet Club team featured four of my five least favorite performers in New Japan so I didn’t go in with confidence. They ended up doing okay with what I kind of expected from them. The Time Splitters and reDRagon are both great teams and did well, though I had to sit through the Bullet Club guys just being themselves. I don’t enjoy the Bucks, Omega overdoes the campiness and Owens is devoid of charisma. If you must see this, enjoy the face teams and that’s all. It seemed like KUSHIDA is looking for an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title match soon as well. **¾

Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament Finals: Matt Sydal and Ricochet def. Roppongi Vice in 16:06
I’ve voiced my opinions on the Junior divisions in New Japan but I found myself actually really enjoying this. Of all of the teams involved in the tournament, I think Roppongi Vice has had the best matches. Both teams busted out some very impressive spots. Roppongi Vice showed great chemistry while Sydal and Ricochet got to show off how athletic they are. Baretta was selling the leg, which reDRagon targeted heavily and I truly appreciate that. He didn’t magically heal or act like it, which I loved. It didn’t play into the finish or anything like that, but still. Sydal and Ricochet hit stereo shooting star presses to win. Their celebration was cut short as reDRagon and the Young Bucks appeared. This set up a four way for the Tokyo Dome, making the tournament pretty worthless. Yes, I get that the Bucks have a rematch and Roppongi Vice beat reDRagon but it came off as the usual lazy booking for the division. The match itself was still better than I expected and a lot of fun. ***¾

AJ Styles and Bad Luck Fale def. Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI in 9:02
Following intermission, we got this tag match between the Bullet Club and Chaos. It was here to get AJ Styles back into the mix after his recent back injury. He did more than I thought he would here and looked impressive. YOSHI-HASHI was kind of just there, while Toru Yano was his comedic self. I always enjoy him. Bad Luck Fale played the big man role about as well as he could. Styles won with Bloody Sunday followed by the Styles Clash. This was fine. ***

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii (c) def. Tomoaki Honma in 17:26
Much like the Juniors division, the NEVER division has featured a lot of matches that I’ve seen multiple times. This is another one. They faced for the vacant title back in February in a match that a lot of people called the Match of the Year. I preferred their match in the G1 Climax when HONMAMANIA ran wild. This was pretty much their other matches and that was perfectly fine. They go to war every single time out and did so here again. The crowd just absolutely loves Honma and the Osaka crowd is always hot. They completely bought into the possibility of Honma winning but it was not to be. As usual with Honma, the Kokeshi was his downfall as he missed and it led to the Ishii victory. ****¼

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata def. Kazuchika Okada and Kazushi Sakuraba in 15:33
I really liked this tag team match. The interactions between Tanahashi and Okada were fantastic as always. What really stuck out to me though was seeing Okada and Shibata go at it. It made me want to see a match between the two at some point next year, even if it’s just in the G1. Back to the Wrestle Kingdom main event though, both guys acted like total dicks throughout, which is not something you see often. Tanahashi hit Sakuraba with the High Fly Flow and Shibata finished it off with the GTS. After the match, Okada and Tanahashi came face to face and Okada kicked away the G1 briefcase. This led to a pull apart brawl that was cool to see. Okada used the briefcase as a weapon and this came off rather well. ***¾ 

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) def. Karl Anderson in 21:37
These two had a really solid match in the G1 Climax and I expected this to be about as good as that. Instead, it proved to be an improvement. I’m not always a fan of matches that feature Bullet Club interference but I think it worked well here. It wasn’t overdone and really only used to give Anderson the upper hand. Nakamura made his rally and they ended up going back and forth with some big time counters, including a second rope Gun Stun. Props to Anderson, who not only did a good job in his performance but he also didn’t outshine Nakamura, knowing that he had to come off as the bigger star. Nakamura won with what I believe was his second Boma Ye. Post match, AJ Styles got in Nakamura’s face. The crowd’s reaction to this was pretty great and it seems like we’re getting Styles/Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom, which is the match I want more than any other right now. ****

Overall: 8/10. A very good show from New Japan here. I wasn’t excited about the card but it over delivered. The first half of the show is decent but once it reached the Jr. Tag Title Finals, it kicked into another gear and everything after that was between good and great. The two title matches were the best of the night, while the Okada/Tanahashi tag and tournament finals were damn good

Random Match Reviews: Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge

Show: Smackdown
Date: 9/26/02
Location: San Diego, California

Edge and Eddie Guerrero are two of the best that I've ever seen and this era in 2002 was filled with fantastic matches from the "Smackdown Six". They had good matches at SummerSlam and Unforgiven but hadn't reached "great" status in their rivalry. That all changed here. Given a no disqualifications stipulation to close out the feud, these two put on a fucking classic. I love that it wasn't overly brutal for a no DQ match. They use two ladders and a chair and those don't come into play for a while. They build to it and using the ladders considering Edge's past with them was great. While they don't go into the big bumps until the end, they all were massive. From Edge's fall onto the ladder after an uppercut (which he later said did a real number on him), to the sunset flip bomb to the super Edgecution and everything in between, it was all brutal. A fantastic match and one of the best TV matches I can think of.

Match Time: 16:42 ****½ 

Top Ten Thursday: Survivor Series Elimination Matches

Starting today, I will be bringing you a weekly top ten list based on various different topics. These will be personal top ten lists and not at all what some would call "definitive". If you disagree and have your own lists, please share in the comments section. Down the line, I will be taking requests as well. For starters, with the Survivor Series coming up, I'm going with the ten best traditional Survivor Series matches in the history of the PPV. That would mean that matches like the one from this past Monday on Raw is excluded.

10. The Bodydonnas vs. The Underdogs - 1995

Kicking things off is a match that is honestly overlooked. On a really good Survivor Series event, the show opened with a match that severely lacked star power. On the Bodydonnas team, you had Skip, Zip, Rad freaking Radford and the recently heel turned 1-2-3 Kid, while the Underdogs consisted of Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Barry Horowitz and Bob Holly. That's not exactly a recipe for a great match. However, they managed to do their best to wow the audience and busted out some pretty impressive high flying moves. The highlight being a top rope powerbomb spot that honestly made me jump out of my seat. Considering the guys involved, it was obvious that the Kid would be the survivor in the end, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. This is worth a look as a fun way to spend about 20 minutes.

9. The Dream Team vs. The Million Dollar Team - 1990

Not only was this a really good traditional Survivor Series match, but it also happens to be one of the most historic. Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Team featured himself, Rhythm and Blues and a mystery partner that turned out to be the debuting Undertaker. Having him in this match made it more special because right from the start, he had a presence about him that was unmatched. You could see the reactions of some of the speechless audience members, while Undertaker was nailing each and every mannerism that he had to. The Dream Team was captained by Dusty Rhodes and featured the Hart Foundation and Koko B. Ware. Koko was eliminated quickly by the Undertaker, showing his dominance. Undertaker was gone via countout while attacking Dusty which protected him. The real gem of this match is the final few minutes when it comes down to Bret Hart and Ted Dibiase. Their exchange is pretty fantastic and was my favorite part of the entire Pay-Per-View in 1990.

8. Team Michaels vs. Team Yokozuna - 1995

We go back to 1995 for a match concept that was only executed one time. This was a "Wild Card" match, which meant that the faces and heels were mixed up. Shawn Michaels was partnered with Ahmed Johnson, British Bulldog and Sycho Sid with the latter two being heels. On Team Yokozuna, he had his partner Owen Hart, Dean Douglas and Razor Ramon, who was a face. That certainly made for an intriguing dynamic that we don't see often. Guys that were in feuds, like Razor and Dean, were on teams. It came into play when Dean got eliminated and something similar went down between Michaels and Sid. Sid ate Sweet Chin Music by mistake and Shawn kind of just shrugged. He would be the only guy eliminated from his team as well. There was a funny moment near the end as Bulldog broke up a pin for his team, seemingly forgetting that he was with them and then just celebrated with the win anyway. This was a unique match that turned out to be highly entertaining.

7. Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler - 2012

This match changed more than a few times during the build up and it was even originally set to be Team Foley vs. Team Punk. In the end, Team Ziggler featured Dolph himself, Damien Sandow, David Otunga (replacing an injured Cody Rhodes), Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett, while Team Foley had Randy Orton, Miz, Kofi Kingston and Team Hell No. Despite the strange build up and changes, the guys managed to deliver a really good match. The action was fast paced and it all worked well due to their chemistry with each other. In the end, Randy Orton was the last guy remaining for his team, down 2-1. He eliminated Del Rio and it came down to him against Ziggler. Ziggler picked up a big win by pinning Orton, which was the right call since he was Mr. Money in the Bank. The match had a fair amount of talent, everything made sense and it was pretty damn good.

6. Strike Force, the Young Stallions, the Fabulous Rougeaus, the Killer Bees and the British Bulldogs vs. The Hart Foundation, the Islanders, Demolition, the Bolsheviks and the Dream Team - 1987

1987 was the year of the inaugural Survivor Series Pay-Per-View event. The night was headlined by a massive match pitting Team Hulk Hogan against Team Andre the Giant. However, it was an absurdly large 20 man tag earlier in the evening that stole the show. It says something about the state of tag team wrestling in the era that there were ten legit teams that could all compete in one huge match. These weren't just any teams either as a few of these are Hall of Fame caliber. You would expect a match with so many moving parts to be a bit of a clusterfuck but that wasn't the case here. They managed to work a crisp match that went about 37 minutes, but seemed to move along quickly. The surviving teams in the end were the Killer Bees and the Young Stallions. If there is anything that you are going to watch from the first Survivor Series, I'd suggest this (though the entire show is good).

5. Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown - 2005

Following the brand split in 2002, we would go on to see plenty of incarnations of Raw vs. Smackdown tag matches. Not all took place at the Survivor Series (some being at the short lived Bragging Rights event), but this one did and it may be my favorite. Representing Raw was Shawn Michaels, Big Show, Kane, Chris Masters and Carlito while Smackdown was led by Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, JBL and World Champion Batista. Similar to the Wild Card match in 1995, this allowed for heels and faces to partner up, making for some interesting moments. The match was well executed where teams like Kane and Big Show worked together, we got a face to face between Masters and Lashley and it all came down to HBK. This made sense considering Michaels had a heroic comeback like performance two years earlier being down 3-1. This wasn't on the level of that night, but it followed a similar trend where Michaels eliminated two men and was left with Orton. A distraction from the already eliminated JBL allowed Orton to hit the RKO and win it for Smackdown. The most memorable thing is the Undertaker's return after the match, which is a shame because the match was really goo.

4. British Bulldog, Owen Hart and the New Rockers vs. Doug Furnas, Phil Lafon and the Godwins - 1996

Honestly, I can't recall many people talking about this when they mention the best traditional Survivor Series matches but I love this. Survivor Series 1996 is my second favorite Survivor Series event, behind only 2002. It starts with this match that I didn't have high expectations for. Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon were good but were void of personality, while Owen Hart and the British Bulldog were great. The other four guys were definite question marks. The Godwins might have had their best performance here, Leif Cassidy played his role of starting to heel it up well and Marty Jannetty did a goo job of selling and doing his part. After their efforts, the match really gets going. Furnas and Lafon go head to head with the Tag Team Champions and come out looking like stars. They busted out moves that wowed the New York crowd and survived against the champions. It never amounted to a Tag Team Title run for them, but for one night at least, a team was put over huge in the world's most famous arena.

3. Team Authority vs. Team Cena - 2014

The stakes were very high coming into this main event match. The Survivor Series 2014 card seemed to lack and didn't have many matches booked. Part of the reasons was that the company was missing some top guys. Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Sheamus were all on the shelf, while Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose had a singles match. That set up some strange teams. The Authority were led by Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, the US Champion Rusev and a late addition, Luke Harper. John Cena struggled to find teammates because he's a terrible friend in kayfabe terms. However, he managed to get Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and late addition Erick Rowan. Going in, I didn't expect the match to be great but dammit it was. This was overbooking done incredibly well. Big Show turned heel for the hundredth time and knocked out Cena, leading to him getting eliminated. Show then walked out, leaving Ziggler of all people in a three on one deficit. Ziggler channeled his inner Shawn Michaels in a heroic rally that saw him eliminate two men, leaving him with Seth Rollins. Triple H and J&J Security got involved, only for Sting to make his WWE debut and save the day. That was something I never expected to see, which made this match all the more special. Ziggler would pin Seth and vanquish the Authority...for about a month.

2. Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff - 2003

On Team Bischoff, you have Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Christian, Scott Steiner and Mark Henry. On Team Austin, it's Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and the Dudley Boyz. Early on, this match followed the formula that we've come to expect from a traditional Survivor Series match most of the time. The guys that were getting eliminated early, (Scott Steiner, Mark Henry, Booker T and RVD) were given a chance to get in their stuff before going home. When it gets down to a three on on three match, the heels used shady tactics to send the Dudley Boyz home and leave Michaels alone. What happened next is how you expertly book the heroic comeback. Shawn takes a beating and does one of the better blade jobs I can remember. When he makes his comeback, it's not done in superhuman fashion. He doesn't just shrug off the damage and start taking people out. He hits Sweet Chin Music from out of nowhere and takes out Christian before using a fluke pin to get rid of Jericho. It's a desperate man on his last legs. The finish involves all kinds of shenanigans from Bischoff, Austin and then an appearance by Batista who ends up costing Shawn the match. The crowd was 100% into this and when Shawn finally can't get up in the end, the air is basically let out of the building. Extra props to Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler for their performance during all of this. It's all so well done and is one of the best Survivor Series matches of all-time.

1. Team WCW vs. Team WWF - 2001

Considering how the entire Invasion angle was booked, I didn't expect this to be as great as it was. Granted, the talent was there. You had The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kane, Undertaker and Big Show on Team WWF, while Team WCW had Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam and Shane McMahon. Okay, so not everyone there is among the best workers, but they all lent something to the match that made almost every part of it feel unique. From the finisher barrage that sent Big Show home, to Undertaker and Kane being complete badasses to Jericho attacking the Rock after he was eliminated because he's selfish to Angle turning back on WCW, this had a lot of cool moments. It was tough for me to remember this fondly due to the booking before and after, but as a standalone match, it's fantastic. The final battle between Rock and Austin was great to see and was the last we'd really get until WrestleMania XIX. Team WWF would win, obviously, in a match that made 45 minutes fly by.