NJPW G1 Climax 26 Night Two Review.

NJPW G1 Climax 26 Night Two
July 22nd, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan

After a strange three day hiatus following night one, night two comes to us from Korakuen Hall. There will be several shows over the next few days. This is our first B Block show and I’ve gone on record saying that the B Block sounds WAY more interesting than the A Block. A Block started hot with a show featuring two ****+ matches, though I find myself intrigued by the entire B Block side tonight (and most nights). The Korakuen crowd should only help this. Also, this show is available for free to anyone, even non-NJPW World subscribers.

B Block: Katsuhiko Nakajima [2] def. Toru Yano [0] in 3:54
You know what to expect from Toru Yano. Katsuhiko Nakajima is the wild card in the B Block. Dude is awesome, but it will be interesting to see if he is booked that way. He brought Kaito Kitomiya with him as a young boy. It is also Nakajima’s first G1 Climax. Yano threw his water bottle at Nakajima before the bell, causing Nakajima to attack. Yano nearly stole it by pinning Nakajima while choking him and also by tying him up outside. Nakajima beat the count back in of course. Inside, they had some more fun and Yano picked up a few near falls. Nakajima got tired of his shit though and planted him with a Brainbuster to pick up his first G1 win. They kept this short and sweet. I was entertained and that’s all that matters sometimes. **½

B Block: YOSHI-HASHI [2] def. Kenny Omega [0] in 12:25
It might just be me, but I feel like Kenny Omega needs to have a really strong tournament run to make up for some of the momentum he lost after the start of the year. I did like him telling the camera “I hate this schedule, I hate this tournament, just give me the title and the money.” YOSHI-HASHI has been on quite the roll in recent months and certainly earned his spot here. It is the G1 debut for both men. Omega was very cocky in the early stages and toyed with YOSHI. He threw the mats outside over YOSHI and nailed a springboard stomp onto him, looking for the countout following that interesting offense. YOSHI started to rally but was cut off by a superkick and a pair of dragon suplexes. Omega hit an awesome sitout powerbomb for two. Omega got his knees up on the swanton bomb, while YOSHI countered the One Winged Angel twice! Omega then kicked out of the swanton bomb, so YOSHI put him in a submission. Omega sold the desperation to reach the ropes expertly and did. YOSHI nailed a lariat and then Nakamura’s Boma Ye (which Omega has been using since he beat Shinsuke in January) for a seriously close near fall. Finally, YOSHI scored the upset with Karma. This blew away my expectations. They told a great story of the overconfident Omega running into trouble because YOSHI-HASHI is no longer a doormat. YOSHI using the Boma Ye was a great cherry on top and their finishing sequence was dramatic, while not being overkill. ****

B Block: EVIL [2] def. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin [0] in 10:54
EVIL’s finger light gimmick still looks stupid, but everything else seems to mostly work. Anyway, it’s a HOSS FIGHT! I love these (check out Matanza/Cage and EVIL/Ishii from earlier this year). EVIL did the throat cut signal and looked for the win within a minute but Elgin instead nailed a stalling vertical suplex. As expected, most of the shots these two threw at each other were big blows. Seriously, some of the elbows and forearms sounded nasty. Elgin got two on a pretty big lariat. He pulled out a top rope splash, seemingly as a tribute to his tag partner Hiroshi Tanahashi. Commentary did say something about HIGH FLY FLOW. Near the end, they stared across the ring at one another and just charged forward with heavy shots. EVIL won out by hitting his STO (oddly also called EVIL) to pick up the win over the Intercontinental Champion. Not quite the show stealer I was hoping for. It was a bit slow at points. When it was going though, it was damn good. We got a good old fashioned hoss fight like I expected. Hopefully, this win means that EVIL gets a shot at the title at one of the September shows because given another chance, these two seem capable of more. ***½

B Block: Yuji Nagata [2] def. Tetsuya Naito [0] in 15:34
Tetsuya Naito’s popularity at this point is through the roof. Despite that, the crowd seemed behind their ageless veteran wonder Yuji Nagata. My friend Bobby compared this to a disappointed father against a rebellious son. Naito was quick to mock Nagata’s trademark salute pose because he’s just such a dick. He continued to do so throughout the match, whether at random times or while applying a figure four on Nagata. Nagata fired back with some of his badass kicks. Naito just nailed every mannerism as always. His sly smirks at the right times were just great. Nagata slapped on the armbar but Naito made it to the ropes. He also blocked Destino and scored on a Brainbuster for a near fall. Nagata blocked it again, slapped Naito and hit a backdrop driver, getting a close two count. Once up, Nagata got in a spin kick and won via second backdrop driver. The crowd ate this up. While this wasn’t match of the night, it was really damn good. Just a great job of Naito being an ass and Nagata doing his best to teach him a lesson. I can’t say enough about Nagata’s skills at his age and Naito’s character work. Both were top notch, as was the crowd throughout. Naito even had a smile as he was limping to the back. Nagata responded by doing Naito’s eye taunt towards him, causing another smirk from Naito. ***¼

B Block: Tomoaki Honma [2] def. NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata [0] in 11:10
These two had a spectacular match in the G1 two years ago before having a really good one at Kizuna Road a few weeks back. Here they were again with the Korakuen main event. Shibata wore a towel around his neck to the ring, but didn’t bring his title with him. Just like I want from a match involving these two, they attacked each other right from the opening bell. Honma laid in the chops, which Shibata took like a man. I loved Shibata using a backdrop driver after earning the respect of the New Japan Dads. It just felt right. Like Elgin/EVIL earlier, I kind of felt each shot from these two, who just love to hit hard. Watching Honma fire up as he was just getting leveled was great. Honma proceeded to drop Shibata on his head with three different moves before going up top and scoring with Kokeshi for the shocking upset victory. This didn’t get to the levels of their 2014 classic but I still enjoyed it. They knew they weren’t going long, so they fit a lot into the time and went balls to the wall. The winning moment was really cool too since nobody expected it. After the match, they came face to face and slapped each other before Honma dumped him outside in a great turnaround from Shibata doing that to him at Kizuna Road. ***½

Overall: 7.5/10. While A Block’s night one had a higher ceiling (two four star matches and Tenzan/Ishii is still the best of the tournament so far), this was about as enjoyable. You get a short fun match between Nakajima and Yano to start off. Omega and YOSHI-HASHI then went out and had a way better match than expected. The final three matches all hovered around the same score from me and were all easy watches. Not the excellent first B Block showing I was hoping for but consistently good stuff from everyone involved.

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Hirooki Goto	2 (1-0)	EVIL	2 (1-0)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan	2 (1-0)	Katsuhiko Nakajima	2 (1-0)
Naomichi Marufuji	2 (1-0)	Tomoaki Honma	2 (1-0)
SANADA	2 (1-0)	Yuji Nagata	2 (1-0)
Togi Makabe	2 (1-0)	YOSHI-HASHI	2 (1-0)
Bad Luck Fale	0 (0-1)	Katsuyori Shibata	0 (0-1)
Hiroshi Tanahashi	0 (0-1)	Kenny Omega	0 (0-1)
Kazuchika Okada	0 (0-1)	Michael Elgin	0 (0-1)
Tama Tonga	0 (0-1)	Tetsuya Naito	0 (0-1)
Tomohiro Ishii	0 (0-1)	Toru Yano	0 (0-1)

Ultima Lucha Dos Part 3 Review

We get treated to a really good opening video package that recaps pretty much the entire season. We see what led us to the matches tonight, including the Trios Title, Mysterio/Puma, Azteca/Lotus, Taya/Ivelisse and the Lucha Underground Title contests.

Vampiro and Pentagon speak outside of a cave and Vampiro tells Pentagon that he says he has no fear, but fear was all he saw when Pentagon took on Matanza. He sends him into a cave where he fights against PHANTOM LUCHADORS! When that ends (complete with wonky light show), Pentagon fights Vampiro (in a Pentagon mask). Vampiro says that now he’s ready. The light must be extinguished by Pentagon Jr. so that Pentagon Dark can take his place.

Though he left at the end of part two, Vampiro is back for commentary here with Matt Striker.

Trios Championship: Aerostar, Drago and Fenix def. the Worldwide Underground (Jack Evans, Johnny Mundo and PJ Black) (c) in 11:47

The Worldwide Underground all getting the Mundo hair flying entrance treatment is great. This was the perfect choice for an opener. These guys all work at such a fast pace and that was abundant right at the start. Following a flurry of high impact aerial stuff from almost everyone, a strange subplot was thrown in about the referee being upset with not being taken seriously. He stopped the faces from diving outside and the heels mockingly overdid their tagging in and out. I thought this was going to end early as Aerostar hit a super destroyer on Mundo, dove out onto everyone outside and then Fenix hit a splash. There was another close call after a 450 splash but Evans pulled the referee out of the ring. After the champions all hit Fenix with their belts, Evans hilarious asked “RICK ARE YOU OKAY?” as he helped the official up. As the cheating champions neared a win, Angelico returned and whacked Mundo with his crutch. The challengers hit some insane dives, including a ridiculous springboard imploding somersault by Aerostar, before Angelico hit more crutch shots. Fenix scored with the Fenix Driver to win the titles. A really fun match. It featured non-stop action and a welcome return by Angelico, who has been missed. Historic moment too as Fenix becomes the first Triple Crown winner in Lucha Underground history. Plus, titles for Aerostar and Drago is really cool. ***½

Black Lotus and Dragon Azteca Jr. wrestled to a no contest in 4:03

It is the Lucha Underground debut for Black Lotus. She showed off some pretty cool offense in the short time given here. Azteca tried an awesome somersault dive and managed to mostly land on his feet despite missing. Lotus scored on a basement dropkick and fired off some kicks before running into a roaring elbow. As Azteca went for a top rope move, Pentagon Dark ran out and crotched him, leading to the no contest. Fine for the time it got, but the finish showed that this wasn’t really important. Azteca is a star though. **¼

Pentagon Jr. broke Lotus’ arm and hit Azteca with a package piledriver. Vampiro had a wide smile and did the Cero Miedo signal with his hand as Pentagon also broke Dragon’s arm. Vampiro formally introduced him on commentary as Pentagon Dark. After the break, Pentagon cut a promo about becoming more powerful than ever. By the way, I was never a huge fan of the name Pentagon Jr., but Pentagon Dark is just lame. This led to the title match going down right now and there must be a winner.

Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto def. Pentagon Dark in 11:31

Pentagon immediately dove over and out onto Matanza before hitting choking him with a cable. Pentagon Dark has learned from Pentagon Jr.’s failure against Matanza because he just kept the offense coming, not giving Matanza any time to muster any momentum. Matanza’s attempts at offense saw him mostly flail at Pentagon. It was easily the most dominant performance against Matanza so far. Dario was great at ringside showing his desperation as he pleaded with Matanza to wake up. Finally, Pentagon went headfirst into a wedged steel chair to turn the tide. Matanza’s effortless standing moonsault and standing shooting star press are so impressive. Pentagon hit a Mexican destroyer on Matanza, which was insane to see. Vampiro brought out a barbed wire baseball bat for Pentagon. Dario ran in and shoved Pentagon, so he almost had his arm broken for that. The distraction allowed Matanza to hit Pentagon with the bat and retain with Wrath of the Gods. Good match that told exactly the story it needed to. Pentagon had gone where he needed to in order to beat the monster. However, I didn’t like the finish. It felt cheap and super anti-climactic. Plus, the title needs to be on Pentagon. He’s their most popular star and this was the perfect time to pull the trigger. ***½

The fans rightfully chanted bullshit. Vampiro got in the ring to check on Pentagon, who wanted no part of it and shoved Vampiro away. After a commercial break, Vampiro went back on his meds.

Taya def. Ivelisse in 6:46

According to Matt Striker, this was about being the official “baddest bitch in the building.” The ovation and chants for Ivelisse during her entrance were lovely. Off topic, but Ivelisse looked amazing here. They did a good job showcasing their hatred. Ivelisse went after her viciously and Taya hit a DDT onto an open chair outside. Ivelisse nailed a cross body off of the high guardrails around ringside. While fighting on the steps, both girls took a nasty spill to the floor below. Ivelisse hit a sick looking German and then a sunset flip bomb. As the referee counted, the lights went out. When they came up, he was gone and Catrina was behind Ivelisse. Catrina had a bit of a different look and planted Ivelisse with a Barbie crusher. The lights went out and back on and the referee was back. Taya hit a northern lights suplex into a double stomp to win. The match was good but we’re four for four in matches ending with some kind of shenanigans. I like that it sets up next season and I really liked the big step forward of the Ivelisse/Catrina feud that has been brewing for a very long time, but it still took away from this, while also making Taya out to be an afterthought. ***

The lights went out again and Taya’s gone and Catrina was back in the ring. She said that death comes for everyone, even Ivelisse before giving her the lick of death for the second straight Ultima Lucha in a row.

Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Prince Puma in 16:37

The dream match. The past vs. the future. It delivered. Puma and Rey shook hands before testing each other. Is Puma as good as the legend? Could Rey keep up with the benchmark of Lucha Underground? The crowd was split, chanting 323 and 619 (each guy’s home area code). They knew each other’s offense well from their time as a team as well Puma idolizing Rey and Rey knowing about Puma from Konnan. Puma hit some really big moves, including a sweet blue thunder bomb for two, but Rey always found a way to kick out. In a moment similar to Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24 (Strike hammered the point home way too much though) Puma looked down on his idol and showed him love before attempting a 630. That allowed Rey to move and try the 619. Puma countered it only for Rey to counter back. The veteran hit the 619 and an awesome diving rana to score the win. This was a wonderfully told story and a great match to boot. They worked well together and everything they did made sense. I loved that Puma was kind of the better man, but Rey was wily enough to beat him. The fact that I don’t see many great Rey performances left made this all the more special. ****¼

After the match, Rey left Puma in the ring to be with his hometown fans and that was going to be the final image of season two. BUT WAIT! An angry Pentagon Dark attacked Vampiro with the barbed wire bat. He superkicked Matt Striker to take him out before grinding the bat on Vampiro’s bloodied forehead several times. As Vampiro sat there in in a pool of blood, Pentagon took to the microphone to say that he was now the master. He also took to wiping Vampiro’s blood and licking it off his hand, which was gross. I’m curious about where this goes, but not at all stoked about Pentagon’s booking.

The last shot we saw was Dario Cueto being arrested. He’s presumably in the back of a police car with the sirens and lights all around him. He then looks up at the camera and smiles.

Overall: 8/10. I think it’s nearly impossible for Lucha Underground to have a bad show. That being said, I’ll get the stuff I didn’t like out of the way. Lotus/Azteca was fine for what it was, but really just got thrown out to advance another angle. I’m unsure about the Pentagon Dark stuff as well as him losing. The biggest gripe with the show though was all of the interference and shenanigans. Still, four of the five matches are good to great and the show breezes by while being highly entertaining. I don't think Ultima Lucha Dos was quite as good as the original Ultima Lucha, but it still managed to be a strong set of shows with a solid ending.

NJPW Super J-Cup Night One Review

NJPW Super J-Cup 2016 Night One
July 20th, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan

Unlike the annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament, the Super J-Cup features junior heavyweights from around the world and not just NJPW. It has only happened in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2009 before this year. Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit), Jushin Thunder Liger and Naomichi Marufuji won the previous entries. Representatives from NJPW, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, AJPW, CMLL, K-Dojo, Ryukyu Dragon and ROH will participate. I wasn’t a fan of them giving spots to LIDJ and Chaos as if they were separate companies but it got BUSHI and Will Ospreay, which I’m not mad about. Also unlike the BOTSJ, this isn’t round robin and is done in the more traditional tournament format.

Super J-Cup First Round: Matt Sydal (ROH) def. Kaji Tomato (K-Dojo) in 7:56
I’ll admit this is my first look at a lot of guys and Tomato is one of them. He is pretty out there and dances with tomato pom-poms in his entrance. I wasn’t a fan of Sydal as the ROH representative since he wrestles for NJPW a lot. I would have rather had ACH in this spot. Sydal got in the typical offense we’ve come to expect from him. Since he was new, I was more interested in Tomato, who seems like a fair amount of fun. He hit a weak tiger suplex so I liked that he picked Sydal back up to nail a better looking one at one point. Tomato did one of the quickest small packages I’ve ever seen but only got two. Sydal won with the Shooting Sydal Press shortly after. A fun little opener, but nothing to write home about. Tomato was enjoyable and so incredibly fast that he made this a blast. ***

Super J-Cup First Round: Kenoh (NOAH) def. Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon) in 11:33
Gurukun seemed pretty over as there was a sign for him and more than a few of his masks in the crowd. I read that he’s in his 40’s but you wouldn’t have been able to tell here. There was a spring to his step as he did some impressive things. Kenoh had someone at ringside that got involved, making it clear that he was the heel in this. Despite his age, Gurukun nailed a great looking dive to the outside. Kenoh went after the leg following that, continually trying for an ankle lock. After an exchange of stiff kicks, Gurukun came close to winning with a moonsault. Kenoh would not be denied though, hitting a flurry of offense including a dragon suplex, penalty kick and then finally the Ragou to advance. An improvement on the opener, but I would have liked more leg selling from Gurukun. ***¼

Super J-Cup First Round: Taichi (Suzuki-Gun/NOAH) def. Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW) in 11:47
I’ve never seen Aoyagi but have seen Taichi before. Taichi got a long entrance featuring a half-dressed woman, microphone stand and coming out through the crowd. He also stopped to make sure the commentary team could take photos of them. Tons of stalling from Taichi before and after the match began. Not in the entertaining Tetsuya Naito way either. Honestly, I got the feeling that Taichi didn’t seem to care much, while Aoyagi looked motivated. I read that he’s pretty new so I’m sure he wanted to make an impact. Taichi busted out all of the cheap heel stuff, while Aoyagi did a good job fighting from behind and picking up some close flash pins. Taichi put him away with a last ride in a match that felt longer than it actually was and that was all Taichi’s fault. I’d like to see more of Aoyagi down the line. *½ 

Super J-Cup First Round: Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW) def. Eita (Dragon Gate) in 9:13
Former two-time winner Jushin Thunder Liger got the biggest pop of the show so far. Eita looked to make an early statement, dropkicking Liger during his entrance and then diving out onto him. Eita cut his eye early and it honestly added a great visual to the match. Liger got in all of his trademark stuff including a Brainbuster outside and Romero special, while Eita hit a spectacular looking dropkick. Eita put Liger into a Fujiwara arm bar and then a Numero-Uno but Liger was able to escape both. He rallied with Shotei and won after a second Brainbuster. I really wish this got more time, especially when Taichi got almost twelve minutes. I was kind of sad that Eita lost because he impressed me the most of anybody on the card so far. To be fair, this is Liger’s tournament and, despite being 51, he can still flat out go. Liger was motivated and had a really strong match here. With more time, it would have probably reached another level. Liger shook Eita’s hand after the bell and the fans gave him a nice hand. Dude deserved it. ***½

Super J-Cup First Round: Will Ospreay (NJPW/Chaos) def. Titan (CMLL) in 9:14
I still don’t get why Chaos and Los Ingobernables be Japon have their own representatives like they aren’t just from NJPW. Will Ospreay kissed the hand of a fan at ringside, who blushed uncontrollably. Outside of watching Tomato be a blur earlier, this was probably the quickest paced match on the show. Both guys impressed with their speed and athleticism. Ospreay nailed a shooting star press off the apron, while Titan hit a big top rope moonsault to the outside. Kudos to Ospreay for using the Sasuke Special, since Sasuke was in the original Super J-Cup. He went into a big flurry that included a phoenix splash before advancing with the Oscutter. Fun match here but nothing special. It was an aerial display from two badass high flyers. After the match, Ospreay brought Titan his country’s flag (much smaller than his own flag cape) and they showed each other respect. ***

Super J-Cup First Round: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun/NOAH) def. BUSHI (LIDJ/NJPW) in 10:25
Both guys represented heel stables, making this an interesting matchup. Along with KUSHIDA, Kyle O’Reilly and Ospreay, I find BUSHI to be in the top tier of NJPW juniors, though his booking during the Best of the Super Juniors was way suspect. BUSHI attacked before the bell, but it backfired when he ran into a chair shot from Kanemaru. They fought into the crowd where we got suplexes and dives. It was certainly something different from the rest of the card. Unfortunately, that was where the match peaked. The stuff back in the ring never quite reached the interest level of the stuff outside of it. Despite BUSHI consistently giving top effort and being one of the most over guys in the tournament, he lost to a spinning Brainbuster. Disappointing result, but about what I expected from a performance standpoint. BUSHI deserves better. **¾

Super J-Cup First Round: Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW) def. Daisuke Harada (NOAH) in 14:56
Oh man. Daisuke Harada, along with Atushi Kotoge and Taiji Ishimori, is one of my favorite guys in NOAH. Ryusuke Taguchi is among my least favorite guys in NJPW. During the BOTSJ, Taguchi was hit or miss, having some really good matches and some really Taguchi level matches. Here, I’d say he was in the middle. I love that Harada is a junior, but he’s a thick dude and he wrestles like one. He looked extremely motivated here. Taguchi went for ankle locks and ass based offense. Harada dropkicked him in the ass to stop it at one point. He also hit a double stomp on the apron, followed by a Death Valley driver on it leading to both men barely beating the count back in at nineteen. Once back inside, they traded ankle locks and Harada ended up kicking out of Dodon. That gave me hope but alas, he couldn’t kick out of Dodon Throne. Really solid match, though too much typical Taguchi at points. I just want Harada booked in NJPW more frequently. Dude is awesome. Not a fan of this result at all. Harada against anyone in the next round would be better. ***½ 

Super J-Cup First Round: KUSHIDA (NJPW) def. Taiji Ishimori (NOAH) in 16:25
I really wish Taiji Ishimori was booked against someone else. Dude deserved to advance. He and Harada are way more interesting than the likes of Taguchi and Taichi. KUSHIDA is the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion for those unaware and he has been for over seven months, making him the longest current reigning champion in NJPW. They started by grappling, which is a really underrated but very strong part of KUSHIDA’s game. It really felt like Ishimori brought his best for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and KUSHIDA was his usual great self. I just have to say that KUSHIDA’s trademark somersault spot always scares me. I worry someone might not catch him correctly. He should never wrestle the Miz. Ishimori picked up a big near fall after a vicious lariat. He also had the best highlight with a sick moonsault powerslam off the top. Alas, NJPW sweeps their matches (outside of BUSHI) when KUSHIDA made Ishimori tap to the Hoverboard Lock. My favorite match of the night and further proof that NJPW needs more Ishimori. Hell, they need to swap out some of their guys for NOAH guys. KUSHIDA, O’Reilly, Fish, Ishimori, Kotoge, Harada, Ospreay, Ricochet, Kenoh and BUSHI sounds good to me. Really good back and forth from both guys. ***¾

Overall: 6.5/10. Considering the history of this tournament and the hype surrounding it, I think the first night was a bit of a disappointment. Granted, only one match is something I’d call bad (Taichi/Aoyagi), but nothing really sticks out. You get some strong matches (KUSHIDA/Ishimori, Taguchi/Harada and Liger/Eita) though none ever reach great territory. Add in the booking decisions that I disliked (BUSHI and Harada not advancing and the NJPW dominance) and you’ve got a middle of the pack start for the tournament.

Cruiserweight Classic Review 7/20/16

WWE Cruiserweight Classic
July 20th, 2016 | Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida

After words from Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves recaps week one from the "control center". For those that forgot, Ho Ho Lun, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander and Kota Ibushi all advanced.

Tajiri def. Damian Slater in 5:27
It's great to see Tajiri back in action. I was always a fan of his.Damian Slater is representing Australia. Commentary did a good job of talking about Slater getting into a kicking battle with a master of it. Slater stuck to his guns and delivered his best kicks, which was cool. Tajiri has lost a step but still did well throughout. At one point, they kicked each other at the same time to a pop. Tajiri's kicks proved to be better as he won with the Buzzsaw Kick. Fine little opener here. The crowd loved seeing Tajiri again and Slater was rather impressive. In round two, we get Gran Metalik vs. Tajiri. **1/2

TJ Perkins def. Da Mack in 6:31
I love TJ Perkins. I just want to point that out beforehand. He represents the Philippines, while Da Mack is the "Urban German". Da Mack's theme is at least ****1/2. They worked at a very fast pace early on, with Perkins showing off his ability to blend high flying, technical expertise and a flair for the cocky. Da Mack got in some of his own stuff, including a dive outside and a series of kicks that saw him dance and moonwalk. Perkins caught the flashy Mack in a kneebar to make him submit. A really fun sprint between two guys that brought a lot of personality, which is sometimes missing in things like that. I would love to see Perkins make it to the final four because a showdown with Ibushi sounds incredible. ***1/4

Lince Dorado def. Mustafa Ali in 5:53
Ali is from Pakistan, while Dorado is here for my home, Puerto Rico. Ali was reluctant to shake hands, like Daivari in week one. Damn those evil foreigners. Dorado was all over the place in a good way here. He had a highlight reel flying head scissors which he followed with an Asai moonsault to the outside. He also spiked Ali with a crazy springboard reverse rana for a near fall. Ali got in an impressive springboard Spanish fly for two. He also busted out an imploding 450 splash but missed and lost to a shooting star press. A big time spotfest but a fun one. The tournament isn't just spotfests so at least one every week is fine. ***1/4

Akira Tozawa def. Kenneth Johnson in 9:44
Tozawa represents Japan, while Johnson is competing for America. Johnson is Gumby thin. We get mat work  and Johnson does a good job of staying with the bigger star throughout. They exchanged chops and strikes until Tozawa just laid him out with a vicious right hand. Johnson popped up after eating a German and they did the old school double clothesline spot. He doesn't get up quick from a lightning release German though. Tozawa followed that with another German to seal the deal. Tozawa looked good and kudos to Johnson, who more than held his own. ***

Next week, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tyson Dux, Drew Gulak vs. Harv Shira, Anthony Bennett vs. Tony Nese and Raul Mendoza vs. Brian Kendrick.

Overall: 7/10. I enjoyed the first episode more but this was still a very enjoyable hour of wrestling. The matches fly by and the presentation is still top notch. If you are pressed for time, the Dorado and Perkins matches are the ones to check out. Perkins looked like he belonged in a WWE ring and should get signed. Two for two in really easy to watch episodes.

Fave Five 7/11/16-7/17/16

1) Matt Riddle: There was certainly a fair amount of action this week but only one guy swept more than two matches. Matt Riddle competed three times in two days and had some great matches. First, at Evolve 64, he wrestled Roderick Strong in a bit of a dream match. The young Riddle defeated him in a match I gave **** to. The following day, he competed at Beyond Wrestling's Flesh event and won in the main event against Tommaso Ciampa. Later that day, he was at it again, taking on another big indy name, Marty Scurll at Evolve 65. Riddle won all three matches and continues to shine despite being in the business for less than two years.

                                                          2) Sexy Star: Lucha Underground's Ultima Lucha Dos three part season finale held part two earlier this week. A good chunk of the show was taken up by the Gift of the Gods Championship match. Unlike last year's big Gift of the Gods Title match, this was held under elimination rules. The final four (of seven) saw two rivalries come together. Killshot, Marty Martinez, Mariposa and Sexy Star. Killshot got eliminated, leaving Sexy Star alone against the Martinez siblings that made her life hell since the end of the inaugural Ultima Lucha. Sexy Star overcame the odds and defeated both of them to win the title, earning her a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship whenever she wants. It was a fitting bookend to the rivalry, especially since Sexy Star was kind of made after the No Mas match.

3) Seth Rollins: On Raw, Seth Rollins was part of a really funny segment called the "Rollins Report". He clipped together footage of old Roman Reigns interviews and spliced them together to create some really funny stuff. He and Dean Ambrose then had a great promo together to set up a title match this week. On Smackdown, Seth got involved in Dean's match with Kevin Owens, leading to a tag team match also involving Sami Zayn. Seth was able to defeat Sami and pick up the pinfall and win in the final Thursday night Smackdown. With the news that Stephanie McMahon is running aw and them getting the first pick, Seth is predicted by many to go number one overall.

4) Drew Galloway and Dustin: Drew Galloway pretty much owned the weekend of Evolve 64 and 65. Like Matt Riddle, he swept the weekend in his two matches. First, he attacked his rival Johnny Gargano at Evolve 64, leading to the return of Chuck Taylor, now under the name Dustin. They goaded Catch Point members Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams into giving them a shot at the Tag Team Titles and then went on to actually win them in the main event. If that wasn't enough, Galloway also headlined Evolve 65 and defeated rival Johnny Gargano, That solidified Galloway's crusade against Evolve's partnership with the WWE. With Galloway, Dustin, Ethan Carter III and the soon to arrive Cody Rhodes, their side is pretty formidable.

5) Mil Muertes: Won a Deathmatch against King Cuerno at Ultima Lucha Dos.

NJPW G1 Climax 26 Night One Review

NJPW G1 Climax 26 Night One
July 18th, 2016 | Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Hokkaido, Japan

The time is finally upon us. New Japan’s annual G1 Climax tournament has begun and will run through August 14th. Like I did for the Best of the Super Juniors tournament this year, I will only be reviewing the actual tournament matches to avoid burnout because nineteen shows is a lot of damn wrestling. We start with the A Block in the same building where things began last year. I believe the B Block is far superior so we’ll see how things shake out.

I would like to point out that they hilariously kept the footage of Tanahashi’s flag breaking during last year’s G1 celebration in the intro video.

A Block: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] def. Tomohiro Ishii [0] in 14:08
A lot of people bitched about Tenzan replacing Kojima since he had some poor performances last year, though that was mostly due to him dealing with injuries. I love that he got in for one final time despite being more of a Kojima fan. Tenzan and Ishii had some great interactions during multi-man tags in the BOTSJ so I was looking forward to this. As always, the crowd was way into this. They love Tenzan. Ishii took control and disrespected Tenzan by toying with him on some kicks and slaps to the face. That fired up Tenzan who even tossed the ref aside to get at Ishii. This was a war of two guys trying to hand out the most punishment. Tenzan locked in the Anaconda Vice and slammed him but only got two. Satoshi Kojima was at ringside with Tenzan and told a story with his desperate facial expressions. Ishii hit a sick headbutt and seated lariat that everyone thought would end it but Tenzan would not be denied. They got into a headbutt war that Tenzan won where he even blocked a kick by just taking it on the skull. He then used his buddy Koji’s lariat and a moonsault to pick up an emotional win. Both guys took a beating but it was the added emotional impact of Tenzan’s run, the hot crowd and Kojima at ringside that really helped send this into the next level. Amazing work from all three men that felt like a much more important match than a G1 opener. ****¼

A Block: Togi Makabe [2] def. Tama Tonga [0] in 10:36
Togi Makabe was sporting some new colors on his gear, looking like a cheap Okada knockoff. Also, someone lied to Tama Tonga and told him that his gear looked good. These two have a history with Tonga eliminating Makabe from the New Japan Cup earlier this year and being part of the team that took the IWGP Tag Team Titles from Togi and Tomoaki Honma. For a while, Tonga has been a guy that did well in multi-man tags but is finally getting a chance in 2016. It hasn’t worked out yet though, with no standout singles performances and a piss poor Tag Title run with his brother. Makabe pounced early and they started before the bell. The problem was that this had no real flow to it. Tonga just worked over Makabe for a while and nobody cared. It felt like a Yujiro Takahashi match from last year, which is bad. During his entrance and if Tonga posed at any point, you could hear a pin drop in the arena. They fought up top where Makabe nailed a spider belly to belly suplex and won with the King Kong Knee Drop. This felt way longer than it was. Not the start that Tonga was hoping for because this lacked any real interest and was very dull. This match made me want to Hangman Page myself. *½

A Block: Hirooki Goto [2] def. Bad Luck Fale [0] in 9:18
Bad Luck Fale was pissed off from the start, attacking the ring announcer. He must have spent time watching that last match. If you entrance video is supposed to be highlights, why does Hirooki Goto’s show him losing to Okada? I like him but he’s such a loser. Goto went after Fale’s arm but fell victim to Fale’s power. We got the first of what I expect to be many guardrail whips and countout teases as Goto took a beating outside. Fale pounded away and nailed the Grenade for a near fall. He went for the devastating Bad Luck Fall, which, thanks to how it has been protected, draws a reaction each time. Goto slipped free and started the big comeback. He utilized a sleeper to put Fale into a lull before scoring with the GTR. I’d say this was about as good as you could expect from this combination. Hopefully Goto has a strong tournament points wise, because I know he’ll bring it performance wise. ***

A Block: SANADA [2] def. Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] in 19:28
This is Hiroshi Tanahashi’s return after dealing with some injuries that kept him out of Dominion. SANADA returned to NJPW at Invasion Attack and joined Los Ingobernables de Japon. He had a solid match with Okada at Wrestling Dontaku and some great interactions in multi-man tags but this is easily his biggest test so far. Tanahashi wore black boots and it looked so strange. They worked a slow start until things went outside and SANADA hit a drop toe hold into the guardrail. SANADA attacked the left arm, which Tanahashi sold very well. SANADA has some insane hops, jumping way high on some leap frogs before connecting with a dropkick. SANADA ate some trademark dragon screws and had his leg worked over. They go into strikes, which SANADA has the upper hand in due to the arm work. Tanahashi survived a dragon sleeper and countered another. He went for High Fly Flow but SANADA pulled an Orton and countered with a huge ace crusher. He only got two on that and a moonsault so he hit a second moonsault and slapped the dragon sleeper back on. Tanahashi tapped out cleanly, giving SANADA the biggest win of his career. Great stuff here. They solidified SANADA’s dragon sleeper as a legit finish and played into Tanahashi’s recent injury. The match did drag a bit at some points, but it had great moments, top notch selling and an awesome final few minutes capped off by the upset win. Side note, while it was an upset, I did predict SANADA would win this. ****

A Block: Naomichi Marufuji [2] def. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada [0] in 19:06
The ace of New Japan against the ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH. Marufuji is in the perfect block for him because I really feel like his style meshes well with the Okadas and Tanahashis of the world. Early on, it was clear they were trying to feel each other out, leading to a cool sequence of near misses. A trend of the night, Marufuji went to work on Okada’s arm, looking to take away the Rainmaker. You really got the feeling that Marufuji had Okada expertly scouted throughout. Some of the arm work Marufuji did was innovative and cool looking, which is appreciated after seeing arm work in the past two matches. They did a really good job of telling the audience how prepared Marufuji was, having Okada’s number at every turn. Okada sold the arm like death at some points, but forgot about it a bit when it was convenient for his offense. He looked overmatched and it was great. Marufuji won with Emerald Flowsion, giving us our second upset of night one. Marufuji turned back the clock and reminded me of when I saw him with ROH nearly ten years ago. The way he dominated makes me feel like he’ll get an IWGP Title shot down the line. If they did it in NOAH, it would be really cool. Not MOTY level for me like I’ve seen some say, but still really good. I could watch Okada get his ass handed to him every night.***¾

Overall: 8/10. A great start to this year’s G1 Climax. Night one has some stinkers last year but this time around, we only got one really bad match. Seriously, never watch Makabe and Tonga. Everything else delivered. Goto and Fale had pretty much the best possible match for Goto and Fale. Marufuji and Okada delivered a strong main event with an upset. I thought SANADA/Tanahashi was great and accomplished a lot of things. It was only bested by Tenzan and Ishii tearing down the house with a stiff match full of emotion. My kind of show, but again, skip the second G1 match.

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Hirooki Goto	2 (1-0)	EVIL	0 (0-0)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan	2 (1-0)	Katsuhiko Nakajima	0 (0-0)
Naomichi Marufuji	2 (1-0)	Katsuyori Shibata	0 (0-0)
SANADA	2 (1-0)	Kenny Omega	0 (0-0)
Togi Makabe	2 (1-0)	Michael Elgin	0 (0-0)
Bad Luck Fale	0 (0-1)	Tetsuya Naito	0 (0-0)
Hiroshi Tanahashi	0 (0-1)	Tomoaki Honma	0 (0-0)
Kazuchika Okada	0 (0-1)	Toru Yano	0 (0-0)
Tama Tonga	0 (0-1)	Yuji Nagata	0 (0-0)
Tomohiro Ishii	0 (0-1)	YOSHI-HASHI	0 (0-0)

Top 5 Worst Debuts

5) Glacier: Blood runs cold. You all remember the promos and hype videos. With Mortal Kombat being a hugely popular video game, WCW tried to capitalize on that with the Glacier character. Here's the thing though. He was built up for FIVE WHOLE MONTHS with just vignettes. Then his actual debut doesn't come on Nitro, but on WCW Pro. That was behind Nitro, Saturday Night and Worldwide in terms of relevance. Not a good investment considering reports say his costume and entrance cost somewhere around $500,000. Eric Bischoff likes to brag about how his idea was to have his show grounded in "realism" while the WWE was hokey, but this was the opposite of that. The crowd didn't buy into it and for good reason.

4) Fake Diesel and Fake Razor Ramon: Honestly, there was no other way that this could have possibly gone. After Kevin Nash and Scott Hall fled to WCW for those big checks, the WWE thought they could cash in themselves using the names Diesel and Razor Ramon. This was built up for weeks as Jim Ross, playing a heel, kept bragging about them coming in. When the time finally arrived and the fans saw it wasn't Nash or Hall, they crapped on it and rightfully so. Were we supposed to take this seriously? At least it got Hall and Nash even more money because WCW somehow believed it was really them jumping ship.

3) Seven: I've always been a huge Goldust fan. The character is great and has some incredible longevity, second to only Kane and the Undertaker probably. But pretty much every other gimmick that Dustin had has been shit. Seven is at the top of the list as he seemed to be billed as a child molester. Obviously, not a good start. Things take a massive turn for the worse though as when he finally debuts he throws it all away. Whatever money they spent on the vignettes was wasted because WCW decided it should just be a work. Bad move.

                    2) The Yeti: WCW had just debuted their new flagship show Nitro and things were looking up for the company. They were putting on competitive matches and competing with Raw in the ratings. Re-watching this stuff on the WWE Network was fun...and then the Yeti showed up. During Hulk Hogan's feud with the Giant, which already featured some of the weirdest booking ever, Kevin Sullivan revealed an iceberg or something. From it emerged the Yeti...but he looked like a mummy. And had no business in professional wrestling. To make everything a million times worse, Tony Schiavone pronounced it as "Ye-TAY" 

1) The Shockmaster:  I don't think there could be another answer. Classic WCW here, as they took Fred Ottman, aka Typhoon and gave him this memorable moment. Sting introduced the Shockmaster and we were supposed to be in awe. What happened instead was a lame explosion and then the Shockmaster bursting through the wall and tripping. Not only that but his bedazzled Stormtrooper helmet, which was a god awful look, fell off. Ric Flair's reaction of "oh god" best sums this up. It even was near the top of WWE Countdown's Biggest Blunders episode.