NJPW King of Pro Wrestling Review

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling
October 10th, 2016 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 9,671

If NJPW has a “big four”, I’d say King of Pro Wrestling is one of those shows. Over the past few years, it has featured some big matches including Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki (*****), Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (*****) and AJ Styles vs. Okada (****). There was a dark match on this show, based on a recent anime that began airing in Japan. Tiger Mask W defeated Red Death Mask. It aired on NJPW World but I’m pressed for time and couldn’t check it out. I do know that Tiger Mask W was played by Kota Ibushi. So he’s doing this (even if it’s a one-off or part time), instead of signing committed deals.

CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI) def. Bullet Club (ROH World Champion Adam Cole, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi) in 8:40
Fale didn’t go after the ring announcer tonight. It’s a Bullet Club match, so of course it began with them attacking Chaos before the bell and a brawl. You’d think their opponents would be expecting it by this point. This went exactly as expected. Cole got some shine early to continue to try and get his character over with the Japanese audience. YOSHI played the face in peril for a while and Ospreay got a hot tag that led to work with Cole which was fine, but like their match in Destruction, not great. Ishii got the last big tag for his team and even on a night where it wasn’t his stage, he’s still damn good. They did a series of everyone getting something in, ending with Ospreay diving out onto Cole and Fale. That left Yujiro to fall victim to a brainbuster. Fine opener that did everything I thought it would. **¾

ROH Television Champion Bobby Fish, Great Bash Heel and Ryusuke Taguchi def. CHAOS (GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Jado, Roppongi Vice and GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Toru Yano) in 8:11
Toru Yano and his tag team partner Naomichi Marufuji beat Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI in the main event of the most recent NOAH show. On that night, Jado and Gedo beat the best junior tag team going, Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada for some stupid reason. This wasn’t quite as good as the opener, but again did what it needed to. They seemed to be building towards GBH being the next challengers in NOAH for Yano and Marufuji, which sounds much better than anything going on in the IWGP Tag Title scene. While some of the guys tried, it was a forgettable NJPW multi-man tag. Honma pinned Romero with Kokeshi. It was yet another loss for Romero and they teased more tension with RPG Vice. While I’d like a shakeup in the junior ranks, I don’t know how much either guy would add to the singles division. Makabe went after Yano post-match. **¼

Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya and Maybach Taniguchi def. Manabu Nakanishi, TenKoji and Yuji Nagata in 11:49
Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. New Japan Dads. They did a similar match at the G1 Climax finals (though that one included Shibata) and it was awesome. Both teams attacked each other before the match officially began. Even without Shibata, this ruled. Everyone just went to war like eight guys who had serious beef. The New Japan Dads are always fun and it showed here. Nakajima and Shiozaki have played the dick heels very well in their NJPW appearances so far. The crowd ate all of this up. Kojima got fired up and started hitting cutters on everything moving. He made the hot tag to Nagata, who was his usual great self. Watching Shiozaki and Nakanishi chop the shit out of each other was a blast. Go eventually put him down with a lariat to win a really fun match. Give me more NOAH tags on these shows please. They’ve been a highlight so far with hot crowds, smart work and intense battles. Everyone, outside of Nakanishi who was helped to the back, brawled after the bell. Nagata and Nakajima slapped the taste of each other’s mouths and it was grand. ***¾

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (c) def. David Finlay and Ricochet in 12:47
Finlay and Ricochet wore matching gear despite it being their first time as a team. Well, mostly matching. They do hold two-thirds of the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship, while the Bucks are also the ROH World Tag Team Champions. The Bucks ran down Finlay, telling him that his dad sucked and that he was just a young boy. Finlay and Ricochet worked smoothly together, to the point where you’d think they have been a team for a long time. They played off of everyone knowing each other well, leading to a frantic series of close calls from both teams. Ricochet got the hot tag and came in like a flying madman. I like Ricochet using the cutter since it works as homage to Kojima. Ricochet cut off the Meltzer Driver and they did the Finlay roll/SSP combo, but Matt got his knees up on the SSP. Ricochet cut off their finisher again, leading to a well done flash fin fake out by Finlay. They finally took out Ricochet and beat Finlay with More Bang for Your Buck. One of, if not the most enjoyable Bucks match in 2016. It was fast paced, I didn’t find myself annoyed and the stuff done made sense. The false finishes and early counters were great too. Give me Ricochet and Finlay over Ricochet and Sydal any day of the week. ***½

IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Guerillas of Destiny def. The Briscoes (c) in 13:58
Surprisingly, no face paint for Tama Tonga and Mark Briscoe cut his hair. I prefer this look for him. I gave this match **½ at Dominion and I was being way too generous. It’s just so uninteresting. I honestly can’t even write too much about this because it was hard to pay attention to. Jay hit a suicide dive and Mark nailed a block buster off the apron but the crowd mostly sat on their hands. Haku’s mediocre kids broke up a doomsday device and eventually regained the titles with their DDT combo. So goddamn boring. I shit on the NJPW booking of the junior divisions a lot, but their heavyweight tag team division might be the worst of all. The Briscoes are almost always interesting, but they were saddled with shit Bullet Club tags throughout this reign. **

The Young Bucks showed up and the four Bullet Club members put the boots to the Briscoes. Tomohiro Ishii ran out to make the save but got taken out too. So this was all seemingly done so the Tag Champions could be in the World Tag League (since the Briscoes have to be in ROH for that). Hirooki Goto and Ishii are going to most likely win that so this was a way to set up the eventual match. However, where was the CHAOS guys to help Ishii? They pulled a John Cena on him.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jay Lethal, KUSHIDA and Michael Elgin def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito) in 11:42
In a totally unsurprising moment, Tetsuya Naito and LIDJ were the most over act on the show. As always, Steve Corino fist bumped Naito during his entrance. Like a Bullet Club match, this started because of Naito attacking before the bell. It is so weird to see Lethal team with the babyfaces, especially Elgin, considering his alliance with LIDJ earlier this year. Tanahashi was surprisingly the guy to take the heat in this one. EVIL hit him with a BIG BOY SENTON and I marked. KUSHIDA got some revenge on BUSHI and then fast ball punched Naito. I’d still kill for a KUSHIDA/Naito match. They did some fine work together here. Elgin dragged KUSHIDA to give him the hot tag and he started kicking Naito’s ass. Elgin is a great hot tag powerhouse. They went into the barrage of big moves before Naito ate the Lethal Injection and Elgin’s powerbomb combos to end it. A lot of fun because LIDJ is the BEST THING IN NJPW. They set up future stuff as both Elgin and Lethal (who beat Naito in ROH) are in line for IC Title shots. ***½

Post-match, Elgin grabbed the title and held it up while standing on Naito. All hell broke loose as EVIL did his chair spot to KUSHIDA while Lethal and Elgin just basically watched. KUSHIDA also took the MX from BUSHI with the chair. KUSHIDA did a stretcher job.

I’m not sure where it happened, but Elgin suffered a fractured face during the match. Ouch.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) def. Kyle O’Reilly w/ Bobby Fish in 18:06
Far and away the most interesting and exciting match on the card. At last month’s “Destruction in Tokyo”, Shibata beat Fish so now his partner gets a shot. Also, back in August, O’Reilly beat Shibata in a non-title match in ROH. We got some grappling early and this had a gritty feel throughout it. They transitioned to strikes but both guys missed their big attempts. Kyle was first to actually lay in the strikes. He tried an armbar but Shibata blocked it and everything felt like a struggle in a good way. He was in control after a vicious series of strikes. Shibata sat up after a kick to the chest and brushed off the next one. He caught one and just walloped Kyle with a right hand. They started trading stuff and the match really got going. O’Reilly hit the brainbuster for two and went into a triangle choke. Shibata fought out of it and ended up in an armbar but reached the ropes. This led to an exchange of suplexes and kicks, before a forearm battle that ended with them hitting simultaneous big boots. Shibata ended up using the sleeper to set up the PK but went right back to the sleeper. O’Reilly passed out and Shibata retained. Exactly what I wanted. A war between two of my favorites and the big match performance that O’Reilly needed to solidify his heavyweight change. Awesome stuff. Extra love for Fish as the corner man shouting “BITE THE HAND” anytime Shibata got the sleeper in. ****¼

After the match, Go Shiozaki showed up looking for a shot at the NEVER Openweight Title. He left the ring and EVIL showed up to nail Shibata with the STO. It looks like Shibata’s next two title defenses are set. Maybe EVIL at Power Struggle and Go in the Dome? Or maybe EVIL at a “Road to” show, Go at Power Struggle and hopefully Nakajima in the Dome.

Wrestle Kingdom 11 Title Shot: Kenny Omega w/ The Young Bucks def. Hirooki Goto in 21:52
This is a rematch of the G1 Finals. I’ve yet to watch that match and don’t plan on it since it doesn’t interest me in the least. Omega obviously won it and Goto gets another shot for some reason here, though he’s a perennial loser. Goto turned the tables on Omega by attacking before the bell and leveling him with the title shot briefcase before also taking out the Young Bucks. Omega weathered that storm and things got evened out. I actually watched the last two matches with English commentary (I stopped watching for the Nationals/Dodgers game and clicked English by accident and didn’t bother to change it) and they hammered home Goto coming up short throughout his career. Red Shoes ejected the Young Bucks and YOSHI-HASHI. Omega took a backwards bump through a table outside and hit his head on the guardrail. Goto could have won with a countout, but like a complete buffoon, brought Omega back into the ring. THIS IS WHY YOU’RE A CAREER LOSER! Goto picked up some near falls but no part of me ever believed he would win. Omega hit a stiff knee and nearly won with Goto’s own Shouten Kai. Once that failed, One Winged Angel ended it. This was good, but far from great. Part of it was that the outcome was never in doubt. Goto will forever be Gedo’s personal whipping boy. They constantly talk about him coming up short, but it never leads anywhere. Omega is now guaranteed to get his Heavyweight Title shot in the Tokyo Dome, no matter how bad of an idea I think that is. ***½

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) w/ Gedo def. GHC Tag Team Champion Naomichi Marufuji w/ NOAH dudes in 28:00
Ace vs. Ace. Their match on the first night of the G1 saw Marufuji kick Okada’s ass. It was grand. Okada used his size advantage early, which Marufuji combated with his quickness. They did the fighting outside thing, where Marufuji hit a nice bulldog type move onto the guardrail. From there, Marufuji kicked Okada’s ass and lit him up with chops. Even when Okada could get in control, Marufuji was ready with kicks that Okada couldn’t find an answer for. It fit the buildup where Marufuji constantly was one step ahead of him. Marufuji hit a goddamn apron piledriver, which Okada should not be taking. The champion just barely beat the count back into the ring and Marufuji instantly dropkicked him. He hit Shiranui and for a second, I believed he won but Okada kicked out. Still, Okada looked dead until he countered a second Shiranui into a modified Rainmaker. Marufuji countered a second one into a small package for a really close two count. Okada then hit a piledriver, stole Marufuji’s Emerald Flowsion and won with another Rainmaker. The streak of Okada having his only great matches against guys that are better than him continues (see Tanahashi, Nakamura, Styles, Naito, Ishii, etc.) and this worked great for me because it wasn’t just typical Okada formula. They actually told a really great story and Okada had to overcome and find a way to finally overcome this guy that has had his number. ****¼

Gedo called out Kenny Omega for the Wrestle Kingdom 11 stare down. Omega did most of the talking and was highlighted by claiming that he was gonna treat Okada like a bitch, just like they did in America.

Overall: 8/10. A better show than I expected considering the card. The Young Bucks match was actually a lot of fun, the main event over delivered since they didn’t do the typical Okada formula, Goto/Omega was good and Shibata and O’Reilly stole the show. The NOAH tag was damn good and I like how they set up a lot of upcoming stuff. The Los Ingobernables tag was also fun and the only bad thing on the show was the Guerillas of Destiny tag (as always). Enjoyable stuff.

WWE No Mercy Review

WWE No Mercy
October 9th, 2016 | Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California

This show has some shuffling around. Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger was moved from the pre-show to the main card, most likely to fill time after Becky Lynch’s injury. The Kickoff show had an eight man tag that saw American Alpha and the Hype Bros take on the Ascension and the Vaudevillains. It was a pretty fun match. Mojo Rawley was insane self and American Alpha got to run wild a bit. After 9:09, AA got the win for their team with Grand Amplitude. (**¾)

WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) def. Dean Ambrose and John Cena in 21:07
In a moment that has only happened about three other times, the WWE Championship match opened the Pay-Per-View (though it was the first time that happened and a World Title didn’t close the show). This had a big fight feel and worked better than a lot of triple threat matches. It wasn’t one of those where two guys wrestled, while one rested outside. That did happen a few times, but for the most part, all three men were involved and it led to some excellent sequences. They did a spot where Dean used the calf crusher and Cena did the STF at the same time on AJ, who tapped out. The bell rang but the referee rightly restarted things because you can’t win a triple threat match that way. AJ wisely brought a chair into play after Cena hit the AA on Ambrose. He laid out Cena with it and retained the title. I really liked this. Dean and Cena could claim they really won since AJ tapped, Dean got protected by not eating the pin, Cena did the job on the way out to film a TV show and AJ kept the title. I also love that AJ isn’t a cowardly heel. He only resorts to chair shots and low blows when he needs to. ****¼

Nikki Bella def. Carmella in 8:02
I’ve liked this feud. Carmella came in as a face getting booed and watched as Nikki, who was a bitch for most of the past two years, returned and got all of the fan’s love. So Carmella just started beating Nikki’s ass. Speaking of Nikki’s ass, she came out wearing daisy dukes. It felt like a slight nod to John Cena’s attire. Anyway, I wanted more from this match but it was still solid. Carmella did alright in her first PPV singles match and Nikki gave her a lot of offense. Hell, Nikki has given her a ton throughout this program. Nikki won with the Rack Attack 2.0, which I expected since the babyface has to give the heel her due at some point. I also think that the company sees money in Nikki vs. Becky at some point for the title, so this is fine. **½

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) def. The Usos in 10:18
The Usos winning here was a foregone conclusion in my mind. I assumed they’d win and set up a program with American Alpha. However, this outcome worked for me. More on that in a bit. The match itself was good stuff. Heel Usos have been rejuvenated and it showed. They cut the ring in half, attacked a body part and it all came off well. They came close after hitting a double team move on Slater and locking in the tequila sunrise. Rhyno hit a Gore outside and broke up the submission before hitting another Gore and retaining the gold. I like the decision because Slater and Rhyno are massively over and connecting well as a team. It kind of hurt the Usos to lose, but keeping the title on a popular, entertaining duo isn’t a bad thing. ***

Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger in 7:31
Man, this was disappointing. Swagger is usually pretty good and Corbin has been pretty entertaining for a while now. They worked the right style of match for their strengths, it just never clicked the way I hoped. Swagger did his stuff, like the Swagger Bomb, but the crowd didn’t seem to care much. They teased the ankle lock finish from Smackdown this past week but Corbin didn’t tap and eventually won with the End of Days. I think they need to go in a new direction with Swagger. Repackage him because doing the same thing over and over isn’t working. I hope they plans for Corbin outside of random midcard feuds too. **

WWE Intercontinental Championship vs. Career Match: Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz (c) w/ Maryse in 19:41
If people want to ask why Smackdown is doing so well, just point to this feud. They’ve made most people care about a Ziggler/Miz feud, to the point where this should have main evented the show. The crowd was way into this from the opening bell. They worked at a good pace but it wasn’t clicking quite on the level of their awesome Backlash match. Then the shenanigans started and in this situation, it actually helped the match. It wasn’t like it was done for the sake of it. It all made sense. Maryse sprayed Ziggler in the face and Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale, but Ziggler got his foot on the ropes. Maryse brought out Kenny and Mikey of the Spirit Squad to help him out but Ziggler survived that as well and kicked out of another Skull Crushing Finale. The referee ejected them and Ziggler nailed the superkick to get the big emotional win. Another great performance by both men. While Backlash was better to me as a match, this one had the added story and emotional impact to give it a boost. Miz sold the loss like it was devastating, they hit all the right points from the rivalry and it just clicked by the end. I think the better move was to keep the title on the Miz, but it was a feel good moment and I’m intrigued by what comes next. The fact that this didn’t main event was a travesty. ****

Naomi def. Alexa Bliss in 5:24
Becky Lynch had to miss this show due to injury. Alexa Bliss will get her title shot on November 8th in Glasgow, Scotland, which is very specific. Anyway, Alexa came out to talk smack and was interrupted by Naomi, leading to this match. Against Becky, Alexa could have had the star making performance she needed. Unfortunately, Naomi is no Becky Lynch. It felt boring, seemed longer than five minutes and the fans didn’t really care. Bliss was alright, showing aggression and working the arm, only to lead to a fluke win for Naomi. Why? Alexa is the one getting pushed right now and even if they wanted to push Naomi, this isn’t how you do it. The fluke win did nothing for either girl. Just bad all around. *¼

Bray Wyatt def. Randy Orton in 15:43
While part of the buildup for this has been goofy, at least it has been different and fresh from a lot of stuff. My biggest gripe with this match was that it was so basic. Like, these dudes have done some wild shit in recent weeks. The mind games have been everything in the feud so far so I think the match should have been out there. I’m not sure right now how I’d have done it, but they didn’t do anything interesting. It felt like two guys killing time until the big moment. That big moment was the return of Luke Harper, who distracted Orton enough to allow Bray to hit Sister Abigail and win. A lackluster match that really didn’t feel main event worthy at all. It looks like the feud will continue too. **¼

Overall: 7/10. I don’t think was quite as good as Backlash, but more enjoyable than SummerSlam and Clash of Champions in the post-draft era. The obvious strong points were the opening WWE Title match and the Intercontinental Title match. The first two-thirds of the show are actually really strong, including the kickoff eight man tag. However, once you get past the IC Title match, the last two matches strongly under deliver.

WWE No Mercy Predictions

I appreciated the finish to their match on Smackdown. It got Jack Swagger a win, but allowed Baron Corbin to stay strong. I don't think the company has big plans for Swagger, so I get the sense Corbin wins here. It is strange that they seem to like Corbin but continually stick him on the pre-show.

Winner: Baron Corbin

One could argue that the talent of the Raw women's division is superior to the Smackdown brand. However, Smackdown has handled their women way better. They all feel relatively important and pretty equal. The Carmella/Nikki Bella feud has saved Carmella. Without Enzo and Cass, she was flopping as a babyface. Nikki returning to a positive response allowed for the double switch. The feud has mostly been Carmella attacking Nikki and always staying one step ahead. She's beat her up constantly and pinned her a few times. It's about time for Nikki to get one over on Carmella.

Winner: Nikki Bella

It's just so hard to get into Bray Wyatt feuds. He just beats mid-carders and loses to top stars. Hell, going back to Backlash, he lost to Kane of all people. I give the creative team props because they've made the rivalry somewhat original and interesting. The backstage segments have been different and strange. Bryan's note about Bray Wyatt vanishing and being a magician on Talking Smack was excellent. Bray Wyatt absolutely needs a big win but I don't see it happening. I get the feeling that there's nothing set for him going forward. Meanwhile, I could totally see Randy Orton heading towards a WWE Title program.

Winner: Randy Orton

Heath Slater and Rhyno have been way better than I ever could have imagined. Beauty and the Man-Beast is one of those oddball pairings that just works even though it shouldn't. Heath got the feel good moment at Backlash when they won the titles, he got a Smackdown contract and he was able to move into a double wide. However, that's over. With his contract firmly in place, it's time for Smackdown to move into the real money tag team feud. The Usos vs. American Alpha. They have a built-in angle from the attack by the Usos already. Their new heel work has been really good and the change they needed. Put the titles on the Usos here and have American Alpha beat them down the line.

Winners: The Usos

Again, I have to commend the Smackdown women's division. Within two months, Alexa Bliss has been built up as a credible contender. Nobody on Raw has since Sasha was already one and Bayley has just been in the picture on name value alone. Anyway, this has been another fun program. They've done such a good job of keeping Becky as the underdog despite being champion. Alexa has attacked her, pinned her and ran her down as not being someone fit to be a champion. Like the Carmella/Nikki rivalry, the babyface is in line to finally get one over on the heel. This isn't about Alexa winning the title. It's about Alexa putting on a strong performance in the biggest match of her career. I think she will deliver and Becky will retain.

Winner: Becky Lynch

We've sat through feuds and matches between these two before, but none have even come close to this one. They nearly stole the show at Backlash with their best match ever and had another great one on Smackdown a few weeks later. The added stipulation of Dolph Ziggler's career being on the line is awesome. It makes the Intercontinental Title feel important. The Miz has been fantastic for a long time, but this is truly his best work. Dolph Ziggler was pretty terrible from 2015 until the draft. Even his SummerSlam match with Dean Ambrose severely lacked. This feud has reignited him. I feel that this will be a similar case to Jeff Hardy's final WWE stand. He went out on a high note after a great rivalry with CM Punk. Dolph will do the same. He can go produce for the company and do his stand up or something. The Miz shouldn't lose the title until at least WrestleMania 33.

Winner: The Miz

From a kayfabe standpoint, there is no reason John Cena should be in this match. He lost twice to AJ Styles and then lost to Dean Ambrose. The build for this has been really good. Dean and Cena shooting on each other on Talking Smack were both great and the promo on the go-home Smackdown between the three of them delivered in a big way. AJ and Dean just going off on Cena without letting him speak was perfect. I expect an awesome match. Styles can do no wrong, Ambrose had two great ones with AJ and Cena is one of the best big match performers in wrestling history. Smackdown's booking mostly makes sense so I'm gonna predict the best possible outcome. Styles retains and moves into a feud with Randy Orton, while Cena and Ambrose go into their own rivalry because I just want to see more of their promos together.

Winner: AJ Styles

2016 Prediction Record: 52-28
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling Predictions

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2016 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan

The Chaos vs. Bullet Club feud has been done to death. Chaos vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon was miles better and more interesting, so of course, Gedo went away from it and back to the status quo. At the very least, this match has new members of each team in Adam Cole and Will Ospreay, but their match at Destruction in Hiroshima was rather lackluster. This will be a typical multi-man tag. Yujiro is the most expendable guy here, so i think he eats the pin.

Winners: Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI

More stuff from Chaos, with the addition of Jado (NOAH's booker). The other team is a strange one. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma are a team, Ryusuke Taguchi is a lower card junior and Bobby Fish is usually part of reDRagon. He's making the transition to heavyweight. I think this will ultimately be more fun than the previous tag. Roppongi Vice and Toru Yano are usually enjoyable, while I really love Fish. I'm gonna go with Fish getting the pin for his guys.

Winners: Bobby Fish, Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma

At the G1 Climax finals, the most interesting thing to me was the NOAH vs. NJPW tag. This one has potential, but I don't see it reaching the awesome levels of the last one. The previous one had Katsuyori Shibata and he added a lot with his battles with Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima. TenKoji and Yuji Nagata are awesome, while Manabu Nakanishi has tried but is pretty immobile. I like most of the NOAH guys and I think they pull it out here. Give them another win before NJPW starts coming back in the coming months.

Winners: Team NOAH

Oh look, it's the Young Bucks. I couldn't care less. The team of David Finlay and Ricochet is actually an interesting one. They're two thirds of the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions and I like them much more than Matt Sydal and Ricochet, mainly because Finlay > Sydal in my eyes. Considering they already hold titles and Gedo's raging hard on for the Young Bucks, they're gonna retain.

Winners: The Young Bucks

Wow. This sounds incredibly bland. There's a dude I follow on Twitter who insists on saying that the Guerillas of Destiny are good. Tama Tonga is decent but Tonga Loa is fucking awful. Their tag matches have all been the pits. The Briscoes are better, though I haven't liked their matches with the Bucks or Yujiro and Hangman. Of course, the Bullet Club continue to dominate NJPW cards and remain completely boring. I hear the Briscoes aren't sticking around for the World Tag League and Gedo loves to change titles, so the Guerillas win them back.

Winners: The Guerillas of Destiny

It isn't the best match on the card, but it certainly could be the most fun. Why? Because of Los Ingobernables de Japon. They have EASILY been the best thing about NJPW all year long. It really isn't close. The babyface team is interesting. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and KUSHIDA team up consistently, but Jay Lethal is new to the group. Especially considering his alliance with LIDJ back in February. He beat Tetsuya Naito at ROH's most recent PPV. Tanahashi has continued a slide into not doing much of note, but I get the sense that they're setting up Naito/Tanahashi for the Intercontinental Title at Wrestle Kingdom. LIDJ wins this one, Tanahashi's team wins another match at Power Struggle and issues the challenge.

Winners: Los Ingobernables de Japon

Not a single thing on this card comes even close to matching this one in terms of excitement level. Katsuyori Shibata consistently has tremendous matches and Kyle O'Reilly has all the makings of a star. He should have been the one to dethrone Jay Lethal for the ROH World Title. Anyway, he has moved from junior heavyweight to heavyweight and is out to avenge his partner's loss at Destruction in Tokyo. O'Reilly made Shibata tap out at Field of Honor in August. I heard that was good but not quite great. They could be saving their best for this bigger match. I fully expect O'Reilly to show the world just how damn good he is, but Shibata should retain.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata

Why? Usually, the G1 Climax winner defends his Tokyo Dome title shot against the guys who beat him during the tournament. For example, Hiroshi Tanahashi faced Tetsuya Naito and Bad Luck Fale on the road to Wrestle Kingdom 10 last year. If Kenny Omega followed that trend, he would have to beat YOSHI-HASHI (which he did), Katsuyori Shibata and Michael Elgin. Instead of Shibata/Omega or Omega/Elgin (though I'm okay without this since we've seen it three times this year), Omega has to rematch the finals with Hirooki Goto. I never watched the finals because I didn't give a shit. Beating Goto does nothing since he's a perennial loser and Gedo has booked all credibility away from him. Gedo loves his gaijins and I'm sure his wet dream is Omega/Okada in the Dome, even if it sounds bad to me.

Winner: Kenny Omega

On the first night of the G1 Climax 26, Naomichi Marufuji went out and defeated Kazuchika Okada. He didn't just beat though. He kicked his ass. That's what made the match so good. It wasn't the same tired Okada formula (insignificant slow start, Okada rally, big time closing sequence). It was something different. Unfortunately, I feel like this won't be able to match that. I expect it to be more of the Okada formula since he'll be retaining. Okada is going to headline the Tokyo Dome again. That was set in stone pretty much back in 2012, but definitely after he beat Tanahashi at WK10 this year.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada

SHIMMER 71 Review

SHIMMER Volume 71
March 28th, 2015 | Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, California

I used to follow SHIMMER religiously. I still own Volumes 9-28 on DVD. However, I unfortunately fell out of regular watching. I’m trying to fix that. I’ll be going back and reviewing those old volumes as well, but for right now, I was able to get my hands on Volume 71, which took place over WrestleMania 31 weekend. It features the Chickfight Tournament, which was a tournament that used to run even before SHIMMER began. The winner earns a future shot at the SHIMMER Championship.

Dave Prazak and Veda Scott handle commentary for now.

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament First Round: Evie def. Portia Perez in 7:28
Portia Perez has been a SHIMMER mainstay for a long time. Evie is one of the most likable women on the indies right now. Portia coming out to Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” will never not be amazing. Evie started with some flash pin attempts, so an annoyed Perez just chopped her in the throat. Perez continued to be vicious, walking smack and roughing up Evie. Evie started in with the kicks. TEAM F’N KICK! Perez still managed to stay in control though. Evie nailed the big Yakuza Kick and both women were down. SHIMMER Champion (and Perez’s partner) Nicole Matthews came down to distract Evie. Evie ducked a Portia shot and Nicole got knocked off the apron. Evie hit the TTYL (GTS variation) and advanced. Good match with some old school heel work from Portia and good fire from Evie. The more Evie the better. I would have booked Portia to go over someone else to build up drama for a potential Canadian Ninjas match. **¾

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament First Round: Nicole Savoy def. Candice LeRae in 7:37
I haven’t seen much of Savoy but LeRae is pretty much known from all over the indies, especially in PWG. Savoy declined a handshake. They worked at a quick pace to open the match, with LeRae snapping off a head scissors and doing a trademark kick that we’ve seen her future husband, Johnny Gargano, use. Savoy nailed a weak looking axe kick. Seriously, Booker T would be upset. Candice sent Savoy outside and followed with a tope suicida into a tornado DDT. Savoy survived some submissions. Candice only got one on a lung blower with Savoy showing her power. Savoy came back with a tiger suplex that got the win. Solid match. They hyped this as an upset. Savoy was the bigger competitor, but pretty much got her ass handed to her, which was surprising since LeRae works best as the plucky underdog. **½

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament First Round: Nikki Storm def. Cherry Bomb in 6:30
Nikki Storm came out to “Larger Than Life” by Backstreet Boys, getting a pop from me. She cut a promo before the match about all of her accomplishments since coming to the States, including having the Golden Gate Bridge renamed the Golden Nikki Bridge. It’s great stuff. The two charismatic women scoffed at one another once Cherry entered the ring. They talked smack and shoved each other. We got double toe stomps, kicks and clotheslines to show how evenly matched they were. Cherry Bomb took control and began to wear down Storm. Lots of yells from both ladies, with Cherry’s being more of screeches. Storm eventually countered a DVD and superkick before winning with the fisherman neckbreaker. The other matches may have been better from a pure wrestling standpoint, but this was highly entertaining thanks to the personalities involved. Lots of fun. ***

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament First Round: Kay Lee Ray def. Kimber Lee in 7:18
Prazak tricked me because he said this would be Yim/Athena but it isn’t. Another good theme song tonight for Ray. Kimber Lee recently made history by winning the CHIKARA Grand Championship. She went outside for a breather and avoided dive from Ray. Ray still followed her around the ring and scored on a dropkick. Her high risk style cost her when Lee caught a springboard move into a backbreaker. Lee then nailed a really impressive stalling vertical for two. Lee showed some cockiness at times. She was confident that she had Ray’s high flying stuff scouted. Lee hit a superplex and swanton bomb but her lackluster cover allowed Ray to turn it over into a rollup and steal it. I dug this match. Both girls worked hard and the finish played into the story of overconfident Kimber Lee. The Kimber Bombs are both eliminated already. ***

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament First Round: Mia Yim def. Athena in 11:38
This was easily the most exciting matchup on the card. “You’re both awesome” chants to start. They instantly went with a fast paced open and though not all of it came off clean, it was mostly fun. They traded forearms before Mia did the “latch onto the ropes like a spider” gimmick, only for Athena to dropkick her outside. Once there, Athena connected on three straight suicide dives. Mia came back with a stiff kick from the apron. The hits got harder once inside and Athena got two on a fisherman buster. Athena began to stretch Mia but once Mia got out, these two just beat the shit out of each other with forearms. Mia stopped it with a headbutt. Athena came close with a head and leg suplex so Mia responded with a German. After some near falls, Mia hit a package piledriver and won with a 450 splash. Easily the best match so far. They hit each other hard, brought some mat work and busted out the high risk stuff. Great stuff and the only gripe I had was some of the slip ups in the first few minutes. ***¾

Portia Perez replaced Veda Scott on commentary for this.

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament First Round: Cheerleader Melissa def. Jessica Havok in 8:10
Cheerleader Melissa is a Chickfight Tournament veteran, having competed in all of them in the past. She is also a two-time SHIMMER Champion, appeared on nearly every volume, works in Lucha Underground as Mariposa and is arguably the best American female wrestler of the past decade. Havok is pretty much a monster most known for her time in TNA. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a ton of hard hitting in this one. Melissa grounded Havok and cut her down to size, leading to some curb stomps. Havok started to fight back and get in some shots. Melissa came off the top with a missile dropkick. Melissa then pinned Havok with her feet on the ropes to steal the win. Disappointing and the first thing on the show so far that I didn’t really get interested in. I wanted them to go to war but they seemed to maybe be saving that for a future match. **¼

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament Second Round: Evie def. Nicole Savoy in 9:05
According to Prazak, both women are known for their kicking. They traded some of those early before Savoy caught Evie in the middle of a leap frog with a knee bar. It was pretty great. Evie showed off her fast paced offense before Savoy busted out a sweet suplex for two. Savoy was aggressive, choking Evie with her boot and trash talking some fans. She cut off an Evie comeback and pulled her into an armbar, which she transitioned into a crossface. Evie slipped free and hit a big kick but her next one got caught into another submission. Again, Evie got free and ended up nailing a missile dropkick to get some breathing room. She started in with the running kick spots but Savoy countered the Yakuza Kick by catching it into a suplex variation. Evie also survived a great high arching German. They battled up top where Evie got Savoy in a tree of woe position and came off with a big double stomp that got her the win. Right up there with Athena/Yim for MOTN. Savoy looked miles better here than she did in the first round. Crisp, brutal suplexes and submissions galore. Evie played the great underdog and it all just came together so well. A little more leg selling from Evie would have sent it to the next level. ***½

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament Second Round: Kay Lee Ray def. Nikki Storm in 8:28
More pre-match promo work from the “Best in the Galaxy” Nikki Storm. She also called herself the “white chocolate cheesecake of sports entertainment.” Nikki did a lot of talking after the match began too, causing a loud fan to shout “SHUT UP AND WRESTLE!” They did a handshake and Ray attacked. Storm still took control and most of the match saw her in charge. Her work there was fine but unspectacular. Kay Lee Ray eventually rallied and hit a Gory Bomb, followed by a swanton bomb to advance. This was fine, I just couldn’t get into it as much as I hoped. **½

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament Second Round: Cheerleader Melissa def. Mia Yim via disqualification in 7:46
On Volume 65, these two met in a SHIMMER Title match. Melissa retained due to Yim having an injury. I came in way excited for this. Yim can flat out go and Melissa is Melissa. Yim seemed to have the upper hand, being one step ahead of the former SHIMMER Champion. She even made Melissa take a powder but Melissa stopped a tope suicida with a shot. Melissa went to the leg and worked a submission. Mia got free but still found herself in some trouble. She started the comeback but Melissa pulled the referee into harm’s way. A ref bump in SHIMMER? I don’t know if I’ve seen that before. Jessica Havok returned and beat up Melissa. The referee saw it and called for the DQ. A massive disappointment. I’m sure these two could have a great match. Instead, we got a small tease and a shit finish. *¾

Veda Scott switched back with Portia Perez for commentary.

SHIMMER Championship: Nicole Matthews (c) def. Tomoka Nakagawa in 16:14
I love Nicole Matthews. This is part of the retirement tour for Nakagawa, who is one half of the current SHIMMER Tag Team Champions. She wants to retire with the SHIMMER titles. Matthews stalled early and killed time outside. Once things actually got going, Matthews tossed her around the ring and into the guardrails outside. The focus of her offense was on Nakagawa’s back. Matthews was great at talking smack throughout this. The Canadian Ninjas nail that usually. Nakagawa rallied and hit a suplex on the apron. She scored on a big kick but Matthews responded with a release German suplex. They began to trade forearm strikes until Nakagawa got two on a fisherman’s suplex. Matthews got two on a brainbuster so Portia Perez came out and slid a chair in the ring. Matthews tried to use the title but Nakagawa rolled her up, only for Perez to distract the referee. They again did the distraction pin spot, which allowed Nicole to use the chair and retain with the Vancouver Maneuver. If Nakagawa is retiring, couldn’t Matthews have gotten a clean win? I get that she’s a heel and the Ninjas are a team, but that killed a match that was going so well. **¾

SHIMMER Chickfight Tournament Finals: Kay Lee Ray def. Cheerleader Melissa and Evie in 12:11
Looking at the brackets, this is pretty much the finals I would have booked. Melissa is the veteran and the other two are the hungry youngsters. Things got off to an awkward start until Melissa double suplexed both opponents. As Melissa worked over both girls, Havok’s theme played to distract her. She dared Havok to show up but got nothing. It played again and Havok stood on the stage. Evie nailed her from behind, sent her into the corner and nailed the Yakuza Kick. Ray came off the top with the swanton onto both and pinned to eliminate Melissa. Ray and Evie fought around the ring. Ray leapt off of the barricade with a clothesline. Evie took a rough rana on the outside that got a near fall. Now inside, the women trade offense and move at a pretty quick pace. Evie got two on a running kick. She looked for TTYL but Kay Lee Ray countered and got two on a Gory bomb. She would go on to use a springboard dropkick and swanton bomb to win the tournament. Good final match. I wasn’t a fan of the Melissa stuff but once Evie and Ray went at it alone, they did well with the opportunity and had some fun back and forth. ***

Overall: 7/10. An overall good outing from the ladies of SHIMMER here. None of the matches overstay their welcome and having it all part of a tournament made each match feel important. I wasn’t too keen on the booking of the Melissa/Havok situation, which took up a large chunk of the show, but the work mostly overcame that. I loved the performances from Mia Yim, Athena, Evie and Nicole Savoy at points. This was an easy watch.

Lucha Underground "The Prince and The Monster" Review

Dario Cueto opens the show to "Jefe" chants. It's time for Dario's Dial of Doom! The first two times we've seen this, Son of Havoc and The Mack got shots. Tonight, it lands on the first ever Lucha Underground Champion, Prince Puma! Dario says that Puma may be the first champion, but Matanza is the greatest.

Ivelisse def. Mariposa w/ Marty Martinez in 6:15
Ivelisse has an already scheduled date with Catrina at Ultima Lucha 3, so it's interesting to see what they do with her until then. She looked all kinds of amazing tonight. Ivelisse started in with the kicks but Marty tripped her to give Mariposa the upper hand. Mariposa seemingly went for a cover only to wrap up the legs in the kondo clutch. Ivelisse reached the ropes and added a slap to Marty. Marty still gets in more cheap shots behind the official's back. Ivelisse blocked the vertebreaker and scored with a code red to win. I enjoyed this but that might be because I'm a mark for both women. I'm sure they are capable of better though. **

Marty attacks Ivelisse from behind and then slammed his sister onto Ivelisse.

Dario Cueto is in his office. Johnny Mundo comes in and complains about Prince Puma getting a title shot. Mundo uses it as an excuse to show off his abs. Dario still denies his request, so Johnny asks for Sexy Star and the Gift of the Gods Title. He mentions that Sexy was on the losing side last week. Dario reminds him that it was Jack Evans that pinned Sexy, Evans will face Sexy for the title at some point.

A weird video telling us to "follow the white rabbit" is shown. It ends with "they'll be here soon."

Match Two in Best of Five: Cage (2) def. Texano (0) in 6:22
This got off to a fast start than their first encounter. Texano shouting obscenities in Spanish while diving onto Cage was pretty entertaining. Cage showed off his athleticism with a sweet tornado DDT. Texano decided to bust out ushigoroshi for a near fall and we got "this is awesome" chants. Cage got a near fall for the Alabama Slam. They continued to trade big blows until Cage nailed a dead lift suplex and F5 to take a 2-0 lead. Much better than their first outing but I'm still not really interested in this series. They worked with a purpose and it was enjoyable. Hopefully, we don't get the cliched 2-0 comeback. **3/4

Ivelisse's boyfriend Jeremiah appears to say that he was here to see her. Ivelisse says that he's late. She won but she got jumped. He freaks out and wants to get involved, but Ivelisse declines, saying that she wants to keep her personal life and career separate. It didn't work out last time. He likes to beat people up and wants to join the Temple. Oh, by the way, Jeremiah is Sami Callihan or Solomon Crowe if you only know his NXT work.

Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto def. Prince Puma in 12:55
Though this was just randomly chosen by the wheel, this felt like a big time match. Vampiro continued to discuss Prince Puma needing to basically dig deep if he's to turn his career around. Puma started hot and even hit a shooting star press off the apron. Matanza took over and threw Puma all around the ringside area. Dario told his brother not to let up and inflict more damage. Matanza continued to dominate but Puma found the fire for a rally. In an impressive moment, Puma caught Matanza in mid-air and not only suplexed him, but deaf lifted him into a second one! Matanza nearly hit Wrath of the Gods but Puma counterd into a big DDT. Puma used kicks to knock Matanza down, perfectly in position for the 630. Puma nailed it but Mil Muertes showed up and hit him with the POUNCE...PERIOD! Dario shouted at the referee to not call a DQ. Matanza then won with a big Wrath of the Gods. Really strong match. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands and they believed that Puma would do it. The Mil Muertes run in kind of hurt it but it did advance the angle, which made sense. They had to protect both guys too. ***3/4

In the back, Killshot is working out. Joey Ryan arrives with a note. When Killshot questions who gave it to him, Joey responds with "What am I? A detective?" Great line. Killshot opens it and it says "you left me to die." It looks like one of his old military buddies is coming back.

Overall: 7/10. Lucha Underground once again delivers a good show. While the first match was disappointing, Cage and Texano did better than expected and we were treated to a great main event. I'm not interested in the arrival of Callihan but it could be an interesting storyline. The Killshot and Johnny Mundo stuff is also intriguing.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!

Fave Five 9/26/16-10/2/16

1) AJ Styles: I really should have gone to Smackdown last week. I had a chance but decided against getting tickets and it ended up being a very good show. The main event saw AJ Styles continue his string of good to great matches. He retained the WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose in a match that wasn't as good as their Backlash encounter, but was still very strong. It was the first successful title defense for Styles, who added another notch into his "wrestler of the year" belt.



2) Bobby Lashley: So, for at least the rest of the year it seems, TNA remains a living, breathing company. Everything beyond that remains a big question mark. Their current champion, Lashley, had a great week. First, on Impact, his team defeated Team EC3 to win Lethal Lockdown. He chose a No Holds Barred stipulation for his upcoming title defense. That defense took place at Bound for Glory, where Lashley retained the TNA Heavyweight Title over Ethan Carter III with a diving spear. TNA isn't doing many things right, but Lashley has actually been pretty money lately.

3) The Broken Hardys: The Final Deletion was one of my favorite things in all of wrestling this year. The Broken Hardys vs. The Decay then proved to be my favorite match in TNA in 2016. The two teams met in THE GREAT WAR at Bound for Glory and it was easily the highlight of the show. The match delivered in exactly the way that it needed to, fitting right in with the stuff the Hardys have done in 2016 so far. They won and captured the TNA Tag Team Titles. As of right now, it is the only match in TNA that I've seen in 2016 to get at least four stars from me and you'll most likely see it on my big year end list of top matches of 2016.

4) The Young Bucks: If you know me, you know that the Young Bucks are my least favorites in wrestling. There is literally no act in the business that I dislike more than Matt and Nick Jackson. However, this list is about who had success in the week and the Bucks once again found some. They main evented ROH's All-Star Extravaganza Pay-Per-View with the Addiction and the Motor City Machine Guns in ROH's "Ladder War VI." Dave Meltzer of course compared it to the original WWE TLC matches, which I disagree with. Anyway, the Addiction were the best performers of the match, but it was the Bucks who captured ROH Tag Team Titles and ended the show on top of the tag division.

5) DJZ: Successfully defended his X Division Title twice, including against Trevor Lee at Bound for Glory.