The Top 100 Matches of 2022 - Pro Wrestling Truth Year End Awards

1. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, Matt Menard, & Angelo Parker - AEW 5/29 - *****
2. “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Bryan Danielson - AEW Title Match - AEW 1/5 - *****
3. El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai - JTO: TakaTaichiDespeMania 9/12 - *****
4. FTR (c) vs. The Briscoes - Dog Collar Match - ROH 12/11 - *****
5. FTR (c) vs. The Briscoes - ROH World Tag Title Match - ROH 7/23 - ****3/4
6. Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta - AEW 4/8 - ****3/4
7. The Briscoes (c) vs. FTR - ROH Tag Title Match - ROH 4/1 - ****3/4
8. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Death Triangle - AEW 11/18 - ****3/4
9. CM Punk vs. MJF - Dog Collar Match - AEW 3/6 - ****3/4
10. Kazuchika Okada vs. JONAH - NJPW 8/7 - ****3/4
11. FTR (c) vs. The Young Bucks - ROH & AAA Tag Title Match - AEW 4/6 - ****3/4
12. Kazusada Higuchi (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita - KO-D Title Match - DDT: Who’s Gonna Top? 9/25 - ****1/2
13. Jon Moxley (c) vs. CM Punk - AEW World Title Match - AEW 9/4 - ****1/2
14. Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia - AEW 7/27 - ****1/2
15. Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee vs. The Acclaimed - AEW 9/4 - ****1/2
16. Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Jericho - AEW 3/6 - ****1/2
17. Jon Moxley vs. Biff Busick - GCW 3/31 - ****1/2
18. Chris Jericho vs. Tomohiro Ishii - AEW 11/23 - ****1/2
19. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds - AEW 9/4 - ****1/2
20. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 8/18 - ****1/2
21. FTR vs. The Briscoes - ROH 12/10 - ****1/2
22. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay & Aussie Open - AEW 8/31 - ****1/2
23. The Briscoes (c) vs. John Wayne Murdoch & Alex Colon vs. Los Macizos vs. Effy & Allie Katch vs. Second Gear Crew - War Games - GCW 9/3 - ****1/2
24. Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia - 2/3 Falls Match - AEW 8/17 - ****1/2
25. Hangman Page vs. CM Punk - AEW 5/29 - ****1/2
26. Shingo Takagi vs. Zack Sabre Jr - NJPW 3/26 - ****1/2
27. Kazusada Higuchi vs. Naomi Yoshimura - King of DDT Finals - DDT 7/2 - ****1/2
28. Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley - AEW 3/6 - ****1/2 
29. Jon Moxley (c) vs. Chris Jericho - AEW 8/10 - ****1/2
30. Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, Santana & Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Sammy Guevara, Angelo Parker, & Matt Menard - Blood & Guts Match - AEW 6/29 - ****1/2
31. Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 4/16 - ****1/2
32. Mike Bailey vs. Masha Slamovich - GCW 5/21 - ****1/2
33. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Jay White - IWGP Title Match - NJPW 6/12 - ****1/2
34. Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Title Match - NJPW 1/4 - ****1/2
35. Jungle Boy vs. Luchasaurus - Steel Cage Match - AEW 11/18 - ****1/4
36. CM Punk & Jon Moxley vs. FTR - AEW 2/9 - ****1/4
37. Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter - AEW 11/18 - ****1/4
38. CM Punk vs. MJF - AEW 2/2 - ****1/4
39. Zack Sabre Jr vs. KENTA - NJPW 7/17 - ****1/4
40. Dax Harwood vs. Will Ospreay - AEW 6/15 - ****1/4
41. Jon Moxley vs. Daniel Garcia - AEW 6/1 - ****1/4
42. The Acclaimed (c) vs. FTR - AEW 12/7 - ****1/4
43. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Death Triangle - AEW 11/23 - ****1/4
44. Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara - AEW 11/9 - ****1/4
45. Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW 7/13 - ****1/4
46. Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado - NJPW 7/30 - ****1/4
47. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Top Flight - AEW 12/28 - ****1/4 
48. Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI vs. Jun Kasai & Tomoaki Honma - JTO 12/23 - ****1/4 
49. Mike Bailey (c) vs. Trey Miguel - Impact 7/1 - ****1/4
50. John Wayne Murdoch vs. Matt Tremont - GCW 8/13 - ****1/4
51. El Lindaman (c) vs. Shigehiro Irie - GLEAT 5/18 - ****1/4
52. Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page - AEW 9/7 - ****1/4
53. Alex Colon (c) vs. Rina Yamashita - Ultraviolent Title Match - GCW 8/13 - ****1/4
54. El Desperado & DOUKI vs. Tomoaki Honma & Jun Kasai - JTO 5/6 - ****1/4
55. Rina Yamashita & Toru Suguira vs. Los Macizos - GCW 6/5 - ****1/4
56. El Lindaman (c) vs. DOUKI - GLEAT 8/24 - ****1/4
57. Z-brats vs. Kung Fu Masters - Dragon Gate 7/30 - ****1/4
58. Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 5/14 - ****1/4
59. Jon Moxley vs. Tom Lawlor - Defy 4/30 - ****1/4
60. Jon Moxley vs. Tony Deppen - GCW 6/18 - ****1/4
61. The Young Bucks (c) vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs - AEW 7/13 - ****1/4
62. Drew Parker vs. Cole Radrick - GCW 6/4 - ****1/4
63. Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 8/17 - ****1/4
64. Britt Baker (c) vs. Thunder Rosa - Steel Cage Match for AEW Women’s Title - AEW 3/16 - ****1/4
65. Hangman Page vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW 5/18 - ****1/4 
66. Malakai Black, Brody King, & Buddy Matthews vs. PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo, & Erick Redbeard - AEW 3/6 - ****1/4
67. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Andrade El Idolo, Dragon Lee, & RUSH - AEW 8/17 - ****1/4
68. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (c) vs. The Young Bucks vs. ReDragon - AEW 3/6 - ****1/4
69. Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 3/7 - ****1/4
70. Kazuchika Okada vs. El Desperado - NJPW 3/2 - ****1/4
71. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado - NJPW 6/3 - ****1/4
72. Zack Sabre Jr vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 3/21 - ****1/4
73. Eddie Kingston vs. Jun Akiyama - AEW 11/18 - ****
74. Rey Fenix vs. Dante Martin - AEW 5/4 - ****
75. Gringo Loco, Abismo Negro Jr, & Flamita vs. Laredo Kid, Rey Horus, & ASF - GCW 4/1 - ****
76. Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii - AEW 9/4 - ****
77. Kazusada Higuchi (c) vs. Yukio Sakaguchi - DDT 10/22 - ****
78. Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - AEW 6/26 - ****
79. Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, & Shota Umino vs. Minoru Suzuki, Chris Jericho, & Sammy Guevara - AEW/NJPW 6/26 - ****
80. Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Best Friends - AEW 7/20 - ****
81. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay vs. Juice Robinson - NJPW 5/14 - ****
82. Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Daniel Garcia - ROH Pure Title Match - ROH 7/23 - ****
83. Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 4/16 - ****
84. Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly - AEW 6/8 - ****
85. Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Sammy Guevara (c) - Ladder Match for TNT Title - AEW 1/26 - ****
86. Brody King vs. Darby Allin - AEW 7/20 - ****
87. Dragon Lee vs. RUSH - ROH 7/23 - ****
88. Jon Moxley (c) vs. CM Punk (c) - AEW 8/24 - ****
89. T-Hawk vs. El Lindaman - GLEAT 2/22 - ****
90. Cole Radrick (c) vs. Mike Bailey - Unsanctioned Pro 4/3 - ****
91. CM Punk vs. Dustin Rhodes - AEW 4/20 - ****
92. Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy - AEW 6/26 - ****
93. Cole Radrick (c) vs. Colby Corino - GCW 8/19
94. Sawyer Wreck vs. Joey Janela - GCW 6/5 - ****
95. The Young Bucks vs. Rey Fenix & Penta Oscuro - AEW 6/3 - ****
96. Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Adam Page - AEW 9/7 - ****
97. David Finlay vs. Juice Robinson - NJPW 7/26 - ****
98. AJ Gray vs. Mike Bailey vs. Cole Radrick vs. Nick Wayne vs. Jordan Oliver vs. Jimmy Lloyd - GCW 6/5 - ****
99. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rey Fenix - AEW 5/18 - ****
100. Eddie Kingston vs. SLADE - Beyond 8/21 - ****

Random Match Review: Kazusada Higuchi (c) vs. Tetsuya Endo - KO-D Openweight Title Match - DDT: Peter Pan (August 20th, 2022)

This year, subscribing to Wrestle Universe and having access to DDT, NOAH, and TJPW shows as they happen and after they happen has been one of my best investments. Long gone are the days of scrambling for daily motion and google drive links. 

With that in mind, I’ve been able to keep up with these promotions, particularly DDT, like never before. In the process of that, Kazusada Higuchi has become one of my favorite people to watch. 

I looked back through some of my match rating archive lists and found that I had watch stuff of his several years back and gave favorable ratings, but this year and being to view DDT and his work less sporadically turned me into a full fledged fan. It was perfect timing for that to happen as well, to be honest. 

The lead in to this match was both traumatic and triumphant. On one side, you have Higuchi. A guy who’s been waiting for that moment to step up and grab the proverbial brass ring, so to speak. He capitalized on Endo getting concussed by Katsuhiko Nakajima at Cyber Fight Festival and made his way to the finals of the King of DDT tournament in July. There, he defeated his now partner, Naomi Yoshimura, to become the new KO-D champion and achieve his ultimate destiny. 

Now, a few months have passed and Endo is cleared to compete so naturally he wants the title back that he had to vacate. The story truly wrote itself. It wasn’t quite so predictable, though. This match would determine if Higuchi was just a transitional champion or if they are really going to go with him. An emotional story on both sides of the ring with both men having a lot on the line. 

They exhibit this story well. Higuchi comes out and looks like an absolute beast of a champion. He carries the DDT flag to the ring and waves it around. This guy truly has stepped into this role with both feet and has not disappointed. 

As the match begins, it becomes clear that they are going to keep Higuchi strong as Endo struggles to even get the least bit of momentum. He does string together some nice pieces of offense that stun Higuchi, but that’s all they are. They stun him. They don’t shift the momentum or turn the tide. Whether it was the sasuke special or the multiple german suplex reversals. You get glimpses of hope, but largely, Higuchi has his number and delivers an epic performance. 

The finish to the match sees Endo laying on the mat and Higuchi challenge him to stand. He tells the ref to stop counting and tries to fire Endo up, but also murder him at the same time. Some of the stiffest lariats you’ll see all year come out of this exchange and we get one last fighting spirit fire up from Endo before the former champion is finally put down with the Brain Claw.

Higuchi retains after a fantastic match. But things aren’t over here. Higuchi is handed the championship by the living legend Kenta Kobashi and is asked who he wants to defend against on September 25th. The answer is simple… Konosuke Takeshita. 

This is Takeshita’s first event back since his US excursion and he slowly walks to the ring and comes face to face with Higuchi. Takeshita’s response to this challenge? Simple. “Let’s fight.” 

September 25th, it will happen. Higuchi and Takeshita are 1-1-1 against each other in the three matches they’ve had over the past few years, but the stakes have never been this high and I can’t wait. See y’all then. 

Match rating - ****

NJPW: Music City Mayhem Review - July 30th, 2022

NJPW Music City Mayhem 

July 30th, 2022

Nashville, Tennessee 

Commentators - Ian Riccaboni, Matt Rehwoldt, & Tanga Loa

1) The DKC, Kevin Knight, & Ren Narita vs. Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, & Fred Yehi 

Uemura gets isolated by Knight, DKC, & Narita. Apparently those guys team a bit on Strong and it definitely shows. Kevin Knight surprised me here with an awesome flurry off a hot tag where he knocks Yehi & Umino off the apron and nails Uemura with a deep bodyslam. Yehi gets the hot tag when Uemura finally gets out of his predicament and it rules. Things break down here with various face offs. Most notably Umino and Narita squaring off. This was fun and almost everyone shined, but as a whole it probably could’ve benefitted from being a little shorter. Shota gets the win for his team with the Death Rider DDT in 13:12.

Match rating - **1/2

2) Davey Richards (c) vs. Rocky Romero - MLW National Openweight Title Match 

Random Match Review: FTR (c) vs. The Briscoes - ROH World Tag Team Title Match - ROH: Death Before Dishonor - July 23rd, 2022

FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) vs. The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) - 2/3 Falls Match for the ROH World Championship 

This is my Match of the Year so far. Plain and simple. 

I didn’t think anything would surpass Hanger/Bryan from January, but I should’ve never doubted these two teams. Not to spoil my rating before getting to the end of this article, but this is my third five star match of 2022. The first being the obvious Hanger/Danielson title match and the second came at Double or Nothing with the chaotic Anarchy in the Arena. This match surpasses them both, though, if we are comparing. To my taste, atleast. 

This felt like the type of match that made me fall in love with Ring of Honor’s mid 2000’s shows. It went around 45 minutes, but felt like 25. I was glued to the screen from bell to bell and this truly felt like a fucking rollercoaster ride. 

I went ****3/4 on their first match. Not that it was necessarily missing something, but I felt like there was a more perfect epic still stowed away that the two teams could deliver. I’m glad my thinking was right for once because that’s what we got here. 

Everything in this match was laid in. Even the smallest things. Every single strike looked like it hurt. Dax bled from the chest from chops, the teams traded headbutts and closed fists. This felt like an actual war. Their first match was an awesome back & forth spectacle, this felt like war. Competition between two teams who love tag team wrestling with everything in them. 

One team who is the most underrated of the last 20 years in some circles in the Briscoes. Then a team who is dead set on making a career worthy of placing them in the Top 2-3 best teams of all time discussion. The emotion both duos fought with is what pushed it beyond just a slugfest for a title.

The Briscoes have held the guard down for Ring of Honor through thick and thin for 20 years. When everyone else left, they stayed. They fought. They stood their ground and with pride. They’ve beaten everyone, they’ve held the titles 10+ times. Jay is a former world champion. They’ve done it all, but they’ve never beaten FTR. FTR.. a team who captured gold at the top of the ladder in WWE and has arguably taken the opposite career path that the Briscoes have taken. They’re a perfect clash for one another and you feel it with every strike and splash of sweat that flies to the mat. 

This match left nothing else to be desired. Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe gave everything last night and delivered the best match I’ve seen this year. An epic. A classic. Thank you, guys. This was amazing. Nothing else needs to be said. 

Match rating - *****

Random Match Review: Jon Moxley vs. Konsosuke Takeshita - AEW: Dynamite - July 13th, 2022

I don't do these often. That's mainly probably because I'm super OCD about reviewing shows in full. Lately, however, I just have not had the time or motivation to fully sit down and analyze all the shows I've been watching. That leads us here.

This week on Dynamite, we got possibly the best in-ring action overall of any week in recent memory. So much so that I woke up the next morning and couldn't stop thinking about two matches in particular with this being one of them.

When this was announced, everyone was ecstatic including myself. DDT’s ace Takeshita is in the midst of his US excursion where he’s had bangers against everyone he’s faced inside and outside of AEW from Hangman Page to Mike Bailey. Then, you have Jon Moxley. The undoubted wrestler of the year so far and not to jinx it or spoil my year end awards, but I don’t see ANYONE knocking him from that spot. This match and the circumstances around it are good reason as to why, too. 

The last calendar month of Mox boast a great, gritty GCW Title defense against Tony Deppen on 6/17, a bloody battle with Tanahashi to win the AEW Title on 6/26, the crazy ass Blood & Guts match on 6/29, a slugfest with Brody King on 7/6 and after ALL OF THAT, Mox sees Takeshita having a killer match with Eddie Kingston on Rampage and says YO LET ME FIGHT HIM NEXT WEEK. A maniac. A pro wrestler’s pro wrestler. A fighter. 

This turns out to be everything expected of it and more. Some could say Mox matches in 2022 are very similar.. or at-least have similar traits. Blood, suplexes, head drops, stiff strikes and chops. You wouldn’t be wrong, but they don’t come off as a routine to me, they come off as a fight. Mox wants to wrestle and he goes into these matches completely unhinged with this match being no different. 

This is snug and focused from Mox and truthfully we see more fire from Takeshita than we have yet in AEW. I would’ve liked to seen more fire, but that’s a minor note. Takeshita gets color during the commercial break and as someone who has watched a lot of Takeshita’s stuff back in Japan, I can never recall him bleeding so although I could he wrong, this is definitely a rare occurrence and something I did not anticipate here. It definitely added some urgency to things and some additional sympathy that Takeshita’s matches with Hanger and King didn’t have. 

This was definitely a Jon Moxley match, but he let Takeshita go the fuck off and counter a ton of his stuff which gave us some awesome nearfalls. These two really just threw fucking bombs and I’d love another match between the two or a match between Takeshita and Claudio because this definitely pushed Takeshita a level further in the eyes of the AEW fan base. Just fantastic, pro wrestling and another notch on the belt of both these guys’ monumental years. I could see this being an amazing AEW Title match 3-4 years in the future with the roles being reversed if AEW wants to take it there. Takeshita has IT and they need to do whatever they can to keep him coming back regularly and use him accordingly. 

Match rating - ****1/4

Fortune Dream 7 Review - June 15th, 2022

Fortune Dream 7 

June 15th, 2022

Tokyo, Japan 

1) Takao Omori vs. Issei Onitsuka 

Good squash opener here. Omori largely dominates and I think calling it a squash is pretty accurate. It did go 8 minutes though and we got to see Onitsuka fire up a couple of times which rocked for the young GLEAT lad. Omori wins a little banger. 

Match rating - **3/4

2) Lady C vs. Himeka

IMPACT: Against All Odds 2022 Review - July 1st, 2022

IMPACT Wrestling

Against All Odds 

July 1st, 2022

Center Stage - Atlanta, Georgia 

Pre-Show:

1) Black Taurus vs. Laredo Kid 

This was a blast and the perfect length. It only goes seven minutes so no room for filler or excess. Just these two running a great sprint with a ton of awesome spots. The crowd was hot for both guys which added to it as well. Taurus gets the win. 

Match rating - ***

2) Brian Myers (c) vs. Rich Swann - Digital Media Championship Match 

This was fun. I don’t really care about either guy, but you can’t deny how easy of a watch this was. I hate that Swann has so many shit allegations in his past because he really is such a fun act for Impact to have on their roster and I feel like all his shittiness has overshadowed any positive credit to his name. Which, I mean.. rightfully so. Anyway. 

Match rating - **3/4

MAIN SHOW:

1) Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. BULLET CLUB (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) 

You know this rocked. Shelley is so consistent this year as always. Sabin is also a super solid hand.. as always. Then you’ve got the new young guns of the BC, Chris Bey & Ace Austin. I’m not big on either guy and I think BC is bloated as fuck, but Bey has delivered for me lately and Ace Austin’s story in the BOSJ and joining BC has been pretty cool. So, yeah, this was good. It’s the first ever time for Bey & Ace tagging and I’d totally be down for more. MCMG made them look great, even in defeat. 

Match rating - ***1/2

Backstage, Karl Anderson gets his team hyped up to face Honor No More later. Gallows, Heath, and Storm all get chances to talk. 

2) Mickie James & Mia Yim vs. Deonna Purazzo & Chelsea Green 

GCW: Tournament Of Survival 7 Review - June 4th, 2022

GCW Tournament of Survival 7

June 4th, 2022

Atlantic City, New Jersey 

I was live in attendance for this. 

1) Hoodfoot vs. Rina Yamashita - First Round Match 

Perfect way to kick off the weekend. It’s my first time seeing Yamashita and she exceeded expectations. Hoodfoot has become a favorite of mine this year and he looked awesome here. He & Yamashita started at 100 and never hit the brakes. Just a great deathmatch that never slowed down, but was competent enough to make sense and not feel like a clusterfuck. Hoodfoot is good at that and clearly I’ve been sleeping on Yamashita because got damn. This ruled. Yamashita wins to advance. 

Match rating - ***3/4 

2) SLADE vs. Matt Tremont - First Round Match 

GCW: Maniac Review - May 21st, 2022

GCW Maniac

May 21st, 2022

Los Angeles, CA - Ukranian Cultural Center

GCW World Champion: Jon Moxley (since 9/4/21)

GCW World Tag Team Champions: BUSSY (Allie Katch & Effy) (since 4/9/22)

GCW Extreme Champion: AJ Gray (since 1/15/22)

GCW Ultraviolent Champion: John Wayne Murdoch (since 3/31/22)

Commentators - Kevin Gill & Veda Scott

1) Blake Christian vs. Kevin Blackwood 

Blake comes to the ring with a “Chelsea Green loves Blake Christian” sign. Kevin Blackwood pays tribute to the victims of the Buffalo, NY incident last week. Bell rings and we are under way. The feed cuts out for the first 6-8 minutes of this. It cuts back in and we get a pretty awesome final 7-8 minute stretch. Some great exchanges and nearfalls. Blake Christian wins with a curb stomp. Considering the feed went out, take my rating with a grain of salt. 

Match rating - **3/4 

2) Titus Alexander vs. Tony Deppen 

This is a nice surprise. I had no idea this was on the card, but I love both these guys right now so LETS GO. Tony Deppen pokes Alexander in the eyes to begin. Weird to see Alexander not being the heel considering he’s very much the villain in his home promotion West Coast Pro from the little I’ve seen. Alexander follows it up with a trio of insane dives to really get the energy going for this one. This was really such a blast. Deppen really rocks and Alexander was awesome with the explosive babyface fire. Titus definitely made the most of this opportunity and the crowd was behind him the whole way. 

Match rating - ***1/2 

3) “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Masha Slamovich 

Wow. I anticipated this to be good, but I didn’t anticipate it to be quite possibly the best match either of these two has had all year. That’s exactly what it was, though. Beyond the stuff you’d expect like awesome strike exchanges, suplexes and spots. The laser focus of Speedball on the arm/shoulder of Masha and the selling that followed was just phenomenal. This was one of the best GCW matches of the year and well worth going out of your way to see. Just fantastic professional wrestling. Speedball wins with the flamingo driver. Amazing. 

Match rating - ****1/2

4) AJ Gray (c) vs. Jack Cartwheel vs. Ninja Mack vs. Cole Radrick vs. Starboy Charlie vs. Jimmy Lloyd - Scramble Match for the GCW Extreme Championship 

AEW: Rampage Review - May 20th, 2022

 

AEW Rampage

May 20th, 2022

Houston, Texas

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho, & Ruby Soho

1) Malakai Black, Brody King, & Buddy Matthews vs. Evil Uno, 10, & Fuego Del Sol

This was a great opener. It's setting in that Stu Grayson really is gone from AEW as we see Uno teaming with 10 & Fuego here. RIP :((( BUT YEAH. HOB kills these trios matches and this was no exception. Just a blast of a way to kick this show off. HOB obviously wins, but that doesn't take away from how fun this was along the way. 

Match rating - ***

NJPW: Best of the Super Juniors 29 Night Four Review - May 19th, 2022

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 29

Night Four 

May 19th, 2022

Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan

1) Taka Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. YOH & Hiroyoshi Tenzan 

Kevin Kelly says YOH has the best poker face in wrestling. That’s fair. YOH is 1-1 in the tournament, rebounding the night before this with a victory. The Suzuki-gun boys charge YOH & Tenzan at the bell. This is all about previewing YOH/Kanemaru which happens in a few days. This is pretty lifeless, though. Like there’s nothing WRONG with it but yeah. YOH wins with the direct driver. 

Match rating - *1/2 

2) Alex Zayne, Clark Connors, Jado, & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Dick Togo, SHO, Gedo, & Taiji Ishimori 

This surprised me. There was actually some fire behind some of this. Since I’m behind, I’ve heard that Zayne & Ishimori have a really good match coming up and based off their interactions here, I can definitely see the chemistry. Even Clark Connors looked good here off a tag cleaning the apron of his opponents. Togo & Taguchi had some fun exchanges as well. Just a good time here. The faces win, but Ishimori attacks Zayne after the bell to further that story. 

Match rating - **1/2

3) Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ace Austin & Tiger Mask 

GLEAT: Ver. 25 Review - May 18th, 2022

GLEAT Ver. 25

May 18th, 2022

Tokyo, Japan

Sorry this took so long to get done, guys. I got super behind on a lot of shit here in the last two weeks, but also.. this show got pulled from GLEAT’s YouTube which totally threw off my reviewing schedule and plans. Thankfully it’s been re-uploaded and I can now properly dive in to this huge event. 

It’s CIMA’s 25th Anniversary show. I’ve loved CIMA for nearly a decade now so this is required viewing to me, PLUS GLEAT is on fire right now so it’s pretty much a can’t miss event regardless especially with a loaded card like this. 

1) Minoru Tanaka, MUSASHI, & Soma Watanabe vs. Quiet Storm, Check Shimatani, & Masato Kamino 

This was a great little opener. MUSASHI & Kamino really laid into each other early. Things broke down and the finishing stretch was awesome. Lots of flash pin attempts and roll ups to throw in some added drama. The BULK Orchestra led trio of Storm, Shimatani, & Kamino secure the victory when all is said and done. 

Match rating - **3/4 

2) Yu Iizuka vs. Takanori Ito 

AEW: Dynamite Review - May 18th, 2022

AEW Dynamite - WILDCARD WEDNESDAY 

May 18th, 2022

Houston, Texas 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

1) Samoa Joe vs. Johnny Elite - Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Match 

The show opens with Samoa Joe against a mystery joker opponent. The ROH TV Champ enters with his title and awaits the rival of the joker which turns out to be the former John Morrison/Johnny Nitro/Johnny Mundo. This was a letdown for some. I admittedly wanted Claudio Castagnoli, but I will accept this rather than it being someone like Johnny Gargano. There’s been enough bland NXT people joining the team.. so a one off from Morrison? I’m fine with that. The match is fun as well. So no complaints from me. Is it great? Nah! But is it good? Yes. It felt like a match from 2014-2015 Raw that would be getting rave reviews under that platform. But here in AEW, the bar is so high. I’m just glad it wasn’t a melodramatic NXT/Adam Cole style match. It had close falls and big spots, but they didn’t go anywhere near overboard and as a result, I enjoyed the hell out of it. A Joe prolonged squash would’ve also satisfied me just as much, but it won’t complain at all about whag we got because it could’ve been MUCH worse and I enjoyed this more than a lot of recent matches that have made Dynamite. It’s not FTR/Bucks obviously and it’s nowhere near Punk/Dustin even.. but it beats a lot of other stuff. Joe wins to advance to the semi finals. 

Match rating - ***1/4

After the match, Joe is immediately jumped by Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. Satnam Singh begins walking down the ramp as well. Thankfully THE BOYS are in the building. Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, & Rocky Romero hit the ring with chairs to run off the bastards.

NJPW: Best of the Super Juniors 29 Night Three Review - May 18th, 2022

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 29 

Night Three

May 18th, 2022

Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

BLOCK A REDEEMS ITSELF ~!

1) Tiger Mask & Yuto Nakashima vs. Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa

Enjoyed the heck out of this little thing. Just simple wrestling with the young lions & Tiger Mask. Much better than the stupid House of Torture openers from the last two nights. Tiger Mask hits the Tiger Driver for the win a few minutes after he’s in and the young lions had done their thing for a few. 

Match rating - **1/2

2) El Phantasmo, Dick Togo, & Gedo vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Master Wato, & Jado

NJPW: Best of the Super Juniors 29 Night Two Review - May 17th, 2022

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 29

Night Two 

May 17th, 2022

Sakata, Yamagata, Japan

At the Sakata City Gymnasium for the first night of B Block action. This is a little nostalgic cause it instantly reminds me of 2018-19 when I watched the BOSJ shows as they happened. 

1) Hiroyoshi Tenzan, YOH, & Yuto Nakashima vs. Clark Connors, Kosei Fujita, & Ryohei Oiwa 

YOH and Connors begin. They face on night three so it’s an understandable way to start this off by teasing that match. They’re the real focus and story of this similar to how Yuta/Eagles was last night in the opening eight man except it’s not nearly as good. Sorta lifeless. Connors gets the pin in 10 minutes or so. 

Match rating - **

2) Ace Austin & Tiger Mask vs. Taka Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun) 

Kanemaru charges Austin at the bell. They face off in singles tomorrow so naturally that’s the whole reason this is happening. This was just like the opener.. fine, but just a house show effort for six minutes. Austin gets the pin on Taka for the victory for he & Tiger Mask.

Match rating - *3/4

3) Dick Togo, SHO, & Taiji Ishimori (BULLET CLUB) vs. Alex Zayne, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Jado 

It sucks that everything House of Torture almost has a **1/4 ceiling because of the incessant foul play. This had some good action in its short time with Alex Zayne hitting his first exciting move of the tournament. But they still had to go the weapons route for SHO to tap out Jado. Sigh. Fun while it lasted before that, atleast. 

Match rating - **

4) DOUKI (Suzuki-gun) vs. El Lindaman (STRONGHEARTS) - Block B Tournament Match 

NJPW: Best of the Super Juniors 29: Night One Review - May 15th, 2022

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Best of the Super Juniors 29

Night One - Block A

May 15th, 2022

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Commentators - Kevin Kelley & Chris Charlton

Japanese Commentators - Milano Collection AT & Toru Yano 

1) Wheeler Yuta, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Yuto Nakashima vs. Robbie Eagles, Tiger Mask, Master Wato, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

I unexpectedly am hyped about this opener before it even begins. Yuta teaming with the young lions and looking like a star leader as he backs them out to the apron, volunteering to start first was so cool. Plus hearing commentary talk about Yuta’s mentor being Regal and his history was nice. Okay and yeah, the match RULES. Yuta begins with Eagles and that’s the thread that comes back into play throughout the match. They end up linking back up a number of times during this and it’s definitely the highlight. All of the lions get time to shine and particularly are able to beat up on Master Wato a good bit by isolating him. Fujita in particular stood out with a set of AWESOME dropkicks. Like.. damn. Wato ends up recovering and getting the win for his team after about 10 minutes. This was great and a blast. 

Match rating - ***1/4 

After the match, Wheeler Yuta & Robbie Eagles come face to face again outside. Eagles grabs a commentary headset and says 

AEW: Rampage Review - May 6th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

May 6th, 2022

Baltimore, Maryland 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho & Ricky Starks 

Hello everyone. It’s a 5:30pm edition of Rampage and IM HERE. I accidentally turned to TBS instead of TNT but I realized it before missing more than a few minutes of the show. 

1) Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Ruby Soho & Toni Storm

AEW: Dynamite Review - May 4th, 2022

AEW Dynamite

May 4th, 2022

Baltimore, Maryland

 AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

Adam Cole opens the show to a massive pop to join commentary for the opening match.

1) Jeff Hardy (w/ Matt Hardy) vs. Bobby Fish (w/ Kyle O’Reilly) - Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier 

Yeah this suuuucked. Not like offensively bad.. but not anywhere near good. Crowd was hot! And it was cool seeing Jeff in singles action. That’s about it though. Jeff took a falcon arrow which was nutty. Swanton bomb ends it and Jeff advances thank the lord. I’m dying to see Jeff/Darby in the tournament itself. 

Match rating - ** 

THEY AIR THE EPIC LEGENDARY REGAL BCC PROMO FROM “ROAD TO” IN ROUTE TO OUR NEXT MATCH 

2) Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, & Wheeler Yuta vs. Angelico, The Butcher, & The Blade 

NOW WE GET SOME GOOD SHIT. Butch & Blade deserve this match even though the outcome is obvious. Angelico is making TV for the first time in forever which is cool. The Andrade office boys jump BCC during Moxley’s entrance. They end up isolating Yuta and Yuta hits an awesome german on Butcher during his comeback. Moxley gets the hot tag and Jesus Christ man.. the dude just rules. He kicks Blade’s ass all around ringside and flips a table over. It’s not long before we are in the classic BCC finishing sequence with them locking every member in for the elbows followed by submissions for the win. 

Match rating - ***

Backstage, Jurassic Express accepts Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs’ tag title challenge. BUT Jungle Boy wants Starks for the FTW Title next week first. 

NJPW: Windy City Riot Review - April 16th, 2022

NJPW Windy City Riot

April 16th, 2022

Chicago, Illinois 

NJPW Strong Openweight Champion - Tom Lawlor (since 4/23/21)

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions - Jeff Cobb & Great O' Khan (since 4/9/22)

Commentators - Kevin Kelly & Matt Rehwoldt

1) Yuya Uemura, Clark Connors, & Karl Fredericks vs. QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, & Aaron Solow

This was a decent enough opener. The feed was cutting in and out and actually cut out completely for a minute or so. For this reason, I don’t want to comment too much, but everything about this seemed super solid so YEAH. Good kick off, technical issues aside. 

Match rating - **1/4

2) Chris Dickinson, Fred Rosser, Ren Narita, Josh Alexander, & Alex Coughlin vs. Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Black Tiger, Royce Isaacs, & Jorel Nelson)

Welll god damn. I didn’t expect to enjoy this so much. But holy shit it ruled. All the preliminary action is just fine with everyone getting a chance to shine then shit breaks down. JR Kratos and Alex Coughlin have an awesome back & forth before Kratos completely steals the show with a fucking dive over the corner top rope onto everyone else on the outside. Truly fucking insane shit. Between this and the Bloodsport match with Thatcher a few weeks ago, I’m fully on board with Kratos. This leads to Rosser and Black Tiger showing out in the final moments with Rosser tapping out Black Tiger for the victory. 

Match rating - ***1/4

After the match, Tom Lawlor comes down to help his team assault Rosser following the loss. This leads to Yuji Nagata coming out for the save and demanding their match be made a title match. Andddddd here we go!!!

3) Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Yuji Nagata - NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT TITLE MATCH

AEW: Rampage Review - April 15th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

April 15th, 2022

Garland, Texas

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks & William Regal

ITS A LIVE 7PM EDITION OF RAMPAGE

1) Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ William Regal) vs. The Gunn Club (Billy, Austin, & Colten Gunn)