Random Match Review: Terry Funk vs. Eddy Guerrero - NWA - May 9th, 1989

Terry Funk vs. Eddy Guerrero - NWA - May 9th, 1989

In recent times, my attention span with wrestling has grown very short. The ability to impress me is more in the small things than the grandiose. Hence me seeing this match on YouTube when I had the itch for some wrasslin before work and immediately diving in. It’s Funk and it’s Eddie.. for one - I never knew this match happened. And two.. it’s less than 6 minutes. If anything I hoped for a little longer because I knew these two all timers would have chemistry. And I was right. It’s Guerrero’s first ever appearance for the NWA. Funk is a former NWA Champion. Guerrero is young and froggy. He uses his quickness to throw Funker for a loop early. Funker lets Eddy get a lot of good moments of hope in. Good fire. Only to cut him off and do so with focused and channeled aggression. This was the simple stuff. And I loved it. Everything mattered. Eddy’s flashiness and agility was impressive, but at the end of the day, Funker is the veteran and the world champion and he shuts him down with a piledriver on the floor, grabs the three count and scrapes his way outta there. The perfect squash and a great discovery almost 40 years after the fact. 

Match rating - *** 

Random Match Review: Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher - TNT Title Match - AEW: Dynamite - February 11th, 2026

AEW Dynamite

February 11th, 2026

Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW TNT Title Match 

So, Ciampa is in AEW now. I haven’t watched his first weeks of competition, but I made it a point to catch this after hearing all the rave reviews. I don’t think I got what most did out of this. I don’t say that to sound negative or downplay what was clearly a fiery ass match perfect for what it was. The biggest thing I got out of this just wasn’t anything new. Ciampa is what he has always been. And he has never been bad. He’s always had the intensity and the fire. He can go back and forth and hit all the false finishes you could ask for. I didn’t learn anything new about Kyle Fletcher, just further affirmation that he can go and even outdo his predecessors. The biggest takeaway here is that AEW has perfectly handled the presentation of Ciampa since he showed up and even the continued presentation of the future of pro wrestling, Kyle Fletcher. This was never gonna be a bad pairing. The crowd is in both their hands and in two totally different regards. It’s a perfect storm. And we already know these dudes can keep the work rate up. So, yeah. They did that shit. Perfect PWG mid-card tribute, but the good kind. Not the overdone, weak kind. This was strong and it was good. I’m just not about to slap a 4+ star rating on it. Fletch captures his second TNT Championship in a barn burning TV contest. 

Match rating - ***1/2

Random Match Review: John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE: Taboo Tuesday 2005

WWE Taboo Tuesday 

November 1st, 2005

John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE Championship Match 

This is an interesting one. Kurt and Shawn are each other’s self indulged worst nightmare for me. Them together has never struck me like it has for others. John Cena is clearly the best part of this. They go through the expected formula for a triple threat title match here as they do the isolate the champion routine. Angle and Michaels do stuff so the middle sucks. Cena comes firing back with an awesome comeback. It’s interesting, though because this is the time where people are starting to turn on Cena so lots of boos during his epic comeback. Crazy dive from HBK to break this thing up. Angle ends up isolating Cena in the ring with the ankle lock. Shawn breaks it up and Cena manages to recover, FU him and get the three count all while selling the ankle. Pretty great work from John boy here completely outshining his elders. An early small glimmering sign that he would surpass both of them legacy wise. 

Match rating - **3/4

Random Match Review: John Cena/Shawn Michaels/Hulk Hogan vs. Christian/Chris Jericho/Tyson Tomko - WWE: Monday Night Raw - June 27th, 2005

WWE Monday Night Raw

June 27th, 2005 

John Cena, Shawn Michaels, & Hulk Hogan vs. Chris Jericho, Christian, & Tyson Tomko 

This is one of those that I will never forget as a kid. We are mere weeks away from Cena’s debut on Raw after the draft in the heat of his feud with Chris Jericho and his cohorts Christian Cage and Tomko. Cena had to pick two partners to face them and he found Shawn Michaels which is a dream pairing in its own right. Shawn has a mystery partner for Cena. He introduces him and the young WWE Champion in his first reign drops to his knees in shock as the Immortal One’s music hits. This is that pro wrestling shit. The energy is perfect for this off the rip. Jericho, Vitamin C & Tomko are livid and scared. The ace babyface trio encompassing three generations are fiery and the crowd is electric. This is short, but this is sweet. It plays all the hits and honestly more than anything, does wonders for John Cena. He’s so clearly the star here. Shawn takes the face in peril role during commercial and Hogan & Cena work the apron like absolute animals. True babyface of the century shit from the legend and the future legend. Eventually Hogan gets that tag and all absolute fucking hell breaks down. My favorite moment of the match is during this.. Hogan does the “you can’t see me” to Tomko and goes to tag Cena, but Jericho breaks it up and Cena charges in after Jericho like a bat out of hell and tackles him to the ropes and through the ropes and to the floor. Michaels & Hogan hit their finishers and take the victory. The post match sees Cena pose with his heroes before leaving the ring to them even though he’s the champion. This rocks. A feel good moment. A feel good match. Thanks guys. 

Match rating - ***

Random Match Review: Chris Hero vs. Roderick Strong - IWA Mid South - September 30th, 2006

September 30th, 2006 

Chris Hero vs. Roderick Strong 

IWA Mid-South: Ted Petty Invitational - Night Two

Well well, what’s up yall? It’s been a while. A long time. And an even longer time since I’ve done a singular “miscellaneous match review” post. Life has been crazy with little time to really keep up with the blog or watch wrestling as much as I would like. Despite that, it still remains a part of my life. I just brought a wrestling event to my music festival which was a true dream come true to be a part of and as I’m typing this, I’m preparing for a day trip tomorrow to AEW’s Blood & Guts event in Greensboro, NC. 

On top of all that, though, wrestling remains my comfort viewing. When my mental isn’t where it should be and music and work life are pushing to my wits end. I’ll throw on a wrestling match or event to make me feel better.

This afternoon, my choice for viewing while I ate $20 worth of Popeye’s after work was this. Chris Hero versus Roderick Strong in the 2006 IWA Mid South Ted Petty Invitational. Hero, Roddy, and IWA MS are three of my favorite comfort viewings so this was a perfect choice when it popped up as a YouTube recommendation. With these three things and people, I know exactly what I’m in for (for better or worse when it comes to the promotion LMAO). 

This is a blind spot in my IWA MS mid-2000’s love story binge. After 2005, my catalog of viewing slowly diminishes. So, to be honest, it was nice to get around to something from the 2006 TPI. 

Hero is in full dickhead mode at this point in time in every promotion he works for. One half of the ROH tag team champions. He’s a cocky son of a bitch and has been mowing through this tournament. Commentary does a good job of catching you up on things even though I’m sure they prolly never imagined this would be a single match someone would be watching one day as opposed to the entire event on tape. None the less, they crush it. Plus, Hero is in prime form here and could’ve told the story in the ring on his own even without commentary. 

This is the type of the match that makes my heart pulse. A random singles contest from 19 years ago, but damn if it ain’t just as great as anything on modern wrestling TV. It just reminds me of how good we had it in the mid 2000’s and how special this crop of workers were. And ALSO, Roddy motherfucking Strong. 20+ years in the game and still going strong TO THIS DAY. I just watched him have a ****1/4 TV masterclass with Jon Moxley on 11/8/25 and here he is on 9/30/06 having the most sick little snappy tournament match in a gymnasium. This crop of guys have such incredible depth to their catalogs. Going back and watching matches like this reminds me of that. 

Idk man, I’m not gonna do play by play on this, you know that’s not my thing if you’ve ever read my reviews. I just yap. And the jist of this one is simple… I love simple, to the point, crisp, gritty wrasslin that tells a story anyone can grasp. You don’t need all the shit that’s wrong with modern WWF, you don’t need monologues, you don’t need spots. You don’t need anything, but two Great Workers. Two Grade A Pro Wrestlers. All you need is Chris Hero. All you need is Roderick Strong. 

Hero destroys Roddy’s left arm here. Partially I think to try to combat his chops, but also I think just to be a fuckin dick.

Roddy fights from under with as much as fire as ever. This boy used to MOVE man. I haven’t watched pre 2015 Roddy in so long that this shit blew me away in that regard, truly. 

The finish to this match is a testament to everything I said in the earlier paragraph. Roddy catches Hero off guard in a backslide and holds it just long enough for the three count. The cocky villain for three seconds was just a little too cocky. The fiery, hard hitting babyface finds the loophole for the upset. Simple story told. Pro wrestling. Check this out if you want a fun one that isn’t overproduced or overcomplicated. The Good Old Days. Thanks fellas. 

Match rating - ***1/2

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 - ****

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 & Wheeler Yuta vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) - AEW: Dynamite - July 20th, 2022

Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) - AEW Dynamite - July 20th, 2022

This probably comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I loved this match. I don’t think I loved it solely because of bias, though. I think I tend to be pretty fair in my analysis of most things and when I am being biased, I can call myself out for it and own it. 

Sure, I love Chuck Taylor more than most. Yes, Jon Moxley is my undoubted Wrestler of the Year so far and has me glued to the screen any time he’s on. And yes, Wheeler Yuta has been a consistent favorite of mine this year as well. 

Take all of that away, though, and I think you still have one of the best TV matches of the year. In all honesty, I think it may go down as one of the most underrated ones considering some of the takes I’ve seen on it. 

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

Random Match Review: CM Punk, Sting, & Darby Allin vs. MJF & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) - AEW: Dynamite - December 22nd, 2021

CM Punk, Sting, & Darby Allin vs. MJF & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) - AEW: Dynamite - 12/22/21

Alright y’all, I have to be honest. I just did not have the energy or time to write up a full review of Dynamite on this night. I’ve covered almost every episode this year outside of a select two or three so cut me some slack :) 

Work and life have had me very busy and tired, especially with it being the holidays. With this in mind, I went into this show very tired and close to dozing off. However, this match here brought me completely back to life and honestly gave me the energy to power through the Up and Over Podcast episode we recorded immediately after (which can be found here.) 

I knew this match would be special. It’s Sting in the Greensboro Coliseum for the first time in god knows when. I’m not a huge stats guy so go find that somewhere else but this was huge for that reason alone. Then you factor in the fact that this babyface team is like.. the most star studded babyface team in wrestling today. These aren’t just top guys, these are larger than life superstars. Punk and Sting are legends from different generations and seeing them tag together is a treat on it’s own. Pair them with a young star like Darby and you’ve got a fuckin vibe pal. 

So, yeah, I knew this would be special, but as soon as I saw Sting come out with the CM Punk inspired face-paint, I was hooked and on my feet. Then Punk did the same, coming out looking like Surfer Sting. This was just so much fun. The type of stuff that makes you feel like a kid again.

The trio of Punk, Sting, & Darby are such huge babyfaces that they honestly just felt like superheroes here. And I’m not a movie or comic guy, so I think it says a lot that I would make that comparison. This felt more like superheroes vs. villains than just good wrestling guys vs. bad wrestling guys. I HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE. 

MJF & FTR were the perfect shit head villains to counteract the super human like trio they were facing and I think their styles complimented that of Sting & Punk better than almost anyone Sting & Punk have faced in their time in AEW. FTR is a classic old school tag team and there probably aren’t two wrestlers in AEW more old school stylistically than Punk and Sting. So yes, this was everything it needed to be and then a little more.

You got the face in peril segments. You got the isolation and cutting off the ring from the heels. You got all the hot tags you could’ve asked for. Sting did a dive or two, Darby did some insane ones, of course, and Punk, despite some missteps here or there turned up the energy himself. Shit, MJF even got a little nutty and landed right on his neck on the outside when shit broke down. 

This just ruled and might be my favorite trios match of the year so I had to review it. Can’t wait to watch this again and again in the months and years to come. 

Match rating - ****

Random Match Review: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Nagata - NJPW: Kizuna Road - July 1st, 2021

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Nagata - NJPW: Kizuna Road - 7/1/21

I haven't tuned in for anything New Japan related since Shingo won the title around this time last month at Dominion. The Road to shows normally have some good stuff, but it isn't must-see viewing and I barely have any spare time on my hands these days. With that in mind, I was gonna just wait for the Shingo/Ibushi match to happen and catch up then.

Well, today, I decided to take a look and see if I might have missed any matches worth a look and I noticed this one. It had a pretty high rating on cagematch so I threw it on expecting a good, hard hitting contest. I mean, it's Ishii and Nagata, it'll at the least be a hoot.

Turns out it's more than a hoot. It's a complete banger. 

Sometimes I forgot how literally insane Tomohiro Ishii is and then he has a match like this that reminds me how dumb I am for sleeping on him. The same could be said for Mr. Nagata who had a decent match with Jon Moxley on AEW Dynamite back in May. This match, though? On an entirely different level from that contest. So, if that was your first time seeing Nagata (somehow) - please do yourself a favor and check out this match.

Ishii and Nagata beat the everloving hell out of one another. Ishii focused on strikes and throws like usual. He blistered poor Nagata's chest to the point of me wincing at the sight of it. Nagata tried to focus on submissions and holds with offense targeted at the arm of Ishii. An arm/hand that would end up fucking swelling up from how hard and fast he had been striking Nagata as the match went on.

This was just a battle in every sense of the word and the purest form of Japanese strong style. The slaps and the striking showdown in the center of the ring about three quarters of the way through this thing was mind-blowing. A bloody mouth, a swollen wrist, a fucking war.

Ishii wins with the brainbuster. This ruled.

Match rating - ****1/4

Random Match Review: Bandido vs. Flamita vs. Rey Horus - ROH: 19th Anniversary Show - March 26th, 2021

Bandido vs. Flamita vs. Rey Horus - ROH: 19th Anniversary Show - 3/26/21

Hello all, I am continually losing the energy & time to watch and review full shows hence the more occurrences of these random match review columns. Last night, I was laying in bed and Mike told me this was happening and despite having little interest in ROH right now, this on paper was undoubtedly worth tuning in for. So, I turned it on and boy, am I glad I did.

Despite being a less talked about scale, all three of these men haven't missed a beat as they showed the fuck OUT here. Apparently, they lost a trios title match earlier in the night and that led us to this three way later in the same night which sounds like some WWE shit except they actually got time to work this and proceeded to have an amazing, must see spot fest.

There isn't really many words that can do a match like this justice nor is it really worth trying to dissect. I will say, though, what made it special is the amount of shit they did that I've never seen before. A crossbody into a poisonrana? Yeah, think on that one and try to figure it out without watching.

Just go watch this match and thank me later. This fucking ruled and I'm going four on it. Bandido wins and should be the next ROH World Champion.

Match rating - ****

New Japan Cup 2021 Finals Review: Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay - March 21st, 2021

 

This is the New Japan Cup finals, I was hoping for. Not necessarily this particular match, but one that didn't involve EVIL or SANADA. However, it being these two who had an all timer in the 2019 BOSJ tournament final certainly is a valid dream scenario and once the entrances began, I realized how perfect of a final this actually is.

These two redefined what it means to be a junior in 2019, then upped their game and joined the heavyweight division. Their BOSJ 2019 final was subsequently held as a five star classic pretty much across the board. This led to a lot of hype to their re-match in the G1 Climax last year. Now, admittedly, I was watching a ton (probably too much) wrestling at the time, so maybe I was burned out, but to me, it wasn't quite the follow up I hoped for. Sure, I went ****1/4 on it because it was still an awesome contest, but I think my brain was hoping for another close to ***** match like their Best of the Super Juniors final. So, that probably played a factor too. With my slight disappointment in their G1 match, despite it still being great (I hate rating something 4+ then complaining), I wasn't SUUUUPER wound up about this. Plus, it's hard for me to enjoy a lot of what Ospreay does these days.

Once the entrances came and the staredown began, though, this felt special. It felt like the perfect next chapter in the rivalry between these two. From a junior tournament final to an openweight/more heavyweight tournament final. It felt like natural progression for both men's careers and another chance to prove themselves, and boy did they ever.

Despite me not enjoying a lot of modern day Ospreay, his match with Zack Sabre Jr. earlier in this tournament did hit the mark for me. A nasty bloody, broken nose added to a naturally great match thanks to their history and chemistry. I went ****1/4 on the battle, Big Dave went even higher going the full five for it. So, check that match out when you get the chance. None the less, that gave this match and Ospreay's final two matches in the tournament a little bit more urgency because we physically saw the damage he's taken. Not only from the injury, but also the high quality contests he had along the way.

You can say the same for Shingo too, who not only had a fantastic string of matches in this tournament, but his entire year has been nuts with two MOTY contenders against Jeff Cobb and Hiroshi Tanahashi in January and February respectively, and now, this, an insane run to the finals of the New Japan Cup. This has taken a toll on the Dragon who entered this match a taped up and injured back, almost a sure target for the villanious Ospreay. 

I just wrote four paragraphs only on the backstory of this one, so if you needed any other reason to check out this match before I even dive into the contest itself - there it is. I mention all this backstory because it was all touched on and conveyed throughout this match and in perfect fashion.

The first 10-20 minutes of a New Japan match can make it or break it for me. They tend to have a formula that can become excessive. That formula being every main event/title match/tournament final having to go 30+ minutes. This can make some of these matches feel like a snooze fest until the final 10 minute or so stretch. That was not the case here.

The first few minutes see a fast paced flurry of big move attempts and some flippy exchanges, showcasing each man's familiarity with the other. They've been here before. They were junior heavyweight rivals and standard bearers. They can't just go for spots. They are too smart for that, so onward they moved.

Shingo targets the previously broken nose of Ospreay and Ospreay targets the worn out body and taped up back of the MOTY candidate machine Shingo Takagi. 

The next 15 minutes sees these two take it quite slow for the most part, but it is never uninteresting. Shingo sends Ospreay face first into the turnbuckle and to the ring apron. Moments that made me wince as nose injuries have always made me cringe and seeing Ospreay's get smashed a week prior to this has me on the edge of my seat every time it's touched. Ospreay plays the heel perfectly shoving Bea into the way of Shingo, and even sending Shingo over to where his cohorts Cobb & Great O' Khan are sitting further establishing Shingo as the outnumbered babyface. Ospreay using these simple heel tactics and targeting the taped back of Shingo more than held up his end of this portion of the match.

I also have to mention the staredown between Shingo & Ibushi as Shingo rose to his feet to try and make the 20 count after receiving an Oscutter on the floor. GIVE ME THAT MATCH. 

The final 10 minutes or so sees things get turned up a notch with Ospreay realizing he's going to have to bust it all out to defeat Shingo. We get an insane reversal out of the pumping bomber into an Oscutter, the aforementioned Oscutter on the floor, a 450 splash through a fucking table and SHINGO STILL GETS UP AND KICKS OUT. Ospreay is worn down and can't get Shingo up for Stormbreaker so sits him up for hidden blade, but an exhausted Shingo collapses. Ospreay opts for Kawada kicks which invigorates a new life into the Dragon who throws fiery elbows to the face of Ospreay in the corner. Elbows which the crowd hangs on with every thrust, clapping along as Shingo tries to make his comeback.

Although, the audience couldn't verbally cheer or boo due to COVID safety regulations, you knew who they were behind here and the subtle display of that with the loud clapping made feel almost more special to me than if they could yell and shout. It made the short lived Shingo comeback attempts feel... genuine. 

Shingo fights out of this exchange and nails Ospreay with Made in Japan for a hot two count false finish, but he has just taken too much punishment and can't keep up with Ospreay's energetic flurries despite fighting hard in these final few minutes. Ospreay final lands the hidden blade followed by somehow hoisting up Takagi for Stormbreaker and getting the three count.

This was an incredible match and New Japan Cup final, even if the outcome isn't what I wanted to happen or thought should happen. The post-match was the worst thing about this and completely distasteful and I'm sure I don't even have to explain why. Ospreay is the last person who should be doing this sort of thing and why was it necessary heading into a title match with Ibushi that was set up perfectly via Ospreay winning this tournament and stating why he needed Ibushi's titles more than anything in the post match promo/staredown? I don't get it.

I have a feeling we may see Ospreay take the titles from Ibushi so he can take the heat that's been received from many fans in regards to Ibushi unifying the titles. That's the only way I can see this making sense, but what do I know? We'll see what happens.

One thing I do know is this match ruled. Shingo with another amazing match added to his repertoire and looking strong in defeat as always. Truly the best wrestler in the world right now and I'm blown away that he can continue having such high quality matches on this consistent of a basis.

What a way to start my Sunday morning.

Match rating - ****3/4

Random Match Review: Chris Sabin & James Storm vs. Private Party - Impact Wrestling: January 19th, 2021

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a single match review as a post, but I can’t quite stomach a full episode of Impact, even with the newfound AEW partnership. However, I happened to see on Twitter as I was scrolling that Private Party and Matt Hardy showed up and it peaked my interest. This a #1 Contender’s Match to determine who will challenge Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows for the Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Titles. I was interested what was going to happen following the six man tag at Hard to Kill and I can honestly say I couldn’t have predicted this being the next move. It’s not monumental, but I feel like we will get more out of it in the long run than the Omega/Good Brothers stuff as Private Party is a team that needs this outside experience. It comes at perfect timing too because there’s nothing really going for them in AEW right now so having the opportunity to send them over to another televised company with plenty of seasoned stars is such a great thing. It's almost reminiscent of the days where promoters would send certain wrestlers to certain other territories or overseas to Japan or England to do a tour and get new experience. This, as crazy as it may sound, makes me feel more positive about the AEW/Impact Wrestling relationship than the Omega/Good Brothers stuff, simply for the fact that Omega and his associates are already made stars. So, to me, bringing your big star to a company that is arguably not anywhere near as popular than him doesn't really do much for AEW. BUT doing this? It can do a lot for AEW as Private Party can come back after a few months or however long this tenure is and be more ready to take that next step up as a team and possibly get a chance at being tag team champions. 

That, along with the different ways you can incorporate them jumping ship into a storyline on Dynamite makes this something I'm pretty stoked about. Now comes this match. And to me, it's the perfect example of why this works. Chris Sabin and James Storm are two of the most decorated tag team wrestlers from the mid-2000's who both still have plenty to offer as competitors. Storm, in particular here, really stood out to me. I haven't seen him wrestle nor being excited about him wrestling in quite some time, but he looked awesome and very agile here. As I was saying, though, the knowledge that Private Party can get from working two guys of this caliber in tag team wrestling goes without saying. The match itself is simple, but because of all these reasons, I really enjoyed. Private Party got their stuff in and Sabin & Storm more than kept up with the speedy up & comers in a contest that was pretty competitive. They didn't burn the house down, but it was a super fun match that also probably benefited from two things:

1) the new commentary team of D-Lo Brown & Matt Striker, because god knows Josh Matthews made this show so hard to watch without feeling like a complete dork. Striker isn't THAT much better, but it's still better than what they had before.

2) AEW Owner Tony Khan showing up at ringside with the legend Jerry Lynn, who sported an AEW collared shirt. This added some suspense to the contest - why are they here? Did they know Private Party & Matt Hardy were showing up tonight? Are they going to get involved?

And to answer that question, they did. It looked like Private Party was done for, when all of a sudden, Jerry Lynn jumps the rail and holds the foot of Sabin who was on the top rope, this allows Private Party to hit GIN AND JUICE for the three count and to become the new #1 contenders for the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Titles. 

Post match, the champions, the Good Brothers - Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows come out and we get a decent staredown before it breaks into a sort of weak brawl to close the show involving all three teams. I get what they were going for, but closing the show in the middle of this didn't come across very well.

Match Rating - ***