ROH: Good, Bad, DUD

ROH 13^th Anniversary

(2015/3/1)

Cedric Alexander vs. Matt Sydal

This match had a bunch of Michinoku Pro inspired moves with both guys doing an auto-pilot wrestling, there was very little cohesion or emotional depth here. Kind of like a Michael Bay movie. However, not all Michael Bay movies are terrible. Same with this match, when it’s all said and done it wasn’t bad, it was a decent little jumpfest, good enough for an opener.

**3/4

ROH 13^th Anniversary

(2015/3/1)

ACH vs. AJ Styles

Damn good match, AJ worked more of a heavyweight style in order to oppose to ACH’s highly athletic habits. The match built well, they had good sense for pacing and flow, it was organic despite being spotty. By the way, in the middle of the match Kevin Fucking Disgusting Kelly felt a need to discuss the ODB/Maria match. Yeah, that happened.

***3/4

ROH 13^th Anniversary

(2015/3/1)

ROH World Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) ©

Rocky Romero joins the commentary table and Kevin Kelly calls him an “all time great”. That’s pure gold right there. Amazing every time with the Bucks on offense doing their phenomenal thing, but at the same time incredibly dull and embarrassing every time with Kyle and Fish doing their godawful shitty thing, Jesus Christ they’re the worst tag team of all time, everything they touch turns into brown shit. They’re such party poopers and the energy goes down every time it’s their turn to run the pace. Fuck them, two boring drones, can’t believe they have fans. The Bucks, on the other hand, were incredible here and not only they saved the match from MMA geeks disaster, they even carried it to borderline greatness, they were innovative and full of charm, such a badass duo that always finds new ways to entertain.

***3/4

ROH 13^th Anniversary

(2015/3/1)

ROH World TV Championship: Alberto el Patron vs. Jay Lethal ©

Massive disappointment and big waste. They basically did a WWE/TNA style bullshit title match with all the interferences, dirty finish and shit. Such a shame because this pairing had a tremendous potential, which was evident in those tiny portions of the match when they were beating the shit out of each other. That was good but of course everything fell apart later in the match due to shitty booking. Fuck you, Ring of Shit!

**

ROH 13^th Anniversary

(2015/3/1)

4-WAY for ROH World Championship: Hanson vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Michael Elgin vs. Jay Briscoe ©

Everything about this was absolutely fucking terrible, legit one of the worst main events I’ve ever seen. Fuck this shit and fuck Ring of Shit. Michael Elgin is dirt worst. But hey, at least we’re probably going to see Joe against Jay Briscoe for the strap, so there is some light at the end of tunnel.

DUD

Newish CMLL

CMLL 2015/1/27

Disturbio, Espiritu Negro, Akuma vs. Sensei, Magnus, Flyer

Average trio match. Flyer was botching lots of key moves, he got huge anti-tecnico heat from the crowd. Espiritu Negro and especially Magnus were bloody great here. First time seeing Magnus and he seems an awesome guy, his lucha makes sense and he’s not afraid of doing crazy shit.

**3/4

CMLL 2015/1/27

Zeuxis, Tiffany, Seductora vs. Estrellita, Princesa Sujei, Dark Angel

Nonstop action and constant movement, there wasn’t a moment in the match without someone getting smacked hard. CMLL ladies like their hard hitting style of lucha, Tiffany especially, she was the undisputed MVP of the match with all the aggression and malicious intensity she displayed. Sujei was a tremendous lady hero who takes no shit from anyone, Dark Angel was awesome as well, totally Ishii-ish, I know her as a hot fitness chick, but boy oh boy, she can wrestle very well. Damn good match.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/3

Zeuxis, Tiffany, Dalys vs. Estrellita, Princesa Sujei, Dark Angel

CMLL ladies do it again, this was another neat trio, with Dalys instead of La Seductora on the rudo side. They got a solid amount of time and they took advantage of it. Sujei was great.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/10

Divinos Laguneros (Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther) vs. Comando Caribeno (Pierroth, Sagrado, Misterioso)

The primera was literally the shortest fall ever, the segunda was mediocre, the tercera was very good and saved the match, The Panther was easily the best guy in there and once again he proved his ability to make things hot with just one move, dude’s unreal.

***

CMLL 2015/2/10

Volador Jr., Dragon Rojo Jr., Angel de Oro vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Polvora, Hechicero

Really fine trio match with great primera and peculiar finish that advanced the Volador/UG beef. The primera was nifty with everyone hitting their stuff on the mat and the rest of the match was your typical CMLL trios action, but done right. Volador and UG have a great chemistry. It’s really cool that every Hechicero match gets good amount of time for primeras to display llaves, I like to think he manages to talk the other participants backstage into it, I’m telling this because matwork is something I wouldn’t expect from this combo of names involved.

****

CMLL 2015/2/6

MATCH RELAMPAGO: Maximo vs. Rey Bucanero

Average lightning match.

**3/4

CMLL 2015/2/6

Campeonato Mundial de Parejas CMLL: Mascara & Sombra vs. Negro Casas & Shocker ©

Hot damn, this rivalry is so fruitful, it delivers once again. Casas and Shocker are pretty much a perfect tag team of surly veteran badasses schooling younger luchadors, they’re glorious in this match, especially the underrated Shocker who had great matches with Mascara and Sombra last year and the mutual chemistry is clear. Very fun match with an awesome structure.

****

CMLL 2015/2/8

Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Dragon Lee vs. Virus, Puma, Kamaitachi

This was fucking great all the way through, 15 minutes of high-octane action carried by Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi hate, Virus and Maya revisiting their rivalry and Delta being the MVP of the match(!), I’m telling you this was amazing and my new CMLL MOTY. Holy shit, the mask match can’t come fast enough. Maya’s dive into paying customers was both dangerous and glorious.

****1/2

CMLL 2015/2/8

Maximo, Valiente, Marco Corleone vs. Ephesto, Mephisto, Cavernario

11 minutes of crazy diving and gnarly smacking. Fuck, Cavernario/Corleone stuff was tons of fun. There was a moment with them in the middle of the ring, the caveman was mocking Marco’s antics only for the latter to punch him in the jaw silly. Smashing. Great match.

****

CMLL 2015/2/10

Maximo, Mascara, Marco Corleone vs. Rey Bucanero, Terrible, Cavernario

Super fun match, probably the funniest this year, all things Marco/Cavernario/Terrible was genuinely amusing, they played off the punching thing beautifully and all the taunts and teases were gold.

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/13

Maximo, Atlantis, Marco Corleone vs. Terrible, Rey Bucanero, Thunder

Short but good, once again Marco and Terrible were building on their mutual love for left hooks. The finish was great.

***1/4

CMLL 2015/2/17

Divinos Laguneros (Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., The Panther) vs. Comando Caribeno (Pierroth, Sagrado, Misterioso)

Neat, heated rematch from a week earlier, this was a nasty brawl dominated by the rudos before the Panther family got a chance to execute their excellent comeback with a series of awesome moves, including The Panther’s AMAZING dive. Shit man, that one was crazy great. The fans love him, and so do I. BPJ has been improving rapidly, btw, I see him shining in this year’s Busca de un Idolo (if there is one, you never know with CMLL).

***3/4

CMLL 2015/2/13

Campeonato Mundial de Trios del CMLL: Sky Team (Mistico, Volador Jr., Valiente) vs. Guerreros Laguneros (Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Niebla Roja) ©

Spectacular trio title match, back-and-forth tussle with everyone doing the right thing. Yes, that includes Niebla Roja as well. Funny. The Guerreros’ simple plan is to calm the pace down and tame the tecnico trio via questionable brawlish methods, and it works for a fall and a half before Sky Team’s inevitable big ass comeback. From there on, the match is a breathtaking spectacle fucking loaded with both sumptuous visuals as well as captivating story elements. Truly awesome match and my NEW match of the year by the oldest active promotion in the world.

****1/2

Newish W-1

Wrestle-1 2015/1/30

Masayuki Kono vs. KAI

Good enough for me. I actually don’t mind Kono because he’s a very capable worker who can really shine when in the ring with a better opponent, it’s just that his current DESPERADO angle is holding him back and turns his matches into shit quite regularly. It can be fun, but it’s usually a miss. There wasn’t much of that here, the match was rather normal, with some grappling at the beginning, then some ringside brawling before the good closing stretch where they had to improvise due to KAI knocking out Kono during a double lariat spot. I liked this, good match.

***

Wrestle-1 2015/1/30

Hideki Suzuki & Yusaku Obata vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro Kuroshio

Credit for all the stars goes to HIDEKI SUZUKI for being such a marvelous dickbag heel, he hijacked the match and fucking owned it. First he ripped Kuroshio’s jacket apart, then no sold him all the way ‘till the end where he destroyed him ringside while Funaki was busy in the ring. The Suzuki/Funaki heat is amazing and thankfully they’re finally booked for a singles slugfest in March, shit man, that match’s going to rule the world. They really hate each other, so much animosity in the air when they’re in the ring, everything is so natural and organic, that’s what a true wrestling rivalry should look like. On top of that, we also had Kuroshio and Obata smacking each other silly and punching each other after the match. God, I loved this match, such a nifty piece of storytelling.

****1/4

Wrestle-1 2015/1/30

Wrestle-1 Championship: Manabu Soya vs. Keiji Muto ©

Not as great as Sanada defense, but still very good. Muto is slow but he can still bump very well, and it certainly helps to see his opponents adjusting to his style and working his levels of pacing. Plus, of course, Muto’s always been a brilliant tactician and strategist with big ass wrestling IQ, it serves him good no matter the age. Soya is one rough fucker but Muto did his best to tame him and bring down to the ground, there were some neat hold-for-hold spots and reversals on the mat, Soya took a page or two from Sanada’s book. Huge points go to Muto for finishing off his opponents with Figure Four Leglock… in 2015. Like I said earlied, Muto is an amazing tactician whose “less is more” institute is glorious, and it fucking showed in the finishing run. Very good title match.

***3/4

Rival Stuff

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze

Minus Itami’s horrible hulk-up spot, this was good. Itami was fierce on offense with his NOAHish kicks, he sold the leg damage well, and Breeze’s control session was fine enough, loved that vicious superkick. Good enough match, especially considering the card positioning. Itami keeps teasing the GTS and I imagine the place is gonna go nuts when he finally does it.

***1/4

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

No. 1 Cont. for NXT Championship: Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor

Very good cruiserweight match, borderline great even, little more depth and I would’ve thrown four stars at it. Neville is pretty awful at acting inside the ring and he should drop it altogether, but man, he makes up for it by being a spectacular athlete with a good sense for pacing. I don’t feel Balor too much, he’s hit or miss, been that way since day one, he’s trying too much with the painting and shit, but he wasn’t bad here, he meshed well with Neville. Good stuff, although little too “athletic cruiserweight style” generic.

***3/4

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

NXT Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn ©

Just like with Antonio “Claudio Castagnoli” Cesaro, Sami “El Generico” Zayn carries the great chemistry with Kevin “Steen” Owens into NXT. Great match with great mental games, Owens ruled in that department with all the stalling and slowing pace down. He was properly rough on offense and Zayn sold it tremendously, with lots of subtlety and charm, the Generico style. I loved the closing stretch with Owens obliterating him with all the powerbombs, just imagine if he managed to sneak in a package piledriver, damn that’d be glorious. Excellent match with killer finish that is only the beginning of their NXT saga.

****1/4