Cesaro/Cena in a Rematch!

WWE RAW 2015/7/6

WWE United States Championship: Antonio Cesaro vs. John Cena ©

Fuck, what a match! 23 minutes aired and I hear the actual ring time was around 30 minutes, that’s just crazy when you think about it, Claudio Castagnoli main-eventing a Raw show in a 30 min match against the top dog that is Cena. I absolutely loved their match from the last week and they did even better job in this one, if nothing they did a clean finish this time. One thing was wonderful here, despite the match’s longevity there was a feeling the match could end at any time due to nature of pacing and how they kept shifting big moves, submissions and slower parts. I loved all the callbacks and counters, it showed they learned something from the previous encounter, I’m such a sucker for that kind of stuff. The match truly felt like an exhausting, grueling war, it was super physical and they fucking sold it so well, it was raw and real. This was hundred times better than both Owens/Cena matches combined, simply because Owens wasn’t as versatile and creative as Cesaro was in these two clashes. Cesaro knows there’s more to pro-scrapping than just big bombs and “my turn-your turn”. I hope Cena learned something from these two awesome matches and maybe he’ll make the upcoming Owens match more compelling this time.

****3/4

Dominion

Dominion 2015

(2015/5/7)

Bork in the East

WWE The Beast in the East

(2015/7/4)

Chris Jericho vs. Neville

First they change PAC’s name to Adrian Neville, and then just to – Neville, lmaooo… Poor fucking guy… Anyway, this was pretty damn good, Jericho put on his working boots and delivered in front of Japanese fans. Don’t get me wrong, Jericho/Mysterio this was not, but it was worked that way, Jericho looked so good at countering Neville’s high flying and other athletic moves. The match got a plenty of time and they took the most out of it.

P.S. Michael Cole mentioned FMW and Dragon Gate on commentary. WHAAAATT???

***3/4

Remember How Joe Gacy Was Super Shitty Wrestler? Well...

CZW Dojo Wars 34

 (2015/7/1)

CZW Wired Championship: Frankie Pickard vs. Joe Gacy ©

Life often can be full of surprises. For instance, Joe Gacy was totally unbearable just 2-3 years ago, such an awful pro-wrestler who sucked in both deathmatches and regular stuff. He was nothing but a white trash greaseball fatass waste of space. Well, he’s STILL a white trash greaseball fatass, but he ain’t no waste of space anymore, no fucking way, because judging by this match alone (my first Gacy match since 2013), he might as well be one of the best wrestlers in America. Shockingly true, my friends! How and where did this mindblowing change happen, I have no idea, but right now I don’t even care, because it seems the 2015 version of Joe Gacy kicks some serious ass, now that’s what I call redemption, motherfuckers! This match is SERIOUSLY great, and it’s not just because of Gacy, because after all, it takes two to tango, as Frankie Pickard was brilliant in his underdog role. I don’t want to talk about the technical stuff of the match much, I’ll just say it had some nifty grappling, heavy, sluggish escalation on the mat, gruesome holds, all the awesome little details that MATTERED, and the best thing of all – just ONE suplex that made the whole difference. Very careful and well measured match. And while that rigid, technical stuff was truly excellent, it’s the story they told that’s totally awesome and captivating, loved every second of it.

TLDR, this match fucking rules!

****3/4

All Japan 4/5 (Carnival Time!)

Champion Carnival 2015

(2015/4/5)

The Rush/Park Violence

Lucha Libre BOOM 2015/6/27

Rush & Mr. Niebla vs. LA Park & Hijo del LA Park

Very fun match and quite noteworthy due to Rush working a blood brawl, something he can’t do in CMLL, he also took and gave chairshots, another thing that’s verboten in CMLL. Niebla and Park’s son were really sidekicks here, all they did was filling ring time when Rush and Park were busy selling beatings. Niebla was truly awful once again, seriously, fuck that guy already. Fuck him in his ear! Parkito was mostly good, his armdrags and rope bouncing looked good, he also hit a great tope and wonderful plancha into the crowd, so yeah, he did his part well.

Obviously the main story here was two surly brawlers from different eras beating the shit out of each other. I don’t think I’ve ever seen better rudo stalling than what Rush did at the beginning of this match. Not even the endless “PUTO!” and “PUTA MADRE!” heckles from Park and the fans could make him change his mind, he was just enjoying being a total dickbag. Rush bleeding hard was such a stunning visual, Park did his usual thing with blood and shit, Rush did the mask-ripping part, there were hard suplexes, heavy smacks and chops, attacks on the ref, etc. All in all, good match and something I hope is just a prelude to their potential singles match. Now, that’d be so fucking sweet!

***1/2

Lucha Underground: Episode 34

Episode 34

Nasty Lucha

IWRG 199???

Misioneros de la Muerte (Signo, Texano, Negro Navarro) vs. Villanos (III, IV, V)

So, I have no idea what’s the date for the match, all I know is it has to be from the late 90s due to V3 still having his mask on. This is a classic. Great primera with some tight clinic on the mat, it ended properly, in a classic lucha fashion, but then in segunda all the hell broke loose as Misioneros got sick of llaves and turned the match into a violent dogfight. Poor Villanos got their asses kicked pretty hard, as Misioneros were ripping off their masks, making them bleed like pigs, shoving them into ring posts head first, Texano was stabbing them with his fork… Madness! Best thing is, the rudos took their time and the whole sequence was just uncomfortable to watch, it was some heavy shit. Obviously it made the Villanos’ comeback in tercera super sweet, it was their time to dish out some good old scuffle punishment. Excellent, nasty brawl, totally recommended.

****1/2

Global Wars 2015 - Night 2 (Cherry-Picked)

ROH/NJPW Global Wars 2015

 (2015/5/16)

Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Good but barely. This needed to be way better considering the names involved and the fact it was the last show on the tour. I feel like they were too obviously trying to repeat the Ibushi/Nakamura magic, and it didn’t quite work. It had some captivating spots and moments, but overall the match suffered from Nakamura’s too contrived and far-fetched spot setups, also they rushed into things unnecessarily. I hope they did better in England.

***

And Just Like That, Cesaro Sneaks Into a WOTY Picture!