Official 2014 wrestling challenge

[Pop Tatari]

Match: Go Shiozaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima
Promotion: K-Office
Date :20.06.2010
Rating: 3.5
Review: This was a pretty good encounter from these two, starts off with them ducking each others strikes after the initial tie up. There was some good counters such as Shiozaki catching Nakajimas leg and doing a exploder. Did not reach the epic level I was expecting but still a good match.

Pop Tart Match Count: 29

 

[Stopspot]

Matt Taven vs Silas Young vs Caprice Coleman vs Watanabe, ROH TV ep#132 bonus match
Rating: 3.7
Comment: This was a fun fourway sprint at just over 10 minutes. Taven and Young are two of my favs in ROH and Coleman is a good hand to fill out the lower midcard of a show. And I was impressed with Watanabe, a New Japan young lion on his foreign excursion in the states. I hope to see more of Watanabe in ROH so I get a proper chance to watch him develop. Ideally he'd serve his entire excursion on the roster to cement the ROH and NJPW partnership.

Stop's spot count: 54

 

[Bort]

Has anyone seen Styles/Elgin? I heard it might be an indy MOTYC?

 

[Stopspot]

Has anyone seen Styles/Elgin? I heard it might be an indy MOTYC?

Not yet, but I have also heard good about it so it has me intrigued. Never thought I'd say that about an Elgin match in 2014.

 

[Bort]

What, you don't like illogical MOOVEZ and one minute vertical suplex spotz?

 

[Stopspot]

What, you don't like illogical MOOVEZ and one minute vertical suplex spotz?

Elgin is a decent technician, but if I get to liken him to a meal: It's like just getting the main course, but no side dishes. I get a steak but no potatoes and sauce. Sometimes just a steak is good, but I like myself a full course meal.

 

[Stopspot]

Rewatched Shield vs Wyatts from the chamber. Still live up to the grade I gave it on the second watch.

 

[Pop Tatari]

Match: KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe
Promotion: ROH
Event: BITW 2006
Rating: 4.5
Review: This was a intense hard hitting encounter, KENTA is just a dickhead in this match trying to prove he can go toe to toe with someone bigger and stronger in Joe. KENTA is only interested getting his hands on joe. one point in the match Danielson refuses to tag in Joe and KENTA finally gets his wish. KENTA gets him to his corner and unleashes his strikes on him only for Joe to come back and take him out with his own combo. Crowd goes nuts. Danielson and Fuji are great in this as well exchanging near falls in various pinning combinations. There was a great counter when Fuji was going for the Shinauri on Danielson and he counters into a cattle mutilation.


Match: TJ Perkins vs Kyle O' Reilly
Promotion: PWG
Event: TEN
Rating: 4
Review: Real technical masterclass from theses two, great mat wrestling with some excellent counters into various holds. TJ was pulling out some impressive moves such as a lung blower variation. Better then their Evolve match which was still good but they have improved a lot in that time.

Pop Tart Match count: 30 & 31

 

[Pop Tatari]

Match: IWGP jr title match- Nick Jackon vs Kota Ibushi (c)
Promotion: NJPW
Event: Road To Invasion Attack Day 2
Rating: 3
Review: Match starts off with chain wrestling and some decent exchanges, then pretty much evolves into a handicap match as Matt Jackson gets involved while the ref just watches and does not do anything to stop him. There was a nice spot where Matt is about to Irish whip Ibushi in to the ring post but he Ibushi manages to slide into the ring and do his trademark springborad moonsault off the turnbuckle outside to Nick. Nick gets in very little offense in this, just very average with too many shenanigans for my liking as it would of been nice to see what Nick can do by himself.

Pop Tart Match Count: 32

 

[Stopspot]

The Usos vs Real Americans vs Rybaxel vs Los Matadores
Rating: 3.6
Comment: Fun four way elimination tag from the mania pre-show. Enjoyed the work of the Usos and the Real Americans, and Rybaxel and Los Matadores weren't bad either. Highlight of the match was the finishing stretch for me and the follow up after the match with Cesaro and Swagger.

Daniel Bryan vs Triple H
Rating: 4.3
Comment: What a match. Bryan had the crowd in the palm of his hand. The storytelling in this match was top notch with excellent shoulder work. I feel that Hunter could have been more of a dick to really push it towards greatness but hey, what you gonna do? I'm not a Triple H fan but his ring work impressed me in this one.

Shield vs Corporate Kane and the Old Age Outlaws
Rating: 3.0
Comment: A real quick match that served to push the Shield as faces forward and build the tension we saw explode on Monday night. Good for what it was but not as a match. Rating it more as a segment than as a match.

André The Giant memorial battle royal
Rating: 3.7
Comment: A bit of a cluster up until the final ten. But after that it started picking up. Cesaro went full on Hogan and beasted it about in the ends of it which I enjoyed. More of him please.

Cena vs Wyatt
Rating: 3.8
Comment: A very slow match, but god damn all that story telling! The psychology in this was top. Coulda done without Cena winning the way he did but I understand why they did it and it seems like the feud is continuing.

Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker
Rating: 2.9
Comment: I did not like this match. But I'll still give it a .9 based on the importance of the match and what happened. Quality or not, this match will be talked about.

Divas invitational
Rating: 2.5
Comment: Decent for what it was. But I don't care for a lot of women's wrestling outside of Shimmer.

Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton (c) vs Batista for the WWE WHC
Rating: 4.0
Comment: Really good triple threat. Showed that overbooking works when done right. The underdog story told here was real good and it ended with one of those great moments that are synonymous with Wrestlemania. Props to the three and Bryan especially for getting the crowd back into it after the taker match.

Stop's spot count: 62

 

[THG?]

Match: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush
Promotion: CHIKARA
Show: May 24th 2007
Rating: 3.5/5
Comment: A pretty nifty match up. Quack went for Cesaro's leg straight away and hit some pretty good offense that damaged the leg early on. There was a lot of mat wrestling, but they pulled off some good shit too. Like when Quack went to do a Tope Con Hilo, Claudio caught him in mid-air (perfectly may I add), and powerbombed him back into the ring. The ending stretch was fun to watch too, but it was Claudio who won in the end with a sick roll-up. Hero also provided comm in this one.

Match: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Akira Tozawa
Promotion: DGUSA
Show: OTUG 2012
Rating: 4.15/5
Comment: Just an AWESOME match-up right here. Hard-hitting as hell. These men put a helluva match which the DGUSA faithful really appreciated. They had a plethora of awesome combos, and although the ending may have come off as abrupt, the crowd were still VERY happy with this match. Great stuff.

Match: AR Fox vs. Rich Swann
Promotion: DGUSA
Show: OTUG 2012
Rating: 3.75/5
Comment: Really hot opener. Both guys were over with the crowd and pulled off some amazing stuff, as you'd expect from these two. Fun high-flying bout.


THG?'s Match? Counter?: 17

 

[THG?]

Match: Genki Horiguchi (c) vs. Tony Nese- Open The Brave Gate Championship
Promotion: Dragon Gate
Show: Not sure
Rating: 3.5/5
Comment: Not too bad of a match. Tony Nese got his shit in, which was pretty entertaining to watch as usual. Not much else to say really, the finishing stretch was pretty cool.

Match: Sami Callihan vs. BxB Hulk
Promotion: DGUSA
Show: OTUG 2012
Rating: 3.5/5
Comment: Quite a short match due to Von Eerie's interference, but other than that this match was awesome. Callihan killed it as usual, and BxB did his shit too. Enjoyable match.

Match: The Scene vs. Tommy Dreamer and Bobby Fish
Promotion: DGUSA
Show: OTUG 2012
Rating: 2.75/5
Comment: Dreamer being Fish's mystery partner was pretty bad-ass, but this match was short and lackluster. Dreamer piledriving one of the girls was fun and his post-match shenanigans with Shelly Martinez were cool also. But the match itself, nah.

Match: Vin Gerard vs. Fire Ant- Young Lions Cup Final 2008
Promotion: CHIKARA
Rating: 3.75/5
Comment: Nice match here. The story this match told was that Fire Ant was the underdog and shit, which prompted all of the tecnicos to come out and show support at ringside. Vin did great being the rudo in this match and it ended with a hot finish. Gerard locks in the STF on the outside on Fire Ant and drags him to the entrance way. Fire Ant still manages to get in the ring in time, hits a roundhous, a burning hammer (which Vin no sells), then the Beach Break for the win.

THG?'s Match? Count?: 21

 

[Pop Tatari]

NJPW INVASION ATTACK 2014:


Match: IWGP Jr Tag Titles- Kota Ibushi and El Desperado vs Young Bucks(c)
Rating: ****
Review: Good opening contest to get the crowd going. You know what to expect from these guys, fast paced action and lots of cool spots. Bucks had the control of the match at the start of this by keeping Desperado in their corner and preventing him from tagging in his partner. Loved the way Matt was mimicking the Ibushi chants of the crowd. Desperado eventually gets to tag in Ibushi and we get a amazing sequence with him cleaning house and doing his top rope moonsault onto Matt oustide after dodging out the way of Nick. Ibushi was the on fire in this and even managed to Hurricarana both bucks of the top rope at the same time. Fun match

Match: NEVER Title- Tetsuya Naito vs Tomohiro Ishii(c)
Rating: **** 3/4
Review: Another classic match from this highly enjoyable feud, the hatred theses two have for each other is believable. The slaps,headbutts,kicks these two are dishing out to try and prove who is better is just awesome. Really good sequences, excellent chemistry. There was a great counter in the match when it looked like Naito was going for a exploder and Ishii somehow turned it into a DDT. The title has been elevated with this rivalry.


Match: Intercontinental title - Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi(c)
Rating: **** 3/4
Review: A good story was told here with Tanahashi showing subtle heel work by focusing on Nakas leg using the barricades, ring ropes, Dragon Screw etc to butcher his leg. Naka was selling it like a Soldier on a battlefield. Tanahashi dominated most of the match. Loved the way he was copying Nakamura taunt and just showing off. Nakamura was still putting up a fight. It was refreshing to see how the match was played out instead of the usual route.


Pop Tart Match Count: 35

 

[Stopspot]

The Shield vs The Wyatt Family 3, Main Event
Rating: 3.8
Comment: Aka the Seth Rollins is the supreme ruler of the universe match. Everyone was good in this but Rollins was on another level. He owned that episode of Main Event. Leading the match along extremely well and cutting a good promo post match, also getting the most promo time of the three. Rollins is proving himself a must have commodity for the company lately which is great since he spent the start of the Shield angle getting the short stick. Ambrose surprised me with his wrestling and FIP work since I usually ain't a fan of his ring work as well. Well worked match. No where near as chaotic as the first two but still a real good one.

Bullet Club (DOC Gallows, Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson and Tama Tonga) vs Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance "American Psycho" Archer), New Japan
Rating: 3.7
Comment: HEEL HIJINKS! This match was a war between two heel factions in New Japan, first half being spent more outside the ring brawling than in it. I marked for Tama Tonga going savage on Suzuki and just engaging in a war of clobbering with the old pancrase wizard. Fun trios match with 6 talented gentlemen trying to end one another.

Stop's spot count: 64

 

[Bort]

That Shield/Wyatts match was almost as good as their first match. Almost. Those guys know how to set up and maintan the pace, they know how to do meaningful and effective workovers with zero dull moments. Hell, even Reigns showed some color.