NJPW 6/24/88 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Owen Hart vs. Shiro Koshinaka 14:07
DC: This match took place on the 28th show of this 29-show tour. Owen Hart had won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title from Hiroshi Hase on 5/27/88, which took place on the fifth show on this tour. After this tour in NJPW, Owen would join the WWF as the Blue Blazer for about a year, which was a run that really interrupted the momentum Owen had built up in NJPW. Early in the match, Owen did a lot of the Dynamite Kid-influenced Calgary-style wrestling stuff, combined with a lot of his own unique international athletic maneuvers he may have tried out in Japan or Canada or maybe even England before. Shiro Koshinaka was selling quite well, as he really put over the struggle he was trying to overcome. And as Koshinaka was enduring more punishment as the early stages of the match progressed, the crowd was firmly in support of Koshinaka trying to win the title. Owen was the very first foreigner to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, which says a lot about how highly people thought of Owen’s skills even back then. Koshinaka was determined to bring the title back in Japanese hands. When Koshinaka was in control for a bit, Owen would take the punishment and wait for Koshinaka to make a mistake. Once Owen saw an opening, he would turn things back around in his favor. Owen executed his moves with a combination of gracefulness and explosiveness. Owen’s selling was top notch as well, as he would sell in a manner that would make his opponent look like a million bucks, but he did so in a relatively subtle way (without making it all about himself). The final minutes were a beautiful payoff of the struggle they displayed earlier in the match, as both men now were accelerating the pace and intensity of the match even more. Owen’s kickup, leapfrog, belly-to-belly suplex combo looked really smooth. The crowd gave it a big pop, and it got Owen a near fall. Owen continued to channel Calgary’s Dynamite Kid-influenced history by scoring another near fall after a flying headbutt. Owen then dropkicked Koshinaka out of the ring and hit a tremendous tope suicida. Owen continued to deliver beautifully-executed moves that perfectly fit and perfectly added to the story they were telling. Koshinaka was fighting for his life to hang in there against this Canadian superstar, who was clearly on a roll. Owen hit a moonsault for a near fall. Out of nowhere, Koshinaka realized he had to find the strength to do something back, and he did so when he used his legs to cradle Owen for the big pinfall win. Koshinaka had become the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. What a tremendous performance by Owen, but credit also should go to Koshinaka, for being such a smart and versatile worker. What a truly excellent battle between two very unselfish pro wrestlers who created something very memorable. The highlights version of this match gives an indication of how good this was but fails to really capture the tremendous build and satisfying payoff these two managed to accomplish over the course of the 14 minutes of high-level pro wrestling they displayed. Keiichi Yamada was at ringside and was visibly happy with the awesomeness of this match. Great match. ****½  

NJPW 9/20/89 Osaka-Jo Hall: Owen Hart vs. Tatsutoshi Goto 11:51
DC: This was the second time these two were in a singles match together. The first time, Owen Hart beat Tatsutoshi Goto in the Top of the Super Junior I tournament in less than eight minutes. Goto would last a few minutes longer this time. And what made this match work is that Owen Hart treated his opponent like a top-level opponent. Goto was limited in push and ability, but that didn’t stop Owen from encouraging Goto to do the best he could within the context of his moveset and understanding. Owen would not only work around the limitations of his opponent, he would try to push his opponent to be more resourceful. Due to the courage Owen instilled in Goto’s mind, the chemistry between these two was really good. Owen was one of the best in the world at the time, and this match was a surprisingly good example of all the subtle ways Owen was able to enhance the quality of a match. The finish was pretty much a Dynamite Kid tribute, as Owen hit a tombstone piledriver and followed it up with a flying headbutt. If Goto wasn’t so limited, this bout probably could have been closer to excellent. Very good match. ***½ 

NJPW 2/8/92 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Pegasus Kid & Brad Armstrong vs. Akira Nogami & Shinya Hashimoto 12:11
DC: Pegasus Kid’s work looked super graceful and smooth. Akira Nogami was arguably the better worker of his team, but Shinya Hashimoto’s size and power made him initially more noticeable. However, as the match went on, Nogami’s moves looked more impressive due to the increase in difficulty and velocity. As usual, Brad Armstrong fit in quite well in a NJPW tag match. It’s almost like he was put on earth to work NJPW tag team matches, because he was so good at it. What made this match work so well is that everyone was focused and did everything they did in a sincere manner. This was never dull, and it’s a great example of a seemingly random match becoming memorable due to the high quality of the work displayed by the participants. The lack of an actual finishing stretch and the lack of anything being really at stake here were the only reasons preventing the match from reaching true excellence. Very good match. ***¾ 

NJPW 1/29/97 Fukushima: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto & Chris Jericho 13:07
DC: This was the first time Chris Jericho was in the ring with El Samurai. Jericho had been in the ring with Jushin Thunder Liger in a couple of WAR matches in 1996. Jericho wrestled Koji Kanemoto during his first and last appearance as the infamous Super Liger on 1/4/97. This was Jericho’s second match in NJPW, but his first time as Chris Jericho (as the Super Liger gimmick had flopped). This was a big match for Jericho to prove that Chris Jericho was a lot better than Super Liger. Luckily, things went well for Jericho here. His Silver King dive on El Samurai got a big pop. This was an action-packed match from the start, and the crowd was into it. This was around the time Chris Jericho had started making a name for himself in WCW as a promising babyface, but he hadn’t quite received a Cruiserweight Title push yet (which would happen later that year). Kanemoto showed quite a lot of arrogance in 1997, and he was pretty much one of the main “heels” of the NJPW junior heavyweight division that year (along with Shinjiro Otani). Jericho was kind of like a de facto “heel” here due to him teaming with Kanemoto (and probably also due to him being a gaijin). Liger & Samurai showed tremendous teamwork, while Kanemoto & Jericho were more of a reluctant team, who would only work together because they had to. The middle portion of the match was all about the two teams trying to stay in control as long as possible, but the other team would always find a way to turn things around. During the final minutes, the action became a bit more unpredictable and more focused on big moves and near falls. This match could have been excellent if Jericho had been more established as a star and if it would have been harder for Liger to put Jericho away, but this was definitely a really enjoyable match from start to finish. Everyone did well, but Liger was arguably the best worker of the match. Excellent match. ****  

NJPW 2/13/97 Gifu: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto & Chris Jericho 13:10
DC: These two teams meet again, and that’s a good thing, because their previous match was really good. Let’s see what they will do this time around. The wrestling was a bit more showy and entertaining compared to their previous match, which felt more like an intense and competitive battle. Not that they were going through the motions or anything, but it felt like they were more interested in putting on a show than putting over any idea of real tenacity or viciousness. That being said, this was indeed fun and entertaining to watch, and the wrestling was good all the way through. We got to see some cool moves that were usually sold in a really cool manner. There’s very little to actually complain about, it’s just that their 1/29/97 match was significantly better. All four workers performed very well. Nobody really stood out significantly more than anyone else, as this really was a team effort. If I had to pick a man of the match, though, I’d pick Koji Kanemoto. Chris Jericho deserves a lot of credit for proving that he could really hang in there with these three top junior heavyweights, and he has surely made people forget about the Super Liger situation. Samurai scored the win over Jericho to win this very enjoyable match. Very good match. ***½  

NJPW 5/25/97 Tottori, BOSJ IV Block B: El Samurai vs. Chris Jericho 15:12
DC: While Chris Jericho hadn’t turned heel in WCW yet, on this NJPW tour, Jericho showed some heel-ish behavior (which most likely had a lot to do with him being a gaijin). Jericho showed a good amount of intensity and desire. El Samurai was giving a typically excellent performance in a subtle manner. Samurai allowed Jericho to really shine, since he needed it more, as he still had to prove himself as a singles wrestler in NJPW (especially after his one and only match as Super Liger completely flopped earlier that year). His super springboard variation of the Silver King dive looked tremendous. A bit later on, Jericho missed the regular Silver King dive (which may have happened due to miscommunication), but Samurai covered it up well by hitting an awesome tope suicida that made everyone forget about Jericho’s miss. There was another botch near the finish, as Jericho and Samurai tumbled to the floor when Jericho was trying to go for the finish. However, the fall to the floor was so well taken by both, that it looked cool enough to not consider it a true botch. They retried it right away, and this time Jericho hit the super frankensteiner perfectly. Both men gave a strong effort here, and there was no telling which way things would go until Jericho finally scored the slight upset win after actually hitting the super frankensteiner. Overall, this BOSJ version of Jericho was definitely an interesting blend between the workrate of babyface Jericho and the intensity and fire of heel Jericho. Samurai did a really good job of adapting to Jericho’s style while ensuring that the match stayed true to what is generally expected from a BOSJ match. Very good match. ***¾  

NJPW 9/23/97 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Jushin Thunder Liger & Wild Pegasus & El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Chris Jericho 16:15.
DC: Wow. What a line-up. This was the last time Chris Jericho would work with Dr. Wagner Jr. The work was done at a fast pace, but what made it memorable was that the fast-paced work was also done in an intense manner. They definitely did not go through the motions. You could feel the vibe of awesomeness that was manifested through this line-up. Everyone really tried to step up their game as much as possible, within the confines of this being a trios match of average length (which meant there wasn’t really too much time for anyone to truly stand out, and everyone had to give 100% every time they entered the ring). Stories were told at a quick pace and in a straightforward manner. This was almost as good as the eight-man tag from the night before. Liger pinned Wagner after a vicious top-rope brainbuster. Very good match. ***¾  

NJPW 6/3/98 Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium, BOSJ V Final: Koji Kanemoto vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. 26:17
DC: You could tell from the methodicalness shown by Dr. Wagner Jr. at the start of the match that he understood this was going to be the biggest match of his career to not take place in Mexico. Koji Kanemoto wanted to prove to the world that he could once again deliver a classic BOSJ final, just like the previous year against El Samurai in the BOSJ IV Final on 6/5/97. Also, in the storyline, this time around, Kanemoto wanted to win the tournament (which he had come very close to accomplishing in the previous year). In this 1998 edition, Wagner had surprisingly managed to win Block A, in spite of the block featuring Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai (two big favorites to win the block). Kanemoto’s win of Block B was a more predictable outcome, but now that he was facing a guy who had defied all odds, he found himself in an unpredictable situation. The final could go either way, and the tournament had been won by a foreigner before, as Wild Pegasus had won the tournament in 1993 and 1995. Both men focused on wearing the opponent down with a strong emphasis on matwork. The execution and selling of the holds made the crowd stay invested all the way through. Not many big risks were taken early on. While Wagner was a relatively big international name, he was a relatively “unknown” guy within the world of the NJPW junior heavyweight division. This meant that Kanemoto wasn’t quite as familiar with his work as he was with, for example, guys like El Samurai or Jushin Thunder Liger. When Kanemoto started feeling warmed up and stretched out, he started taking some more risks. But since this approach seemed to backfire, Wagner took advantage, and Kanemoto found himself in survival mode. This was a very well-crafted pro wrestling match that relied heavily on strong storytelling. The execution and selling being top notch certainly added a lot as well. Both men did a great job of adjusting their approach to the fact that they wrestle different styles, and they did so in a respectful manner. You could tell they respected each other and didn’t want to undermine the other. Kanemoto had wrestled in Mexico before, and Wagner certainly wasn’t a newbie in Japan, so it wasn’t like a clash of styles or anything like that. What was fascinating to see was that Wagner really adapted his work to perform a very Japanese-style big singles match. Wagner really understood the psychology required for this match, and Kanemoto did really well in making it easy for Wagner to go along with this pattern. Liger and Samurai reacting big time to the near falls added a lot to the big-match vibe of this tournament final. Kanemoto did a tremendous job of showing more focus and direction than usual. He seemed to really aim at creating something for the greater good instead of trying to show off, and his reward was that he took part in a MOTYC that he deserves a lot of praise for. Great match. ****½  

NJPW 6/4/01 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, BOSJ VIII Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Tanaka 26:12
DC: The mat portion early in the match was good because they showed enough tenacity and clarity so that it didn’t come off like they were just killing time. While we are used to seeing this type of stuff in Jushin Thunder Liger matches, Minoru Tanaka’s knack for scientific grappling made this early matwork seem quite meaningful. They kept countering each other, but Liger would always show his status as the veteran of the two in a subtle way. Liger showed the will to win by repeatedly telling the ref to “ask him!” Tanaka was having a rough time against the more experienced Liger, but the moments of hope where Tanaka managed to surprise Liger with a cool-looking counter was what made it believable that this match could go either way. Both workers sold very well, which helped make this bout such a  well-worked one from start to finish. Liger’s way of carrying this match was done in a way that made his opponent look like a worthy finalist. The only downside of the match was really that it took a long time before we got the impression that anyone was actually close to winning this bout. The bulk of the match was mainly about the two wearing each other down, albeit in an intense manner. Once Liger started going for a shotei and a splash off the top rope, that’s when they started going for covers, and that’s when we started getting some near falls. While Tanaka did well for himself, the match relied heavily on Liger’s ability to craft a memorable big match like this. It was fitting and deserving that Liger won this match, but Tanaka looked good in defeat. Excellent match. ****

NJPW 6/5/02 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, BOSJ IX Final: Koji Kanemoto vs. Minoru Tanaka 14:12
DC: The sight of seeing Curry Man watching this serious bout was quite an awesome addition to what was already a highly anticipated match-up. Koji Kanemoto showed dominance early on through skill and intensity, but Minoru Tanaka showed perseverance and the ability to have the technique to be dangerous at providing counter attacks. Unlike the 2001 BOSJ Final featuring Jushin Thunder Liger and lots of mat-based buildup, this 2002 Final was more about movement and dynamic action. While the 2001 Final made more sense in terms of layout, the 2002 Final was more unpredictable, especially due to Tanaka being so menacing in his counter attacks. Both workers did well in incorporating good-looking strikes. The main downside of this match is that the finishing stretch didn’t feel very satisfying. This was partially because the crowd for some reason stopped reacting to most of the big submission attempts and some of the big near-pinfall moments. The actual finish looked good, though, and it got a decent reaction, as Kanemoto won the match via a dragon suplex. Excellent match. ****¼

8/12/26 AEW Continental Challenge Cup First Round: Nigel McGuinness vs. Katsuyori Shibata 12:24
ML: This was a dream match that looked like it would never happen. These guys who returned from career ending injuries didn't kill themselves, but while it wasn't the match they could have had together in their primes, they actually managed a smart, fundamentally sound wrestling match in AEW, very much a rarity. Nigel takes matches that allow him to do what he's good at, while Shibata is full time so he's largely miscast, but still shows he can contribute when he's in with an opponent who can also wrestle a paired down kick and submission style. They wrestled technically, and actually did some things that looked somewhat realistic. One of the things that made this good, and something you never see in AEW since it's not a serious sports based presentation but rather more WWE style entertainment, was that they were continuously working from start to finish like a real fight, staying locked up and countering each other back and forth rather than pouncing on every opportunity to stall and pose. They wrestled by the rules until Nigel kicked the top rope rather than break cleanly on his hammerlock. Nigel apologized, but Shibata double crossed on the makeup handshake. Again, this was very simple stuff, but it built heat, as well as transitioning to the second, more aggressive portion of the match. Nigel got cocky that he told Shibata to do the running penalty kick then ducked it, only to have Shibata chop him in the back while he was still sitting there telling everyone how smart he was. Shibata hurt his ankle getting snapmared into the ropes, then McGuinness worked the ankle throughout the commercial break. This came back into play when Nigel was able to use the pressure to the ankle to break the rear naked choke. Shibata released the rear naked choke the next time when Nigel hit the mat instead of getting the hooks in, but he still reinjured his own ankle kicking Nigel in the back. Nigel then got his boot up to block the penalty kick. Shibata landed a big penalty kick after Nigel kicked out of the O'Connor roll, but these kicks were diminishing returns for Shibata. He got the standing rear naked choke, again conscious of avoiding Nigel exploiting his bad ankle, but Nigel rolled backwards and flash pinned him once they hit the mat. This wasn't a classic by any means, but it's an AEW match that wouldn't make Lou Thesz or Billy Robinson roll over in their graves.***

8/12/26 AEW Continental Challenge Cup First Round: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong 12:56
ML: Along with Shibata vs. Nigel, AEW actually had two solid, fundamentally sound technical wrestling matches. These guys have more left in the tank, so this was a better match from a physical standpoint, it was faster, harder hitting, and more energetic. Shibata vs. Nigel was smarter and told the better story, but it was pretty toned down. This was far from the best Roddy vs. Kyle match, but they still gave a good effort. It was high impact with Strong's chops vs. Kyle's kicks. Strong did several of his backbreakers, doing his best damage with one on the top turnbuckle, but he reinjured the ankle O'Reilly had damaged earlier with his ankle lock, so he couldn't capitalize quickly enough. They did a lengthy series of go behinds leading to the finish, but Kyle never really hooked anything, he just rolled Strong down and pinned him with a lateral press of all things. This was a pretty disappointing ending, feeling kind like they just did any old thing because they ran out of time or something. ***

3/27/94 AJW, IWA World Title Match: Manami Toyota vs. Plum Mariko 20:34
PA: This was just the Toyota show with an opponent who could keep up with her, and while far from her best match, for what it is, it’s one of her best performances. You always take the good with the bad with Toyota. Both were on display here, but her moments of brilliance outweighed her dumb moments. The worst aspect of the match is Plum wasn’t given a lot, and it could have been a much better match if Toyota wasn’t so selfish. As a Toyota exhibition of her go-go style match, it was high quality. She used a ton of great offense throughout, and looked brilliant even if some spots didn’t quite go to plan. Plum could have been anyone who could go, and didn’t get much of a chance to shine until late in the match. She had offense here and there, and did a little knee work, but it was always brief, and just so Toyota could make a comeback and keep her show going. Toyota gave her some submissions, but would thrash her way out of them very quickly, or counter, which would have been fine, it’s not like Toyota sold submissions well anyway, but Plum should have been allowed to do the same with Toyota. Instead, Toyota would just sit in her own lousy submissions doing nothing, which didn’t show much regard for the ‘submission queen’ gimmick. Plum was as good as she was allowed to be, but had a lot more to offer. There’s enough bumping, dives, good moves, and intensity. The match was always moving along, so it was always exciting, but it was it was never as competitive as it could, or should have been, particularly in the first half. In the second half of the match, Plum was more competitive, and she got her run of offense in toward the end. She managed to apply a kneebar, and Toyota thrashed around and gouged at her urgently before making the ropes to get the break. The match had an incredible and memorable finish. Following Plum’s submission attempts, she attempted a top rope rana and Toyota hit a great powerbomb from the tope for a near fall. Toyota then unleashed a barrage of dives on the outside; a plancha, a no hands springboard plancha, and a missile dropkick to the outside, before sealing the victory with a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex in the ring. This turned out to be excellent match by virtue of Toyota making it so, but if you want to see the best of Plum, you won’t find it here. 5/25/90 vs. Itsuki Yamazaki, the 11/18/93 tag or 2/11/94 vs Chigusa Nagayo would be my three top recommendations for Plum matches. ****

3/27/94 AJW, JWP Tag Title Match: Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 20:37
PA: This wasn’t actually much better than the FMW vs. Zenjo tag from earlier despite having far superior teams, and was disappointing because you’d expect an excellent match here. Cuty was the lesser of the four, but she was generally a pretty good tag team wrestler. Action wise, this was good aside from a few timing issues, there were no execution problems, they did all their big moves, the match moved along at a good pace, which showed the teams could work well together if they wanted to. The problem was the lack of any selling and the layout. It was about as dumb as any rookie tag team opener. They just took turns and didn’t really work any story into it at all. You’d expect a lot more out of Ozaki than that, but she seemed to be going through the motions and no one seemed to actually be leading the match. There were likely some attitude problems between the teams, given the general attitude from the Zenjo girls was that they’re superior to all of the other leagues, and I doubt Ozaki and Cuty had much regard for LCO given they were a low ranked team who had only just started receiving a push. Despite an awkward start with Cuty and Shimoda, the match got off a really good start with both teams trying to outheel each other. LCO started it with Cuty, and the JWP team took their revenge later. There was a bizarre outside brawl in between though which started when Ozaki took Shimoda outside. Shimoda took a brainbuster in the isle and just sat up and took a drink looking unphased, then Mita gave Ozaki a piledriver on the outside, which she immediately got up from and went back on offense like it didn’t happen at all, then they just did a total restart in the ring and the JWP resumed working over Shimoda. This was also a sign of things to come. They just took turns on the heat segments and ramped things up in the second half. Again, a lot of the action was good, but it was just spot trading between the two teams with almost every near fall being followed up by a counter and no one being able to string a sequence of moves together to ever build any momentum. The whole thing just came off as half-assed and lacked drama, even if they were good enough to get crowd into the match. The one great moment was the finish, which saw Cuty dive onto Mita’s shoulders and get Death Valley Bombed for it. I’m not sure that finish was worth the first 20 minutes, but it was a great finish anyway. LCO won the JWP tag belts, and then disrespected JWP’s ‘pure heart crap’ and the president after the match, which was good stuff. ***

3/27/94 AJW: Dynamite Kansai vs. Sakie Hasegawa 16:33
PA: This followed on from Sakie’s match with Yamada a few weeks prior, a more violent stiff match, but this was a more interesting and smarter match than that one. It didn’t quite reach the same level of drama due to being a mismatch, but they did a great job of making it as dramatic as they could, and Sakie really took it to Kansai. Kansai led it and allowed Sakie to shine. Kansai unleashed her brutal kicks when she wanted to, but was generally content to work Sakie over with her usual weardowns. It was on Sakie to make the match and take it to her, and she did just that; she had the urgency, she took her beatings, she continually fought her way out of Kansai’s holds and threw some nasty kicks of her own. Her own matwork was better than Kansai’s here as well. She smartly won a test of strength by rolling backwards out of it, and she strung together her offense well. When she had an advantage, she was relentless attempting to keep it, and rather than just taking it and following along, Kansai always fought back and had really good cut off spots, whether it was just brute forcing her way out or catching her arm and putting her in a wakigatame. Had Sakie defeated Yamada with one of her sleepers in their 3/3 match, it might have been a more dramatic spot here, though the crowd still popped when she locked it in here. Sakie remained competitive to the end, slipping out of the Splash Mountain and backdrop suplexes and trying everything but kept getting caught with kicks. Kansai had to unleash a nasty beating to put her away. She kicked her way out of a sleeper and delivered a brutal punt to the head, which just about knocked Sakie out, then just teed off afterwards with more, but couldn’t put her away. Sakie slipped out of Splash Mountain and the went to the sleeper again, but that was all, she was done. Kansai simply drove her into the mat and finished her with a backdrop suplex and a Splash Mountain. ****

3/27/94 AJW, All Pacific Title Match: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kyoko Inoue 16:19
PA: This match was only half a step above the LCO match on the brainlessness scale. The first 10 minutes was a lot of stretching with some big moves thrown in. Kyoko had started doing her long run lariat on the outside, and ran the length of the ramp, and then did a Giant Swing on the floor. Yamada would fight back later with her kicks. The match didn’t develop into anything until the 10 minute mark, and was really good afterward. It kicked off when Yamada backdrop suplexed Kyoko out on the floor and Kyoko just laid there dead. She laid there until the count of 16 when Yamada decided she wanted to win ‘the right way’ and carried her back to the ring. She did another backdrop suplex in the ring and Kyoko sold huge, until she fired up and then Yamada hit a series of them. This was a great portion of the match. Kyoko worked herself back into the match and they countered each others finishers before Kyoko finally hit a Niagara Driver. She slow covered her to make Yamada’s kick out seem reasonable, but it really should have been the finish because Kyoko’s weak looking STF facelock is one of the worst finishes I’ve seen on a Zenjo card. It looked weaker than any of her filler submissions, and Yamada tapped out almost immediately, which was bad enough, but after Kyoko survived her onslaught, it only made Yamada look worse. Kyoko winning the white belt was the right move, but they didn’t need to kill Yamada’s credibility as a singles wrestler in the process. ***

3/27/94 AJW, Dangerous Queen Final Countdown: Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong & Bull Nakano 35:14
PA: Hokuto's final countdown saw her teaming up with the rival who had previously defeated her and dashed her hopes of winning the coveted red belt once and for all. Their opponents were two monsters whom had defeated her in the past. There didn’t appear to be much hope of Kandori and Hokuto getting along, they couldn’t even stand to be near each other in the pre-match interview, and both said they were happy to 3 v 1. This was very much a story driven match, and there’s a lot going on. Kandori and Bull were in the midst of building their rivalry, setting the stage for an eventual chain match, while Aja and Hokuto had unfinished business as their singles encounter at Wrestle Marinpiad '93 solved nothing. There were a lot more little stories at play here, with Kandori always wanting to prove she was superior to the top woman on the women’s scene (Aja), and Bull trying to cling onto her fading monster status. The overwhelming story was always between Kandori and Hokuto, if they couldn’t work as a team they had no chance, it’s plain from the very beginning, with her argument with Kandori, a backdrop from Aja and a lariat from Bull. Hokuto got the better of Bull in the first segment of the match, and tagged in Kandori by slapping her in the face. Kandori didn’t have as much success, getting stiffed but she caught a flash submission on Bull, and then returned the slap to Hokuto, but Hokuto wasn’t having it, and they got into a scuffle which led to both of getting mauled outside; Kandori did get the better of Bull out there, but Hokuto just annihilated by Aja, which included a piledriver out there. Hokuto and Kandori were both formidable even though they weren’t working as a team, they could outmaneuver Bull, but not Aja, and they certainly couldn’t win that way. Hokuto did get the best of Aja at the 15 minute mark with some powerful slaps, and immediately dragged her outside to give her a piledriver on a table as a revenge spot from earlier. Bull and Aja fought their way to the entrance way, and when the camera cut back to Aja, had taken over on Hokuto and given her another piledriver, this time on the ramp. Action wise, it was very methodical, slowly building and hammering home the story. They were building things with extended heat segments and the occasional stiff strike and burst transition, they didn’t do a lot in the first half of the match, and escalated things from there. It was always compelling though. At the 25 minute mark, Kandori had Aja in a jujigatame, Bull looked to cut it off with a guillotine legdrop and Hokuto stood on the apron, making no attempt to stop her. Kandori sat up to avoid the move and Hokuto immediately rushed in to put a manjigatame on Bull. Moments later, Hokuto was legal and the same thing happened, except Hokuto was unable to avoid Bull’s guillotine legdrop, and she simply returned to being worked over afterward. After Kandori takes a double team mauling from Aja and Bull, and Aja goes for her avalanche waterwheel, Hokuto finally sucks up her pride and helps her partner for the first time in the match, saving her from that defeat. Kandori leapt onto Aja’s back with a sleeper, but Bull prevented that. Hokuto then took three urakens from Aja, and Kandori tried to pull her back to the corner, but only ate an Uraken for it. Kandori and Bull fought outside, and Aja hit her avalanche waterwheel on Hokuto, but Kandori frantically made it back to break up the pin from outside the ring. They’d finally united, and Bull found out when she tried to take both out with a lariat herself as she got put in a double wakigatame until Aja came in to bust it up. The hot moves were saved for the end. Hokuto took out Bull with her somersault plancha. Kandori told Hokuto to finish off Aja, and she hit a Northern Light’s Bomb, but Bull managed to break up the win. Kandori took care of Bull and Hokuto, but Aja kicked out of it herself. Aja fought back with a German Suplex and tried to take out Kandori with a Uraken, but it hit Bull, and the third Northern Light’s Bomb was the charm, with Hokuto getting the pinfall over Aja. This match may be a little slow in places for some, but it was masterfully built, and turned into a phenomenal match with great action in the second half. All of the stories established and paid them off. In the post match, Kandori and Hokuto finally respected each other, and Kandori slapped her hand before leaving the ring to her. ****1/2

5/2/94 AJW: UWA & JWP Tag Title Match: Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs. Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito 26:47
PA: LCO had added the UWA tag belts to their collection, so this match was for both sets of the titles they owned. The first half of this was a lot of sitting around in holds with just enough happening to keep it watchable, but it built nicely and turned out to be an excellent match. If you want to see the One Winged Angel for what I’ll assume is the first time in recorded history, you can find that here as Mita and Ito blew an Electric Chair spot so badly that Mita accidentally invented the move. LCO spent most of the match working over Ito, with Hotta helping her partner out occasionally and dominating whenever she came in. Ito got to shine late in the match hitting all of her footstomps, and with the help of Hotta, it even looked she might be able to win. Hotta had a great run afterwards, dominating Mita, but Shimoda was there at the right times to keep Mita in the match. There were some great near falls in there, but their run ended when Hotta accidentally took Ito out with a rolling elbow. Ito scored a German Suplex afterwards, and was caught in Death Valley Bomb. Hotta was able to break up, but Shimoda took her out in the crowd as Mita delivered a second one to get the win. ***3/4

3/3/94 AJW: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Toshiyo Yamada 30:00
PA: This was submission or KO only and treated more as shoot style, though there was no shoot style here at all. All they really did was forgo the phonier lucha based holds for more legitimate holds. There was more of a focus on striking, but they did all their pro-wrestling spots that require cooperation, so it just ends up being a pro-wrestling match. These rules were mostly up Yamada’s alley and didn’t help Sakie at all, since her main offense is her suplexes and rolling savate kicks, she still used her suplexes, but without pinfalls there wasn’t much point in them. The first half of this was pretty boring, but the second half was great once they brought the urgency and started looking to finish. They kicked the hell out of each other, and were both brutal. These two are whiff or potato with their kicks, and there was plenty of both, with both taking their share of nasty head kicks. There were good KO attempts, and they started working sleepers really well in the second half that you could really buy as finishes. Sakie got one on Yamada late, and the crowd went crazy for her. She got it again a couple more times and got the same support, and then Yamada got one on her with the time running out. Pushing Yamada to the extent that she did, in the manner that she did and coming out of it with a draw helped Sakie a lot ahead of the Japan Grand Prix. ***3/4

3/3/94 AJW: Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong & Manami Toyota 29:18
PA: This might have been a thrown together main event to draw a house in Korakuen, but they were all wrestling like they had something to prove. It was a long match that ramped up the pace as they went. While they seemed stuck in second gear for a long the time, especially with the heat segment on Kyoko overstaying its welcome, the level of work made up for it. Bull and Aja were both vicious working over Toyota and Kyoko respectively. Bull was so nasty that her stretching segment on Toyota was one the highlights of the match. Kyoko and Toyota had their chances to shine to between being worked over. Toyota sold better than normal. She doesn’t do much other than scream in holds, and looked pretty meek when she was trying to hit her way out of them, but Bull’s a proper brute, so her reactions worked a lot better than they normally do, and she showed some fatigue afterward for a change. Kyoko for her part followed up well enough, although she doesn’t have the same brutality as Bull. When Aja and Bull fought, it was mostly Aja dominating Bull, and they were as stiff as they always were, while Toyota and Kyoko did their spots to each other when they were together. It built to a great finishing run.0 Kyoko was blown away with spots towards the end by both Toyota and Aja, but weathered the storm with the help of Bull to make a really fiery comeback on Aja. She couldn’t hit her Niagara Driver though. Toyota kicked Bull off the turnbuckle when she was going for the guillotine legdrop, but she hit Aja with her springboard plancha. Toyota tried a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex on Bull. She had no hope of that, but she did hit a German Suplex for a near fall. Bull debuted her Bull’s Posseidon straight after that, but Aja saved the pin, and Bull finished the match with the Guillotine Legdrop. ****1/4

6/17/26 ONE Muay Thai: Jaxson Hayman vs. Liu Quan 3R
ML: Hayman had a significant reach advantage, but was more interested in fighting inside using knees and elbows than keeping Liu on the end of his jab. This might normally help Liu out because at least he'd be in striking range also, but Hayman is such a tall, lanky fighter that he had all the leverage in close quarters, and really dominated the clinch game. Liu was all about the left right combo, gaging the space with the left and then stepping in with the powerful right to stop Hayman's forward progress, and sometimes back him up. Liu timed Hayman coming in and dropped him with an overhand right in round 1. This gave Liu a nice cushion, but it's not likely to be a consistent strategy, it's what he had in this physical mismatch, and when it worked, it worked really well. Hayman did a good job of working the body with kicks and knees. This was working a lot better than normal because the more Hayman started walking Liu down, especially with elbows, the more Liu felt like he had to escape first and then try time Hayman's step to sneak a strike in. Liu could do this for a round or 2, but so much time escaping backwards was fatiguing him more and more. Hayman's pressure felt overwhelming in the second, and Liu was wearing himself out just trying to stay out of danger. Liu really needed to find a way to stay off his back foot, but Hayman would have been thrilled to grab Liu as soon as he started the typical solution of forward pressure. Liu had a chance because of the knockdown, but it really felt like he needed to bait Hayman into some kind of mistake again because the length was just too much. The body shots, particularly the front kicks, were really adding up, taking the wind out of Liu. Liu eventually got a yellow card for running almost at the end of the third round. Liu didn't want to lose any more money, but that allowed Hayman to finish with a big series of clinch knees that probably could have ended the fight in another 5 or 10 seconds. In traditional kickboxing scoring, this would have been a 28-28 draw, but ONE rightfully gave it to Hayman for dominating the last two rounds. Good match.

1/9/94 JWP 2 Count Fall: Mayumi Ozaki, Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko vs. Dynamite Kansai, Chigusa Nagayo & Devil Masami 29:50
PA: The teams were quite lopsided with the established veterans taking on the smaller up and comers. What really helped to balance the scales were three things; the rules, Ozaki’s performance, and the veteran team taking their opponents seriously. Devil’s fingerprints were all over it with the slow, milking build and focus on small scale revenge spots. The veterans largely dominated and bullied with the fans hoping for an upset. There were always frequent comebacks and good hope spots, whether it was a submission or a big move for a pin attempt, and they were put over well so they always felt like the underdogs, but it never felt like a mismatch. In fact, they did such a good job that they probably didn’t even need the two count fall rule. Chigusa and Ozaki built their tension throughout the match, with Chigusa getting jumped out of the gate and the two arguing with each other through the match. The match had quite a lot of heat, with Chigusa having a handful of noisy female fans and the usual JWP crowd being a lot louder than they usually are. It all built into a great final portion. The best spot was around the 26 minute mark when Chigusa was the recipient of multiple suplexes from all three opponents, and was in serious trouble, but avoided a triple flying headbutt. It continued to get even better. Devil and Kansai came in to save her and dominated again. After a few attempts, Devil chained together powerbombs, but Plum interrupted the count. Kansai went for Splash Mountain, but it was interrupted. Cuty was taken out with a Splash Mountain and Devil tried to guillotine legdrop both Ozaki and Cuty, but Plum prevented her. After all that, Chigusa came in to take over, but Cuty hit her with a German Suplex. That led to an outside brawl with the veterans winning that. Chigusa tried to finish Plum off in the ring, Plum tried to comeback with a Frankensteiner, but Devil intervened and assisted with a spike powerbomb to give Chigusa the win. Chigusa was still not happy with Ozaki after the match, and the two had a tense confrontation leading to their match in Osaka two days later. ****1/2

1/11/94 JWP: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo 26:02
PA: An intense, hate-filled, double juice match that had a bit of everything. Ozaki jumped Chigusa while she was making her entrance and busted her open. She didn’t stop her attack either, cannonballing her when the match started and working the cut on the outside while the Chigusa fans chanted for her. Chigusa showed all of her intensity coming back on Ozaki with suplexes, and they went into a more slow building wrestling match after that. The dynamic was great, and the fans were rowdy, with huge Ozaki chants and Chigusa chants breaking out from their respective fans. There were many more male Ozaki fans in, but Chigusa’s fans were so loud that they were only drowned out, and at times you’d hear both chants going at the same time. Chigusa dominated Ozaki through the middle portion, mainly with holds and a few suplexes. She ramped it up to hitting a piledriver and suplex on the outside, and gave Ozaki a chance to recover. Ozaki did and hit a tornado DDT and got a run going until Chigusa cut her off and mugged her on the outside. Chigusa brought a chair into the ring and assaulted Ozaki with it when she made it back to the ring at the count of 18. Ozaki was busted at this point, and while it had been more subtle before, Chigusa was fully heeling now. She was kicking Ozaki down when she tried to get up, and Ozaki was giving a classic babyface performance with her selling and telling Chigusa to bring it on. Chigusa wanted to end it with a sleeper, but Ozaki had too much fight, so she had to break it to continue beating her down. Ozaki was about finished, and she dramatically collapsed on an Irish whip and Chigusa went into a Dragon Sleeper. Ozaki made the ropes and caught Chigusa’s foot in desperation afterward, tenaciously putting her in an STF, with the nice touch of pinning her arm back so she couldn’t make the ropes. Ozaki used Chigusa’s sharpshooter, but didn’t do a particularly good job of it, so she switched to a crab. Ozaki hit suplexes until Chigusa caught her with a kick. She went up top, and chokeslammed Ozaki down when she tried to meet her up there. Ozaki came back with a wakigatame. Chigusa turned that into a dragon sleeper, and used her feet to climb the ropes and flip out of it. Ozaki hit a Tiger suplex, a Dragon suplex and a DDT, then a pair of Tequila Sunrises for two. Chigusa got her knees up on the Ozaki’s body press. They fought over suplexes with Chigusa hitting Ozaki’s Tequila Sunrise to get the win. This was largely an excellent, hard fought, well executed match, but it felt like something was missing, there was some overlong segments and the submissions didn’t come off as threatening as they should have. ***3/4

1/24/94 AJW: Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue 26:35
PA: 1994 was something of a misstep for Zenjo, or more accurately, they didn’t take a step at all, building their entire year around three big shows on the back of Akira Hokuto’s retirement road and leaving everything else in a holding pattern. Kyoko was the biggest victim of their stagnation. While she’d been a bit player in the interpromotional rivalry in 1993, she was one of the best workers and maintained her popularity, still being the most popular wrestler to the hardcore Zenjo fanbase (not the be confused with the biggest star, though she was fourth behind Hokuto, Bull and Aja). This was the day she should have defeated her mentor, Bull Nakano (who was about to be on her way to America), solidifying her as a main event player and moving into being Aja’s next challenger for the red belt. However, that wouldn’t happen for another 20 months when it was all a little too late. This was the best of their matches together to this point, though it did take quite a while to develop. There’s some lengthy control segments, and it would have been better served to be closer to 20 minutes than 27. They worked well enough, and it was paced well for the length. Bull’s brutal enough anyway no matter what she’s doing. She dictated things, and unlike their 1992 match, it wasn’t just lariats. She had the majority of the control, but Kyoko got plenty of offense in as well. She hit her giant swing and her neat headscissor takedowns. Bull tried to lariat Kyoko to the outside, but she got her foot caught in the rope, which didn’t appear as if it was supposed to happen, given that Bull was trying to break her free, but it got the crowd even more behind Kyoko than they already were. Bull followed up with a tope and ended up getting dumped outside when they got back in the ring. Kyoko won the outside brawl, and they came back for the finishing run. Kyoko couldn’t hit her Niagara Driver, and Bull hit a powerbomb. She followed up with the guillotine legdrop and Kyoko kicked out of it. Kyoko finally hit the Niagara Driver, but Bull survived it, and Kyoko couldn’t hit it again. Kyoko kept trying for her slingshot moves, earlier in the match Bull had caught her in a sleeper like Kandori did in August, towards the end she caught her in a German Suplex. Bull did a new version of her guillotine legdrop, with Kyoko bent over, like a top rope rocker dropper, which set up a second guillotine legdrop that finished the match. The finishing run was great, even if the result was the wrong one. ****

1/24/94 AJW 2/3 Falls, WWWA World Tag Title Match: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 12:27, 9:57, 13:18
PA: Although it was a tag match and they had three falls to work, the worrying sign here was the match length, clocking in at 38 minutes. LCO didn’t need to go that long and any long Toyota match (and Yamada for that matter) tends to be an allotted amount of pointless matwork and then a 10 minute spotfest unless there’s a senior there to lead them through something more interesting. They actually did a good job here though, at least for the first two falls, with the third being a mess. LCO were far out of Yamada & Toyota’s league, and the first fall seemed to be designed to rectify that with a lengthy control segment with Toyota getting worked over. It was nothing fancy, just a good working over, and all good stuff aside from when Toyota came back and did her stupid rolling cradle to Shimoda for a full minute. When Yamada was in it was better, she had good exchanges with both opponents, though the best parts of the first fall were Shimoda’s pin attempts on Toyota. The best one was when LCO thwarted a double diving headbutt, Shimoda hit a double arm suplex from the top rope to Toyota for a great near fall. Following that, Shimoda evaded a moonsault but only followed up with a German Suplex, which would have been another good near fall, but no one was buying Shimoda pinning Toyota unless she hit something huge. Toyota won the fall soon after, pinning Shimoda with her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. That was an odd decision as you’d expect LCO to have taken the first fall, but they did control much of it and showed they could hang and it built up their second fall, which was nothing short of great. Everything that’s great about Zenjo tag team matches was on display here. The urgency went up with LCO knowing they had to throw everything at their opponents to avoid a 2-0 embarrassment, and they were more than happy to cheat. Having Yamada play face in peril (for the lack of a better term, LCO were the babyfaces in the eyes of the fans) was better because she actually put Shimoda’s sleeper hold over and turned it into a good spot, particularly when Shimoda went back to it multiple times. Toyota got the hot tag and a run of spots on Mita, but was cut off when Shimoda hit a missile dropkick. They hit the double diving headbutt that Toyota and Yamada couldn’t hit in the first fall, but only for a two count. Yamada assisted Toyota, and they took control again. Toyota did an awful looking quebrada to take out Shimoda and got a near fall after on Mita with a moonsault. Toyota and Yamada hit the double diving headbutt as well on Mita, but Shimoda broke it up. Yamada kept stopping LCO from progressing on Toyota, but Mita hit a Death Valley Bomb out of nowhere when Toyota came off the ropes, the crowd went wild, and it turned that match on its head in the best way. She was too fatigued to pin her after the first one, but claimed the fall after a second one to level the match. Had it ended there, it would have been a great match. The third fall started strong and ended strong, but was a failure in terms of building on the second fall, and the middle of it was awful. As it turned out, the second fall was the climax of the match, and to go along with that, it was too long and it was too sloppy. LCO tried to capitalize on the wounded Toyota, but dragging her outside, which saw the brawling portion we expect from LCO match, and this was really good. Mita hit piledrivers on the floor to Toyota and Shimoda dumped chairs on Yamada. Mita hit an electric chair drop and Shimoda hit a diving body press for a near fall. Yamada eventually recovered and went for kicks to Shimoda’s head. The problems began here with Yamada working over Shimoda. 30 minutes in, and it was back to weardowns when they should have been going home, and they lost the crowd. It got worse when Toyota tagged back in and tried to quicken things up again as no one seemed to be on the same page and the timing was off, leading to blown and mistimed spots. It got good again after LCO’s usual dives. Yamada worked good near falls with Shimoda in the ring, and later Mita. She didn’t have enough trouble with the two of them, but it was exciting stuff, and you could feel like LCO were gaining on her, but they never hit anything close to the top rope Double Arm Suplex in the first fall or the Death Valley Bomb in the second fall. They never looked close to winning this time. Once Toyota was able to assist with double teaming, it was pretty much over with. LCO were just blown away with spots, and that was fine, Yamada and Toyota were the stronger team, and there’s no problem ending it definitively like that, but LCO needed a big near fall on Yamada before that happened. Toyota hit Shimoda with a missile dropkick on the floor, and the finishing blow being a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex/Diving Brain Kick combo on Mita in the ring. This was an excellent match overall, or at least close enough to it, but the potential for a legitimately great match was here had they been able to deliver a third fall that flowed on and was of the same quality as the first two. ****

1/24/94 AJW WWWA World Title Match: Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta 19:45
PA: Brutal, intense, and stiff would be a few words to describe this. This was an incredible match, and certainly Hotta’s best performance to this point (only topped by her performance leading Manami Toyota in 1995 and superior to the stiff-fest with Lioness Asuka in that same year), and it was one of Aja’s best also. They both came out swinging, with Aja getting the best of it, hitting her machine gun strikes and a uraken before a beating outside, which included a chair shot and a piledriver on a table. Hotta fired up and fought back in the ring. She blocked an uraken and rocked Aja with some of her own strikes, but Aja still got the best of it. When Hotta was in a sleeper, it was shown that her hand was badly cut open. She supposedly cut it accidently on Aja’s teeth delivering a shotei, though I’m not convinced she didn’t blade it somewhere along the way (I couldn’t find any evidence of that though). In any case, it’s what ended up making the match. Hotta caught some heavy shots, including a series of kicks that put Aja into a bad spot, but couldn’t maintain her advantage. Aja worked her over on the mat, which wasn’t too interesting initially, but then she started targeting the hand, at which point the match went to another level. It was gruesome, and got her significant heat. She made sure the crowd could see the gore as Hotta's hand gushed blood, and even bit the hand to get the crowd even more in Hotta's corner. There were some sleeper holds that weren’t exactly a stroke of genius, but aside from that, it was great and one the best Aja beatings. She even made a conventional lateral press memorable by putting pressure of Hotta’s hand. A lot of credit goes to Hotta for the best selling of her career to put it over. She made the injury seem catastrophic, which she really needed to in order to salvage her tough woman persona since the match was so one-sided. You know you’re seeing something special when Yumiko Hotta of all people is turned into a sympathetic figure. Hotta was a really effective babyface here with her selling, showing her toughness by throwing away the bandage when the doctor tried to wrap up her hand, and making the most of her comebacks, showing a ton of urgency. With her hand weakened, she could only try to put Aja away with the Pyramid Driver, and that’s all she was trying to hit, attempting to set it up with a Caribbean Splash and kicks. She came close, but Aja was able to thwart her every time she tried to use it, landing an uraken and eventually finishing her with her avalanche waterwheel drop. ****1/2

2/11/94 JWP: Plum Mariko vs. Chigusa Nagayo 22:40
PA: Another hot, split crowd for a Chigusa match, with Chigusa’s fans for her, and the JWP faithful supporting Plum. Plum took it right to Chigusa from the start, like Ozaki did, jumping her and busting her open outside. She gave her a good working over in the ring, mainly stretching her. Plum showed some attitude flipping off the Chigusa fans as well. Chigusa gave it all back to her, along with kicks and stomps when she came back. She whiffed some, but the good thing was Plum didn’t react to the ones that clearly missed. Chigusa began getting under the skin of the JWP fans more by using an STF, which was one of Plum’s signature moves. That might have been too subtle, so after that she really started heeling it up with a chair beatdown outside and got Plum to go for a test of strength in the ring, something Chigusa would have won, but she just stomped her down instead. She signalled for a sleeper hold, but Plum turned the tide and applied it herself. Probably the weakest part of the match was Plum’s follow up, hitting a series of DDTs and a suplex before going back to the sleeper. There was nothing wrong with the moves, but she could have shown more aggression and urgency instead of signalling to the crowd. Chigusa took a breather on the outside and stalled her return. Violently slamming Plum down but when she tried it again, Plum slipped behind her, she couldn’t get a German Suplex, but she caught Chigusa in a Stretch Plum. Plum kept taking the fight to Chigusa, but Chigusa was able to hold her off and gave her a series of kicks to the head. Plum kept struggling her way up, but Chigusa just kept kicking her down. She was able to block a leg lariat and lock in her STF, and then her kneebar twice. Due to the placement of the submissions and the selling, they had a lot more drama than they usually do, particularly by the second kneebar, which is impressive considering Plum never won matches with it. With her submissions exhausted, she went for a dive, but got kicked on the way down and Chigusa put her in a sleeper, which looked nasty with Plum selling it like she went out on her feet before Chigusa took her down the mat to finish. This was quite similar to the Ozaki match in the way it was structured, but it was a better version of it, with a lot less dead time and more interesting submission spots. Chigusa was excellent here, one of her best singles match after the 1980s. It was the best performance of Plums career. She was excellent with her execution, selling and her submission work, the only thing that could have made it better if she had matched Chigusa’s stiffness and maintained the urgency she had in the opening brawl and her submissions late through the middle portion. Plum won Chigusa’s respect after the match and she told her she had what it takes to be the JWP champion. Cuty decided to jump Chigusa afterward to set up her next match. ****

2/11/94 JWP: Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami & Candy Okutsu 25:54
PA: You had three of the smartest workers on the scene in this, and a popular young girl who could take a beating and follow along. It was always interesting with plenty of a minor stories and revenge spots weaved in. Devil did her hair flip slam spot on Ozaki (which is one of the most ridiculous and goofiest spots ever conceived, yet amazing at the same time) and bit her so Ozaki worked an entire segment later going after Candy’s hair. Devil set Kansai up for Candy to do a camel clutch punt spot, which came back to bite her. The first explosion between Kansai and Devil was great with the two really going for each other. Devil was protective of her junior partner, but wanted to toughen her and have her fight through the submissions, so about as much assistance as she’d provide was stopping pins or submissions that she thought might end the match. Candy would get her quick comebacks in, which were shortlived, but she was usually able to tag out. Candy just got destroyed by Kansai towards the end, taking suplexes and a Splash Mountain, but Devil saved her from further big damage. The crowd were chanting for Candy to come back. She didn’t, but she did manage to tag out. Devil was a one-woman wrecking crew. She hit a pair of powerbombs on Kansai and powerbombed Ozaki when she broke up the pin. She even hit a diving senton on both at the same time, and followed that up with a guillotine legdrop on Kansai, and hit another after a Dragon Sleeper. Devil seemed to think she had everything under control, so she tagged in Candy. You could see how this was going to end, Candy could barely stand up, but Devil wanted to give her junior partner a big win and embarrass Kansai. They worked a really nice finish where Devil tried to Jumbo Suplex Candy onto Kansai and Ozaki halted her. She got Jumbo Suplexed herself for her trouble, but when Devil tried to Jumbo Suplex Candy onto Kansai the second time, Kansai got her knees and caught Candy in a pinfall while Ozaki frantically held Devil back. It probably doesn’t sound like the best finish, but it paid off everything they’d built all match, and Candy was so thrashed it wasn’t going to take much. This was the JWP slow build done well. ***3/4

6/17/26 ONE Muay Thai: Adam Benwarwar vs. Kongklai Sor.Sommai R2 2:45
ML: This was a pretty wild fight. Kongklai was getting outfought the majority of the fight, and was bleeding like something out of a horror film in the 2nd round, but he got the first two knockdowns, so he was well in control on the scorecards. Once Benwarwar turned the fight, there was no coming back, but this happened in the most bizarre fashion with Kongklai just walking into Benwarwar's right on the restart. Benwarwar had very good boxing skills, and the big difference here is he could transition well from backing to avoid a kick to pushing forward with a long straight punch combination. Since Benwarwar didn't need to fight in the pocket and could turn defense into offense, Kongklai had to just keep pressuring him to have success, but Benwarwar was very good at timing Kongklai coming in. Kongklai was getting outboxed during the first two minutes when he was fighting more passively, but then he just fired up and started chasing Benwarwar down until he dropped him with a left. Kongklai was cut above the left eye, but he just kept pressuring massively, turning this into a firefight. Kongklai was landing big shots when he was able to keep Benwarwar on the ropes. The last minute of round 1 was pretty crazy, but Benwarwar began focusing more on turning off the ropes and circling away because firing back and just brawling with Kongklai wasn't working out to his advantage. Kongklai still pressured in the second, but not to the same crazy extent, so Benwarwar was able to slide back to avoid then step forward to land the counter punch. I thought Benwarwar had stabilized, but Kongklai put him down with a punch combination that included a good uppercut. In a bizarre movie moment, as soon as they restarted, Kongklai just walked into a right hand for the knockdown. Kongklai never seemed to recover from this, always on wobbly legs. Kongklai was standing around kicking now to try to keep Benwarwar away, but all the pressure now was coming from Benwarwar. As soon as Kongklai tried to come forward again, Benwarwar dropped him with a left hook. Kongklai's legs were just rubber now, and the first solid shot from Benwarwar put him down for the three knockdown rule. Good match.

8/7/26 PFL: Lewis McGrillen vs. Brandon Lewis 3R
ML: Lewis was coming at McGrillen with everything he could think of, while McGrillen was entirely focused on setting up the powerful left hand. McGrillen's left was clearly the big weapon of the fight. McGrillen had an early flash knockdown countering the right with a quick short left. Lewis was trying to throw the right hand as little as possible after that because he didn't want to give McGrillen another opportunity to flatten him with the counter. Lewis fought with his hands down. He was scoring with kicks while using some unorthodox head movement to avoid McGrillen's punches. He dodge most of what was coming at him, and could hit McGrillen, but he didn't have the power to hurt him with one strike, and that was really the difference here. McGrillen hurt Lewis with a left hook to the body midway through the second. Lewis had some good takedown attempts, but McGrillen either defended them immediately or was up quickly. Lewis created a 2nd eyebrow for McGrillen opening up a massive cut with a back elbow when McGrillen got behind him. Lewis might have been down two rounds, or it could have been even from causing this massive wound, but either way, the huge gash gave him hope for a stoppage. McGrillen landed a good knee midway through the third. McGrillen hurt Lewis with a left to the liver. They were slugging it out at the end, and McGrillen had a good punch combination followed by a flying knee. McGrillen missed a lot, but when he did connect he did damage. I gave McGrillen every round because he always landed the shot or shots that counted. Officially it was 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 McGrillen. Good match.

JWP 4/3/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Plum Mariko vs. Bolshoi Kid 15:51
DC: Before Commando Bolshoi became known as the excellent technical master, she was known as the damn clown Bolshoi Kid, pretty much a comedy wrestler. In spite of that, Bolshoi showed lots of potential, especially for someone that tiny in a clown suit. Plum Mariko was a very likable wrestler who was quite the mature worker for her age and experience level. She showed that she understood how to react appropriately in every situation she was in. Mariko did a good job of selling the idea that she was overwhelmed by her unusual opponent. Eventually, Mariko told the story of getting more grip on the match. One of the cooler parts of the match was Mariko kicking Bolshoi to the floor when Bolshoi went for the Satoru Sayama tiger feint, which Mariko followed up with a Perro Aguayo-esque seated senton off the apron. Don’t let the clown gimmick fool ya, this match actually made sense and was a well-worked one. The execution was really good overall. Good match. ***¼ 

JWP 4/3/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka 23:09
DC: This was easily the best match of the show. In case you didn’t know, JWP Project was the revived version of the Original JWP.  This JWP show indirectly set the wheels in motion for an era that would become the inter-promotional era of joshi puroresu, which was the absolute peak of joshi puroresu in terms of high quality and high workrate, led by the two main leagues AJW and JWP. And this big main event indeed started off with fast-paced action. Hikari Fukuoka showed tremendous agility, and she kinda came across as a more athletic version of Mima Shimoda here. At some point (later in the match), Fukuoka took a nasty bump when she (accidentally?) launched herself straight to the floor when Kansai pulled the ropes down while ducking Fukuoka’s flying attack. Dynamite Kansai was the powerhouse, and she also showed she had a strong sense of timing. Cuty Suzuki looked fine but was the least impressive worker in the match. Mayumi Ozaki’s selling and swiftness made her excel in her role. The structuring of the match was quite good, as during the early portions, after the initial fast start, they focused mainly on wearing down the opponent and staying in control while doing damage at the same time. Then at some point, they would pick up the pace and excitement level with bigger moves and near falls. Ozaki would end up pinning Fukuoka to win the match. The only thing that prevented it from being excellent was that when they slowed down, they weren’t able to keep the intensity level as high, which made the slower portion feel too much like a mid-day energy crash as opposed to a more meaningful change of pace. That being said, it was a strong main event of an entertaining debut show. These girls made sure that JWP was going to be a league to keep an eye on. Very good match. ***¾

AJW 3/20/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Akira Hokuto vs. Takako Inoue 6:17
DC: Akira Hokuto showed a tremendous amount of intensity and excellent execution. Takako Inoue sold and moved well. It was a really smoothly worked match. The only reason this was disappointing was that it was a short match designed to put Hokuto over. This was fair, however, since AJW felt that Takako wasn’t ready for a bigger push yet. Hokuto looked like one of the best workers in the world. Takako looked like a promising up-and-coming star. Yes, this was short, but the execution and work in general was so good that it deserves a mild recommendation. After this show, Hokuto would go to Mexico for a CMLL tour in April. She would return to Korakuen Hall on 5/24/92. Good match. ***

AJW 3/20/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue 24:16
DC: Bull Nakano was dominating the early portions of the match by really wearing Kyoko Inoue down. Kyoko would be able to fight back, and always showed a will to survive. It was a moderately slow match, but there was always something happening that seemed to have the purpose of further lessening the chances of the opponent winning. They were constantly switching up holds and trying to outdo each other in  terms of coming up with ways to be in control. The impact they were going for seemed that of the kind that would have a bit more lasting impact rather than flashy quick moves. That means the match was definitely not as exciting as it could have been if it was faster, but they way they did things in a purposeful way made up for it. And the selling was quite good as well. The difficulty level was relatively low, but at least what they did was done well enough to make things work. Especially considering that this was a long match, they deserve credit for what they did. That being said, it wasn’t lively enough to warrant more than a mild recommendation. Good match. ***¼ 

AJW 3/20/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, WWWA Tag Tam Title vs. UWA World Women’s Tag Team Title: Bison Kimura & Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada 37:13 (11:13, 10:01, 15:59)
DC: This was a two out of three falls match to unify two titles. The pace was high from the start. It was good to see a motivated and effective Aja Kong here. Jungle Jack (Aja & Bison) was a solid tag team, but it seemed like they lacked the ability to keep longer segments of dominance interesting. Bison Kimura was a really good worker, but it feels her style was slightly outdated by this point. Manami Toyota was phenomenal, and she was born to be in matches like this one. Toyota has been getting a bad rep lately, but I feel that she did an excellent job during her control segments and an excellent job backing up her tag team partner in this high-profile tag team contest. Toyota was also particularly strong during the flashy counter moments, as her speed and execution literally wowed the crowd. Toshiyo Yamada continued to shine bright as one of the best pro wrestlers in the world at that time. Her kicks were superbly executed, and her speed and agility all added quality to this match. Toyota pinned Bison to win the first fall. This was a very well-executed fall, as it featured really good pro wrestling and really made the viewer wish for more. Jungle Jack changed things up at the start of the second fall, as they went overboard with a violent attack that saw them beat the crap out of their opponents during a brawl in the crowd. Aja was particularly eager to use any object she could get her hands on. I preferred what they were doing earlier on in the ring, but it was admittedly interesting to see them switch things up and add some wild variety to this already heated match. Plus, the act of violence gave them an excuse for Jungle Jack pretty much dominating the second fall in a vengeful manner. Toyota and Yamada sold really well, and their superb selling made Jungle Jack’s attack even more impactful. Once Jungle Jack cooled down a bit, the match returned to a wrestling match contested in the ring. Aja’s tapatia on Toyota looked cool. The second fall wasn’t completely one-sided, but it told the clear story of an enraged Jungle Jack set out for revenge. And they were indeed able to score the equalizing pinfall when Aja pinned Yamada with a Liger Bomb off the second rope. The third fall was slightly longer than the first two, which emphasized that both teams refused to give up and were giving it their all in this big title unification match. The third fall also told the story of fatigue setting in, as both teams had been trying so hard to destroy the other in the previous two falls. Things were now evened out, and with the match now fairly contested in the ring, Jungle Jack didn’t necessarily have an advantage anymore, as Toyota & Yamada were more than capable of outwrestling their physically stronger opposition. While it was realistic and understandable that the longer third fall initially had a bit less action and slower-paced action (compared to the first two falls, at least), it also meant that the match started to feel slightly anticlimactic, at least temporarily. We also once again saw more control segments by Jungle Jack, which once again showed their issues with trying to keep their control segments interesting. Things picked up again once Toyota & Yamada decided it was time to go all out and go all or nothing during the final minutes, risking it all. This was emphasized by their willingness to use high-risk moves. Overall, this was a well-executed match that told a great story. Apart from the few down periods, this was intriguing from start to finish. The satisfying finish saw Yamada pin Aja, which was a moment worth watching this all the way. Excellent match. ****¼

NJPW 3/1/92 Yokohama Arena: El Samurai vs. Tiger Mask III 8:31
DC: Prior to the match, they showed highlights of the First Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) in his 4/23/81 match against the great Dynamite Kid. This was Koji Kanemoto’s first match portraying the third incarnation of the Tiger Mask gimmick. He would only appear a few times as Tiger Mask III during 1992, as he would continue to wrestle under his real name for most of the year. And this was Osamu Matsuda’s first match with the Samurai gimmick in a NJPW ring. He had been working as El Samurai during a 10-month excursion to Mexico at LLI shows, but this was his big NJPW debut as El Samurai. Kanemoto had been a pro for a little over a year and was still learning. Samurai had been a pro for five years and was hitting his prime. To make this match more special, they turned off the lights and shone some blue-colored light during the opening 35 seconds of the match, which was enough for Kanemoto to throw some kicks, mess up the tiger feint and then hit a pescado. Kanemoto was essentially a greener version of the original Tiger Mask, showing impressive skills in an inexperienced and somewhat clumsy manner. Stylistically, Kanemoto was a much better fit for the gimmick than AJPW’s Mitsuharu Misawa (Tiger Mask II) was, though. The mysterious Samurai focused on trying to control his opponent through solid grappling. He also did a good job of being a base for Kanemoto’s flips and flops. Kanemoto seemed to have a rough time working with this mask, as he was constantly trying to adjust it. Samurai didn’t seem hampered by his mask in any way, and was quite smooth. Samurai’s plancha from the top to the floor was executed with tremendous urgency and grace. Considering everything, Kanemoto showed a lot of potential. His tiger suplex looked great. Samurai was very impressive, the worker of the match, and showed that he was without a doubt someone to keep an eye on during 1992. The match served its purpose of introducing the new characters and giving the already hot NJPW junior heavyweight division some more newfound energy. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 3/1/92 Yokohama Arena: Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Brian Blair 8:29
DC: This was the sleeper match of the show. B. Brian Blair, the former Killer Bee, was still wearing bee-colored gear. The grappling in this match was some of the best grappling of this show. Blair was an accomplished amateur wrestler prior to his professional career, and it showed, as he was constantly trying to either attack or defend. Michiyoshi Ohara came from a judo background, and he showed strong reactionary skills. Blair was a 14-year veteran, while Ohara had been a pro less than two years. Blair took the lead and guided the youngster to a very well-worked match. Ohara provided the energy and strong style athleticism that made this match so dynamic. There was no time wasted, and both men clearly cared about giving a good performance. In the end, Blair’s experience shone through and got him the win. But Ohara looked impressive in defeat. Good match. ***

NJPW 3/1/92 Yokohama Arena: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Nogami 10:45
DC: Shiro Koshinaka once again proved he would give a strong performance no matter what his position on the card was. The talented Akira Nogami was one of those workers NJPW wasn’t utilizing very well, and NJPW wasn’t sure whether to book as a junior heavyweight or heavyweight. Both guys made the most of this random midcard match. To their credit, they could have easily phoned it in, but instead, they gave purpose and meaning to their moves and made this match work. Good match. ***

NJPW 3/1/92 Yokohama Arena, IWGP Tag Titles: Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow 24:48
DC: The IWGP Tag Team Champions defended their title and belts against two American super heavyweights. Big Van Vader and “Crusher” Bam Bam Bigelow were both guys who were more agile than they looked. Bigelow’s performance was really good here, as everything he did added something to the match. Keiji Muto was good at letting the Americans do their stuff while playing his part and showing impressive offense when it was the right time. Vader utilized his monster aura very well, and he was very impactful. Hase’s selling and timing were superb. Hase was really good at being impressive while making the opponent look strong. The moves in this match looked very good, but it was the way they built up to them and reacted to them that made it all work so well. There was no time wasted, and it really was a well-crafted battle. There wasn’t a lot of urgency shown during the part that saw the gaijin team in control for a significant amount of time, but there didn’t need to be, as they were emphasizing their dominance through to their size advantage. The comebacks by Hase and Muto were timed and executed very well. Vader’s splash off the top rope on Muto was executed superbly. Bigelow’s flying headbutt on Muto looked excellent. The Americans did a great job of being dominant while still putting over the comebacks by their opponents as dangerous. All four guys were important to this match, but Vader was arguably the worker of the match. This was easily the best match of this show. Excellent match. **** 

11/29/93 WWF: Shawn Michaels vs. The 1-2-3 Kid 15:00
ML: This was a very fast paced, burst oriented match for WWF. Kid's speed and workrate got Michaels out of his usual box, forcing Michaels to react to him rather than do his usual solo routine. They took their breaks for control, but always went back to rope running before it started to drag, and overall it was an exciting match. It was a really good, exhilarating performance by Kid, taking advantage of having a more athletic opponent. Michaels took one really ridiculous bump, jumping at the post and basically wrapping his arm around it for a sort of bent lariat just because Kid reversed an Irish whip on the outside, but overall was far less over the top than usual. Kid then tried a cross body off the apron, but Michaels powerslammed him out of the air. It's a good thing Kid is a good athletic kicker because his punches are thrown from an angle that doesn't even make sense where he windmills up and then comes down on the top of the opponent's head. This was enjoyable while it lasted, but ultimately just a backdrop to promote the Razor Ramon vs. Michaels feud. Michaels trolled Razor by using the Razor's edge after avoiding Kid's senton atomico, pulling him up at 2. Ramon strolled out after a 2nd Razor's edge, and pulled Kid by the feet through the ropes to stop a 3rd. Apparently Kid was already just dead from the first 2 because he was never seen again. They abandoned the match and did an angle where Michaels tripped running to the locker room to escape from Ramon, but Diesel was hiding behind the curtain to cheap shot Razor. Michaels eventually gave Ramon the slowest, lowest impact kneel and place Razor's edge humanly possible. After some taunting, he did a 2nd more tired out Razor's edge that faded off to the right, and that was the end of the segment. ***

2/15/98 WWF In Your House 20: No Way Out Of Texas, WWF Light Heavyweight Title: TAKA Michinoku vs. Pantera 10:11
ML: The best WWF Light Heavyweight Title Match, and the one time WWF successfully competed with the action WCW was regularly delivering before the division was overtaken by the lousy wrestling and awful unserious personalities of Lawlercito, Scotty 2 Shitty, and Gillberg. One of the big problems the division faced is WWF simply refused to give them any time. Along with this, only TAKA's debut against The Great Sasuke and the Title Tournament Final against Brian Christopher even barely just cracked the 10 minute mark. TAKA vs Jerry Lynn from 8/23/97 would surely have been a recommendation if it was a competitive 12 minute match rather than a 5 minute showcase for TAKA. The problem with the aformentioned Sasuke match is they tried to compress their whole 20 minute match into 10 minutes, so there was too much going on and not enough time develop any of it while also including their better spots. This Pantera match was just the strong 10 minutes rather than grasping for balance with middling matwork and whatnot leading up to a few good minutes before they ran out of time. Since it's a Lucha based match, focusing on the action worked better than trying to make up for lost time and be something it really wasn't. There was more action in this one TAKA vs. Pantera match than in the average 10 of these 90s WWF matches I've been watching, and I've only been watching the ones I thought might actually be worth talking about. It's lean and to the point rather than the usual Stamford bloatware. Pantera was one of the best flyers of his generation, but he's from the previous generation, and isn't the athlete that TAKA was at this point, although really no one else was either, as the speed and athleticism of TAKA was still off the charts in 1998 when he had functioning knees. Pantera is a little slow for a technico to begin with, so the difference in speed and explosion is quite stark. TAKA still did all his impressive offense even though he's ostensibly in the rudo role of basing for Pantera though, so it was pretty much a win win, with TAKA making Pantera look better without having to forgo most of his own offense in the process. Pantera was working like his future depended on it, absolutely busting it. If you had someone in charge who appreciated the business he was in, Pantera would have earned many more chances due to this outstanding effort, but this Vince's carnival, so it was Pantera's only WWF PPV appearance. Pantera got off to a fast start with an early no touch tope con giro. TAKA soon answered with his springboard plancha. TAKA was a lot more comfortable here than in the match vs. Sasuke, as he was used to the difference in the WWF ring, and understood how to do a consistently entertaining short match now His personality was coming out a lot more here. Pantera seemed to be setting up a victory roll off the top with TAKA on the apron, but there's no need to go into the pin on the outside, so he just shot TAKA to the floor with it and followed with a tope. TAKA took a massive back body drop to the floor and Pantera followed with a no touch senton atomico. Pantera was focusing on the back, but not in manner that distracted him from his real purposes of being spectacular and entertaining. The point was more to take away TAKA's Michinoku driver II finisher, and when TAKA came back with a diving knee and set it up, Pantera countered into a small package and got his final hope spot with la magistral. TAKA turned the huracarrana into a powerbomb though, and was able to finish with his Michinoku driver II after a missile kick. While the action was fantastic, like most WWF matches of the era, even the great Jim Ross couldn't save the broadcast from the awfulness of the Burger King Jerry Lawler, perhaps the single worst announcer in wrestling history who isn't just some clueless comedian like Rob Bartlett. He wasn't screaming, wailing, ang laughing inappropriately as much here because he's mainly interacting with his almost equally cringy son. Still, this is what mute was invented for. In the end, while TAKA is the better wrestler here and is more memorable wrestler overall, Pantera still kind of stole the show due to giving such an awesome effort here. He may not be the most skilled or athletic Luchador, but with this kind of work ethic, it's disgusting they didn't do anything with him. As Robert DeNiro said in A Bronx Tale, "The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." ***1/2

7/7/19 Senjo Sendai Girls World Title: Sareee vs. DASH Chisako 13:15
ML: These are two of my favorite modern wrestlers because they're intense and spirited. The whole wrestling is fake argument never felt remotely interesting to me, but there's a huge difference between announcing it's a bs exhibition at every turn by giving the opponent 30 seconds to recover when they are theoretically at their most prone and actually working hard to provide the continuation required to keep things somewhat believable. Sareee is one of the best at that in her post WWE run, she's there to keep beating her opponent up until they are down for the count. DASH was a great heel or face in this 10s era because she both got in the opponent's face and riled them up and brought energy and excitement at the right times without having to stop the match to do so. She's the rare wrestler who is better the more attitude she brings because she directs it at her opponent rather than forgetting about them and standing around screaming at the crowd nonsensically. Sareee's the Kana of the next generation, while DASH is the Mayumi Ozaki. All that being said, this didn't wind up being nearly as amazing as it could have been. This Sareee wasn't nearly as good as the one from 2023 onwards, she's still doing a lot more of the Manami Toyota stuff here. Even though DASH is the veteran and the actual Senjo wrestler, she's always been terribly booked in her home promotion, and you never really believed she might win this one. Given that, this was an entertaining sprint of roughly the proper length. The match was more interesting to me when they met each other with an intense striking style than when they did junior style or DASH did her brawling, although everything was good for what it was. Maybe DASH sweeping Sareee when she was postured up dropping a series of mount elbows and answering with her own isn't quite MMA, but this especially felt like fighting to win, and is the stuff you'd expect to see if we're supposed to believe titles actually mean something. The more the match was DASH doing the beatdown and Sareee doing athletic comebacks rather than answering with brutality, the more the action failed to truly escalate to a level that would bring out the best in both and elevate the title though. The match started to reach its potential when they get back in the ring after DASH's brawling, with an elbow exchange that seemed to end with DASH ducking into a stunner, but she screamed to the crowd with her back turned when she got up, so Sareee came up from behind and hammered her in the back with another elbow. This is what should happen literally always, but today's wrestlers don't mind being disrespected as long as it allows them to get away with doing less. From here, the impact increased considerably, even though it was still a lot more of an athletic match than Sareee would initiate today. The match built well despite having no particular story, in the sense that they were amping up the speed and intensity throughout, even though it started at a good level. This was ultimately an energetic sprint, with DASH being merely competitive enough. I thought this finish was more effective than some of the more recent Sareee ones in the sense that while Chisako predictably kicked out of a series of her favorite moves, she never really regained the momentum, and was basically just surviving until she couldn't. I wish we would have gotten to see a rematch when DASH finally won this title, instead of dropping it to Meiko Satomura, who also didn't need the title during her retirement run. ***1/4

7/26/15 Beyond: Mike Bailey vs. Danny Cannon 8:20
ML: Cannon debuted at the end of 2009, and wrestled part-time through 2014, ammassing just 122 matches that made the Cagematch database. He returned after an 11 month absence for this one match, which surely was one of the best of his career, and never wrestled again, opting for a career in the military. It was an intense, all out sprint. Short, but they really brought it. The matchup worked stylistically because Cannon can do the things that Bailey does well, particularly striking wise, where he appeared to bringing a karate background to match Bailey's taekwondo. The early portion was flashy kicks, but they kept it hard hitting and not too ridiculous. Cannon is athletic, but he's more muscular. The "Dynamite" nickname seems purposeful, as he's going for the brand of junior style that still appears to be about hurting the opponent. He had hair in his earlier days, but the skinhead look he was sporting tonight made him even more reminiscent of Low ki. He got some actual impact on moves such as his shoulder on his tope, and spear in the corner. Bailey was the one bringing most of the flips as the action shifted away from martial arts, while Cannon maintained the more intense and hard-hitting style while doing enough gymnastics to stay in the realm of what Bailey turned the match into. Both were impressive at what they were doing, both when they were matching each other and when they were showing some variation. Bailey is always exciting and on point. Cannon was a bit sloppy at times, but I appreciated his intensity, and more rugged take on the action. Bailey won sort of out of nowhere countering Cannon's aggressive charge into a fall-away moonsault, but for an opening match on a dinky indy show, this was several classes above basically anything you could ask for, not to mention better than anything Bailey has done in AEW, largely because it just felt more serious. It's unfortunate that Cannon didn't venture much beyond the Illinois circuit because he seems like someone who could at least have garnered a cult following. ***1/2

7/10/26 ONE Muay Thai: Omar El Halabi vs. Klarob Nuicafeboran 3R
ML: This fight had a lot of intense back and forth exchanges. They weren't waiting for one another to finish, they were each punching within each other's combo, so there were some pretty wild segments. El Halabi would back Klarob into the ropes with his punch combinations, then Klarob would fight his way back to the center. El Halabi was sitting down on his punches, so one of the keys for Klarob was that he was chopping the lead leg, which was costing El Halabi his punching power by round two. By round three, El Halabi was compromised, more notably due to a broken hand, and now Klarob was able to back him. Klarob was able to capitalize on this positioning a lot better because El Halabi didn't have the energy by this point to fight his way back off the ropes the way Klarob kept doing. Klarob knocked El Halabi's mouthpiece out with a couple of lefts. By the last minute, El Halabi was too tired to get his back off the ropes, but still answering everything back from muscle memory, even if it didn't have anything on it. Round 3 was a decisive win for Klarob, so he won the unanimous decision, but with round scoring it might have depended on who you gave round 2 to. Good match.