Cousin Marcus Talking Wrestling

[mrawkweird]

Because you know all the shit’s about to get shut down whenever Ali’s on Raw Talk.

[thewrestlingobsessor]

My boy Ali be spitting the truth.

[weirdwackynwildwrestling]

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rey Mysterio Starrcade 96'

Liger had a brain tumor removed just a few months prior to this match. Watch it on YouTube via the link below.

https://youtu.be/FlJIrZqDec4

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Despite the name value, this match wasn't great. Had several moments where it seemed like Liger just didn't wanna cooperate with Rey

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

A Cousin’s Review - NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya

January 30, 2021

Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano (Chaos) vs Evil & Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club)

Okada vs Evil is a terribly boring obviously filler feud. Dick Togo interferes early like everyone expected. There’s a really fun spot with an assisted abdominal stretch where Togo is also helping Yujiro with leverage. Toru Yano gets tagged in and immediately goes to take off the turnbuckle padding. Yano and Yujiro fight over Yujiro’s cane, Yano lowblows Yujiro and gets the roll-up win for Chaos.

**

Kota Ibushi, Sho, Tomoaki Honma, & Master Wato vs Los Ingobernables da Japon (Naito, Hiromu, Sanada, & Bushi)

This is to set up four matches of the two day New Beginning in Hiroshima card.

 Master Wato vs Bushi - Eh

Tetsuya Naito vs Tomoaki Honma - Eh

Hiromu vs Sho - FUCK YEEEAAAA

Kota Ibushi vs Sanada - Hmmmmm

I don’t know if Honma’s movements are purposeful, but he looks incredibly stiff and it doesn’t look like he’s fit to be in the ring. LIJ go full heel and attack everyone with brawling on the outside. Ibushi gets a hot tag and has a really fun sequence with Sanada. Hopefully in Hiroshima, we get more of them showing their athleticism and having a fun match rather than going 30+ for Gedo reasons. Hiromu and Sho forearm the life out of each other, Hiromu blocks one spear, but gets killed with another. Sho eventually kills Bushi with the Shock Arrow and wins it for the randoms. Outside of Honma looking very old, this was fun.

**1/2

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Great O’Khan - Loser must retire their Mongolian Chops

So after the Empire went 0-3 at Wrestle Kingdom, they turned their focus towards the OG tag duo of Tenzan and Kojima. This didn’t interest me at all, but apparently on all the Road to New Beginning shows, their matches got tremendous crowd heat, so the fans are really into it. They tear right into each other and have an purposefully ugly match at one point. Tenzan comes off the turnbuckle and drives O’Khan’s head into the mat with his knee. O’Khan cuts him off with a flatliner. Tenzan escapes the Dominator and they have a Mongolian Chop battle. Tenzan ends the chop battle with a lariat, locks in an Anaconda Vice and turns it into a Uranage. Tenzan misses a moonsault (!) and can’t land TTD, then O’Khan “hits” TTD and ends it with a Dominator. This was surprisingly fast-paced and fun. I’m still not on the O’Khan train, but I don’t need to be.

**1/2

Satoshi Kojima vs Will Ospreay - No Disqualification Match

This TenCozy vs Empire feud resulted in a bunch of DQs so Ospreay requested that this match be no disqualification. The whole thing is kinda hokey because New Japan very rarely does DQs, so this was just a setup because they knew they wanted to do a garbage match. Ospreay is on his Mick Foley shit and brings out a garbage can full of lids and a guitar, plus he takes the turnbuckle padding off. They tear right into each other like they should and Ospreay tries to powerbomb Kojima onto a garbage can, but he gets backdropped onto it. Kojima misses a plancha (!) and Ospreay shoves a ladder into his stomach. Ospreay tries a nasty curb stomp onto a chair, but he gets backdropped into it for a hellacious bump. Kojima elbow drops a chair into Ospreay’s chest. Ospreay is reeling and starts to resort to his flippy offense which is a spot where it actually fits, even with him being a heel. Kojima gets a DDT and DESTROYS Ospreay with the guitar. Tenzan sets up a table in the corner, but Ospreay POWERBOMBS HIM THROUGH THE TABLE!! FUCK!! OSCUTTER ONLY GETS TWO!!

 Ospreay waffles Kojima with a chair then sets up for a double stomp onto four chairs, but Kojima pops out and LARIATS OSPREAY OFF THE TOP THROUGH A BRIDGED LADDER!! Kojima brings him back in the ring and gives him a brainbuster on a pile of chairs. Ospreay tries another Oscutter, but Kojima lariats him out of the sky. Ospreay ducks another lariat and gives him a Hidden Blade against a chair. One more Hidden Blade and the Stormbreaker ends this great brawl. Imagine me telling you that Ospreay’s best pandemic match would be a hardcore match against a 50 year old man and that includes matches with Okada, Ishii, Ibushi, and Shingo. And this wasn’t just Ospreay bouncing around and leading the older Kojima, Kojima took some hard punishment just like he dished his out. I also love Ospreay’s manic final rush of adrenaline. Great brawl.

 ****

Shingo Takagi (CHAMP) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NEVER Openweight Title

When fans were building the Wrestle Kingdom 15 cards, this was a match that was talked about a lot. It would’ve perfect for Tokyo Dome. We did get Shingo vs Jeff Cobb which was amazing in its own right, but I’m glad we’re getting this relatively soon into the year. They start off with some wrestling and Shingo gets aggressive relatively quickly. Tana starts twisting and yanking Shingo’s legs, so Shingo takes him to the outside and gives him a DDT on the floor and works the upper torso and neck while still selling his bad knee. Shingo’s selling of his leg never lets up the entire match and its one of the best selljobs I’ve ever seen. Shingo works his way into a few Twist and Shouts and when Tana goes back to the leg, Shingo invites him to take free shots at his chin only for Shingo to start attacking Tana’s leg. HA! Shingo goes full heel playing the air guitar with Tana’s leg. Tana slips out of Made in Japan and goes back to Shingo’s leg.

A hard Dragon Screw from the second turnbuckle sets up the Cloverleaf and Shingo seemingly passes out but he awakens at the last second. Tana lets go and squashes him with High Fly Flow to the back, but he gets greedy and misses a second. Shingo gets a snapdragon and Pumping Bomber, still selling the shit out of the leg. Tana ducks another Bomber, but his Sling Blade attempt is countered to Made in Japan THAT LOOKS LIKE IT BROKE TANA’S FUCKING NECK, JESUS!! Tana counters Last of the Dragon to Twist & Shouts, but when he goes for Aces High, Shingo catches him and drills him with a DVD. Shingo grabs a Dragon sleeper and as Tana gets to the ropes, Shingo turns it into a GTR! He revs up and kills Tana with a Pumping Bomber, but it only gets two. Some petty slaps brings the dog out of Tana, but he gets forearmed to death by Shingo. Shingo kicks out of a Sling Blade at 1 and Tana kicks out of a lariat at 1. Another Last of the Dragon attempt is countered to a Sling Blade. Dragon suplex sets up Aces High and then High Fly Flow ends it and Hiroshi Tanahashi wins the NEVER Openweight Title for the first time in his career.

Some New Japan match endings feel a leeetle anticlimactic to me, but this was still an awesome match. Shingo’s leg selling was incredible and he never let it take away his edge and aggression. Tanahashi is a master of selling, timing, and storytelling. This match was nearly 40 minutes and legit didn’t feel it at all because they made everything count. This definitely lived up to expectations. Tanahashi winning is a great decision, because its a respectable accolade for him and he instantly adds value to any title he touches. Also, this opens Shingo up to challenge Ibushi for the titles. If you remember, Shingo was the only man besides Jay White to beat Ibushi in the G1.

****1/2

OVERALL: One of the best things about pandemic wrestling has been WWE & New Japan cutting the fat off their big shows. No need to have cards with filler matches that are just to get guys on a card. The first three matches here are all very average and do their jobs to respective degrees. The last two are legit bangers with Ospreay and Kojima having a surprisingly awesome brawl and Tanahashi and Shingo having a predictably awesome match.

OVERALL RATING: 3 OUTTA 5

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Best NXT Matches of 2020 - The Top 5

5

DIY vs Moustache Mountain - Worlds Collide

Man that Worlds Collide card was great. This was a simple tag team dream match between two awesome tag teams that have never really crossed paths. Crazy talented Tyler Bate has some silky smooth wrestling sequences with Gargano and Ciampa that makes me clamor for singles matches with both of them. Ciampa and Seven have a funny posedown where Seven bows out before he officially hold his L. Its a fatphobic moment, but I ain’t gon trip. It’s a playful babyface tag match until Ciampa remembers that he’s a psychopath and he decks Seven with a forearm. Repentant babyface Gargano joins Ciampa and superkicks Bate and from there this match takes off with high octane action and some creative sequences.

Ciampa and Gargano tear into Bate and Seven gets the hot tag in a fun reversal of how they usually do things. Gargano hits the Final Beat DDT at the same time that Ciampa hits the Widows Bell DDT. Bate goes for a flying back elbow on Ciampa, but gets V Triggered out of the sky. There’s a great sequence where Gargano tilt-a-whirls into Gargano Escape on Bate, but Bate counters to the Airplane Spin, but Gargano rides him back down into it. Ciampa locks in a double armbar on Seven and we got a flashback to DIY vs Revival at Toronto. Bate and Seven escaped the stereo submissions and we get a fun double airplane spin. Bate accidentally rebound clotheslines Seven and they have a sweet moment where Seven protects Bate from Meeting in the Middle. They coldcock DIY though and land a sweet Burning Hammer/Flying Knee combo on Ciampa. In the end, DIY kills Seven with Meeting in the Middle and end this dream match.

4

Finn Balor vs Kyle O’Reilly - NXT Title - Takeover 31

Kyle O’Reilly being in the main event of a Takeover was a pretty far out idea, but one torn shoulder and a seemingly unplanned 30 day turnaround between Takeovers has made it so. Balor beat Adam Cole for the vacant title on September 8 and O’Reilly won a Gauntlet Eliminator for the title shot two weeks later. NXT’s always succinct video packages edged Kyle babyface and boiled him down to a dude who just really loves wrestling. And wrestling is exactly what we get. Not just wrestling, but some of the best pure wrestling of the year.  This is a great display of matwork, pacing, and psychology. This reminds me of Shingo vs Ibushi from the G1, where they could easily go full throttle all action, but instead they’re way more patient and we still get a great match from it.

Kyle has an awesome performance here as his selling is super sympathetic, while his work attacking Finn’s arms and legs is vicious. Finn, in my favorite Balor incarnation as The Prince, appropriately responds with his own nasty offense. In particular, one spinning kick looks like it ruptures Kyle’s spleen. Kyle goes for a cross armbreaker at one point and there’s a great sequence as we get a close up view of Balor’s fingers unlocking one by one until Kyle locks the armbreaker all the way in. Kyle legit breaks Finn’s jaw with a running knee in the corner and shortly after that, Finn ends it with the Coup De Grace. The ending was a leeeeetle too sudden and out of nowhere for understandable reasons. It definitely feels like they had a 4-5 more minutes to really build to their ending. No matter what, its an excellent wrestling match that basically sealed Finn as NXT’s male wrestler of the year and elevated Kyle to another level.

3

The Broserweights vs The Undisputed Era - Tag Team Titles - Takeover Portland

You know that point in long-ish tag matches where there’s a hot tag and everything breaks down and everything is just super entertaining chaos. This match is like that from the start and its awesome. There’s a relentless amount of double teams, nearfalls, nearfall saves, and momentum shifts. I had the very sneaky suspicion that one of the Broserweights were gonna turn on each other. The match kinda supported my theory because there’s moments where Dunne accidentally hits Riddle & moments where Riddle accidentally hits Dunne. Throughout it all, the Broserweights win this tornado of a match and take the tag titles. This was by far the best tag team match I saw this year. Unfortunately, the pandemic forcing Dunne to England and Riddle’s sexual assault allegations and call down to Raw broke up this team and completely derailed NXT’s tag team division for the entire year.

2

Candice Lerae, Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, & Raquel Gonzalez vs Shotzi Blackheart, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, & Ember Moon - War Games Match - Takeover War Games

Once the Charlotte experiment was over, the women of NXT were featured more and more on TV and emerged in the fall as the best division in the world that carried the show while the fellas were affected by injuries and weird direction and stuff. Shotzi and Candice lead their stacked teams to this WarGames match that felt like a violent feather in the cap of a tremendous year for the ladies.

Ember & Dakota start things off and have a great five minute segment showing off their chemistry before Shotzi comes in. The babyfaces having the advantage is an odd decision, but they work pretty simply and Dakota is crafty enough to not make it a weird dynamic where she turns herself face. Big Momma Raquel is next and things get ugly for the faces. Rhea is next and has a great staredown and brawl with Raquel. Toni Storm is next and she chooses violence bringing in numerous kendo sticks and takes off the turnbuckle pads. The action is brutal, creative, and constant and very rarely feels phony or choreographed. There’s a required Tower of Doom spot and a lot of weapon shots. Io Shirai is next and she wants to introduce more weapons, but Raquel keeps her out with a few hard big boots. Io dropkicks a chair into her face, but Toni locks the door to keep Io out. Candice Lerae is finally in and she has Indi Hartwell take out Io so the heels keep their handicap advantage, but the match can’t officially start without Io. In one of the funniest spots of the year, Io climbs to the top of the cage puts a garbage can over her head and leaps onto everybody.

With the match officially started, we get a bunch of super entertaining action. Rhea and Io have some awesome tag team moves, Ember hits Dakota with a crazy Eclipse two chairs, Shotzi sentons Candice off a ladder onto chairs. Its an awesome blend of skillful wrestling, creative spots, and brutality. In the end, Raquel catches Io going for a super rana and powerbombs her through a ladder to secure the win for Team Candice. An awesome spectacle of lady excellence.

1

Io Shirai vs Rhea Ripley - Women’s Title - November 18

Io Shirai had an incredible year as Women’s champion and saved the title from the terribly booked Charlotte reign, by being one of the most consistent performers in the world and having great matches with the every name worth a damn in NXT. Rhea’s momentum from early this year was severely damaged by her disappearance after her loss to Charlotte Flair, but she slowly recovered, had some damn good matches and before you know it, she had all her swag back. It makes sense for this to be a big match up, but the unique thing about it is that Io Shirai took the initiative to call out Ripley. That instantly gave their match a very different dynamic that they play into and we got one of the best matches of the entire year.

Io’s brings the aggressive mentality of her challenge to the match and goes right after Rhea. She gets the best of her with her athleticism until Rhea yanks her into an electric chair drop on the apron. Even when she’s being overpowered though, she never alters her approach and she never sticks and moves. Staying in the pocket with Rhea is a dangerous proposition, but Io is just that crazy. Io slips out of a superplex attempt and delivers a sick German suplex from the turnbuckle. As great of a powerhouse that Rhea is, her bumping and selling is brilliant and she really puts over Io’s damage. Rhea gets extra angry after booting the hell out of Io, but Io snatches her left arm and goes crazy trying to disable Rhea and limit her power.

Rhea is still strong lady and gets a superplex and her reverse cloverleaf while still selling the arm, but when she goes for the Riptide, Io brilliantly counters to a cross armbreaker. Rhea escapes and decapitates Io with a clothesline, but Io counters another Riptide attempt to a spike DDT. In the awesome final sequence, Io catches Rhea on the apron with a sunset flip powerbomb THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!! Rhea is a dead woman, but she manages to drag her corpse in the ring, but as soon as she crawls in to beat the count, Io crushes her with a moonsault to the back and ends this classic match. Great unexpected psychology, great selling, great finish,. The Ladies of NXT just got better and better as the year went on and this is probably their crown jewel example.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Best NXT Matches of 2020 10-6

10

Io Shirai vs Shotzi Blackheart - September 16

Shotzi Shotzi SHOTZI!!! Where did this come from?!? This wasn’t a title match, just a friendly exhibition for Shotzi to get into the true title picture and she took full advantage of it here. From the start, Shotzi treated this like a title match. She outworked Io on the mat and showed that she could strike with her as well with some hard kicks. Things got more and more intense and Shotzi stayed all over Io. She ducks the 619 and worked her way into a great Tiger suplex THEN immediately transitioned into Cattle Mutilation. At this point, I was on the edge of my seat because Shotzi was breaking out before my eyes. Io goes up top, but Shotzi breaks out a goddam super hurrancanrana. She wants to try a sunset flip powerbomb on the apron, but Io slips out and DRILLS her with a German suplex on the apron!! Io kills her with a meteora and a moonsault to win this banger. IT WASN’T EVEN A TITLE MATCH!! Shotzi had one of my favorite performances of the year and pushed Io to the limit.

9

Io Shirai vs Sasha Banks - Great American Bash Day One

This was a highly anticipated dream match between the top two women of 2020. Bayley and Sasha “invaded” NXT a few weeks earlier in a tag team title match and Io attacked them both after the match to assert her dominance over NXT. I got major Eddie vs Rey vibes from this match. Io plays the Rey role, blitzing Sasha with her speed and aerial attacks early until Bayley distracts her and Sasha can take over. Sasha slows things down, bends, and contorts Io like her idol Eddie Guerrero used to do to one of his best foes. Io comes back and their exchanges are super fast paced and intense. In a huge holy shit moment, Sasha catches Io springboarding in with a hard kick then sunset flip powerbombs her into the plexiglass barricade. She goes to end things with the frog splash, but Io snatches her into a crossface. Bayley tries to use the tag title belt to give Sasha an advantage, but the odds are evened when Sasha’s Extreme Rules opponent Asuka comes from under the ring and mists Sasha. Io cracks her with a palm strike and ends this banger with a moonsault. Top two ladies doing exactly what you’d expect them to do. Seeing Asuka with Io made me salivate for a match between them. Also this match main evented NXT and was one of the few times that NXT beat AEW in the ratings. The Boss is a Draw.

8

Kyle O Reilly vs Pete Dunne #1 Contenders Match for NXT Title - December 16, 2020

A few weeks before this, Dunne beat KOR in a great ladder match to gain the WarGames advantage for the Brand. This time, they take it to each other for the selfish reasoning of challenging Finn Balor for the NXT title. O’Reilly’s kind out of nowhere babyface has made me more of a fan, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t straight up rooting for Pete Dunne, who I’ve loved in a wrestling and romantic sense since the moment I saw him (kidding, not kidding). This is the wonderful blend of wince-inducing striking and masterful counter-wrestling that you would expect from these two that gets more creative and more hard hitting the deeper into the match that we go.

We got a repeat of their super fun tug of war spot, but this time, they’re pulling each other into the turnbuckle. KOR unleashes his own strikes and Dunne’s mouthpiece ends up coming out from the brutality. After they trade ankle lock attempts, Dunne attempts a standing Kimura lock and KOR blocks it by grabbing his own tights. I love the simple “real life” type counters like that. KOR counters the Kimura, they trade suplex attempts and KOR destroys Dunne with a brainbuster. There’s a great cinematic moment where Dunne slow crawls over to his mouth guard, but KOR steps on his hand. Dunne returns the favor with a trusty finger snap and he goes to end it with a Bitter End on the apron, but KOR counters to a DDT on the floor then he catches Dunne coming in with a Flying knee to the back to the head to win it and book a rematch against Finn Balor. Just excellent wrestling between two excellent wrestlers. I still really wanna see Balor vs Dunne this year though.

7

Keith Lee vs Dominik Dijakovic - North American Title - Takeover Portland

The beginning sequences of this match felt like they were pandering to show that they were “big dudes who can move”, instead of just telling their story. Once they went to just telling their story and letting the story display their skills, this was off to the races! Keith Lee is a superstar and they do a lot of spots to put him over as an otherworldly mass of a man. A standing release German Suplex on a dude DD’s side is crazy impressive. Keith doesn’t budge from numerous clotheslines and more than a few times, he counters something by just slowly pushing DD’s hands away from him. He’s still a tremendous seller, but it just communicates that it takes ALOT to get him off his feet. DD is up for the challenge though and he dishes out some crazy stuff, suplexing Lee onto the apron, delivering a terrifying Super Samoan Drop, & in the spot of the match, a top rope senton onto a seated Lee. DD does the New Japan no-sell of Lee’s spirit Bomb, so Lee just powers up and destroys him with another one, but DD kicks out. Lee sells it like a close cousin died. DD’s back is too injured form all of that and the BBC (LOL) ends this awesome opener.

6

Io Shirai vs Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley - Women’s Title - Takeover In Your House

This was the first women’s main event since 2015 and it definitely was main event material. Charlotte controls things early, tricking Io and Rhea into fighting each other then taking advantage and chopping the life out of em. Io Shirai has a vintage Rey Mysterio like performance here, where shes kinda swatted away by the bigger ladies, but then she pops out of nowhere with a crazy springboard dropkick or a suicide dive. Charlotte and Rhea resume their rivalry and they brawl all over the ring and the set until Io dives from the top of the House onto them both in a crazy spot. Charlotte turns back the clock and batters them both with a kendo stick, but while she has Rhea locked in the Figure 8, Io creams Rhea with a moonsault to claim the title. Rhea came off like the second fiddle here and things got a little sloppy at times, but it was fun as hell with a starmaking performance from Io Shirai. This would be the start of a crazy awesome title reign for Shirai.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Best NXT Matches of 2020 15-11

15

Dakota Kai vs Tegan Nox - Steel Cage Match - March 5th

This was the second chapter in a great feud that was basically NXT’s version of The Rockets break-up. They were a lovable babyface duo and Kai viciously turned on Nox at Takeover War Games. They faced each other in a really good street fight at Takeover Portland that Kai won thanks to the debut of her Diesel, Raquel Gonzalez. The first half was very standard cage match fare, but well-executed with a good amount of intensity. As the match deepened, they got more creative and much more intense. After neither lady hitting the cage for a while, we got an awesome spot where Nox just tosses Kai into every side of the cage. Nox chokeslams Kai off the top of the cage and when she’s scared away from escaping by Raquel, she soars off the cage with an awesome crossbody on Kai. Raquel Gonzalez’s involvement added even more drama as I could see either lady winning. They have some really dramatic nearfalls and near escapes, but Gonzalez eventually traps Tegan between the door and the cage allowing Dakota to escape and win this chapter of a feud. Great storytelling and drama.

14

Damian Priest vs Johnny Gargano vs Bronson Reed vs Cameron Grimes vs Velveteen Dream - Ladder Match - Vacant North American Title - Takeover XXX

This wasn’t at the level of the NA Title ladder match from Takeover New Orleans, but its a damn fun ladder match nonetheless and was the best match of the weakest Takeover of the year. You could argue its a “spotfest” but I think it mainly comes off like that, because the PC shows don’t really have matches with a lot of space in them, it kinda incentivizes a fast pace. There’s some really fun spots and allegiances formed and broken along the way. Bronson Reed is the clear MVP of the match, constantly entangled in cool spots and really embracing the spotlight. He squashes everybody in an entanglement of ladders, busts out the Terry Funk helicopter spot and has a great suicide dive onto everybody. Candice Lerae interferes on behalf of Gargano and ranas Cameron Grimes onto everyone else, but she gets on Bronson’s back and he splashes Gargano. The PC gets silent as hell everytime Velveteen Dream did anything and they cheered like hell when he got pushed off a ladder through a table. Priest was a great choice for a winner coming off his great performance against Finn Balor at In Your House and he’s still rising his stock.

13

Damian Priest vs Johnny Gargano - North American Title - Takeover 31

Considering their skillset, there was no way this wouldn’t be good. Priest has been riding high after a great showing against Finn Balor and winning the NA Title and Gargano has been after the NA Title, basically since his heel turn. Gargano tries to find openings early on, but Priest just thrashes him with high impact strikes. In the first Undertaker allusion of the match, Priest goes for the old school rope walk, but Gargano yanks him down. Things still don’t work out for Johnny though and he takes a Razor’s Edge on the apron. Gargano targets the leg to get an advantage and Priest’s selling of it is very shoddy, but luckily Gargano uses the leg work to transition into other offense rather than making the leg the story of the match. Gargano counters the South of Heaven chokeslam numerous times and smartly rolls to the outside when he’s finally hit with it. The second Undertaker allusion comes when Priest goes for a big ass senton, but Johnny pulls two camera men in front of him to take the impact. Gargano lowblows Priest and locks in the Gargano Escape in a great dramatic moment. Priest escapes and counters the Final Beat DDT to the Reckoning and retains. Best Gargano match of the year and another great one from Priest.

 12

Rhea Ripley vs Mercedes Martinez - Steel Cage Match - September 9

Say it with me; BIG! MEATY! WOMEN! BUMPING! MEATS! This was billed as the Battle of the Badasses and it definitely lived up to that billing as the two Goliaths beat the hell out of each other inside a cage. Rhea was pissed at being cheated out of a women’s title shot so she jumped Mercedes early and introduced a bunch of weapons into the cage. Everything here is big! Big clotheslines, big suplexes, big weapon shots, big everything! This is the lady equivalent of Jeff Cobb vs Tomohiro Ishii from the G1 Climax with two big people just crazily tossing each other around and beating the hell out of each other. Ripley delivers a super Riptide through a table to win the crazy brawl. It took them a while, but they finally reasserted Rhea as the badass that made her popular in the first place.

11

Finn Balor vs Damian Priest - Takeover In Your House

So Priest attacked Finn Balor to get a shot at a match with him so he can move up in the world. Simple professional wrestling. Balor returns the favor by dropkicking Priest basically as soon as he gets into the ring. Priest has a starmaking performance as he controls Balor. His offense is high impact and well-paced and he stays aggressive. He also does a great job selling for Balor when he makes his comeback. Balor has been automatic for years, so he makes Priest look great as well as dishing out his own hard hitting offense. At one point, Priest Razor Edges Balor on the apron in a hard bump. Priest planned on ending it with a Razor’s Edge to Balor from the ring to the steel steps on the outside, but Balor slipped out and knocked Priest from the apron to the steps in a crazy bump. Coup De Grace to Priest’s back and then one to the stomach ends this great match. One of Balor’s best matches of the year and a great performance from Priest who would be elevated to North American champ a few months later.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Best NXT Matches of 2020 20-16

20

Johnny Gargano vs Leon Ruff vs Damian Priest - North American Title - Takeover War Games

Gargano tried to use lil Leon Ruff as fodder so he successfully defend a title for the first time in his career, but lil Leon Ruff upset him and won the NA title in his very first match. Priest got involved in their rematch to fuck with Johnny and before we know it, we have a triple threat. Johnny and Priest want the belt back and Ruff wants his respect.

Johnny shows his experience early, superkicking Priest out of the ring and trying to catch Leon with flash pins. Priest eventually makes his way back in and shows off his power. I love Priest’s interactions with Ruff because he really views him as a kid and doesn’t want to hurt him, but Ruff wants to be viewed as a legit competitor, so he brings the beast out of Priest (LOL). That beast tosses Ruff with a Razor’s Edge through the plexiglass barricade and Ruff is taken to the back to put his body back together. Priest and Gargano have a really good back and forth until Ruff makes his comeback with high flying. There’s a great spot where Priest is tied up in the ropes and Gargano puts Ruff in Gargano Escape right in front of him. A bunch of Gargano’s ghostface buddies interfere and Priest does two crazy sentons to dispatch them all, but he gets clocked by one that has a steel pipe. With priest dispatched, Gargano superkicks Ruff and hits the Final Beat DDT to win his third North American title. Really fun action and some great character interactions. The North American Title is 5 for 5 on Takeovers this year.

19

Pete Dunne vs Kyle O’Reilly - Ladder Match for War Games Advantage - November 25

Is there a such thing as a ladder match sprint? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ladder match worked at such a fast pace, because stipulation matches are usually treated like epics with a lot of time. Seeing Pete Dunne so svelte is still jarring to me, but I’m happy to say it has no effect on his wrestling ability and he’s still fantastic. They both use the ladder to assist them in submission attempts, which is great psychology. They’re still sticking to their formulas, just incorporating a ladder. Dunne wraps Kyle’s arm around the ladder while he bends his fingers and then he puts the ladder leg on top of Kyle’s hand while he climbs. Kyle gives Pete dragon screws through the ladder rungs. They have some crazy ladder bumps, like Dunne powerbombing Kyle onto a ladder and Dunne suplexing them both through a bridged ladder. They still stick to their bread and butter of strikes and limb torture and they have a fun spot where they tug of war pull each other into the ladder. Dunne gives Kyle a Bitter End on the barricade then jets in the ring and that feels like the true ending, but Kyle is still alive and stops it. Thats the only time that their fast pace works against them because that would’ve been a great finish and Kyle’s no-sell hurt some drama. Kyle pushes Dunne onto a ladder, but A MYSTERY MAN knocks Kyle off the ladder and Pete is able to give The Brand the win. They incorporated their styles really creatively with the ladder and worked a blistering pace.

18

Io Shirai vs Candice Lerae - Tables Ladders and Scares Match - Women’s Title - Halloween Havoc

Halloween Havoc makes it return to the wrestling world after 20 years of dormancy. This was the deserved main event and its a great match that continues the trend of Io’s TV matches being better than her Takeover matches. They worked their Takeover 31 match to greatness, but it was structurally limited. Here, they have more fun and its a better match. Candie finds a bag filled with a bunch of chopped up limbs that freak her out. So Io grabs the body parts and beats her with him lmao.  That’s a funny part, but its a pretty brutal match. They wack each other with chairs, Io misses a moonsault and lands on a gang of chairs, and Candice delivers a neckbreaker through double tables. The ending involves the mysterious Ghostface character (very disappointing reveal) that helped Johnny Gargano earlier that night and begins the genesis of the Candice vs Shotzi Blackheart feud. Great fun match.

17

Adam Cole vs Tommaso Ciampa - NXT Title - Takeover Portland

This is the match that kinda “exposed” the “formula” of NXT main events being structured a relentlessly epic and dramatic to the point of overkill. Ciampa takes a Panama Sunrise on the floor that realistically should end the match especially considering Ciampa just returned from a neck injury that had him out for about six month. But not only does this not end the match, Ciampa proceeds to kick out of numerous finishers, fight off the Undisputed Era, and generally be a seemingly indestructible badass. Its overkill to the highest level, it broke my suspension of disbelief and yet, I still think its a great match. Ciampa has a great performance and the fans are crazy behind him, which is outrageous considering he was the most sinister heel in NXT’s history just two years earlier. It’s intense as hell and even though they broke reality, I still was super into the drama down the stretch. We’ve seen four Takeovers since this one and none of the main events have attempted to replicate this kind of grandiose type of match. Your mileage may vary.

16

Imperium vs Undisputed Era - Worlds Collide

For a card as good as Worlds Collide, it feels super forgotten because it was instantly overshadowed by the Royal Rumble and Takeover Portland, then the world descended into….the world we have right now. This main event was a collision between two dominant factions that can all wrestle like hell. Things start a little plain which is kind of a downside of having a bunch of white dudes who are all variants on being efficient good wrestlers (outside of Walter). A stiff kick from Bobby Fish legitimately KOs Alexander Wolfe and I hate to sound insensitive, but….its exactly what the match needed. Wolfe’s KO makes it a handicap match and it becomes a really interesting dynamic where The UE assume the true heel role and it makes a Walter hot tag the most anticipated part of the match. That hot tag lives up to the expectation I had and seeing him mow through the UE is crazy entertaining. The sequence between O’Reilly and Walter is awesome and ends with a Walter German suplexing Kyle AND Roderick Strong. And as awesome as Walter is, Roderick Strong might be the MVP of this match. He has an exhilarating chopfest with Walter and down the stretch he Olympic Slams Walter though an announce table. The whole match gets more creative and crazier down the stretch. In the end, Walter kills Bobby Fish with a powerbomb and Imperium gets the victory in this great main event.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Best NXT Matches of 2020 25-21

25

Dakota Kai vs Ember Moon - November 3

Hey, remember Ember Moon? She was cool, right? After over a year off due to injury, Moon made her return at Takeover 31 as the motorcycle rider in some mysterious vignettes leading up to Takeover. Dakota Kai lost to Io Shirai at Takeover and turned some of her ire towards Moon for trying to steal her spotlight. Understandably, Ember is not as graceful as she once was, but she’s still damn good. She outwrestles and frustrates Dakota early, until Dakota pulls her arm into the turnbuckle then she wrenches and contorts it like crazy. Ember makes a comeback and squashes Dakota with a suicide dive then she totally wipes out on the second. She stays tough though and invites Dakota to a slugfest, then tricks her into a Crossface. She looks to end things with the Eclipse, but Dakota’s Diesel Raquel Gonzalez, knocks her off the turnbuckle, and a hard kick ends this great TV match. Ember’s arm selling was a little shoddy down the stretch, but otherwise she was great and this had a good amount of psychology to it.

24

Io Shirai vs Candice Lerae - Women’s Title - Takeover 31

At Takeover Toronto 2019, these two had one of the best women’s matches in NXT’s history. Now, their alignments are inverted with Io as the acclaimed babyface and Candice as the vindictive heel. This doesnt reach the heights of their Toronto match, because it’s more restricted by formula and has a some goofy interference. Still, it’s a great display of their talents. Candice aggressively targets Io’s back and displays some real nasty heel stuff like raking Io’s face across the ropes and just slinging her around. Candice cuts off Io’s great comeback with a snap German and a pretty springboard moonsault, but it only gets two. They counter each others submission attempts, but Candice accidentally cracks the ref. That’s where the match takes a corny turn because Gargano comes out with a ref’s shirt and tries to screw Io, but Io overcomes it. In the only real callback to their Toronto match, Io smashes Candice with a super Spanish Fly and ends it with a moonsault. The Gargano interference was corny and not needed, but the work was great. Also, I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret……..Io’s TV matches are way better than her Takeover matches.

23

Bayley and Sasha Banks vs Tegan Nox & Shotzi Blackheart - Women’s Tag Team Titles - June 17

Two of the pioneers of Takeover era NXT make their triumphant return to defend the tag titles against this super fun babyface team. Bayley and Sasha were on top of the world at this time and the E smartly let them go all over the company and spread the greatness. It was super fun to see asshole heel Bayley face off against Tegan Nox who is the purest bubbly babyface since Bayley in 2015-2016. Bayley even brings back the vintage wave before her corner elbow. Sasha and Shotzi have some really electric sequences that foreshadow how good Shotzi would be in the fall. The action is fun as hell and the Golden Role Models make the Tegan and Shotzi look great. Shotzi locks Sasha in a Cattle Mutilation variation and Bayley uses a simple but effective heel tactic to get the win and the greatest tag team in the history of the known universe retains.

22

Keith Lee vs Johnny Gargano - North American Title - Takeover In Your House

Not the high octane NXT classic it could’ve been, this was much more like a main roster style match where the various interactions on NXT TV created the story for this match and they executed it well. Gargano targeted Lee’s vulnerable hand as well as his eye and it was a little too slow at first, but he stayed committed to the psychology and it paid off down the stretch. Lee did a tremendous job of selling while also displaying his crazy strength. Funny moment where Gargano kills Lee with a flying DDT on the outside then has to convince the ref not to count Lee out. Best moment of the match is right after that when Lee pounces Gargano through the plexiglass barricade. Gargano hits the Final Beat DDT for a nearfall that I totally bit on, but Lee ends it with two Spirit Bombs and the BBC (LOL). A great main roster style match between these two that’s more than the sum of its parts.

21

Santos Escobar vs Isaiah Swerve Scott - Cruiserweight Title - Takeover 31

This was a triple Takeover debut for Escobar, Swerve, & the Cruiserweight title. They immediately differentiate themselves from the other matches on the card by starting with traditional Lucha sequences that show off their athleticism. Swerve completes outclasses Santos with a graceful blend of athleticism and creativity until Santos kicks him out of the ring and suicide dives him into the plexiglass. Santos’ lackeys interfere for him, but Swerve ranas Santos onto both of them and Ashante The Adonis comes out and levels the playing field. I really appreciate that the interference doesn’t directly lead to the outcome and they have a great finishing sequence. Swerve kicks out of the Phantom Driver and Santos kicks out of a 450. On the apron, Santos pushes Swerve into the turnbuckle then hits a facebuster for the win. The ending with the turnbuckle post looked weak and botched, but a great match nonetheless. Great action, good booking, and both guys came out looking strong.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

Best NXT Matches of 2020 28-26

28

Kyle O’Reilly vs Timothy Thatcher vs Bronson Reed vs Cameron Grimes vs Kushida - Gauntlet Eliminator #1 Contenders Match for NXT Title - September 23

Shoutout to Lucha Underground. Its a staggered entry battle royal, but pinfalls and submissions cause eliminations instead of going over the top rope. Reilly & Kushida start and immediately reignite their chemistry from their acclaimed New Japan matches. Bronson Reed is next and shows just how valuable he is as not just a big man, but as a glue guy in multi-man matches. Kushida is attacked and eliminated by Velveteen Dream to set up their Takeover match. Multiman matches normally have numerous creative sequences, but this one is a gritty assortment of dudes just beating the shit out of each other. Reilly eliminates Reed with a flying knee to the back of the head. After eliminating Thatcher, Kyle immediately gets drilled with a Cave In stomp by Grimes, but he gets a hand on the ropes just in time. Grimes is super intense and taunts O’Reilly by saying “He ain’t nothing like Adam Cole” but in the end, Reilly grabs a leglock and Grimes quickly taps setting up Finn Balor vs Kyle O’Reilly at Takeover 31. Very fun multi-man match.

27

Kushida vs Timothy Thatcher - November 25

Once he got out of the “wacky” tag team with Matt Riddle, I’ve loved everything about Timothy Thatcher in NXT. He’s a brutal, old school Stu Hart/Minoru Suzuki grappler that takes pride in submission wrestling and stretching. Kushida is a perfect opponent for him, because he’s simultaneously a lovable babyface and a brutal technician. The match is a really awesome display of technical wrestling with non-stop submission attempts and counters. There’s not a drop of choreography here, its just two skilled grapplers constantly jockeying for position and trying to bend each other up. The only high impact moves here are a Thatcher belly to belly and a Kushida dropkick. Thatcher’s crazed insane face when he locks in an ankle lock trumps definitely trumps Kurt Angle’s. Outside of the great work, something I love is how it furthers the feud between Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa sits outside the ring the entire time, just watching the match and never gets involved, but because Thatcher actually lost a pure wrestling match with Ciampa right there, we all know he’s gonna blame it on Ciampa. Great subtle storytelling and great grappling.

26

Io Shirai vs Dakota Kai - Women’s Title - Takeover XXX

This was my most anticipated match and the ladies went out there and did what they do a high level. Shirai started super hot like she always does, but Raquel Gonzalez distracts her and Kai rams her arm into a turnbuckle. Kai goes to work on the arm, stretching and contorting it like crazy. Shirai makes her high octane comeback while still selling her arm. Kai continues targeting the arm to halt Shirai’s comeback. Kai accidentally kills the ref with a drive by kick which immediately brings in Raquel Gonzalez. Io outduels them both, moonsaults onto both of them then ends the match with a moonsault. The arm work was well done, Shirai’s offense is always entertaining as hell and they built to some good drama.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

WWE 2021 Dream Matches

Randy Orton vs Tommaso Ciampa

Yes, I’m critical of Randy Orton and I don’t really go for feuds where social media is such an important factor, but I’m really intrigued by this. I definitely understand Ciampa’s reluctance to go to the “main” roster, but this would be a great way to have a unique one off feud, perhaps for Wrestlemania. Even though its been important for their “feud” I wouldn’t make this a battle of ideologies. Instead, it should just be a battle of attrition between two dastardly heels that don’t like each other. I can vividly see Ciampa mocking Orton’s pose after a brutal sneak attack and Orton returning the favor with the hand wave after punting Ciampa. If Orton is up for working a more fast-paced “NXT” style, I could see this being really great. BOOK IT!!

The Fiend vs Adam Cole

Wacky, I know, but hear me out. This would be like the modern day version of the Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels feud from 97. NO, I’M NOT SAYING ADAM COLE IS THE MODERN DAY SHAWN MICHAELS! What I am saying is that few people do manic, unhinged terror quite like Adam Cole. This would be a super fun feud with The Fiend invading NXT and terrorizing the UE. I can imagine some super fun segments like Undisputed Era version of the Firefly Fun House and even Alexa Bliss appearing and maybe entrancing Kyle O’Reilly. Some fun ideas, keep the match super short though. BOOK IT!!

Asuka vs Shayna Baszler

Well Raw is the stupidest fucking wrestling show in the land, so of course Charlotte will be skyrocketed to the top of the card and everybody will be left behind her. In the perfect world though, we would be building towards this match for Wrestlemania. They’re the two longest reigning NXT women champions with similar styles based around skilled striking and tactical submission work. Plus, they have some history with Shayna choking Asuka out at Elimination Chamber 2020. I like simple storylines, so Shayna’s challenge and antagonizing can be based around Shayna doing what Asuka does at a higher level. Give em twenty minutes and a clean finish and let em tear the house down. BOOK IT!!

Asuka vs Io Shirai

They’re former teammates from their time in the Smash promotion in Japan and had a split that may have left a little animosity between them, but that’s more speculation than anything. We saw Asuka help Io against the Golden Role Models and they embraced each other. This would be a fantastic Survivor Series match or maybe even for a special episode of NXT that features Asuka’s return. The cool mysterious video packages that usually do for Io’s Takeover matches would fit this match great because of Asuka’s flamboyant nature. The Genius of the Sky vs The Empress of Tomorrow. The match would have an awesome striker vs high flyer dynamic and they would just let loose with hard hitting action. BOOK IT!!

Sasha Banks vs Rhea Ripley

Look, I love Bianca Belair, she’s sexy, she’s cool, she has a super bright future. But Rhea Ripley is just that much better. She lost a lot of her juice with the Charlotte feud but she rebounded strongly and really cemented herself as an elite worker with her matches against Mercedes Martinez, Raquel Gonzalez, & Io Shirai. The one thing the main roster has lacked since the introduction of the Horsewomen is a good power worker. The closest thing Sasha has faced to a good power worker was Ronda Rousey in 2019. Rhea would add a new cooler dynamic to the roster and a match with Sasha would be the best matchup that could be made. Sasha’s outrageous selling and bumping would go into overdrive to make Rhea look like the Vader of the lady’s division. With Sasha’s psychology and ridiculous counter skills, this could be match of the year candidate if it ever happens and creative gives it the importance that it deserves.

Becky Lynch vs Bayley

This is very uncertain considering Becky just had a baby and who knows when she’s gonna return. But they’re the only combination of the Four Horsewomen that have never had a singles match or extended feud. It’s an easy feud to book considering their recent histories. Becky can return criticizing Bayley for becoming this petty, vindictive, evil little person. “And look what its got ya. Nothing! Lost your title. Lost your best friend. Lost all the fans that supported you and held you down through thick and thin.” Bayley can easily retort that she did what she had to do to boost her career and keep WWE alive while Becky played Susie Homemaker. Simple Stuff. I don’t have any doubts about what they can do in the ring, because they’ve both proven how elite they are and they both have scrappier styles compared to Sasha and Charlotte. Book it!!

Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan

Listen, man, Jey Uso had some awesome breakout performances against Roman. Drew McIntyre is awesome and they had a great hoss match. Kevin Owens is awesome and they had an awesome brawl at TLC. But Daniel Fucking Bryan is just built different, dawg. His timing, his selling, his resilience, his creativity. You add that with the brutal storytelling force that Roman has unleashed as the Tribal Chief and we got the makings of a classic. They already had a great match at Fastlane 2015 during a time that really wasn’t productive for Roman, but 6 years later, its time. The Yes Movement will invade the Island of Relevancy and we’ll all be grateful for it.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

A Cousin’s Review - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night Two

January 5, 2021

Toru Yano vs Bad Luck Fale vs Chase Owens vs Bushi - Fatal Four Way - 2021 KOPW Trophy

These were the last four of the New Japan Rumble and the winner is the current 2021 KOPW Trophy. Fale and Owens are both Bullet Club so they instantly do a Too Sweet of Doom to have Fale steal the title. Fun and goofy little opener. Of course, Yano takes off the turnbuckle pad. Bushi is kind of out of place here, Ishii might’ve been a better pick to make it an unofficial Bullet Club vs CHAOS match, plus I can realistically see Ishii being double champ with those two titles. Owens goes for a pin at one point and Chase stops him and goes for his own pin, then Fale stops him. BULLET CLUB IMPLOSION!! While they argue and attempt to attack the ref, Yano lowblows them both and pins Bushi. BAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

**

El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (CHAMPS) vs Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato - Jr Heavyweight Tag Titles

El Desperado is coming off an amazing performance against Hiromu Takahashi in the Best of the Super Junior Final. Kanemaru was supposed to be in the tournament, but he was injured throughout it. That has absolutely no bearing on this match, but you absolutely have to see Hiromu vs Desperado. This is a fun match, Wato starts off by flattening Desperado with multiple planchas. Taguchi becomes the face in peril and we get some of his fun antics like his infinite rope running, but Despy and Kane are in no mood for games and they’re super nasty targeting Taguchi’s leg. Taguchi makes a comeback and Wato assists gaining some nearfalls, but Desperado catches the ref distracted and straight cold cocks Taguchi then ends it with Pinche Loco. Good solid match.

***

Shingo Takagi (CHAMP) vs Jeff Cobb - NEVER Openweight Title

Shingo reclaimed the NEVER title from Minoru Suzuki at Power Struggle. Cobb set this up by attacking Shingo at the Super Juniors/World Tag League final. Cobb is a heel and apart of Will Ospreay’s Empire, so he’s much nastier now. I knew this would slap, because they’re both great hosses, but this heavily exceeded my expectations. They start out with a slugfest and Shingo quickly finds out he’s at a strength disadvantage when Cobb kicks out of a pin attempt and Shingo flies a few feet in the air, then Cobb slings him with a deadlift belly to belly on the outside. Cobb is so ridiculous that he teases a Razor’s Edge from the apron to the floor, but Shingo slips out, knocks him off the apron, and follows that with a somersault senton!! How old is Shingo again?!?!

Shingo’s back is too hurt for a Noshigami and Cobb drills him with a pretty Razor’s bomb. This is the hossfest to end all hossfests as these two recklessly toss each other around.Shingo is at the disadvantage and every time he manages to land something big on Cobb, it takes so much out of him and his selling is tremendous. He gets drilled with a German and rebounds with a lariat, but he immediately falls right out of the ring. Shingo eventually has to chop block Cobb’s knee and it pays off rather quickly when Cobb hits Tour of the Islands, but can’t immediately cover. Cobb tries to end Shingo with a superplex, but Shingo slips out and powerbombs him. Shingo desperately pulls Cobb’s hair to block another Tour, so Cobb casually gives him a full rotation fallaway slam. Shingo can’t get enough mustard on his Pumping Bombers, but he gives it one last go, turns Cobb inside out with a Pumping Bomber and ends it with Last of the Dragon.

This was start to finish fantastic power wrestling with storytelling, psychology, and selling. A must-see match.

****3/4

Sanada vs Evil

From something amazing to something I don’t really care for. The story is all the way there for this to be great; Former tag partners, one turns on the other, and they actually just met in a super high stakes match in the G1, so this is an even grudgier grudge match. But Sanada is a pretty emotionless guy who needs someone interesting to play off and Evil had a terrible G1 rife with annoying interference and the good matches he did have were because of energetic babyfaces like Naito, Tanahashi, Goto etc. One more thing, I hate how commentary is underplaying Sanada and saying he really needs this win to get into title contention. Has everybody forgotten that he actually beat Naito in the G1??

Sanada actually comes in super energetic and puts Evil in the Paradise lock relatively early. Evil muddies things up on the outside and of course gets some assistance from Dick Togo. SMH. They have a decent back and forth and Evil lands a big ol superplex then goes right to the Scorpion Death Lock, but Sanada gets the ropes. Darkness Falls from Evil gets two, TKO from Sanada gets two. Evil ducks the moonsault, escapes Skull End and rakes his eyes. Ref bump, Dick Togo interference, I DON’T CARE!! Sanada survives Togo interference and chokes Evil out with Skull End. He lands one moonsault to the back, but the second gets nothing but knees. Sanada works his way into Skull End, but garbage ass Evil has to cheat again and Dick Yogo tries to garrote him. Dick Togo takes a phony bumb through a table. Sanada blocks a lowblow and hits Evil with Everything is Evil. A pop-up TKO and another moonsault ends it.

The work was solid and Sanada was motivated, but the formulaic Evil/Togo nonsense annoyed me to no end. Better than the sum of its parts though, I can’t lie.

**3/4

Taiji Ishimori (CHAMP) vs Hiromu Takahashi - Jr Heavyweight Title

These two have excellent chemistry and history that now goes back a few years. Hiromu beat Taiji in a brilliant match in the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors Finals. Then a month later, he broke his neck and was out until late 2019. At Wrestle Kingdom 14, he beat Will Ospreay and reclaimed the Jr Heavyweight Title. At Summer Struggle in Jingu, Taiji beat Hiromu in a great rematch. On the first night of 2020’s Best of the Super Junior Tournament, Hiromu beat Taiji in another great match. Hiromu won the whole tournament then beat El Phantasmo on Night 1 to set up this rematch.

I probably should rewatch all their matches, before I watch this one, but nah. It starts super hot like usual with Hiromu teasing a German suplex on the apron. Taiji flips away from it, but runs directly into a hard powerbomb on the apron. Hiromu tries to show off and run the long ass ramp to a dropkick, but Taiji slams him in a messy spot. Taiji uses the exposed turnbuckle to attack Hiromu’s back and neck, but Hiromu comes back with a wheelbarrow slam on the floor and a running dropkick against the gate. Taiji catches Hiromu with the sliding German and a springboard 450 right on the arm then he immediately goes to the Bone Lock, but Hiromu makes the ropes. Taiji stays aggressive, but Hiromu catches him Taiji with the belly to belly throw to the corner then the DVD into the corner. They have a lightning fast sequence where Taiji gets a big boot, but handsprings into a German suplex. Taiji rebounds with a Destroyer then they slug it out.

Hiromu is too stubborn to die so Taiji goes for a true kill and crushes him with like 40 straight forearms that get progressively stiffer and scarier. Its by far the most violent thing I’ve seen in a New Japan junior match. After beating Hiromu to a pulp, he goes back to beating the shit out of the arm, then locking in the Bone Lock as Hiromu bleeds from the nose. Hiromu just barely gets his foot on the ropes. Hiromu armdrags away from Bloody Cross then counters another Bone Lock attempt to a flatliner. He turns Taiji inside out with a hard lariat then drives him into the exposed turnbuckles. Time Bomb gets two. Taiji counters another attempt and after a struggle, he locks in the Bone Lock once again. He tries to twist the Bone Lock into the Bloody Cross, but Hiromu gets another flatlioner suplex and ends it with the Time Bomb 2.

Ending was anticlimactic and I felt like they could’ve got even hotter, but definitely a great match. Just great action, great display of brutality by Taiji, and a great selling performance by Hiromu. And just taking a gander at the BOTSJ standings, it’d look like Sho has a strong chance of being the next challenger but because he’s the only person besides Desperado to beat Hiromu. We’ll see. Hiromu is suuuuuuuper high in whatever best wrestler in the world list you make.

****1/4

Kota Ibushi (CHAMP) vs Jay White - Heavyweight and Intercontinental Title

Quite the rivalry between these two. Ibushi beat White in a great match to win the 2019 G1 Climax. Then White beat Ibushi three straight times. First at Wrestle Kingdom in a loser vs loser match, then in the G1 in a great match, and finally at Power Struggle with the challenge briefcase on the line. Ibushi finally won the big one by beating Naito on night one, but can he keep it?

Of course, Jay starts by bailing to the outside. Gedo leaps on the apron and Jay surprisingly tells him not to do anything and that he’s gonna do this on his own. Of course like 20 seconds later, Gedo trips Ibushi up and Jay uses it to take over. What a bastard. White targets Ibushi’s neck with a draping DDT and a high backdrop on the apron. White consistently switches body parts to attack as the match goes along, first transitioning from neck to torso.

Ibushi comes back with a powerslam, but White has the moonsault scouted and crotches him then gives him a dragon screw. Ibushi elbows out of a Uranage attempt and snap ranas Jay out of the ring, but his leg gives going for thje Golden Triangle Moonsault and Jay knocks him off the apron. Jay’s varied attack adds so much to everything high impact because its affecting a body part that Jay has already targeted in some form. White tries to strike with Ibushi and predictably gets wrecked. They counter rolls ups and Ibushi stuffs him with the bastard driver. White dodges Boma Ye and hits a sick backdrop suplex, but he runs into a suplex and gets cracked by a Boma Ye that gets two. White punches out of the Golden Powerbomb and tries the rope-assisted backslide that beat Ibushi at Power Struggle but the ref catches it. White’s cheating attempt infuriates Ibushi and he wrecks White with kicks.

Gedo distracts Ibushi from a Phoenix Splash attempt and Jay tries a sleeper superplex, but Ibushi fights him away. White redirects his target to the leg with Dragon Screws and locks in the TTO, but Ibushi gets to the ropes. White slaps at Ibushi and Ibushi becomes God and wrecks him to the point that Jay just lays there and tells Ibushi to pin him. Ibushi gets a little too wild and knocks the ref away and White gets a low blow. White drills Ibushi’s back into the rail telling Ibushi “Fuck You!” every time, then he forearms him to death on the outside and waits for Ibushi to come to him. Ibushi drags his body back in and Jay immediately gives him an STO and a few brutal German suplexes. He wants to German him on the apron, but Ibushi kicks him away and pulls him in with a German from the apron to inside.

Golden Powerbomb only gets two. Jay counters Kamigoye to a hard suplex right on Ibushi’s head then another. Ibushi counters the Blade Runner to a backslide transition to Kamigoye, but Jay kicks out. Ibushi hits the beautiful Phoenix splash, but punk ass Gedo pulls the referee out. Gedo tries to hit Ibushi with brass knuckles, but he eats Kamigoye. Ibushi brings Red Shoes in and immediately eats Blade Runner but he kicks out. I totally saw that one coming and thats not a knock at all. White locks in the TTO again and man Ibushi sells the hell out of it. The closer Ibushi scoots towards the ropes, Jay looks like he’s gonna bust into tears. Ibushi finally gets the ropes and tries a V Trigger out of nowhere, but White counters to another Regalplex for two. Bloody Sunday sets up the Blade Runner, but Ibushi cracks him with a V Trigger. Two more V Triggers, a Kamigoye TO THE BACK OF THE FUCKING HEAD, THEN A KAMIGOYE TO THE FRONT OF THE FUCKING HEAD ends this epic match.

Wow. This was absolutely excellent. Down the stretch, I kept thinking “Man, this feels like a Bret Hart match!” The patience they had to just tell their story and stick to the psychology and not just kick it up a notch for the sake of kicking it up is ridiculously commendable. White’s strategy and characterization was excellent and Ibushi simultaneously looked indestructible while also selling how he was gradually being chopped down by White. Brilliant match and clearly best of both nights.

*****

OVERALL: Big step up from a really good day one to an excellent day two. The KOPW match and Sanada/Evil were just aight. Jr tag was good and three matches that I would’ve bet on being bangers all banged. Hiromu/Taiji Part 4 might be their best work since the first one, Shingo/Cobb was an epic hossfest, and Ibushi/White was an epic storytelling clinic. Awesome show.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5 OUTTA 5

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

A Cousin’s Review - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night One

January 4, 2021-

Hiromu Takahashi vs El Phantasmo - Winner faces Taiji Ishimori for Junior Heavyweight Title on Night 2

Hiromu had a spectacular Best of the Super Juniors run that ended with the arguable match of the year against El Desperado. Then he challenged the winner of the Super J Cup to a match. That winner ended up being El Phantasmi, who is basically the junior heavyweight version of Jay White. That’s even more appropriate considering Phantasmo is also in Bullet Club.

 Phantasmo starts off going for straight heat by calling out Jushin Liger so he can put his Super J Cup jacket on him, but Hiromu dropkicks him into the rail then hits him with a big ol senton. Phantasmo flips out of a sunset bomb attempt then kills Hiromu with his own sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. This is my first exposure to El Phantasmo and I gotta say that he’s really creative. He does a cool ropewalk moonsault to the outside and drapes Hiromu across the ropes and gives him a back senton. Hiromu has good comebacks, so Phantasmo plans to cut it off by breaking Hiromu’s fingers. Then he shouts out Bullet Club leadership of the past by attempting Styles Clashes and the One Winged Angel. Hiromu falters a few times, but eventually catches Phantasmo with a snap rana and gets the win.

Hiromu is ELITE right now, like arguably best wrestler in the world. Phantasmo was great and this had great psychology. Great opener.

***3/4

Dangerous Tekkers (CHAMPS) vs Guerrillas of Destiny - Tag Team Titles

The Guerillas won World Tag League to set this up and they beat the Tekkers during the tournament. This was a good fun brawly match. The GOD controlled most of it and isolated Taichi. When Zack was in, he made it more interesting with his outrageous wrestling and counters. GOD set Zack up top for the super powerbomb, but Sabre locks in a Guillotine. Sabre screams at Taichi that this is the Tokyo Dome and instructs him to do a Tower of Doom. GOD eventually use the same iron….thing to crack Taichi with and they win the titles. Good, fun tag match, Would’ve been better with more Zack.

***1/4

Kenta (HOLDER) vs Satoshi Kojima - US Title Challenge Briefcase

Jon Moxley being in the states has basically made the Challenge briefcase the interim US title. Kenta helped the Guerillas screw FinJuice out of the World Tag League tournament, so Juice Robinson challenged Kenta for the briefcase, but then he suffered an orbital bone injury. Instead of Juice’s partner, David Finlay, challenging Kenta, the legendary Kojima was named the replacement. Weird, but whatever. No way in hell that Kojima beats Kenta, but it wasn’t worked like that anyway. Kojima looked solid and got in some signature offense like machine gun chops. Kenta never looks like he’s gonna lose, but its a solid intense match. Kojima DDTs Kenta on the apron at one point. He goes for his lariat, but Kenta kicks his arm away and run through his normal offense. Kenta tried to hit Kojima with the briefcase, but Kojima knocked it away with a lariat. That ain’t enough though because Kenta runs through him and ends it with GTS.

**3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Great O’Khan

I kinda dreaded this match, but it’s not bad. O’Khan doesn’t have the breakout performance that would justify him being in this spot, but he’s also not as awful and boring as he was against Okada. He has a few interesting moments like when Tana goes to skin the cat, but he just chops Tana’s hands. He also grabs a nice kneebar out of nowhere. Tana sells like only he can and makes his great comeback, but ends up in the iron claw. Khan gets frustrated and grabs a chair, but Tana ends up with the chair. He actually considers using it, but he tosses it to the side and drills Khan with a Dragon Suplex then ends it with two High Fly Flows. Tana plugged him right into the Tana formula and Khan didn’t mess it up, so this is just solid.

**3/4

Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay

I was actually anticipating this match, just because its Wrestle Kingdom and with Ospreay’s heel turn, I figure they would really let loose and go balls to the wall. Color me disappointed. Okada teases just wrestling Will, but eventually starts slugging him. Okada is on fire with a big tope, but Will dropkicks him to the floor and takes over. All through the G1, Will’s matches were hurt because he was still trying to his flippy junior stuff and it didn’t work with his new character. Here, he has basically eliminated all of his babyface offense, but he hasn’t replaced it with anything interesting. Plus this match is 30+ minutes which means we hit a big lull while Will controls.

Things kick up a notch and actually feel like the intense grudge match this should be. After a strikefest, Will gets crazy and suplexes Okada onto a table on the outside. He goes for the Oscutter on the apron, but Okada counters to a Tombstone on the apron, then Okada instantly pulls him in the ring for a rainmaker, but Will kicks out. Will escapes another rainmaker, but ends up in the money clip. He gets to the ropes and after a turnbuckle battle, Will hits a big ol Spanish Fly. Will hits the Oscutter, but it only gets two. Deep into the match, Okada is putting over the intensity of the feud by just slapping and kicking Will. Will ducks another Rainmaker and goes for a Super Oscutter, but gets dropkicked out of the sky. Will escapes the Money Clip again and steals Okada’s moves, hitting the Tombstone, the rainmaker pose, and then the Rainmaker to an astonishing reaction, but Okada kicks out. Ospreay goes to end it with Stormbreaker, but Okada spins out, hits a Michinoku Driver and then the true Rainmaker for the win.

Once they decided to kick it up a notch, this was really fun, but definitely too long and Ospreay still needs to improve as a heel. Good match, but disappointing. Their G1 29 match is still their gold star.

***1/4

Tetsuya Naito (CHAMP) vs Kota Ibushi - Heavyweight and Intercontinental Title

New Japan has caught a lot of flack for how they’ve handled this three way situation between Naito, Ibushi, and Jay White. I haven’t really known what to think, but as soon as this match started, I realized that it worked because I didn’t know who would win and that instantly increases the drama. I also have never seen a match between these two, but I heard they have a reputation for being a little rough (LOL).

 They start with just some solid wrestling until Ibushi ranas Naito to the outside. Ibushi wants the Golden Triangle moonsault, but Naito is able to leap onto the apron, avoid Ibushi’s kicks and give him a German suplex on the floor. Let the violence commence people. Naito goes right after Ibushi’s previously injured neck with neckbreakers on the floor and all types of savagery. Ibushi ends up on the apron and catches Naito charging with an insane snap rana that sends Naito flying off the apron. Thats a suuuuuuuper early candidate for spot of the year.

 Now, the momentum has swung to Ibushi’s favor and he tries a German suplex from the apron to the inside, but Naito escapes by targeting the neck and delivers a crazy super poisonrana. Naito drills Ibushi with a hard Destino, but it only gets two. His next Destino attempt is countered to a Bastard Driver. We get an awesome strikefest and Ibushi powers up into the Golden Powerbomb. I love how furiously Naito tried to punch his way out of that, but he still got drilled. Ibushi immediately transitions from the powerbomb to Kamigoye, but Naito kicks out. Naito avoids the Phoenix splash and gets another Destino, but only for two. Ibushi flips out of a suplex lands a hard kick and another Kamigoye, but Naito kicks out AGAIN!! Naito lands Valentia, but Ibushi spins out of another Destino attempt, lands a brutal V Trigger and immediately hits one final Kamigoye to end it and KOTA IBUSHI IS YOUR MOTHAFUCKING DOUBLE CHAMPION BAYBAY!!

Match was awesomely built, brutal with a crazy hot ending. Better than both of the Wrestle Kingdom main events from last year. Awesome main event and MY BOY IBUSHI DID IT BAY BAY!!

****1/2

OVERALL: My favorite kinda show, all killer no filler. Ok I’m overstating it, because it ain’t all killer, but nothing here was bad, it starts with a banger and ends with an even bangier banger. Okada/Ospreay disappointed me, but it was still good overall. Damn good show.

OVERALL RATING: 3.5 OUTTA 5

[leaveharmony]

We stan a compassionate stone pupper who will wait patiently for you to conclude your emotional breakdown before he attempts to murder you again

[leaveharmony]

He’s already working in his catchphrases, folks

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

What a magnificent promo!

[joearlikelikeswrestling]

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

My body is ready

[silhouetteofadancer]

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

I had a thought