WALKING THE KING’S ROAD UPDATE
First, a personal matter.
If you follow me on Twitter, chances are you’ve already seen that Walking the King’s Road 17 was blocked on YouTube once again due to copyright claims by Nippon TV. This is the third time that they’ve blocked the video and the honest truth is that I’m just tired of it. I know it’s my just own project, and it is my work, but I simply do not have the energy to go back into the editing bay, tweaking a few clips, and then reuploading knowing that it will likely get blocked another couple weeks down the line.
That said, I’ve restored a copy for everyone to enjoy. It’s now up on my newsletter with Colette Arrand, BIG EGG. Give it a watch over there on this link.
In other Walking the King’s Road related news, Episode 18 is set to drop tomorrow. Subscribe if you want to catch it.
On to the Real…
The actual week itself was a little light this week, so my curiosity took me elsewhere. Notably, I dug a little into some recommended matches from IWA Puerto Rico, caught up on some Hideki Suzuki, and also wrote about some things that crossed my path that didn’t quite live up to “great” status. I think this might be the way I’ll be tackling things moving forward, not necessarily presenting a “Best of” every week–though that will be a part of it–but rather just writing about anything I find interesting that week. It’s a fun mix of stuff below, hopefully you find something to interest you.
Note on dates: Review dates refer to my local timezone in the Philippines, match dates are based on the timezone each match occurred in.
Mike Mendoza vs. Fugitivo Niche (IWA Puerto Rico Historica Boricua 1/6/24)
Reviewed: July 22, 2024
Shoutout PEN of the Violent People Discord for this recommendation.
This match reminded me how important it is for wrestlers to create the gravity and value that we as viewers find in their work. That’s a skill any pro wrestler needs to be able to develop, not only relying on the inherent qualities of their physicality to convey value, but understanding the intangible ways of creating that value in the mind of each fan. In this match, Mendoza and Niche do that masterfully, and expertly convey to me (a first time viewer of both men) exactly what it is I need to be taking from this match.
Niche enters looking sick as hell on a motorcycle and with a “Dashing” Cody Rhodes-style faceguard on. Fittingly, the match is built around punches. Niche’s are big and righteous like a territory babyface of the 80s. Mendoza’s, however, are mean and targeted. Mendoza spends the entire match going right for Niche’s face and it’s pretty awesome how well it works. All of Mendoza’s transitions into control come from either punching at the face or gouging at the eyes, Akira Taue himself would be proud. There’s a few logical questions here and there–why doesn’t punching the face guard hurt Mendoza’s hand?–but this is so deftly worked that it’s easy to overlook. These two are so focused on the face work that every Niche comeback feels so damn righteous. They put so much effort into it, in fact, that it even adds a little more oomph to Mendoza’s more “standard” work in the form of superkicks. In any other match, a bit of a 2024 cliche, but in a face work match, genuinely threatening.
There’s even a great brawl to end the match in a double DQ with Niche saying fuck this to the mask and just storming forward to punch it out. Would I have preferred he kept selling the face through the brawl? Yes. But as a hot angle to set up a rematch, it all works well enough.
It’s a real shame that the rematch in February is a much dumber, far less interesting excessive “epic.” In January, these two capture a piece of that old school magic though, and that’s enough.
Rating: ****
Demonio Infernal vs. Hijo del Pirata Morgan (The Wolf King 86. Aniversario Arena San Juan Pantitlan 6/21/24)
Reviewed: July 19, 2024
Wish this was better than it was. The first act in the ring doesn’t give me much, and the final act where they forego the bull terrier stipulation entirely feels a little cheap all things considered. But for a few minutes in the middle there, this is a really energetic and fun floor brawl. The highlight of it all would be Demonio Infernal nailing a quebradora through the wooden ringside steps. A real jolt of tangible violence in an otherwise middling brawl, that leads to the match’s best stuff that sees Demonio getting some payback with chain assisted punches. As a whole though, suffering a bit of identity crisis and too meandering to really call great.
Rating: ***1/4
Yuma Anzai vs. Hideki Suzuki (AJPW Dynamite Series N1 6/24/24)
Reviewed: July 22, 2024
This being only my second Yuma Anzai match, I’m willing to say that I find him promising. He doesn’t really feel like a complete product quite yet. There’s a gangliness to him and an occasional awkwardness to his offense, but the things he gets right he gets really right. For one, there’s an earnestness to his selling that really endears me to him. For another, the dude can throw a really good elbow. Fairly solid foundations to build a wrestler upon, if you ask me.
Meanwhile, Hideki Suzuki provides friction. In this match especially, there’s this constant struggle and the opportunistic attitude of accumulating a million small pieces of offense just to get to the bigger bombs that might win him the day. It’s a death by a thousand cuts approach to trying to take down the younger champion who just isn’t nearly as polished or experienced. What makes this match so great though is that despite that constant chippy fight in Hideki, it never really feels like his plans develop fully. Anzai’s no maestro, but certainly practiced enough on the mat to at least be competitive in the early goings. Later on, where he isn’t being slippery and working his way out of Hideki’s clutches, he’s just running on pure resilience. In spite of those horrific body elbows that nearly made me want to throw up my own lunch, Anzai stays in the fight, focusing on chipping away at the challenger with elbows and his bigger signature offense. It’s just enough to keep Hideki from executing anything that leaves a truly devastating impact, and Anzai’s youthful spirit carries him through, allowing him to land bomb after bomb.
The real beauty comes at the finish. After weathering the storm, Anzai’s able to land a real killer combo with the Jumbo knee to the back of the head and a German suplex. Hideki kicks out yes, but when the match becomes a firefight, Hideki suddenly finds he has nothing left. No force behind his elbows, no technique as Anzai goes for the Gimlet, just sheer desperate deadweight trying to avoid the final blow. He can’t avoid it for long though, and Anzai’s victory feels real sweet when it lands.
Rating: ****+
Violence is Forever vs. West Coast Wrecking Crew (DPW Tag Festival 2024 7/13/24)
Reviewed: July 22, 2024
Up to this point in the Tag Festival, every match had been good and not really stood out. There’s nuances there, but they all seemed to fall into the trap so many modern indie tag matches get into which is in neglecting the heat to focus on the big finishing stretch instead. They all felt guilty of this to varying degrees, but it did create a sameness across the board that one wants to avoid in a tournament setting like this.
This was just the shot in the arm the show needed. It has some luxuries the other first round matches didn’t though, specifically the relaxed rules stipulation that allows them some cool gimmickry. But more than that is going out of their way from the very start to distinguish this from the rest of the first round. When “Zombie” plays, West Coast Wrecking Crew drag Violence is Forever out to the ring and initiate an early heat segment from the go.
God bless them, the heat is so well worked too. West Coast Wrecking Crew are both mean and cheap about it, and Ku’s an ideal babyface in peril here. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine that the match is structured around the legitimate injury that’s keeping Ku out of action for the coming months, but it plays well into the narrative here. The injury hobbles Ku and that allows West Coast to actually apply pressure in the heat, and actually rile up the crowd to want that big hot tag.
And when Dom gets the tag? It’s one of his best performances all year. Genuinely fired up, building a rising momentum that the crowd responds too, and still leaving enough room for the big indie-style finishing stretch in the back half. So well done, shame we won’t be seeing this match up for a while.
Rating: ****
Zack Sabre Jr & Bad Dude Tito vs. Hechicero & Virus (NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania – Lucha Libre USA 7/13/24)
Reviewed: July 18, 2024
Just an incredibly good time. Breezy in the way all great CMLL matches are, but even more condensed down due to the one fall stipulation. The highlight here is, of course, Zack getting to tie it up with the luchadores once again. And, it’s just lovely to behold. The Hechicero/Zack stuff stands out the most as just constantly fluid, clean, llave-style wrestling but still bursting with a lot of character from both dudes. Later in the match, we get some strong Zack interactions with Virus as well, but even better than that is just how fun it is to have a Virus and Hechicero team. Some of the double teams the luchadores were nailing in the back half really stood out. And hey, Bad Dude Tito was really good in this too. I’ve also enjoyed his work in Mexico and he’s a good hand here to base for Hechicero & Virus and be a strong, solid hand throughout it all. Not quite next level great, but another strong performance from Zack’s strongest year in a while.
Rating: ***¾
Darby Allin vs. The Beast Mortos (AEW Collision 7/20/24)
Reviewed: July 21, 2024
In the grand scheme of things, far from the peak of Darby Death. As holds true to my theory, it’s on the lower end of great, likely because it’s about Darby winning in the end. That being said, some of the better hallmarks of Darby’s work still come through here. First and foremost, there’s the bumping. It’s spectacular as it always is and we have some truly wonderful ones here. There’s the big swing into the steel steps, but a less deathly but no less impressive one might be bumping into the top turnbuckle after getting kicked off a La Tapatia. Unfortunately, this gets a little looser in the back half. Mortos stalls a little more than I like, does some lesser ideas like daring Allin to trade strikes instead of just pushing through to keep killing the little twerp. That said, Mortos can’t help but shine through in the sheer mechanics of things–the massive slams, basing for Darby, and even his beautiful corkscrew tope. For the most part, easy, breezy TV viewing.
Rating: ***3/4
Calvin Tankman vs. Jiah Jewell (DPW/Prestige/West Coast Pro Untouchable 7/21/24)
Reviewed: July 22, 2024
I like Jiah Jewell. Perhaps not enough to watch him regularly, but with the right opponent, I certainly don’t mind checking him out. I don’t know that he’s strictly great or anything, but as a scrawny and weirdly endearing babyface, I don’t mind him at all. I found him easy to root for against Kevin Blackwood at the Hero return show, and against a big heavyweight monster like Calvin Tankman here, he serves extremely well.
This isn’t a great match, but it is a match that understands itself at least. Jiah’s scrappy and gets some cool moments out of his attempts to try and take down Tankman. My favorite comes within the opening moments when Jiah actually gets a successful dropdown, only to find that his attempts at a Gator Roll won’t go anywhere. Jiah even gets a decent bladejob going after Tankman lawndarts him into the ringpost.
Tankman himself is the one controlling the pace here. It’s one of his stronger performances in a relatively smaller, less ambitious kind of match. Tankman comes to do a murder, and he succeeds at it. He feels imposing, methodical, and brutish at every turn. I personally wouldn’t have let Jiah get that kick out of Tankman’s take on the Hidden Blade, but Tankman’s smart enough here to give ample reason for it: the champion stalled too long and paid for his cockiness.
Incredibly efficient and tells exactly the story it needs to.
Rating: ***1/2
Gabe Kidd vs. The Great O-Khan (NJPW G1 Climax 34 N2 7/21/24)
Reviewed: July 23, 2024
Once again, the best fix for a Gabe Kidd match is simply to cut down the runtime. This brief lowercard G1 runtime allows for the most effective use of his explosive energy and also makes things like his sillier character tendencies or even the lack of connective tissue that can plague his other work a lot more palatable. It helps that he’s in there with O-Khan who’s just an incredibly fun talent whenever I check him out, and the two of them together bring a lot of cool flavor to this–loved O-Khan tying up Gabe with the chairs on the outside, for example. There’s flaws like some of the crowd brawling being a little ineffectual or them comedically pausing to respond to the 19-count, but a lot of that gives way to those sick suplexes they trade throughout, a few gnarly bumps like the suplex to the floor, and a lot of strong striking as well. A light recommendation.
Rating: ***3/4
Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov (WWE Raw 7/22/24)
Reviewed: July 23, 2024
One of my key complaints about Bron Breakker is that his punches need work. Those things are soft as pillows when allowed to be the focus of a fight. However, against Ilja Dragunov when the strikes fly fast and the fighting is scrappy, that’s a much easier flaw to hide. It also helps that both men throw much meaner strikes all throughout this, real meaty clubbing blows or chops that supplement the tension created.
The real best move here though is to focus much more on raw power. Breakker dropping Ilja onto the ringpost truly is a sick move, and it also informs the rest of the match. Breakker spends the rest of the match utilizing his strength to wear down Ilja’s body, and llja constantly has to work twice as hard to get any momentum going because of how battered his ribs are. It also makes the finish work so damn well. Not only does the bump look gross–one can’t quite tell if the back of Ilja’s head hits the apron on the way down–but it perfectly pays off the story of the bad ribs too. Great match, possibly Bron’s best to date.
Rating: ****