Featured image by Ryan Loco
Incredibly busy and stacked weak on The Real. Lots to cover with how busy All In weekend is, with most of the column being dominated by coverage of the All In weekend matches that matter the most. But there’s also another VERY strong show by DPW, a major title change in DDT, and a fun smattering of independent wrestling gems from both the US and Mexico! No more dilly-dallying for this busy week.
On to the Real…
Note on dates: Review dates refer to my local timezone in the Philippines, match dates are based on the timezone each match occurred in.
El Hijo de Fishman vs. Macuarro (ZONA 23 vs. Lucha Memes: Junkyard Mania 8/18/24)
Reviewed: August 27, 2024
About halfway through this match, in the midst of his first major comeback, Macuarro positions a concrete brick on Fishman’s crotch then hammers it into dust. Not sold yet? How’d you get to this part of the internet? Stick around though, and give this match a shot.
This match reveals itself in such a straightforward way. Fishamn, I’m already somewhat familiar with, and he comes out swinging. He ambushes Macuarro early with a panel of glass then beats on him around the ringside area before either man can get into the cage. All we really see of Macuarro for the first few minutes is his Necro-esque shock of hair surrounding a massive bald spot on his head. How wonderful then when Fishman rips Macuarro’s shirt off to reveal a bandaged up set of ribs and other patches of bandage work all over his body. Instant stakes, a real sense of vulnerability, something that makes it clear to us why Fishman’s violence feels so dastardly to this crowd.
When the match gets into the cage, it’s great there as well. There’s a limited set of props they work with: the concrete brick, the hood of a car, and some skewers. Fishman applies them ruthlessly in his heat segment, Macuarro claims vengeance during his comeback. Simple stuff, but done with a real sense of escalation and weight behind every single moment. Everything looks nasty and realistic. It’s gross, grimy, and wonderful. One of the best lucha brawls of the year.
Rating: ****1/4
Darby Allin & FTR vs. Jack Perry & The Young Bucks (AEW Dynamite 8/21/24)
Reviewed: August 21, 2024
AEW has taken a page out of CMLL’s playbook this year and really leaned into the wonder of the build up tag. Finally after five years into their existence, they’re finally really leaning into the value and energy this can bring to the television show. It’s such a wonderful format because it can refresh so much of what has felt stale before.
Take for example this FTR vs. Young Bucks feud. Well worn ground in AEW, and with more than a couple real stinkers under their belt too. But here, constrained to a tight and fast moving TV bout without the weighty expectations of a tag team epic meant to summarize the entire history of tag team wrestling? They actually get to tap into the real heart of what tag team wrestling is meant to accomplish and they pay better tribute to all their influences by playing to the spirit of a thing instead of to its aesthetic. As with all classic tag matches, this one is about the shine and the head–the things the crowd wants and how the heels keep it from us. In this match, they very smartly establish a few key elements in the shine: Darby wants to get his hands on Perry badly enough to throw his whole body at him and FTR want to get their Sharpshooters on The Bucks.
And so? Darby takes the heat, which he’s great at. He takes a great bump from The Young Bucks on the floor when the heels use the chaos and numbers to get the advantage, and he sells well as the face in peril. Beyond that, he remains scrappy when trying to get out of the corner, and does only enough to get the hot tag to allow the big explosion from Dax and Cash to stand out way more. And then? Pay off! Darby gets to thrash Perry, all the faces get the Scorpion Deathlock on, and we get a big win for our heroes. It’s the stuff we take for granted, the simple building blocks, that truly forms the core of all greatness.
Rating: ****
Jonathan Gresham vs. Charlie Dempsey (TNA Impact 8/22/24)
Reviewed: August 23, 2024
Thank God Gresham has ditched that awful Muta cosplay and is mostly back to himself for this match. The added bulk does feel like it takes a little from the smoothness Gresham had at his peak, but the spirit and the philosophy of the thing still holds. What I’ve always enjoyed Gresham for is his dedication to milking the most out of the basic elements of pro wrestling. How that often manifests is taking the time to work into holds, and see how much can be gotten out of that. We get a lot of that sweet, sweet problem/solution wrestling built around simple stuff like hammerlocks and wristlocks. Something I appreciate from both workers here is how much they refuse to give in to each hold. There’s a lot of quickness and slipping into each hold, but there’s also so much resistance. Beyond just doggedly retaining a hold, it’s also holding strong, using raw power and leverage to keep damage from being caused.
There was some hubbub online about the monkey flip trading sequence here. Again, this feels like a problem from Gresham’s added bulk and some awkwardness on Dempsey’s part as well. What should be a very smooth common lucha spot becomes a little clunky in execution. But it does very little to detract from how great the rest of this is. That finish too, something right of Gresham’s playbook from early in the decade. Committing wholeheartedly to a simple idea: forcing the shoulders down to get the pinfall. Awesome stuff.
They left the door open here for a sequel and I would be seated for it.
Rating: ****
Best Friends vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Hanako Nakamori (SEAdLINNNG 9th Anniversary ~ Arisa Nakajima Retirement 8/23/24)
Reviewed: August 25, 2024
It’s the final match of Arisa Nakajima, a final chance to enjoy her particular brand of violence and spirit in the ring. It’s not always perfect granted. Structurally, this is a little loosey goosey in the first half, and beyond that, Hanako Nakamori’s far from my favorite which makes segments built around her a bit of an uphill climb. That said though, she does at least give us a great parting shot by seemingly being the one to bust up Arisa’s nose to give us a little red to mark this occasion.
Matsumoto is the one that really drives the pace of this though. Arisa and Tsukka so clearly have such practiced chemistry working against her, and her size advantage and power game adds an extra level of peril here. The final half of the match turns into essentially an Arisa/Hiroyo showdown, a fitting choice given how Arisa’s most recent major injury came during a match against Hiroyo. And Hiroyo delivers so well on this front too, laying in her big suplexes and pacing it such that the final finishing stretch has a whole host of false finishes worth biting on. I especially love too the work that goes into making Matsumoto feel imposing without malice, like how it takes Arisa getting a little help from Tsukka to make one final comeback against her.
It’s the emotion of the thing though. 2024 turned out to be a year of goodbyes, and in this match we say farewell to another legend. The look on Hiroyo’s face as she goes for the final pinfall says it all–a real sense of both devastation at what’s been lost and a certain relief that at least it’s all over. And even after that, the quiet elation on Arisa’s face, the immediate embraces with both partner and opponents. The satisfaction of a career well done.
There are smarter people than me that can tell you more about Arisa’s career. I’ve really only been following her closely for the last four years or so. In that time, she’s stood out as one of the best female wrestlers in the world. Always bringing a sense of violence and struggle to her work that feels lacking elsewhere in modern joshi. It’s a shame she has to leave us, but she at least gets this one final hurrah in the sun.
Thank you, Arisa.
Rating: ****
Violence is Forever vs. Close Personal Friends (DPW High Noon 8/24/24)
Reviewed: August 25, 2024
I’ll be the first to admit that this likely makes the cut for being a pleasant little surprise. This is my first time seeing Close Personal Friends and the fact that these two boys from England are actually pretty decent in this may have raised my esteem of the thing as a whole. It’s not a perfect performance from them, there’s still some of that overcomplicated high flying that can draw a groan from me. But outside of that, I was surprised at how true to the spirit of heel tag team wrestling they stayed. For the most part, they used their athleticism in numbers to overcome the bigger workers in VIF, taunted Ku on the apron during the heat to allow the distraction of the ref and open Dom up for double teams, and then in the comeback, they eat amazing amounts of shit.
That’s where VIF really excels here. Some real great ass kicker performances from both men here, with Dom throwing those big suplexes and Ku going more direct and just beating the shit out of these nerds (affectionate, mostly). Just these real vicious swatting of them down, making them pay for their pausing to pose constantly. Small details like learning counters when CPF go to the well one time to many, and dishing out punishment that’s so much cooler and nastier than anything CPF brings to the table. Basically a perfect tag opener in spirit, if not always in the moment to moment mechanics.
Rating: ***3/4
Adam Priest vs. Kevin Blackwood (DPW High Noon 8/24/24)
Reviewed: August 25, 2024
A lot of this match works to show how evenly matched these two men are. There’s a lot of back and forth symmetry throughout this with the most obvious choice being the dueling leg work segments in this. There’s just a little sacrificed here. Being back and forth means that it doesn’t always feel like Priest is given the room to really apply a properly developed heat segment, and having both men attack a leg each means that the leg selling isn’t always as present as I’d like.
Despite this, there’s just so much quality here. Obviously, a lot of that comes from Adam Priest. Just so in tune with his character and purpose in wrestling, we get such delights as using an eye poke to create distance before he can finally grab a dragon screw leg whip to start the first leg work segment. His selling is maybe a little too subtle, but the moments it shines through are so good like feeling it in his back when attempting his signature half crab. There’s also what appears to be an unintentional trip off the ropes that helps put over the damage to his leg and doubles as a hilarious (if accidental) stooge bump. I do wish he’d just let it lie instead of recovering to nail the rana, but it’s a funny moment regardless.
Then the finish just feels so damn correct too. As Blackwood ascends the ropes, Priest launches the referee in the ropes to force Blackwood to lose balance. The finishing blitz is brutal: a crazy string of a side slam into the top turnbuckle, the single crab, and then finally an STF for the pass out victory. After finding Blackwood able to meet him on an even playing field, it’s a dirty tactic that opens the way for Priest to ruthlessly seize victory. Perfect heel wrestling, making the win feel both earned but unadmirable as possible. Another top line performance from one of the best in the world.
Rating: ****
Calvin Tankman vs. Trevor Lee (DPW High Noon 8/24/24)
Reviewed: August 25, 2024
In Trevor Lee’s second great match since returning to the indies, he puts in a performance totally opposite in function than the first. Against Jackson Drake, in spite of Drake holding a title, it was Trevor who felt like he had something to lose as far as being The Man in North Carolina. Here in DPW, though he’s on enemy territory, going up against a World Champion who is woven into the fabric of the company. On this go around, it’s all about Trevor trying to beat The Man.
And together, these two make it very clear how hard a task that will be. Trevor spends the first half of the match pretty much entirely failing. He attempts multiple strategies: brief chain work, striking, and raw power. Of the three, he makes the most headway with the striking, but it also keeps him in frightening proximity to a big man that can knock him down real fast.
Outside that, this is a masterclass in simple structural ideas. The first half of the match teaches us several important things: Trevor can’t lift Tankman, Trevor’s apron PK gets countered, Tankman flattens Trevor during a sunset flip attempt. All these plot points get paid off in the second half of the match, all with a bit of escalation and all getting big reactions from the crowd. There’s a big pop for Trevor getting Tankman up for that Samoan Drop, an honest to god pro wrestling pop. Then the repeated PKs, Trevor dodging the leg drop on the sunset flip, and so on. They do such a great job conditioning us to the spots that matter that when they break from the rhythm for something new, the impact hits twice as hard. Trevor’s crossbody powerslam is an old favorite of his, but coming out of nowhere here in the back half of the match is a real spike in the action and a great false finish.
Pro wrestling storytelling done simply, but oh so effectively.
Rating: ****
Yuki Ueno vs. Shinya Aoki (DDT Summer Vacation Memories 8/25/24)
Reviewed: August 25, 2024
A beautiful entry in one of my favorite genres of wrestling: real ass dudes drowning DDT aces. This match is all about Shinya Aoki and, for as much as I still like Yuki Ueno, it’s all the better for it. It’s all about the contrast of the two. Ueno’s this very modern 2020s-style Japanese main event ace with all the bright colored gear and good looks that entails. Meanwhile Shinya Aoki’s all lean and bony and simple black trunks. There’s something ghoulish about him too with the coarseness of his voice and the almost sadistic mannerisms he brings to the bout.
All those simple visuals translate into the wrestling too. Aoki’s whole gameplan is to make the absolute most of the simplest things. He puts a lot of struggle behind rudimentary stuff like the early knuckle lock. That maximizes everything in the match, giving all of it a real weight and significance. Things like a simple knuckle lock feel much more important when Aoki does something like fight Ueno down when the champion bridges up on the mat to avoid a pinfall. Aoki’s also the only guy I know this year to get some real believable nearfalls out of a full nelson to force Ueno’s shoulders down to the mat.
There’s a clear line in the transitions between control segments too. Ueno only ever has the advantage when he takes the fight to floor and gets a little rougher, but when he’s in the ring, he’s struggling for air basically the whole time. It felt good to see Aoki prove himself so decisively here, a standout performance to crown a dangerous new champion.
Rating: ****¼
Coven of the Goat vs. Kill or be Killed (TWE 11 Years Strong N2 8/24/24)
Reviewed: August 27, 2024
Best WarGames match of the 2020s feels like an exceedingly low bar to clear, but I think it’s worth celebrating here anyway. It’s worth mentioning that I’m likely warmer to this after having already seen the famed 2006 NWA Anarchy WarGames, but I don’t think that takes away too much from what’s accomplished here. It’s not a perfect thing by any means, but so much of it is just totally correct.
Following in the NWA Anarchy tradition, this takes place in a single ring, and I actually think that’s to the match’s benefit. When in doubt with WarGames, go more claustrophobic instead of the other way around. With just the one ring and cage, it’s all about everyone crammed together, fighting tooth and nail, and limiting any excessive bullshit. There’s no need to leap off the top or take a crazy spill outside, it’s all just piling on top of each other with very simple offense.
We get hardcore stylings here with a nice set of tools–Tank’s signature sickle, a wire hanger, a spike, etc.–that are always used in the most direct and simple ways possible. There’s no excessive table setting at any point in this, just grabbing something sharp, then stabbing and gouging until red starts to flow. On this point, I have to shout out Tank especially whose performance in the opening segment might be the best I’ve seen from him all decade. Rocks to see him carve away at Sean Campbell, and then later on the defense, he gets a really great bladejob going. And when there’s no weaponry, most of this match is just punches, baby. The way God intended WarGames to be fought.
More than once this does stray a little from God’s light. They somehow still have to force the awful West Side Story standoff, but here it at least ends in a funny quadruple low blow from KOBK instead of a shitty Frye/Takayama. And The Match Beyond probably still does go just a tad bit long and overcomplicated. Otherwise, it’s all pretty great stuff with sick highlights like Nathan Mowery and Azrael throwing literally burning strikes and Rev. Dan getting in on the action by bashing Brett Ison with a goat’s head. Great match, proof that WarGames belongs to the south.
Rating: ****
Astronauts vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Satsuki Nagao (BJW Death Mania XII ~ Back to Inazawa 8/25/24)
Reviewed: August 27, 2024
Been a while since I’ve seen the space boys together. Here we get one of the signature casebuilders for them as a best in the world-level tag team: having a really great, concise undercard tag on a BJW tour show. At only nine minutes, this is a punchy piece of work that has the Astronauts at their best. I especially enjoyed their work bullying poor Satsuki Nagao in the heat segment, but all the strike exchanges with Daichi comes across really well too. Perhaps most importantly, this is way too concise to leave any room for Abe’s sillier tendencies, which means it’s just the good stuff remaining here.
Rating: ***¾
Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW All In 8/25/24)
Reviewed: August 27, 2024
Watched it twice: first for the heart, second for the mind.
There’s a lot here that my mind rebels against. For better and for worse, this just might be Danielson’s most melodramatic match ever. From both Swerve and Danielson, we get a couple bouts of what I’ve termed Dialogue in the past, and it comes across to somewhat mixed effect. Swerve’s shittalk mostly threads the needle, but it can occasionally veer into the sort of exaggerated supervillain stuff we’ve seen of late from the WWE. From Danielson, the main culprit is his “I love yous” directed to his family at ringside, and that I can bare a little bit more if only for the sincerity of it, the coolness of mixing it in with an action-fueled moment leading to a big comeback, and the simple fact that I just like Bryan Danielson more than most wrestlers. I like violence and I like Bryan Danielson: there, that’s your declaration of bias, leave me alone.
In this case, I think AEW production does a lot to save both Danielson and Swerve from themselves. It never really feels like either man has to rush to get into position for these big narrative moments, the sound mixing isn’t turned all the way up so that we can get pitch perfect clarity of all the words spoken. The viewer mostly catches it at the edges of what might be one of the best stadium crowds of the entire year–not only loud, but actually responsive, riding the rhythms of the match instead of washing over it.
Then there’s Danielson’s generosity combined with AEW’s booking. Danielson gives Swerve so much in this match. If I were to theorize, it almost looks like Danielson’s borderline guilt at having to take the title manifesting as giving Swerve as many favors on the way out as possible. And so, Swerve controls most of the match, a reasonable enough decision given he’s the heel here. But at the same time, Swerve powers right out of Cattle Mutilation, then later also absorbs one Busaiku Knee like it’s nothing–likely as compensation for Danielson kicking out of multiple House Calls as well as the Big Pressure. It’s a silly moment, I’ve got nothing too much to defend that, and I wish it’d been left on the table. At the end too, Hangman Page comes out to cause some ruckus, another little distraction to add to what is eventually Swerve’s downfall.
All these things are very reasonable things to criticize and I can understand how they might detract from the overall package for a lot of people. I think there’s just enough nuance there that some of these elements work a little better than when done by worse wrestlers, but hey, it is what it is. I get that it’d be better if they weren’t there at all.
The thing with that though is that the heart of this match, the core of it, is just too fucking pure and true for me to turn away from. The son of a bitch did it again. They said he’d never fucking do it and he did it TWICE: Bryan Danielson, that skinny, white boy that they (wrongly) said couldn’t cut a promo filled up stadiums with tens of thousands and came out as the World Champion.
Twice, you sorry motherfuckers.
It feels so rare to have these big, massive moments driven purely to celebrate greatness. In this instance, AEW gets so much right. The Green Day music video from Dynamite, shelling out the cash for “The Final Countdown,” the big man’s family sitting ringside. Superficial elements on the surface, working in harmony like this to make this match feel like one of the biggest events of the year. Special shoutout to Birdie Danielson, a favorite punchline among the internet fans, putting some true goddamn emotion to this thing. Crying when her father’s down, elated at his comeback. That’s pro wrestling, that’s how it’s supposed to work, and that’s what Bryan Danielson has been doing for over two decades now.
And yes, the ring work too, of course the ring work.
There’s a very funny and vindicating story at play here that these two weave. As someone who’s criticized Swerve in the past for being too convoluted for his own good, this match makes the most of that by constantly making him pay for that sin. Big roll through dive over the top? Dodged by the American Dragon. Readjusting on the mat so he can do a spin to get back on his feet? Eat a lariat for your trouble. At multiple points, Swerve takes the long way round: a little twist, a little flair, and Danielson meets him head on with the most direct possible viciousness to seize control.
And to be clear, I think Swerve’s quite good in this match too. This might be his best performance since arriving in AEW. When he’s not paying for getting too fancy, he actually feels malicious in a way that he doesn’t even in the Hangman feud. He steals his first advantage with the help of Nana and a ringbell, he’s smug and mean about the presence of Danielson’s family at ringside, he’s cruel in a way that feels truly meanspirited. Could it be a little more vicious? Sure, but it’s probably one of Swerve’s most purposeful and driven performances since making it to the big stage.
And what’s left to say about the better qualities of Danielson’s work at this point? My god. The blood does so much here to keep things feeling real and visceral, but blood doesn’t flow if there’s no beating heart. And that’s what Danielson gives us here. The way he masterfully orchestrates a crowd of tens of thousands with the simplest movements. He doesn’t even need to raise his hands for a “Yes,” when a few nods of the head and the right expression on his face sends millions around the world (myself included) crashing through walls.
I can understand people getting annoyed at Danielson’s “I love yous,” fair enough. But when he turns to face Swerve, dead on? And that first big slap. Jesus CHRIST Almighty. Even the way Swerve stooges with these massive bumps into the ropes for those first few slaps just feel so goddamn cathartic. MJF may have ignored Matt D’s pleas, but someone on this card did choose to channel the raw power of Sangre Chicana finally getting his against MS-1. Of course it would be Bryan Danielson, fucking OF COURSE it would be. The power of the whole world behind that slap, the hearts of millions in his hands as he taps out the champion.
Who better than the best of all time?
Rating: Who cares, my guy fucking did it AGAIN because he’s the fucking GOAT (or ****1/4)
Gunther vs. Ilja Dragunov (WWE Live 8/25/24)
Reviewed: August 27, 2024
It’s a house show version of a Gunther/Ilja match. What that means is that it’s far from their most viscerally satisfying affair. There’s no extended chop exchange and the physicality is dialed down from their more intense affairs. The trade off though is that this may be one of their most well-structured matches in the WWE.
Big asterisk here in that I’ve only seen the Carat match when it comes to their indie work, but this match feels like one of the best examples of these two emphasizing the size difference between them. Ilja’s focused on sticking and moving here, his few chops being used to stun the champion and goad him into making mistakes. Meanwhile, Gunther’s strikes are meant to cut down and halt the challenger, allowing him to assert control in the match. Stripping the striking down in this match, makes it a little more purposeful which is a fair trade to make in my book.
Much like Tankman/Trevor, there’s a lot of fun structural choices too. Things established in the first half that have to be countered or elevated in the back half. All mixed together with great struggle in the in-between moments like how Ilja positions himself to make Gunther work twices as hard to lock in a Boston crab. Really strong still, even without their usual fireworks.
Rating: ***¾
