There is a notable omission on today’s edition, that of course being the Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness match from Grand Slam. To be fair, I’ve talked it up already a fair amount over on Twitter, with a bunch of loose observations and very raw, initial reactions. That said, a much more detailed account of my thoughts will be appearing soon. If you want to be in the very first group of people who see it, consider buying me a coffee. If not, then just stay subscribed to my channel and you’ll see it there soon.
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.
Mistico, Atlantis Jr, & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Templario, Soberano Jr, & Averno (CMLL Sabados de Coliseo 9/21/24)
Reviewed: September 30, 2024

Another point for the guaranteed good time that is a CMLL trios match. A lot of the standard players of the main event scene appear here, all making their typical strengths known. For Mistico, it’s those slick comebacks and that real, undeniable charisma of an ace on top of the world. Atlantis Jr. brings a really nice pace here, and some of the more realistic selling of the match before firing up with those tilt-a-whirl backbreakers of his. But perhaps most compelling in this match is Soberano Jr. bringing back his deeply perverted and evil clown look to combine with a really fun chickenshit performance here. I love the way he’s panicked and distressed whenever he has to face Mistico one-on-one, at one point even needing a pep talk from Averno before he gets going. I’ve said often that it’s the details that make these trios matches stand out on their own and one I enjoyed here was Mistico foregoing the La Mistica at the end to instead feed Soberano Jr. to Atlantis Jr. for the La Atlantida. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Rating: ****
Sareee vs. Nanae Takahashi (Marigold Dream Star Grand Prix N7 9/23/24)
Reviewed: October 2, 2024

These two get into a real delightful scrap here. It’s a lot of those real solid shots to the chest and slapping and kicking, and I wish that they’d stuck to that in something a little more compact than what they ended up going with. As is though, they add in a few other elements here which aren’t bad but just aren’t as great as the more direct fire fighting. Nanae introduces some leg work here as an attempt to open up a weakness on Sareee. I actually like how consistently returns to the leg work especially in the back half, but limb selling just has never been one of Sareee’s strengths so it can start to feel just a tad superfluous. Even with that minor issue though, there’s enough stiff shots here and a true feeling of animosity that allows this to stand out as the must-see match from Marigold’s first Dream Star Grand Prix.
Rating: ****
Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley (AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam 9/25/24)
Review: September 30, 2024
An out and out mauling the likes of which we haven’t really seen on American TV since Brock Lesnar got pushed out. Immediately brutal and uncomfortably violent wrestling from Moxley here, something that he really needed to nail after the viciousness of both his attack on Danielson and on Private Party the week before. Here, even sans plastic bag and hammer, he feels like an absolute psychopath with his early big boot that busts Darby’s mouth open and then following up by kicking the ropes right into Darby’s open jaw. Horrific stuff.
And really, no one in the world right now is a better loser than Darby Allin. That man is built to die, and my God, does he die here. The insane bumps are out in full force here. Whether it be the nastiness of bumping through the corner to the post and floor or they sheer insanity of taking a full back bump to the exposed hardwood. Jesus Christ, Darby puts his all into eating shit for Moxley here and it’s a true stunner to behold.
I do love too how much the match still protects Darby in spite of all these things. Does he eat shit for most of the match? Yes. But Mox relies heavily on Marina Shafir’s interference on the floor and at the finish to seal the deal for him. There’s these tiny breaks in control where Darby really gets scrappy and into the fight where it looks like it really might work for him if these two just had to fight on an even playing field. Mox is violent enough on his own to be a credible killer and threat, but his reliance on a classic bit of cheating here is what leaves the door open for our heroes and the future.
This loses just a little something from the crowd’s indifference. Arthur Ashe is not a venue built for pro wrestling and they struggle to build any real steam all night, here most notably. It’s a shame because a hotter atmosphere around this might have transformed this into a potential classic rather than just one of the best matches of the entire year.
Rating: ****½
Mascara Dorada, Neon, & Star Jr vs. Euforia, Averno, & Mephisto (CMLL Noche de Campeones 9/27/24)
Reviewed: October 2, 2024

I tend to prefer these CMLL trios with the two out of three falls structure which is why I’m often much lower on championship matches in the company. Here though, they make it work spectacularly by just going full pedal to the metal. Immediately starts hot with a beautiful early shine from the babyfaces before transitioning into a great Infernales control segment. The key here is how genuinely surprising and brutal all the cut offs and transitions feel from both sides. Neon getting caught on his initial tope for the Infernales Bomb is so sick, and it may not even be the craziest thing in the match. I still consider Dorada far from a finished package, but my god, that man throws himself at all his crazy offense and this might have been one of his best performances all year. The monkey flip on the apron into the armdrag on the floor is a real highlight, but there’s about three or four crazy wicked dives from him in this that really do lend a lot credence to his potential as the next big thing in Arena Mexico. To the match’s credit to, they also go for the staggered eliminations in the final stretch to build just a little bit more tension and suspense after playing off some real convincing false finishes beforehand. All in all one of the best CMLL trios matches of the year, and really, really think about the ground that all covers.
Rating: ****
Atlantis Jr vs. Soberano Jr (CMLL Noche de Campeones 9/27/24)

Reviewed: October 2, 2024
It’s a big Friday show with all the title matches, which means that Arena Mexico drew the kind of diehard fans that despise Atlantis Jr. I don’t mind it, I just find it funny, closest thing I get in 2024 to the peak “Cena sucks” days. This is about what you’d expect from these two but with a neater structure than usual. Atlantis Jr gets an early shine but there’s a real devastating transition into heat when Soberano Jr dodges the champion’s tope to send him crashing into the barricades. From there, all the transitions feel way more fought for than usual, with this only really dipping into more back and forth offense towards the back half. Even then though, I like the finish being Atlantis Jr squeaking by to just get that lucky La Atlantida in place to retain the title even as it looked like things were slipping through his grasp in the finish. Comfortably great wrestling from two great wrestlers.
Rating: ****
Team 200kg vs. Meiko Satomura & Manami (Sendai Girls Nishitetsu Hall 9/28/24)
Reviewed: September 30, 2024
It’s funny how quickly a tone is set here. Manami and Chihiro are the first up to bat and they both play it entirely straight. None of the shticky stuff from Manami here, just Chihiro forcing her to try to get out of a headlock, and it immediately becomes obvious that everyone’s on best behavior when Meiko Satomura’s back in town. Outside of Yuu’s awful rolling attack, this retains that very serious and straightforward tone all throughout. The highlights come from Chihiro’s interactions with her mentor, Meiko Satomura. They’re just so good, these real struggle-filled skirmishes that include wonderful touches like Meiko attempting one leg trip that Chihiro dodges so Meiko focuses on throwing Chihiro over by the arm instead or the struggle over Chihiro’s attempted Cobra Twist which Meiko makes her really earn. There’s even a point deep in the match where a lot of that initial struggle starts to bubble over into something a lot more raw as both women start throwing these real live rounds that even shake Meiko’s hair tie loose, giving us this real great visual of the match breaking down. A great addition to Meiko’s final string of matches and a nice rebound for 200kg after a somewhat disappointing finish to the Bobubobu Momo Banana trilogy the night before.
Rating: ****
Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, & Wheeler YUTA vs. Private Party & Komander (AEW Collision: Grand Slam 9/28/24)
Reviewed: September 30, 2024
I’m sort of baffled that this works as well as it does. On the surface, it’s filled with a lot of the stuff I don’t usually care for in modern wrestling: things like internal moral dilemmas, hesitation towards action, things of that sort. But I think what all six men bring to this match all comes together really nicely in a way that similar attempts at stories like these don’t really.
In the case of Wheeler YUTA, for example, I enjoy that his hesitation here feels justified and real. It makes total sense to feel disconnected from men that helped orchestrate a vicious attack on his mentor. His acting is expressive, not quite entirely immersive, but it does do the job without ever feeling like he’s too far gone off the deep end. Something that helps both YUTA and everything else in this match on that front is that unlike so many other stale versions of this same idea in the past: this match feels violent.
Castagnoli and PAC feel vicious in the kind of small, nasty ways that characterized Mox’s bout against Darby earlier in the week. Small touches like Claudio’s hair pull to start the heat, PAC foregoing high flying offense to focus on more direct striking and stomps, all that creates an atmosphere where YUTA’s discomfort feels totally sensible.
I also really want to bring some attention to the challengers here. I won’t lie, I thought that while Private Party’s standing in the company suited the motivation of Moxley’s attacks, they would be far from my first pick to bring the heat in the ring. They handily prove me wrong here, shifting their standard style to something that absolutely rises to the occasion of the feud. Quen throws some real great live rounds in that first heated charge at PAC, Kassidy’s hand selling feels sincere and sympathetic. No shoehorning in of signature spots, no perfunctory high flying. Komander does attempt some speed at the end, but he’s the hot tag and perhaps the least personally affected by all this, and it really doesn’t last long as the BCC put a kibosh on it fairly fast. Just charging in, pissed off at the attack, dying in the attempt.
I wrote above that Jon Moxley’s individual performance calls to mind Brock Lesnar, but as a whole Moxley and this current iteration of the BCC are succeeding in something that Lesnar never did. Step in the ring with Lesnar, he takes you into a world separate from 2010s WWE pro wrestling. But Moxley’s sin seems to be poisoning everything around him, making his teammates and his opponents all the more vicious. Moxley, as a character, is aiming for a promotion-wide change, and so far, everything that the BCC has touched since has been moving in that direction.
Rating: ***¾
Hangman Page vs. Jeff Jarrett (AEW Collision: Grand Slam 9/28/24)
Reviewed: September 30, 2024
While it doesn’t quite carry that same emotional punch as either the BCC trios earlier in the night or even the previous Hangman/Jarrett singles match in the Owen, what we get instead is just some real good ass southern-style pro rasslin’. That means a lot of great punching from both men, and a simple narrative at the heart of it: we want to see Hangman get the tar beat out of him. They balance all that really well with some moral lessons along the way. Jarrett constantly avoids extra punishment because he’s respected and friendly in the back, whereas Hanger’s attempts to burn everything around him down has alienated him from everyone, leaving him in constant danger. I love that they set up the stakes early and escalate their way through the whippings, and Hangman’s smart enough to deny us the big catharsis for a long while, even just avoiding the initial whipping when he first falls to the floor.
It does get a little bogged down with all the interference in the end, but they make up for it with how good the rush of everyone at ringside coming for Hangman feels. Karen gets her shorts in, Satnam gets the massive strap in, it’s all a necessary release before Hanger stills the victory from us all right at the end. I would think there’s more meat on the bone with this rivalry, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable next step and potential bookend.
Rating: ***¾
Shinya Aoki & HARASHIMA vs. Jun Akiyama & Keigo Nakamura (DDT Dramatic Infinity ~3 Hour Special~ 9/29/24)
Reviewed: October 2, 2024

Shinya Aoki’s run in DDT this year has just been such a treat. It’s amazing to watch him work, getting these really cool reactions from crowds with the most subtle kind of wrestling. Take for instance the opening moments of this match where he’s locking horns with Jun Akiyama. There’s a real tension over how Aoki works to force Akiyama’s shoulders down to the mat. There’s actual audible gasps when the shoulders come down, then again when Akiyama kicks out. Nothing flashy about it, just this real visceral struggle for the pinfall.
The flashier side of this comes from HARASHIMA’s interactions with Keigo. Loved Keigo’s new offense built around dodges and trips, and it’s great to see him actually hold his own in the kickfest against HARASHIMA. When called on to sell as the most junior member of the match though, he does that well, and it’s fun to see him get battered by HARASHIMA or otherwise twisted by evil gremin man Shinya Aoki. Keigo becomes a lot of the center of the back half as he tries to endure HARASHIMA’s onslaught and it’s fun to see him almost do it, missing that first Somato, before geting clobbered by the second. A real, real great time, reminds me of the best of DDT.
Rating: ****+
Athena vs. Amira (Prestige/West Coast Pro/DPW Roseland 9 9/29/24)
Reviewed: September 30, 2024
Between Hurricane Helene and TNA contractual obligations, a lot of card shuffling had to be done to Prestige’s Roseland 9 event. Initially meant to wrestle Jordynne Grace at the event, Amira instead gets placed against Athena, coming in as something of a make good for FTR missing the event. And what an upgrade! In this bout, we get the closest thing I’ve seen to Athena as a traveling champion figure. She enters here clearly underestimating the local hero in Amira, with Athena not even wearing her typical gear or carrying out the ROH World Women’s Title she’s been inseparable from for almost two years now.
Athena plays the role so well too. She’s a real test for Amira, yes, so it’s not quite a traditional shine we get early. But the second things start going too far in Amira’s favor, Athena’s quick to bail from the ring, try to reassert dominance, and end up using the turnbuckles in her favor to regain the advantage. She’s so good in control too, mean mugging for the crowd and giving Amira just enough room to apply the Steamboat rule. Amira continues to shine as one of the world’s brightest young talents as well, staying in the fight, feeling sympathetic, but also being crafty enough to go after Athena’s previously injured leg in an attempt to bring the champ down.
God bless her too, Athena has to play dirty to eventually knock Amira down. Nothing too cheap, but rather a real mean return to using the turnbuckles to her advantage to set up a knock blow. Great example of making the most of the bad hand dealt to the Prestige roster on this night.
Rating: ****
Kevin Blackwood vs. Trevor Lee (Prestige/West Coast Pro/DPW Roseland 9 9/29/24)
Reviewed: September 30, 2024
Kevin Blackwood’s never my favorite wrestler, but all credit to him, he’s often able to slot in well in matches against best in the world-level type guys. He deserves some praise for his work here, for sure. In the back half especially, he’s good about getting over that sense of wear and tear from a tough match and really working to get his offense in, often timing things just right for what the match needs. I’d have like a little more back selling in the middle, but I think he compensates for it in the end. It’s a good performance from the guy, the kind that keeps me returning to his work when paired up with the right opponent.
Trevor Lee though, is fantastic in this. He continues to bring this cool, confident energy to these major title matches that adds so much. He’s not afraid to start of slow, make the crowd anticipate, and let their energy build towards bigger and better things. He’s so adept at grinding people down now too, using simple holds to control them on the mat, really wearing them out. And when he’s in control too, he’s vicious. The body work he’s able to apply here in the second act makes for a really great heat segment and it’s work that really brings out the best of Blackwood, forcing the latter to really push for any sense of control. There’s a million small touches of Trevor’s I love here though. The way he runs his hands through his hair to make the sweat fly in the back half, or the way he sells his ribs when Blackwood starts making an incremental comeback, but perhaps my favorite is that small pause before the superplex that makes the move and its landing hit so much harder. Just a few months into his return on the indies and Trevor Lee continues to feel pretty unstoppable as a force carving his way through it.
Rating: ****