It’s a STACKED week on the real as a busy All Out weekend leaves us with great matches from unexpected places, violence of the spectacular kind, and violence of the classic and horrific kind. Beyond that, we look back at more Shinya Aoki, another helping of great CMLL matches, and a rip roaring World Title match from the southeast!
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.
Yuki Ueno & To-y vs. Shinya Aoki & Akito (DDT Summer Vacation Memories in Yokohama 8/17/24)
Reviewed: September 6, 2024
I went back for this build up tag after how great the Aoki/Ueno title match went and it didn’t disappoint. There’s a very real magnetism and intensity to the Aoki/Ueno pairing, and it’s a quiet one that feels so genuine. In this regard, I want to call attention to Ueno’s performance. There’s a real doomed quality to it. I wouldn’t describe it as “fear” but he keeps trying to meet Aoki head on despite how little he can do against him. As he would later in the title match, Aoki absolutely drowns Ueno here, controlling and stretching him with this truly icy and evil demeanor. I can not take my eyes off it, he does so little here, and that somehow adds to his malice as opposed to detract from it. Everything feels so assured, so calculated, that it’s no shock that Ueno always gets so frustrated when the fight eventually goes to the floor. There’s no room to breathe on the canvas, and watching Ueno fight for (and lose) his life is some of the best stuff in Japanese wrestling this year.
Rating: ****
Travis Williams vs. Guillermo Rosas (Prestige Cascadia Wrestling Cup 2024 N1 8/23/24)
Reviewed: September 6, 2024
C4 and Sinner & Saint have been wrestling a lot this year, and for the most part I enjoy them together as tag team rivals. At their worst though, they can get a tad excessive, as was the case with their 2 out of 3 falls tag title match which just squeaked by into “great” territory despite some overreliance on indie tropes and outside interference. Thank god then that this singles bout for the second Cascadia Wrestling Cup is about as down to earth as one could ask for. Travis deploys a very simple tactic of going for Rosas’ arm and sticks to that strategy until it pays off for him. Rosas’ arm selling is consistent (if never entirely immersive) and he’s mindful enough as well to switch tact when painted into a corner. Rosas is very good about using only his good arm to strike back and seize the advantage. More importantly though, Rosas and Williams are both highly aware of the bad arm such that any time Rosas tries to use it, the match swings right back into Travis’ control. About as direct and clear as wrestling can be, a bad guy enacts his evil plan and it works, much to our hero’s chagrin.
Rating: ***3/4
Mistico, Volador Jr, & Esfinge vs. Averno, Euforia, & Yota (CMLL Super Viernes 8/30/24)
Reviewed: September 4, 2024
Through no real fault of their own, CMLL’s been a little lower on my regular rotation of viewing over the last few months. Every time I come back to it though, the quality remains as consistent as ever. In this match, we continue an exciting trend of the current aniversario build: Euforia and his Infernales friends being the most miserable bastards on earth. Infernales have always been one of the better teams in CMLL at capturing the more brutal edge of a rudo beatdown, and Euforia especially has been upping the aggression on the path to the aniversario main event apuesta.
Here too, we get a lot of the classic rudo choices for this trios match. As he’s done for weeks now, Euforia attacks the tecnicos during their entrances. It’s such a vicious ambush too–relative to other CMLL attacks–that it feels good to see our heroes overcome to take the first fall. It’s a great little moral punishment, and an indicator that Euforia is out to humiliate and harm more than win. This translates into the finish too. After a dazzling signature comeback that sees Mistico intercept a pile on pose with a springboard tijeras, the heels once again regain control with gang-style tactics. And once again, Euforia costs the team by tearing off Esfinge’s mask to give the tecnicos the win in two straight. A heated and well-paced trios with a sharper edge than usual.
Rating: ****
Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler YUTA, & PAC vs. Will Ospreay, Orange Cassidy, & Kyle O’Reilly (AEW Dynamite 9/4/24)
Reviewed: September 5, 2024
Another entry in the growing list of great Conglomeration (and friends) TV tags. This one’s given the time to breathe and develop and feels like it has more in common with a Japanese-style build up tag rather than the southern tag varieties. Opening moments aren’t really about a shine, and instead more about establishing key pairings within the match, the highlight of which is of course seeing Ospreay and PAC tangle up before their big title bout at the pay-per-view.
What makes these work is the willingness to relish in the heat segment: the key component to any great tag match. Here we get a classic control on Orange Cassidy with the trios champs isolating him in the corner, bullying him, and constantly cutting off potential hot tags as well. There’s such a simple joy to the anticipation of the big comeback, and the way Cassidy structures it here too, forcing the PACpool Combat Club to crash into each other to clear the path to the hot tag. And when put in the position to be the center of a big hot tag, Will Ospreay is great. Not only is he energetic on the apron during the build, but his offense is pitch perfect to be the game changer in a match like this. Even beyond that, he sticks to what works too, even anticipating a potential repeat of the stage poison rana and turning that into his own little comeuppance. All of that kept moving too with things like Claudio being an ungodly good base, YUTA making the most of his chain interactions with Kyle, and PAC matching Ospreay’s speed and high-flying. Long live tag team wrestling, long live The Conglomeration.
Rating: ****
Mark Briscoe vs. Lance Archer (AEW Collision 9/6/24)
Reviewed: September 7, 2024
Mark Briscoe continues to be perhaps the single most likeable pro wrestler on TV. There’s a couple easy shortcuts to that in this match, with Archer ambushing our hero on the ramp, and a good cut opening up over Briscoe’s eye pretty early. This is also one of Archer’s more spirited performances of late too. Not only emphasizing his power and harder strikes, but also being pretty shitty about his trash talking throughout the match. God bless Mark Briscoe though, it’s him taking all these crazy bumps into the barricades and into the apron. He’s so fucking great throughout all of this, finding the spaces between moves to go to the ropes and directly appeal to the crowd for their support. A small touch but a brilliant babyface choice. He also makes the most of each transition, making each step to regain control feel felt and earned. About as straightforward and satsifying a David vs. Goliath TV match as can be.
Rating: ****
Konosuke Takeshita vs. The Beast Mortos (AEW Collision 9/6/24)
Reviewed: September 7, 2024
With this match, it’s all about the simple lizard-brained pleasure of crashing two freaks at each other. It’s a fireworks show, with minimal structure, free flowing bouts of control, and not much really going on beneath the surface. But few people do that kind of match better than these two, and it’s all down to just how dazzlingly bright they make those fireworks burn. There’s a raw, dangerous physicality on display here that makes the blood race. Even something like Mortos’ thigh slap punch feels so great when he swings his whole body into it. But then there’s the bumps, Jesus Christ the bumps. At one point Mortos lands directly on the top of his skull taking a German from Soup, but the real highlight is Mortos trying and failing to hit a military press off the top and instead just dropping Soup straight down. Gross, nasty, slightly wrong and all the better for it. Does it occasionally dip into excess and meatheadedness? Yes, definitely. But sometimes, you just want to see bodies flung at each other at full force, and they deliver in spades.
Rating: ***¾
Volador Jr, Atlantis Jr, & Mascara Dorada vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, & Stuka Jr (CMLL Super Viernes 9/6/24)
Reviewed: September 10, 2024
With these CMLL trios, the overall picture always remains the same. The rudos get their heat, the tecnicos dazzle in the comeback, tale as old as time. The devil’s in the details with these kinds of things though and this match succeeds from a few fun wrinkles included. For one, it’s a really great Atlantis Jr. performance here. What he lacks in the high-flying that both Dorada and Volador bring, he makes up for with a real easy fired up babyface charm. I’ll always have time for an Atlantis getting a string of quebradoras in before posing in the corner. But also, there’s a roughness to how Atlantis Jr. fights in this that I enjoy. There’s especially some of that old bitterness still between himself and Stuka Jr., wounds still raw from their aniversario main event a couple of years back. And then, in the tercera, the sheer joy of seeing our heroes fly. When done right, it really just doesn’t get old.
Rating: ****
Templario vs. Soberano Jr (CMLL Suepr Viernes 9/6/24)
Reviewed: September 10, 2024
Nothing complicated here, another great Soberano Jr./Templario fireworks show. As with all of their singles matches together, it’s the easy chemistry, great rhythm, and flashy offense that really makes these pop. Here we get some of the better hits too like the driver on the apron that we saw in Japan earlier in the year. But it’s filled with all sorts of great bombs and dives to make the ten minutes fly by. If anything, what differentiates this from past encounters is how much they actually let things breathe. Soberano Jr. even manages to squeeze in a nice little heat segment here, balancing his smug attitude with mean looking cut offs. One of the most bankable pairings in the world delivers again.
Rating: ***¾
1 Called Manders vs. Adam Priest (SCI The Battle for Sale Creek 9/7/24)
Reviewed: September 10, 2024
One of Adam Priest’s most aggressive performances of the year. I’m so used to Priest as the perfect stooge heel, that seeing him take so much of a match in such a vicious manner feels significant without betraying the core of his character. When Manders can keep this a one-on-one fight, he does well for himself, but Priest is pissed off and using as many tricks of the trade as he can. He’s also just throwing hismelf at this match to earn the control, literally diving off the top rope onto Manders to start an attack on the floor. It’s on the floor too that Priest unleashes his key strategy of the match: an assault on the arm to neutralize Manders’ killer lariat.
There’s something to be said about how Priest applies himself here too. He doesn’t feel like he’s going for the win, taking a little more pleasure in punishment and torture than usual. Even his cheating comes across more spiteful than wily, like smacking at Manders on the mat only to poke him in the eyes too.
It’s also wonderful how much they give us while leaving more on the table. Things like Manders nailing the lariat but being too hurt to capitalize, Priest nailing his DDT but doing so on the ropes where he can’t go right for the cover. And all the while, denying the fans the pleasure of seeing Priest eat the Stampede. The work around the trophy functions pretty well too, any time either man goes for it, they often pay for it either due to overextending themselves as Priest does or hesitating a little too long as Manders does.
Easily the best title match of September 7th.
Rating: ****
Daniel Garcia vs. MJF (AEW All Out 9/7/24)
Reviewed: September 8, 2024
The unfortunate thing about so much pro wrestling is that it lives in the shadow of what could be. That’s certainly true here. The rumor around the backstage circumstances of this bout have already circulated–allegedly Garcia was meant to go over clean but his refusal to re-sign his contract offer from AEW means that they went for the sure option with an MJF victory. Unfortunately, instead of working just a little bit smarter under those circumstances, we get some uncalled for compromise here. In the best possible finish for the story being told, Garcia endures the intensity of the match and nails a piledriver. In a world where God loves his lowly, earthly creatures, this leads straight to a three count, the cleanest, most sensible victory for Garcia. Instead, MJF kicks out and he steals another win with a low blow.
It’s unfortunate. It doesn’t ruin this match for me, and it’s not even a bad finish for everyone involved, but it is a compromise.
I understand the people that feel this ruins the whole match. There’s other things too like going so damn long on this, long enough that they occasionally lose the tone that they set in the early goings. All these things hold this match back from being a truly high level bout this year.
However, it really still does rule. I want to start with Daniel Garcia, because my god. This may just be a career performance from Daniel Garcia, not just in what he puts into it but also what he’s able to get out of one of the most frustrating wrestlers on the planet. Garcia’s astonishing in this. Committed to the emotion of it, mindful of the neck selling (the whole point of this match), textbook Steamboat rule application, and a great bladejob. I could go on, but the simple fact of it is that he makes it feel like the biggest thing in the world. That final comeback of his, bleeding and rising up to meet this foe of his, that’s the real stuff. True, genuine, superstar-level emotion poured into this. There’s so much good I have to say about this, all of which is to say that any company that puts their weight behind Daniel Garcia will find that they’re giving a platform to someone who is one of the best wrestlers in the world.
And now, MJF. As a friend of mind said before, one must not hate falsely, and from my perspective this may just be one of MJF’s best career performances. Despite the match’s length, there’s basically no room for MJF’s shtick here. He’s all business. Not only offensively focusing in on Garcia’s neck, but also finding ways to steal his advantages at every turn. Even the awful Panama Sunrise is bearable since it suits the narrative of the bout. And beyond that, Max feels so grimy here in a way he almost never does. Biting at the wound he opened on Dynamite might be one of his most evil moves yet, and it’s such a simple, direct thing. Entirely contemptible too, not nearly cool enough to admire, but so immediately compelling in execution. Max gloats and he taunts, and he pays for his sins, as a reinvigorated Red Death works towards his stated goal: breaking MJF’s neck. MJF’s cowardice here too, playing for a count out, adds to the match–forcing Garcia to re-aling and re-strategize, while showing that Max is a liar at heart, not seeking any real valor or pride, just a cheap win for his record book.
In basically every way outside of that (alleged) last minute change, an honest to God miracle of a match.
Rating: ****
Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander (AEW All Out 9/7/24)
Reviewed: September 8, 2024
Sick chicks doing sick shit. I’ve actually been a lot lower on these two as opponents compared to their time as tag team partners, but when the brightest lights were on, they delivered. Perhaps most impressively to, they keep the crowd hot and rolling despite following something as dazzling as Ospreay and PAC going for an extended bombfest. Willow and Kris follow it up by providing both fireworks and something a little truer: hatred. So much great stuff in this, starting heated early and just escalating and escalating. Immediate big bumps on the announce table, a ringside table, the barricade, and the stage. I can barely even describe the absolute elation too of the fight coming up to the stage and Willow Nightingale whipping out a big bundle of light tubes. FUCK YES.
Not to undercut them, but there’s really a very simple thing here which is that they just keep doing sick shit that looks like it hurts and that’s really all I needed from them. Does it lose a little steam back in the ring? It does, just a bit, the feeling of danger doesn’t peak quite as high. The chain is a good weapon but it felt a little underdeveloped overall, with the finish coming a little abrupt. I love a good abrupt finish personally, but this one left me a little cooler than expected.
All that being said, love to see these two just going nuts and completely stealing the show. Big Match Willow does it again (Stat rules too, but the track record isn’t there for her). Match of the night.
Rating: ****
The Betrayal of Jon Moxley (AEW All Out 9/7/24)
Wrestling is capable of so much at its best. Done right and left in the right hands, it taps into something uncomfortable and painful. There’s a lot of crazy violence out in pro wrestling, one need only look at some of the deathmatch-adjacent stuff done in the main event that followed this angle. But in this angle with Jon Moxley, there’s just a classical take on the cruelty that can’t help but warm my heart and chill my blood all at once. The inspiration for the angle is clear, it’s a take on that 1989 Terry Funk attack on Ric Flair. Where Funker’s all raving madness and insanity, Jon Moxley’s as cold as ice here. The bag goes over the head, and he squeezes until the life starts to drain from Danielson and the security finally chases him off.
Beyond how brilliantly performed the whole thing is–the almost psychopathic calm of Moxley, YUTA’s tearful horror, etc.–one must credit the presentation around it too. Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone carry a heavy load here. They’ve been around the block, probably can still remember Terry Funk doing the same to Ric Flair, and they’re horrified by the whole thing. JR, like the authoritative morality of the company, speaks on how needless and senseless the whole thing is. It’s the latter too that gets him. The violence is horrific, yes, but also the audacity of it. To carry out the attack on pay-per-view for all to see, no hiding the blame. Fines and suspensions might be on the way. But watch Schiavone’s face at the desk too, he’s disgusted by the whole thing. They perfectly get it across: such an attack has no place in pro wrestling.
There’s a line JR slips in there as well, that one need only use their common sense to see where things might have gone. The implication is there, and it’s astonishing. Jim Ross, good ole JR, he’s out here warning us: Jon Moxley could have killed this man.
Get his ass, Dragon.
Kill him, Mox.
Bring it on.
The spot in MJF/Garcia that let the ending not kill it for me was Garcia stopping the arm drop. He had the win but it wasn’t enough. It’s such a small piece of storytelling and sets the stage for Garcia to be an unstoppable wrestling machine if only he can let himself set aside any emotion.