WE’RE BACK!
After several weeks of on vacation, and then another week just catching up with everything, it’s time once again to celebrate the Real. Of course with the time away, there’s probably more that fell through the cracks than usual, and even the stuff I’m highlight here might not all have the same amount of detail that you’re used to. In fact, there’s a new section of quick thoughts on matches I didn’t get to set immediate reviews down for immediately. If that section works fine enough, it might return for later editions.
November’s about to end, so it’s probably worth noting that in the coming weeks, I’ll be focusing a lot on my 2024 rewatch, preparing for the big year ended video. Perhaps some thoughts from the rewatch process will make it into the Real in the weeks to come.
Note, that this year, it seems unlikely that I will be doing a Every Continental Classic Match Reviewed series, for the simple reason that the line up doesn’t interest me nearly as much. However, highlights will still be covered right here on the Real so be sure to come back every week for those.
Until then, after so long, let’s get on to the Real…
QUICK THOUGHTS
Here are three matches that I watched and considered great but didn’t set down full, detailed thoughts for in time. So some quick impressions instead, all dated from November 26, 2024.
- Takuya Nomura & Kazunari Murakami vs. Fuminori Abe & Yuki Ishikawa (KTdan Fighting Detectives 2 ~From Shinjuku with Love~ 10/23/24)
The highlight of the annual Fighting Detectives show is once again the crackling chemistry between the Space Boys. All their interactions stand out here so strongly that it makes up for the more lax moments with the aging legends about them which do make the runtime feel a little more bloated than it should. ****
- Sareee vs. Bozilla (Marigold Fantastic Adventure N7 10/24/24)
Sareee’s the only person on the Marigold roster that makes Bozilla selling feel necessary even though I still wish this went a little punchier and shorter. ***¾
- Team 200kg vs. Bobubobu Momo Banana (Marvelous Nagoya Congress Center 10/27/24)
Somewhere in the middle pack for this series, which means that it’s still pretty damn great. Can’t believe Chigusa let Mio win a thing in the year of our lord 2024. ****
Atlantis Jr, Templario, & Neon vs. Gran Guerrero, Ultimo Guerrero, & Stuka Jr (CMLL Dia de Muertos – Mexico City 10/29/24)
Reviewed: November 18, 2024
Got to love the atmosphere of the annual Dia de Muertos shows in CMLL. Los Guerreros Laguneros in those neon skeleton tops? Hell fucking year. Beyond the beauty of the pageantry, this is a wonderfully put together CMLL trios. What stands out more than anything here though is the performance of Atlantis Jr. This feels like the most complete and holistic vision I’ve seen of him as a potential top tecnico in CMLL. Driving the pace, his comebacks feel creative and invigorating. He leaves room for collaboration with his teammates, often initiating the comeback but allowing Neon and Templario to get their shots in. Even on the defense, he’s selling with a little more grit and realism than the average top guy in CMLL, and it adds a nice layer of grime to this bout as a whole. The rudos are predictably capable, and Neon here feels the most comfortable in the CMLL main event scene that he ever has. Straightforward, feel-good wrestling done so right.
Rating: ****
Roderick Strong vs. Shane Taylor (AEW Collision 11/2/24)
Reviewed: November 18, 2024
Shane Taylor’s such a wonderful big man for TV. He rarely wins anything major in AEW, but whenever he’s in the ring, he always works just hard enough to feel truly dangerous and credible. In this bout, he structures most of it around his punches and how much stopping power his strikes are. And to that end, Roderick Strong puts in a beauty of a performance, selling and bumping for those big strikes when he could have just as easily stood there and traded. Roddy goes full sympathetic babyface here, really putting over the heaviness of those blows, and structuring all his comebacks around quick dodges and evasions of Taylor’s bulk in order to get his own shots in. The finish is pitch perfect in that regard too, that flash knee that’s been getting Roddy sudden victories make this feel like a match that Roddy survived instead of overcame.
Rating: ****
Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi vs. Kzy & Flamita (Dragongate The Gate of Destiny 11/3/24)
Reviewed: November 18, 2024
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere throughout the year, the relative lack of Dragongate in my recommendations this year comes down way more to them becoming a low priority in my viewing compared to everything else I cover. It’s not that the quality took a rapid decline or anything, I just got way more interested in everything else.
That said, coming back to it and this match rules. There’s an early heat segment, but the rest of it really is just that kind of classic Dragongate spectacle. Fast action of both the high flying variety but also with these brutal cut offs with Kzy’s elbows, all escalating and escalating without ever feeling too overindulgent. It does border on the excessive at times, especially when that finishing run doubles whatever time was given to the heat segment, but it moves at just the right kind of pace to never feel eye roll worthy.
Rating: ***¾
Ben-K, Mochizuki Jr, & Riiita vs. Luis Mante, HYO, & Jacky Kamei vs. Kota Minoura, ISHIN, & Jason Lee (Dragongate The Gate of Destiny 11/3/24)
Reviewed: November 18, 2024
Speaking as someone dropping in after months of absence, this probably doesn’t have quite the same emotional punch. Still, it’s pretty great. One of those delightful examples of what can happen when the machinery is clicking just right in Dragongate. I mostly mean that from bell to bell, with this having all that silky smooth fast-paced action offset with just enough character work to still make it all feel substantial. Z-Brats feel scummy without getting bogged down too much in their own heel tactics, and their actions facilitate big pops such as when the interference train gets reversed on them. Meanwhile, there’s great flashy moments like Jacky Kamei wiping out three men on a single sweep or all the close falls in the final stretch between Minoura and HYO. It moves pretty breathlessly and it’s a great watch for that. Watch the fireworks go off in the sky for this one, but don’t expect much else besides that.
Rating: ****
Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli & PAC (AEW Dynamite 11/6/24)
Reviewed: November 19, 2024
Holy fucking shit, YES.
Exactly the tone and vibe that I desperately need from these Death Rider tags. Incredibly urgent, violent, but without letting go of the core structures that make pro wrestling function so beautifully. It’s creating that sense of explosivity within those structures that separate this from so much else going on around it. Brilliant way to apply a babyface shine here with our heroes getting the jump at the entrance way, the brawl that follows feels chaotic and brutal too.
But then, the Death Riders seize control. They slow things down, but not in a way that feels boring, but rather in a way that feels oppressive and punishing. So great to let Cassidy’s fixation on YUTA be the opening the heels needed, and then after Cassidy’s performance as the face in peril is astonishing. Claudio’s so goddamn practiced at tossing around these tiny ex-CHIKARA boys and that natural chemistry comes to the fore once again as if we’re watching a BDK tag in 2011. The timing on Cassidy’s comebacks though! The struggle! The near miss when Claudio charges at him in the corner! The fucking roar of the crowd when Darby gets that hot tag, good god, it’s PRO FUCKING WRESTLING!
And then Darby? What’s even left to say about the fucking freak maniac? Even in small ways, creating new and interesting ways to make standard spots feel struggled against. Watch the way he crawls up the ropes to escape Claudio’s giant swing! AH!
One of the best TV tags of the year.
Rating: ****
Mistico, Atlantis Jr, & Mascara Dorada vs. Hechicero, Soberano Jr, & Angel de Oro (CMLL Super Viernes 11/8/24)
Reviewed: November 23, 2024
For most of this, it’s the kind of highly functional, breezy CMLL trios that we’ve all come to know and love. Interestingly, for reasons that would become clearer by the end, the first fall functions entirely as a contained narrative of its own. A brief babyface shine, interrupted by an ambush by the rudos, but then all the way around back to a very satisfying tecnico comeback. The full three acts in a single caida, and then the second feels similar. The tecnico flurry in the segunda is so good, with Atlantis Jr again demonstrating how great he is both on offense and defense as one of hte CMLL luchadors to bring a real sense of realism to the more stylized action the company. The real surprise of the match comes at the end of this bout when Kemalito gets very directly involved by breaking up Mistico’s La Mistico to open the submission victory for Hechicero. That’s what brings us the most memorable moment of the match: Kemonito (a newly minted worker under the mask) returns to CMLL to whoop Kemalito’s ass and it rocks. Great moment backed up by a great match before it.
Rating: ****
Red Energy vs. Sareee & Yurika Oka (Sendai Girls BIG SHOW in Niigata 11/9/24)
Reviewed: November 19, 2024
This one functions just off the backs of what each worker brings out of the rest. It’s not the most neatly structured thing–these joshi tags rarely are–but the character dynamics bring it to life. Sareee brings a lot of friction out of Iwata, for example, which is a scenario where Iwata feels most alive. Those two really scrap against each other and it’s some of the best stuff either woman does within Sendai Girls. Oka, meanwhile, is great as the underdog of the bunch, often eating shit at the hands of Takase and Iwata, but always finding these lovely little hope spots to make people believe. Her continued improvement and growth this year has been great to watch and it’s in having to work so hard in tags like these that she really gets to display how far she’s come.
Rating: ****
Roderick Strong vs. The Beast Mortos (AEW Collision 11/9/24)
Reviewed: November 19, 2024
A match like this really stands in contrast to how the Taylor/Roddy match from the week before functioned. Mortos just isn’t really that kind of clever, thoughtful wrestler who builds things carefully. With Mortos, it’s about pure brutality in the blitz. He comes at you at a relentless pace, and it’s all about survival. So yeah, it’s not quite as neat as the match the week before, but in terms of sheer watchability, there’s few better than Mortos. Besides, Roddy adds a little shape to this with his selling through much of the heat segment. But even he’s more of a blunt hammer than the week before. Just hitting his way through Mortos and once again getting that flash knee to get the win. It’s heavy handed, but with talent like this it works.
Rating: ***¾
Kemalito vs. Kemonito (CMLL Super Viernes 11/15/24)
Reviewed: November 23, 2024
Fuck yeah, dude.
It’s perhaps something of indictment on the rest of the roster that the best punches in the company all year came from these two, but it’s good to accept that blessing regardless where it comes from. Super simple stuff here done exceedingly well. Kemalito plays the dirty hand by jumping the blue man out the gate, and then it’s a back and forth struggle from there. Shoutout Kemalito for putting so much behind all his strikes too, there’s a nastiness to his stomps as well as both men’s punches in the back half of the match. Kemonito though gets to have the lion’s share of the shine with that truly wild tope he hits towards the end. On the replay it really does seem that he lands full on his head, crazy bump despite being on the offensive. This ends in a countout but even that feels well done with the two being inseparable from their brawl on the ramp and costing the both of them.
Seven minutes of all the simplest stuff pro wrestling gives us and done as well as you’d want.
Rating: ***¾
Mistico, Templario, & Neon vs. Averno, Zandokan Jr, & Difunto (CMLL Super Viernes 11/15/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
Another point in the column for the CMLL trios main event. What helps this one to stand out so strongly is the innate chemistry between Mistico and Averno. Even now, Averno may still be the top rudo that works best in the Mistico formula, bringing a real easy heel/face dynamic between them. But beyond that too, this benefits a lot from a fresh line up getting to tangle it up in a main event setting. Both Zandokan Jr & Difunto are great additions to the regular rotation of main eventers and they acquit themselves well here, bumping and stooging with the best of them, but still bringing a sense of danger and threat to their lengthy control segment. And speak of the rudo control, what a wonderful transition into it with the rudos catching Mistico mid-tope and then dropping him with the floor powerbomb. Beautiful pro wrestling from the home of lucha libre.
Rating: ****
Timothy Thatcher vs. Calvin Tankman (West Coast Pro King of Indies 2024 11/16/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
Thatcher’s always been expressive, but here he approaches Terry Funk territory in the best ways possible. Something about the big wind up on those uppercuts, the spaghetti legged selling, the way he makes sure to mug for the crowd even in this tiny room, it all feels like the best of the Funker. With Thatcher too, there’s a sharpness of offense that makes him still feel like a credible threat to the much larger Tankman. Thatcher goes for the leg which Tankman’s able to register in just the right way for a big man, never going overboard with the selling. Tankman’s own strikes rock and his shittalking, brash attitude add a lot to his overall persona as well. As a whole, a real classic story of a technician trying to pick apart a bigger man, and getting rocked in the jaw instead.
Rating: ****
Meiko Satomura & Manami vs. Sareee & Aja Kong (Sendai Girls Korakuen Hall 11/17/24)
Reviewed: November 17, 2024
One of the most purely enjoyable matches of the year. There’s such power to a rivalry like the one Meiko Satomura and Aja Kong had at the turn of the century, that it’s hard to diminish what they are to each other even as time bears down on them both. Aja’s not what she was, that’s true, but she applies herself so smartly here. Everything she does is so purposeful whether it’s being that irritant still in Meiko’s side after all these years or showing us flashes of that old monster when she’s bullying Manami.
Manami, for her part, puts in another strong performance here. Again, there’s pretty much no shtick, just straight on wrestling and she’s good at it! I enjoy her early skirmishes with Sareee, and she’s smart enough to still bump and show vulnerability against the likes of Aja. She’s a perfect sacrifice to be killed by Aja in the end too, taking some of the queen’s best hits. Meanwhile, Meiko and Sareee are delightful together. Meiko’s one of the few credible feeling opponents for Sareee and they feel so scrappy and aggressive together in the ring. Combined with the nostalgia hit of Meiko and Aja playing the hits, a real feel good piece of work on the Meiko retirement tour.
Rating: ****
Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus (WWE Raw 11/18/24)
Review: November 19, 2024
Real great hoss fight here built around back and forth power moves and meaty strikes. In that sense, it’s just a little less interesting than when these two have someone smaller and with a little more finesse to contrast their styles. But as far as banging your action figures together to make a compelling crash, this does it well enough. There’s some truly stunning stuff from Breakker here. His signature dive to the opponent seated on the announce desk, the big rana off the top, those are well-established at this point. But in other things too like the backdrop backstabber deep in the match, it really feels like Bron’s developing this incredibly explosive arsenal that will do well to keep his matches interesting and exciting. One does get the feeling the DQ in this robs us a little, and I do think it knocks things just a tad knowing that it felt like there was more yet to come, but this still stands out as an enjoyable heavyweight bombfest on Monday night TV.
Rating: ***¾
Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli (AEW Dynamite 11/20/24)
Reviewed: November 21, 2024
It could have been so easy to just send Claudio in there to throw Darby around. It’s the obvious dynamic that many already expected from it: a natural bump freak against one of wrestling’s great strongman bases.
Instead they work something more patient and all the richer for it. It’s a wrestling match to start, with Claudio unable to properly close the distance while Darby remains slippery. Very interestingly, they also display Darby’s ability to avoid the giant swing attempt–something that makes the eventual climax of the match all that richer. All that aside though, note all the ways Claudio’s forced to escalate in order to take Darby down. Meanwhile, all of Darby’s comebacks showcase his characteristic scrappiness and struggle–these hard-edged qualities that make him the perfect kind of hero to take on this devastating group of Death Riders.
But then, Claudio turns on the murder. It’s a beautiful thing, watching the killer instinct kick in after having displayed just how capable and threatening Darby was in a one-on-one fight. So Claudio finds this truly vicious streak–swinging Darby into the steps, military pressing him through the timekeeper’s table. Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah.
But even on top of that: the smarminess. Not even trying to get the pin then and there, Claudio aims for the count out like the pathetic, cowardly snake that Eddie Kingston warned us about. Darby valiantly beats the count, but bam, the lariat. Another mountain to climb for our hero, a skull on the killer’s belt.
Rating: ****
Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler YUTA (AEW Dynamite 11/20/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
I like that Cassidy didn’t make too big a deal of switching to a more serious tone for this rivalry with the Death Riders. He slipped into it so naturally but the memory of his more shtick-heavy work allows for greater contrast in matches like this. For example, when we remember those signature soft kicks from Cassidy, it stands out all the more when just fucking runs through YUTA with a penalty kick. Cassidy demonstrates clearly here his readiness for Moxley, not only flummoxing YUTA on the mat but matching the Death Rider’s grit with biting as well. There’s a lot of frustration Cassidy’s able to convey here, almost punishing YUTA, and YUTA getting dragged along and beaten once again leaves a lot left on the table to be explored from this pairing down the line.
Rating: ***¾
Big Boom! AJ vs. QT Marshall (AEW Full Gear: Zero Hour 11/23/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
Pure bullshit in the best way possible. Setting aside the TikTok of it all (I’m caught in that weird generational gray area of being hooked enough to the app while still finding the idea of it all kind of repulsive), it’s just straight up pro wrestling. QT’s always been a great stooge in these positions and he milks the most out of it: overcelebrating, cheating, taunting our hero’s family at ringside. AJ, for his credit, has a real great punch. Like holy shit, why is no one else on the program punching half as good as that? There’s no denying how enjoyable it all is, so neatly structured, and peaking so easily with something like Big Justice hitting that spear and driving the live crowd crazy. It’s simple, but it works.
Rating: ***¾
MJF vs. Roderick Strong (AEW Full Gear 11/23/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
For the second pay-per-view in a row, MJF continues to show improvement. I thought he was really actively good in this bout, combining a lot of the classical heel tropes that someone like Matt D. very lovingly shared with him via Twitter thread into something that functions on a 2024 pay-per-view. The early stalling, allowing himself to bump and stooge for Roddy’s big chops, and only finding the cheapest ways to get back in the advantage. I found his work in control strong, being focused on the arm, employing real classic feel-bad stuff like biting and eyepokes in a way that feel less showy and more true to the moment. And at the end too, only really squeaking by with that big win with a sudden Salt of the Earth, reflective of the flash knee that Roddy’s been winning his recent bouts with. All pretty great stuff and reason to keep an eye on MJF matches down the line.
Maybe not that Cole match though.
Rating: ****
Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander (AEW Full Gear 11/23/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
Mercedes truly functions best when she gets to be an evil goblin woman. There’s a lot of that here, showing that early aggression against Statlander, those vicious corner stomps, and finding all these ways to pester Stat throughout the match despite the size disadvantage. She’s so smug about it, finding all these little ways to get at the larger woman including that gross tijeras to the floor and then later all the attacks to the leg as well. Stat, for her part, delivers with some truly delightful bombs in this. So great to see her just try to crush Mercedes into dust for the most part while Mercedes plays the sneaky, dirty game around her. Not quite as exhilarating as the Willow match earlier in the year from Mercedes, but still another strong outing for the TBS Title.
Rating: ****
Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW Full Gear 11/23/24)
Reviewed: November 26, 2024
I’ve seen so much criticism about how odd the chemistry between these two feel and I just never have really understood it. Famed underdog babyface against a bruiser heel (who’s a bully even when playing a babyface as he did last year)? That’s just pro wrestling 101 to me, and OC and Moxley make it work once again with a fresh sense of urgency and brutality. OC going straight for the Orange Punches at the start not only speaks to the darker tone he’s been forced to take on while feuding with the Death Riders, it also plays as this fantastic atonement for Moxley similarly jumping Danielson at the pay-per-view last month.
The action feels brutal and weighty at every turn. OC gets the blood flowing and Mox applies the pressure, grinding the challenger down into the mat, working over the cut, battering him all across the ringside area. As he’s shown in the build up matches though, Cassidy’s more than willing to meet fire with fire and demonstrates a real grit here that feels totally earned by the occasion. He bites at Mox multiple times, rakes Mox’s skin, and basically faces the challenge of Moxley fully head on.
It does veer a little too much for my taste. I didn’t care for the strike exchange between these two in the final stretch, it felt too much like an abrupt shift in tone when so much of it felt so immediate and direct. The interference I had less trouble with than that even. If anything Willow’s big moment neutralizing Marina felt massive, and YUTA’s final attack to steal the match from Cassidy felt like a necessity to give us an answer to the question “What’s changed in a year’s time after Cassidy already climbed this mountain?” The answer, as it was in the Darby/Claudio match, is that one side of the rivalry is a lot more willing to steal a win than the other.
Rating: ****¼
Nia Jax vs. Bianca Belair (WWE Raw 11/25/24)
Review: November 26, 2024
Queen stays queen and Nia Jax delivers once again. No discrediting Bianca Belair though, it’s always a treat to see her get to apply herself with capable opponents in singles scenarios–something she’s had shockingly little chance to do of late. Bianca remains a perfect foil to Nia, bringing the power game against the heel’s size advantage. There’s real awe to be had seeing Bianca lift Nia up for a military press or using her cleverness and positioning to get Nia up in the turnbuckles to make it easy to set up the KOD. This is more bombfest than their Queen of the Ring bout, not helped by the commercial break cutting into Nia’s control segment (where I think her matches shine the most), but we do get a really delightful and explosive finishing stretch. Nia’s detestable as ever using Bianca’s braid to swing her about into the exposed turnbuckle and then later the steel steps, then getting a convincing count out tease with the announcer’s desk bump. But as any good heel, Nia celebrates too much and too soon and pays for her sins when Bayley slips in to help Bianca get the victory. Hearty TV wrestling from two of the best in the WWE.
Rating: ***¾
