We’re winding down with present day coverage this year as the holidays draw ever closer. I’d look to this being either the last (or second to last, if I’m inspired) Real of the year. Luckily, I’ll still be writing for BIG EGG and if you want even more from me, my compilation for Wrestling Playlists dropped recently. Subscribe to both those newsletters for a lot of great wrestling writing and keep an eye out on my social media for any updates on what’s next in the programming.
On to the Real…
Titan, Neon, & Star Jr vs. Villano III Jr, El Hijo del Villano III, & Valiente (CMLL Super Viernes 11/29/24)
Reviewed: December 11, 2024
Another in the long, long line of great CMLL trios. This one in particular stands out for a really strong rudo performance. It rocks seeing the Villanos work so in sync here, using gang tactics to overwhelm the tecnicos repeatedly, and busting out some of the best rudo bombs I’ve seen from CMLL this year. Every other moment has a great combo maneuever from the rudo side, notably everything that’s set up using the ramp as a runway. The tecnico side delivers too, of course. One’s always in for a good time when Neon gets the chance to strut his stuff–just silky smooth high flying that feels so at home in Arena Mexico. Big dives, cool moves, all anchored by the lovely CMLL trios formula.
Rating: ****
Mascara Sagrada NG vs. El Hijo del Fishman (Arena del Valle Lucha Libre 12/1/24)
Reviewed: December 11, 2024
Once again, these two deliver against each other in a bloody brawl. This one’s a lot more straightforward than their previous encounters this year. No extended finish, no extra gimmickry, and I think it’s for the better. Instead, they get to focus on the simple shit. Chops, punches, bleeding. It’s fantastic, a real gritty feeling pervades the whole thing which makes the more spectacular dives and bumps stand out even more. They appropriately set up an atmosphere where launching each other into chairs and just blasting each other in the face with headbutts and punches naturally leads to a tight finish. A concise brawl that’s well worth the watch.
Rating: ****
Flamita, U-T, & Strong Machine J vs. Ben-K, Mochizuki Jr, & Riiita (Dragongate King of Gate Final 12/3/24)
Reviewed: December 11, 2024
A (natural) good vibes Dragongate trios here with all the quick action and flashy fireworks that that entails. Of particular note here is GOLD CLASS’ fun control on U-T and then later on the great way that Riiita pushes the pace with his dazzling high flying. I’m not too in love with Mochizuki Jr’s finishing run, there’s a certain awkwardness to him that really stands out compared to the fluidity of everyone else in the ring, but that’s never enough to really ruin this. It’s mostly just a damn good time overall.
Rating: ***¾
YAMATO, Susumu Yokosuka, Kagetora, BxB Hulk, & Daiki Yanagiuchi vs. ISHIN, KAI, Jason Lee, Homare, & Yoshiki Kato (Dragongate King of Gate Final 12/3/24)
Reviewed: December 11, 2024
While I don’t care for the somewhat meandering crowd brawling to start, this match anchors itself on two really strong performances. Daiki Yanagiuchi puts in a really endearing turn as an underdog babyface trying to step up to the bullies of Z-BRATS. There’s a lot of fire in him, he hits a lot of great dives, and he’s just generally exactly what I want from a young Dragongate babyface. Meanwhile, Yoshiki Kato holds down the fort for the heel end of things. Where so much of the standard Dragongate heel act centers of interference and cheap tricks Kato stands out for primarily utilizing raw power. Great strikes, a killer lariat, and some great bombs allows him to really stand out in his return to the promotion.
Rating: ***¾
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King (AEW Dynamite 12/4/24)
Reviewed: December 5, 2024
These two wrestled in the C2 last year as well, but with the face/heel dynamics reversed. In this instance though, they feel much more attuned with each other as Brody really excels in matches where he needn’t dictate the pace, and having Claudio work in control works out really well here. Instead of going power for power and strike for strike too often, Claudio leans into his heel tendencies to try and exploit a weakness instead in Brody’s hand. Brody’s selling is decent but imperfect, especially when his strikes somehow sound even better at the end of the match when his hand’s been worked on hard, chock it up to adrenaline I guess. That said, there’s enough selling there to add gravity to the hand attack by Claudio, and it’s clear that the attack debilitates just enough of Brody’s momentum to afford Claudio multiple openings. The finish works extremely well too with Claudio once again attempting the floor attack into lariat tactic but Brody intercepting instead. That forces Claudio to take an even dirtier play with the low blow, making him a great early villain in the tournament to slay.
Rating: ****
Daniel Garcia vs. The Beast Mortos (AEW Rampage 12/6/24)
Reviewed: December 8, 2024
A clip from Garcia’s match with Okada made the rounds recently. It showed Garcia being pulled to his feet by fans in the front row, and many people (Garcia himself included) rightly drew parallels to Bryan Danielson in a similar moment. In this match, Garcia feels like he’s drawing from Mark Briscoe instead. Watch him while selling during Mortos’ control, Garcia keeps moving to the ropes. It serves a double purpose: not only keeping safe from pinfall attempts while taking a beating, but allowing him to appeal directly to the crowd to earn their love and sympathy. It’s one of many small touches Garcia brings to this bout, but also one of the most powerful. Here’s a wrestler deeply invested in creating lasting connections with the audience through the most powerful way–through pro wrestling itself.
As great as Garcia is, Mortos is Mortos, both for better and worse. As I’ve written about him before, Mortos’ talent is creating explosive offensive momentum. Garcia works around this well early by focusing and ducking and dodging, but when Mortos is left to his own devices to lead a match, he can tend to falter. It’s never bad, but it’s rarely anything that feels focused or emotionally driven, which means this ends up right at around Mortos’ ceiling instead of letting Garcia transcend the match as a whole.
Rating: ***¾
Darby Allin vs. Komander (AEW Collision 12/7/24)
Reviewed: December , 2024
In a year chock full of them, this feels like one of Darby Allin’s most impressive performances. There’s such a variety to what he offers here that adds to the shockingly rich dynamic that these two pull off together. As much as the Darby Death version might be the most exhilerating aspect to the guy, I find myself even more fascinated and enthralled by the early moments where Darby works in control. He so rarely gets to demonstrate that ability as the perpetual smaller man but against a fellow cruiserweight-style worker, Darby is the one working to ground and control the pace. I love him working to keep Komander down on the mat, returning to a basic headlock to keep things steady, all the while Komander keeping up on the mat while still trying to break through with his quickness.
Then, the Darby death. Even when anticipating it, it catches you by surprise. The sheer force he hits that chair with on the failed tope. The insanity of taking the apron bump on the monkey flip on a single leg before crashing to the floor. Just truly wild stuff that justifiably allow Darby to really flex his ability to sell in a believable way against a similar sized opponent. Even with that though, they’re still able to maintain this really sporting tone and pace with small spots like the knocking of heads in the corner to demonstrate how evenly matched both men are.
Another fantastic TV bout from one of the best in the world and a strong TV worker that deserves way more opportunity.
Rating: ****
Team 200kg vs. Sareee & Mika Iwata (Sendai Girls BIG SHOW in Sendai 12/8/24)
Reviewed: December 11, 2024
The highlight of this are the Sareee and Hashimoto interactions. Those two are just wonderful together, throwing these big live rounds and just gritting through it. Fantastic stuff between those two. Everything else flows really well too. 200kg do a great job of keeping the action flowing while in control, utilizing their size and strength to their advantage. Iwata takes the brunt of the beating here, and it’s probably for the best. I’m not in love with her superkicks-based transitions and offense, but what she does land looks good here and it never gets too annoying especially with Chihiro and Sareee pretty firmly in the driver’s seats of their respective teams.
Rating: ****
