Anarchy In The Arena II - AEW Double Or Nothing (28/5/23)

While I didn't think this was as great a match as the original, this still rocked and was the best thing on the PPV, mirroring the feud being the best thing on Dynamite this last quarter.  

For a chaotic match, lets do a chaotic style review.

What ruled:

• The effort on show.  All 8 guys busted their asses in the match
• Bryan finally wrestling for the first time in 3 months 
• The Elite hitting 4 Terminator suicide dives at the same time.
• So much blood.
• Hangman getting a pop for removing an eyepatch
• Matt doing the northern lights suplexes all the way down the ramp
• The Claudio/Matt sequence was a great showcase of Claudio being a beast with the giant swing into the bin and the piledriver onto the pick up truck.  
• I like how Omega and Mox was a pairing that was a through line during the match given all their history.  
• Matt Jackson getting the barefoot thumbtacks spot was bonkers and had me wincing
• Omega using the trash can lid as a shield and then Claudio swatting it out his hand
• The leafblower
• Bryan ordering Justin Roberts to give him his jacket and remembering the time Bryan got fired for choking Roberts out with his tie
• EXPLODING SUPERKICK TO MOX
• Bryan hitting both Omega and Page with the Busaiku Knees
• Mox telling Matt to fuck off like he's Logan Roy when he tried to break up his BCC elbows 
• Matt eating thumbtacks and then having them uppercuttered out.
• Omega and Hangman teaming up again and remembering their great tag team back in AEW's early years
• Wheeler Yuta getting the decisive pinfall and then being hoisted on Claudio's shoulders in celebration.  Despite teaming with three established stars, Yuta no longer feels like the young boy on his team.  

What prevented this from being as great as the original:

• Wild Thing on a loop was a fantastic addition to the first match.  The live band playing it a bunch of times didn't land as well this time.  Maybe if the band was better it wouldn't have been as bad.  
• There was a stronger babyface/heel dynamic last year.  You wanted to see The Jericho Appreciation Society get their asses kicked last year.  This year, BCC are playing the heels but they're too cool to hate. 
• It ends in a Don Callis interference angle.  Given how dominate and brutal BCC were all match, it's a bit of a weak finish.  

All things considered here, the pros outweight the cons and this was a really enjoyable main event that saved the show.  

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List 

WWE Night of Champions Review - 27/5/23

Or as it will forever be known in WrestlingClique lore, this is Blood Money IX

Seth Rollins Vs AJ Styles

To the surprise of no-one, I didn't enjoy this.  This match did nothing to address my two chief concerns going into the title decider of 1) Seth Rollins character still stinks and doesn't suit a world champion and 2) Seth was 100% winning so how would I fall for any AJ Styles nearfall during the match.   Seth Rollins dressing like Kat Slater and still acting like a buffoon this week didn't adhere me to him becoming a world champion again and I didn't bite on any AJ Styles nearfall,  More concerning is that I didn't even think the in-ring action was that up to scratch for what I expect out of these two.  Perhaps I've been spoiled with the last two weeks of the Best of the Super Juniors with the likes of Mike Bailey, Lio Rush and Titan performing high-end, fast paced action, but I felt like this match was running on 0.5 speed and there was zero intensity to what they were doing.  There was nothing about this that made it feel like it was high stakes or the biggest match either man has had in years - maybe if I'm being generous the suplex on the apron by AJ was a bit out of the ordinary, but that's about it.  WTF was up with that first curb stomp attempt where Seth just kinda stepped on AJ's hair.  This was two directionless guys fighting over a consolation prize.  This should have been Rollins Vs Balor and then it would have felt much bigger.

Becky Lynch Vs Trish Stratus 

Now for a match I have plenty of positives to talk about because I thought this was a blast.  Two great saudi enforced ring gears here with Becky in her Kill Bill getup, which suited the story to a tee as she's out for revenge, and Trish in gear that had 'THANK YOU TRISH' on that back that I found to be hilarious, obnoxious heel work.  While not everything was executed well in this match, I loved the effort and willingness on show here.  Becky coming out all guns blazing attacking Trish from the bell showed more personality in 1 second than we got in the entire Rollins/Styles match.  You gotta hand it to Trish.  She's not interesting in coming in for an easy nostalgia paycheck.  She's here to do something with a bit more depth to it and go back to that heel character that worked so well for her in 2004, but against better wrestlers.  She looked like she was having the time of her life out there catching up on the nights she missed out on in her career.  When she put the fish hooks into Becky and had her Treehouse Ned Flanders forced smiling I was howling with laughter.  She just gets it even if her coordination lets her down at times.  I think maybe it's better to retire the Stratisfaction now because the last few times she's done it, it hasn't come off well.  She absolutely nailed the Chick Kick though, just use that instead.  That thing she did through the ropes grabbing Becky with her legs was very impressive too, just a shame Becky bumped like a cartoon character into the post.  Trish's 'little things' were great all match, and the hair pull shortcut to escape the disarmher was such a good way to continue the match.    Putting her with Zoey Starks as her heater/apprentice is a booking move I'm way in favour of because Zoey can go in the ring but has no personality so Trish will be a great guiding hand through her first program.  Oh and the cherry on top, Becky got her nose busted open right at the end.  I loved this, looking forward to their rematch.  This got soooo close to my MOTYC list, but there were too many rough edges to get it on.  

Gunther Vs Mustafa Ali 

Remember when Ali challenged Theory for the US title in his hometown of Chicago and Theory just beat him?  When Ali came out and they showed the video package of him visiting Mecca and I saw how much the crowd were into him I thought fuck my boy Gunther is in big trouble here.  As much as I like Ali, I didn't want the great Gunther reign to end here because I know Vince has no trust in Ali and this would be a booking decision to appease one crowd so he'd drop the title straight away.  Thankfully Ali is WWE's Tim Henman and he just loves to let these partisan crowds down.   We got a concise version of the great Gunther match formula.  Ali got chopped, he bumped like crazy (how good was that big boot off the apron?) he got his hope spots in and I was worked by the 450 splash, but ultimately Gunther was too strong for him and he put him down with the powerbomb right before the 10 minute mark.  Again, another blast on this show.

Bianca Belair Vs Asuka

I don't have a tonne to say here as these two very good wrestlers had yet another very good wrestling match.  I didn't think this was as good as the Wrestlemania match, but still full of charm.  They've set the stall out on these two that they're both as talent as each other and this is probably the biggest test Bianca's ever faced during her long reign, but Wrestlemania proved that Bianca just has the edge.  Asuka therefore has to slip further into evil clown territory, go for the braid more and look for a killer mist spit that will seal the title for her.   There was an absolutely gorgeous counter from Asuka to transition a KOD into an Asuka lock.  The finish was really creative with the mist into the hand and then rubbing the mist into Bianca's eyes as she goes for the KOD.  This was the result this match needed as Bianca has nowhere else to go with this title reign and needed some adversary.  Asuka on the other hand would have been dead in this new gimmick if she lost a 2nd time to Bianca.   

Rhea Ripley Vs Natalya 

Swaggering about in a garish new hat Natalya seemed to say 'look at me Jeddah, I've got a new hat'.   I love that Dominik is now the only one that wears oversized t-shirts in the saudi womens matches.  Rhea beats up Natalya and pins her in a little over a minute.  Fucking awesome. 

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List 

Not quite, but that was perfection.  

Cody Rhodes Vs Brock Lesnar 

Not as good as the Backlash match because there was no blood, Cody didn't win and the crowd wasn't as into it as Puerto Rico was.  I also have a big issue with the finish because the babyface fading in a submission rather than tapping is so, so overplayed and a weak attempt at protection, and actually looks pretty dumb when it's a submission that isn't a choke.  Why would you pass out to a kimura?  If Cody can survive 4 minutes in a Kimura when he's got an injured arm then he needs to ask Vince if he can trade to UFC and win that world title instead.  Everything else about the match was cool.  Cody looked like a god on offence rattling off his Cody Cutters and Crossroads, and the cast gave his double axe handles and punches extra oomph.   I enjoyed Cody going for that rollup victory again only for Brock to survive it this time, and my eye caught that Cody kept scratching Brock's back while trying to escape the kimura, producing lines of white in Brock's purple back.  I'm not too disappointed in the result because this feels like a rivalry that will have a 3rd match probably with a big stipulation behind it.  That's the one Cody has to win.  

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Vs Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa 

The crowd are so into Sami Zayn it's incredible, and equally incredible is Roman getting wound up with the crowd's love of Sami so he starts shit talking the crowd.  I thought they played off Sami's reactions really well and built up to a great hot tag with him.  Owens and Roman have always been good opponents for each other, and the stunner rebounded into the spear was a great spot.  I loved Owens giving him a spear back later in the match too.  Michael Cole says it doesn't matter how Roman has reached 1,000 days, you just have to hand it to him for getting over the line in his title matches.  I wanna rip what little hair I have out.  No Cole, you don't have to hand it to him, stop burying the story here and diluting Roman's heat.  Fans should be livid that Roman keeps cheating to retain the title against top babyfaces, but WWE commentary keeps playing it down.  I can't imagine Mike Tenay saying 'you know what Don, you just gotta hand it to Jeff Jarrett, he deserves to be world champion after those guitar shots'.  

That aside, the Bloodline story continues to deliver when it matters most in key moments, and just like they nailed the Sami turn at the Rumble, they nailed the Jimmy Uso turn here while Jey continues to be the best actor in the company with his conflicted, stockholm syndrome personality.  In the end this was more about the angle than it was the really good tag match, because this might be the end of Owens and Zayn's part of this story as they celebrate with tag titles in the face of Roman, while we move onto the total dissolution of the Bloodline and see if Roman is able to retain the title now without The Usos help.

Not one of the strongest PLE we've had this year out of WWE, but still a good one.  

Cody Rhodes Vs Brock Lesnar - WWE Backlash (6/5/23)

Before we get to the match, it's necessary to talk about the show itself.  This was another home-run premium live event from WWE this year who continue to crush it for their big shows even if the week to week TV is skippable.  The big talking point on this show was the hot crowd with Backlash being held in Puerto Rico, their first major WWE event since New Years Revolution in 2005.  'Hot' crowd is doing them a disservice.  This is an all timer crowd that we'll probably be making reference to 10 years from now.  San Juan were even better than Chicago for Money In The Bank 2011 because they weren't just passionate for one wrestler and that carried through the event (although Bad Bunny came off like Elvis in Memphis) - they were passionate for every second of wrestling they could get that night.  The reaction to the ring announcements for Bianca Vs Iyo in the opener let you know you were in for a special night. 

The match I had circled on this show as something I needed to watch was Cody Vs Brock.  Not only did that sound like such a perfect combination of roles and styles on paper, red-hot babyface vs heel monster of all monsters, a modern day Sting Vs Vader, as well as a welcome change from Brock being in there with the big heavyweights, but Cody is in such an interesting position booking wise coming off the loss to Reigns that whichever way Vince decided to go with this result felt significant.  If Cody wins here, then things look good for him to still be the top babyface in WWE, if he was to lose then those are back to back bodyblows that in the viewers eye I'm not sure he could have recovered from to feel like a top star anymore.  I was strongly willing on Cody to win this match because he had everything to gain AND lose from this match whereas the result means nothing to Brock really - his spot is sown up until he's sick of the paycheck.  Whenever you have that level of personal anticipation for a match, and then it delivers, you end up really high voter on it so I wouldn't be shocked if some of you are surprised I haven't gone with Bianca/Iyo or Bunny/Priest as my favourite match of the night.  

This was the good version of Brock formula match, the one that doesn't just plug his opponents into the role of eat suplexes and F5s and we're done in 5 minutes.  This was the one that allows his opponent time to shine and for themes to develop.  I love Cody diving at Brock during his entrance to set up the pre-match beatdown.  Brock was a coward in his original attack of Cody on the post-mania Raw, so it felt just and deserved for Cody to get his own back and bash the steel steps into him multiple times and crack a chair over his back.  It's also a believable way to make the match more of a even playing ground as in a fair fight there's really no way Cody should be beating Brock.  Cody doesn't even have a technique advantage over Brock like Bryan used to good effect - the only advantage he has is his brain, his in-ring IQ to set up bear traps for Brock to stumble into.  

Brock catching the third disaster kick to deliver a mid-air german was a great cutoff spot, bettered 30 seconds later when he catches a crossbody and flings Cody behind him with a giant fall away slam.  I totally expected Brock to just do the simple, expected transition to the F5 in that spot but instead he broke out a fall away slam which was tremendous to see.  He goes into some typical Brock stuff with the back to back to back to back germans, but during this we get a glimpse of that fantastic Brock selling in between the germans where he's breathing heavy, red faced, pacing around slowly, still winded from Cody's attack.  He's got Cody down but he's not on cruise control.  

Of course we have to talk about Brock bleeding hard way after diving face first into the exposed turnbuckle cable.  BLOOD IN PUERTO RICO~!  All these guys and girls wearing white gear during the night and not bleeding - pffff.  Forget Carlito and Savio Vega, Brock gifted us with the real tribute to Puerto Rican wrestling.  I can't help but think of how much of a buzzkill it would have been if anyone else bled on this show and the refs had to halt the contest - Brock is literally the only one who could get away with gushing like this for WWE.  That second pop when the crowd see the blood start to pour from his forehead was excellent and then Cody not needing a second initiation by punching and kneeing Lesnar in the forehead was brilliant to see,   When Cody did the back to back Crossrhodes I thought that might be enough to win it, but then we go into Brock's version of overtime (passing the 10 minute mark) as he recovers to hit an F5s.  You really did fear the worst when that hit that because he's done it so often to just brush aside his opponents and win.  Great kickout by Cody.  Brock's face is a picture when he locks in the Kimura and the hard cam can pick him up screaming at Cody with blood all over his face, I'm gutted I couldn't find the better angle of it as my photo for the review.

Here's one criticism of the match though - I really didn't like the finish.  It didn't even come off like a clever fluke of a pin.  Cody just rolled forward, Brock didn't react and it was an anticlimactic finish as Cody raced to the back.  I think an audible should have been called to come up with something a bit better than that once it's turned into a bloodbath, but maybe, hoping against hope, that means Cody will eventually beat Brock in a non-fluky way to finish this feud up.  Lame finish aside, I think this is my favourite Brock match since the Finn Balor one 4 years ago.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Jonathan Gresham Vs Speedball Mike Bailey - Impact Wrestling (4/5/23)

Feels like ages since I've written anything for the blog.  In April I got married and went on my honeymoon (thank you for the well wishes on discord!) so I had nearly a 3 week stint of not watching any wrestling while I focused on more important matters.  I've tried to catch up a bit on recommended stuff I've missed, but nothing has grabbed me or felt interesting enough to write about.  Until now.

This week's episode of saw Speedball Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham have their 4th and (for now) blowoff match in their rivalry.  Gresham won the first match back in February with a roll up, Bailey responded with tapping out Gresham in a figure four at the Sacrifice PPV in March, and last month Tre Miguel spoiled the third match with a run-in to set up the recent 3 way X-Division title match in Canada.   While I'm annoyed that Impact, even in the midst of Josh Alexander going down with a serious injury, are reluctant to let these two fantastic wrestlers be near the top of their card, I am still down to watch two of 'my guys' go at it over and over again.  I really wish there was more of a story here than just a 'mutual respect' series matches because matches like that lack juice to take them to the next level, but there was at least some......idk tetchiness? here from Gresham who took umbrage at Bailey squeezing his hand too tightly in the handshake.  While both men are techinically babyfaces on this roster, Bailey is the pure as snow babyface, and Gresham is the guy that leans a little bit heel and is more desperate to win.

Where my interest really peaks in this match is when Gresham performs a couple of hard hitting arm drags and Speedball takes a little longer than normal to recover from them and starts shaking out his hand.  SPEEDBALL STARTS SELLING A LIMB THAT ISN'T HIS LEG~!  I've seen Speedball do his leg sell match match routine more than I've seen Gunther do his 'chop the ring post = hand sell' match, I've seen it more than I've seen Jon Moxley gush blood on national TV, I've seen it more than I've seen someone join the Bullet Club (happy 10 year anniversary btw).  Don't get me wrong, Bailey is amazing at working that style of match, but I've seen him do it so many times that it doesn't excite me because I know all the beats that are about to happen.  This excited me.  The hand injury meant that A) Bailey could still bring the textbook Speedball offence with 100% efficiency because his legs were in great condition and B) Bailey had a weakness that Gresham could attack

And attack it he did.  Gresham did some nasty joint manipulation work on Bailey's hand that the crowd went along with, 'oooo'ing and wincing in unison as Bailey's hand bent in positions it's not supposed to.  It pays off nicely when Gresham forces the hand down for a pin, and even though it's obviously not going to end the match, the idea is that it's forcing Bailey to weaken his own arm by pushing back on Gresham's weight to escape it.  I'm all about nerdy shit like that.  It really paid off at the end of the match where Gresham caught Speedball in the Octopus Stretch and Bailey had to immediately tap out to it.  Limb work matches are nice, but they really feel like they're worth your time when they connect up with the finish like this.  Gresham comes off like a total genius because his clear strategy worked; he didn't approach the match by worrying about neutralising Speedball's offence, he approached it by playing to his own strengths and what would aid his own moveset.  I prefer it in football when managers are brave and approach games thinking that about how their team's game can hurt the opponent, rather than worrying too much about what the opponent can do to them and so they self-sacrifice their attack and change the team in the hope of nullifying their opponent.....and half the time it doesn't work anyway.  I see so many wrestlers take on Bailey and switch up their own game to just attack his legs, and I'd much rather see people take the Gresham approach here, just be themselves against him and let Bailey worry about their game.  It's definitely more exciting that way from the fan perspective.      

Can you tell Tony Pulis used to manage my team? The scars run deep.

In keeping with all their other matches, this only scratches the surface of what these two are capable of and doesn't flirt with getting on my MOTYC list, but it's such a joy to see them stretch their legs for 10 minutes and still be the best thing on the show.   Carve out 10 minutes of your weekend to watch this, it'll be better than the Coronation.  

Wrestlemania 39 Night 1 Review - 1/4/23

I'm fired up after a great Wrestlemania Saturday show so here's my first ever full show review for the blog:

Austin Theory Vs John Cena 

Consider me worked in the very first match as I thought there was no way John Cena was going to lose when he came out with all the Make a Wish kids.  This felt like a decent way to open up the show in the moment, but actually on reflection it was probably the weakest (proper) match of night and ended with the heel picking up a cheap victory so it won't live long in the memory.  Both guys played their roles well in a basic match where Theory biting Cena a couple times was the lone highlight for me.  

Braun Strowman and Ricochet Vs Viking Raiders Vs Alpha Academy Vs Street Profits

What a wild, crazy, spotty, get your shit in multi-man tag that totally overdelivered.  Everyone got their moment to shine in this one with Viking Raiders crushing fools, Chad Gable performing a sensational chaos theory on Strowman, everyone going and failing top rope dives until Braun hit his and then Ricochet getting more height on a shooting star press than I've ever seen before.  On a normal Wrestlemania, this would be your token tag title match where you cram a bunch of teams onto the card but there's no story - I'm too tired to check every Wrestlemania card but this is probably better than 80% of tag title matches in mania history.   About as good of a tag team sprint as you'll see all year and I loved every second of this.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Logan Paul Vs Seth Rollins

Bit of a low man here on this as I thought this was more good than great and I think that has to do with my issues with Seth Rollins.  Logan Paul nails his character, he's the douchey, cocky heel who's taken to wrestling like a duck to water.  To get the maximum out of that it's best to partner him up against a likeable babyface.  I say this every PPV, but Seth Rollins is the most unlikeable babyface in the world, his character work is awful, I never want to see him win and therefore I didn't have a horse to root for in this one.  It's just two douches doing big spots to each other.  That being said, there were some great big spots in this one.  We're well acquainted with Chekhov's table in pro-wrestling - if someone sets up a table, the match can't end until the table has been broken.  Well now we've got Chekhov's Prime bottle mascot because it was obvious when that blue dude stayed at ringside that he was going to be an ally of Logan's and interfere.  The switcharoo table spot with KSI came off brilliantly.      

Damage Control Vs Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus 

This was pretty painful when Lita was in the match moving around like a 60 year old Keiji Muto, but wasn't too bad when she was just on the apron and let Becky do the heavy lifting.  Let's split the different and say this was an average match which isn't bad going considering it was the match the fans cared the least for going into the show.  They built to a Trish hot tag that worked out well enough, and the super Stratisfaction on the outside of the ring was a neat spot.  They made sure to give Io her moment to shine with the big moonsault out of the ring onto everyone which was cool.  I don't care too much about the booking of Damage Control, but in terms of in-ring output they almost always disappoint.  Bayley, Io and Dakota are all excellent wrestlers as individuals, but collectively it's not worked out for them as a unit.  Somehow the tag titles need to come off Becky and Lita, and I'm guessing whoever wins Sunday's 4 way tag will challenge in the near-future.   

Rey Mysterio Vs Dominik Mysterio 

This was nearly everything I want out of a Wrestlemania personal feud - I have to stop short of calling this perfect because of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch advertisements during the match.  There were a lot of other matches on the show which would have been more preferable to whore out for money, this cheapened what has been a very well built story and a key moment in Dominik's career.  

That gripe aside, this match was a lot of fun.  The entrances were worthy of Wrestlemania and stole the show in the entrance stakes.  Dominik's character work was great and he soaked up a tonne of heat from the crowd cutting off Rey's attacks and disrespecting his mom and sister in the front row.  I feared they might lean too much into melodrama in this match, but they didn't reach that point for me.  Interferences from Judgement Day, LWO and Bad Bunny didn't take away from the match and ensured this feud will continue, which is the right decision.  Dominik has obvious shortcomings as a wrestler, ones that wouldn't be as pounced on if his last name wasn't Mysterio, but with good booking and safe guiding hands in the ring he can, and is, an entertaining, over act on the show.     

Charlotte Flair Vs Rhea Ripley

I had massive reservations about this match purely on crowd investment.  I knew they had the chemistry in them to have a great match because they've walked up to that line before and had the best match across both nights of Wrestlemania 36, but this was essentially heel vs heel going into the match.  Rhea's matured a whole lot in those 3 years and is a totally different character, but is still chasing that first title win and can still play off that reliable story that she's the young-gun going up against the established veteran.  

Those reservations never really came into play because A) Rhea had good support from the WWE Universe in attendance so she came off as a de-facto babyface and B) They beat the shit out of each other to the point where you couldn't help but get into the match.  Sasha/Mercedes has the reputation of her matches having that chaotic energy to them where execution can fall on the messy side of things but it adds so much to the match.  I think Charlotte's underrated in that regard too, because she has a bunch of great matches in her career, and the tippy-top ones are those matches that feel like she's going off the rails and someone's in danger of getting hurt or busted open.   When Charlotte took that german suplex right on her face and presumably breaking some part of her nose, I yelped, and the match went to another level.  The slow-mo replays of that german were so-so good.  If the forum was still alive I'd make it my signature gif immediately.  I was jumping out of my seat at 4am in the morning at them trading vicious forearms at each other in ways that felt so real amongst a sea of modern Japanese wrestlers doing that spot in a soulless manner.  The super-Riptide to end things was a chefs kiss way to end this war and crown a new champion.  These two went out there to steal the show, and they definitely put on an excellent match that can stand up there with the best womens matches in mania history.   

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

The Miz Vs Pat McAfee 

I would have rather watched The Blue Prime Bottle and The Cinnamon Crunch Toast Emoji wrestle each other than endure this.  5 minutes that felt like a lifetime.  Death to the idea that you need 'cool off' matches on PPVs.  

The Usos Vs Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens 

Can we please drop that criticism that Sami Zayn should have won the world title in Montreal because all he was gonna get was a consolation tag title win and who cares about the tag titles.

80,000 fans in the area seemed to care about the tag titles.  Sami and Kevin in a state close to their hearts as seen on their ring gear seemed to care about them too.  

We can draw a line under Elimination Chamber now - it was the right call to have Sami lose.  Many underdog wrestlers have won the world title in memorable moments for WWE - Mick Foley, Eddie Guerrero, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston to name a few.  Sami and Kevin broke new ground in nearly 4 decades of Wrestlemania by winning the tag titles in the main event, while closing out a year long storyline in Sami's relationship with Jey Uso.  

The match itself broke the convention tag team rules and we jumped seamlessly from Sami face in peril segments to thrilling Reseda style tag action with Usos serving up superkick after superkick, to WWE style mid-match promos.  It was a beautiful tapestry of the careers of these two teams and the magic they're created in this storyline.  There were big nearfalls when Zayn kicked out of the 1D (which has never happened before) and when Owens survived the double splash that has served The Usos so well in many a tag title match.  This is why you protect your finishers so that they get the biggest impact when people kick out of them in big, career defining matches.      

Sami hit three helluva kicks on Jey to win the match and the scenes from the crowd were fantastic as 80,000 fans jumped off their seats in celebration.  It's the best end to a Wrestlemania since Seth Rollins' heist of the century back in 2015.  Especially in the wake of Supercard of Honor which was a great in-ring show but heavy on the heat with some ballsy booking decisions, it was such a joy to see the big babyface title win and the pay off to a year long story.   

For 'Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood' you really couldn't have scripted this show much better.  

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

It's hard to compare 2 day manias to 1 day manias, but this feels like one of the best modern mania shows in a long time.  I personally think it's the best one since mania 30.  I can't wait for Sunday.

Will Ospreay Vs Kenny Omega - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 (4/1/23)

  

Just a little bit of housekeeping here before mania week puts me too far behind in my 2023 viewing.  Ospreay/Omega feels like the biggest match this year I’ve not shared my views on, mainly because back in early January I was cranky as hell having just been diagnosed with a hernia and was not in the mood for the high-end athletic ability of Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega.  After Kenny’s great match with El Hijo Del Vikingo last week I was finally in the mood to revisit his big Dome Show encounter with Ospreay over the IWGP US Championship.

The first 80% of this match is absolutely fantastic and on another level to any other wrestling match I’ve seen this year.  

You know both guys are gonna bring flawless execution of their brand of wrestling to the table, but the bonus was they brought the aggression and petty hate to the match that was warranted after the shots fired leading up to Wrestle Kingdom.  A minute in they're already doing nasty bumps into the guard rail to go along with their high-octane offence - not a hint of a feeling out process at all in this one.  Omega works over the back for a while and Ospreay hits some of his regular routines, but then they start sprinkling in spots worthy of the biggest show of the year.  Omega does the Japanese table stomp spot to Ospreay, who retaliates with a suplex onto the metal frame of the underside of the table followed by a sensational corkscrew dive.

Where things reach the next level is Omega giving Ospreay a DDT onto the exposed turnbuckle which busted Ospreay open.  A huge spot which sets up the next chapter in this match - the butchering of Ospreay.  With blood streaming down his face, Ospreay then has his head repeatedly bashed into the broken table by Omega.  He then went on a parade of piledrivers, dragon suplexes and V-Triggers that reduced Ospreay to a lifeless ragdoll being flung around the ring without mercy.  Vicious Kenny is the best Kenny.

And then we come to the final 20% of this match where the match went in a direction I hated.  Despite hanging onto the match by a thread for the last 5 minutes since he got busted open, Ospreay then rallies to run through his finisher combos in a baffling comeback.....only to lose to Omega anyway.  I’m an Ospreay fan generally speaking, but I can’t stand his closing stretches where every match, regardless of his opponent, he insists on running through the Oscutter, Stormbreaker and Hidden Blade where the first couple will always be kicked out of.  It’s like a bastardised, modern version of Undertaker’s Chokeslam, Last Ride and Tombstone Piledriver nearfalls during streak matches – only Ospreay is doing it every match he has!!  I remember when the Hidden Blade was created as Ospreay’s death move and it concussed Ibushi in the Tokyo Dome, it was his Burning Hammer, and now he’s hitting the fucking thing 3 times a match and they always kick out of the first one.  I'll be here for another 1,000 words if I go into detail about how dumb the counter to the Oscutter looks. 

For me the ending of this match would have been so much better if Ospreay just toned down his ridiculous comeback, maybe limit it to one big hope spot, and he loses to Omega about 5 minutes earlier than he did to put over the blood loss and how on the ropes he looked.  To insert Ospreay’s ‘epic’ closing stretch actually turned an extraordinary match into an ordinary match.  In these moments Ospreay isn't a wrestler who reacts to the situation he's faced with.  He resorts to his instincts and empties his chamber when it's time to go home - and after years of watching him do in every match it all starts to ring hollow.  This is why I'm never quite all the way in with him and have to stop short of 'wrestler of the year' or 'match of the year' talk.  

That Kenny Omega though, he's off to a good start for 2023 wrestler of the year conversations.

So I don't know what to do with this match given how much I loved the majority of the action, but how irritating I found the ending.  I'm gonna add it to the MOTY ongoing list, but right at the bottom so it sets the standard of what to beat to make the list.  Typically I only add matches that are the whole package that I enjoyed from start to finish, but this is too good to write off.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Kenny Omega Vs El Hijo Del Vikingo - AEW Dyanmite 22/2/23

This was your quintessential popcorn/fireworks match where you park your brain for 20 minutes and just let yourself be wowed by the spectacle playing out in front of your eyes. 

I had no doubts that Vikingo would impress on his AEW debut.  His high flying spots are so unique and mind boggling that he was always going to get over with this crowd, especially with a seasoned pro in Kenny Omega as his dance partner to keep up with him.  The implosion rana about a minute in set the tone for the bonkers spots dotted throughout the match, the meteora through the ropes was fantastic, and the multiple dragon rana’s were crazy, and I thought he killed Omega when he countered the top rope powerbomb into a last-second super rana.  We’re talking about a guy that makes Fenix seem about as mobile as Kevin Nash post quad blow out. 

The step up-630 through the table was amazing and probably the pick of the highlight reel.  When Kenny set the table up so close to the apron, I knew it was for the signature Vikingo 630 dive, but that didn’t stop my jaw falling a little closer to the ground at how perfect it was.  I wasn’t around for Rey Mysterio bursting onto the scene in America in the mid 90s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is how it felt to live through that.

First impressions aren’t an issue for this guy, it’s when you’ve seen him for the 10^th and 11^th time and you’re looking for him to do something other than just all his big spots, something specific to the match and the challenge he’s facing and not just for his opponent to take his moves one after another and not impose themselves on the match.  Unfortunately he’s not always a hit.  I saw him have a match with Fenix last year at AAA which I thought was majorly disappointing because it was nothing but spots and it had no flow and a lot of stalling.  The spot heavy nature of this match worked because it was designed purely as a showcase of Vikingo's abilities, but if he's making more appearances in the future for AEW I think the fans will eventually want more substance out of him.

I have to give credit to Kenny here for being an able match for Vikingo, keeping up with that incredible pace, doing his part to make Vikingo look great by landing everything perfectly, putting some extra vinegar on his offence to make the match feel special and in general doing everything in his power to help make this sensational luchador a star in the US in one night.  Kenny in 2023 looks and feels back to his best.  I think this was better than any match he had during his AEW World title reign, and this is his 2^nd match on my MOTYC list already.  If I could get motivated to write up my thoughts on Omega/Ospreay he’d probably make that 3. 

Kenny won the match eventually at the 17 minute mark with the one winged angel, but Vikingo had won enough new fans along the way to not come away feeling like a loser.  If he wasn’t already a coveted booking on the indies (and beyond!), he certainly is now.  I really enjoyed Bandido’s first night in AEW against Chris Jericho last year, but this was another level.  If they ever bring in Vikingo again they can’t keep him on ice like they have done Bandido.

I would have preferred the Elite’s latest chapter of melodrama to have been saved for another week so that the show’s closing moments be centred on Vikingo with some kind of standing ovation from the crowd or Kenny giving him a sign of respect.  I found the ambulance joy-ride complete with the Scott Steiner sirens to be a hokey callback to the Attitude Era, and the Kenny/Hangman trust issues can get in the bin with Bray Wyatt’s Wrestlemania plans.  Surely Kenny’s gonna take a break from playing Resident Evil 4 this week to watch a replay of Don faking the Hangman attack.

Anyway, I’ll wrap this review up with a request to Tony Khan for the next AEW dream match:

Claudio Vs Vikingo.

Make it so.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

The Elite Vs House of Black - AEW Revolution (5/3/23)

Hopefully a quick review here as it's been 10 days since the PPV so no need to go too in-depth on a cold topic, but I'm determined to keep an updated MOTYC list this year.

This was a great lesson in tolerance because as many of you know, I do not like The House of Black's gimmick, but this was undeniably awesome.  I'm 34 years old now and I have no use for supernatural gimmicks in wrestling, and that's a firm stance I take whether it's Malakai Black's nonsense in AEW or Bray Wyatt's nonsense in WWE.  This means I really struggle to get into any program that Black, King or Murphy do in AEW because I either skip their vignettes or just roll my eyes through them, which is frustrating because I rate them all highly as workers and think the look of the act is good.  They're a super intimidating trio that all offer something different in the ring rather than being three stylistically similar wrestlers doing a bunch of triple team spots.  

I think that's why this match worked for me a lot more than the recent Elite trios matches against Death Triangle and Top Flight/AR Fox.   It wasn't just a 20 minute match where the action had the same beats regardless of who was in the ring, the action was specific to who was in the ring.  If Buddy was in the ring, he'd showcase his athleticism against the man he's clearly influenced by in Kenny Omega.  If Black was in the ring, he'd look to control things with his martial arts clinches and try to land a killer blow with a kick.  If Brody was in the ring, then the monster was in play.   Brody was the MVP of the match to me.  I think they did a grand job of making the guy look like a beast, the Elite sold for him like crazy when he was on offence, but he had that Vader like quality of selling so convincingly that he still looked like he could be beaten if the babyfaces landed the right combination of moves.  

A word on Julia Hart too.  The brainwashing mist that forced her to wear an eyepatch for months before she finally join The House of Black was really corny shit, but it's done wonders for her career.  She's now a solid part of the stable and has more upside in this gimmick than she ever had before in the Varsity Blondes gimmick.  A highlight of the match was Julia's bump off the accidental V-Trigger which Kenny brushed off like she was asking for it and he didn't give it a seconds thought or remorse about it - That was awesome, too many babyfaces fake concern for managers and valets who deserve to be caught in the crossfire. 

Where this match hit the next level was the nearfalls for either team before the finish.  These were better than nearfalls, these were believable finishes that worked me back and forth.  Firstly Omega eats the Black Mass and then Brody's Dante's Inferno and has to be saved by a Buck a piece.  When Brody does the suicide dive to take out both the Bucks and Omega yet again is staring down the barrel of a 3 on 1 onslaught, I thought the finish was coming as Black lined up the Black Mass, but the bucks made the save again.  Then came The Elite's big comeback with the superkicks and BTE-Trigger, and I was worked yet again that that was the finish.  Buddy Murphy countered the Meltzer Driver with a hellacious knee to Nick Jackson's face which set up the ultimate finish of the Dante's Inferno on Matt Jackson.  I didn't know which way they'd go when the match started, but The House of Black won me over big time as the trio I'm most interested in seeing in AEW and to crown them here felt like the right result.

If they keep delivering in the ring, I'll keep putting up with the Occult vignettes.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Kairi Vs Mercedes Moné - NJPW Battle of the Valley (18/2/23)

Mercedes Moné didn’t make a great first impression in NJPW.  The IWGP Womens title match before her debut lasted six minutes buried in the undercard just to let you know how important the division she’s joined is, her new music is a big downgrade and she completely blew hitting her new finisher on Kairi.  It was a lacklustre arrival after months of excited speculation that Sasha Banks was returning to wrestling and not with WWE.    

Thankfully in the never-ending world of pro-wrestling there’s always a chance to make a second impression.  At Battle of the Valley Mercedes challenged her former colleague Kairi for the newly established IWGP Womens title and even on a show headlined by the famous rivalry of Okada Vs Tanahashi, it was the womens match that felt like the main event - Echos of Takeover Brooklyn.   To the fans in the arena, Mercedes’ Tokyo Dome disappointment didn’t matter, she was a bonefide star and the reason they were live in attendance. 

Mercedes took the early advantage in the match, showing no-ring rust as she ran through some lucha inspired armdrags and threw Kairi into the turnbuckle posts before focusing in on the arm to reduce the impact of her cutlass backfist and insane elbow drop down the pike.  As popular as Mercedes is, once the bell rings she’s at her best when she’s a heel and here she leaned into those mannerisms that have served her well in the past.  Mercedes paid tribute to Hana Kimura in her entrance with the gas mask and furry boots, but as the match got more intense, Mercedes ripped off one of the furry boots and chucked it at Kairi. 

This wasn’t just the Moné show though.  Kairi put on a great performance throughout the match, incredible facials and selling to put over Mercedes offence, but when it was her time to attack she made her impact.  Her rolling spear was a highlight, her pirate march corner elbow is always over, and in kayfabe her ‘Anchor’ double leg submission really worked well against Mercedes who’s knees would have taken a self-inflicted pounding from the multiple meteora’s she went for in this high-stakes match.

As the match heated up, Mercedes paid tribute to her best friend with a Belly-to-Bayley nearfall which the fans loved.  I hate the three-amigos tribute spot to Eddie Guerrero, so when Kairi countered the third suplex into a nasty vertical drop DDT I was howling.    This match took place on the same day as The Elimination Chamber, so I was certainly not in the  mood to see more ref bumps in big matches when Mercedes pulled the referee in harms way to eat Kairi’s backfist.  Thankfully this one set up for a big set piece spot up on the ramp resulting in Kairi powerbombing Mercedes through a table with the chefs kiss of her celebrating by kicking Moné’s fake dollar bills from her entrance down to her limp body.  Kairi dragged Mercedes back into the ring and attempted the insane elbow, only for Mercedes to counter by raising her feet – a textbook counter to a top rope move you’ve seen 1,000 times but looked incredible this time around.  Case in point, this is followed up immediately by Mercedes doing a frog splash and Kairi getting her feet up which looked less impressive. 

After some lovely counter-wrestling, Mercedes was able to get Kairi into a Gory special position and float her over into a DDT for the Moné Maker to end the match and win the title.  There must have been some nerves from Mercedes about executing her new finisher after the botch inside the Tokyo Dome, but this time everything went swimmingly. 

Mercedes is in a really exciting time in her career.  She was already in my mind the best womens wrestler the US has ever seen even if WWE never fully appreciated her, but now she has the chance to break new ground by being a top level drawing star in the business and establishing the womens division in New Japan.  Selfishly for me it’ll be great to see her have all these fresh matches with great wrestlers from Stardom rather than get back on the WWE hamster wheel against the wrestlers she’s spent the last decade facing.  I always admire it when wrestlers bet on themselves and go for a fresh challenge (look at Jon Moxley), and in Moné I’ve no doubt this next chapter of her career will be a successful one. 

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Zack Sabre Jr Vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo (5/2/23)

How fitting that in the week that Lanny Poffo passed away, we were treated to yet another battle between these two former 'Champions of the British'

This was the first defence of Zack Sabre Jr's NJPW Television title after he became the inaugural champion at WrestleKingdom when he defeated Ren Narita in the tournament finals.   New Japan have had a chequered past with introducing new championships over the last decade.  The NEVER Openweight title originally was supposed to be defended exclusively on NJPW's NEVER events, before it quickly turned into an undercard title coveted by typical strong style wrestlers such as Katsuyori Shibata, Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii in show-stealing matches.  The IWGP United States Championship never really differentiated itself enough from the IWGP IC title as their US expansion stalled and both titles felt devalued by the existence of each other.  The NEVER Trios titles have been pretty worthless ever since their inception and the KOPW title was an pandemic era experiment that should have been abandoned by now.  By making 35-year old Zack Sabre Jr your first TV Champion instead of Ren Narita, and the next challenger being 47-year old Ishii, the early premise of the title being something for the younger wrestlers to challenge over already feels compromised.  What does give me hope that this title can find it's niche is in it's time limit rules.  By imposing a 15-minute time limit for every title match, it forces wrestlers to cut out the fat and the stalling of the house style and cut to the chase in a dramatic fashion.  I was a big fan of the 2012-2018 boom in New Japan, but have long since grown tired of the 30-40 minute epics that get served up for title matches in this company.  The main event of this show was Hiromu Vs Yoh for 30 minutes for example.  Who has time for that? 

Another cool aspect of this title is that all TV title matches are free to watch on NJ World without a subscription, so if you have a spare 15 minutes today there's no excuse not to check this out!

Zack is now the leader of The Mighty Don't Kneel, teaming up with Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste (remember TM61?) which feels like a step up after being an upper-tier guy in Suzuki-Gun since he joined the company six years ago.  He also now sports the famous WrestlingClique Orange and Black colour scheme 😉  I'm not certain this will ever lead to him becoming a top guy in the company, but it's a positive sign nevertheless that he has been given the opportunity to lead a faction and carve this title in his image.  

These two have met six times before in singles action, so by now both men should know what to expect from each other, but Ishii has a trick up his sleeve straight away with a cross armbreaker which transitioned into a kneebar.  Zack was thrown off guard slightly by Ishii's 'teckers' as he called it,  This later turned into Zack returning the favour and firing off some Ishii like chops in the corner to let him know two could play at that game.  

The match then settled down more into the styles clash we expect of these two.  Ishii brings the brutal strikes and Zack goes for the submission work and show-off pins and as the clock ticked on it was a battle of whether Zack could snatch a win before Ishii knocked him out.  I particularly enjoyed Ishii countered an arm wringer with a headbutt.  I don't want to see a code red become a staple part of Ishii's moveset, it felt a bit PWG-era John Cena for my liking, but it was a cool spot in isolation.  The last 3 minutes or so of the match you could feel the pace and intensity increase as Ishii knew he needed unload his big hitters now-or-never otherwise the title would stay with Zack in the event of a draw.  There was a good nearfall off the sliding lariat for a 2 count, before Zack countered the 2nd lariat attempt into a roll up.  Zack's offence is perfect for this TV title environment where a quick, sneaky pin out of nowhere doesn't feel like a deflating finish.  That's actually how I expected this match to go down, so I was surprised when the brainbuster was countered into a Zack Driver to end this one with 22 seconds left on the clock.  

It might not be the best match these two have ever had together, but I'll champion anything that proves you can have a great match within 15 minutes - ESPECIALLY in this company.  

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Mark Briscoe Vs Jay Lethal - AEW Dynamite (25/1/23)

Reach for the sky boy.

This was the Jay Briscoe tribute match between his brother and one of his closest friends after Warner Bros. Discovery finally saw sense and gave permission for AEW Dynamite to acknowledge The Briscoe Brothers and honour the life of Jay.

1. There’s elements of Jay Briscoes passing that have hit me differently to any other wrestling death I’ve experienced as a fan. Along with Brodie Lee, Jay Briscoe is one of the first wrestlers of 'our generation' to pass away. He's someone we've seen grown from teenager to man and that hits a little harder than a wrestler from the 1980s passing away. There's then the nature of the death and how we’re all susceptible to being in a car accident. This isn’t a wrestler dying from an overdose or what have you; This is something that could happen to anyone of us on any given day suddenly. Tell people you love them before you leave the house everyday, because there's no guarantee you'll be returning. There’s also the gutting sting in the tail that this happened on the eve of what could have been Jay Briscoe’s biggest mainstream run of his career. Jay’s career was already a huge ‘what if’ but now there’s another ‘what if’ to throw onto that pile with how the relaunch of ROH weekly programming on the back of a historic trilogy of matches with FTR could have taken his career to the next level. I think as much as the wrestling business offered Jay and his family, it also failed him. It should not have taken his death to get his name mentioned on national television, and there should be room in our society for people to learn from their mistakes and their ignorance and not be ostracised forever because of a horrible tweet nearly a decade ago. How can you not be impressed by Mark Briscoe this week with the strength and peace he is showing in the aftermath of a tragedy? There’s not a bone in his body that is angry about what has happened, not visibly anyway. I'm not about to turn this review into an Evangelist sermon, but as a lifelong Christian myself I'm still floored when I see this level of faith from people and how their faith helps pull them through the tough times in life. Caprice Coleman put it best in a video with Mark about how he thought everyone was coming to the arena to comfort Mark, but in the end it was Mark that comforted all of them and let them know everything was gonna be ok. Jay Lethal comes out to this match visibly choked up and fighting off the tears, probably how I expect most people would feel in his shoes, but then Mark comes out, fired up, holding up both original ROH tag team titles ready to put on a show for 'his boy'. Mark not only stole the show this week on Dynamite, his Eulogy at Jaymin's funeral was a sight to behold as well. What a guy. I know this is secondary to everything else, but the match rocked too. You can bet your house that an episode of Dynamite in 2023 will produce a very good match, and Mark and Lethal took the honour of match of the night this week. It shouldn’t go understated either that this would have been (to my knowledge) the first time Mark would have wrestled on live television in his career.

For the first minute of this match everything was very respectful, textbook wrestling drill stuff. But then Lethal threw in a cheapshot chop when backing out of the corner, and Mark responded with 'lets do this' and fired back with a chop of his own. The match then turned into a hard hitting scrap, something more befitting of a tribute to Jay Briscoe. Any newcomers to Mark Briscoe's work were treated to his Chicken style of Kung Fu. Don't let the squawking fool you, Mark chops just as hard as anyone in the business. I loved that Mark rolling out of the ring after the Lethal Injection gave the commentators the perfect excuse to bring out the classic story of Mark having the highest IQ of the ROH lockeroom. The froggy bow through the table was a great high spot that put over that this ain't your regular tribute match, this ain't Bret Hart having the sort of match he would have had with Owen against Benoit on Nitro. This is Mark Briscoe having the sort of match he did have Jay as kids wrestling on their trampoline in their backyard.

Mark winning with the Jay Driller was the obvious finish, but I loved how Mark had to go for it 4 or 5 times before it worked so that the payoff was even more satisfying. It came off like Mark was stubborn and fully committed to winning only via his brother's finisher, sometimes to his detriment when Lethal always had a counter for it.

Before I finish up, I want to give some praise on Ian and Caprice on commentary who I think masterfully nailed the tone of the evening while still calling the action as if it was just as important as their heart-felt tributes and stories about their friend Jay. I always enjoy those two guys together in ROH but here they were a perfect accompaniment for this match and they did Jay proud just as Mark did. I watched this match right after watching some of the Royal Rumble where I had to endure Pat McAfee ruining the event by bringing Michael Cole down to his childish, distracting, look at me everybody level, so I was in even more of an appreciative mood for good commentary and how it can enhance the work of the wrestlers in the ring.

I've nothing else to say but God Bless The Briscoe Brothers.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

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Bryan Danielson Vs Bandido - AEW Dynamite (18/1/23)

This was part of Bryan Danielson's series of matches that he has to win in order to receive his title match with MJF at Revolution.  There's not much surprise or drama in the result of these matches as Bryan is obvious going to keep winning otherwise the angle is dead, but I'm never gonna complain at an angle that involves weekly Danielson matches.  So far the best part of this angle is the variety of opponents Danielson is facing, going from the puro bomb throwing match last week against Konosuke Takeshita, to more of a lucha mat based style against Bandido this week, with more variety to come next week when he's the underdog against Brian Cage.  2022 saw Bryan work very samey types of matches against JAS members on a loop, so I am all in on this angle at the moment with Bryan branching out against guys he's never faced before.  

Excalibur on commentary put over Bryan's respect for the Mexican, llave, mat-based submission style of wrestling and how Blue Panther is his favourite Luchador.  I couldn't help but remember the interviews Bryan's done in the past where he claims the reason he grew his hair so long is because one day he wants to work apuestas matches in Mexico.  18 months after leaving WWE we're yet to see Bryan take a trip to Arena Mexico, so maybe this is as close to that apuestas match as we'll ever get from Bryan.

The words that come to mind about this match are 'heavy' and 'struggle'.  There were a lot of moments in the match where it felt like each guy had to deadlift their opponent into whatever armdrag or suplex or submission move they wanted to pull off.   There wasn't much obvious cooperation in this match that you sometimes get, especially when guys are trying to show off their technical ability, and I think a match is all the better for it when it looks like someone is actively trying to block or escape a move rather than go along for the ride.  The disadvantage of that approach means that the moves don't come off looking as perfect as they usually do, but I'll accept that trade.  You can still get some beautiful moments in amongst the messier moments.  That spot where Bryan's in a pin with his legs and arms tied up so he has to utilise his neck and body strength to lift himself off the mat was super impressive and has been stuck in my mind ever since I saw it.  

In the Bandido/Jericho match I reviewed last year, I wrote about how good that match was at showcasing Bandido's talents, particularly his surprising strength.  I actually think this match does a better job at highlighting Bandido's strength and control, especially when he had to adjust mid-hold for the delayed vertical suplex to turn Bryan from the Leaning Tower of Pisa into the Empire State Building.  I think this is one of the more well-rounded and frankly better performances I've ever seen out of Bandido.  The match had much more of a solid connective tissue to it and didn't just feel like a tiktok reel of his crazy highspots.  If I could get 50% less gun taunts I might just be jumping on the Bandido-Bandwagon after all these years.  

That theme of struggle in the match ran all the way to it's concluding moments when Bandido initially countered the Lebell Lock by lifting Bryan off the floor, only for Bryan to stubbornly fight back and push off of Bandido's thighs to escape seconds before hitting the Busaiku knee to end it just before the 18 minute mark.  AEW's had a good start to TV matches this year what with Bryan and Darby wrestling at least once a week and the huge Hangman/Moxley match last week, but this was my favourite offering from AEW so far in 2023.  

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List