@twf87
This week I did a lot of catching up on matches that I’d been meaning to watch for a while – Takashi Sugiura vs Katsuhiko Nakajima in Pro-Wrestling NOAH, the first round of the Seadlinnng Beyond the Sea tournament, and Stardom’s True Fight 2018 show. Sugiura vs Nakajima is well worth watching, Sugiura has been on a great run as GHC Champion, but Nakajima came so close to beating him. If it hadn’t been for his own cockiness getting the better of him he might just have done it. The first round Seadlinnng matches featured some excellent joshi matchups – honestly all four matches were great, but Hiroyo Matsumoto vs Nanae Takahashi and Rina Yamashita vs Arisa Nakajima were excellent. I wish Matsumoto had more of a chance to show off in the Mae Young Classic because she’s really a phenomenal wrestler. Stardom True Fight was a decent show overall, notable mainly for Kagetsu defeating Hana Kimura in a no-DQ title match that was as violet as Stardom matches really ever get. Hana didn’t give up but passed out in a submission hold, which opens up the possibility of a rematch down the line. In the main event Momo Watanabe defeated Mayu Iwatani, which means this calendar year Momo has beaten Io Shirai and Mayu, drawn with Kagetsu, and main evented six Korakuen Hall shows. She really has to be in contention for wrestler of the year.
I also watched the semi finals of the Mae Young Classic, which saw Toni Storm defeat Meiko Satomura and Io Shirai defeat Rhea Ripley to book a Japan v Australia final. The Storm-Meiko match was the better of the two, and even in defeat Meiko continued to look great. Io-Rhipley was good, but I still don’t think Io has completely gotten comfortable in a WWE ring. She’s faced Toni in Stardom before, so hopefully they will have a great match at Evolution. My prediction is a Toni Storm victory, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they give Io the push either.
@LauraNMauro
A wide range of wrestling for me this week, starting with NJPW’s Junior Tag League, which – thanks to work commitments – I have had to binge-watch to stop from falling behind. Unsurprisingly, Roppongi 3k are my picks to win, and Sho and Yoh look more and more polished with every outing – I love how Sho and Yoh fulfil very different roles within the team, not just in terms of ring style, but in their personalities too. It’s been interesting watching Sho get to grips with not being the only ‘big guy’ in the Junior division – Shingo is giving him a run for his money, and Sho seems to be displaying a heightened aggression in response. It’s all excellent stuff and I have high hopes for R3K, even if I suspect Bushi and Shingo may pip them to the post.
Next up was NXT, and the star of the show two weeks running (aside from Nikki Cross) has been Aleister Black. His comeback has restored some of the mystique and gravity that was lost during his title run, during which he played a clear second fiddle to the Ciampa/Gargano story – watching him kick ass without even pausing to ask questions was exactly what I wanted from Black, and it’s good to remind us that even as he ostensibly plays a face, he has a well-defined dark side. Please, though, can someone pay for poor William Regal to take a long, relaxing holiday – the poor man is looking distinctly ragged around the edges these days.
Elsewhere, NXT UK has started pretty strong, and while nothing this week was quite on the level of Pete Dunne vs Noam Dar there were still strong outings from Killer Kelly and Dakota Kai, and Zack Gibson continues to effortlessly draw abundant heat just by being Zack Gibson. It’s yet to fully hit its stride, I think, but it certainly seems to be heading in the right direction.
Speaking of UK brands – Rev Pro’s weekly televised World of Pro Wrestling show on Freesports has pleasantly surprised me with the overall quality of its production. The camera work is pretty good for the most part, and Kevin Kelly on commentary lends it a little polish and prestige – the backstage segments are also surprisingly well done for a small indie promotion. I hope WOPW draws a decent audience, because I think it’s doing a great job of showcasing how good British wrestling can be (take that, WoSW) And while it showcases overseas stars like Roppongi 3k and Colt Cabana, there’s also ample time given to the likes of Chris Brookes, El Phantasmo, Sha Samuels and other Rev Pro regulars.
Lastly to the Mae Young Classic, where Toni Storm and Meiko Satomura absolutely knocked it out of the park. I’d rate it a notch or so below last week’s Satomura/Martinez outing, but only because that felt like a stone cold classic – this was an incredible match from two accomplished, highly skilled wrestlers, and I’m glad the WWE audience has had the opportunity to witness how good women’s wrestling is outside of WWE’s limited scope. Shirai vs Ripley was a good match too, but it was never going to top Meiko and Toni – Ripley’s settled very well into her heel persona, and Shirai is obviously the real deal, if perhaps a little shaky in a WWE ring as yet. I don’t doubt she’ll adjust quickly, though, and a Storm/Shirai final is going to be a must-see.
@RoxBlackburn
I randomly woke up at 3 oclock on Tuesday morning as my neighbour’s house alarm was going off. I checked my phone had a bunch of notifications, loaded up Twitter and saw the news about Roman Reigns. I sat on the edge of my bed and said to my hubby ‘Oh my God, Romam Reigns has got Leukaemia’
As the week rolled on, the reality of this set in. What now for the Universal Title? More importantly, the living, breathing person behind this character is battling a life threatening illness. It hits home, it hits hard but the thing I’ve been most impressed with is the outpouring of love and support I’ve seen across the wrestling community. Seth Rollins face at the start of Raw this week was absolutely heart breaking.
At the end of Raw, The Shield won the tag titles but saw, what was arguably, the biggest heel turn in WWE in the last decade from Dean Ambrose. Was it the best time to do it? I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Raw and Smackdown this week were OK at best. I don’t think they could hope for anything more than that to be honest. The way they keep the machine rolling in the face of things like this is nothing short of amazing.
The Crown Jewel situation has also been hanging over us and whether we like or not, the conclusion has been reached and the show moves on. I hope the show goes off without a hitch and those boys come back safe and sound. I’m saying nothing more on the subject.
In dire need of light relief, I caught up on the Mixed Match Challenge and I’m so glad I did. I’ve absolutely loved it so far. Watch this space for a full review when it’s ended.
I also watched the Top 10 Money in the Bank cash ins and enjoyed a stroll down memory lane. I forgot how good some of them were, especially Edge and Seth Rollins.
All in all a mixed week in WWE world. It’ll be interesting to see what happens at WWE Evolution brings but the build up has been underwhelming and some of the matches on the card don’t make a whole lot of sense. But, it should be celebrated and watched because those women are badass and deserve this!
#TheRoxSays Get well soon Joe
@TheCiaranJames
Well hasn’t this been one of the most shocking and surreal weeks in wrestling since the Chris Benoit controversy. In the early hours of Tuesday morning I was awoken by a number of mobile notifications, they all contained roughly the same content. Roman Reigns, the current WWE Universal Champion was relinquishing his title and taking leave to battle Leukemia, a disease that he first fought 11 years ago. It’s safe to say that I, like every other wrestling fan was deeply saddened and shocked by this revelation, career criticism aside, my deepest sympathies are with Roman and his family.
In other news stemming from Monday’s programming, the long awaited Dean Ambrose heel turn finally happened, what was most critical was that it happened less than three hours after the Roman announcement. Depending on your thought process many saw this as a stroke of genius from WWE, or an ill timed move? You decide. For me personally the heel turn was one of WWE’s best decisions in the past 5 years; Dean can dig deep and play cruel, wicked, evil and psychotic like no other. 2019 could be the year of Dean Ambrose.
Once again the Saudi Arabian controversy rumbled on, with yet more revelations and the decision by WWE to go ahead with the show the critics were again out for blood. There was then the news that John Cena pulled out, therefore giving up his WWE World Cup place, the masses it seemed have rallied behind Cena, a move than can be viewed as both political and career motivated. It will be interesting to see if and how WWE react to this in house, with Cena being one of their biggest and most successful wrestlers ever, I will be shocked if they attempt to tarnish his reputation. My thoughts about Saudi Arabia were further hardened by a number of PW Torch podcast, featuring the ever entertaining and informative Wade Keller, Bruce Mitchell and Todd Martin. The three wise heads of PW Torch offered great talking points, informative discussion and great arguments about the pros and cons of WWE’s current business venture. Add to this WWE’s third quarter financial report which was released on 25/10, and you have a very lucrative insight into what makes the McMahon’s and WWE minds work in 2018.
As I write this I am on way to see Kamikaze ‘Broomsticks & Superkicks’ in Birmingham, a card with 8 top matches and featuring some of the best International and British talent available today. A full review will be available later on this week.
