11/22/82 WWF: Tiger Mask vs. Jose Estrada 9:42.
ML: The speed on display in a few bursts is really off the charts compared to other American wrestling of the era. The match was mostly technical wrestling though, as that gives Tiger the easiest opportunity to incorporate his gymnastics into the action without it becoming too ridiculously implausible. Tiger had already worked with Estrade in New Japan, but this was likely tamer and more grounded action, with Estrada largely avoiding Tiger's most spectacular stuff, keeping him from doing a dive and getting out of the way of his senton atomico. Tiger actually wound up winning with a mere high cross body, even if he threw in a cartwheel first. Estrada isn't what one would think of as a junior stylist, probably even by early 80s standards, but he's a fundamentally sound wrestler. He can do all the solid but unspectacular stuff well, and with Tiger adding the flash, it became quite entertaining for what it is. Granted, that's basically an enhancement match, but a showcase for the most spectacular wrestler of the era is still a lot more entertaining than a match between the typical dullards where the outcome is in doubt. There was a cool spot where Estrada dropped Tiger with a punch in the stomach then Tiger did a kip up into a jumping spinning solebutt that Estrada avoided. Later, Tiger landed on his feet for a back body drop and this time hit the flashy kick. Similarly, Estrada threw Tiger off his shoulders to avoid a huracarrana, but Tiger landed on his feet and dropkicked him to the floor. There were some rest holds in between, and Estrada of course didn't do anything amazing, but this was still futuristic for an American match of the era even if bottom rung for Sayama.

10/18/25 UFC: Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos vs. Danny Barlow 3R
ML: A close fight with an excellent 2nd round, though the other two rounds were just okay. Santos distracted with tons of hand movement while largely landing the inside leg kick early. He wasn't as clean or as powerful a striker, so keeping it unorthodox was helpful. This round was kind of uneventful though. Both fighters were accurate, throwing 49 strikes, with Barlow outlanding 32 to 27. Barlow had more on his punches, and was able to knock Santos' mouthpiece out with a left straight early in the 2nd. Barlow had another good left straight right after the ref let Santos reinsert his mouthpiece, and was doing a much better job of landing powerful lefts throughout the round. Barlow was pouring it on in the later stages of the 2nd. Santos started firing back big, and was able to turn the tide. With 30 seconds remaining, he wobbled Barlow with a right. Santos was thinking about finishing, but Barlow landed a couple big shots to prove he was still in this. I'm not sure how to score this round, as Barlow was more consistent and had more time when he was clearly the dominant fighter, but Santos hurt Barlow more, and presumably came closer to finishing. Santos started the 3rd strong, but slipped throwing a high kick, and it took a while for him to get his momentum back. Barlow slipped when both threw low kicks though, and accepted the bottom. Even though Barlow got back up, allowing over a minute to run off the clock in a fight that was likely a round a piece wasn't a very good idea. Barlow only landed 16 of his 93 strikes in the third, so while both men had an argument for the first two, the third round was very clearly Santos'. Everyone had it 29-28 Santos, but only Jake Maxim gave Barlow round 1, which is the round I thought he won. Good match.

4/1/2022 ROH, ROH Tag Title Match: The Briscoes vs. FTR 27:25
PA: This was one of the more interesting matches because it was two teams who came off as authentic and old school without being cheap imitations. They prided themselves on being the best at what they did, and when you look at their individual styles, they were. They weren't interested in stunt shows and gymnastic routines. They were interested in the struggle, the fight, the classic wrestling match you never get to see anymore. That's why it was one of the few so-called dream matches that was actually intriguing. The build up was cold. They couldn’t do anything on TV and had no help from the promotion, it was all done on Twitter. FTR had mostly been buried at this point, and the Briscoes weren’t allowed to appear in AEW, yet the crowd still chanted "holy shit" before they even locked up. FTR had to play the heels. That was the classic role for them, and they were in the Briscoes' home of ROH. They established that well enough by refusing the handshake, and a few minutes later when Dax spat in Jay's face, which got a huge reaction. They went with the slow start, building to the long, classic match, which was all they could have done given that this was basically taking place within a vacuum, but the important thing is they did it well. They worked the crowd and made them part of the match instead of doing a pre-planned, memorized routine. The basic wrestling, the tie-ups and headlocks, were snug and looked like they meant it. They started with Mark and Cash; there was a little redneck kung-fu from Mark, but not much else in the early going. Then it was over to Jay and Dax, where all the heat was between them, and they followed suit. They did basically nothing in the first five minutes. They didn't need to. After the spit, Jay came back and quickened the pace with his wrestling, dumping Dax, who lost it and threw a chair in that the referee caught. The commentators did an excellent job explaining what was going on: That you expected them to be brawling, but they were wrestling because their opponents were ready for the strikes, and it was about maintaining your cool. After the bursts of action, there was a chop battle between Mark and Dax, which are usually awful, but this one wasn't, and it ended with Dax just punching Mark in the face when he'd had enough which is how any good heel would end it. And when you thought FTR were going to settle into a heat segment, the Briscoes got the upper hand, double-teaming and dumping FTR with Jay following up with a cannonball and Mark doing the Cactus Jack elbow, leading to the out-of-control brawl on the outside as everyone lost their composure, which they'd been building to the whole time. FTR scrapped their way back in and used their double-teaming, ending with Jay getting catapulted underneath a table, which was actually a creative way of using a table. Jay juiced, and in the ring, FTR did a great heat segment on Jay as he bled. It was vicious. Jay tried to fight back the whole time, but they kept cutting him off. Eventually he got the hot tag to Mark and made the big comeback, thwarted a double team, and built up a great near fall with Redneck Boogie. Then it was FTR's turn when Dax came back in bleeding and got rid of Mark, hitting a slingshot powerbomb and a big splash for a big near fall on Jay. The crowd were going crazy. FTR went for the Big Rig, but the Briscoes foiled that and hit their own version for another big two count. They fought out again, and after a couple of floor bumps, Jay gave Dax a brutal suplex from the apron to the floor, but everyone laid there dead on the outside. You see this in every so-called epic match, but here it was actually called for, the doctor even came over to check on them. It took two minutes for them to get back in the ring, and they all fought again. The crowd were losing their minds, but even still, I didn’t like this part, but I did like the finish from the point where Mark ended up corkscrewing onto Cash on the outside, leaving Dax and Jay to settle it in the ring. They just punched each other down, with neither wanting to quit. This was the best part of that segment, and you got the sense that this was the Briscoes' big chance with Cash incapacitated. Jay ended up hitting a neckbreaker and Mark hit a froggy bow for their last big two count. They went for the Doomsday Device on Dax, barely able to get him up for it. Cash returned and Mark fought him off, but Dax rolled forward and Mark missed. Dax quickly dumped Jay, and they immediately hit a Big Rig on Mark to win. The aftermath saw them all hug, which in hindsight they shouldn't have done, but at this point it was a one-and-done. We didn't think we'd be getting a trilogy. We didn't even know if we'd see the Briscoes again in ROH or what Tony was going to do with it after this event. And that's the point to stop the video, because the Young Bucks came out afterward just to attempt to steal the thunder and leave a sour taste on the whole thing, reminding you that ROH is nothing more than an AEW feeder system. They did their superkicks and cut their typically bad promo, which set up FTR vs. The Young Bucks on Dynamite. That ended up being a high-quality match, but it didn't need to be built up on an ROH PPV. In any case, this was the best tag team match in years. It wasn’t filled with hot moves, and constant action. It was a slower style, it looked like a fight, everyone sold appropriately and properly, and was paced out well. Everyone looked like they'd been through a war afterward. ****1/2

7/23/2022 ROH, 2/3 Falls, ROH Tag Title Match: FTR vs. The Briscoes 16:33, 13:00, 13:56
PA: After the classic first encounter, the next ROH PPV saw the rematch because the fans wanted it and Tony had nothing else interesting he could book that would sell tickets, so it was Dem Boys vs. FTR again, despite having the same problem the first match had where they couldn't build it up on AEW TV. Dax cut an incredible promo on Dynamite the week before the show, and the two teams did a good sit-down segment that was only shown on YouTube, but at least it was something. How were they going to top the first match? Well, they couldn't. They made it two out of three falls and went 15 minutes longer than the first one, which wasn't a good thing. At a total run time of over 43 minutes, this was in NJPW main event length territory, and to their credit, where those NJ epics are just a slog to get through, the 43 minutes here flew by. It was built in such a way that you weren't tired of it and waiting for it to be over. Another difference was the roles. FTR were babyfaces at this point, and this was very much an AEW crowd who weren't so familiar with the Briscoes. The crowd this time didn't add anything to the atmosphere. It was a babyface match, with the Briscoes taking the heel role, which worked. They took their time building it, and it was really good, solid wrestling in the first fall. The Briscoes dominated almost all of it. They got some heat on Cash, and Cash made a cold tag to Dax. Dax made a nice comeback, but the Briscoes took back over when they could use their teamwork. The finishing run was really good, but Dax was mostly fighting on his own, and that was only going to last so long, with the Briscoes taking the fall with a Doomsday Device. They kicked things up a gear in the second fall with the Briscoes continuing their dominance but ramping up the violence. This time Dax was isolated. Mark killed him with chops on the outside and Dax started bleeding from the chest. Dax eventually fought back and tried to make the hot tag to Cash, but Mark ran around and pulled Cash off the apron, which got some heat from the crowd. They worked over Dax for a few more minutes before he finally made the hot tag. The crowd finally came to life as they got cooking for another finishing run, which saw it all break down. Dax and Jay brawled on the outside while Cash tried to finish off Mark in the ring. Jay got the best of Dax, then grabbed the ring bell and cracked Cash in the head with it when he was between the ropes. Cash juiced, and at this point it actually looked like the Briscoes were going to take the second fall. They had everything under control until FTR made a perfect blind tag when Jay pushed Cash back to the ropes and Dax tagged in, and they went straight into a Big Rig to steal the fall. Thirty minutes had ticked by, but it felt like fifteen. They hadn't done a great deal. They'd done enough and it all meant something. The third fall was the climax. It started out great with Cash and Mark, both bleeding at this point, going at each other. Everyone was selling and struggling, but the war continued. The referee got nailed by "accident," except Paul Turner wasn't in position and Dax basically had to change direction to nail him, which just looked like he did it on purpose. This was where the third fall couldn't match the quality of what they'd built. The quality was still very good, but it got sloppy and contrived at times. Jay hit a Jay Driller for a visual pin, but the referee was knocked out. So there was the Briscoes' out. They set up for the Doomsday Device again. Cash missed his cue to save it and Dax was looking around confused, wondering where he was, then salvaged the whole thing by screaming, "Cash, please push him," as if it was a life-or-death situation. I was much more mixed on the third fall than the previous two, but it had some great moments. FTR hit a Big Rig and threw the referee in for a great near fall, and they'd even got the lousy crowd into it in a huge way by this point. The Briscoes hit another Doomsday Device, but Cash saved the pin. Jay and Dax peppered each other, with Dax getting hardwayed. The Briscoes did double camel clutches with FTR grabbing each other's hands so they couldn't tap out. They finished things with the huge bumps. Jay looked for a Jay Driller on Dax with Mark going up to spike him, but Cash ran up the apron and backdrop suplexed him from the turnbuckle through a table, and those two were finished. So it was just down to Dax vs. Jay. Jay hit the Jay Driller for a two count. He tried it again but Dax was limp. Jay tried to muscle him up, but Dax boosted him onto the turnbuckle. They struggled up there for way too long, a full minute, and Dax hit a piledriver from the middle rope and that was the end of that. This was a masterclass in building a long match. It never got tiring, they saved their biggest moves for last, and the psychology was always on point. It certainly went longer than it needed to, and it would have benefited by being shortened by at least ten minutes. But it was an excellent match and didn't disappoint. ****

12/10/2022 ROH, Double Dog Collar, ROH Tag Title Match: FTR vs. The Briscoes 22:30
PA: The third ROH PPV under Tony Khan's watch, and the third one-match show with FTR and Dem Boys carrying the whole card one more time. As with the first two, the promotion this got was a joke. This time, the Ass Boys delivered a message from the Briscoes on Dynamite to set the match up less than 72 hours before the show. After two completely different wrestling matches, this was the gimmick match, and they did that better than anyone else. It was a brawl with tables and chairs, but it wasn't a garbage match. They brawled with intensity and did so credibly. Everything they did looked good. They showed the animosity the rivalry called for, and it wasn't a contrived mess. All things absent from any Jon Moxley match, or any other garbage match we see regularly on AEW television, where it's just a contrived, phony-looking stunt show, even though in a lot of cases the guys are really hurting each other with spots that have nothing to do with wrestling in the first place. The crowd were much more hyped this time around, which helped them out. There was no slow start this time, they went straight into the wild brawl and everyone looked completely out of control. Cash was collared to Mark, while Dax and Jay were paired up. Mark was bleeding within the first minute, chairs were flying, there was brawling outside the ring and all over the building. Dax and Jay worked their way into the ring, and Jay gave him a nasty beating as things slowed down a little. Mark tried to help Jay after he'd taken care of Cash, but Cash cut him off by yanking on the chain. Then it was FTR's turn to take over. They hit a chain-assisted Doomsday Device for a near fall. Everyone juiced, the brawl continued. They did some wrestling moves, but the chain, while they used it well, was always going to hinder any actual wrestling because the chain isn't going to cooperate. There was the odd thing that didn't work, like Dax trying to wrap the chain around his head to do a headbutt. They made up for the ref bump spot in the previous match by doing an excellent one here. Dax was hammering away on Jay so he pulled the referee in and Dax blasted him, and now Mike Posey was bleeding as well, because why not. And here, it didn't hinder anything, it just looked like a desperation move and added to it. Dax showing concern for busting open the ref allowed Jay to come back. Mark thought he'd taken out Cash again, and the Briscoes tried to set up for another Doomsday Device, but Cash hurled him off the turnbuckle into a big pile of chairs on the floor. That appeared to be those two done, in similar fashion to the previous match. Jay hit a Jay Driller for a near fall on Dax and wore him out with a chair. Cash made it back in, but he couldn't do anything. Another Jay Driller attempt, but Dax low-blowed him. He hit a piledriver on a chair for a near fall. They'd slowed down a lot here, selling the fatigue. Cash moved the pile of chairs from ringside into the ring, and Dax tried to do the piledriver from the top rope onto the pile, but Jay slipped out and got revenge for the low blow. He superplexed Dax onto the pile. Dax survived that, but Mark finally woke up and held Cash off while Jay just choked Dax out until he submitted. This was exactly what it should have been. A grudge match that looked like a grudge between two teams who didn't like each other. It wasn't filled with hot moves and packed with near falls because that wasn't the point. When they did the near falls, the people bought them. The first part and the finishing run were certainly the best of what we got here, with the middle dragging things down slightly, but there was always enough going on that it kept its interest. Everyone was excellent, and while much of the action was centered on Dax and Jay, Mark in the secondary role probably stood out the most through his segments with Cash. They had to do another post-match angle, because Tony just can't let anything be. So you had the respect from FTR and the Briscoes, which was great and finally earned. They’d bled together, knocked each others teeth out and beat the shit out of each other, and they could finally respect each other. But, then the Ass Boys, who no one could possibly care about, jumped FTR and the Briscoes ran them off. In a vacuum, it’s the weakest of the three matches, but it’s still a fantastic brawl and served as an appropriate finale to their rivalry, and sadly, it was the second last match of Jay’s career before he was tragically killed six weeks later. ***3/4

10/3/25 CMLL, ROH World Title: Bandido vs. Hechicero 22:50
ML: A much tighter, more cohesive and effective match that improved on their more praised 8/29/25 ROH match in almost every way. The ideas where along the same lines, Hechicero's technical wrestling and Bandido selling an injury, but they organized things better, and told the injury story in a much more credible manner. This was just a lot more energetic since they didn't have a ridiculous amount of time to fill. Without all the padding, they were able to keep things moving, and allow it to unfold in a lot more natural and believable manner. Hechicero carried things again, but Bandido had enough answers, and his flashy offense was effective without coming off as too slow and unreasonable. This started as a good purely technical match, and evolved reasonably out of that. Bandido showed competency on the mat this time. He was a lot more active defensively, and doing a much better job of answering Hechicero by turning defense into offense. The matwork was a bit light and flimsy, but at least it was fluid and flowing. They seemed to pick things up with a Hechicero tope as a way to shift to a focused shoulder attack, with Bandido injuring his shoulder taking a bump to the floor then Hechicero shutting the barricade door on Bandido's arm. Hechicero hurt his knee more than Bandido doing a dropkick off the apron onto the barricade, and a one-armed Bandido finally came back with a shooting star press off the apron as Hechicero now crawled and hobbled around. Hechicero's comeback here, which saw him regain mobility, was too quick for the story they were seemingly trying to tell, with the double sell after Hechicero sacrificed his knee to deliver his el conjuro finisher being more cute than effective. Hechicero did the Penta arm break spot, but then stood around whining for a minute while the doctor popped Bandido's shoulder back in place. Bandido still survived a Kimura, and was now trying to just use his legs for offense with the dropkick and poisonrana. Hechicero kept pulling out shoulder submissions, but Bandido just refused to surrender. Bandido's shoulder was ultimately too shot for the 21-plex, so he had to flash pin Hechicero in a manner that took advantage of Hechicero's bad knee. Overall, everything they did more or less worked, and all the segments were good. The match never dragged or felt bloated, and Bandido was able to add some different aspects he does well without detracting from what Hechicero was doing. ***3/4

10/18/25 AEW: Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Kevin Knight & Mike Bailey 12:19
ML: An exciting energetic sprint. They accomplished what they set out to do. It was fire, and a great showcase for JetSpeed. This was pretty rushed because they couldn't just schedule 3 of their only good wrestlers this year for the actual PPV. They started this on Collision and then carried it over to try to pick up a few buys, which obviously was better than ending it in 4 minutes to fit the hour of TV, but most likely just ruined it for the majority of their audience that watched 1 and not the other. The show already ran 4.5 hours, but I guess it would be too much to ask Kyle Fletcher to only spend 15 minutes looking at the crowd so they could have fit an actual complete good match onto the PPV. Due to time constraints, this bared little resemblance to the typical solid, old school FTR match. There was no story, strategy or psychology here. It was more of a lightning match, just fireworks with quick hitting, high flying action intent on showing the strengths of JetSpeed. JetSpeed are looking a lot more cohesive now as a team, and this was a nice showcase for their spectacle, even if it was kind of the 2nd half of a match that could have had something to do with FTR other than showing how unselfish they are and how well they take for the opponent. Knight has been better and more consistent of late, and was a lot less of a weak link than you might expect, though obviously this was also almost entirely in his athletic domain. He did a neat sort of springboard variation where he leaped onto the apron and then jumped off with a single leg dropkick to each opponent. Bailey packed all his great spots in and stole the show, but of course since he's an actual good free agent signing all he does is lose. The finish was terrible. JetSpeed was winning the whole match, so they did a cheesy 80s ending where the heels somehow stole it, which would have been lame enough if it came off right. Stokely was supposed to trip Bailey up to counter him suplexing Dax into the ring, but what actually happened was Bailey just jumped and Stokely finally did a phantom leg pick when Bailey was already halfway down. ***

10/4/25 UFC: Jiri Prochazka vs Khalil Rountree Jr. R3 3:04

10/2/25 ROH, IWGP Women's Title: Sareee vs. Alex Windsor 13:42
ML: This was the first good women's match Tony Khan has booked in 3 years. The AEW women's division had some reason for existing in the early days with Hikaru Shida, who was tough and could mix it up, Thunder Rosa, who worked hard was spunky and even had some legitimate martial arts training, and Nyla Rose, who was a credible monster, but has been completely jokey in the past few years with bad Sunset Boulevard black and white comedy, the queen of cringe waste of Mone winning every pointless and predictable zero drama match, and her fellow botch-o-matic Willow also blundering her way through. I didn't have high expectations for even Sareee appearing there, but this was her usual brand of serious, credible wrestling where they tried to make you believe in the lost art of actually resisting what the opponent was trying to do. They slowed things down to pretend to be struggling, which isn't the best expression of the concept, but the main thing is it felt like there were stakes to the basic lock ups. The early portion was quite good, simple but actually effective stuff that drew you in because they were working against each other rather than just passing time. This was hard hitting in a more useful manner of taking everything seriously and performing all the moves in an impactful manner. There was still some of the requisite nonsense of hitting hard where they just stand there letting the opponent hit them, but even that actually had a ferocity too it and a bit of urgency, and they didn't just revert right back to cosplaying at light and fluffy lucha libre 30 seconds later. This was one of the rare matches under Tony Khan's umbrella, regardless of gender, that could legitimately be described as rough. They definitely had me really into the early portion. I'm not sure how well it ultimately built up though. It felt like they ultimately did some things to do some things, and then it ended. I'm not that excited about Windsor's offense, but the important thing is she was able to organically and credibly do Sareee's match, answering her with enough toughness you felt she belonged. That was a big difference in why this match was good and Windsor's IWGP Women's Title match against Syuri from EVE 6/6/25 was just okay; this one felt like they worked together naturally enough to be believable, whereas Windsor had no real chemistry with Syuri, and that felt like the usual match where they just took turns doing their offense. This ROH match definitely felt like an important title match even though the audience was small. ***1/4

12/7/24 GLORY Light Heavyweight Title: Tarik "Tank" Khbabez vs. Donegi Abena 5R
ML: While this was definitely one of the better GLORY fights of the year, it was probably also the worst scored. It felt like these judges were mainly just scoring boxing, despite it being a battle of attrition where both fighters came out trying to injure their opponent's calves. Abena was a lot more technical, and a lot more defensively responsible. He landed a ridiculous 226 of 338 because Tank just didn't defend. Tank threw 392, but only landed 152. Being busier is meaningless when you are still outlanded because your opponent is connecting with 2/3 of their strikes. Tank hits harder, but he never hurt Abena or had him in any kind of trouble. Khbabez definitely deserves credit for maintaining a high pace, and being able to ignore a lot of damage to do so, but this felt like skill vs. willpower. I thought Abena won the 1st 3 rounds pretty easily. Tank held up better, and perhaps Abena became a little uncertain because what he was winning with wasn't being rewarded, again. Abena had success with the calf kick in their previous fight, and outlanded Khababez at a 3/2 ratio in that fight yet still lost despite Tank's calf being totally shot, so this had to be even more frustrating for him. I think giving Tank the 4th and 5th rounds is fair because he kept coming, and definitely had the conditioning advantage, but thinking he was the better fighter tonight is just crazy to me. Tank's legs were beat up from the outset. He would lift his leg to try to lessen the damage from the calf kick, but right from the outset, the impact was causing him to stumble. Khbabez was focused on getting his shots in, and wasn't putting much effort into defense at all. He wasn't applying nearly as much forward pressure as usual early, so Abena was basically just landing at will. Tank tried to throw huge punches in round two, but would eat a kick to the leg or midsection because he was telegraphing them and not setting them up. Tank turned his back after missing a right punch, and almost ate a huge high kick. Todd Grisham said turning your back is the cardinal sin of any fight sport, which I wish someone would tell the idiots that are training all the wrestling heels to make a mockery out of fighting by doing a lap after every move. 3 judges gave this round to Khbabez for landing a couple good punches, I guess, but I thought he was thoroughly outtechniqued. Abena had almost doubled Khbabez up in strikes landed through two rounds. Tank was finally landing combos to start the third, and overall in rounds 3 through 5, he was successful in implementing his strategy of coming forward with his punches to an extent. He just pushed through the pain and the damage, and kept throwing. He actually slowed down considerably in the second half of round 3, which was one of the reasons he pretty clearly lost it, with his legs looking in rough shape. Round 3 was more of the same scoring insanity though. Ingoring the accuracy of Abena and the gimpiness of Tank, 4 judges somehow gave it to Khbabez. I find it difficult to argue for the power of Tank being the determining factor when he's hobbling around. In round 4 and 5, it was Abena who was slowing down some, particularly with his arms looking tired. Khbabez landed more cleanly in the 4th and did a better job with his combinations. This was the first round I thought he actually won, but somehow we entered the 5th with Abena needing a knockout. and it didn't help that Abena seemed to kick more in the later rounds because that took less energy. Abena definitely didn't close the fight strong. He shouldn't have had to, but it was open scoring, so he knew he was "losing" and didn't have the extra push to even meet the Tank. Khbabez won a split decision 48-47, 47-48, 49-46, 49-46, 50-45. Good match.

12/7/24 GLORY Heavyweight Title: Rico Verhoeven vs. Levi Rigters 5R
ML: This was a very competitive fight you believed there was a chance Rico might actually lose even before Levi got the knockdown lead. Rico was consistent as always. He didn't push a huge pace early, but he kept coming forward, controlling the distance so he was inside of Rigters' big shots, thus negating his length and his flashy offense. Rico's pressure was definitely the story of the fight, negating Levi's spectacular offense, and thus largely relegating him to a standard tall fighter. Rigters was scoring really consistently with his boxing though. Despite being unable to mix things up, he landed 119 punches to Verhoeven's 39, resulting in a 152 to 110 total landed advantage. Levi did a great job with the straight, but Rico being the ring general kept him from following it up, so his 60% punch accuracy wasn't worth nearly as much as it normally would have been. Still, there was a case to be made for Rigters winning some of the early rounds. Levi landed a switch kick just before the end of the first round that seemed to be ruled a knockdown despite Rico grabbing his groin, but was corrected by replay. Levi had a knockdown with a right hook at the end of round 3. It was a delayed knockdown, and Levi was trying to follow with a flying knee, so Rico also got caught a little with a stray shin when he was down, though Levi did all he could to stop as Rico fell forward. This really changed things because instead of Rico probably going up 3-0, it was now an even fight on the scorecards. Rico actually wasn't the fresher fighter going into the 4th, or at least he was still recovering. Rico got the knockdown back with a short right hook 2 minutes into the 4th though. Now you felt like Rico would win for sure. Rico fought the rest of the round with by far the most energy he showed all fight, pushing for the finish. Rico was the more energetic fighter in the 5th, with Rigters finally trying to make a late push. In the end, the big difference was Verhoeven recovered well from Rigters knockdown, but Rigters was kind of done once Rico turned things up a few notches after his knockdown. Rico won a unanimous decision. Good match

7/20/24 GLORY: Michael Boapeah vs. Ulric Bokeme 3R
ML: This was a rematch of an odd fight from GLORY Collision 5 6/17/23 where Bokeme got his teeth knocked out 2 minutes in due to a mouthpiece malfunction, and the ref stopped the fight because Bokeme turned his back and walked over to his corner complaining about what happened while spitting teeth out. Boapeah had more options in this fight. He was showing more lateral movement than normal, and was scoring pretty evenly with punches and kicks. Bokeme, who is the taller of the two, had a lot of success early when he would step forward and grab a clinch knee, but this wasn't happening often enough, especially after round 1. Boapeah had way too much activity for Bokeme in the first, but the intensity from both picked up considerably to start the second. Bokeme now committed to pressure, getting in Boapeah's face, where he did a good job of landing body hooks on the inside. When Bokeme got his inside combo off first, Boapeah was mostly shelled up, and had a hard time getting started. The issue is Bokeme reasonably didn't have enough stamina for this amount of forward pressure and volume, so Boapeah could just defend and then fill the gaps. Boapeah was active when he had space, and ultimately Boapeah actually outlanded Bokeme 38-35 even though it was one way traffic when Bokeme was proactive. Round 2 was definitely an entertaining round, but I was very surprised that all the judges gave it to Boapeah, as it felt like Bokeme was more able to impose his will. I'm not sure if Bokeme was gassed after 1 round of this, or disspirited from finding out he was down 2 rounds, but he was somewhat flat in the 3rd. Boapeah definitely had better footwork, and his ability to cut angles to dictate was even more apparent now that Bokeme had slowed down. Boapeah was pretty consistent throughout the fight. His conditioning held up, and he just kept plugging away. Boapeah won a unanimous decision 30-27. Good match.

10/12/24 GLORY: Teodor Hristov vs. Robin Ciric 4R
ML: 23-year-old Hristov is a top prospect with a lot of speed and athleticism. He was the better fighter at distance where he could utilize his angles and his variety. Hristov would mostly blitz in behind a combo, and do a good job of escaping without giving Ciric much opportunity to counter. He pushed a furious pace. Ciric wasn't that active, but made his strikes count. Ciric did a good job with the front kick to actually create some space, including knocking Hristov off his feet with one in the first round. In round 2, Ciric caught Hristov stepping in and dropped him with a right hook. Most of Ciric's best shots were these sort of timing counters. Hristov needed to at least take the third to force an extra round. It looks like he might have a knock down early in the third, but it was a good call by the ref ruling that Ciric was on 1 foot and just lost his balance trying to back away from Hristov's right hand. Hristov rocked Ciric with a lead uppercut early in the round. Ciric's best offense was intercepting Hristov coming in. Hristov was the much more active fighter, his issue was that he only landed 17% of his punches, so connected with 13 more blows despite throwing almost twice as many. A majority draw sent it to the extra round. Hristov upped the pace that much more in the fourth. He went down from a scissor knee, but it was clearly a slip, as it only connected with his forearm. Ciric was landing with more power, he just had a hard time creating his opportunities, as outside of the front kick he was largely reliant on what Hristov was doing. The fourth round was definitely the best and most intense of the fight. All 5 judges gave this round to Hristov. Good match.

12/7/24 GLORY: Ayoub Bourrass vs. Anass Ahmidouch-Fatah 3R
ML: Ahmidouch-Fatah was almost a head taller, and he had the kicking advantage, so Bourrass really had to be diligent about keeping the pressure on. Bourrass was the bully though. Bourrass tried to keep Ahmidouch-Fatah on the ropes where it was easier for him to land punches, while Ahmidouch-Fatah tried to use kick combos to regain distance. The biggest issue for Ahmidouch-Fatah is he doesn't do a very good job of using his boxing to set up his kicks, he's mostly just kicks, which is why Bourrass was sometimes able to smother him. Ahmidouch-Fatah landed two spinning back fists in a row, using the right hand followed by the left hand. I thought Ahmidouch-Fatah won at least the first round, but Bourrass was leading going into the final round because he did a better job of dictating where the fight was taking place. He won the final round for sure, so it probably wouldn't have mattered. Bourrass outlanded Ahmidouch-Fatah 45 to 42, but they had very divergent paths to get there. Ahmidouch-Fatah landed 26 of 64 kicks, but only 14 of 63 punches. Bourrass landed 33 of 112 punches, but only 12 other strikes. Bourrass took 4 of the 5 scorecards. Good match.

10/2/25 AEW: Kevin Knight vs. Dax Harwood 13:55
ML: This match was designed to get Knight over, and thus did a good job of showcasing his high flying. However, what was more notable about the bout was how physical it was thanks to Dax. Dax was beating on Knight with a variety of strikes, and Knight was able to up his own stiffness, not only on his strikes, but also making it feel a bit more like he was throwing his body at his opponent. Knight brought enough of his athleticism to break the striking up by adding some flare, but more importantly he had enough impact behind what he did to make it credible that he was hanging with, and ultimately beating Harwood. Hardwood fought an even more old school style than usual, not using that many high spots, but displaying enough precision with his bone jarring offense that it wasn't something you really thought about. Dax definitely turned this into a much higher intensity match than you'd expect from night. It's funny that Mike Bailey wears sneakers to be a second, but wrestles barefoot. He had a moment at the end, taking Cash Wheeler out with a quebrada. Stokely then tried to save Dax by preventing Knight from jumping off the top rope onto him, but Knight just lept over him to finish Dax off with his UFO splash. ***

10/24/80 2/3 Falls Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title: Bruce Hart vs. Dynamite Kid 7:20 of 19:00 shown.
ML: These two tried to have a realistic brawl. They punched and headbutted from their knees, kicked off their back, tried to be offensive from all positions and get a shot in before their opponent did. It was mostly a fight, but they mixed in some suplexes and rope running to spice things up, with Dynamite taking some big bumps. The first fall was skipped entirely, then they only showed the final few minutes of the second fall, so it was hard to get a feel for how good the match actually was. The third fall had a controversial finish where Dynamite tried a Dragon suplex, but Bruce kicked off the top rope and the ref got taken out as they all went down. Bruce still got the pin, but Dynamite's leg was arguably under the bottom rope, close enough that heel ref Alexander Scott, who was outside, was able to convince the acting ref that the match should continue. They "restarted" unbeknownst to Bruce, with Dynamite sneaking up from behind and backdropping Bruce for the win. What we saw was good, but we only got a little more than 1/3 of the match.

Triple W 4/14/18 Triple W Absolute Title: A-Kid vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 21:29
ML: Though known for his flying athletic style, especially later as Axiom, A-Kid is a much higher level grappler than Sabre normally gets a chance to work with. That really informed the type of match ZSJ was able to deliver here. This was more of a kinetic grappling experience. It showed more knowledge of real world grappling than most pro wrestling matches, which extended to being active on defense. The chain grappling was impressive, with the offensive fighter moving to keep repositioning, and the defensive fighter moving to avoid getting trapped, and eventually escape. It wasn't a U-Style match because of the way they built it up around working some of A-Kid's highspots in, but it could have been if they stuck with what was going on at the outset, where there were aspects of proper tactics mixed in with the usual pro wrestling slop. The striking in this match was much better than in Sabre's normal matches because there was actually some ferocity in addition to solid technique, rather than simply being the usual navel gazing where they just begged each other to eventually hit them. The kicking from A-Kid in particular was pretty reasonable, but they would still default to chops and elbow smashes. I really liked the execution in this match. The speed, quickness, and athleticism was not only a big part of their mat work and striking, but the urgency to move rather than concede to laying around was adding a lot of realism. A-Kid is a great mover, and ZSJ moved a lot better here than normal (he's obviously younger, lighter, and leaner than in 2025). My general problem with this type of match is that they refuse to allow them to just be a theme match that they can take as far as they can, and instead insist on watering things down by working in their "stuff to do" that doesn't actually fit to the point that these moves actually become a distraction from a match where they otherwise impressively adapted his athleticism to the match they were actually doing. This match was 95% grappling and striking, but most of what I noted about the action was the other stuff. This wasn't because it was better, but it was so different than the rest of what was going on that the good stuff wound up getting lost in the shuffle of the silly story to incorporate the dipsy-do. When it's lucha libre, the audience knows not to take it too seriously, but when the basis of the match is mostly legitimate, the outlyers then become the story because those spots are jarring in this more realistic setting. I don't think the high spots ruined the match, and I do think they incorporated them well, but I think a tight 13 minute grappling oriented contest would have been better than what we ultimately got. A-Kid was the hometown fighter taking on the worldwide star, and actually finding a way to win after being behind the whole match really took it to another level. Zack wrestled in a regular pair of shorts because his gear was lost in travel. He worked hard despite this being a small show in a part of the world where wrestling has never really been a thing. This started off as Zack's match, but as Kid continued to hang, he was eventually able to provoke his perhaps overconfident opponent into a more striking oriented match, which allowed him to occasionally try to counter into a high spot. A-Kid had to deal with Zack's technical mastery at every turn, not just when he was on offense, but finally won when he briefly managed to do his own thing. Sabre injured Kid's left arm early, so A-Kid was often fighting one armed while the other hung limp. Halfway through the match, A-Kid tried one of his athletic highspots, a 619 in the corner, but Sabre caught his legs and turned it into a modified 1/2 crab. Things started to get silly as A-Kid was trying to sell all these injuries at once, which left him only able to headbutt Sabre since everything else was supposedly unusable, and of course Sabre just stood there and allowed himself to get rammed rather than finish the cripple off. This desire from Kid to continue to sell everything Zack worked on was doable when ZSJ was just working the arms early, but made no sense once ZSJ switched to leg work later, especially given the match was building up to Kid doing a couple things off the top rope. The selling also hampered their ability to actually escalate the action in the 2nd half, and worked against the more realistic 1st half because they had to just give up great opportunities to finish each other to do their Kabuki theatre routine. A-Kid tried the standing moonsault on two occasions, but Sabre countered with a triangle and a leglock that eventually became a 1/2 crab and progressed into a handful of other submissions. Sabre trying to land running strikes made no strategic sense, but they had to find a way for him to get caught in the Spanish fly for a lengthy double sell, and that was as good as any. Sabre still avoided a frog splash because A-Kid was also down forever, but was nearly flash pinned when A-Kid turned his running elbow smash into a backslide. A-Kid then went for a pin after a superkick, and when Sabre kicked out, for some reason went to the top rope and finally actually landed a flying move, but he wasn't able to stay on top of ZSJ after hitting his frog splash, and the time to reposition cost him the win. The finish where Zack used submissions to stop Kid's attempts at an avalanche move, but didn't then get off the top rope quickly enough was a reasonable enough to set up A-Kid hitting the avalanche Spanish fly then winning with the superkick. ****

8/28/53 NWA Chicago: Bob Orton Sr. vs Hans Schmidt 17:12
ML: Both were heels, or "a pair of meanies" as announcer Russ Davis described them. That doesn't usually make for a great match, but rather than two guys turning their back on one another every 5 seconds to do another ridiculous lap like you'd get today, they actually wrestled, they were just more intense and aggressive. They used strikes to break up holds, and generally incite one another. Schmidt really came out on fire and roughed Orton up in the brief first fall that was the best part of the match, with some of the hardest whips into the turnbuckle you'll ever see. Because this was actually a serious match, they would sometimes throw strikes or take advantage when he the opponent was in an actual wrestling move, but these quasi heel tactics were rough rather than over the top silly stuff. Orton won the second fall with his powerbomb, which seemed to be his regular finisher, although it was still called the piledriver. Some footage from the third fall was lost, to the point it kind of just jumps around in a semi disjointed manner. The match started off really strongly, but neither had the technical chops to sustain it. Not that the technical wrestling was bad, but they didn't really have a ton of ability to counter one another, so the match relied too much on the little things they were doing to punish each other while maintaining simple holds. The match would have been better with shorter second and third falls that focused more on their aggressive side. Orton has more moves in his arsenal that he could have used to balance off that Schmidt was clearly the more distinctive heel. Overall, I was much more impressed with Schmidt, and much more impressed with the early portion than the later portion. ***

NJPW 2/10/92 Nagoya Rainbow Hall, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title & WCW World Light Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid 16:22.
DC: The work was truly excellent throughout this match. It took a while for them to take things to the next level, though. Once they did, however, it resulted in some of the best minutes of wrestling of the year. This wasn’t quite on the level of their 8/19/90 and 11/1/90 matches, as those were more groundbreaking and more exciting from the start. Excellent match. ****¼

LLI 4/3/92 Nezahualcoyotl Arena Neza, WWF Light Heavyweight Title: Pegasus Kid vs. Villano IV 19:02.
DC: This was a lot better than Pegasus Kid's matches against Villano III because, unlike Villano III, Villano IV actually did things. Here in this match, Pegasus was able to do more of the moves and sequences he was doing in Japan. Excellent match. ****

NJPW 4/16/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, TOSJ III: Pegasus Kid vs. Flying Scorpio 9:55.
DC: 2 Cold Scorpio wasn't 2 Cold yet, but he was definitely Flying. These two wasted no time, yet it never felt rushed. Things fell into place very organically. Even the feeling out minutes early on felt like they featured both workers really trying to get the upper hand. Things really started flowing into even more exciting things during the final minutes. Both showed great athleticism and timing. Excellent match. ****

NJPW 4/23/92 Wakayama, TOSJ III: Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 12:42.
DC: Pegasus Kid was showing a lot more intensity compared to a year prior. These two wrestled like it really mattered, which is something most wrestlers from today can learn from. These two had several excellent and even great matches together over the year, and this is one that often gets overlooked. It’s certainly worth watching. Excellent match. ****¼

NJPW 5/1/92 Chiba Port Arena: Pegasus Kid & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas & El Samurai 12:13.
DC: This was a fun-to-watch match, as these were four of the top junior heavyweights during this Top of the Super Juniors III tour. You could tell that this match took place after the tournament had already been completed, as it didn’t feel like there was anything at stake. However, the work was good and interesting enough to make it worthwhile from start to finish. There was definitely not any time being wasted. The final minutes were a bit more spectacular than the rest of the match, but there never really was a dull moment. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 5/17/92 Osaka-jo Hall: Pegasus Kid vs. Tiger Mask III 12:56.
DC: It took Tiger Mask III (Koji Kanemoto) a while to get warmed up, but once he did, he was able to provide quite a bit of challenge and resistance. Pegasus Kid did a very good job carrying young Kanemoto, who had only recently become the third incarnation of the gimmick immortalized by Satoru Sayama, the First Tiger Mask. Kanemoto hit a spectacular dive over the guardrail onto Pegasus at some point in the match. In the end, this version of Tiger Mask didn't quite have the starpower Sayama or Mitsuharu Misawa had, which was understandable since it wouldn’t be until 1995 that Kanemoto became a really good worker. Not very surprisingly, Pegasus ended up winning the match. It was an enjoyable match, but there wasn't enough continuous action for this to be considered excellent. Good match. ***¼

WCW 6/16/92 Charleston, SC, NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Round 1: Chris Benoit & Biff Wellington vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Brian Pillman 11:30.
DC: All four of these guys had made their way through the Stampede Wrestling territory at some point during the mid to late 1980s. Everyone in this match worked hard and was clearly motivated. This was the best match Biff Wellington was ever part of. Chris Benoit's timing and execution were tremendous. This was the very first of over 500 matches Benoit would end up working for WCW. Jushin Thunder Liger was truly spectacular and lived up to his reputation. The WCW fans were already familiar with Brian Pillman's work, and he definitely didn't disappoint here, as this was the type of match where he was once again able to show his greatness. Jim Ross rightfully said after the match: “What a memorable match!” Excellent match. ****

NJPW 8/12/92 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 14:25.
DC: The work was about as great and smooth as it can get. Really the only downside of the match is that it didn't quite feel as big and important of a match as their legendary 8/19/90 match, but that's hardly a knock on this match. You could tell these two were very familiar with each other, as they knew each other’s capabilities and were during the early stages respectfully waiting for an opportunity to counter. That being said, this definitely wasn’t a boring chess-like match, as when the opportunity arose, these two showed the flashes of tremendous intensity they were known for. Once one of them was on a roll, they tried to stay on top of their opponent as dominating as possible. They were such well-matched competitors, though, that it usually wouldn’t take too long for the other to be able to do something significant back. Of all the matches these two had together, this was probably one of their three best matches against each other. While they never seemed to be in a hurry, the flashes of acceleration, the overall great usage of their time and their natural intense state made this match feel like a memorable one. The spectacular finish was a nice cherry on top of the cake. Great match. ****¾

NJPW 8/15/92 Kobe, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: El Samurai vs. Pegasus Kid 15:04.
DC: This match progressed slowly but nicely. The work was good, as you’d expect from these two. However, the finishing minutes looked a bit rough, to the point that it was significantly less smooth from what we were used to from these two top-caliber performers. Good match. ***¼

LLI 8/29/92 Mexico City, WWF Light Heavyweight Title: Pegasus Kid vs. Villano IV.
DC: Once again these two had a memorable match. You can tell Pegasus Kid enjoyed working with Villano IV. Pegasus started showing more of that intensity he would be known for during the rest of the decade. Both men showed more urgency than is usually shown in LLI matches. In fact, this match and their previous match are arguably the two best matches of all LLI (UWA) matches available on video. This was far more advanced than most Mexican lucha libre at the time with the Japanese puroresu-style finishing stretch that included exciting near falls. Pegasus won the third fall by DQ when Villano III interfered. Great match. ****½

WCW Clash of the Champions 22 1/13/93 Milwaukee, WI Mecca Arena: Chris Benoit vs. Brad Armstrong 9:34.
DC: Brad Armstrong wasn't in a lot of hurry, as he kept wanting to hold Chris Benoit’s arm, but he gave quite the solid performance overall, and proved to be a really good choice for being Benoit’s opponent here. Benoit was very impressive. His Silver King-inspired springboard clothesline to the outside onto Armstrong on the apron was totally spectacular. Benoit’s intensity was great, and he won the match in convincing fashion. Jesse Ventura did a good job of putting Benoit over on commentary. Very good match. ***½

WCW SuperBrawl III 2/21/93 Asheville, NC: Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio 16:57.
DC: It was matches like this one that made WCW more interesting than WWF overall. We got to see well-executed wrestling from both participants. Scorpio is really good at getting the opponent to have plenty of opportunities to shine. While this was a very good match, what keeps this match from being truly worthy of being a highly recommended one is that it feels like they are wrestling like they were going to go 30 minutes, but instead we get a slightly disappointing match that ends just before the 20-minute time limit expires (the match actually lasted 16:57, but in kayfabe, it lasted 19:59), as Scorpio scored the win. Very good match. ***½

AWF 3/3/93 Newcastle, Australia: Chris Benoit vs. Dean Malenko 15:00.
DC: This was possibly the first singles match between these two. They show some solid work together until the 15-minute draw. Interestingly, Chris Benoit works like a babyface here and then like a heel the next day. Good match. ***

AWF 3/4/93 Sydney, Australia: Chris Benoit vs. Jushin Thunder Liger.
DC: Poor Jushin Thunder Liger must have made someone mad backstage, because they gave him an overrated AC/DC theme song instead of his awesome “Ikari no Jushin” theme song. The wrestling was very good, but they took it easy, for their standards. This was to be expected, since it was a rather random show for them. There were still a couple of moves off the top rope, and the execution was done very well. Good match. ***¼

NJPW 3/23/93 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium: Pegasus Kid & Dean Malenko vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai 14:34.
DC: The match started off very well with Pegasus Kid and Jushin Thunder Liger doing their thing. Dean Malenko and El Samurai slowed things down with useless matwork, which merely seemed to be taking place to kill time. When Pegasus was back in, he brought life and energy to the match through his intensity. Inspired by Pegasus’ approach, Malenko started showing he cared at least a bit. Samurai was really groggy, and Malenko didn't quite know what to do. However, Pegasus forced Samurai to at least show that he knew he was in a wrestling ring. After taking a little break on the apron, Liger showed up again and decided to take over for the helpless Samurai. Pegasus was definitely the worker of the match, as he cared the most and gave the most memorable performance. Liger was only there for the glory and kinda mailed it in. Malenko didn't seem to care much. Samurai didn't know what he was doing that day. Good match. ***¼

NJPW 6/12/93 Chigasaki City General Gymnasium TOSJ IV: Pegasus Kid vs. Eddy Guerrero 13:00.
DC: The only footage available of this match is hand-held footage of good quality. The main thing they did well was that they constantly tried to stay on top of their opponent. Another thing they did really well was focus on making this come across as a competitive fight of importance, as they executed everything with a good amount of force. Their sense of timing and pace matched each other’s feel for when to do what, and that’s one of the reasons these two always had such great chemistry. They were both certainly two of the best gaijin workers that would tour Japan on a regular basis during the (mid-) 1990s. The match would have been great if they would have managed to keep the intensity high for the entire duration of the match. However, the middle portion of the match felt like it was ‘just’ that, the middle portion. Of course, since these two were such excellent workers, the match was never dull and was always interesting to watch. The execution and selling of these tremendously talented competitors was so on-point and so crisp that it was definitely a joy to watch these two have this high-quality match seemingly with such great ease. Excellent match. ****

NJPW 6/14/93 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, TOSJ IV Final: Pegasus Kid vs. El Samurai 18:44.
DC: This was the big final of the tournament. Both workers certainly deserved to be in the final, especially with top favorite Jushin Thunder Liger getting injured during the tournament. The opening minutes were done in a manner that suited the big final vibe of the match quite well, as they showed the importance of the bout by alternating between flashes of intensity and moments of respectful cautiousness. Once they got past the early minutes, El Samurai’s focus was to work over Pegasus Kid’s left arm. Pegasus would sell his left arm during the moments he was able to make a comeback in the match. Pegasus knew that Samurai was a focused and high-caliber opponent, so he tried to stay on top of Samurai as intensely as possible. Pegasus only gave Samurai time to breathe and get up whenever he was sure that he had him well scouted. Pegasus became more and more confident as the match progressed, and this resulted in him going for more and more high-impact moves. Pegasus’ execution was super smooth, and it was truly wonderful to watch him on offense. Samurai’s offense wasn’t as graceful, but his intensity made up for it. And both workers clearly put over the idea that they both wanted to win this important bout. Samurai gave a really good performance and did the right things when needed, but it was Pegasus’ understanding and ability that made this bout a truly memorable one, further emphasizing that he was indeed one of the best pro wrestlers in the world. Excellent match. ****¼

WCW Worldwide 7/8/93 Orlando, FL: Chris Benoit & Paul Orndorff vs. Sting & Dustin Rhodes 10:20.
DC: Chris Benoit did a stellar job of bumping and selling for two of WCW's top superheroes. He also got some offense in, luckily, and this included an awesome flying headbutt. Good match. ***¼

NJPW 8/8/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Wild Pegasus 14:36.
DC: Wild Pegasus showed tremendous intensity from the start of the match, including an insane Dynamite Kid-esque diving headbutt off the top to the floor! Pegasus continued to show that he was super determined to leave the building as a champion, as he continued to give Jushin Thunder Liger a ruthless beating. Pegasus even showed his aggressiveness when he applied a Boston crab, as he was yelling at the referee while applying the hold. Pegasus was ready to walk away the champion, as he was clearly in great form. He had recently won the TOSJ IV tournament by beating El Samurai in the final on 6/14/93 in an excellent match. That happened when Wild Pegasus was still known as Pegasus Kid, by the way. Pegasus knew what it was like to beat Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, as Pegasus had accomplished this on 8/19/90 in this very same building. It seems that ever since being known as Wild Pegasus, he was even more intense than ever before, though, and this made the name change even more appropriate. Pegasus was also more heelish and confidently cocky than ever before. Pegasus was so dominant that it took a moment of overconfidence on Pegasus’ part for Liger to be able to disrupt the Wild one’s onslaught. This match was roughly on the same level of their 8/12/92 match (which also took place in this very same building), except in this 8/8/93 match, Pegasus was focusing quite a bit more on roughhousing instead of a more technical approach. The execution of all the moves in this match was done superbly, as you’d expect from two top-notch pro wrestlers who were very familiar with each other. The final minutes were quite the high-quality finishing stretch. This match absolutely had the feeling of an important title bout, as both participants showed that they cared. One of the coolest things about the in-ring feud between Pegasus and Liger is that really none of their matches are very much alike. After the match, Black Tiger II (Eddy Guerrero) showed up and attacked Liger! Great match. ****¾

NJPW 10/19/93 Hiroshima Sun Plaza, SG Tag League: Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Scott Norton & Hercules 10:50.
DC: Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger showed great teamwork and a great desire to overcome their much larger opponents. Pegasus and Liger were both Stampede Wrestling alumni and both Dynamite Kid worshipers. It was nice to see them do a double flying headbutt. This was a very good little men versus big men type match. The Jurassic Powers played their role well, and Scott Norton was particularly good at understanding the timing for the turning of the tide when it came to the little men versus big men spots. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 10/15/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, SG Tag League: Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono 17:22
DC: This wasn’t a super exceptional match if you don’t know the story of the match. It was mainly a very memorable match because of the end result. The junior heavyweight tag team of Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger was an underdog team in a tournament dominated by heavyweight tag teams. In this match, they faced two of the top heavyweights of NJPW. The novelty of this fact, the enthusiastic crowd, and the pleasantly surprising result made this a match worth watching. The crowd could sense that an upset victory by the junior heavyweights was perhaps a possibility, but when it actually happened, everyone was shocked and excited. Liger, the smallest guy in the match, did a good job of selling a lot and being the underdog until he managed to score the quick surprise pinfall over Chono. The excitement in the air and both teams putting over the importance to get a win in this tournament made it quite a fun match to watch. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 11/4/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, SG Tag League: Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka 20:26.
DC: Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger, one of the most awesome dream teams ever, faced a team that consisted of two of the more underrated New Japan guys, Akira Nogami and Takayuki Iizuka. This wasn’t a junior heavyweight tournament, but Nogami and Iizuka had been moved up from the junior division and were now a team of borderline juniors (especially Nogami, who would occasionally get booked as an actual full-fledged junior heavyweight from time to time) that were there to make other teams look good. This made this match quite a lot more competitive and very different compared to the match Pegasus & Liger had against the heavy powerhouses Scott Norton & Hercules, as Pegasus & Liger obviously entered this match with a completely different strategy. Nogami and Iizuka were known as ‘J J Jacks’ and wore almost Marty Jannetty-esque colorful tights with tassels. Perhaps they believed they were part of an audition to become the new tag team partner for Jannetty (but, of course, we know that everyone’s favorite Avatar, ‘Snowman’ Al Snow, would eventually receive that honor in 1996). In spite of everyone wearing their finest looking gear, all participants were all business as soon as the bell rang. This was treated like a serious bout, as, in spite of the early minutes functioning as a feeling-out phase, everything they did wasn’t just done for the sake of it and felt it had a purpose. Both teams were careful not to make too many mistakes early on, so here we had two tag teams taking each other very seriously. Pegasus & Liger were big stars (and probably the two best men’s pro wrestlers in the world at that time), and J J Jacks came off as a well-oiled machine by wearing matching gear. Liger managed to find a weakness in the well-oiled machine, though, as he targeted Iizuka’s knee. Pegasus & Liger made frequent tags in and out while focusing on the knee attack. Iizuka was a marked man (but nothing like Roddy Piper in the 1996 movie Marked Man). Pegasus got a bit too confident, though, and Iizuka managed to make the tag to a fresh Nogami. The super underrated Nogami had found his stride as a tag wrestler and become one of the most useful workers in NJPW, but rarely received proper credit for it. Pegasus sold Nogami’s Texas cloverleaf so well that Liger came storming in to hit Nogami with a shotei palm strike. Iizuka then applied a sasorigatame and challenged Liger to dare to come in, but Liger trusted in Pegasus to survive the dreaded deathlock and acted like a wise master by staying on the apron. Eventually, Pegasus & Liger were just too high caliber for their opponents to stay on top of. Pegasus and Liger hit a beautiful diving headbutt attack on Iizuka. J J Jacks hit several good-looking double team moves as well, proving that they were indeed the well-oiled machine they pretended to be. The final minutes were super exciting to watch, as things became a lot more urgent and spectacular. In the end, Iizuka scored the win via a dragon suplex on dragon suplex master Wild Pegasus. This was a fascinating and enjoyable match. The only downside was that the finishing stretch kinda felt like it came out of nowhere, and a bit more of a build up towards the finishing stretch would have been nice. That’s just minor complaining, though, as this match obviously worked very well as a recommendable match. Excellent match. ****

NWA 2/19/94 Woodbury, NJ National Guard Armory: Chris Benoit vs. Sabu 16:26
DC: This was the first of a couple of dozen times that Chris Benoit and Sabu would be facing off against each other. There are two different camera angle versions available of this match, but due to both versions havinga partially obstructed view, we can’t really see properly how well they nailed their dives and bumps to the outside. With that in mind, we’ll have to at least appreciate the effort. The execution was generally very good, and the idea of these two facing off for the first time certainly adds to the intrigue of the match. They kept things moving at a good pace, making good use of their time. Benoit nearly won the match after hitting a flying headbutt, but Sabu kicked out. Sabu managed to kick out again after Benoit attempted to pin him with a German suplex. After Sabu missed a dive to the outside, Benoit was able to win via count out. Benoit didn’t want to win this way, and asked for five more minutes. It turned out that Benoit should have just taken the win, as Sabu hit Benoit with a chair from behind and pinned him after a slingshot moonsault. Very good match. ***¾  

NJPW 4/4/94 Hiroshima Green Dome: Wild Pegasus & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner 14:03.
DC: The Steiner Brothers were still in WWF at the time, but they were unhappy in WWF, and just a couple of months removed from leaving the WWF. It was very rare for WWF workers to appear in NJPW at the time, so this was a particularly interesting match-up. The match wasn't quite as good as it looked on paper, though. Still, after a somewhat inconsistent first portion, the match eventually arrived at an exciting final portion and turned out to be well worth viewing beyond just the novelty factor of it. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 6/15/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Wild Pegasus & Black Tiger II vs. Dean Malenko & Brad Armstrong 13:43.
DC: This was part of the BOSJ I tour. Brad Armstrong wasn’t part of the actual BOSJ I tournament, but he was one of those borderline American light heavyweights who could function as either a smaller heavyweight or a larger junior heavyweight, and that’s why he didn’t feel out of place with these three radical and progressive international junior heavyweights in Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit), Black Tiger II (Eddy Guerrero) and Dean Malenko. Pegasus, Guerrero and Malenko would end up very similar career paths, as they would all be very respected competitors in NJPW, ECW, WCW and WWF over the next several years, and they were all in their prime years around this time. Armstrong was a gifted athlete and a talented pro wrestler, but it seemed he fell out of place and/or had too many worries on his mind to fully excel here. That being said, it was really cool to see him in this match, as it made this match a novelty type of match that should intrigue the true ‘90s wrestling fanatics out there. All four participants certainly gave a good effort, especially considering this was kind of a random tag team match at the end of the tour after the actual BOSJ I tournament had already been completed. Pegasus ended up scoring the win for his team by pinning Malenko. Good match. ***¼

NWA 8/5/94 Lincoln Park, MI Community Center, NWA Independent World Title: Sabu vs. Chris Benoit 15:58.
DC: Lots of intensity was shown here, and there was pretty much no real time wasting. This was a very strong effort by both, especially considering it was a small indy show with few people in the crowd. Very good match. ***¾

NWA 8/7/94 Lima, OH Bodyslammers Gym: Chris Benoit vs. Al Snow 20:00.
DC: This was the first of only three singles matches these two ever had together. Chris Benoit was one of the very best men’s wrestlers in the world at the time. This match took place in Al Snow’s home town, and Snow was only an up-and-coming indy worker back then, but he was clearly showing really good potential here. Snow did a fantastic job of understanding what to do while mainly following Benoit’s lead. It’s no surprise that Snow ended up being a relatively well known and underrated name in the business. 1994 was actually a pretty big year for Snow, as he had also had a ladder match against Sabu on 7/23/94 that turned out to be a cult classic type of match for fans of American indy wrestling, and Snow even helped train Dan Severn for Severn’s UFC debut at UFC 4 in December 1994. This wasn’t one of Benoit’s best matches, to say the least, but Benoit did not half-ass things here, as he respectfully always gave a serious and unselfish effort even on small house shows (in spite of being arguably the very best men’s wrestler in the world at the time). Benoit clearly understood the set and setting of the match. This match must have had a positive impact on Snow, and it must have been a priceless opportunity to get the valuable experience of a lifetime against one of the all-time greats. That being said, apart from all the interesting tidbits surrounding this match, this wasn’t necessarily a match that would stand out as one of the best matches in a year filled with memorable matches. However, it was definitely worth a view. Good match. ***¼

NJPW 9/23/94 Yokohama Arena: Wild Pegasus & Scott Norton vs. Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner 15:10.
DC: The Steiner Brothers had already left WWF by this point. Unfortunately, it also seemed they lost their enthusiasm and passion for the business, as this was seemingly the beginning of a slow decay for the excellence of the Steiner Brothers. Scott hit some cool-looking moves, though. Rick Steiner and Scott Norton just kinda acted like random heavyweight dudes on a random NJPW show. Top junior heavyweight Pegasus bumped and sold well, but he was kind of out of his element here as the designated ‘small guy’ here. Scott pinned Pegasus to win the match. Good match. ***¼

NJPW 10/9/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Super Junior Tag League: Wild Pegasus & Shinjiro Otani vs. Black Tiger II & The Great Sasuke 13:11.
DC: Wild Pegasus showed tremendous intensity. These were four of the most interesting junior heavyweight wrestlers at the time, and they delivered a memorable tag team bout here. They would deliver an even better match nine days later, but this 10/9/94 match was certainly a really good companion to the more famous 10/18/94 final. Excellent match. ****

ECW 11/5/94 Philadelphia, PA ECW Arena, November To Remember: Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio 12:00.
DC: This was an impromptu main event after Chris Benoit had earned himself the name ‘The Crippler’ by accidentally breaking Sabu's neck in a match that had to be called off 2 minutes in. 2 Cold Scorpio showed up, and it was a good match while it lasted until the count-out finish. Benoit bumped well, and his superplex looked amazing. Good match. ***

AAA 11/6/94 Los Angeles, California Memorial Sports Arena, AAA When Worlds Collide: Pegasus Kid & 2 Cold Scorpio & Tito Santana vs. Blue Panther & Jerry Estrada & La Parka 14:51.
DC: Pegasus Kid’s team was an interestingly random trio. Pegasus and 2 Cold Scorpio had been feuding in ECW and previously in WCW and NJPW, so it was funny to see them team up here. Scorpio had done lucha before, so he wasn’t out of place here. The one that was most out of place here was Tito Santana, as the Mexican-American superstar from Texas had spent most of his career wrestling for American wrestling companies (mainly WWF). Santana had wrestled only a handful of matches on AAA shows earlier that year to kinda give him some actual lucha experience. This was quite an exciting match, for sure, though, as everyone tried to keep things going and were willing to try to give a very good showing. What they failed to do, however, was make this a truly memorable bout, as it felt more like it was a hodgepodgy exhibition. In spite of that, Pegasus stood out by giving the best performance within the confines of the given setting of this bout. Pegasus stayed true to his style while still accepting that this match wasn’t just about him. It didn’t help that this was a one-fall match while the members of Blue Panther’s team all have really excelled in matches that were scheduled for 2-out-of-3 falls. This fact, along with Pegasus’ team not fully committing to doing lucha style here (as they were mainly in American wrestling mode here), resulted in this match having a bit of a clash of styles vibe. Good match. ***¼

Southern California Wrestling 11/7/94 Fullerton, California Ice House: Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio 16:48.
DC: This wasn’t an exceptional match for Chris Benoit’s high standards. However, this match is a really good example of Benoit giving a strong effort even on a small house show, like we’ve seen him do before. 2 Cold Scorpio gave a good effort as well, but this really was more Benoit’s match in spite of Scorpio getting the win. Good match. ***

ECW 1/14/95 Davie, Florida: Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio 13:28.
DC: This ECW TV match was worked at a relatively slow pace and lacked urgency, but the execution of the moves was excellent. In spite of the slow pace, it never felt like they were going through the motions, as the intensity level displayed was still quite high. Good match. ***¼

ECW 2/4/95 Philadelphia, PA ECW Arena: Chris Benoit vs. Al Snow 14:36.
DC: The sincerity with which he wrestled and the smoothness of his execution made Chris Benoit stand out so much from the rest of the pack. Al Snow was a worker who was still trying to make a name for himself, and this match certainly helped put him on the map as a guy who had potentially one to keep an eye on in the future. Benoit’s ability to carry a match and elevate the overall quality of a match was on full display here. Benoit’s approach here was similar as in his NJPW matches, but he was smart enough to adjust things just a bit to make it more accessible for the American audience, as he wrestled a more deliberate style during his memorable ECW run. Benoit was one of the workers that helped people start looking at ECW as a league that shouldn’t be underestimated and oftentimes provided a better product than America’s two main leagues at the time (WWF and WCW). In spite of Snow being the clear underdog, both understood this aspect of the match and milked it well. And because both workers fully understood how to get the most out of this match, they managed to give it a feel of importance. It was truly fascinating to see Benoit have a match that would benefit the league and his opponent while maintaining the aura of his character. Excellent match. ****

ECW 2/2/25/95 Philadelphia, PA ECW Arena, ECW World Tag Team Title: Sabu & Tazmaniac vs. Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko 10:28.
DC: Prior to the match, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko attacked Public Enemy, Rocco Rock (who was injured and in a wheelchair!) and Johnny Grunge. Once the actual match began, Benoit & Malenko continued their onslaught and beat the crap out of Sabu and Taz. The ECW tag team of Sabu & Taz did a really good job of hanging in there with the international superstars Benoit & Malenko, who had been making their name in Japan against some of the best wrestlers in the world. Taz was easily the weak link of the match, but he was delusional enough to believe that he was actually a good wrestler that it somehow resulted in him being useful, as he kept the momentum strong. Sabu carried his team, and he really was into the chaotic and violent vibe of the match, so he was obviously in a good space here. At some point, towards the end of the match, Sabu goes wild and hits raw-looking dives all over the place. For whatever it’s worth, Sabu is arguably the most underrated legend ever, as the average interweb geek seems to simply dismiss him as a half-dimensional nut, while in reality, Sabu was a pioneer and one of the reasons ECW was as successful as it was at the time. Benoit and Malenko understood their role as the no-nonsense kick-ass team, and they did a fantastic job here. This match was super fun and had lots of intensity from the moment the cameras started rolling. Excellent match. ****

NJPW 3/13/95 Kyoto, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Koji Kanemoto vs. Wild Pegasus 16:41.
DC: Occasionally, the champion is the underdog. Wild Pegasus not only dominated but also completely carried this match. What a tremendous performance this was by arguably the best men’s pro wrestler in the world at the time, Wild Pegasus. Koji Kanemoto had clearly improved in recent times, but he was also clearly one of those in a long lineage of Japanese champions who just kinda lay around while the opposition carried him. Kanemoto would improve more as apparent time would go on, but here in March ‘95, he was the underdog champion (similar to how Diesel, one of the worst WWF Champions ever, was the underdog in his feud with Shawn Michaels around this time in the sports-entertainment industry). After getting his behind carried for 16 minutes, Kanemoto executed a modified (botched?) huracarrana off the top rope to win the match. This wasn’t quite the one-sided affair of their 4-minute 8/3/93 match, but it certainly was similar enough to it that it’s hard to take the result of this match seriously. Luckily, these two would end up having a better match later that year. Very good match. ***¾

ECW Three Way Dance 4/8/95, ECW World Tag Team Title: Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs. Rick Steiner & Tazmaniac vs. Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge 19:56.
DC: Chris Benoit, wearing his puroresu gear, looked kinda out of place amongst all these garbage wrestlers and garbage wrestler-wannabes. Yet, Benoit, as versatile as he was, managed to stay true to his own awesomeness yet still blend in and definitely not feel out of place as a hardcore participant. As a matter of fact, Benoit’s intensity and overall ability made him one of the standouts in this match. Overall, the match was certainly wild and chaotic. While interesting, especially for die-hard Benoit fans, this is definitely a skippable match and totally not mandatory viewing. Decent match. **¾