This week:
WrestleMania 37 Night 1 (4/10/21) - Dum Dum Daniels
WrestleMania 37 Night 2 (4/11/21) - Dum Dum Daniels
How I Met Your Puroresu: Season 1, Episode 6 - Robert McCauley
AJPW Champion Carnival 2021 Day 1 (4/9/21) - Captain Lou
AJPW Champion Carnival 2021 Day 2 (4/10/21) - Captain Lou
AJPW Champion Carnival 2021 Day 3 (4/11/21) - Captain Lou
DDT April Fool 2021 (4/11/21) - Captain Lou
Dragon Gate The Gate of Passion 2021 (4/9/21) - Captain Lou
AEW Dynamite Performance Review (4/14/21) - Dum Dum Daniels
Working Man’s WWE TV Review (4/11/21 - 4/17/21) - Dum Dum Daniels
Happy Thoughts – WWE WrestleMania 37 Night 1 (4/10/21)
Welcome back, WWE. You stupid idiots.
The “E” remains ethically bankrupt and focused on partnerships over people, but this was a romantic return to form: begin on Mother Nature time, end on Boss Time.
The show began with a rumpled McMahon intro immediately followed by a rain delay that created a terrifying 60-seconds as I thought about all the ways WWE would panic and mess this up. Luckily the promos that followed for a half-hour were so unbelievably best-case scenario: improvisational! FUN! Could not believe how much I was enjoying 2021 promos from Seth Rollins and John Morrison.
Was that a thunderstorm coming, or just the energy of Titus Oneil!? My goodness. What an intro. Who was the clown with him?
1. WWE Title: Bobby Lashley [c] w/ MVP vs. Drew McIntyre
3… 2… 1! Bobby Lashley raising his title over both “This match is for… the WWE Championship!” and the primal roar of a live audience made for an incredible energy I thought they carried through the first few minutes as both guys went back to work: staredowns, shoulder tackles… staredowns! I honestly missed it.
I won’t tell you they sustained momentum as they went another 15, but the crowd going nuts for belly-to-back suplexes and spinebusters was awesome and they closed it up well enough with all their signature moves and McIntyre’s big dive. I’m not sure why McIntyre was suddenly a Kimura Lock guy and I probably would’ve trimmed off the whole idea of “bringing a crowd down” for the first match back — but a great experience. ***1/2
2. Tag Team Turmoil – Winners Challenge for WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles on Night 2: Naomi & Lana vs. Carmella & Billie Kay, Carmella & Billie Kay vs. The Riott Squad, The Riott Squad vs. Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke, The Riott Squad vs. Natalya & Tamina
Kind of loved this terrible match just for how terrible it was. It was rushed, sloppy, over-booked, and occasionally insulting: as much a return to form for WWE as anything tonight. Billie Kay cracks me up and I wish Riott Squad went the distance, but this was a mess better left not mentioned again. *1/2
3. Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
Here’s Cesaro, the man employed long enough to be appreciated. The folks like him because he’s strong and impressive and when he really gets on a run, it is as exciting as anything in wrestling. The feud was built around that possibility, and the match was built around the possibility of him doing the Cesaro Swing during that run in front of the first big WWE crowd in a year. They delivered on both possibilities, and it ruled.
As WWE Superstars (insert trademark) for a decade, Cesaro and Rollins have dropped any pretense of being these deep and layered professional wrestlers — they’re known for Doing Cool Stuff, and that’s what people like to see. Cesaro has superhuman strength and does occasional 619’s; Rollins got a bunch of high-flyer spots in WWE main events and married Becky Lynch.
Rollins targeted Cesaro’s shoulder to put some mystery around Cesaro doing it or getting any real run in general, but this was really just about all the Cool Stuff and they kept bringing it. The finish hit all the right beats too, a sugar rush of a few minutes as Cesaro did a big Cesaro Swing followed by the UFO for the first time in WWE — and then he won. ****
4. RAW Tag Team Title: Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods [c] vs. AJ Styles & Omos
A match that accomplished something but like usual, I’ve GOT no idea why they jumped through all these hoops to get there. The build to and pop for big Omos’ tag was awesome, but why was the delivery system AJ Styles getting worked over to relative silence? Just kind of weird. Woods screamed “We are effectively cutting off the ring!” and AJ Styles did a Phenomenal Forearm off of Omos’ shoulders though – I’ll take it. Special. Attractive. **1/2
5. Steel Cage Match: Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon
Ironically, a pretty stupid match. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for WrestleMania; sometimes you need Elias and a steel cage being ripped apart and guys getting bonked in the head with a toolbox. Shane’s front flip and back bump off the top of the god damn cage was definitely a moment, but at this point I’m more concerned for than entertained by Shane-O-Mac. **1/2
6. Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison
Folks, the Bunny is good. He did a la magistral cradle and stereo falcon arrow; he sold a beating from The Miz and John Morrison like he was Ricky Morton. At the end of the day this is an above-average tag match with an incredible WrestleMania entrance for Bunny (and a dirt worst one for Miz & Morrison), but one where Bad Bunny did a Canadian Destroyer. ***1/4
7. SmackDown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks [c] vs. Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair enters first in her big WrestleMania gear, smiling and bubbly and leaning into it but not yet fully developed, not yet exuding the aura of a star. Like, I don’t know what a “star” is exactly but I know they make wrestling fun and Sasha Banks entered next looking like one — THE one.
It began with the vibes demanded of what it took to get two Black women in this spot, not just in the wrestling business but Vince McMahon’s wrestling business. It also began with the first dueling chants in a year, some solid wrestling sequences, and … uh, a wheelbarrow by Sasha that Belair tried to lift out of, only to be sent out of the ring and hit with a tope suicida that she rolled through and lifted out of into a gorilla press slam that she tossed Sasha back into the ring with by walking up the ring steps.
This had a few of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in wrestling, not to mention a WrestleMania match, and seamlessly worked them into a tight package that made a new star, had a literal thread to follow with Belair’s ponytail, and — rare for wrestling these days — ended at the right time. Plus I just felt all joyous and shit after it was over.
Belair lifted out of a small package into a double slingshot suplex followed by a double deadlift vertical suplex. She missed a 450 splash early on, then later avoided the stupid corner double foot stomp trope and used her core strength to power up top and hit a 450 for one of the match’s most epic near falls. I mean COME ON!!!
Sasha Banks is one of the greats; we knew that before this but now we get to talk about her as someone who delivered great wrestling in the main event of WrestleMania. Everything she did was on point, delivered with strategy or violence in mind. She’s also someone who will just bust out a perfect double tornado DDT in the middle of her WrestleMania match. I mean COME. ON.
I could say it was missing an extra insanity at the end to really put it over the top, but I’ve watched a lot of dramatic wrestling finishing sequences with a bunch of kickouts and this one had me elated more than any other. Sasha Banks is doing something completely different, and Bianca Belair is the one. *****
Happy Thoughts: I could’ve done without the bunny costumes and Jaxson Ryker, but this ruled. There were awesome little things like MVP’s proud limp to the ring and Sasha smacking at Belair’s abdomen to get out of a suplex; there were awesome big things like crowning achievements for Cesaro and Belair. The home audience, live audience, and wrestlers themselves all got some escapism and delivered a proper WrestleMania. 4.0 / 5.0
Happy Thoughts – WWE WrestleMania 37 Night 2 (4/11/21)
I watched WrestleMania Night 2 last night in the presence of friends. People. Community. Some guy named Craig. I got a little emotional about it. There’s texting and tweeting and blogging and then there is just being with the boys, talking shop and half-watching whatever WWE chose to do that particular evening.
WWE returns to the Thunderdome tomorrow, but if anything was clear this weekend the energy of “people” — even those packed together in questionably close quarters — is what makes this whole thing go round.
1. The Fiend w/ Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton
How did it all begin with this, though? The entrance was incredible, and by that I mean Randy Orton’s entrance where he reacted with an actual excitement over his reaction then passive aggressively meandered down the ramp for the rest of it to probably how dangerous it was and probably prove a point to some production guy in the back probably assigned a project by his boss at the last minute. Corporate America, man.
Wyatt’s tribute to Brodie Lee was beautiful, but the rest was just bad special effects and embarrassing pro wrestling. Stop insisting on this, especially if you’re going to execute it so poorly. DUD
2. WWE Women’s Tag Team Title: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Natalya & Tamina
There was a choice made to follow Alexa Bliss’ face erupting in a black liquid with this, the second-longest match on the show. It’s the kind of match that compels even a group of friends not gathered together in a while to look at their cell phones, that kind of match.
Occasionally someone got hit in the face here for real, and that upped the intensity if not the quality. It was just sad though, an indictment on whatever potential Nia and Shayna used to have and general waste of time considering how many ladies WWE could be showcasing here — at WrestleMania, man! The bodyslam Nia Jax and Tamina were building to looked like shit when it happened, too. Sometimes it’s just bad. *
3. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn w/ Logan Paul
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn got 10 minutes to do their thing at WrestleMania and didn’t waste a second. This is no layered or violent classic of the past, but they’re wise enough now to know they don’t necessarily need to do that. The system is the system: sometimes it gets changed, but work through its’ confinements and you may pop out something beautiful within it.
Kevin and Sami are the MOVES guys so they did MOVES, all the moves. Every single move. Suplexes on the neck, kicks to the face — this is what we like, folks! Logan Paul way over-performed too, proper mark-outs at ringside and a tremendous tall guy bump after the match for Owens’ Stunner. ***3/4
4. WWE U.S. Title: Riddle [c] vs. Sheamus
The tough guy match is one of the only things that works in the Thunderdome, though it still works in real life too. Pro wrestlers hitting each other hard doesn’t really go out of style, folks. Helps when the two guys doing it are credible and just good as far as hard-hitting goes. The slip on the top rope Celtic Cross was a brief bummer, but after Sheamus countered a Lionsault mid-air with a Brouge kick (!!) it just didn’t really matter. Go back and watch Sheamus’ top rope kneedrop here too – that could be a finisher itself. ***1/2
5. Nigerian Drum Fight – WWE Intercontinental Title: Big E [c] vs. Apollo Crews
Did they even use a drum? I don’t think so, but in the moment the Nigerian Drum Fight was a blast: something completely different, something that should have opened the show if we’re dropping “thoughts” here. They got 7 minutes — seven — but like Owens and Zayn, packed enough big moments in to make it a whole match. Those kendo stick shots were on a space of their own and Dabo-Katto’s back too as some kind of Nigerian commander, what a trip this was. The WWF is back. ***1/2
6. RAW Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Rhea Ripley
This hit: the character, the wrestling, the result. There was an actual feel of struggle here, badass GAWD Ripley not afraid of Asuka’s bullshit at the bell and just bringing it to her all match. It created an interesting pace, which made all the physical and solid pro wrestling work that much more. The Riptide Outta Nowhere finish was perfect too; unstoppable Asuka just got caught by the new dominance in town. It wasn’t in a spot to be epic, but it got across what it needed to at the same time. ***1/2
Things that made me sigh: Hulk Hogan says “yo, yo, brothers!” Hulk Hogan dresses up as a pirate. The Bella Twins beat up Bayley and dance with Hulk Hogan.
7. Triple Threat Match – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan
As a wise man once said, we live in a society.
Sorry. But this is a type of match. Most know what the deal is. WWE is good at this kind of match, but it’s kind of silly sometimes too. Daniel Bryan was giggling before it! Not because he doesn’t take it seriously, but due to the weight of the ridiculousness that he is once again here — in a silly main event of WrestleMania. He built a legend on being the wrestler’s wrestler, but if he wants the Big One he’s doing dueling crossfaces with Edge and getting powerbombed through a table. That’s just how this works now.
It does kind of work, too. It works for what people expect, both those who follow WWE and those who don’t. It delivers The Wrestling Experience, which WWE tries really hard to ensure is just professional wrestling. There’s wrestling holds and dives, aggressive interference and manager reactions. There’s two men trying to hit a spear simultaneously and colliding skulls mid-air along with other stuff that just generally makes you go WHOA. They tie it in a package that’s a little all over the place and can occasionally run together but it is impressive in how they actually do package it all together.
Great finish, great WrestleMania event. ****
Happy Thoughts: This felt more consistent in-ring than last night, though the vibes of the FIRST audience back plus Sasha/Bianca puts Night 1 slightly ahead. It’s been bad vibes with WWE most of the year, but good vibes for WrestleMania. Well done. 3.75 / 5.0
How I Met Your Puroresu: S1 E6
How I Met Your Puroresu is a series dedicated to providing background information on matches in hopes of broadening horizons. These matches will be no longer than that of a sitcom as to not overwhelm a first time viewer.
Company: Active Advance Pro Wrestling
Show Title: Grand Slam in 2AW Square
Match: Kengo Mashimo & Tatsuya Hanami vs Toru Sugiura & Tomoya Hirata
Stakes: 2AW Tag Team Championship
Length: 19 Minutes
Production Date: March 28, 2021
Air Date: March 28, 2021
Ascending the mountain is only half the battle; just as important is keeping your momentum. 2AW is a promotion that gained a sizable amount of buzz during the early days of the pandemic due in large part by owning a building to run their shows. By having a well-known champion in Yuji Okabayashi as well as noteworthy tag title matches that were critically praised, 2AW became a must-see show during the spring and summer months of 2020. Just as important as what was happening on top of the card is what they were building underneath.
Tatsuya Hanami was a young prospect who debuted with 2AW in 2018, back the days where they were still known as K-DOJO. He first entered my radar in January of 2020 through 2AW’s joint shows with BJW and became the person I most looked forward to monitoring during those first months of the pandemic. Gifted with a spunky attitude that jumps off the screen, Hanami received a career-altering opportunity on June 9, 2020 when he was scheduled to face the ace, Kengo Mashimo.
Legend on the independent level, Kengo Mashimo is a 20-year veteran who has been with K-DOJO / 2AW since its inception in 2002 and has gone on to six reigns on top as well as nine tag team reigns. His accolades also include multiple Champion Carnival appearances, semifinalist in NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Tournament as well as entry in the company’s 2012 World Tag League. Arguably the most respected wrestler to come out of K-DOJO, the now 42-year old is tasked with bringing up the next generation and someone 18-years his junior.
The fight Hanami brought to Mashimo lead to his graduation from young boy status and the duo began teaming together. Less than two months later they were able to capture the tag team championship, a reign that lasted nearly 100-days. Derailed momentarily, they were able to win the titles back from the team who originally beat them and it has been smooth sailing ever since – that is until now.
Challenging the champions are an invading team from Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS, Toru Sugiura and Tomoya Hirata. Sugiura isn’t a stranger to this series. I wrote about his current reign as King of FREEDOM Champion a couple months ago and since then, his numbers have increased to 9 defenses over 561 days. Flanking him is Hirata, a massive prospect a la Daisuke Sekimoto, who is looking to break out of his young boy role by capturing his first title.
The immediate threat the challengers bring to the table is knowing the place they call home. FREEDOMS is the premiere death match promotion in Japan and Sugiura is their champion. Now they’re headed into 2AW which is a fairly cut and dry traditional wrestling promotion. They present an entirely different hurdle for the champions to overcome; one that will put them to their greatest test yet.
While it’s great that Hanami has earned the respect of Mashimo, he must keep his momentum moving as he’s now being tasked with invaders coming into his home and challenging for his title. His partner is a man who’s done it all so it’s time for him to prove he can follow in Mashimo’s footsteps by fending off all who step up to the plate.
Captain Lou’s Review: AJPW Champion Carnival 2021 – Day 1 (4/9/2021)
Koji Iwamoto, Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura vs. Atsuki Aoyagi, Rising HAYATO & Yasutaka Oosega
With their chunkier counterparts getting all of the spotlight on this tour, the Zen Nihon juniors used this opening match slot to remind YOU of their relevance. All action all the time with everyone making the most of their performances.
Always cool to see Michinoku Pro’s Oosega catch a few bookings outside of the North Eastern territories. Dan added a new twist to his wild schoolboy/gutwrench suplex combo and this kid might have a fancier mind than we think. Dug the extended ending stretch between Hikaru and HAYATO – the Ehime lad looking sharp. ***
TAJIRI, Yusuke Kodama & Hokuto Omori vs. Takao Omori, Francesco Akira & Black Menso-re
Some real solid midcarding until the clunky belt shot finish. They built most of the match around Hokuto trolling Black Menso-re, so the eventual payoff of Menso-re getting revenge with a TENRYU-STYLE chop/eye-poke combo was pretty great. Elsewhere, TAJIRI and Akira put their chain wrestling-heavy dynamic to good use and Kodama did a sweet cartwheel at one point. **1/4
The Bodyguard & Izanagi vs. Yoshitatsu & Ryuki Honda
It ain’t an AJPW Osaka show without your pal The Bodyguard. The match was as basic as it gets, but they eventually milked the young boy in peril structure into a pretty decent ending stretch between Honda and Izanagi. Bodyguard has gone back to a non-Karaoke version of his theme song and it’s just not the same. I need those smooth vocals, baby. **
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Koji Doi – Champion Carnival
I was expecting more of a meat pounder than an arm work match but they eventually got where they needed to go and it was pretty rad. Layout uncertainty aside, Doi put in a strong performance and showed that he belonged in this tournament. Ishikawa sold a lot and let him control most of the match – a nice gesture from the Gentle Giant.
The ending stretch gave you the plate of beef that you ordered – both guys destroying each other with head-drops and fiery lariats. Sidenote: the new golden gear is looking good on Big Shuj. New colors worthy of YOUR GAORA TV CHAMPION. ***1/4
Suwama vs. Kohei Sato – Champion Carnival
A more compact version of their recent Triple Crown match, with Suwama doing a good job babyfacing Kohei by wrecking his back in the early sections of the match. Less filler matwork and more straight-up ass kicking. In the end, it was still somewhat of a baseline lumpy heavyweight match, but it was well laid out and both guys beat the shit out of each other.
The Sato comebacks felt properly vicious and made the guy look more dangerous than in his title challenge. Shoutout to the lung-perforating PK and the always-romantic shoot headbutt of skull-crushing tenderness. ***1/2
Shinjiro Otani vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival
BELIEVE S-ROAD~! This was the perfect Champ Carnival introduction for Otani and a world class performance from Yuma. A match oozing dickishness where both the crowd and Aoyagi got swept up by Otanimania. Despite severe hairline trauma and crippling Yakuza dept, Otani still performs like one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and established right off the bat that he is not to be fucked with.
Meanwhile, Aoyagi showed why he’s one of the guys to watch in 2021 All Japan. Revelling in the challenge, he threw the signature Otani attitude right back at the old man and stood up to him in face-ripping strike exchanges. Holy shit at the wheelchair-ready release Dragon suplex and hellacious lariat that led up to the finish. This Otani CC run will be one for the books. ***3/4
Jake Lee vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival
In terms of pure storyline progression, this worked. The Dark Gentleman Jake Lee is evil now and he will CHEAT 2 WIN. Plus, the way they worked the ref bump was completely acceptable compared to the overbaked multi-run-in spots you’ll get elsewhere. Sure, I would’ve loved a longer match between these two, but I have a feeling we’ll get one fairly soon. **1/2
Kento Miyahara vs. Zeus – Champion Carnival
These two had a pretty high bar to clear considering they were in my MOTY last year. Spoiler alert: they didn’t top themselves, but a lesser Kento/Zeus match is still better than most matches.
The one big advantage this one had over prior entries in their stacked rivalry: Nikkan Lee on referee duty. With old man Wada nowhere to be found, Miyahara’s trolling options were a lot more limited, so the mandatory floor sequence felt more heelish than comedic.
They also smartly referenced that last meeting, with nods to the apron Air-Raid Crash and the Misawa facelock that drove Zeus to success in last year’s tournament. Cold hard cash for fans for the 2020 CC final. Outside of the fun callbacks and refreshing lack of Wada spots, this had what you want from a Kento/Zeus match. High-intensity throwdowns, deadly Blackout/lariat collisions and the Big Z-Man channeling the Power of Osaka to overcome the odds. ****
Captain Lou’s Review: AJPW Champion Carnival 2021 – Day 2 (4/10/2021)
Izanagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO vs. Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Francesco Akira
Another hot opener from the small men of All Japan Pro-Wrestling. Akira/Atsuki brought the athletic chain wrestling display, Hikaru ran over Izanagi with his usual armbar-based onslaught and the Nextream kids did their Japanese Rock N’ Roll Express team spots. Other highlights: Izanagi over-babyfacing himself to fit with his teammates and Akira randomly busting out a very pretty Quebrada. ***
TAJIRI, Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama vs. Takao Omori, Koji Iwamoto & Black Menso-re
Same kind of deal as the Total Eclipse/Midcard Squadron 6-man from yesterday. Now with a slightly-improved belt shot finish. Again, Hokuto worked the bulk of the match and had himself some pretty solid wrasslin’ with former junior champ Iwamoto. The rest was fairly skippable. **1/4
Yoshitatsu & Ryouji Sai vs. Daimonji So & Ryuki Honda
The Land’s End warriors have ARRIVED to leave their mark on the Champion Carnival undercard. They kept things mercifully short here and everyone leaned into the faster pace. Still, not much stood out other than the comical Magic Killer from YoshitatSai and Honda getting destroyed by Sai for a minute. **1/4
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival
This felt like a match both guys needed to win and they wrestled accordingly. They went with a similar structure as their Carnival match from last year, with Ashino targeting the leg and Yuma bouncing back with his babyface offense. The limb work never felt like a chore thanks to Ashino’s quality submission game and the occasional detour to SUPLEX CITY (not that far from Nagoya, apparently).
It all came down to a clash between the ankle lock and the Endgame, which was made all the more compelling by Yuma constantly finding new ways to hook on his submission. The small package setup for the one that closed the match was particularly inspired. ***1/2
Kohei Sato vs. Koji Doi – Champion Carnival
Efficient little slug-fest where both guys were able to get their strengths over in 5 minutes. I’m digging the ‘’Kohei Sato might knock you out at any time’’ tournament subplot as it adds a real sense of danger to his matches. Also, that forearm to the back of the head looked like absolute fucking death. Doi followed up his strong performance from yesterday with another good one here. Pure lariat explosiveness from this dude. ***
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Zeus – Champion Carnival
A meaty hoss fight between two pros of this beloved subgenre. Throwing a bigger dude at Zeus always results in a good ol’ time and this was no exception. The first half was filled with all the monster tropes that you need: tests of strengths, shoulderblock challenges and hurty floor suplexes. They didn’t waste too much time on Big Shuj’s mandatory limb work subplots and mostly stuck to protein-heavy ass kicking. I am liking Zeus’ renewed fondness for the Misawa facelock – it made for a satisfying finish here. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Shinjiro Otani – Champion Carnival
Even the Kento/Wada reunion tour couldn’t fuck up an Otani match. Not quite as tight as yesterday’s Otani/Aoyagi banger, but it still delivered the same kind of quality content. Once the action moved past the early Kento tropes, Otani’s piss and vinegar lit a fire under the Ace and both guys started going hard.
Weirdly enough, Otani’s probable lack of familiarity with the typical Miyahara match layout was beneficial to everyone. The twists and turns felt less predictable and it almost looked like old man Otani was stumbling into all the knee strikes instead of setting himself up for them. Ending the match on a Blackout instead of the usual Shutdown finish was pretty refreshing too. ***1/2
Suwama vs. Jake Lee – Champion Carnival
They had the right idea here in establishing Heel Jake Lee as a dominant figure and having the Wamster fight from underneath. Unfortunately, Jake’s heel character is still a work in progress and he seemed to have no clue how to fill up the early sections of the match. Lots of lifeless stomping and choking that should’ve been left on the cutting room floor.
The second half had more juice to it. Jake knee’ing Wama’s lifeless corpse, the maniacal heel laugh and Suwama’s ode-to-Kawada delayed sell were all things that worked. As always, Suwama’s raging Kaiju comebacks were tremendous. Also, everyone who freaked out about the ref bump in Jake/Ashino will be pleased to know that this was completely shenanigans-free. ***1/4
Captain Lou’s Review: AJPW Champion Carnival 2021 – Day 3 (4/11/2021)
Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Francesco Akira vs. Izanagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO
Almost exactly the same match as yesterday, except one quarter of a star less good. Tough break. **3/4
Koji Iwamoto vs. Ryuki Honda – Ryuki Honda Trial Series
In the last episode of the Ryuki Honda Trial Series, young Honda learned the secrets of WWE superstardom by facing World Famous Yoshitatsu. Today, Iwamoto taught him the most important trick in all of pro-wrestling: how to work the arm. Considering Iwamoto’s usually on the receiving end of all the arm work, he did shockingly well as the Giver of Limb Pain. A real tenacious dude. Meanwhile, Honda hasn’t quite figured out the kind of selling that will please Wrestling Twitter, but his energetic comebacks were good enough for me. Glad I didn’t skip this undercard! ***
Yoshitatsu, Takao Omori & Black Menso-re vs. TAJIRI, Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama
Three shows, three belt shot finishes. You try and top that, Gedo. The rest of the match was more of the good ol’ mom and pop bullshit that’s been feeding this BLOOD FEUD all tour long. Old man Omori in peril, Hot Tag Yoshitatsu, etc. Turns out this has all been secretly a setup for the 6-man tag straps, who have now replaced the GAORA TV title as the hottest championship in this company. **
Jake Lee vs. Koji Doi – Champion Carnival
The Champion Carnival is where you go to get your fill of rock-solid 8-minute heavyweight matches. This delivered exactly that and even added a sprinkle of Total Eclipse Theatre as an intro. I had some harsh words for Heel Jake Lee’s long main event with Suwama, but his new act works like a charm in more compact settings.
That spot where he relentlessly knee’d the shit out of Doi is exactly what I need from The Dark Gentleman. Speaking of Doi, the guy looked real sharp once again. Consistently great-looking offense including some lariats that give All Japan’s best lariat-throwers a run for their money. Dug all of it. ***1/4
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival
Another efficient professional wrestling match that saw a pleasing clash of styles between Big Shuj’s burly bomb-throwing and Yuma’s timeless high spots and deep rollup knowledge. Ishikawa’s early back work subplot didn’t have much of a lasting effect, but it looked deadly as hell so I’ll take it. That apron body slam into flying foot stomp to the back = big ouch. As always, Aoyagi knows how to work his comebacks and that diving cross body of his looked better than ever. Good wrasslin’. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival
I was the only person on the Internet who liked these guys’ Carnival match last year. Guess what? I also liked this one a lot. Less Enfants Terribles shenanigans, more leg destruction and Ashino elevation. AJPW’s most powerful Metallica stan looked like a million bucks here, providing enough intensity to break through Kento’s egomaniacal force field and come off as the star he should be.
I appreciated how quickly they moved past Kento’s early tropes and went right for the good stuff (like a god damn Cesaro-esque pop-up European uppercut from Big Ash). Terrific finish too – Kento failing to Blackout his way out of Ashino’s leg torture made for a wild visual. ***1/2
Suwama vs. Zeus – Champion Carnival
Nothing but love for this battle of the brutes. They went from slumming it around the ring like a pair of 80’s brawlers right into intricate limb work subplots and hellacious lariat-throwing – both guys showing just how much range they have.
Watching Wama through this show’s single camera setup was extremely revealing. Even when you think there’s not much going on, this guy is always doing something. Just working the crowd like a motherfucker at all times, selling the arm and growling like a fire breathing lizard monster. I’ve mentioned this before, but his ability to build up upcoming spots through selling is ridiculously underrated. Case in point: him selling the Air Raid Crash like it broke his fucking jaw turned Zeus’ eventual facelock into the most dramatic thing ever.
I could gush about the Wamster for days, but Zeus also brought the goods here. All Japan has a lot of top guys who rely on formulas in big match situations. Zeus could easily do the same with his super effective power moves, yet he keeps refreshing his repertoire and embracing new structures. The way he turned the match around with a short-arm scissors of all things is not something you’d expect from his character, and that’s what’s so cool about him. ****
Captain Lou’s Review: DDT April Fool 2021 (4/11/2021)
Hideki Okatani vs. Toi Kojima
The usual solid dark match opener from these kids. Kojima keeps growing in confidence and chop-throwing ability. His big ‘’COME ON!’’ taunt was especially great and the immediate payoff of Okatani plastering him right in the mush was lovely as well. **1/4
Yusuke Okada vs. Yuya Koroku
This was Koroku’s debut match and this kid feels like someone you should keep an eye on. He spent some time at the Animal Hamaguchi Gym before hitting up the DDT dojo, which might explain his preternatural smoothness in the ring. Great instincts and picture-perfect rope-running already. To no one’s surprise, Okada was the ideal debut match opponent. He brought discipline and structure, making sure Koroku earned every scrap of offense. Solid stuff. **3/4
Chris Brookes, Saki Akai, Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya vs. Makoto Oishi, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Keigo Nakamura
Better than it had any right to be! The lineup seemed completely random on paper but everyone stepped up and made this work. Even the mid-match intermission with Hirata using the Magnum TOKYO glasses to mind control Iino brought the laughs. Just a well laid-out multiman tag with minimal down time and plenty of creative thinking. Always happy to see the Quetzalcoatl finish from Saki. Also, yes, I had to look up the spelling for this thing. ***
Tetsuya Endo, Mad Paulie & Nobuhiro Shimatani vs. Georgeous Matsuno, Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda
You know what you’re getting with Georgeous Matsu-GOAT. I was laughing for most of this so I think it was a success? Very acceptable old man jokes, Endo corpsing all over and an extremely elaborate Anton fake injury spot. No complaints.
Naomi Yoshimura is BACK.
Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & MAO vs. Daisuke Sasaki, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino
Part comedy match, part preview tag for the upcoming Ueno/Soma Universal title match. The Sauna Club boys are good playground pals for Hino. You can tell both sides enjoy messing with each other and their interactions keep providing endless comedy gold. MAO shaking in his boots while attempting the Hino-style hands behind your back stance was high-level stuff, as was Shunma getting chopped off the apron for a minute. The Ueno/Soma-centric finale hinted at good things too. A lot of intensity and stiff forearm trading. ***
Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi © vs. HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi – KO-D Tag Team Titles
Maybe my expectations were out of control for this one? I mean, it was solid enough but never came close to reaching the world-ending tag scorcher level I had envisioned. Slightly disjointed at times – both in terms of layout and execution.
It took them a while to figure out what kind of match they wanted to have and they eventually settled on fusing two mini matches together (HARA vs. Yukio and Higuchi vs. Okabayashi) rather than telling a fully-fleshed out tag team story.
Don’t get me wrong, those pairings provided good content, but the cohesion of Eruption’s matches with Sauna Club and Nautilus was sorely missing. Still, a match featuring Okabayashi and Big Gooch ramming into each other with lariats can never be a complete disaster. It’s science. ***1/4
Jun Akiyama © vs. Danshoku Dino – KO-D Openweight Title
On the one hand, this had all of the problematic Dino shtick that you can think of. On the other hand, it had more heat and a better layout than the KO-D tag match!? There are a few ways to interpret this, but it mostly came down to Akiyama’s versatility as a worker and Dino’s status as a beloved DDT icon.
For such a Dumb match, they found interesting ways to keep Korakuen hooked. The babyface role kept shifting through the different sections – Underdog Dino getting outwrestled by grumpy Akiyama eventually led to Sex Monster Heel Dino busting out all of his tricks to push Uncle Jun to the limit.
They went overboard with the near-falls in the ending stretch, but the reactions were hard to deny. That first Danshoku Driver got one of the biggest pops I’ve heard in the pandemic era. Akiyama’s an absolute pro for playing along. Also, chef’s kiss to the Dick-Clutch Exploder. ***1/4
Captain Lou’s Review: Dragon Gate The Gate of Passion 2021 (4/9/2021)
Shun Skywalker & Jason Lee vs. Susumu Yokosuka & U-T
On top of being a straight-up fun opener featuring four bros who could pull three stars out of a paper bag, this was also a match with some cool as fuck submissions. The llave-influence in Dragon Gate is something that’s often taken for granted these days. It adds such a unique flair to what could be otherwise-listless early-match-sections. See: Shun tying U-T into assorted DOS CARAS-esque knots and U-T retaliating with various funky leglocks on Jason later. The rest of the match was all gravy too – the usual fast-paced good time swiftly escalating into a big ol’ Jason upset. Wrestling is good. ***
Ultimo Dragon & Kennichiro Arai vs. Ryo Saito & Punch Tominaga
Guest commentator Susumu spent most of this talking about Saito’s new Sai Rocket-themed gear design and I was going to make a snarky comment about it being the sole highlight of the match UNTIL Punch busted out that sweet top-rope flying armbar into Triangle choke finish. Very 1999 Kendo Kashin. This man is your next Brave Gate champ. You heard it here first. **1/4
Masaaki Mochizuki, Takashi Yoshida, Don Fujii & Gamma vs. BxB Hulk, Kaito Ishida, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & H.Y.O.
My man Yoshida now has hair color that matches his sunny new disposition. Just beautiful. Also uuuuh, this ruled? They completely bypassed the usual R.E.D. heel beatdown structure and instead had the old guys beat the shit out of H.Y.O. Donald Fujii stole the show whenever he was in, mimicking Yoshida’s throat thrust rush and choke slamming a dude while being trapped in an ankle lock. A true legend. Elsewhere, Mochi/Ishida brought the dickishness and worked the beyond-epic legsweep-dodge-into-FACEPUNCH sequence from that killer Mochizuki/Kenoh 2018 NOAH match. ***
Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda & Yasushi Kanda vs. Kzy, Genki Horiguchi & Dance Hashimoto
Hashimoto is none other than Kagetora with a Natural Vices makeover for (presumably) one night only. The guy ingested Kento Miyahara-levels of cocaine before the match and partied like a rockstar for the whole thing. Well deserved. There was a loooot of house show comedy tropes here, but the action eventually kicked into high gear and reached the coveted Good Korakuen 6-Man plateau. The Kzy/Okuda section was so compelling that I’d be down for a Kzy Brave Gate challenge, even if it’d be an obvious downgrade for him at this stage. ***
Copyrights, schmopyrights. Muting Masahiro Chono’s theme should result in immediate jail time.
Bokutimo Dragon vs. Diamante – Mascarara Contra Mascara
A bit heavy on the R.E.D. shenanigans, but Bokutimo’s valiant babyface performance was enough to keep me hooked. I haven’t seen anything from Big R’s pre-heel run, so I was surprised by how well he was working the crowd here. A big lovable technico. He also provided large quantities of chunky high-flying and I felt truly nourished. Nourished by this man’s plus-size tope con hilo off the apron. Diamante played the rudo role well, but didn’t stand out as much as he does in tags. To be fair, the match was clearly designed to put Bokutimo over in defeat. Chef’s kiss to the overly-dramatic post-match unmasking ceremony. ***1/4
Naruki Doi, YAMATO & Dragon Kid vs. Eita, KAI & SB Kento
There was fun to be had here, even if it was more of an extended RAW is DRAGON angle than a proper Dragon Gate 6-man. They pushed two stories to the forefront: the will he/won’t he recruitment angle with High End and the returning Doi + R.E.D. tension between KAI and SBK. Both were handled well and had intriguing outcomes. I like the idea of Doi bailing on YAMATO to do his own thing with Yoshino and I like SBK as the wildcard who might turn on you at a moment’s notice. The match was all countout/restart and powder shot shenanigans, but it succeeded in making you want to tune in to the next episode. **3/4
Performance Review – AEW Dynamite (4/14/21)
“Hardy is in his 28th year of wrestling, and Darby is 28 years of age!” – Jim Ross
Since January 1, 2020, Happy Wrestling Land has been resolute in its’ support of AEW’s many factions providing a soft launch for their many members, and it will now be resolute and its’ support of a punch from Anthony Ogogo causing a match to end by referee stoppage. These are the controversies of our time, and I will not waver on them.
The World
AEW continued to provide fine week-to-week TV that I now question can be paid off well, but I’ll still enjoy the TV. The ability to open with MJF trying to bribe Mike Tyson followed by THAT Young Bucks tag was such a flex: 1) star power, 2) fun scenario, 3) tag team wrestling!
In addition to a number of things that may or may not be happening on Dark: Elevation, this is the world: Don Callis is making The Elite all into shits, The Inner Circle is at war with The Pinnacle, and more people want that AEW Women’s World Title. QT Marshall is angry about Cody Rhodes and Taz is angry about Christian. The Best Friends come out to the Pixies.
There’s some kind of feud involving Sting, Darby, Hangman and Dark Order opposite Lance Archer, Big Money Matt, Private Party and Butcher & Blade feud going on but I’ll let you know when it’s doing anything other than filling TV.
Performance: 3.0 / 5.0 (GOOD)
The Wrestling
The opener – The Young Bucks vs. PAC/Fenix for the Tag Team Titles – was phenomenal. It had brilliant execution and occasional blistering pace that’s easy to take for granted from both teams, but it also had the Bucks playing heel and HEY! They’re really good at that.
The Young Bucks have cut many rings in half, but not with such an urgency and focus and dipshit attitude like this. There was a nasty lariat and mugging for the camera, a rebounding Canadian Destroyer and pelvic thrusts. In between, PAC and Fenix did that thing where they are undeniably two of the most fun pro wrestlers in the world to watch. A heck of a match.
Everything else was pretty straight TV wrestling: Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet a short match that let both get their shit in, while Kris Statlander‘s in-ring return had beat Amber Nova pretty quick. Anthony Ogogo made his Dynamite debut and beat a guy with a punch: very nice, very effective.
The main event Falls Count Anywhere Match for the TNT Title between Darby Allin and Matt Hardy ended up being very TV too, a few incredible spots from Darby but mostly just a space for run-ins and chaos. I dig chaos, but it felt less purposeful this week than normal: still not picking up on Sting and Lance Archer, and I only just remembered Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky were out there too.
Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood was bad. Lethargic, old man wrestling that didn’t even make up for it with Good Solid Work. Shame!
Performance: 3.0 / 5.0 (GOOD)
The Entertainment
Dynamite can’t not deliver a few good promos, though there was less of an angle adrenaline rush this week than usual. Don Callis, Britt Baker, and Taz delivered the goods. Taz is just the right amount of aggressive jerk and absolute bitch, it’s amazing.
The Powerhouse Hobbs/Christian angle was fun, though pretty basic: I’m just a big Powerhouse Hobbs guy.
Pelvic. Thrusts.
Performance: 3.0 / 5.0 (GOOD)
Room for Improvement
Put Hangman Page on a journey again
Tighten up the Sting/Archer and Dark Order/Matt Hardy stuff
Can’t feature everyone but you need more Wardlow, Starks, and Eddie Kingston – to start
My Favorite Things
Team Taz
That rebounding Canadian Destroyer
MJF and Mike Tyson, together
Performance Review: 60% [+7%]
Working Man’s WWE TV Review: 4/11/21 – 4/17/21
We went Beyond Thunderdome, and now we’re back. NXT is on Tuesday’s now!
Working Man’s Recap
Good Work: Bobby Lashley, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, WALTER, The Way, Drew Gulak, Nathan Frazer, Noam Dar, Bianca Belair, Montez Ford
World: Post-WrestleMania(ish), NXT’s 3 Musketeers, 4/15 Releases, Superstr Bianca Belair
Wrestling: Bobby Lashley w/ MVP vs. Riddle (RAW 4/12/21), Most of NXT 4/13/21
Entertainment: Raquel Gonzalez/Rhea Ripley/Bianca Belair reunion (NXT 4/13/21), WALTER and Imperium’s warning (NXT 4/13/21), Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman promo (SmackDown 4/16/21), Bianca Belair’s Victory Party (SmackDown 4/16/21)
RAW (4/12/21)
Like a RAW After Mania from the 90s, and by that I mean not much happened. Viking Raiders and a run-in from T-BAR and MACE, yeah? OK.
Charlotte Flair is back too, and will re-define herself by being the same.
Bobby Lashley vs. Riddle to start the show was random but a good competitive match and I can’t believe Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods actually got something out of Elias & his MAGA friend.
Asuka and Rhea Ripley had a clunkier sequel from WrestleMania, and I can’t say I was entertained by any of the following: Nia Jax slipping. Alexa Bliss‘ new doll. The Firefly Fun House.
That suck-up Drew McIntyre showed up for work again too after he was humiliated on Saturday, and he wrestled Randy Orton and Braun Strowman in a triple threat that really just brought this all back down to earth.
Rating:1.5 / 5.0
NXT (4/13/21)
The first Tuesday show had some good wrestling with that lovely dull vibe NXT gives off so much.
MSK vs. Drake/Killian for the NXT Tag Team Titles had Drake fired up to do the wrestling, while KUSHIDA beating Santos Escobar for the Cruiserweight Title seemed like a sudden if not sensible choice. Leon Ruff vs. Swerve Scott had the best bits from TakeOver’s Gauntlet Match, so that was nice.
The Way is hilarious and I dug the 8-man/woman main event, something that felt actually different on NXT.
The debut of Franky Monet and her dog was quickly overshadowed by a reunion of WrestleMania weekend’s three new champions, all allegedly products of the WWE Performance Center: Raquel Gonzalez, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair – the latter of whom felt like a major major star. Very cool.
Loved WALTER sending in threats from enemy territory too.
Rating:2.75 / 5.0
MAIN EVENT (4/14/21)
The Wednesday Night Wars can continue if you time it just right. Hope they do something again with these fellas on RAW or SmackDown, but on Main Event you can see Mansoor taking a German suplex on his head from Tozawa and Drew Gulak doing wacky submissions to Humberto Carrillo.
Rating:2.0 / 5.0
NXT UK (4/15/21)
A week after Prelude, NXT UK is back to “finding itself” – though Noam Dar and Sam Gradwell are legit funny.
Nathan Frazer is comically ready for a run and had a good opener with Saxon Huxley, highlighted by a totally psychotic tope. Piper Niven meanwhile is dealing with the trauma of not winning the Women’s Title so she’s trying to buck up Jack Starz. Mixed bag, this show.
A match between former tag team partners Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan headlined the show. They tried. They tried.
Rating:2.0 / 5.0
SMACKDOWN (4/16/21)
This was also a pretty quiet follow-up to WrestleMania, though you can do a lot worse thanRoman Reigns promos and Main Event Jey Uso.
Nothing but love for the Bianca Belair celebration and the very thought of a Rey Mysterio vs. Otis match, too.
Street Profits lost to Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode; Shayna Baszler to Natalya. They ran back Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews introduced Commander Azeez. Ah JEEZ!
Cesaro got all the shine against Jey Uso in a fun main event that ended with Seth Rollins interference, meaning we’ve got ol’ Double C feuding with both Reigns and Rollins right now. What a world.
Rating:2.75 / 5.0
205 LIVE (4/16/21)
205 Live continues to be Main Event starring Nese and Daivari. Jake Atlas beat Ashante “Thee” Adonis and August Grey beat Tony Nese with Ariya Daivari on commentary.
Rating:1.5 / 5.0