TV Review: WWE Cruiserweight Classic #8 - Akira Tozawa v Gran Metalik

Aired - 31st August 2016

The Cruiserweight Classic had reached the Quarter Final stage and this episode featured two mouth-watering clashes, as Dragon Gate's Akira Tozawa tangled with CMLL's Gran Metalik and DDT's Kota Ibushi battling WWE veteran The Brian Kendrick. Would WWE be able to up the ante for the stellar Second Round stage? 

Arguably, the show's main event was the opening match between 4 time CMLL World Welterweight Champion Gran Metalik [Mascara Dorada] and 2 time Open the Triangle Gate Champion Akira Tozawa. In a first time meeting, the duo put on a great encounter, across a mixture of different styles. The pair melded their Mexican and Japanese styles tremendously well, with stunning dives, hard strikes and technical submissions, whilst the final few minutes bought a drop of sports-entertainment drama to proceedings. The narrative unfolded at a satisfying pace, with the duo going toe for toe from start to finish, exchanging periods of offence and using similar routines when doing so. Considering that Tozawa came out of the Dragon Gate dojo, which has more than a tad of a Lucha Libre influence and Metalik has had over 200 matches for NJPW then it really should have come as no surprise that the pair meshed so well. 

The narrative would reach it's peak, as it should, in the finish, with Tozawa able to kick out of the bridging German suplex that has eliminated FSW's Jack Gallagher and Kenneth Johnson in the second and first round respectively, before escaping a package version of the move and nailing a Metalik Driver [Samoan Driver] to get the three count. The tournament structure had allowed Tozawa to build up his German suplex as a legit finish, which meant it was a hugely convincing false finish, garnering a superb crowd reaction and also giving Metalik the rub having kicked out of it. As part of the storyline it was the natural conclusion to the match, with Metalik proving that his finisher was the deadlier of the two, after the pair fought an even back and forth encounter. Having Tozawa attempt the package German also gives Big Over somewhere to go if he returns to WWE and if that happens a rematch between the two would be a must. Metalik goes on to face either wXw's Zack Sabre Jr. or ICW's Noam Dar in the semi finals in two weeks time. 

Whilst I think, Metalik v Tozawa should have been the main event because of the international star power, I also felt that The Brian Kendrick and Kota Ibushi managed to one up them. Whilst the previous match melded two styles together, Kendrick v Ibushi made sure the two men's styles were kept completely separate and this presented a wonderful story as the match became less about Kendrick v Ibushi and more about The crafty veteran against the flashy up and comer. It was established early on that Golden Star had the edge on Kendrick in almost every category, hitting a snug roundhouse kick and a beautiful triangle moonsault in the opening exchanges, and from here on in we'd see The Post-Apocalyptic Scavenger pull out a number of sly acts that would keep him the running. Trapping Ibushi's leg in the guard rail as he attempted to get a countout win and hitting a neckbreaker on the apron that bought the 3 time IWGP Junior-Heavyweight Champion's surgically repaired neck across the metal turnbuckle were among the highlights of Kendrick's clever performance. 

It seemed clear that Ibushi was destined to reach the semi-final, but that certainty was called into question on numerous occasions in the closing stretch of the bout, as Kendrick got a number of tremendously close nears and Ibushi spent plenty of time in the Bully Choke [Grounded Reverse Chinlock], which both men played perfectly through their faces and movement. Twice Ibushi ended up in the hold that's put away Tony Nese and Raul Mendoza, with the second occasion seeing 34 year old DDT star missing a Phoenix Splash directly into the hold, and each time it was equally dramatic with Ibushi selling perfectly before, after and during the hold to get over it's strength and add to that turmoil. Throw into the mix a nasty Burning Hammer near fall for the former TNA X-Division Champion, with Daniel Bryan screaming for Kendrick to get to the cover on commentary and you had more drama than an Eastenders omnibus. When Ibushi got the win with mid-rope deadlift German suplex and the Golden Star Powerbomb [Elevated Sit-out Powerbomb] to claim the victory, it was a satisfying conclusion to a great contest. Ibushi goes onto a semi-final with EWF's TJ Perkins or WWE's Rich Swann.  

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 8.38/10

I wondered whether WWE would be able to lift the quality of the action that was produced across the three Second Round episodes for the Quarter Final and they definitely did, producing the best episode of the Cruiserweight Classic to date. Two very strong match, featuring a variety of action over the show meant that this was a more than satisfactory watch. By this stage you'd expect all four talents to be able to put on great matches and they delivered as Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik, The Brian Kendrick and Kota Ibushi bought their A-game to help WWE raise the bar for their inaugural international series. 

With the next episode featuring two equally intriguing bouts as Zack Sabre Jr takes on Noam Dar and TJ Perkins battles Rich Swann, it has to be expected that the penultimate episode of the show will continue the trend.

Words - James Marston 
Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Cruiserweight Classic #5 - Kota Ibushi v Cedric Alexander

With the Second Round getting underway, as Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik and Tajiri looked to make it to the Quarter Finals, would the action of the Cruiserweight Classic begin to heat up even more? 

DDT's Kota Ibushi and ROH's Cedric Alexander put the 1st Cruiserweight Classic on the map, making everything that had came before it feel like a mere warm up, going out into Full Sail Arena and lighting it up with a 15 minute belter. Considering it was the pair's first match ever involving the other, this was spectacularly smooth, fast action that built to a wonderful crescendo following a number of near falls for both men. Every single move was hit with a real purpose, whilst the even relatively simple moves like a diving clothesline were made believable near falls thanks to the bumping abilities of both men. The urgency that both brought to their performance can only act to lift the tournament in the prestige stakes, as both looked desperate to stay in the tournament.  

The pair showed that they are accomplished at a number of different styles and capable of pacing a contest to get the most out of themselves and the crowd. The early portion of the contest saw them work a technical style, with Ibushi focusing on Alexander's arm, before working through some strong-style strikes, beautiful high-flying moves, whilst also weaving in some quality storytelling as Alexander easily slotted into the underdog role with the crowd on the edge of their seats as he hit a superkick and a tight brainbuster for two consecutive near falls. After a flurry of moves ended with the Golden Star Powerbomb to seal the win for Ibushi, I couldn't help but think that it was a real shame for Alexander to have had only two matches on the show! I feel like that is how I should be feeling after each and every elimination in the tournament! Ibushi will face either NYWC's Tony Nese or WWE's The Brian Kendrick in the Quarter Final. 

With such a strong main event, it would be easy to overlook CMLL's Gran Metalik [Mascara Dorada] and WWE's Tajiri having a good contest in the only other match on the show. The two battled in what was a well put together, back and forth clash of styles that felt much richer than it's ten minute run time would indicate. The "everything you can do" opening followed by the Lucha-style exchange of submission holds was one of my favourite sequences of the tournament so far and was very different from most of what WWE presents at the moment. Both men got to showcase themselves once again, with some slick tightrope style moves from Metalik for near falls, whilst Tajiri's submission work looked brutal at points and made Metalik look even better when he not only withstood it but managed to escape. When it came down to it it was Metalik who picked up the win, once again with the Samoan Driver to advance to the Quarter Finals, where he will face Dragon Gate's Kota Ibushi or FSW's Jack Gallagher.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 8.08/10

As predicted the 2nd Round produced the strongest episode of Cruiserweight Classic so far with a big jump in quality above the previous best, Episode 2. Kota Ibushi upped the bar in the main event, alongside Cedric Alexander, showing why he is among the favourites to win the entire tournament, whilst Tajiri and Gran Metalik put on a bout that may become a forgotten gem of the tournament, thanks to having to share a show with Alexander v Ibushi! 

This was the first must-watch episode of tournament so far and I have feeling we'll see a few more of those before it's over. 

All content - James Marston 

TV Review: WWE NXT #206 - Shinsuke Nakamura v Wesley Blake

After three weeks of big matches and having it's roster heavily depleted by the recent WWE Draft, NXT looked to re-build and quickly with just four episodes until the next Takeover event. With a more low-key card, could NXT still provide the quality of action it's fans have come to expect? 

This week's main event came at the top of the show as Shinsuke Nakamura went 9-0 in NXT with a victory over Wesley Blake. A dominant performance from Nakamura here, in an entertaining extended squash, as Blake continues to find his feet as a singles competitor. The match was much more a set-up for General Manager William Regal to come out to ringside and announce that Nakamura would be facing Samoa Joe for the title at Takeover: Brooklyn II on 20th August (more on that in a moment), than it was an attempt to have a brilliant match, but of course, anytime Nakamura is in the ring it's difficult to take your eyes of the screen. Blake put in a decent performance in his role, mimicking "The King of Strong-Styles"' offence and blowing kisses at him, which made the moment he got hit in the face with the Kinshasa all the more satisfying.

Kota Ibushi made his NXT debut with a victory over Buddy Murphy, in a short contest that managed to pack a lot action into it's diminutive screen time. A much more balanced contest than the earlier Nakamura v Blake match (with the Blake and Murphy being former tag partners comparisons between the two are inevitable) and therefore it was much more exciting fight to watch. The tempo was rapid, especially as the matches headed to it's near fall rammed conclusion, with the momentum shifting one way and then another. I much prefer this type of debut for Ibushi, to say an out and out squash match, as it shows the fans of the brand, what kind of matches they can expect and offers something to look forward to, whilst also giving him a debut victory. I'd like to see what else Buddy Murphy is capable of on his own, as he gave a good showing of himself here.

Steve Cutler continued his thirteen match, 2 year losing streak on NXT TV, with a defeat to No Way Jose in less than two minutes. There was some dancing and then Jose won with a cobra clutch slam, a real treat. The real story here though was Jose cutting a killer promo on rival Austin Aries. He brought some genuine depth to his character, that it definitely need if Jose wants to progress any further on the brand. Jose built the promo well, as it grew and began to tell a story about his background, explaining his motivations for fighting and dancing and just what that means for Aries. The exclamation point left me wanting to see Jose and Aries have a fight, which I previously had been completely mild for. 

The show would end with NXT Champion Samoa Joe voice his displeasure with having Shinsuke Nakamura as his Number One contender. Joe was on fire with his promo, not coming across as a cowardly heel who doesn't want to fight Nakamura, but coming across as someone who didn't believe Nakamura was good enough to get a title shot. Of course, the fans want to see the match, so Joe trying to block that makes him look like real bastard. Also, Joe referencing his own road to the NXT Championship gave the promo an extra dimension, where the viewer could see where Joe was coming from but still disagree with his opinion. Of course, by the end of the show, William Regal had forced Joe's hand and made sure the contest would take place, but somehow NXT managed to raised the stakes with this simple and effective piece of storytelling for a match that many had already labelled as must-see.  

Billie Kay got her first win on TV with a victory over Stardom's Santana Garrett in a match. It was a fairly basic encounter, that without having being told a lot about Kay over her 13 month run on TV was hard to get to into. To be honest, I was more convinced by Garrett's bubbly babyface character than I was by whatever Kay was doing, that looked a bit unsure. Perhaps an interview with Kay beforehand or after would have been a better way of introducing her character fully. NXT is in real need of bulking up it's roster of women on TV, since Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Eva Marie and Nia Jax were all bought up to RAW and Smackdown Live a few weeks ago, so it makes sense to start using girls like Kay in more prominent positions but this was a flat first victory for her. 

In the only tag team action on the show, TM-61 (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne) got themselves another victory, as they destroyed Rob Ryzin and Adrian Nails. After six weeks off TV, this felt like a way to keep Miller and Thorne in the consciousness of the audience, without NXT having much of a plan for either at this stage. Their opponents on the other hand were some of the worst enhancement talent who I can remember NXT using. I feel that these guys were just wondering around Full Sail University and got roped into wrestling a match. Nails wrestled in jeans, which is cool if you're known to the audience, but looks like you've just forgotten your gear if you're not. Then he took a fucking awful spinebuster, that looked like he'd never bumped in his entire life. The best thing I can say about this was that TM-61 came away unscathed and hopefully Ryzin and Nails won't be booked again anytime soon. 

Result 

Singles Match: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Wesley Blake in 4 minutes, 28 seconds 

Singles Match: Billie Kay def. Santana Garrett in 3 minutes, 8 seconds.

Tag Team Match: TM-61 - Nick Miller & Shane Thorne def. Adrian Nails & Rob Ryzin in 3 minutes, 4 seconds.

Singles Match: No Way Jose def. Steve Cutler in 1 minute, 52 seconds. 

Singles Match: Kota Ibushi def. Buddy Murphy in 5 minutes, 19 seconds.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.04

Clearly, this episode was never going to be as strong as the last three weeks of television NXT has produced, but this was a watchable episode that developed a couple of storylines and attempted to introduce or re-introduce a couple of competitors. Samoa Joe's promo and interaction with William Regal was the strongest part of the show with Joe delivering some great lines and creating an extra level of intrigue for his upcoming bout with Shinsuke Nakamura. The debuting Kota Ibushi's match with Buddy Murphy was the strongest match of the show, turning what could have been a rather straight-forward bout into an exciting sprint. 

The rating is pulled down by the shorter segments, involving the women's and tag team divisions, which either struggled to hold my attention or were let down by sloppy enhancement talent. 

With the Takeover: Brooklyn II card beginning to come together, the next few week's should begin to pick up in terms of storylines and new talent development as there's big spaces on the card left by American Alpha, Finn Balor, Nia Jax and others. It's an interesting time for the brand, let's hope that that translates as interesting television! 

All content by James Marston. 

TV Review: WWE Cruiserweight Classic #1 - Maluta v Ibushi

It's been a long time coming, but finally WWE's Cruiserweight Classic kicked off on the WWE Network on 13th July, with four first round match-ups. With names like Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) and Cedric Alexander on the first episode, would the tournament start as it meant to go on? 

In the main event, DDT star Kota Ibushi would over-come Sean Maluta [Roundhouse Kick and Leaping Sitout Elevated Powerbomb] in a strong contest. Ibushi would come out of the bout looking like a real star, with a mixture of his in-ring performance, Maluta's selling of his offence and some brilliant commentary from Mauro Ranallo & Daniel Bryan. Considering this was Maluta very first broadcast match I thought he presented himself well and despite botching an angled tope conhilo attempt (wonderfully thoughtful commentary from Bryan here), he sold Ibushi's offence well, whilst bringing an underdog type fire to his performance, fighting Ibushi's superplex attempt off (and then getting nailed with a ridiculous Pele kick) before delivering the strongest near fall of the show, blocking a tiger suplex attempt and hitting savate kick with Ranallo adding to the drama on commentary. All these first round contest seem to have the aim of showcasing the winner to set them up for the rest of the tournament and Ibushi came out of this looking like a real star. 

Clement Petiot (Tristan Archer) came up short against former ROH regular Cedric Alexander [Lumbar Check] in a good demonstration of Alexander's potential. Petiot came across as a generic French heel type, which probably wouldn't last long on WWE's roster these days, but as a means of putting over Alexander and allowing him to show off what he can do it worked. There was a nice story of the brawl against the highflyer usedd here, with Petiot initially controlling the match with strikes, whilst Alexander looked for space. The strongest action of the bout came during a back and forth transition sequence that would climax with Petiot nailing a big lariat for a near fall. The prospect of Alexander taking on Kota Ibushi in the second round in a few week's time is positively mouth-watering and the quality of these opening round matches has a lot to do with that. 

Ho Ho Lun picked up a speedy victory over Ariya Daivari [Bridging German Suplex] in what was probably the weakest bout of the show. For me, this was carried by HHL coming across a very likeable performer, whilst Daivari played WWE's typical Iranian heel. It wasn't ground-breaking but it got the crowd going and kept the mediocre action entertaining for it's five minutes of air time. Despite the characters sizing up well, the duo didn't gel well in the ring and most of the action was kind of clunky. There were similarities to the Gran Metalik and Alejandro Saez opener as well, with Daivari's missed frog splash being the opening for HHL's final flurry of action. HHL will have to improve in the next round if he doesn't want to stick out like a sore thumb! 

If the opener that saw Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) defeat Alejandro Saez (Xtra Large) [Corner Clothesline & Samoan Driver] was supposed to be a little appetiser for things to come in CWC then it did it's job very well. At only four minutes long, the match was fought a real lightning pace with Metalik able to show off just a handful of his lucha libre style moves with a tightrope splash and gorgeous tope conhilo standing out amongst the bunch. Saez showed he wasn't just there to make up the numbers either, as the current XNL World Champion hit a shooting star press off the apron, that whilst not perfect, was impressive none the less. As mentioned above the finish shared similarities with the Ho Ho Lun v Ariya Daivari match, as Metalik moving out of the way of a Spiral Tap by Saez before finishing the match off. I can't help but feel that a little discussion between the various competitors would've helped and removed the similar finishes.

Next week's matches were also announced as former ECW Television Champion Tajiri will face Damian Slater, former TNA X Division Champion TJ Perkins taking on Da Mack, Full Impact Pro star Lince Dorada shaping up to Mustafa Ali and former Open the Brave Gate Champion Akira Tozawa going up against Kenneth Johnson.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.94/10 

This was a very easy to watch first episode for the Cruiserweight Classic and perhaps the score may seem harsh because of this. However, I wouldn't really have wanted the first episode of a show based on a tournament to be scoring much higher. If the Cruiserweight Classic had came out of the box with a couple of top top matches, then they would have had nowhere to go for the rest of the series. This was all about showcasing the winners, introducing Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander and Ho Ho Lun to a WWE audience, letting them show what they can do, whilst having as good a match as they could, without giving everything away in one go. As I had been expecting the show to be around this level, the main positives that I came away with here were the strength of the commentary from Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo, who will only become better together throughout the next nine weeks, as well as the different types of presentation that WWE have chosen for the show, like the referee being miced up during the start of each match and the raising of the winners arm at the conclusion. 

I feel like many wrestling fans, I'm looking forward to the seeing the next three weeks of First Round matches and getting to see how the likes Akira Tozawa, Johnny Gargano and Zack Sabre Jr. get on, but this tournament is really going to get going in the 2nd Round. 

GFW presents NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 Review

   

     


       There was a lot of speculation surrounding how Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling would operate, so their first broadcast in conjuction with New Japan Pro Wrestling (arguably the hottest property in wrestling over the last few years) was hotly anticipated, by me and many others. I've made it clear in the past that I felt I needed a way of getting into New Japan, as without any English commentary I felt I was missing elements of the on-going stories being told and whilst the wrestling was always stellar, I found it difficult to make an emotional connection with the performers, which I think is one of the most important things to have as a wrestling fan, as demonstrated by Daniel Bryan's performances at this years WrestleMania. So with the announcement that Jim Ross and Matt Striker would be on hand to provide the English commentary for this show, I was all over it like white on rice. Could I be converted to one of those people that goes on about how good New Japan is constantly? Let's find out, eh?

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match

 

Kazuchika Okada

 

 vs. 

 Hiroshi Tanahashi (C)

      
       Even if you don't follow New Japan, I'd imagine someone over the last few years has mentioned the names Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi to you at some point or another. The two biggest names in the company going at it on the biggest stage available, everything about this match felt special. It was one of only two matches to get a build up package, although this was presented in Japanese with no English subtitles, which was a little annoying. GFW seemed to have very little involvement in the production of the show, and were simply providing English commentary over the top of the Japanese visuals. However, the commentary team did a stellar job of getting me up to speed on the prestige of the match, and the pairs previous encounters.

      This match was an absolute delight to watch from start to finish, as two of best wrestlers on the planet put on a real show. This over-thirty minute bout had a little something for everyone pulling in a number of different styles throughout the bout. There was sound brawling as the pair battled on the entrace way, ending with a Death Valley Driver from Okada, terrific high-flying spots like a diving crossbody over the barricade to the floor from Tanahashi, some great technical wrestling and sequences and then there was, of course, the story telling.

     What particularly caught my attention was the sophistication of the storytelling in the bout, as about half way through Tanahashi hit a Dragon Screw Leg Whip, just seconds after avoiding a Rainmaker Clothesline from Okada, and the match instantly changed. Tanahashi's focus stayed on the leg for quite some time, both neutralising Okada's quicker paced offence and moving towards his cloverleaf submission hold. Okada's on-going subtle selling and the other on-going story of Okada attempting to hit the Rainmaker clothesline meant that the bout could move into different areas, whilst being able to come back to the Okada's injury with another dragon screw leg whip allowing Tanahashi to take the control that would allow him to take the victory and retain the title following multiple High Fly Flow's (Frog Splash). 

      Even if you'd never heard of Tanahashi or Okada heading into this match, I'd like to think you'd come out of it thinking they were both world-class performers and on par with any top performer in the United States or elsewhere, because that's exactly what they are. Everything the pair did in the ring felt like it meant something and looked great, therefore even if the rest of the card had been terrible (it wasn't), these two performers would have convinced me to come back on the strength of this match alone. I felt this match was possibly Jim Ross and Matt Striker's strongest performance of the night as they were clearly up to speed on Okada and Tanahashi, which hadn't always been the case throughout the night and allowed for that extra level of understanding that I wouldn't have had if I had watched with Japanese commentary. 

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match

 

 Kota Ibushi

 vs. 

 Shinsuke Nakamura

 

      Everything about Shinsuke Nakamura screams superstar. I'd previously caught glimpses of Nakamura in clips on Youtube, as well as the Ring of Honor/New Japan joint shows last year and had been impressed with his performance against Kevin Steen (now WWE NXT's Kevin Owens), but it wasn't until I saw him walk to ring here, with Matt Striker talking about how Nakamura had been influenced by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, that I realised what a consumate showman Nakamura truly is, with the proceeding match only compounding this thought. Ibushi was a bit more of an unknown, I'd seen some of his stuff from the indy DDT promotion on Youtube, during one those late night tralls that usually included shoot interviews and Botchamania clips, so wasn't quite sure what to expect from him heading in.

    This bout was the classic Rising Star vs. Established Star story that I'd expect anyone in the US would be familiar with, but told almost flawlessy. Helped along by Ross and Striker on commentary, Ibushi and Nakamura produced a match that would rival the main event for match of the night, with Ibushi playing the arrogant former Junior Heavyweight making the step up to the heavyweight division, whilst Nakamura took on the role of experienced main eventer. Both wrestlers excelled in these roles, with Ibushi mocking Nakamura on numerous occassion, including attempting to get the victory by using Nakamura's signature Boma Ye Knee Strike in one of the standout near falls from the bout.

      Nakamura took an absolute battering from his opponent, with Ibushi in control for much of the match, using his speed and high flying offence to his advantage, pulling out a Springboard into a top rope hurracanrana, a corkscrew moonsault, an attempted phoenix splash and a lot more throughout the match, whilst also throwing in some beautifully executed technical manoevre's like a half and half suplex and ridiculous german suplex lifting Nakamura off the apron whilst standing on the second rope. Nakamura's own offence of mainly strikes constrasted nicely, whilst some well timed no sells from Ibushi and Nakamura's own selling allowed Ibushi to look even stronger. 

      When Nakamura managed to pull out the victory following a Top Rope Falcon Arrow and the Boma Ye, it felt like a true star had been made, out of the defeat, in Ibushi. Compounded by the show of respect and hand shake at the finish, this seemed to be Ibushi receiving the New Japan stamp of approval. The booking here was spot on, allowing Ibushi to be elevated, whilst still keeping the title on Nakamura, setting up a potential rematch between the two later on down the line. With this and Okada vs. Tanahashi going on last, the final hour or so of this show was pure unadulterated wrestling porn. 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Four Way Match

The Young Bucks

   vs.

Forever Hooligans

 vs.

Time Splitters

 vs.

reDRagon (C)

       This match opened the show, this was a wise decision for many reasons. Firstly, you can't really go wrong with multi man matches as an opener, they warm the crowd up nicely, get them settled for the show, presenting anything to heavy here would potentially kill the shows momentum straight off. Secondly, all of these tag teams have competed on the American indy scene, most prominently in Ring of Honor, with Alex Shelley perhaps the best know from his time in TNA as part of the Motor City Machine Guns alongside Chris Sabin, so it was a good way of introducing any new viewers watchign on the GFW feed, as they most likely would be familiar with the talent in the ring. That's forgetting that all eight of these men are phenomenal wrestling talents in their own right.

     The match went pretty much as one would expect, plenty of fast paced action, exciting highspots and a plethora of superkicks from those cheeky Young Bucks. There wasn't much in the way of story telling or psychology, but there didn't need to be, this match was all about fun, best shown by a pacy sequence that saw a number of flips to the outside, including a suicide dive by Rocky Romero, tope conhilo from Alex Koslov and a stunning corkscrew plancha from one of the Young Bucks (Like the Usos I can't tell them apart when the action is this quick!) 

       The bout was paced very nicely, with a spirited Romero hot tag mid-way through being a nice addition, as the bout moved towards it's crescendo very naturally, with a number of exciting near falls, double team manoevres and quick tags. The Young Buck's Meltzer Driver is a straight up silly move, and having to have a number of the other wrestlers break up the fall after was a good touch. The Meltzer Driver was the climax of a sequence that saw The Young Bucks land on their feet following an attempted double Doomsday Device, with KUSHIDA delivering the clothesline with the Bucks positioned on Koslov and Shelley's shoulder, before superkicking everyone in sight. If it weren't for the eventual winners of the bout, I'd be picking The Bucks as my MVP's of this bout.

     That winning team was reDRagon, who were outstanding throughout the bout. Both Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish had been on a massive roll throughout 2014, holding the Ring of Honor tag titles for most of year, and with O'Reilly finding singles success holding the PWG World title, I'd imagine 2015 is going to be an even bigger year for the pair. En route to victory they pulled out a backbreaker/diving knee drop combo, an unbelievable Double Arm DDT/Wheelbarrow Suplex combination, with Fish hitting a top rope Falcon Arrow and stunning Exploder Suplex, before the pair used their signature Chasing the Dragon double team to pick up the pinfall victory on Koslov. This topped of a superb opener nicely and set the tone for what was to come.

    

Singles Match

AJ Styles

 vs.

Tetsuya Naito

 

       I really really want to hate AJ Styles and write nasty things about him, because he seems to be a bit of a nobhole. "But he's a heel, he's supposed to annoy you" Be quiet! There's being a heel to get a reaction in a building and then there's being unprofessional outside the ring and for me Styles crosses that line. But I can't write nasty things about him. "But you just have, you called him a "nobhole"" Be quiet! I can't write nasty things about him because he's fucking good wrestler and puts on matches like this here bout with Tetsuya Naito.

      The match centred around Styles working over Naito's knee and leg, supposedly to set up for the Calf Killer submission (perhaps the commentary team forgot Styles used the move, because there was no mention of it until it was locked in), this offence from Styles was similar to what was seen out of him in the latter stages of his TNA run and works nicely for his heel persona. As soon as Naito was locked in the Calf Killer, his selling was on the button, making it so easy to will him on to reach the ropes, as the villainous Styles played his part in the drama as well. 

      I was a little disapointed then not to see the leg play a bit more into the finish of the bout, as it could have been easily tied in with the other on-going story of Styles attempting the feared Styles Clash at any opportunity. With Styles perched upon the top rope, Naito attempted a Super Frankensteiner, only for Styles to hold on and manage to set up for a Styles Clash off Bret's rope. A little grab of the leg before Styles' managed to set up for the Styles clash would have been the icing on the cake for me. This is probably the most nit picky paragraph I have ever written in a wrestling review and for that I am truly sorry.

     Bar a few slight slips and hiccups, this was a top notch slice of wrestling action, that could have easily main evented any wrestling show going and not received a single complaint. Styles has been rejuvenated since leaving TNA, whilst Naito joins the long list of Japanese talents that severly impressed me on this show and another talent that TNA managed to let slip through their fingers! 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match

Kenny Omega

 vs.

Ryusuke Taguchi (C)

        I'm not quite sure what to make of this one, if I'm honest. It was neither here or there, and I'm not quite sure what they were trying to do with this one. Whilst there was some cool looking moves, and elements of story telling with The Young Bucks antics at ringside, there wasn't much in way of chemistry between the two and I just couldn't get into the match as much as I was expecting I would do. Maybe it was because we'd seen all the flips in the Four team Junior Tag match earlier in the show and there was no real attempt to create a strong story thread to follow.

     Apart from an awkward double dropkick spot (Does that spot ever look good?), the wrestling was of a high quality and I thought the bout picked up the pace nicely in the second half, so there was certainly something to enjoy in this match. I think perhaps it was also hurt by being a little too long and being placed directly after two hard hitting bouts in the form of Suzuki vs, Sakuraba and Makabe vs. Ishii. With Omega picking up the win via pinfall following the One Winged Angel, I'd suspect this wasn't the star making performance he'd have hoped for, but he's certainly talented and I'd be surprised if he wasn't turning heads with his run as Junior Heavyweight Champion in the near future.   

NEVER Openweight Championship Match

Togi Makabe

vs.

Tomohiro Ishii

         Two mean bastards beating the shit out of each other. This match had intensity on tap, as Makabe and Ishii looked to send each other into another dimension. That's at least what it seemed like as the pair unleashed a series of stiff strikes and big power moves on each other for just over twelve minutes. I was completely drawn into this one, with some stunning moves from both men including a powerbomb variation each, a delayed verticle superplex from Ishii and Northern Lights and Dragon Suplexes from Makabe, this match had a little bit more than your regular WWE power vs. power bout.

       The stiff back and forth strikes battles and continued cat and mouse style, showcased just how evenly matched the two were and made a nice change of pace from the babyface fighting from underneath style that was showcased elsewhere on the card. I perhaps would have liked Ishii's taped up injured shoulder to have played a little bit more of a role in the match, especially considering it was bought up multiple times by Striker on commentary. This style of match won't be for everyone, but it certainly worked for me. 

UWFi Rules Match

Minoru Suzuki

vs.

Kazushi Sakuraba

       Hearing Matt Striker detailing the rules of this match filled me with dread, as I've never been a huge fan of MMA mixing with pro wrestling, mainly because it points to your other matches being pre-determined and makes it a little harder to suspend your disbelief going forward. Luckily, that wasn't the case here, as the veteran Suzuki and Sakuraba used a convincing style, all submission holds and strikes, whilst incorporating the pro wrestling theatrics, such as a hard fought battle on the ramp, over the top. This made it feel much more like a vicious pro wrestling match, than an MMA bout, which is perfectly fine by me.

        The bout had a clear and defined story that saw Sakuraba focus the majority of his attack on Suzuki's arm, after being able to lock in a Kimura whilst on the ramp. This was helped along by Suzuki's stellar selling of the injury, as well the last man standing style elements with Suzuki battling to get to his feet before the ten count, which created a decent underdog-style story. When Suzuki made his come back with a huge kick, followed up by a Rear Naked Choke that eventually saw Sakuraba pass out from the pain, and whilst this worked well as an ending, it did feel a little like a John Cena-Hulk Hogan superman-esque comeback, which didn't quite mesh with the style presented earlier. Kudos to Matt Striker for really putting both of these guys MMA credentials over throughout the match, it definitely helped me as a viewer understand everything going on.

IWGP Tag Team Championship Match

Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

vs.

BULLET CLUB (C)

        This is where Matt Striker and Jim Ross being on commentary really worked for me. Had it not been for their performance on commentary, telling the story of Goto and Shibata being on the same college wrestling team and the rest of the pairs backstory that gave the bout an extra dimensionm, I'd have struggled to get into this. The flow felt a little bit off kilter and the teams didn't quite connect with each other the way I was hoping they would. All four men, particularly Karl Anderson, had their own moments that impressed me, but I don't think the match came together in the way it should have.

Six Man Tag Team Match

BULLET CLUB

  vs.

TenKoji & Tomoaki Honma

 
     This bout was a fairly basic six man tag, going a little over five minutes there wasn't much room for the competitors to move in terms of the story they could tell. The heel BULLET CLUB, consisting of Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi (perhaps best known in the US for his 2009 run in TNA as part of the No Limit tag team) and former WWF, TNA and WCW wrestler Jeff Jarrett, spent most of the match working quick tags and working over Satoshi Kojima, before a hot tag allowed for a comeback. There was some American style antics from Jarrett and his trusty guitar, but that aside, with the babyface's picking up the win following a diving headbutt from Tomaki Honma, this was your run of the mill short tag bout, with nothing particular noteworthy.

Eight Man Tag Team Match

Suzuki-gun

  vs.

Naomichi Marufuji, TMDK & Toru Yano

       I found this match a lot more entertaining than the aforementioned six man tag, although it was essentially a "get your shit in" showcase. That's maybe a bit of a harsh term to use, but this match essentially allowed each man to show off a little bit of what they could do in the ring, whether that be Shelton Benjamin hitting his leaping release belly to belly suplex on Marafuji, the power game of Davey Boy Smith, Jr. (formerly WWE's DH Smith) and Lance Archer (formerly WWE's Vance Archer & TNA's Lance Hoyt/Rock), the brawling style of Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka, the speedy double team work of TMDK's Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste or the flawless skill of Naomichi Marufuji. For what it was, this is was a fun match, but was let down by the commentary team who didn't quite seem to know what was going on during spells of outside interference.

Finally...

        What else is there to say? This was fantastic pay-per-view event, Okada vs. Tanahashi and Nakamura vs. Ibushi were a different class, whilst Styles vs. Naito, the Junior Tag Team Four Way, Makabe vs. Ishii and Suzuki vs. Sakuraba are all worth watching and for entirely difference reasons! Striker and JR did a sound job on commentary, after settling into the show, although it was clear that Jim Ross didn't quite know as much about the product as he should have. I'd like to see Striker return for another show, as once he calmed himself down, he was an informative and interesting listen, perhaps they could team him up with an old New Japan gaijin, who might know a little more about the product? Was it worth the £25 that Flipps app were charging for the stream? Probably not, I'd want to be there live for that sort of money, bring the price down to £15-£17 and I'd definitely hand over my student loan for action this good.