Weekly Watchlist 011 - August 25 2024

 Welcome back wrestling fans! 

Man, what an exciting week Wrestling Roulette was! I came up with the concept for a few weeks before and was so excited to try it out I almost pushed it ahead to like week 7 or 8! But, I decided I'd wait and try to make it a once every 10 week tradition. Something to change up the flow of my viewing schedule and add some spice to the blog. I'm sure glad I did. 

 

 

Here's what I watched this week before I get into things;

All In happened this past weekend and I, somehow, forgot that time zones exist! I was happily going about my day, shopping for the nachos I decided I'd be making later in the day to go along with the big night of wrestling. I got home, unpacked the groceries, and checked twitter for a minute when I saw people talking about not only the Zero Hour, but the trios ladder match that was in progress! I hopped on Fite and managed to catch the final few minutes of the ladder match and kicked myself for forgetting what happened last year. Oh well! I was there for the rest of the show and what a night it was. 

Toni and Mariah was wonderful, if a bit less violent than was advertised, but you can only expect so much when its the second match on the card. The gauntlet match was so, so fun. Even if the timing of the entrants threw me off more than once, seeing Ricochet, Nigel fucking McGuinness, and thinking that Dijak was gonna show up too after his cheeky little double decker bus tweet was a really fun time. Ospreay and MJF was a whole lot of fun and I'm glad the uber-patriot shit from MJF is done. The 3 way for the tag titles underwhelmed, Hook vs. Jericho happened and so did Mercedes vs. Britt. Darby and Perry had a great, albeit way too short, coffin match. Probably could have trimmed the fozz- I mean fat elsewhere on the card but what do I know, and that main event. Holy fucking shit. If you don't start tearing up hearing 50,000 people scream, and I mean scream "The Final Countdown" then I don't think you are human. What an exceptional match. Swerve is here to stay as a main event level wrestler and he's more than proved that during his reign this year and Danielson can call himself a World Champion once again. More than deserving, I'm honestly surprised it took them this long to strap him up but if you believe the rumours then TK basically had to hold Danielson at gunpoint until he agreed to win the title. Insanely selfless. I honestly think the play now will be having Danielson, who we already know has said that this is his last year wrestling, announce that whoever takes the title from him will end his career. Like when Flair spent a year putting his career on the line every match he had, culminating in HBK beating him at Wrestlemania 26. I think that's the right way to go, personally. Just don't wrestle a "last match" years later and have a heart attack mid match Danielson, that's all I ask. Go work on your garden in peace Dragon.

Alright, enough about All In! Lets go over something else I watched this week, shall we?

WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov - WWE NXT UK -  10/29/2020

 

Can we put Ilja on a leash? I feel like he's gonna bite someone. WWE

I really don't know why this match creeped into my head this week but I am so happy it did. I distinctly remember watching this clash a few months after it aired to see what all the hype was about. Maybe I just didn't "get" Ilja at the time or appreciate what was happening like I do now because I was still in the thick of shitty pandemic wrestling and probably wouldn't know a good match if it chopped my chest raw, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did this week. My jaw was on the floor for the first 10 minutes of this war. The violence and brutality in this match is something that needs to be seen to be believed. 

Now, I know I just said literally 3 sentences ago that the pandemic era of wrestling was the dirt worst, and I mean that, this match would not be as good if it happened with a crowd. The atmosphere of this match is 2 tough bastards wanting to wear each other down until there's either a new champion or Ilja is carted away on a gurney. It's big fight feel right from the start. Ilja is practically salivating at the chance to finally get a shot at WALTER (if you aren't a fan of it being capitalized for this entire review, show yourself out) and the Ring General is stoic and ready to show why he has been a champion as long as he has, and why that's not changing any time soon. 

 The match starts at a blistering pace, with but men going for their strongest shots right off the bat but finding them countered with little effort. Ilja is able to slip out of WALTER's powerbomb and drive a knee into his jaw, while WALTER catches a Torpedo Moscow into a sleeper hold that is quickly squirmed out of. The tide of the matchup shifts drastically when WALTER tossed Ilja into the ropes, causing him to hit the middle rope and slingshot back violently into the canvas, rolling to the outside like a corpse off a wagon. Its similar to that time Enzo got his bell rung by Simon Gotch all those years ago, except this one wasn't legit.

I think now is the perfect time to talk about why this match is so perfect. Its a combination of the setting they find themselves in and the perfect pairing that is WALTER and Ilja. I think its fairly safe to call WALTER/GUNTHER as he's known now one of the best in-ring wrestlers going. He's established himself as an incredible worked who is good at not only being the unbeatable monster laying waste to people, but also a credible victim at times as well. He knows how to look vulnerable when he needs to. Ilja may not be on the same level of WALTER where he's considered a "best in the world" level wrestler, but his in-ring work is exceptional and his selling is on a level all its own. For my money, Ilja may just be the very best seller in the business today. The way his body reacts, the way he moves like his legs are made of jello, or the way he can take the most brutal shots from somebody and crumple like his chest was caved in but always come back and beg to be hit harder is selling on a whole other level. Combine all that with an empty, almost eerily quiet sound stage, and you get a match that is so violent it almost makes you uncomfortable at times. And that's exactly that's why is so fucking good. 

Like getting hit with a frying pan. WWE

What follows is several minutes of WALTER dismantling Ilja at his own pace. The focus of his offence is on Ilja's neck to try and eliminate the Torpedo Moscow from his arsenal, but now matter how hard he gets hit or how red his chest gets (on a par with raw hamburger meat for the majority of the match) Ilja keeps fighting. Glimmers of hope happen surprisingly often, but WALTER snuffs them out with little effort. A chop, a kick, or another attempt at a sleeper on the wounded neck puts Ilja back a few steps, forcing him to work just a bit harder to get back on top. 

Ilja is able to get some fire back in his soul and picks WALTER up for a massive suplex, grounding and pounding the monster after he kicks out of the pinfall attempt and struggles to get back to his feet.WALTER has Ilja down with a kick to the legs and follows it up with a clubbing forearm across the back, sweat flying off of the impact and the sickening sound of flesh on flesh. Not a single punch is pulled in this match. With both back on their feet, Ilja clobbers WALTER with a combination of stiff lariats and visceral chops after blocking a lariat from the champion, finishing the lethal sequence with an Ode To Constantine, a brutal lariat hit after spinning through the middle and top rope. Exhausted, Ilja collapses on WALTER for an almost accidental pin, but its only 2. Its those little things, hitting a huge move and falling into a pin from the exhaustion that make matches like this one so good. 

Like running into a wall. WWE

 I'll be honest, I can try and break this match down into exciting moves, key moments, and spots that had me leaping out of my chair, but if you really want to know what this match was like, you need to not only watch it but feel it. Its less a wrestling match and more of a straight up fight. The suplex's and rope breaks are more of a formality in this one, they're straight up hitting each other with everything they've got. At one point WALTER has Ilja's left arm held and is chopping his already disfigured chest to the point where Ilja can barely stand, he keeps laying into him and decides to just paintbrush him across the face to try and get him to falter. Again, those little things that really elevate a match to another level. The frustration that was conveyed with one shove did more than 5 minutes of someone saying "man you are really starting to piss me off!" ever could. 

Ilja is able to fend off a kick from WALTER, turning him around and cracking him across his shoulder blades with a chop, dropping the Ring General to his knees. Ilja cracks him with a second chop, folding WALTER to his hands and knees long enough for Ilja to fly across the ring with a Torpedo Moscow to the back of WALTER's head!

This dude is a fucking freak. WWE

Both men are down after the sickening collision, but WALTER is the first man to start moving, with Ilja grasping at his skull to try and numb the pain. Ilja is able to pull him self up in the corner and calls for the Torpedo Moscow again, but collapses from the pain just a few steps in and WALTER wastes no time, chopping at the neck again. But Ilja refuses to go down! He's still on his feet and drives forward, crashing knee first into WALTER and collapsing forwards over the champion, pinning him for a close 2.

Both men find themselves outside the ring now, trading shots as the referee tries to restore order and bring them both back inside. WALTER ducks a chop and goes behind, locking Ilja in a rear naked choke and takes him up and over for the ride! Ilja lands on his head from the suplex and struggles to stand, and when he is finally able to, WALTER rushes in and obliterated Ilja with a boot into the stairs. God, this match is so fucking brutal. 

With no time wasted, WALTER picks Ilja up and drops him on the apron with a sickening powerbomb, dragging Ilja inside the ring for a second powerbomb near the corner as he ventures to the apron and begins to climb. What follows has to be one of the most frightening sights known to man, as WALTER ascends to the top and drops with a splash onto Ilja, crushing him for a dangerously close 2 count! Barely alive, WALTER mounts Ilja who is doing everything he can to keep his head safe, but he's on fumes. The chops and forearms land with the sounds of thunderclaps as WALTER transitions Ilja into a sleeper hold and rolls around to his back, squeezing the life out of Ilja as the life drains from his face, the referee forced to call for the bell.

Stop! Stop! He's already dead! WWE

Holy hell, I think I need a cigarette after this match. My words can't do this one justice, at all. Do yourself a favour and move heaven and earth to find this match. Hell, get the network for a free month if they still do trials and find this match, I really don't care how you find it, just do it! Two of the best going right now, with one of them being an unbelievable seller make this a genuine match for the ages. Legitimately perfect.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida -OZ Academy Plum Hanasaku - 08/20/2017

Coiled. Ready to go. OZ Academy

Digging around for a match to watch this week, I started watching DPW's Gatoh Move crossover event from a few years ago as it was the next show up. As I was queuing that show up, I tried to remember some of the Joshi wrestlers I really enjoyed in DPW, as its the only place I've really seen a lot of Joshi wrestlers. Miyuki Takase, Miyu Yamashita, Jungle Kyona are all a few names that stood out to me but there was one name I couldn't remember, but I remember she came to the ring not only wearing a Godzilla mask, but was just carrying one too. So, to the spreadsheet I went and found who I was thinking of! "The Lady Destroyer," Hiroyo Matsumoto. 

I landed on this match when I dug through my spreadsheet and noticed a familiar name in Hikaru Shida and thought this match would probably be pretty decent! I know Shida is good from her work in AEW, although she was never really a standout to me, personally. I also remember Matsumoto really stood out to me in her match against Rosemary, aside from the Godzilla masks which really won me over. 

The match starts pretty evenly matched, with solid lockups between the two and a back and forth of shoulder tackles and dropkicks that only serve to knock the other off balance slightly. Shida is the first one to get knocked off her feet from an armdrag reversal, but Matsumoto gets sent to the floor after Shida catches her with a head scissors. She's not out for very long, however, as she rolls right back in and challenges Shida to a test of strength in the center.

Either she didn't showcase it in her DPW match quite like she did here, or I just can't remember which is a distinct possibility, but Matsumoto shows some fantastic strength and power. I saw some people in the reddit post I was able to watch this video in say she is very similar to British Bulldog. Matsumoto, like Bulldog, will primarily use her strength to keep you down on the mat and punish you, but can also roll around and grapple with her opponent if that's what required and I'm inclined to agree with them. 

With Matsumoto sent into the ropes, Shida jumps to catch her with a dropkick on the rebound but Matsumoto catches herself, instead slipping through the ropes when Shida rushes over and catching her throat across the top rope with a stunner. Matsumoto takes a moment to gloat but Shida seizes on her opportunity, grabbing the kendo stick she brought to the ring and swinging for the fences, clattering the stick across the top of Matsumoto's head! 

Home run swing! OZ Academy

 

Now, I thought that this was really going to bother me. How can the referee, who very clearly saw this in the replay they showed, let Shida hit the champion (oh did I mention this was a title match? No? Whoops!) with a weapon? Maybe it's just more lax rules in OZ Academy matches and I don't know because I don't understand the language? There's a very good chance that exactly what it is. But I'll be honest, this didn't really bother me that much! It happens 2 or 3 other times in the match and they are fairly inconsequential in the end, really. Not to spoil the rest of the match for anybody. 

The weapon shot gives Shida the opening she needed, and she capitalizes with stiff elbows to the head and neck of the champion, weakening her when she tries to lay in offence of her own to try and get back on top. The match flow is now firmly in the favour of Shida, who keeps the pressure on Matsumoto, punishing her at every opportunity she can. Even going so far as to crack her across the chest with another kendo stick shot (my preliminary research tells me they are actually called "Shinai") and then dropping her with a neckbreaker off the apron! Really its a reverse Tower of London but close enough. 

Matsumoto starts to get her fire back and starts overpowering Shida, dropping her with a huge gutbuster and a set of double knees off the top rope. She then gets Shida up and looks to powerbomb her, but instead lets her roll back into a Styles Clash position and then transitions into a Boston Crab! Shida is able to get to the ropes to break it but the damage has been done, as she struggles to even crawl around. Matsumoto picks her up again, just like before but this time she actually hits a Styles Clash! 

Gonna be honest, been a good while since I've seen a Styles Clash. I miss it. OZ Academy.

Matsumoto keeps using her impressive strength and determination to wail on Shida, dropping her over and over again but she keeps getting up and pushing through the pain. Shida starts to get the upper hand and goes for her shinai gut Matsumoto catches it! She tosses it away and starts to beat on Shida even more with a stiff pair of elbows and a beautiful german suplex! She fires up and backs into the corner, loading up the arm and charging out for a lariat but Shida finds her shinai and lays into the lariat to block it! She cracks Matsumoto across the top of the head once again and drills her with a Michinoku Driver for a close 2 count. 

Matsumoto gets back to her feet and is able to get off a lariat, rocking Shida and sending her into the corner. She charges in after her but gets caught with a kick to the back of the head. Shida lifts her to the top rope and tries to set up a top rope head scissors, but Matsumoto is quick to counter and fucking destroys Shida with a top rope powerbomb! 

Good lord, that had to hurt. OZ Academy.

Somehow, Shida kicks out at 2 so Matsumoto goes to the well again, picking her up and dropping her with a spinning powerbomb this time, but Shida reverses after the impact! She sits out on Matsumoto and nearly catches her with the 3 count! A running knee from Shida gets her another close 3, and when she takes a chance to run towards the ropes for another running knee, Matsumoto grabs her by the belt and tries for a saito suplex but Shida blocks! She's able to hit the ropes this time but Matsumoto cracks her with a disgusting back elbow, falling into the cover for a super close 2 count.

These two are giving each other absolutely everything in the closing stretch. No punches pulled, everything feels like it could genuinely put the other out. This shit rules. 

The end, mercifully, comes when Matsumoto transitions a powerbomb into a saito suplex of sorts, but Shida lands awkwardly on her face. Yikes. Slowly rising to her feet, Matsumoto bowls her over with a lariat for a super, super close 3. The Lady Destroyer decided enough is enough, grabbing Shida around the waist and spiking her on her head with an incredible saito suplex, folding her up for the decisive 3 count.

Up, over, down, and through. Textbook, violent, perfect. OZ Academy.

I'm honestly really glad I went into this match with no expectations at all, because this match blew them all away. I saw other people calling this a 2017 match of the year candidate, and I think they may just be onto something with that one! Shida and Matsumoto had a fantastic match that didn't let up for a minute. Matsumoto proved she's a deserving champion and Shida showed she's able to hang with the top players, even if I see comment after comment saying "she's really hit or miss with her matches." This match, pardon the shinai pun, was a solid hit. 

Well, that just about does it folks! Another week in the can. I really didn't expect almost every match this week to deliver like they did but I guess I just know how to pick 'em! WALTER and Ilja can't have a bad match and Joshi wrestling is a well of untapped 5 star bangers that I need to really get into more. I owe it to myself. And to you! Dear reader! Any match reccs? You know where to send 'em! I've got an email form on the blog now so you can do it without leaving or, if you can't stand to be here a second longer, drop me a line at cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com 

I've gotta get a "special" edition of the blog wrote up real soon to prepare for my upcoming week away this September. My fiance and I are going away for a week for our 6 year anniversary so I'll be unable to watch any wrestling or do any reviewing. Sorry folks! If I'm able to get my ass in gear, I'll have a special review that week so you don't need to start scratching at the walls Saturday morning. 

Until next time, stay safe friends.

Cliff Morgan