Weekly Watchlist 024 - November 24 2024

What's new grappling groupies?

Been a real busy week for your favourite wrestling junkie, again. Sometimes you want to do nothing but watch wrestling, other weeks you want to just... watch less? I've been working on a big project I've started for the blog and its been occupying a lot of my brain during the day, so needless to say as soon as I get home, all I want to do is give it even more of my time. Not like it's a bad thing, its a real passion project that won't be on here for at least a couple months and I want to make sure I have as mush information as possible. Should hopefully be the start of a series of real in depth reviews for the blog. 

Either way, I was still able to get my usual 2 matches in for the week, and what a fantastic pair of matches I found! Buckle up folks, it's a bumpy ride.

Weekly Roundup

Here's what I watched for the week;

Another busy week, and my week of watching reflects that.

AEW Full Gear 2024

 Full Gear 2024 was king of a mixed bag of matches, wasn't it? Some straight up classics, a few middling matches, and some perfectly acceptable ones too! Let's do a quick rundown of the card here.

The opening 4 way tag match wasn't all that great. All I remember happening was the "will they/won't they" breakup story with The Acclaimed that kinda hijacked whatever excitement and heat this match was able to generate. Brody and Malachi were great, the Outrunners were the "flavour of the month" tag team getting a featured spot on the card for the pop (I dig them, don't get me wrong!), and Private Party was... I dunno, can't say they really do it for me. Pretty meh match.

MJF and Roddy was up next and I was really excited for this one! Roddy can make the case for being one of the best wrestlers of the last 15 years and MJF continues to prove that his real strength isn't cutting insider-term laden promos that sound like something an eighth grader wrote them to be edgy and cool, it's wrestling. He immediately undoes that by doing his "OH SHIT" routine every time Roddy is on offence. Reminds me of that 4 Pillars match from Double or Nothing 2023. I know I'm in the minority here, but I hated that match, and MJF wasn't helping me enjoy it. At Full Gear 2024, Roddy and Max just didn't gel like I'd hoped they would. 

Adam Page and Jay White had another fantastic match. The storytelling of targeting each others legs and Hangers wanting to rip White's ankle from his body was so, so good. Angry Hangman is a great Hangman. The finishing sequence was great and kept me on my toes the whole time. These 2 are so good as dance partners, let's do this one again soon!

Ospreay and Fletcher was my match of the night, without question. It really is impressive how someone who you only knew as a tag guy can so seamlessly transition into a singles role and have a match like this! I mean, probably helps that Fletcher and Ospreay are actual friends so they probably had a ball working through this one. If I've said it once, I'll say it a hundred more times, Ospreay is innovating the modern style of wrestling with each match he has. This continues to prove my point. High spots that are both exciting and fit the story they are telling, phenomenal selling and high drama throughout. I loved this one.

Jack Perry and Daniel Garcia was a really cathartic match. Jack Perry has really come into his element as a singles champion since breaking up with Luchasaurus and linking up with The Elite. Garcia is someone I've had earmarked as a future champion for a long time now and I've been waiting for him to finally get his break. I'm so, so happy it finally happened. I hope he gets a decently long run and I know he'll have great matches with just about everyone. This match proved he can absolutely go with the real mid card guys. 

Takeshita and Ricochet was a match I was really excited for and it honestly kinda underwhelmed. Both men are fantastic at putting together a quick paced, high action match, add on Takeshita's unreal strength and agility combination and it should be a no brainer that this match would blow minds but it kinda just... happened? I really don't know how else to put it. Maybe Rico just isn't the best when he's not in a match where he can flip, flop and fly from pillar to post the whole time? Who's to say. Maybe a rematch will sort things out.

Lashley and Swerve was so good and was a much needed statement for Lashley to make. Sure, he could beat anybody up in a fairly one sided match and you'd feel the same, but beating a former AEW World Champion who lost the title a mere 3 months ago and has been on the run of his career is a big, big statement. Lashley is going to be a major threat and this match is everything you need to see to understand why.

Mox and Cassidy... last year at All Out they had one of my favourite matches ever and I've written about it pretty extensively in Watchlist 12 so be sure to check that review out if you haven't already. I rewatch that match along with this match the day after with my fiance as Cassidy is probably her favourite current wrestler and we both enjoyed both matches, but I feel like this years match is a step below last year's. Mox and Cassidy are still unbelievable together in the ring and make absolute magic, but the interference kinda took away from this match. It was still great! Mox turned up the aggression from last year as AEW's gatekeeper and Cassidy worked harder than ever to prove he was ready to unseat the king, but it still wasn't enough. Give me these 2 any day and I'll never be upset. 

And, an honourable mention, Big Boom AJ and Qt Marshall had... god, this is gonna split the fanbase, an incredible match. Fundamentally, you'd see this match at any one of your local indie shows. The craziest thing they did was a superplex and that was 1 of AJ's 6 moves of boom (or so). This was basically a Hogan squash match at the Garden. Don't think of this as a "Bret vs. Austin" level match, it was just a really, really fun match that had me grinning like an idiot the entire time. For that reason, I can't rate this one poorly, it's gotta get a 5. I'll show this to my friends and we'll scream like nuts when he hits the Powerboom 10 times out of 10. It's the best because it's fun, and that's what matters.

Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander - AEW Full Gear - 11/23/2024

"Maybe I shouldn't have slapped her" AEW

Before you send me those angry emails, I didn't forget this match in my roundup! In fact, I thought of this match first when I was deciding what to review this week! I had to give it a second watch the next day because I didn't properly appreciate it the night it aired, I had a pretty long day and was starting to fade in and out around this match. 

I made it no secret back when I reviewed Mone and Vaquer from Forbidden Door earlier this year that she was never a wrestler that really blew me away. I've enjoyed matches of hers but never felt like I came away from the match a bigger fan of her work. This match helped me start to appreciate Mone a bit more. I've been a fan of Stat for a couple years now, especially with her breaking away from Best Friends and getting a bit more serious, the alien gimmick never really worked for me, so I was ready to enjoy this match from the get go.

Mercedes, for her part, was ready right out of the gate in this one, catching Statlander across the face with a slap as the two square up after the opening bell. Stat has a real size and strength advantage against Mone, proving so by lifting her up with a double choke and carrying her to the corner before tossing her against the turnbuckles. 

Attempting a suplex early, Mone gets blocked by Statlander, who instead gets Mone up with a suplex of her own. It's a bit rough and an obviously difficult feat of strength, as the gif below illustrates, but Stat shows off her power early by transitioning Mone around to a firemans carry before tossing her onto the mat.

Strong girl hours. AEW

She follows up with a senton and a standing moonsault for a 2 count, showing off some of her gymnastics background early on. Fighting out onto the apron now, Mone uses the bottom rope to get the height and momentum needed to snatch Stat with a head scissors and rip her off the apron and down onto the floor! Stat struggles to get up before the 10 count and Mone makes sure she has a tough time with a meteora that plants Statlander as she makes it to her feet finally. Mone gets back in the ring and joins ref Aubrey in the 10 count, clearly fine with taking a count out against Statlander.

I'm sure I've missed out on some of her antics in recent weeks with not watching Dynamite and the like, but Mone is leaning into the heel side of her playbook here, far cockier than she was during her debut. Smart move of them to not try and keep her face when the fans so quickly rejected her. 

Mercedes goes for the meteora a few more times in quick succession, first to Stat on the outside, next with her seated against the ring steps, another one when she is able to get back in the ring and takes a seat in the corner to collect herself, and another 2 inside the ring. The final one comes from the middle rope and she holds Stat down for the pin, grabbing the ropes to try and make sure Stat can;t get out but Aubrey notices and stops the count, scolding Mone as she does so.

 A powerbomb attempt by Stat gets reversed into, what I can only equate to a reverse DDT, partially landing on Mone's leg. Mone keeps the momentum going as Statlander picks her up and around, driving her legs over the shoulders of Stat and pulling her down with her. It's an awkward landing for Stat but she lands about as close to a reverse DDT as you can, I like it regardless.

Not the best landing. AEW

Mercedes tries for a pin off some big offence here, first after the reverse DDT-ish and another after a sunset flip and corner meteora, both times shrieking after Statlander gets out at 2 in complete disbelief. She gets on the back of a prone Stat and grinds her face into the mat, pulling her into a camel clutch and slowly transitioning into using both of Stat's arms in a criss-cross to pull back on her even more. It's a brutal looking submission and Stat is able to work her way to her feet, forcing Mone back into the corner. 

Finding some life, Statlander tosses Mone across the ring when she tries a tornado DDT and follows her to the other side of the ring. When Mone tries for another meteora, Stat catches her out of the air and throws her back into the corner with a buckle bomb! It's easy to forget that Statlander is ridiculously strong, maybe even the strongest in the entire AEW womens division.

A dead stop to a dead toss. AEW

Firing up after a snap powerslam that would make both Randy Orton and Goldust (Dustin Rhodes for all you Ring of Honor heads out there, how is he both tag and 6 man tag champion right now?!) blush, she drills Mone in the corner with a running uppercut and running knee. With Mone dazed, she pulls her back into a Chaos Theory suplex! Holy fuck!! The pin is close to 3 but Aubrey catches Mone's foot on the bottom rope and stops herself. 

Avoiding the Mone Maker, Stat turns Mone around and drops her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but pays for it dearly. It's important to note that Statlander has worn those big Steve Austin type knee braces for a long time now but isn't wearing them anymore. I can't recall when she stopped wearing them but know she had them this time last year, so I'd assume she gave them up when she returned from injury earlier this year. That said, her knees are still a weak point as she hobbles to the rope after crushing Mone across the knee. 

The pain isn;t bad enough that she can;t fight through it, as she hits the ropes and comes off with a sick discus lariat that turns Mone inside out for a close 2 count. She gets Mone up for an attempted blue thunder bomb but Mone blocks it and pulls Stat down for a tight inside cradle! Stat is able to avoid the pinfall but keeps the hold, returning to her feet before getting Mone up for the blue thunder bomb for a dangerously close 2 count!

Staturday Night Drive? Eh? AeW

Kris gets Mone up for Staturday night fever but is too close to the corner, but Mone has enough ring awareness to kick off the top turnbuckle to drill Stat with a tornado DDT! Another close 2 drives Mone over the edge as the crowd starts showing their support for Stat, so she decides to really, really give it to them by hitting Eddie's 3 amigo's. She ascends to the top rope but Stat is on her feet and catches Mone again! This time in the firemans carry position as she stumbles around the ring, trying to fight the pain in her knee as she drops her with an F5 for a close 2! (Are we still calling it that with Lesnar being blackballed? Haven;t received that memo yet)

After missing a top rope 450, Mone seizes on Stat's knee, dropping elbows and kicks on it with reckless intent. With Stat writing around on the ground in pain, Mone climbs to the sop herself and drops a frog splash on the knee, pulling Stat down for a pin but still, she kicks out! Ready to put this match behind her, Mone gets Stat up for the Mone Maker and lands it, laying across Stat for the pin but no! She's out at 2!

The crowd is alive and Mone is livid, unable to believe that Stat is still kicking, literally! Stat blocks another Mone Maker attempt and rolls with Mercede's attempts at a pin until she's able to get her up on her shoulders, dropping her face first with an electric chair drop!Her legs barely held on but she needs to give it one last shot. She reaches under a prone Mone and gets her in a double pumphandle grip, pulling Mone in and catching her upside down for Staturday Night Fever! Mone is desperate to escape, punching the injury and biting the leg to break the hold! 

Mone is able to pull Stat down and drop her throat first across the middle rope, rolling her back with a deep, deep pin for the final 3 count.

 

Hell of a way to end a match. AEW

What a damn match, wow. From no expectations to one of my favourite matches this year. Both Mone and Stat went hell for leather in this one and made a statement with this one. The womens division in AEW is stronger than its ever been and these kinds of matches will really start turning heads and converting the few remaining pricks that still call womens wrestling "piss break matches." I might be starting to see what these folks see in this Mercedes chick, where can I see some of her earlier work guys? Any of it on youtube? /sarcasm

 

Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota - AJW Destiny - 09/02/1995 

Something tells me this isn't a very "sportsman" like handshake. AJW

You ever driving around at work thinking about what you want to watch that night and think "I really enjoyed the All Japan Womens match from Bridge of Dreams last week, lets watch some more of that!" and then you come home and decide to watch an all time classic between two of the best joshi pro wrestlers ever?

No? ...yeah I kinda figured.

It didn't take much deciding for me to land on this legendary matchup between two of the best joshi, maybe even just straight up wrestlers, regardless of gender, ever. I've been meaning to watch more Manami Toyota since starting up my spreadsheet, and after hearing the story about why Akira Hokuto is often called "The Mummy," I had to see what she was all about too. 

Hokuto is out first for this matchup and, let me get this out right off the bat, her song "Oro De Ley" by Luis Miguel is a fucking bop! Not something you'd expect from a woman who could kill you without even breaking a sweat. Toyota is out next and after getting in the ring, she takes off her jacket and fucking charges at Hokuto! You can;t see it too well as the camera zooms out when she charges but you can see a Manami-shaped missile dive through the ropes. 

When the camera comes back to the ring, Hokuto is still in her black jacket as she climbs the ropes and takes off with a quarter rotation short of a 450 splash to Manami on the floor! Hokuto gets back in the ring and Manami follows her, a bit hesitant as she collects herself but not ready to back down after a match starts like that.

Hokuto stands in the centre of the ring, extending a hand to her opponent for a handshake out of respect. Manami is slow, but accepts the handshake and pays for it in seconds, as Hokuto rips Manami in and drills her with a back suplex on top of her fucking head. The bell has sounded mid suplex and we are already in third gear. Lets go.

The pace at the start is blistering, with Manami dropping Hokuto with a dropkick and they both bounce off the ring. Hokuto is outside and climbs to the apron as Manami charges, looking to springboard off the middle rope but gets a forearm in her face to send her back into the ring. Hokuto starts to climb to the top but eats a running boot from Manami, who climbs the ropes herself and lands a huge missile dropkick to the floor on Hokuto! This is all within the first few seconds of the match!

This isn't going to feel good for either of them. AJW

 Now Manami holds the centre, waiting for The Dangerous Queen to join her in the ring. They meet with a knuckle lock and Hokuto takes Manami over with a quick suplex, working Manami over on the canvas now with submission holds and strikes. Manami is able to fight back at pointys, but Hokuto keeps the pressure on and refuses to give up the advantage for several minutes.

The referee has to force Hokuto to break her hold when she has Manami held in a disgusting looking camel clutch type hold, pulling back on her hair for extra leverage and damage. When they are both vertical again, Hokuto shoots Manami into the ropes but it's a fatal mistake! Manami springboards off the middle rope with ease, flying back with a crossbody that crushes Hokuto and swings the momentum of the match in her favour, punctuating the shift with a dropkick after sending Hokuto into the ropes this time.  

With this being one of the first matches I've properly seen of Manami Toyota's, I'm impressed at just how much of her offence is dropkicks. First a dropkick off a rope rebound and then a pair of corner dropkicks to Hokuto. They're nasty looking dropkicks too, wouldn't want to be anywhere near the receiving end of those. 

Using a tactic of Hokuto's against her, Manami grabs a handfull of hair and starts twisting and turning the ball of hair, kinda like how Undertaker would twist a guys arm before hitting Old School. Unlike Undertaker, however, Manami uses Hokuto's hair as a fantastic handle to biel her across the ring! God, that had to hurt!

 Fending off Manami's kicks, Hokuto gets her up and over with a big german suplex! A reverse brainbuster plants Manami again as Hokuto grabs the legs and sits down for a deep sharpshooter. Eat your heart out Dwayne. Manami grabs the ropes after Hokuto turns it into a version of a calf crusher and breaks the hold. When Hokuto hits the ropes, Manami catches her leg and takes her around the ring with a Manami roll! It's like that pinfall roll you see happen on the indies every so often but Manami takes her for a couple tours around the ring and disorients Hokuto, I actually really liked it, felt like offence as opposed to just a contrived pinfall spot to pop the crowd. 

They're really ramping up the offence now as Hokuto takes Manami down with a poison rana, going for the pin but Manami is out at 2. Hokuto tries a suplex but Manami ties her arms up for a straight jacket suplex and Hokuto is out at 2! But Manami feels the end is near, calling for and setting Hokuto up for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Say that 5 times fast, pal. She tries to set Hokuto up on her shoulders but she slips out, flipping Manami upside down for the Dangerous Queen Bomb, folding her up for another pinfall attempt but it's somehow not quite enough. She pulls Manami back up and tries for a Northern Lights Bomb but still it's not enough!

You'll think you're seeing the norther lights after this one. AJW

With Manami down in the centre, Hokuto starts to climb the ropes but makes the mistake of climbing up from inside the ring, allowing Manami to run up behind her to start setting up the Cyclone Suplex but Hokuto frantically fights out! She climbs from the outside this time, waiting for Manami to get to her feet and flies with a dropkick! Manami is too quick, however, and ducks the kick as Hokuto crash lands. 

Blocking a strike from Hokuto, Manami grabs a knuckle lock and runs across the ring, taking off the middle rope to arm drag Hokuto and get her off her feet. She doesn't lose the grip as she pulls her back to her feet, locking in a straight jacket hold as she ducks under Hokuto and pulls her up in the electric chair position, dropping her backwards with the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex! God, what an insane move.

Yeah, this is probably what an ocean cyclone would feel like if I knew what that was. AJW

It's not quite enough to put Hokuto away just yet, so they take the fight to ringside as Manami brings in a table and lays Hokuto across it. Manami ascends to the top and takes off, falling onto Hokuto but not through the table! Those Japanese tables are notoriously tough, as Hokuto takes Manami around ringside and plants her on another table with not one, but two Dangerous Queen Bombs but this one doesn't break either! Who taught these tables how to sell?

They crawl back in the ring, exhausted and beaten from the bombs they've been throwing and dropping each other with. Manami is up to her feet first, pulling Hokuto to her feet and scooping her up with 2  Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bombs in a row, falling into the cover as she lands the second one for the decisive 3 count.

Just fuckin' drilled her. AJW

 Alright, time to get serious. Who's been keeping these matches from me? Who aren't more people putting joshi matches on list of the best wrestling matches ever? Yeah, yeah, Misawa/Kawada this, Rock/Austin that, these ladies are fucking killing each other and, if the views on this one video are enough of a metric for me to base this outrage on, only 50,000 people have seen this match?! Excuse me!?! I need to rethink some of my choices here, guys. Like, I know these joshi wrestlers are on another level of good but I need to start just going on the craziest deep dive of these matches. I owe it to myself, and you do too! Watch this match now! Watch more joshi matches now! Do it! 

What a treat this week. I didn't plan on reviewing two exceptional womens matches this week but that's just the way it goes sometimes! One thing leads to another and all of a sudden, I'm a joshi maniac! Any inquiries into how you, too, can become a joshi head can be sent to cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com, along with any other general inquiries, hate mail, extortion attempts, and messages of your undying affection for my quips and analysis. 

Until next time, stay safe friends.

Cliff Morgan