Whats good wrestling fans?!
This is a bit of a special review this week. One I wasn't sure I'd ever get to at times and can't believe is here already. I'm once again breaking the format this week, giving one match the spotlight because, honestly, it's a pretty important match in the history of the blog.
Why? You may ask? Join me on this journey, dear reader. Come along for the ride.
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event - January 2025
Well, looks like these shows are here to stay! So far, the quality has been decent and they're bite-sized shows so I'm not gonna complain too much. No real reason to. I do, however, wish that WWE would break from this constant, unwavering format of "4 or 5 match PPV/PLE cards." Seriously. On the one hand, I'm fine with them having smaller cards so its an easier watch, but when they're still as long as a 7 or 8 match show because of all the shit in between, it just makes me want more matches. Surely your roster has enough people that you can add some more matches without really breaking a sweat. But I digress, these are the times we are living in.
Ripley and Jax was a fun, quick opener. Didn't do anything revolutionary and this was one of Jax's best matches in a long time. Ripley is on fire and has been for forever now, so its really hard to put her in a match where she isn't over as fuck. She looks like a star and a powerhouse badasss powering Nia Jax around like she did and Jax was able to work with and around Ripley well. Good stuff.
Breakker vs. Sheamus was a really fun, hard hitting match. I reviewed a match of theirs in my first ever Watchlist and it gets a similar review this time around. I really, really wish Sheamus got the win here but I guess they'll keep moving that IC title win further and further along. Also, Jesse Ventura was on the call for this match and man, he was a fucking drag man. Let me rant really quick. First off, he talks about Honky Tonk man's reign and says something to the effect of "probably held that title longer than anyone" like has nobody clued Jesse in to a guy named GUNTHER? The World Heavyweight Champion!? Combine that and his insistence, to a fucking insane degree, that the referee "saw Breakker's foot on the bottom rope after he counted 3! He shouldn't do that!" even after they showed a replay where he very clearly saw it before he got close to counting three. Jess, give it a break. Either you were being intentionally ignorant or refused to pivot from your "cocky heel commentator" position and neither of those options look good. Either educate yourself better or get off the headset. Match was great. I can't say much about it that you won't already be able to guess happened, Sheamus and Breakker are fantastic so it's hard for them to have a stinker.
On the flipside, Strowman and Fatu was a real wet fart of a match, wasn't it? They went through Strowman's greatest hits with his choo-choo shit around ringside, they hit each other hard, and then got the match called off with a DQ pretty quick. No bueno.
GUNTHER and Jey Uso was... man, why do we insist on pushing Jey like he's an actual main event wrestler? I feel like I'm going insane here. How is he anywhere close to the level of GUNTHER or Cody? Seriously. yes, he's over with the crowd, yeet and all that, and I know I literally made the argument that Joe Hendry winning the TNA world title was the right move and he's a mediocre wrestler who's basically just an entrance at this point, but I just don't see the point of pushing Jey like this. I'm sorry, but it doesn't jive with me. This was GUNTHER's worst match in a while because hew as forced to pull the yeet-man along with him to have a passable match and that's all we got. A passable match.
The Performance of a Lifetime
I haven't really had a good chance to discuss Toni Storm's work on the blog yet, have I? Her "Timeless" gimmick was just getting steam around the time I started this up and her big matches weren't really something I felt like reviewing at the time, I was kinda steering away from reviewing modern stuff frequently. That's obviously changed, but I digress.
For a long time, I felt like her gimmick got in the way a bit. It might sound weird to say, but when your champion is also your top heel, they shouldn't be getting the biggest babyface reactions week in and week out. I remember Deonna Purrazzo was an early challenger for her title as the Timeless one and felt bad that all her debut momentum was just getting fed to Toni so she could continue her run on top. I was kinda right, hindsight being what it is, but I was always optimistic and enjoyed what I saw.
Eventually, they made the right call and had Mariah May turn heel on Toni leading up to their match at All In London 2024. The pieces were there and all they needed to do was out them in play and it was executed perfectly. You guys know the rest, Mariah wins, Toni disappears for a while, life goes on. Toni eventually came back the end of 2024 but was in her old, "OG" gimmick, seemingly finished with her Hollywood faze. It was nice to have Toni back to her normal self but... she wasn't really, was she?
What looked to be a strange case of amnesia, Toni seemingly forgot that she was a tenured veteran of wrestling and was going around like a plucky upstart who was really glad to be here! A curious move, but Toni has the chops to pull just about anything off, so no harm done. All of this led to the eventual collision course between Toni and her former protege, now champion, Mariah May, setting up their match at Grand Slam Australia (what a bizarre place to run this show. Arthur Ashe Stadium to the land down under? Couldn't have guessed that).
What followed was one of the greatest segments that Collision has quite possibly ever seen. Everything done to perfection, each role played better than you could possibly imagine. Hollywood itself couldn't have done this any better. Go ahead, take a look;
Who'd have thought that the "I'm just a rookie who's loving all the chances I'm getting!" act from Toni was just that, an act! "The hardest role you'll ever play is yourself," says the brilliant Timeless one. Truly, she is Timeless. I am loving all of this so much.
DPW Limit Break
Folks, this is it. The show I've been waiting for. All the way back in Weekly Watchlist 001, I talked about this show, and this match. Don't believe me? Here's my exact words;
"I finally bit the bullet and subscribed last month when DPW Limit Break was announced because Roderick motherfuckin' Strong is gonna be there?! Your goddamn right I'm watching that. (I have not yet watched that) I've been working my way through the catalogue of events in chronological order since the first of May and man, DPW has not put out a bad show yet. Seriously, even the weaker shows are still stellar."That post was put up in June of 2024, and I was only 7 matches into the DPW library by that point in time. Now, not even a full year later, I'm 28 shows deep and am in it for the long haul. For a while, I nearly convinced myself to just skip ahead and watch this show. "It's what you really want to watch, just do it! Who's gonna stop you?" I kept telling myself. But I was able to abide and ride it out, even when it was a bit of a slog to sit through a DPW show. Even if it was a great one! I had to remind myself "this is what you wanted to do, remember? Not jump in the middle of things. Start from the beginning, appreciate the company more because you can see where it came from to where it is now."
I was also worried that this match was not going to live up to the hype I'd given it in my own head. I mean, how could it?! Its the reason I finally bought the subscription! It's the reason I started from show number 1! It's been my goal for months now! How can it possibly be that good?!
Man, I'm happy I stuck to my guns. This match fucking delivered.
Roderick Strong vs. Fuminori Abe - DPW Limit Break - 05/19/2024
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| Lets. Fucking. Go. DPW |
Touted as a "special singles match," Strong vs. Abe (pronounced ah-bay, not like Lincoln) finds itself in the semi-main event slot behind Kevin Ku of Violence is Forever challenging DPW Worlds Champion Calvin Tankman for his title. Shout out to the guy in the front row with the custom signs. He was there for this show and No Pressure and had custom match posters for every single match. Seriously, every single match. Really cool, need more dudes like him around.
Abe comes down to the ring and is fired up, soaking in the love from the crowd. I'm not sure if his reception is one of "hey! We love this dude! Happy to see him!" or "this guy is gonna fight Roddy! This is gonna be great!" Either way, he doesn't look like someone who's going to back down from any challenge. I'd never heard of Abe until this match was announced and was a bit skeptical about his performance, but he was very impressive here. 9 years in the sport spending most of his time in Big Japan, All Japan, and DDT.
Abe's music quiets and Roddy's recent AEW theme "Devil Rising" rattles through the speakers. Suddenly, the lights go out in the arena. It's pitch black.
"For a few seconds, this place was Armageddon. There was a firefight!"
The lights come back on as Killswitch Engage's "End of Heartache" rips through the speakers as Roddy parts the curtain. The Durham Convention Center nearly explodes as the crowd erupts in cheers. With the AEW International Championship around his waist, Roderick fucking Strong is here to fight.
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| Seek me, call me. DPW |
He marches around the ring, assessing Abe as he stands in the centre, bobbing his head to the overwhelming "Roddy! Roddy! Roddy!" chants from the sea of standing fans. He climbs in the ring, removes his gold and gets right in the face of Abe, already getting in the head of his opponent. Referee Chris Wiggins gets between them as Roddy backs off, tearing off his shirt and throwing it at the back of Abe, facing the corner as he too removes his shirt. Roddy isn't here to exchange pleasantries and make friends, that's plain to see.
Let me go back to the entrances for a quick second here. I am so unbelievably happy they went with "End of Heartache" for his entrance here. Like, you have no idea. I'm not going to deny that "Devil Rising" is a great theme song, I'm listening to it right now on loop as I draft this paragraph! It's clearly made to sound like the "Undisputed Era" theme song and that's an all-timer theme. I miss it dearly. But almost nothing can compare to "End of Heartache." Listen to these two songs back to back and I dare you, I double dog dare you to tell me to my face (cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com) that "Devil Rising" is the better song. It's good, but Roderick Strong needs "End of Heartache."
The bell rings and they are slow to start, assessing each other as they move to the centre. They shoot out hands and feign moving left or right, trying to fake the other guy out and catch them off guard, but both men are on their A game for this one. Finally, they're close enough that they have no choice but to lock up, with Roddy shooting in on Abe and grabbing his left wrist, wringing his arm around and trying to get Abe in a hammerlock. He's able to slip out however, getting Strong in a waistlock before pulling him up and back down with a snapmare.
Technically, both men are evenly matched at the start here, with Abe and Strong fighting for control in the early moments. As soon as one man grabs a hold or takes his opponent down, the counter is not too far behind. It's not until Abe gets a headscissors on Strong on the canvas that control is established. Roddy is able to slip out and flip Abe onto his stomach, tying his legs up and slapping him across the back of the head. Abe is slow to rise, meeting the confident Strong on his feet and circling him once again, looking for another opening.
They roll around on the canvas a few more times, with neither man really able to gain an advantage of any significance. When both men find themselves on their feet again, they seem to have mutually decided it's time to just start hitting each other. Roddy is the first to strike, kicking Abe in the gut to break a knuckle lock and a forearm to send him back towards the ropes, his legs uneasy beneath him. When Abe regains control of his legs, Roddy is on him with a chop across the chest, the sound like a gunshot. Abe turns to Strong and flourishes his hands in front of his face again, this time catching Strong with a short uppercut under the chin.
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| Gotta keep 'em on him toes. DPW |
With Abe moving out of the way of a charging Roddy, he sends him through the ropes to the apron and boots him in the head, sending Strong to the floor below. Out among the crowd, Abe tries to take Roddy down with a forearm but Strong responds with another vicious chop. Following Abe along the barricade, Strong mocks Abe's gestures before lacing him with another chop. Roddy tries to toss Abe into the ring but Abe rebounds off the bottom rope as he looks to roll back in the ring, coming back with a shot across the jaw as he spins to the floor.
Living up to his title, the Messiah of the Backbreaker tries to turn things around on the outside, getting Abe up with a ura-nage before drilling him back first into the apron. With Abe inside now, Strong tries to keep Abe on the bacfoot with kicks while he's on the ground and shoulder barges while he's trapped in the corner, but Abe is still able to fight back, even if it's only enough to push Roddy back a step or two.
Transitioning out of a pin, Roddy sits down on Abe with a camel clutch. Crafty and thinking on his feet, Abe bites the hand of Strong to break the hold. It works, but he gets kicked and stomped for his troubles from a pissed off Strong. He backs Abe into the ropes and chops him across the chest again, but Abe only gets fired up! He gets right in the face of Strong and shoves him back, only to take another chop that drops him to his ass, the boots of Roddy sending him tumbling to the floor.
Halting a side suplex attempt from Strong by rolling him into a side headlock takeover, Strong headscissors Abe to break that hold and reset to their feet. They're in perfect sync as they turn around, but Abe flinches as he rises to a knee, the apron backbreaker coming back to haunt him. Not missing a step, Roddy charges in and knees Abe in the chest, dropping him like a heart attack.
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| Forever and always, it's about the little things. DPW |
Roddy pulls Abe up and shoots him into the ropes, hoping for some nasty offence but it's Abe who takes Strong down, rebounding with a shotgun dropkick to the left leg, nearly removing the limb from his hip. With Strong backed into the corner, Abe lines him up and does a full 720 degree spin as he charges in, catching Strong in the gut with a brutal back kick. Countering the waistlock from Strong, Abe grapevines his left leg and starts to put the squeeze on.
Strong is quick to sit up and try to loosen the hold by chopping Abe across the chest, who responds with shots to the head and chest until Roddy starts to boot Abe in the head. Not ready to relinquish the hold just yet, Abe catches the right boot of Strong and ties both legs up, eventually able to roll around and stand, holding Strong in a sharpshooter. Thankfully, Roddy is close enough to the ropes that he's able to break the hold as quickly as Abe stands, but the damage was already done.
Fighting to his feet and using the ropes to hold him, Roddy boots an approaching Abe to give himself distance and a chance to catch his breath, seizing on the opening created to take Abe up with a huge back suplex, dropping him face first on the canvas. Getting Abe up on his shoulders now, Roddy looks to set him up for a backbreaker but thinks about it for half a second, realizing his legs might not be able to handle the impact after the damage Abe has done. Instead, Roddy changes course and tosses Abe back first into the top turnbuckle.
They square up in the centre and struggle for control, Abe trying to land the fastball punch as Strong grabs a waistlock and attempts a half and half suplex. Each time they're close to landing something, the other man escapes or lands a strike to get out. Finally separated, Strong takes off from the ropes and drills Abe in the jaw with the Sick Kick! Abe rolls to the ropes and almost goes outside, but manages to catch himself on the bottom rope and rebound off the floor, rolling back in to catch Strong with a punch under the jaw!
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| Hooting. Hollering, even. DPW |
Both men are down and the crowd is on their feet, their excitement reaching a fever pitch. They meet each other on their knees in the centre, trading disgusting shots back and forth. A left handed slap from Abe echoes off the walls as Strong collapses to his stomach, rising to his feet as spit hangs from his lips, stretching further and further as he rises to his feet to meet Abe. At this point, neither man is holding back. The chest of Abe is nearly flayed off with each shot, and the jaw of Strong tests the limits of the human anatomy after each stiff forearm.
A dropkick takes Roddy off his feet and Abe seizes on the dazed Strong, snatching him from behind with, what I can only describe as a fishermans backdrop driver. He holds him for the pin but Strong is out before three, the closest fall of the match. Abe gets Strong in an octopus hold out of the pin but Strong is out quick, drilling Abe in the corner with a version of an air raid crash.
Still trying for his fastball punch, Abe lines Strong up but gets a forearm under the jaw for his troubles. With less than 5 minutes left in this match (20 minute time limit), Strong decides its time to put this one to bed. Grabbing Abe up from behind, he struggles but manages to get him off his feet, planting him with an Olympic slam! He keeps the grip and rolls through, trying for the Gibson Driver but Abe is able to roll Strong through for a pin! He sits on the chest of Strong but it's not quite enough to put him away for the three just yet.
Rising to his feet off a pinfall attempt, Abe turns into the jumping knee of Strong. Out on his feet, Abe stumbles around until Strong pulls him in and flips him around, drilling Abe with the End of Heartache for three.
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| "Am I breathing? My strength fails me" DPW |
Every bit of hype I had for this match was met and exceeded. God, did this rule. Roddy and Abe beat the dog shit out of each other. They were evenly matched in almost every way, on the canvas, strike for strike, it was almost a mirror match. The experience ended up being the X factor that cost Abe the win, but it was a close win. One of my matches of the year. I'm so, so happy.
Following the match and before the mian event (what's this?! More than just the match?! What am I doing?!) we hear from Roddy in a quick little backstage promo. "That's exactly why I came to DPW," he starts by saying, catching his breath as he removes his wrist tape. "To fight the best that I've never fought before."
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| "I feel like I need to add a little gold to my collection" DPW |
"I feel like the biggest thing he has is that heart of his, cause when you go toe to toe with me for over 15 minutes that's a fight, and if you survive you're a lucky man."
"DPW, I'm not done with you, there's many, many names on this roster that Roderick Strong wants to beat up. And I've got another thought too, as your AEW International Champion, I feel like I need to add a little gold to my collection. So DPW, I want some gold, and I want it ASAP."
In a lot of ways, this match is DPW distilled down to its core elements. Two world class wrestlers given the time, space, and freedom to just wrestle. No limitations, nothing to bog them down, just the desire to go out and have a match that will leave people breathless. The indies are at their absolute best when they let wrestlers cut loose like this, and DPW sits at the top of the indies in my eyes (and the eyes of many, I might add) because they understand this. It's why the tag division is one of the best in the world, it's why the women's division is so strong. They bring in the very best and let them be the very best.
Folks, that does it for me this week. What a week, what a match, what a feeling. To have made it to my goal with DPW and now be on the other side of it, it's a bittersweet feeling. This isn't the end of my DPW journey, like I said before I'll keep marching on until I'm caught up. From that point I'll be able to watch with everyone else, and for that I'm excited.
Got something you want me to check out next week or want to give me a piece of your mind? Go easy on me, my ego bruises easily. cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
Until next time, take it easy friends.
Cliff Morgan
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