Weekly Watchlist 035 - February 9 2025

What's up, friends?

Another watchlist, as promised, which means another week of exciting wrestling action, right? Well, not entirely. I was kinda burnt out this week, didn't really know what I was going to watch. Usually, I get the bulk of my watching done Saturday and Sunday, followed by Monday and Tuesday. I usually know what I'm going to review by the start of the week and I start drafting these posts by Tuesday or Wednesday night. 

This week, however, I didn't watch a single match until Monday. I just wasn't feeling it. While I was at work Monday, trying to think about what I should watch so I don't fall behind, I remembered I had a whole other list of matches sitting on my phone of stuff I've been meaning to check out. So, that was my point of reference for the week, a pseudo-roulette. Some matches I'd seen before, others were brand new, but almost all of them were excellent. 

So, without further delay, let's get into it, shall we?

Weekly Roundup

Here's what I watched for the week;

 

Katsumi Usuda vs. Ryuji Yamakawa - Battlarts Young Generation Battle 1998 - Day 9 - 08/29/1998

Faces their mothers might struggle to love. BattlARTS

 I'm gonna be totally honest up front with you guys here; I picked this match because it wasn't an incredible, match of the year contender. I know I'm really bucking my own trend here by picking a match that's admittedly pretty decent and not an absolute banger like usual, but this was a bit of an off week for yours truly. I wasn't really feeling like watching a lot so that's why I let "random chance" do the work for me. I'm not sure why this match was on my list, I can't remember where I got this recommended from, no idea who was bigging it up, because this match isn't really something to write home about.

Man, doing a really great job encouraging you guys to keep reading this post, eh? I'm such a great salesman. 

 Let me give a quick rundown of Battlarts, as this is the first time I've not only watched one of their shows, but it's debut for the blog as wel1. Similar to UWF-I, which got the spotlight last week, Battlarts is a shoot-style promotion. That said, they also worked with other MMA and wrestling promotions in Japan, such as RINGS and Big Japan Pro Wrestling, so they weren't opposed to doing more-traditional style wrestling matches. This match seems to want to be a shoot-style match, but often swerves into the wrestling lanes from time to time. 

 The match starts with Yamakawa (blonde, long pants) in the blue corner and Usuda (blue trunks) in the red corner. It's not like the corners matter for this match, just thought I'd bring it up. The version I have has this match in what seems to be a collection of other random Battlarts matches from 1998. They go right from match to match with a quick promo or graphic between and none of it is in English. Shout out to the iPhone translate app, came in clutch for this review. 

If we can be technical for a moment. BattlARTS

 

He takes Yamakawa off his knees and onto the canvas by snatching the right foot and wrenching in a heel hook. Yamakawa goes for the hair but Usuda keeps the pressure on, transitioning up to his feet to get a tighter, nastier heel hook locked in. By this point, Yamakawa is close to the ropes and makes the moves to grab the bottom rope. I know I kinda compared Battlarts to UWF-I earlier, but rope breaks aren't a point against you and pinfalls can still happen. So not really the same at all. 

With both men on their feet, Usuda is advancing on Yamakawa as he backs up into the corner, motioning towards Usuda to keep back but he keeps moving closer and closer, landing a kick on Yamakawa in the corner for good measure. This surprises yamakawa, as he tries to move out to square up with Usuda but he keeps the kicks coming, dropping him in the corner as Yamakawa tried to cover himself up, dropping to his ass in the corner. 

Fighting back now, Yamakwa gets Usuda in the leg with a kick and goes to knee him in the face. You can see the holy ghost between Yamakawa's knee and Usuda's head off the first strike, but the second finds its mark. It's your typical "drive a guy into the corner and grind him down" type stuff, and they go back and forth until they return to centre again. Fighting up from the canvas, Usuda knees Yamakawa in the gut until he gets enough distance to land a kick on the head of Yamakawa, sending him collapsing against the ropes. 

Yikes. BattlARTS

 

The referee starts a 10 count now, or maybe it's a 20 count, I'm not certain how these guys count, as Yamakawa isn't getting up at a leisurely pace and the referee is counting fairly quick, all things considered. He breaks the count at 9 and pushes Usuda in the corner with the referee forcing them to separate. They're back on the canvas again, with Usuda riding Yamakawa's back and trying to lock in a rear naked choke. Yamakawa rises to his feet and falls backwards to break the hold and land on Usuda. 

With Usuda slow to rise to his feet, Yamakawa climbs to the top rope and waits, perched high above as Usuda stands to his full height. Yamakawa takes off, twisting in air and crashing into Usuda with a spinning heel kick to the face. With Usuda down, the referee starts to count but Yamakawa shoves the referee back and snatches Usuda by the legs, locking in a Scorpion Death Lock (think I've called it the Sharpshooter a bunch lately, feel like changing it up)

After Usuda grabs the ropes to break the hold, Yamakawa grabs him by the hair and whips him through the ropes to the floor. It's a nasty looking Irish whip, not nasty in a particularly complimentary way, that sends Usuda into the chairs as the fans ringside all stand and scatter away from the approaching fighters. The referee isn't really doing a lot to get them back in the ring here, he checks on Usuda when he's flat out on the floor, but I can't discern if he's counting them out, scolding them, or doing anything at all. 

Flexing on the haters. BattlARTS

 

Yamakawa sends Usuda head first into the ring post, posing for the camera as they try to get a look at him. While the camera focuses on Usuda rolling back inside, Yamakawa grabs a length of barbed wire from under the ring! The referee scolds him and tries to take it away but is fucking horrified to be anywhere near the stuff, so he stays well away from Yamakawa as he stalks towards him. Rising from the dead, Usuda kicks Yamakawa in the leg from behind and drops him, a gut kick folding him up as he falls to the floor. 

With the referee distracted, Usuda wraps the barbed wire around his kickin' boot and brings Yamakawa inside the ring again, pacing back and forth and waiting for Yamakawa to stand. When he finally does, Usuda cracks him with kick after kick, each one like a shot from a baseball bat to Yamakawa. He sends Yamakawa to the floor for some reason, following him out only to re-attach the barbed wire and get right back in the ring.

Barbed wire on the right (left side of the photo) leg. BattlARTS

With Yamakawa in the corner now, Usuda kicks him over and over again in the gut, finishing off with a punt to the head after Yamakawa dropped to his hands and knees. Yamakawa rolls to the outside for reprieve, with Usuda holding ground in the ring as the referee checks on the now bleeding Yamakawa. He staggers to his feet and paces ringside, assessing his next move carefully. He gets back in the ring and gets drilled with kicks again and again, until he catches one and holds fast. A slight miscommunication seems to happen as Yamakawa lets Usuda's foot go and Usuda falls back as if he was shoved. Whoops.

 Yamakawa is quick to recover, however, picking Usuda up off the canvas and running through him with a nasty lariat that twists Usuda inside out. In corners opposite one another, Yamakawa charges in for a corner clothesline but Usuda side steps and cracks him in the head with a kick, the barbed wire no longer attached to his foot but the impact no less significant. Yamakawa drops to the canvas as the referee starts his count, rising to his feet before he's counted out as Usuda meets him with an enzuigiri that drops him once again. 

The finishing touches. BattlARTS

 

Not content to win that way, Usuda pulls Yamakawa back to his feet and kicks him square in the face, mounting and drilling Yamakawa with strikes to the face over and over again until the referee calls for the bells and dives in to protect Yamakawa, trying to pry Usuda off him. 

Y'know what, now that I go over this match again, it's not that bad actually! It's not great, I'm not sure why I had it on my list, maybe the novelty of the barbed wire kicks was making people rave about it for some reason, but it's not a bad match! I wouldn't tell you to go out of your way to find a copy of this match, but if you think this is your type of match, go for it! Go wild!

 

Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks - Strap Match - AEW All Out 2023 - 09/03/2023

He's smiling. He's about to kill this man and he's smiling. AEW

 Alright, I know what some of you are going to say seeing as this is the "main event" review for the week. "Cliff, you're only reviewing this match because Ricky Starks showed up in NXT this week, aren't you?" Maybe I am! Want to fight about it? Funnily enough, I've been meaning to watch this match again for weeks now, and decided that this was finally the week. I actually ended up watching it before Starks landed in NXT but was definitely around the time the stories were surfacing that he was gone from AEW, so he was kinda on my mind a bit. 

I forgot just how stacked the All Out 2023 card really was. The main event is one of my favourite matches ever, and I talked about it in insane detail all the way back in Weekly Watchlist 012. But Takeshita vs. Omega, BCC vs Kingston and Shibata, and the meatiest match to ever meat, Miro vs. Hobbs, this was a really fun show. And almost right in the middle of it all, Danielson decided to bleed like a motherfucker and attempt to murder Ricky Starks in front of almost 10,000 people. Incredible. 

It's easy to forget that the entire reason this match happened was because Starks decided "y'know what? I think I actually HATE Ricky Steamboat," so he beat him up with his own belt and demanded to have a match. Steamboat agreed, surprisingly! But pulled a "Shane McMahon on the final episode of Nitro" switcheroo. Sure, the name on the contract said "Dragon," but not "Ricky." Barely 3 months removed from his incredible match against Okada at Forbidden Door 2023 (I was in that building the night before watching Collision. I missed The Final Countdown by 24 fucking hours. It's fine. I'm fine) where he broke his arm near the end, Danielson is back and of course, he's taking it easy, right?

Who the fuck do you think we're talking about here? This is the American Dragon, the greatest wrestler alive, Bryan fucking Danielson. He rubbed some dirt on that shit, bandaged it up nice and tight, and marched down to the ring ready to give Starks the beating of a lifetime. Steamboat actually came out first, joining Excalibur and McGuinness and on the headsets. He doesn't really add a lot to the match, I'll be honest, and thankfully the ring work is so clean and insane that he doesn't take away from anything either. 

Aubrey Edwards is the referee in charge for this match and put Danielson's left wrist in the strap first, making her way to Starks and asking for him to offer his hand as well. He's leaned in the corner, soaking in the love and cheering for Danielson with a sneer on his face. Reluctantly, he offers up his wrist but rolls out the ring before Aubrey can tie him up. He does a quick lap of the ring, feeling for his pulse against his neck the whole time, clearly he didn't get a chance to warm up before the match! He just needs a second! 

Back inside now, he seems ready to get strapped up but charges Danielson before Aubrey can make a move again! He crashes into Danielson with a forearm, pummeling him with punches as he rolls to the floor. Starks takes off to the timekeepers area, grabbing the weight belt he brought to the ring with him and using it to beat Danielson with across the back. Lacing his knuckles through the buckle and wrapping the belt around his forearm, Starks lines up Danielson before drilling him in the forehead with a loaded punch, dropping the American Dragon in a heap. 

Moments before disaster. AEW

Climbing back inside now, Starks allows Aubrey to attach the strap to his wrist as he waits for Danielson to join him now, but he's much worse for wear. Struggling to get to his feet, Danielson is already bleeding from just above his left eye, where Starks loaded punch met its mark. Not content with the damage he's done quite yet, Starks rolls to the outside and drills Danielson with more punches, over and over to the bloody bullseye. With Danielson leaning against the apron, Starks takes the strap and tries to choke him out, tossing him hard against the barricade when it's clear that there's till too much fight left in this Dragon. 

Dragging Danielson around the ring with the strap around his neck, Starks pulls the bleeding Dragon up the steel stairs, only to stomp his head on the top step, cruching his head and neck even more once he starts to send Danielson in the ring with a guillotine leg drop. The greatest move in wrestling.

Now, the match is inside the ring, with Starks standing on the back of Danielson as his head is trapped against the bottom turnbuckle, wrenching back on the strap to choke him further until he lets Danielson up with a big leaping double stomp. The match resembles something more akin to a mugging right at the start here, with Starks mocking Danielson and laying into him with the strap as violently and viciously as possible. 

Finally, Danielson finds it in himself to fight back, headbutting Starks to the ropes and landing stiff kicks to the chest that stop Starks dead in his tracks. It's something really small and almost easy to miss, but I really like how Starks and Denisleon get caught up in the strap as they try to run the ropes. Starks is able to almost hide himself bending over to set up for a back body drop, which looks pretty contrived when most guys just bend over for no reason in a match, by trying to free his feet from the strap. When Danielson kicks Starks out of it, he stumbles to get his footing and has to untangle himself at the same time, his uneasiness on his feet only magnified by the crimson leaking from above his eye. It's really nice and I like it a lot. 

This one is gonna hurt. AEW

With Danielson on the apron, he holds on and tries to avoid going to the floor again, but Starks reels back with the excess strap and cracks Danielson across the face with it! God, the sound of the strap hitting him is awful, but the worst is yet to come. Doing his best Adam Page impression, Starks hangs Danielson by his neck with the strap off the apron, still trying to sap the life out of the American Dragon. 

With Starks on the top turnbuckle, he tries to pull Danielson up for a superplex but Danielson slips through the legs and drops Starks on his ass on the top buckle. With strap shots that would make your most level-headed neighbour ask "are those gunshots?!" Danielson proceeds to whip the ever loving shit out of Starks. Shot after shot against the back until Starks starts to fall backwards, trying to catch himself as he falls back but his foot is caught under the top turnbuckle and his left hand is barely holding the top rope. Not thinking twice, Danielson ties Starks up by his neck with the strap and pulls, with Starks now held up by only his foot as Danielson leans back for maximum leverage.

Really hung this guy out to dry here. AEW

 Releasing the strap from his throat, Danielson stands and twirls the strap around as Starks tries to free himself. Upside down and almost completely helpless, Danielson goes back to his heinous strap shots. "Honey, those have to be gunshots!" your neighbour pleads with her husband, the echoe of leather on flesh reverberating through the streets like gunpowder in a barrel. Over and over, Danielson cracks Starks like he owes him money, letting up only to stalk to the opposite corner, his crimson mask curled with hate. Not one, not two, but three corner dropkicks connect, with Starks finally able to release his foot as he crumples to the canvas in a heap. 

Another dropkick sends Starks to the floor and Danielson takes a running start to try for another, but Starks is slowly getting his wits about him again. Luring the Dragon in, he cracks Danielson across the face with the strap again as he stumbles backwards. Taking his attention from one Dragon to another, Starks antagonizes Steamboat on commentary, who isn't really doing his boy Danielson any favours by repeatedly shouting, and pointing, "Look out! Look out!" as Danielson positions himself opposite the ring post. Yanking back on the strap, Starks has no choice but to run head first into the steel post. 

With both men evened up as far as blood is concerned, Danielson resumes the punishment with the strap as Starks is leaned against the post, feeling the warm trickle of his own DNA work its way down his face. Back inside the ring, Danielson drills Starks with his signature corner kicks and trying for another hat trick of corner dropkicks but Starks has it in him to make a move on the last dropkick, taking Danielson's head off with a lariat!

Off with his head! AEW

 

Both men are down and slow to rise, eventually crawling to the middle on their knees as their foreheads meet. They rise to their feet, both men holding a length of strap as they separate, with Starks cracking Danielson first across the shoulder. Each men are trying to take the others head off with the strap, with Starks landing a shot that stuns Danielson long enough for him to lay in shot after shot, dropping Danielson back down to his knees. 

Pulling back on the strap to draw Danielson up into a vulnerable position, Starks grabs another length of the strap as Danielson stares daggers into Starks, breathing laboured but vicious breaths. Starts cracks Danielson again, but he barely flinches, defiantly shaking his head as he props himself on one knee. Starks fires off again, but Danielson eats the shot and stands to his full height. Starks tries again, and this time Danielson bellows in his face "come on!"  With each shot, Danielson shots for more until he realizes that Starks' gas tank may be empty, or maybe this strap just doesn't hurt that much anymore!

He stands absorbing strap hits with the same look on his face that a disapproving father would give his daughter when she won't settle for the night. Starks keeps trying, but his shots get weaker and weaker,  the look on his face betraying his true emotions. "God dammit! He's gonna kill me now, isn't he? Fuck!" He releases his portion of the strap only for a second, deciding, perhaps against his better judgment, to meet Danielson where he stands. 

With both men holding a length of strap, Starks makes the first shot again. "Are you gonna take a whipping?!" Danielson barks, "Come on!" Starks responds, taking a shot from Danielson that nearly drops him. 

"Are you gonna take it?!" Danielson screams again, cracking Starks over and over, who drops to his knees, but refuses to give in. Switching gears, Danielson drives his leg through the chest of Starks with violent kicks. Each one enough to break ribs, with vicious strap shots in between, but Starks still refuses to drop to the canvas, pulling himself up after each shot, his eyes replaced with ones made of glass. 

A kick to the head drops Starks flat on his stomach as Danielson drops himself, crawling to the ropes for support as he collects himself before continuing the assault. Suddenly, Big Bill, Stark's tag team partner at the time, climbs on the apron and starts raining punches down on the head of Danielson. Refusing to let this injustice stand, Steamboat rises from the desk and tosses his headset, pulling Bill down by his feet and cracking the massive man across the chest with a chop! Bill grabs Steamboat up by the thrrat and tries to chokeslam him, but Danielson sidesteps a running Starks and sends him flying over the top, crashing into his partner as both men fall to the floor. 

I just think Steamboat looks funny here. AEW

Opting to go for broke to untangle the strap, Danielson ascends to the top and flies! Landing on Bill and Starks on the outside and taking both men out at once. Back inside, Starks counters the Busaiku knee with a spear but it's not enough for 3! He mounts Danielson and pounds him with punches, bringing Danielson to his feet and double underhooking him up onto his shoulder but Danielson slips free, charging back in with the Busaiku knee! But still, he gets out at 3!

 "It's time! To kick his FUCKING head in!" screams Danielson, marching around Starks and grabbing him by both wrists, stomping through the skull of Starks with heinous intent. Flipping Starks around, he gets Starks in the LeBell lock as he tries to crawl and fight the hold. The bandage on Danielson's right arm is clear to see, and it clearly is having an impact on how well he can lock Starks in the hold. 

Starks is able to hold on and is able to loosen the grip and slip his head free, but Danielson almost lets him escape, using his freed hands to grab the strap. He wraps it around Stark's throat not once, but twice, leaning back and pulling Stark's torso up and back with him. Starks fights, rising with the strain against his neck and trying to hold on with all his might. His eyes practically burst from his skull, his face a deep crimson from the immense strain his body is under. He gives one last gasp, an attempt to hold on, but it's too late. His look of defiance and malice shifts as the last bit of oxygen leaves his brain and he stares blankly in the distance, collapsing face first into the canvas. 

One picture, one thousand words. AEW

Aubrey is quick to check Starks, squeezing his hand to check for a response but gets nothing in return, calling for the bell as Danielson releases the leather from around his throat. 

An insane match. Starks was never a "main event" level guy to me but he rose to the occasion for a match against Danielson. Sure, one could argue that Danielson brought Starks up to his level, that's easy to say, but I'll give Starks some credit because it takes two to tango and he was on point for this match. He gave it as good as he took it and my god, did he take it. Strap shots heard around the world and a finish that is as brutal as they come. I applaud these two for going this insane in the middle of an already amazing card. Kudos.

 

 

 

Outro

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