What's new, lovers of ludicrous leglocks?
You'll be getting a bunch of one match reviews for the foreseeable future. I do plan on going back to two, unless everyone prefers a single review of course, but with a wedding looming close and everything piling on me all at once, I can't take the time to write two reviews along with everything else I do. I'll also be taking this month off for Five Star Fridays, which is something I'll be doing for the foreseeable as well. 3 Five Stars in a row, a month off, then 3 more. Rinse repeat. Gives me time to work on other projects as well as workshop new Five Star posts.
With all that out of the way, let's get into this weeks review, shall we?
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| AEW/NJPW |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2025
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. The Matriarchy
I'm honestly surprised we got the Cope/Cage tag team so early into Copeland's return. I really thought they'd let this one have some time to breathe and build, but I guess they really wanted another big match for Forbidden Door. For an opening tag , this match was fine. Served its purpose, was a nice return for Luchas- I mean Killswitch, showed that him and Kip aren't really on the same page for most of the match, and it ended up costing them with the team of Cope/Cage picking up the win. It looks like they're on the same page by the end with Cage offering a handshake to Copeland, but he's not quite ready for a hug to seal the deal. Christian could change nothing about his character and just turn his verbal barbs to other heels and suddenly, boom, instant babyface. Sometimes that's all it takes, the best heels can make the best faces by just aiming their shots at the same people the crowd's aiming theirs at.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi
I never really got Takahashi. I've watched a bit of New Japan when he was more prominent on their big cards and I never really understood him. Maybe I was just looking too much at his look, rather than his presentation as a wrestler. Because in-ring? He's great! He matches Fletcher's speed and power nicely with a technical ability that catches the young champion off guard at times while also being vulnerable enough that Fletcher can maintain an advantage throughout. I shouldn't have been surprised when I came out of this match enjoying it, I haven't watched a Fletcher match I didn't like yet, and I doubt that will change for a long time. "The best pound for pound" didn't scream Takahashi to me, but he certainly was a worthy challenger for Fletcher on this night.
Mercedes Mone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla
I really can't decide how I feel about this match. On the one hand, it was an exciting four way with four very competent women that worked well together. But on the other hand, it felt like a very... slow, fast paced match. I know that makes zero sense, but hear me out. I don't want to point all my blame at Bozilla (she's only got 3 years of ring experience here) but there were several points in the match where she'd catch someone or be in the ring with someone else and very clearly be waiting for someone else to be in the right position for her to carry on with whatever big spot was planned. They'd be moving at a decent clip, then things would slow for a heartbeat, then right back to speed. Back and forth this happened and it kinda took me out of the match, if I can be honest. I still really enjoyed it, but I know I could have enjoyed it a lot more if the action was a lot more seamless than it was here.
The Hurt Syndicate vs. FTR vs. Brodido
A match of the month contender, this last-minute trios match was as exciting and fast paced as you'd expect a match between these three to be. Power in the form of the Hurt Syndicate and Brody, lucha speed and athletics with Bandido, and tag team cohesion in FTR. Three styles blended together that resulted in a fantastic matchup. I kinda wish this was a trios tag match, with three men legal in the ring at once as opposed to the two at a time this one was, but I'm not gonna complain too much when this match is what we ended up getting. Maybe it would have been better! We'll never know!
Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland
Well goddamn, two of the very best on AEW's roster had a fantastic match? Who'd have thought? Swerve has been dealing with a bummed knee for a short while, so says commentary, with this match serving as his last before being carted off for surgery to look after it. You never really know how well two guys are going to gel together until they get in the ring together and, while I remained hopeful this match would deliver, I had a wee bit of doubt. Thankfully, that was quashed very quickly and very early on. Okada and Swerve matched up very, very well, although I didn't really feel that "the most dangerous man in AEW" edge Swerve said he was bringing into this match. He was good, great even, but not "super dangerous" good. He did a great job keeping the weak knee prevalent in our minds, and Okada did a great job exploiting every weakness that presented itself. Great match.
Toni Storm vs. Athena
Yet another wrestler that I'm not really super sold on, Athena has been a tough act for me to get behind. Her "forever champion" gimmick doesn't really feel all too special when it's isolated to a show that feels like it's all but completely forgotten in Ring of Honor. A real shame, honestly. The work they've been doing on Dynamite and Collision recently to build her up as a credible, well, more credible threat to Storm has been wonderful, with both women feeling like they're on even footing here. Storm's entire reign has been about fending off the very best the women's division has to offer, and Athena has so far been her biggest threat. She was pushed to the limit but managed to come out of it with gold still around her waist, with Athena taking a rare pinfall loss. Could her forever reign be coming to an end sooner than later? It remains to be seen.
Adam Page vs. MJF
A match we've already seen earlier this year at Revolution, the protagonist vs the antagonist was an enticing match up on paper and it lived up to it's expectations when the bell finally rang. Hangman's reign is already off to a great start, and the crowd is firmly in his corner, which should come as no surprise as he's squaring off against the easiest guy in wrestling to hate. MJF both sold and bled buckets for Hangers in this match, and the champ did too, though he didn't get any colour here. A worthy contender that was more than able to keep the champion on the back foot at multiple points in the match, Hangman looked close to resorting to less than heroic tactics at a few points in the match to score a win, but the hero of our story stuck to his morals and didn't let the every-corrupting MJF get under his skin. A nice little story told in this one, I quite enjoyed it!
Darby Allin, Golden Lovers, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay vs. Death Riders, Gabe Kidd & The Young Bucks - Lights Out Steel Cage Match
Another match of the month contender, this match was everything it advertised itself to be. I mean let's be honest with ourselves here, what did we expect with Darby and Mox in a cage together? Blood? Blood! Of course there was blood. This match was as crazy as 10 men inside a cage can get. Well, maybe not that crazy, I wouldn't consider this AEW's best multi-man cage match every, but it was certainly hard to forget. Mostly for Darby's complete and utter insanity. For the reactions it got out of my fiance and I, it's a match of the month contender, but nothing further than that, honestly. It was kinda hard to watch at times knowing how bad Ospreay's neck actually is, but knowing he came out of it ok is a relief.
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Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Nigel McGuinness - AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 - 08/24/25
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| Technically perfect. AEW/NJPW |
One of those dream matches that never really feels like it's going to happen eh? You and me both Zack. Sure, I wasn't around for prime McGuinness in ROH and I've only been watching ZSJ for the last couple years, but knowing what these two are capable of is more than enough for me to know I want to see them lock horns. This match was everything I hoped it could be.
The "technical spectacle" AEW advertised on the Collision leading up to this was less than stellar, if I can be honest, getting to be a bit too cute for its own good. It felt like two singles matches happening simultaneously with a revolving door of opponents, so it made it impossible to really focus on anyone in particular. I'd have preferred a mini tournament even, could have done it in that show. Two singles to open, have a couple matches in between, then the main is a singles between the winners of those matches. Boom, problem solved. But I'll leave the backseat booking for all the EWR and TEW freaks out there.
But, regardless of how things were handled leading up to this match, we're getting a veritable dream match before our very eyes. McGuinness is out first, following a video package where he plays chess with Johnny Saint. He tells him about hos wrestling is a lot like chess, predicting moves and outplaying your opponent. McGuinness gets Saint in checkmate with the wrestling legend telling Nigel "now you're getting it! At Forbidden Door, do it again." A nice little video to get us off on the right foot, I really liked this. Saint and Marty Jones are ringside for this one, two of the greatest British technical wrestlers of all time ready to watch a modern day equivalent.
Something I liked about this show, and maybe it's something AEW has been doing for a while and I'm just noticing now, is they have a championship title graphic appear before the champ comes out. It's a subtle difference to having it after they are already in the ring, but I like it a lot. It's the little things for me. It's important to note that this is for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, so there's a lot on the line for this match. A return to for for McGuinness and a chance at one of the most important pieces of gold in the business.
They're evenly matched from the start, with ZSJ twisting out of a waistlock to rip McGuinness down with a snapmare, but Nigel rolls out to his feet and back himself to the corner, unfazed by the champions attempts to bring him down. This time, it's McGuinness catching Zack, ripping him down tough with a side headlock takeover. Zack can't catch McGuinness' head to reverse the pressure, so he opts to shimmy himself out of the grip, slipping free before applying a side headlock of his own on McGuinness. Nigel doesn't allow himself to stay down for long, shifting around to his knees and flipping out over the back of ZSJ to escape! Some technical wizardry going on here!
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| Just when you think you've got him. AEW/NJPW |
McGuinness is feeling good, doing a little jog around the ring to taunt ZSJ, the much younger and more spry champion unable to keep the savvy veteran down. A collar and elbow marks a reset in the centre, with McGuinness honing in on the left arm of the champ, twisting and wrenching it around the socket. With a combination of moves I refuse to describe, ZSJ twists, rolls, bends, and contorts his way free of the pressure before applying it in equal measure to McGuinness' left arm, taking him down to the ring in seconds. Just nuts. Again, McGuinness twists around to snatch the left arm of the champ, but ZSJ snatches a single leg to take down Nigel, a single foot placed on his left arm. This wouldn't be enough to hold an infant down, and Zack knows this, but it's enough to say "whatever you're going to try and do, we're going to end up right back here every time." A reminder, a defiant gesture to someone who is doing everything he can to one-up the best New Japan has to offer.
Back on his feet, McGuinness seems to twist himself in a self-applied hammerlock, but it was all part of the plan. Pointing to Saint and Jones sat ringside, he pays homage to the British legends with a Johnny Saint-esque escape, hooking his leg up to break the grip and twist himself around. ZSJ goes for the same to get back in control, holding McGuinness on the canvas as he bends and twists his left wrist in horrendous shapes and positions.
Again, looking to pay homage to Saint, he crouches in the hold to loosen the grip. Up and down, up and down, before... making a cranking motion next to his held wrist. A middle finger slowly extends, the one finger salute held in the face of ZSJ.
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| Giving him the 'ol single salute. AEW/NJPW |
The first real piece of offence comes after Zack swings on Nigel after the middle finger, with McGuinness ducking the shot and twisting him around to the mat, dropping his knees on the arm of ZSJ. A weakness has been created, time to go to work. With Zach's arm trapped, Nigel flips him around to his stomach and grabs his free arm. With a display of his higher than normal ring IQ, Nigel pulls Zach's free arm back, manoeuvring it behind his back as be bends back to apply a deep, deep twist on the shoulders of ZSJ. Good lord, that looked painful.
Using one foot to hold the arm in place, McGuinness drives his right foot up to hyperextend the arm of ZSJ as he stands out of a pinning predicament. Holding ZSJ in a modified ripcord position, his arm trapped around his throat instead of his torso, McGuinness pulls him in for a lariat, one of his most dangerous strikes, but Zack is still too fresh for that one. He wraps the arm and drops to the canvas, landing a quick rising kick to the arm, sending McGuinness to the canvas as he nurses his newly opened wound.
A ZSJ staple, he twists McGuinness' neck between his feet to keep him grounded, snatching the left arm to keep applying pressure. A stomp with the arm pinned at 90 on the canvas has McGuinness shaking the limb to make sure it still functions as intended. With both men standing, Zack tries to shoot McGuinness off the ropes but Nigel reverses into, what I can only describe as, a shoulder DDT. He's planted left arm first with it twisted at a nasty angle. Nigel tries for an elbow drop with Zack on the canvas, but he lands in an empty pool, his arm getting stomped for his troubles.
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| On your left. AEW/NJPW |
His left hand shaky, Nigel gets to his feet as Zack pulls him into a double wrist lock, holding fast as McGuinness backs him into the corner. Zack releases the hold as McGuinness backs away, but he doesn't raise his head; a fatal mistake. ZSJ shoots in for a front facelock, pushing Nigel back to centre and driving him to a knee. McGuinness powers his way back up before simply grabbing the arm trapping his head and neck and twisting it around, leaving Zack to fall flat. The support he was leaning on no longer there and he crashes into the canvas.
Stumbling to the corner to catch his breath, McGuinness has enough in him to avoid Zack charging from the opposite corner, leaving the champ to eat the corner pad. Snatching Zack by the head, Nigel bends him back before delivering a swift kick to the back, following up with a lariat to the chest, a lethal one-two combination. With Zack in the corner now, Nigel kicks off the opposite side's bottom turnbuckle, crashing into the champ with a big European uppercut. Confident, Nigel marches out to centre, holding his signature two finger salute up for all to see.
With a sixth sense that only comes from spending years in the ring, McGuinness pivots in place and catches ZSJ with a heinous lariat, cutting the champion in half as he charges out of the corner.
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| Like a buzzsaw. AEW/NJPW |
Nigel rolls onto the corpse of the champ for a cover, but Zack is able to muscle out at two. Nigel wraps the left arm of Zack out of the pin and the champ desperately drags himself backwards for the bottom rope to break the hold, the damage to his arm getting to be too much already. He releases the hold but stomps the arm for good measure, making sure to remind, not only the referee, but Bryan Danielson on commentary that "I have until five!" Danielson and McGuinness have one of the most iconic rivalries of Ring of Honor, so there's a nice bit of serendipity that Danielson is on commentary for a show that McGuinness happens to be wrestling on.
Seating Zack on the top, McGuinness tries for the Tower of London, but Zack climbs off the top to break it. Nigel goes for a European after rebounding off the bottom buckle, but a kick sends him off course. He rebounds out of the ropes in a move Dean Ambrose would steal, going for another lariat but Zack leaps into the air, snatching the arm and pulling McGuinness down into an armbar! Nigel grabs his own hand to make sure he can't fully extend, with Zack bending back the pinky finger of Nigel to break his grip. Amidst the mess of limbs, McGuinness kicks his leg up to try and twist out, with Zack deciding on the fly "sure, why not?" With his left arm, he holds the left foot of McGuinness, his right hand holding the left arm, hyperextending his left limbs as best he can.
I forgot to mention, but Daniel Garcia is ringside for McGuinness here. He was disappointed that he couldn't have a match in London like he was hoping to have, so McGuinness threw him a bone and let him come to the ring with him. Garcia is pushing the bottom rope towards McGuinness, giving him less distance to cover to break the dangerous hold the champ has him in. Zack twists Nigel like a human pretzel, going with McGuinness as he tries to escape the hold by turning his armbar into a fujiwara, sitting on his shoulder and wrenching back. Nigel extends his legs back for the bottom rope, with Zack noticing a second too late to grab his foot to stop the break. The referee gets in the face of Garcia for holding the rope to help McGuinness, with Danny taking a chance to talk shit to the champion. Brave kid.
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| Fizzy lifting hits. AEW/NJPW |
Back at centre, they trade European's that send both men staggering off each shot, but they refuse to fall. Eventually, Zack's body betrays him as he crumples to a knee, the camera revealing his nose has started bleeding. He returns fire with McGuinness as they continue to fire off shots back and forth, Zack follapsing to a knee again until they lock horn and fire shot after shot, back and forth, no give, no chance to breathe. Nigel pulls Zack in for a big European after Zack falls back to the ropes, but the champ uses the added momentum to drop to his hands and knees, tripping up McGuinness and sending him flat to the canvas.
A jackknife pin is attempted, kickout. McGuinness with a crucifix backslide, kick out. Nigel cracks Zack with a rebound lariat, kick out. What is it going to take. A ripcord lariat this time, folding the champ up for the pinfall, but still! Only two! Zack catches the arms of Nigel and twists him around for a crucifix pin, kick out again. Nigel gets Zack in another wristlock, this time bending Zack's back across his knees as he holds him down tight. Able to slip a foot free, Zack flips over, but Nigel reverses to a triangle!
A questionable move here, one I thought was going to lead to something at the end of the match, as Garcia has the referee distracted while Nigel has ZSJ in the triangle. I really thought the champ was going to submit without the ref seeing, but all Nigel does is bend and twist the fingers of Zack. Odd. The champ gets to the ropes to break the hold, with McGuinness trying to land the Tower of London, but Zack adjusts and pulls Nigel into an armbar off the ropes, breaking it early as to not be disqualified. Now, with Zack at ringside, Danny continues to shit talk the champ, not intimidated in the slightest.
With ZSJ climbing the ropes to get back in, he tries to leap off with a knee drop to McGuinness as he holds himself up on the ropes, but Nigel's trap worked. He knocks Zack's legs out from under him, pulling him down and out for the Tower of London, and lands it! He lays for the pin, but Zack gets his foot on the rope! ZSJ and McGuinness trade tight, quick pinning holds. McGuinness tries to sit out on Zack, the champ bridges while holding down his legs, nothing works. The fatal mistake comes when Nigel goes for the same pin attempts again, with Zack reversing and stacking McGuinness high on his shoulders, holding him down for the final three.
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| Ya got caught. AEW/NJPW |
A really excellent match, a prime example of what you can get out of just deciding "let's work the left arm tonight." You can get so, so much mileage out of simple stuff like that. Pick a limb, make it the focus, and work from there. Do everything you can to target it, to weaken it, to exploit it, to make it matter. They did that for both of them, both men decided to go for the left arm of the other to weaken their technical arsenal. In the end, a simple hold put McGuinness away, holding him high as if he'd already kicked out of the hold, giving him nowhere to go until Zack let him go. A really clever finish to a really clever match. Big ups to both men.
• • • • •
Another week down, another week of fantastic wrestling. Forbidden Door was a real treat and I'm looking forward to All Out next month, even if it is just a few days before my wedding *gulp*
Like I said, the posts will be a bit lighter but I don plan on staying consistent, unless some act of God gets in the way.
So, until next week, stay safe, be well, love each other.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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