What's new, devotees of deceptive destruction?
Back after a successful week of Wrestling Roulette feeling refreshed, energized, and ready for a revamp! Yes, you've read that right, after 70 weeks of the Weekly Watchlist looking basically the same for its entire life, I've decided to shake things up! It's not a massive change, per se, but I definitely feel like it's going to be a welcomed change for you, my dear reader. I hope to have made the entire reading experience easier and better for you with this revamp and if I have, or haven't, please let me know! Always looking for your feedback!
So, why don't we get into this weeks Watchlist already, yeah?
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| via TheRingReport.com NJPW |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
New Rating System!
Starting this week, along with all the other tweaks and edits that have been made to the Vault, I'd like to introduce to you folks a new, at a glance ratings system I'll be implementing in my reviews. I know I include a general overview of the match at the end as well as my own personal spreadsheet from the week so you can see what I liked and didn't like, but that can be hard to navigate to figure out if the match I just reviewed is really worth your time. So, I've devised this quick little system to help you decide!
🔴🟡🟢
It's as simple as that, red, yellow, or green. Much like the colour coordination on my spreadsheet, they should be fairly self explanatory. But, for those that want it ironed out and broken down to it's nuts and bolts, here it is;
🔴 - Do not recommend. Not worth your time seeking out. Probably worth avoiding.
🟡 - Recommended. Not worth spending too much time seeking out but watch if you want.
🟢 - Highly recommend. Do whatever you can to find this match and watch it as soon as possible.
And sometimes, when the stars align and a match proves itself to be really, truly exceptional, it earns one of these;
⭐ A star. Sure, it's only one, but for you guys, that's all you need. A star means this match has been added to Cliff Morgan's collection of 5 star matches. An elite club to be a member of, for certain, and a marker that you need to find this match and watch it yesterday.
AEW WrestleDream 2025
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| AEW |
A genuinely fantastic show from top to bottom, WrestleDream is one of AEW's best shows of the year, in my humble opinion, with only one "weak" match on the entire card and two matches that are arguably 5 stars. Here's a quick rundown of the card from top to bottom.
Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla 🟢
Despite FTR vs. JetSpeed running over from the Tailgate Brawl and into the start of WrestleDream, this match was the actual opener for the event. A grudge match after Thekla took Hayter out of action for a few short months, following over a year of being on the shelf, Hayter sought her pound of flesh in this match. With the other two points of the Triangle of Madness barred from ringside, along with Hayter's running mates, theres a feeling like this match will be the actual end of this rivalry, aside from the speculated Blood and Guts match next month. Both women were in top form here, with Thekla's mad intensity shining as she does her best to tear Hayter apart. Jamie is resilient and tough as nails, taking it to Thekla and refusing to back down. Hayter picks up the win in the end, getting her revenge on the woman that cost her time she'll never get back. It still remains to be seen if this rivalry will be revived in a months time in a double-ring sized cage.
The Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express 🟢
I really hate to say it like this, but you guys know what this match looks like. Y'know what I mean? It's a pretty typical Young Bucks matchup, honestly. But man, it was a lot of fun! Jack Perry complimented the Bucks style of frequent tags and tag team offence, able to flip, twist and manipulate him around in ways that only work when you are about the same size of the Bucks. Luchasaurus, as we're back to calling the former Killswitch, which feels great by the way, was a fantastic monster against the bucks. They did everything they could to isolate Perry and make sure that Luchasaurus played next to no part in this match. When he did get involved, he was the difference maker, laying out the Bucks and steamrolling right through them. In the end, the broke Bucks lose out on the $500,000 they desperately need, with the boy and his dinosaur picking up the win.
The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Demand 🟡
Man, I'll be totally honest with you guys, I'm pretty sick of seeing these two groups fight each other. They've been going at it since Brodido won the titles off them back in August, just different iterations of GOA/The Demand vs the Syndicate. I'm pretty well done with it. Thankfully, this was a tornado trios match with the winning team going after the AEW Trios Championships next, so that's at least some sort of relief. MVP, despite his age and relative rust for not wrestling all too often, didn't drag the Syndicate down like you might have guessed, but I don't know if he added a whole lot either. In the end, The Demand manage to pick the win up over the Syndicate, handing them their first pinfall loss, actually! This was the weakest match on the entire show, but not by a huge amount, honestly. I'm sure you could make an argument for it being a 4 star match, but not for me.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe 🟢
Match number 5 between, what I firmly believe to be wrestling soulmates, Fletch and Briscoe go toe-to-toe with Fletcher's TNT Championship on the line. Briscoe's first shot at singles gold in a while, this is a pretty big opportunity for Chicken. They stand at two wins apiece, with Fletcher picking up the last two victories over Briscoe, who is no doubt looking to turn the tides tonight and flip the script. If you've seen the rest of their series, this match is much of the same, but just like the Young Bucks match from earlier, that doesn't mean it's bad! Or even less than great! It's fantastic! I do truly believe there are wrestling soulmates out there, opponents that are just made to face one another. People that pull out the best in one another when they are in the ring together. For my money, Fletcher and Briscoe are the modern day equivalent, I don't think these two could have a bad match against each other if they were actively trying to. Fletcher has Briscoe's number for quite a bit of this match, with Chicken able to get the upper hand at a few points, catching the young champion unawares, but in the end it's youth that prevails, with Fletcher retaining his gold. Fantastic match.
Kris Statlander vs. Toni Storm 🟢
Having won the AEW Women's World Championship in a four way match a month ago, we all knew the true test of Kris as a champion would be to face the former champion one-on-one. The setup to the clash was inevitable and set up right from the start, with Kris pinning Toni in the match to win the gold. With this being Kris' first time winning the big one, obviously not counting her big TBS Championship win over the unbeaten Jade Cargill, we knew she was going to fight tooth and nail to defend her gold. And man, did she ever. Not to discount Toni here either, who seems to be in the midst of some sort of identity crisis, a woman without a cause after losing a championship that seemed almost welded to her hips for 217 days. During the final moments of the match, with Toni locked in Kris' new and yet-to-be-named submission hold, she's shouting at Kris to "fucking kill me!" with Stat more than happy to oblige, drilling her with Staturday Night Fever for the win, retaining her gold in a fantastic match.
Mercedes Mone vs. Mina Shirakawa 🟢
Following Stat's victory, her time in the spotlight is interrupted by the TBS Champion, Merceded Mone. After congratulating Kris on her win, she orders her out of the ring and lays down and open challenge, title vs. title. Mina answers pretty quickly, the reigning Interim Ring of Honor Women's Television Champion. I've flip flopped about Mone on this blog time and time again, calling her one of the best, saying I don't get why she's as loved as she is, and everything in between. Lately, I lean more towards "she's over hyped" but maybe it's just me not being super sold on this whole belt collector, "Ultimo Mone" gimmick she's going for right now. Her match with Mina here is highly competitive and a heck of a lot of fun, with both ladies working really well off each other. I've flip flopped on Mina during her time with AEW as well, now comfortably sitting in the "she's good when she's with the right opponent" camp, and Mone was a fantastic opponent for her. Styles that compliment each other and a pace that stayed consistent since the opening bell, Mone picked up her 11th title with this victory, an impressive statistic to be sure.
Brodido vs. The Don Callis Family 🟢⭐
What happens when one of AEW's best odd couple pairings in Brodido face off with two of the best wrestlers on the planet that, despite their current animosity towards each other, get along really well? You get this match. Competitive from the opening bell, Takeshita and Okada target Bandido's weakened shoulder exclusively in this match. Similar to the Bucks/Jurassic match from earlier, they do everything they can to fend off the monstrous Brody King, making sure he can't mount any amount of offence and isolating Bandido when he does get tagged in. The Brodido bromance is really felt in this match, with Brody going along with Bandido's macarena dance at one point, even if it does cost them the advantage. Near the end, Brody urges his partner on by shouting for all to hear "Bandido! Never stop fighting!" urging his partner on to land his signature 21 Plex with one fucking arm! Unreal stuff, honestly. So much fun.
Adam Page vs. Samoa Joe 🟢
Defending his gold nearly 100 days on from his cathartic victory at All In: Texas, the hanged man sets out to face the samoan submission machine, a man he's never beaten. I saw some criticism online about this being a thrown-together title match but, honestly, the story told here was really tidy and simplistic. Joe was distracted by non-world title matters, remembered "hey, I'm a former world champion, I want that back!" so he decided to challenge the champ. Simple story, simply told, simple as. There's a distinct disadvantage for Hangman here, sure, he's as hard hitting and tough as they come, but it takes a whole lot of man to deal with someone with the size and toughness of Samoa Joe. Dude's a fucking grizzly bear, man. Hangers survives the best Joe throws at him and comes back swinging every time, needing to utilize 3 Buckshot Lariat's in order to put Joe away. With a heel turn after the final bell, it looks like Joe will be chasing the world title for a while longer, hopefully with the trios title on another group. This Opps thing isn't really working for me, unfortunately.
Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin - I Quit Match 🟢⭐
A main event match for the simple reason that someone may die, Darby and Mox looked exactly how you picture it looking in your head. And, like everything else I've described that way for WrestleDream, that's no knock against it. This match was weighed about 95% Mox, 4% Death Riders, and 1% Darby. I'm serious. He was on a mission to slaughter this man tonight, do everything just short of murder to try and force Darbs to quit. Something that doesn't get talked about with the Death Riders, but really should, is their mission statement. Their entire MO is about forcing AEW to change. Putting the company in an uncomfortable position and forcing it to change around them. Mox talks a lot about making uncomfortable and hard decisions, ie; choking out Danielson to end his career, and this was another prime example of it. After crushing Darbs through a set of tables, with his Death Riders surrounding him, he's yelling, screaming at the referee to end the match. Telling him that Darby is completely out of his mind and doesn't know what's best for him. He's screaming that he cares for Darby, that he doesn't want to do this, but his hand is being forced. He's a much deeper and more dynamic character than just a guy who loves to be violent for no good reason. He adheres to his code and his mission statement until his dying breath. Speaking of dying breaths! They attempt to drown Darbs! With a fish tank full of water, Mox dunks Darby over and over aga- wait, the lights have gone out? No way! Is it? Could it be?! Yes, it's Sting! Darby's mentor has returned to lend a hand! Smashing the tank, giving Darby his signature baseball bat, and carting Marina Shafir to the back, the Stinger gave Darby the edge he needed to force Moxley to say those two, deadly words. "I Quit." What a match. Violent, brutal, exciting, completely insane. God, I love AEW.
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| via. Yahoo! Sports AEW |
Here’s what we’re reviewing for the week;
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Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Konosuke Takeshita - The Alpha Is Anointed
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| NJPW |
Basic Breakdown
The Backstory
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| Takeshita with the G1 Climax trophy. NJPW |
Winning New Japan's G1 Climax tournament on night 19 of the tournament, taking place August 17 of 2025, Konosuke Takeshita scored himself a shot at Zack Sabre Jr's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. At a date and time of his choosing, inevitably being NJPW's King of Pro-Wrestling event, Takeshita challenges ZSJ to the most coveted prize in all of New Japan. This is third time these two have met this year one-on-one, their prior outings happening during the G1 Climax Tournament on night 8 and 18, putting them at one win apiece prior to this championship challenge in the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena.
Bell to Bell
The match starts out looking pretty fundamental and basic for the first few seconds, but Takeshita and ZSJ quickly start hammering each other with strikes right out of the gate. Takeshita nearly catches Zack with a running knee after a rope rebound, but he lands on his ass after the miss, with ZSJ lining up and just barely missing the penalty kick. It's openings like this one that highlight how closely matched the champion finds himself. At any point, a missed strike or a lack of awareness could cost him his championship, he needs to keep his head on a swivel while squaring up against someone the calibre of Takeshita. He's no ordinary challenger, and Zack is just starting to remember that.
Trying to bring the match to a realm that ZSJ has better control over, he locks in a cravat and holds Takeshita tight through the challengers rolls to attempt an escape. Rolling Takeshita around, he attempts a bow and arrow hold, but it nearly costs him as Takeshita rolls with the hold and makes a cover attempt, with the champion escaping at two. Takeshita twists his way out of further damage to the left arm, with ZSJ starting to hone in on the limb, rebounding off the ropes to catch Zack with a Takeshita line to drop the champion. A senton into a body scissors keeps ZSJ down and sucking back lungfulls of air, with a heaving bodyslam after catching the bottom rope to break the hold dealing further damage to the core of the champ.
With ZSJ on the apron, Takeshita fires off a wild forearm shot, but the technical leader of TMDK snatches the arm and gets Takeshita in an arm breaker, using the ropes for leverage and the apron as a place to post himself by the top of his skull. Zack knows one of Takeshita's most powerful weapons is his forearm shots, with English commentator Walker Stewart often referring to his wound-up forearm shot as "straight murder." If he wants to keep the gold tonight, weakening Takeshita's firepower will be key to victory. He hones in on the limb while back inside the ring, twisting and snapping the wrist to weaken the grip of his right hand.
Back at centre, they trade shots back and forth, with Takeshita's forearms hitting with considerably less impact than they usually do. Going for broke, Takeshita rotates 360 and hopes to land a discus strike, but ZSJ is hip to Takeshita's tricks. Catching the limb just in time, he leaps onto Takeshita, catching him in an armbreaker and rolling through to the canvas not once, but twice. This second roll proves to be a big mistake, with Takeshita using that extra momentum to change his position, rolling through and holding the shoulder of the champion to the canvas for one! Two! The- no! Only two.
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| Almost got caught! NJPW |
A running boot in the corner and a vertical suplex send ZSJ rolling to the apron, with another running boot dropping Zack to the floor and into the barricade. Taking a leap of faith, Takeshita flies over the top and crushes ZSJ on the floor below. Back on their feet, they both climb to the apron with Takeshita trying to clobber Zack with another forearm shot, but again, Zack catches the limb and holds it down on the apron, stomping the elbow with the hopes of rending his arm to dust on impact. Takeshita rolls to the outside, nursing his wound and making sure he still has some grip left in his hand.
Back inside the ring, Zack goes to work, isolating the limb further and vicious twists and heinous joint manipulation. Realistically, Takeshita should be in a sling, but his fighting spirit pushes him on. Following the champion out of the corner off a splash, Takeshita cracks him with a forearm shot, grabbing at his arm after landing it. Again, he should probably be icing it, but he refuses to give in. With ZSJ following him out this time, Takeshita turns the tide and twists him around and down with a blue thunder bomb, making the mistake of using his right arm to make the cover. Zack snatches the weakened limb, applying a triangle of sorts and twisting Takeshita around on his damaged limb.
Paintbrushing Takeshita with slaps in the centre with his leg caught, another forearm shot from Takeshita drops ZSJ to his knees, with the challenger feeling fired up and ready to shift this match into second gear. Rebounding off the ropes, a vicious lariat nearly twists Zack into a pretzel mid-air.
⚡Move of the Match⚡
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| A human windmill. NJPW |
Dodging a charging champion, Takeshita lands a beautiful german suplex by using the ropes to gain the exntra momentum necessary. Bridging at first, Takeshita flips over the torso of Zack, bridging across him to hold him in a tight, tight pin, but the champion survives. Despite being on legs made of gelatin, Zack is vertical and fending off Takeshita, drilling him with boots to try and keep distance. Takeshita is responding with boots of his own before pulling the champion in for a vicious driver, stacking him low on his shoulders and mid-section. Maintaing his position, he manages to pull Zack out and into a wheelbarrow position, taking him up and over with a massive german suplex!
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| How in the world is this possible. NJPW |
Again, they trade strikes in the middle, with Takeshita's wounded arm doing little to weaken his mighty blows. For as technical and crafty as ZSJ is, Takeshita surpasses him in pure, brute strength. One of few people than can stand near eye-to-eye with the Alpha, Zack knows he needs to work overtime to wear someone as tough and strong as Takeshita down. He is able to drop Takeshita to a knee, but not for long enough for him to mount any considerable comeback. Really, all it did was enrage Takeshita, with ZSJ challenging him in the middle to take his best shot. And by God, does he ever. Winding up with a full rotation, Takeshita fucking obliterates ZSJ with a forearm shot. I mean, I've seen people hit home runs with less force than this. He seriously said "fuck your entire lower jaw" with this shot. Just turned it to dust.
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| Straight. Murder. NJPW |
Urging Zack to his feet, Takeshita fires out with the Power Drive knee, but gets caught! ZSJ twists Takeshita around into a vicious Rings of Saturn type hold, bending back both arms at gross angles. Never keeping Takeshita in the same hold for very long, he manipulates his arms and body into all sorts of hideous contortions, with the challenger eventually twisting and rolling his way to the bottom rope to break the hold. A series of kicks drop Takeshita, but he's not down for long at all, getting right back to his feet to meet Zack head-on. A huge last ride poerbomb flattens ZSJ, with a successful Power Drive knee catching him flush under the jaw.
Seating Zack on the top rope, Takeshita looks to try for a superplex, but Zack is able to bend back his arm and sunset flip out of the danger, driving Takeshita into the canvas as he does so. A penalty kick and a tornado DDT nearly have Takeshita down and out, but a vertical suplex attempt is countered into Raging Fire! If Takeshita's elbow was in better shape, then maybe he could have capitalized and gone for the pin, but the pain is just too much, with the challenger rolling away from ZSJ's limp corpse to tend to the wound. Zack, to his own credit, was able to adjust his body as to drape an arm and leg on the bottom rope, saving himself from any pinfall attempts.
Zack tries to use the ropes for extra momentum, rolling through a waistlock to bridge over the torso of Takeshita for a pin, but his challenger is too wise to his tricks, catching him in a chickenwing! Unfortunately, his right arm presents a tantalizing target for Zack, snapping the limb with his free arm to break Takeshita's hold. Back to the arm he goes, doing everything short of severing his limb from his body. Raging Fire is attempted again, but the damage is too fresh for Takeshita to get Zack off his feet. The champion, on the other hand, has no issues getting Takeshita up and drilled into the mat with the Zack driver and a pin attempt, but it's only good enough for two!
Back vertical again, Zack lays into Takeshita with European uppercuts, but his challenger is only begging for more, refusing to fall. With Zack repeatedly pie-facing Takeshita, the frustration begins to boil over, with Takeshita removing his right elbow pad, that slim barrier between flesh-on-flesh now gone. Winding up once again, straight murder catches Zack under the jaw, dropping him like a sack of hammers to the canvas. Again Zack tries to hone in on the arm, but Takeshita brute forces Zack up for two big German suplex's in a row, landing a poison rana when Zack is able to create distance between he and his challenger.
A Power Drive knee drops Zack flat out, with Takeshita dropping his knee pad before going for another. The killshot. Falling into the cover, Red Shoes, the referee, counts one, then two, and finally; three. We have a new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion!
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Driven to the ground, with power! NJPW |
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Overview & Final Rating
🟢⭐
An exceptional match, truly. I had so much fun with this one. An amazing clash of styles with a crafty, technical champion finding his usual tricks to be no use against the resilient, more powerful challenger. Zack well and truly pulled out all the stops to try and keep hold of his gold tonight, but Takeshita proved to be just a bit too much for him to handle. No matter how much he tied him up or tried to wear a limb down to dust, Takeshita found a way to power through and survive. The middle of the match was intense and filled with nasty, hard-hitting moments, and the end was dramatic and built to the Power Drive knees excellently. Loved this one a whole lot.
• • • • •
Well, there you have it, another week down! I had a lot of fun with this match as well as using and tweaking the new format for the Watchlist! I'm pretty content with the format right now, so unless there's some major feedback to change something or I decide that something needs a major facelift, this is how it will remain!
So, until next week! Stay safe, take it easy, and love each other.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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