doctorhbomb

What a great show. Really, really fun from start to finish.

I don't follow the weekly television (aside from watching the occasional YouTube clip), so take my perspectives with a grain of salt. Overall, I didn't think this event was worth the $50 USD, though it did have its moments. The Good(ish) 1. Jericho/Kingston: I like how this match started, and it was well structured. Though I don't follow the product, I did watch the recent back-and-forth segment between these two on YouTube, which did its job of getting me behind Kingston. I felt happy he won. Both guys were also really aggressive, though Jericho's punches were terrible. I'll mention the finish below. (The tapout was not a great idea.) 2. Jade/Tay: Overdelivered, given how "green" I've heard Jade is. She's such an impressive athlete, and I hope she keeps improving. Tay should never do a piledriver. For some reason, I thought Tay would be WAY small than Jade, but I was pleasantly surprised that she was closer to Jade's size than some of Jade's previous opponents. Unlike Baker and Rosa, I felt like these two could actually lift and hold each other off the ground relatively easily. Really fun, and probably the most memorable match of the show. 3. Cassidy "skinning the cat" in the ladder match: The only spot that stood out from the ladder match was Cassidy pulling himself up on top of the ladder being held by two of the big guys (can't remember which two of the three were involved). It went from funny (Cassidy being lifted off the ground) to eye-popping (Cassidy almost being able to grab the ring). Very clever. 4. Opening minutes of Baker/Rosa: I really liked the aggressive lockup and some of the grappling in the earlier minutes of the second women's title match. Good stuff but ended up falling apart halfway through. Not nearly as memorable as the TBS title match or their "lights out" match (which I only saw clips of). 5. Danielson/Moxley: Very good match. Blood felt pointless—especially after Punk/MJF—but the grappling was good, the bumping was good, and the selling was mostly fine. Ending was flat but made sense, given that they're continuing this program. I popped BIG for Regal. 6. Hangman's Talent: I've never paid much attention to the AEW Champion, so this was the first time I noticed how good he is in the ring. I did not like the match, but I think his strikes and lariats are superb. I see why some people would be big fans. The Bad 1. Repeated moves across matches: destroyers, tombstone piledrivers, apron spots, super kicks . . . sigh. 2. It may have been my feed, but the ring was BADLY mic'ed. LOTS of hard-looking strikes made ZERO sound on my television. Interesting how important those sounds are, especially in aggressive matches. 3. Video packages/match promos: they sucked. They gave the casual viewer very little sense of the storylines leading up to the matches. Even packages for feuds I was pretty familiar with (Punk/MJF) felt lackluster, incoherent, and amateurish. 4. Botched/bad finishes: Wardlow's power bomb, Hardy rolling AWAY from the coffin drop, the camera (half) missing Punk's final punch, the terrible looking stretch plum (WOW it was bad) . . . 5. Punk/MJF: did not live up to the hype. It's probably unfair to put this under "bad," given how hard they worked, but the thumbtacks were unnecessary (and Punk's bump practically missed them), MJF's selling and character-work felt out of sync with the lead up, Punk's chain whips were weak (probably because MJF's one chain whip was too hard) . . . I could go on. It didn't come CLOSE to Piper/Valentine. I initially popped for Punk's theme music, but the crowd's underwhelming response sort of killed it. The commentary team did a terrible job explaining/narrating the meaning of this shift (aside from vague comments about Punk's pre-WWE career). 6. Tornado Trios: garbage. Sting took impressive falls, given his age, and he seemed to move well (better than Hardy...), but this was a mess and really boring. The dangerous bumps weren't memorable at all. 7. Adam Cole in the main event: never liked his NXT main events; sad to see that didn't change here. His "Panama sunrise" is a terrible move, and apparently pretty ineffective, since he can't even win after executing it on the floor. What are we even doing . . . ? If I hadn't already seen him "super kick" people doing moonsaults, I would have popped big. When you see it coming, it's not very memorable. 8. The tag title triple threat: this was bad. Again, I don't mean they didn't all work hard. If I had been there live, I might have loved it. But I've seen so many of these matches over the past twenty years, that I just don't care. Could have been half the length. Again, I don't follow the product super closely, but after watching this I don't care to watch anymore matches from this division. Now if Moxley and Danielson enter it . . .

So I didn’t think I’d ever be interested in another AEW show after the explosion embarrassment a long while back. I was wrong. It isn’t close to my favorite wrestling show ever (I mean, really?), but it was very fun. Doubt any of the matches are worth a rewatch, but I’m not disappointed I purchased the show. The Adam Cole fake-out got me.

First AEW PPV. And my last. I knew that before the ring “exploded.” I actually enjoyed the main event for the most part (though the blood seemed a little... not bloody). The street fight was fun but also felt like a bit of a bait and switch. I liked Miro on offense more than almost anything else on the show.

Watched the opening tag. I liked it, but there did seem to be some close calls during some of the more dangerous spots (most of them involving Shotzi). The opening stretch, with Ember and Shotzi working over Dakota Kai's leg, felt unnecessary. Sure, it establishes that Dakota Kai really need Raquel, but that could have been done in any number of ways. "Working the leg" also went nowhere, as Kai was kicking and sprinting just fine late in the match. Ember Moon looked great at times: easily the most athletic person in the match, though Raquel looked really impressive. For some reason, this felt like a Southern style tag sprint (but I'm not even sure that's a thing) – which is odd, since that style is driven by actual heat. Skipped through the other matches. Didn't care about the other Dusty tag. Didn't care about the triple threat match, though Mercedes looked really great in the bits that I saw. Would be into a confrontation between Raquel and Mercedes down the road. Maybe. Gargano is unwatchable. This match basically killed any possibility of submission finishers. (Not really, I know. But you know what I mean. If Kushida can't get a submission from a crossarm breaker after working over Gargano's chicken-leg arms for 20 minutes . . . well, then. He must really suck, at submission wrestling. Good thing that's not his gimmick. Wait . . .) Main event was great. To compare it to other self-indulgent NXT main events is an insult. Yes, it was self-indulgent, but these two (again, from my perspective) are way better than Cole (who makes me cringe). Better than Gargano (likewise). Better than Ciampa. Better than Lee. I'd rather watch them wrestle for 30 minutes against each other than any combination of these other dudes. But that might be because NXT just totally burned me out on Cole–Gargano–Ciampa matchups.

Favorite match of both nights was Shingo and Cobb. Easily. Loved it. The two bumps that popped me the most were the snap head scissors from Ibushi to Naito (apron to floor) and the crazy belly-to-belly Cobb hit on Shingo out on the floor. Not the biggest or craziest bumps but the two that caught me off guard and looked the best (to me).

I enjoyed the first two matches of Power Struggle. ZSJ's frustration with his bootlaces was just great. Tapping out one of the Young Boys who was trying to help him? So good. Running with scissors? Wow. Suzuki v. Takagi was fun. Some strikes looked legit dangerous. Suzuki's facials are top level. The best. Crowd was super into this. The last four matches just didn't hold my attention. Liked parts of the second half of the show, but was tuned out for a lot of it.

Everyone should watch Tanahashi and Liger interact after Tanahashi’s match. It’s the best. #airhug

Just finished the final show. It was REALLY good. The first three tags were super fun. After 108 singles matches in a row (90 tournament matches; 18 young lion matches), multi-man matches felt like a novelty! Question: anyone know what Tanahashi was saying to KENTA after their tag match? He seemed to be teasing him about his briefcase . . . or maybe something more was happening. Not a fan of the two tag matches before the main event. I really wanted more aggressiveness from Okada. It started promising, but it was strange that the most impressive performer in the match wasn't even involved in the big angle on Night 17. More Naito/EVIL? Meh. Okay. So I was NOT looking forward to the main event, but it was GREAT. These guys took their time, didn't sprint through anything, and the match was laid out into really distinct and logical chapters/segments. The selling was good; there were some neat nostalgic spots. The effects of the LEG KICK match factored in. Add in the CRAZIEST near fall of the tournament (which was itself a callback) and a hot crowd? Overachieved (for me). A few slip ups, but SANADA and Ibushi handled them like pros. After that, I might be something of an Ibushi fan! Really liked his performance. SANADA also looked great here.

Block B final (Night 18) was okay. I didn't enjoy Night 17 as much as others (especially the Leg Kick Match), but it had a big angle (mostly lost on me but clearly significant) and really fun/good matches. It was a better final. Yano v. Yoshi-Hashi might be the first time in the tournament where I was disappointed with a Yano match. He usually pulled out something new—or some new variation on an old trick—but here the variants just didn't seem fresh enough. I give him props for keeping his schtick fresh this far into the tournament. Juice v. Goto was fine but not too remarkable. Liked that Juice held onto the hammerlock when pushing Goto into the post / turnbuckle pads. Often see wrestlers released hammerlocks really early and just unrealistically lead their opponent over to a guardrail or ring post. (I mean, all of this is unrealistic, but you know what I mean. Good technique.) Tanahashi v. ZSJ was more up my alley but without any clear stakes it was hard to get invested. Intense wrestling and counter wrestling (especially early on with ZSJ's use of the headscissors). Like that ZSJ tried to keep wrestling after the bell. KENTA v. Naito was okay. Don't remember much about it. Except that KENTA used his flimsy briefcase and that it was too long. EVIL v. SANADA was not good but the crowd's investment helped a lot. WAY too long. Fourth match of the night that ended in a cradle or flash pin. Oof. That Dragon "Sleeper"/Forehead Vice . . . Ishii overcoming Jay White / Gedo was way more fun than SANADA surviving EVIL/Goto. I'm torn about the final. Not a fan of Ibushi but not too excited for a SANADA win either. Intrigued to see how it will play out and if the angle with Ospreay might factor in.

Finals of Block A (Night 17) was entertaining: better than Night 15 but still not as good as most Block B events. Cobb v. Takahashi was better than I thought it'd be. Don't like Yujiro at all, but when he finally hit his DDT finisher, there was a sense of bittersweet finality to his run over the past few weeks. In his last match, he finally hit his big move and took away a win. Cobb looked great here against a guy who doesn't appear built for Cobb's offense (a bit denser than some of these leaner dudes). Suzuki v. Takagi was fun. Might be my favorite match of the show (other than the main event). Ospreay v. Okada was . . . meh. There was a strong sense of urgency and high stakes to it from the very beginning, but the ****ing Cobra Clutch, man . . . it's a buzzkill every time. I imagine other folks will enjoy this and the finishing angle more than me. It is a bit surreal to see a former indy darling go toe-to-toe with Okada (even if it's a much deflated version of Okada). Ibushi v. Taichi was – aside from a pretty killer sweep kick – a boring 17 minutes of repeated butt and leg kicks. No thank you. Not pleased at all but not surprised with the result. Ishii v. Jay White was GREAT. It made sitting through repeatedly boring interference worthwhile (in the sense @gordi gives above). Ishii is easily in my Top 5 (and maybe Top 3) performers in this tournament. One of my favorite main events too. Maybe my favorite.

Night 16 was much better than Night 15. KENTA v. Yoshi-Hashi was more entertaining than I thought it would be. Found myself pulling for Yoshi-Hashi. That hasn't happened very often during this tournament. Felt like KENTA was in the double shoulder/butterfly lock (whatever it's called) a bit too long, but his vocal and facial selling while in the hold was really good. ZSJ v. Juice was great. Lots of fun wrestling/striking. Less trash talking than usual? My MOTN. Yano v. Naito was a delight. Naito's stalling was a nice touch; I enjoy the willingness of the aces to mix it up with Yano's silliness, and I laughed out loud when Naito was hiding from Yano only to try to sneakily remove the turnbuckle pad. EVIL v. Goto was pretty good, but the heel-ish antics that felt new to me against Tanahashi have already grown stale. I've enjoyed Goto in this tournament quite a bit, though I wish there had been a bit more nuance with his selling from match to match. Wanted to like Tanahashi v. SANADA more than I did. I don't really have any complaints; it just couldn't keep my attention. Crowd loved it, and I did catch some really fun segments. I'm just not into "main events" these days. Btw, the preliminary matches continue to be consistently great matches. No DDTs. No leg slaps. No super kicks. No standing flip splashes. No apron spots. No X-on-the-knee.

Oof. Night 15 was, overall, not good. Boring matches and/or deflating finishes. Hopefully others like it more. Cobb v. Ospreay felt underwhelming. Not sure if I can put my finger on why. Felt like they were both just going through the motions, even if they were working pretty hard. Surprised by the ending. Ibushi v. Takahashi was not good at all. Ibushi should have steamrolled him. Watching Ibushi fight up from underneath against a guy who hasn't won a match (and whom White beat easily)? Oof. Crowd liked Taichi v. Takagi, but it didn't keep my attention. Both guys have grown on me over the course of the tournament, but I just didn't like this. The end of White v. Suzuki was really a letdown. Match was fun all the way through, but the finish annoyed me. The only time I've really liked heel-ish antics in this tournament was in Yano matches and in heel v. heel matches. Otherwise, it's all just so paint-by-the-numbers. White was in Suzuki's submissions here a little too long for my liking, and the fact that he could just keep slipping out of holds into a position to hit his finish felt pretty business-exposing (I know, sorry) rather than exciting. (Is it possible they'll go with a White v. EVIL final?) Okada v. Ishii. Sigh. I should have liked Ishii killing Okada in the corner with neck chops and cutting off comebacks with a diving headbutt . . . I just didn't. More complaints: Okada literally couldn't apply the Cobra Clutch to Ishii. The first application was awful. Ishii was clearly just palming the back of his own head (with Okada's fingers barely resting on top of them). The second application might have been worse. The third was depressing. And the fourth . . . FFS. Anyway, the diving knee drop was pretty great.

Nights 13 and 14 probably mark the first time that Block A put on a show that was clearly better than its Block B counterpart. With that said, Night 14 was also pretty fun. ZSJ v. Yoshi-Hashi was really good. Brutal arm submissions here, and YH brought some brutal strikes that ZSJ sold really well. YH could have been a bit more consistent with selling his arm, but that's just nitpicking. ZSJ was great post-match. KENTA v. Yano was one of KENTA's more enjoyable G1 matches but a bit down on the list of Yano's best. Fun stuff, more dueling heelish tactics, and a wacky ending. (Briefcase contents revealed!) SANADA v. Juice was decent. Oddly, the only thing I can really remember (other than the interminable dragon sleeper counters) is Juice's interaction with a young fan as he walked to the ring. The air "high five" choked me up a bit. Really sweet. Wasn't really expecting the finish we got. Tanahashi v. Goto. Now this one takes me back. I'm sure they've wrestled many, many times, but I'm recalling their feud from . . . 2007? Really enjoyed that. Crowd loved this, and I did too. WAY shorter than I expected, but since I have long match fatigue that didn't bother me one bit. Pretty bonkers top rope avalanche spot near the end, which did its part (in a way) to set up the finish. Wasn't really all that into Naito v. EVIL. Others might dig this more than I did, since I don't really have the storyline investment (having missed their unfolding feud throughout the year). Seems at this point Naito shouldn't be as fooled by Togo's antics but . . . alas. Getting a bit tired of the low blow, but then again we're also 70 matches in (not counting the excellent preliminary matches), so I guess I shouldn't be too harsh on the booking / match layout. Wanted a bit more aggressiveness between the two. Crowd didn't seem as into this match as Tanahashi v. Goto, but they were far from bored.

Agree with @gordi and @Custos. Night 13 was great. Loved every match for different reasons. Almost the perfect wrestling show (entertainment-wise). Hell, I even popped during the late arm bar sequence in the preliminary match . . . so good. EDIT (additional thoughts, though I wish I could recall more specific details): Cobb v. Ishii matched up SO well. Finishing spot was executed beautifully. White v. Takahashi was brilliant. Loved the premise of the match, which didn't click at first until I noticed that White wasn't wearing boots . . . Taichi v. Ospreay went better than I expected. Commentators went nuts for Ospreay. (I'm out of the loop on the backstory here, if there is one). Very entertaining. Suzuki is amazing. The match v. Ibushi is worth watching if only for the look on his face (pictured above) and his laughs. Still not a fan of Ibushi, but he's clearly super talented. I'd just rather see other folks in his place. Main event was my favorite Okada match of the tournament (though this isn't saying much). I've liked Takagi's top card matches. It's a bit unreal how the Cobra Clutch immediately deflates a hot crowd's excitement.

I really liked Night 12. I caught the final few minutes Goto v. Yoshi-Hashi (thought the show started at 4:30am CST; it started at 4am). What I saw I liked, though I'm struggling to remember any specific details. ZSJ v. Yano was great. Favorite match of the night. Maybe got a bit too serious at the end, but I was thoroughly entertained. Happy with SANADA v. KENTA. Result was satisfying, and a dropkick into the briefcase into KENTA's face made me laugh. Great visual (though KENTA didn't sell it nearly long enough). Quite like Naito vs. Robinson. Might be my favorite Naito match of the tournament . . . but I'm also a bit weird. Naito's matches tend to go on a bit too long for my liking, but I really enjoyed the finishing sequences here. Might watch this again. EVIL v. Tanahashi. Tanahashi is a master, and I really dug some of the Club's heel-ish antics here (and subsequent drama)—except at the end. No reason for the ref to walk a chair all the way across the ring and just stand there with his back turned after dropping it. Not well timed. I've always been a fan of the STO, though, so it's nice that it's treated like such a strong move.

Night 11 overdelivered (for me) after two of the less impressive shows of the tournament (Nights 9 and 10). I was also surprised by some results (though in hindsight maybe I shouldn’t have been). I really don’t like Takahashi at all (bad sliding kicks, awkward reverse DDT, horrible gear), but I was happy with the result of his match against Ishii. There’s a lunging headbutt here that made me jump. Okada v. Cobb was good. Crowd liked some of Cobb’s strongman stuff. I’m enjoying this new spin on Okada’s matches where he needs to get a bit sneakier / clever in order to pull out wins. The Dropkick / Tombstone / Cobra Clutch combo is. Not. Working. Against. Anyone. Almost everyone also ducks the rolling lariats he has recourse too when his opponents get too counter-y. I think he hit it against Cobb, and Cobb didn’t even drop. Ospreay v. Suzuki was more fun than I imagined going in. Ospreay tries to go toe-to-toe with Suzuki right away and has his arm destroyed as a result. He did an okay job selling (not much nuance but also never ignored), but I’ll never understand why wrestlers will insist on using a damaged arm to throw forearms rather than just use the other arm. (Which he does at one point but not consistently.) Really think Ospreay’s at a point where he can start cutting out moves that made him popular on the indies. Crowds don’t need to see the standing shooting star anymore, for instance. Just a thought. Almost everyone is doing standing moonsaults and flips and superkicks and blah blah anyway. Start doing something different. Taichi vs. Jay White might have been my favorite heel v. heel match of the tournament. And my favorite Jay White match of the tournament. From the beginning they start playing (rolling out of the ring on opposite sides at the same time), and they keep it up while also having a pretty decent match. Good and very entertaining match. Takagi vs. Ibushi. I liked this if only because Ibushi lost. Not a fan. He’s clearly uber-talented, but he’s way more awkward as a top guy than Naito or Tanahashi (who’s untouchable). There’s a back elbow – jab – lariat combo in here that popped me. Fun main event but not one of my favorite matches of the tournament.

Night 10 was okay. Perhaps the first time Block B didn't put on a show that was clearly better than its Block A counterpart. (It may still have been better but not by much.) The crowd / ring didn't seem well mic'ed, so it was hard to tell how into the show the crowd was. Poor Yano. (But also: makes sense given the story of Goto's bicep / shoulder / whatever injury. More time to heal.) Liked SANADA v. ZSJ a lot. Wished it was longer, but I appreciated that there wasn't an extended finishing section. I haven't seen much ZSJ in my time, so I'm digging this G1 series of his matches. He's had really good performances against pretty much everyone he's faced thus far. SANADA was good here, too, coming off of his big win over Naito on Night 8. Juice v. EVIL was okay—fun at times. Getting tired of low blows, but I have to sympathize with whomever has to book all these finishes among top guys. Naito v. Yoshi-Hashi was a chore to sit through. Crowd got into it at the end and seemed pretty fooled by a very late nearfall (perhaps the first one that I think got an actual gasp), but I just wasn't into it. Too long. Too boring. Would have been just as good if not better if you shaved off 5 minutes or more. If I watched NJPW more regularly, I may have had a very different investment in this match, but I couldn't help but think Naito should have looked much more dominant or aggressive, especially after eating his first loss against SANADA. Tanahashi v. KENTA was less of a chore but also pretty illustrative of pointless limb work that eats up long stretches of a match. A staple of modern main event wrestling. (Then again, the limb work did kind of factor into the end, even if no one was selling at that point.) A few exchanges were pretty compelling; this match really shows just how much better Tanahashi is / has been than KENTA (whom I practically worshipped 15 or 16 years ago). Despite all the nitpicking above (and in earlier posts), I am really enjoying this tournament. Every show has been worth watching, and it's pretty great to see live wrestling with a crowd. There's an energy here I've been missing, and it's amazing that I get to see all of this live after all the time and money it used to take to track down Japanese wrestling footage. Incredible stuff.

Night 9 was okay. Probably my least favorite night of the tournament thus far (though after 45 matches, who really knows). Still, far from a bad show, and the results were interesting. Takagi v. Takahashi was not good. Cobb v. White was really fun, but it is a bit strange to see Cobb taking huge bumps for White's offense. Sometimes White struggled to move him; sometimes he was just able to hit his moves with no trouble at all. Okada v. Suzuki was probably my favorite Okada match thus far (though that's not saying much). I'm not really following whatever is going on with Okada, but at least he is consistently struggling to wrestle at his "ace" level. I liked that he seemed totally out of his depth against Suzuki here and couldn't rely on his signature offense to survive. Ishii vs. Taichi went on too long for my taste. If I had been following NJPW before the tournament, perhaps I would have been more compelled. The inconsistent, spotty no selling didn't really work for me. The crowd LOVED the match, though, so I'm probably not a good judge in this case. Ospreay v. Ibushi was shorter than I expected it to be (which is a good thing). Might be my favorite Ospreay match thus far. 2nd favorite Ibushi match (since I preferred the Ishii match). Liked that the finishing sequence seemed much more succinct than the previous match. Ospreay's chops are pretty next-level. More impressive as strikes than his leg-slap kicks.

Night 8 was really fun. Preliminary match was great. Love these exhibitions. First two G1 matches were surprisingly short, but they were also my favorite matches of the night. Yano vs. Juice is the only match of the tournament that I wish was a little longer. ZSJ vs. Goto made good on the fact that Goto had a longish match with the double champ just two nights earlier. Liked that and liked the match overall. Now that he gets a few days to heal before his next G1 match, it'll be interesting to see where they go with the story of his arm (bicep?) injury. The intermission came only an hour into the show (which started about 4:31am CST). The next three matches were interesting, since they seemed to match up folks who either liked each other or were part of the same stable. Tanahashi vs. Yoshi-Hashi had an air of friendly rivalry around it. Overall pretty fun, but I can't recall much about it at the moment. Tanahashi is just so good at the NJPW main event style (which isn't my favorite, but still); better than anyone else right now. Crowd loved it. KENTA vs. EVIL (Bullet Club battle of the capital letters) wasn't as much fun as I hoped. Wished Togo had been a bit more torn about who to help before the briefcase payoff and the finishing stretch. We've had better heel vs. heel matches in the tournament, but this was still entertaining in its way. I like EVIL's theme music. The main event (battle of Los Ingobernables de Japon) was also good. Liked cocky Naito. SANADA also interested me for the first time since the Yano match on Night 2. Some awkward slips in the finishing stretch, but the result keeps things interesting in terms of who might pull ahead in Block B standings. Crowd was really into this show. FIVE WRESTLERS in Block A have a 3-1 record. And one has a 2-2 record. Only two wrestlers in Block B have a 3-1 record, but FIVE wrestlers are 2-2. Lots of possibilities here. The next few shows will be interesting as a few guys start pulling ahead.

Night 7 was good. A few thoughts: Liked Suzuki and Takahashi. Suzuki might be my Block A MVP thus far. The opening segment was particularly fun, with Takahashi getting the upper hand with his cane only to get a much more brutal beating moments later with a chair. Dig how Suzuki maneuvers his opponents in and out of the choke, in and out of the piledriver. And that elbow . . . so pronounced in each match thus far. They ask for it; he brings it. Cobb vs. Ibushi was also good, even though I smirk and shake my head every time Ibushi brushes off offense and does his best "manly face." I just don't buy it. Crowd was really into Cobb's strong-man counters, and Ibushi seems to be the right build for Cobb's style of offense. Okada vs. Taichi was fine. Liked the opening minutes more than the rest of it. Liked that Taichi uses one of Okada's signatures late in the match. Crowd is clearly not enthused with the Cobra Clutch. Ospreay vs. Jay White was fine. Can't really remember much about it (despite it being one of the later and longer matches). Not having watched NJPW in years (and only following headlines here and there), I didn't really have any context for the main event and was initially surprised to see it positioned in that spot. Come to find out these two main evented one of the G1 shows last year (and apparently I should track that match down). Really, really liked this, though I can't help but feel it would have been better as an undercard match that had a few minutes shaved off. After a while, I just didn't buy any near falls, just waiting for a big finisher. Liked the post-bell shenanigans too.

Night 6 was fun. I think I've overall enjoyed Block B events more than Block A. But there's usually something on every show I've liked. SANADA vs. Yoshi-Hashi was okay. Can't really remember anything about it. ZSJ vs. KENTA was great. Favorite match on the show and probably Top 5 of the tournament for me. First KENTA match I've thoroughly enjoyed since, I don't know, 2007? (My memory isn't what it used to be. This is an exaggeration, I imagine.) Tanahashi vs. Juice was good. Liked Juice's constant effort to get the crowd into it. Liked the ending. Liked the sense of competitive animosity between these two. The hair-pulling early on was unexpected but a nice touch. Yano vs. EVIL. Thumbs up. Yano is MVP of the tournament. I looked forward to this match more than the others, and it didn't disappoint. Naito vs. Goto was okay. I liked Goto's second outing against SANADA more (I think). Naito's aggressiveness early was good, but I didn't think Goto's selling was all that great (inconsistent; not a real factor in the last 1/3 of the match [though I may be misremembering]). Naito looked legit out of it at one point, so props to him for tricking me. They covered up some slip-ups really well. Pros. I'll concur with other folks that the preliminary exhibition matches on all the shows have been very good. Well worth watching.

That. Was. Very. Good.

I enjoyed Night 5, though Ishii vs. Suzuki from Night 1 is still my favorite match of the tournament. The last three matches went too long, though none of them were near the time limit (at least according to some results I've read). Loved the dueling heeling of Taichi and Takahashi. Very fun. Liked Suzuki and Cobb. Pleasantly surprised by its length. Ishii pulled a good match out of Ibushi, though they got a bit too cute near the end; some finishing exchanges looked awkward, and they could have cut out one or two or three of them. (Then again, I did wind up second guessing the result I anticipated.) Enjoyed that they were consistent about who was better than the other at specific kinds of strikes (elbows vs. kicks). Not a big fan of the dueling no-sells, especially since one of them is way better at no-selling than the other. Liked the post-match bits too. Couldn't get into Takagi vs. Ospreay. Too long. Too many leg slaps. Not thrilled that it was also the longest match (I think). Happy with the result, though. Main event was pleasantly shorter than I expected it to be; didn't like that the end echoed the ending of another match on this card. Not a fan of either guy right now; wish Ishii vs. Ibushi had main evented. [EDIT: Rewatched the main event. I think I enjoy it more than the other Jay White and Okada matches in the tournament thus far. Some good things here, but mostly forgettable. No idea what's going on with that cobra clutch . . .]

I enjoyed Night 4 more than Night 3. Though that might have something to do with whatever is going on with Okada. And being not that into Ibushi. Or Jay White. Liked Goto vs. SANADA way more than Goto vs. KENTA. Yano is great. Props to Tanahashi; the end of the match was brilliant. Matches 3 and 4 were okay. Can't remember much about them right now. ZSJ vs. Naito was probably my favorite long match from any of the four shows thus far.