Evil Otto

The good thing about Shingo vs. Gabe going on (apparently) right before Moxley vs. Narita, is that is will be nasty and brutal and Mox will surely be inspired to match or even top it. Welcome to the deep end, Ren. Of course, some HoT fuckery is potentially on the menu as well, but I hope this match is more about providing proof that Narita can convincingly be in a main event. (I still need convincing, honestly.) So, hoping it's significantly less of the former, and much more of the latter.

NJPW Windy City Riot:

Naito vs. Tsuji was tremendous. There are only two rational ways to book this match. Yota wins, or Naito wins but the match is fabulously good. At least it didn't disappoint in either case. The junior tag 3-way was insane. Well worth a watch. Kosei Fujita certainly seems like a star in the making. Gabe vs. Shingo should be a nasty one. Looking forward to it. Jack Perry threw out some allusions to the Jacksons, but I'm guessing that still may be a bit further down the line. Overall, this was much more of a "feel good" show than recent events. It was sorely needed.

I watched Adonis & Murdoch vs. Windham & Rotundo go to a time limit draw at the Meadowlands in NJ in January 1985. To this day, it was the greatest match I've ever seen live.

Very sad news to hear. I loved Coughlin. An absolute beast. I truly think he had limitless potential, and he was well on his way. That being said, being rational enough to realize how his debilitating injuries would impact his quality of life (or even worse, to be honest) and to make such an agonizing decision to finally let go of his dream is sad, yes, but far more than that, admirable.

I believe ZSJ and ELP are on this card!

Well, here's some good news...Yota Tsuji vs. Jeff Cobb was a fabulous match! Best match of the tournament so far. More thoughts below:

Yeah, something along those lines could work. I actually think Jericho in Arena Mexico would not be a bad idea at all at this particular moment in time. For example, his match with Atlantis Jr. would've gone over much better in Arena Mexico. Atlantis Jr is actually an incredible worker, but he's not super flashy and it takes a few matches (for more causal fans) to see how truly great he is. I get why they had the match due to the history and all that, but I felt a bit bad for the guy, as he came in really cold. That being said, there's at least a short-term storyline that they, both CMLL and AEW, could build on if they wanted to.

100% agreed on all these points. The first four guys that CMLL brought in, wearing the suits and stirring up trouble, was CMLL putting their best foot forward in this relationship. They need to stick to sending the luchadors who can truly impress. Titan, for example, certainly ticks that box.

Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher was King vs. Armor King in Tekken and I don't give a fuck what that implies because I loved it and the crowd did, too. Stat is a wonderful base for Riho and the two of them really clicked. Great match. Okada and the Bucks actually makes sense. I like Okada as a smug prick. Lots to work with there. It's been so long now, but I thought Kyle O'Reilly was truly amazing right up until he was sidelined with those injuries. So happy to see him back.

Magnus and Rugido are a tag team in CMLL, or at least the last time I checked they were. Honestly speaking, they are not the top-tier workers like the ones everyone saw in the first two weeks or so of this partnership. In other words, good, but not great. As odessasteps has suggested, take a look at the lucha folder and follow the hints to a helpful site where you may find these two. Magnus/Rugido vs. Neon/Futuro from 10/13/2023 is absolutely worth a watch, but it's mainly for Neon and Futuro, who are both well on their way to much bigger things.

My apologies in advance, but FantasticaMania by definition means I need to resort to crossposting to cover my bases, both in the Japan folder and this one: For those of you with NJPW World (or perhaps Cubsfan can help you out) I would strongly recommend four matches from the final two Korakuen Hall nights of FantasticaMania: Soberano Jr vs Templario / Rocky Romero vs. Volador Jr. / Atlantis Jr vs. Hechicero / Stuka Jr vs. Mascara Dorada All great, but in particular I thought the Hechicero match really stood out because he and Atlantis Jr have insane chemistry. I loved Atlantis Jr as a rudo, but here he was definitely a tecnico, and well, he's just great overall! Hechicero was the star here, though. The announcers mentioned Zack a bit during the match, which gives me hope that we'll see ZSJ vs. Hechicero sooner than later. Soberano Jr and Templario tried some incredibly difficult spots (with varying degrees of success) and had much more of New Japan style match than a CMLL one, which is why FantasticaMania can be so rewarding at times. I believe Cubsfan mentioned that Soberano Jr, Templario and Rocky may be going forward as a trio unit in CMLL (and elsewhere?), and I am very much in favor of that idea. It looked to me that there was particular interest in Dark Panther during this tour on the New Japan side. He's a guy with a lot of skills who just seems to lack a few things to bring him up to the next level, such as struggling a bit in longer singles matches and even his gear and overall appearance need more fine-tuning. He would be a great candidate for an excursion in Japan for a while, and I wonder if the powers that be might be thinking the same thing. I guess we'll see.

Slight tangent alert! For those of you with NJPW World, if you're looking for a palate cleanser after last night, I would strongly recommend four matches from the final two Korakuen Hall nights of FantasticaMania: Soberano Jr vs Templario / Rocky Romero vs. Volador Jr. / Atlantis Jr vs. Hechicero / Stuka Jr vs. Mascara Dorada All great, but in particular I thought the Hechicero match really stood out because he and Atlantis Jr have insane chemistry. The announcers mentioned Zack a bit during the match, which gives me hope that we'll see ZSJ vs. Hechicero sooner than later. Soberano Jr and Templario tried some incredibly difficult spots (with varying degrees of success) and had much more of New Japan style match than a CMLL one, which is why FantasticaMania can be so rewarding at times. It looked to me that there was particular interest in Dark Panther during this tour on the New Japan side. He's guy with a lot of skills who just seems to lack a few things to bring him up to the next level, such as struggling a bit in longer singles matches and even his gear and overall appearance need more fine-tuning. He would be a great candidate for an excursion in Japan for a while, and I wonder if the powers that be might be thinking the same thing. I guess we'll see.