AEW Forbidden Door 2023 Results and Review

People are falling over themselves regarding the Forbidden Door PPV, with some people calling it a perfect event. I’ve yet to see anyone jeer at it, and it’s interesting to see what is to come for me as I watch and review it. This is my take on the results and review of Forbidden Door from 2023!

MJF defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

MJF kept saying that he was going to roll through Tanahashi, and I was surprised that he couldn’t do i. Ok, I wasn’t surprised, but Tanahashi wouldn’t go down lightly. He took a beating a lot of the time though, and it was interesting to see MJF dissect the ACE for the most part. However, Tanahashi did get some offense in, but it wasn’t a simple open and shut case. Thanks to a distraction and a gold ring on the finger of MJF, the champion remained such with a win over Hiroshi Tanahashi. A good opening match, not great, but good overall if you ask me. Tanahashi had some good offense, but it was definitely MJF that shined here, as usual, the guy is a great heel.

Cm Punk defeated Satoshi Kojima

A solid chess match of pro wrestling overall. This was a brawl, a fight, and a wrestling match all thrown into one solid event. CM Punk was able to catch Kojima several times with lariats, and stop gaps, throwing in some interesting moves. This was a cerebral match, so there was focus on wearing down Kojima, relaxed and mental overall. Punk wrestling heel was good overall. Kojima turned things around at one point, and had Punk reeling several times. After some back and forth, it was Punk with the GTS that would put way Kojima in a hard fought battle.

Orange Cassidy defeated Daniel Garcia, Katsuyori Shibata, and Zack Sabre Jr. in the AEW International title

Orange Cassidy steals a victory in this one. There was a lot of back and forth, and a lot of wrestling, frenetically paced wrestling at that. Zack Sabre Jr. was impressive again, Garcia and Shibata threw down too, but it was Cassidy that was able to pull a victory. He pulled one out here, and it was an interesting match with a lot of great moments. I loved it, it was so entertaining, full of pure wrestling and reversals, great just great. I loved it, and it was the match of the night up to this point, and wow, just amazing fun match.

Sanada defeated Jack Perry

Sanada put on a clinic against Perry. Perry got a beat down, and while he did have a few moments, it was not the night for Perry to win. Senada put on one hell of a clinic in regards to some of his moves, and while Jack was able to counter here and there, it just wasn’t for him to get the victory, he needed something more punishing and Sanada just was too powerful. Quality wrestling match here, with a great deal of back and forth, until Sanada pinched in his submissions, and moves.

Post match Perry cheap shots Hook and leaves him laying on the floor.

The Elite (Adam Page, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson) and Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castanoli, Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta), Konosuke Takeshida and Shota Umino

An all out war of a match, with a lot of action. There was a little bit of wrestling for everyone, with brawling and all out moves left and right. You got something from everyone here, with superkicks, buckshot attempt, shooting star presses, ddts, and just a lot of brawling. The end came with an insane brain buster from Ishii to Wheeler Yuta. One hell of a match, fun overall, just fun overall. One of the best ten man tag matches you’re going to see, and it’s just a great match to see.

Toni Storm defeated Willow Nightingale in the AEW Women’s World Title Match

This was a fun match, with Nightingale getting a lot of action throughout. Storm did manage to bring things around, and there was some moments where you thought Nightingale was going to win this one, but nope, after a distracted ref and eye gauge, Storm pulled through with a nice piledriver, quick and easy, and boom, Storm wins the match. Nightingale was great here, but it was Storm that was a little smarter this time around.

Will Ospreay defeated Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Title

Will Ospreay put on a clinic with Kenny Omega. Omega did everything in his power to take control and at times he had it, it was stalemated. Then after time and time again Will Ospreay reversed things, and Omega was not able to win the bigger picture. He just couldn’t overcome the onslaught that Will Ospreay threw down. He got busted open, he got beaten, bruised, and just lost his belt. This was one hell of a battle, and it really just showcases amazing things.

Darby Allin, Sting, Tetsuya Naito defeated Minoru Suzuki, Chris Jericho, and Sammy Guevara

The weakest of the matches from the night. This was ok for the most part, but just OK overall. There was a lot of back and forth, brawling, and a sick 630 into a table on sting from Guevara! But outside of that, this was a bland matchup with not a lot to write home about. It was ok, at best if you ask me.

Bryan Danielson defeated Kazuchika Okada

If you were looking for a technical wrestling match, then you got it. These two men put on a clinic of what a technical wrestling match is all about. There were a variety of different moves, reversals, on going hits, and a great deal of transition overall. The match was hard hitting, technical, full of psychology and perhaps one of the best showcases of talent that you could expect from wrestling today. Okada tapped out to Danielson! One hell of a match, just amazing.

Overall Thoughts

Perhaps the best PPV show I’ve seen all year. This has been a good year for live events, and this was one of the best ones I’ve seen. Nearly 4 hours of the most impressive, and amazing shows. Danielson broke his arm in this match and still finished it. Much respect to him.

NJPW Dominion 2023 Results and Review

NJPW was live from Osaka, Japan and had an attendance of 7,040 people and was live on 6/4. I didn’t get to catch up with it until now, and wanted to review it because of course I’m a fan of pro wrestling and have time on my hands, so I wanted to drop in and say what’s up.

Will Ospreay defeated Lance Archer

I’ve seen Will Ospreay before but I don’t remember a lot of Lance Archer matches. This match was hard hitting, but it wasn’t without some interesting maneuvers throughout. There was a lot of slams, and flying around the ring from both men. Lance Archer is impressive as a big man that can fly. Ospreay is known for his high flying moves, and he did a few here, fast as lightning mind you. Even though Ospreay was smaller, he was able to hit Archer with some stellar moves. There were some nice near falls as Archer kept hitting big moves, but it was Ospreay that got the victory. A great opener, smart and cunning, good hits, great moves, fun overall.

Los Ingobernables de Japon defeated Just 5 Guys in an 8 Man Tag

There’s a lot of action to try and comprehend with this match. There were a mix of moves, fast paced action, and lots of back and forth. This broke down several times into a brawl at times, and the ref kept  having to get control over the match. Los ingobernables really put the boots to the 5 Guys, and I found them to be fascinating overall. This was a fun match, although hard to keep up with all the action moving forward. I liked it a lot, and definitely think it was a great display from 8 top guys on the NJPW roster.

Catch 22 (Francesco Akira and TJP) defeated Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight and Kushida)

A fast paced affair was had here, and it was fun to watch. Catch 22 were flying all over the ring, and outside of it to boot. The Jet Setters were good too, Kushida is impressive to me. He moves so fast, and Kevin Knight was good too, throwing down some great moves including one incredible drop kick with height. Catch 22 though was too much, and their team work is tandem, in stereo and just fun to watch. I haven’t seen a pair so in sync in a long time, and they definitely pushed things through to a fun match, even if it wasn’t too long.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jeff Cobb in the NJPW World Television Title Match

Jeff Cobb is a beast. He was able to throw around Zack Sabre Jr. throughout this match at various times. Zack had to fight from below, and really put on a technical showcase, which he did. He’s one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, and it showed here with a lot of reversals and submission moves. However, Cobb kept powering through many of the options, but even though he had the easier time in some moments, Zack Sabre Jr. was able to defeat him. Sabre did a move that ended in a crucifix for the pinfall victory, and it was really cool to see.

Bishamon defeated House of Torture, and United Empire in a three way tornado match for the IWGP Tag team / NJPW strong openweight tag team titles

There was a lot of frenetic action in this match. A three way tornado match basically means everyone is fighting all at once, and it was fun overall. This was more of a hard hitting, strong style match. There were some moves, brawling, and just overall harder hitting moments than the previous matches. I found this to be a little change of pace for the night, and just didn’t think it was that great. Yeah, it was ok, and there were moments that made me like it, but something was missing throughout, and perhaps it just was the change of pace. There were some good moves, and tandem wrestling at times too, but it was lacking a little. Bishamon won the match, and it wasn’t terrible, just different I guess.

David Finlay defeated El Phantasmo in the Never Openweight Title Match

Another strong match. Finlay and Phantasmo put each other through the ringer in this one. Solid back and forth action, with some nice lucha style elements at times, and some technical wrestling too. The two put their best foot forward in this match, and it was a fun battle to see unfold. It didn’t favor any one person, this was truly divided evenly, but Finlay had a little extra in the tank, with a solid performance. The announcers said it was dominant, but I didn’t think so, Phantasmo put up a good fight here.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Master Wato in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match

Fans of Takahashi will no doubt love the performance put on by the champion. He really did fly around the ring, and put a lot of action into effect. Takahashi seemed poised to get this one easily, but Wato did turn the tables a few times, and things looked tough for the champion. I haven’t seen a lot of Takahashi matches, so I was impressed with his speed and precision throughout the match. Wato put some work in here, especially some technical wrestling and submissions, which was interesting to see. Takahashi had to drop his opponent twice with the timebomb to win, and it was quite good. Great match!

Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii) and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated The Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Casstagnoli, Jon Moxley) and Shota Umino

This match had a good mix of modern wrestling, strong style, and Japanese wrestling as well. The Blackpool boys did well here, and they really shined against Chaos and Tanahashi. This was a back and forth battle, and somewhat slow at times. There were rest holds at times, and submission moves, but you’ll find that the hard hitting balance was there, making this a fun match to see. There was a lot of hard hits, and some quality moments, with Chaos and Tanahashi picking up the victory.

Sanada defeated Yota Tsuji in the IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match

The main event was featuring two guys I haven’t seen work before. The match was a solid Japanese style match, with a great deal of back and forth. There was a focus on submissions, rest holds, and the occasional high spot. Sanada was definitely impressive to me, he was technical, versus Tsuji that wasn’t as tech forward. I mean, I type that, and I recall some major top rope moves from both. A solid ender to a good event, with a lot of action to speak of, and not really sure how to top the pure wrestling stylings that NJPW brings forth.

Overall Thoughts

For the purist, this was great. I loved the majority of wrestling that was on this show, and it really did push things forward for the company. While I can appreciate wrestling in all forms, I found that the NJPW product has a little extra focus on the wrestling rather than stories, but then again, I don’t speak Japanese so maybe I’m just missing that aspect. Either way, this was a good night of wrestling and I recommend it to anyone that loves pro wrestling.

NJPW Strong Resurgence 5/21/2023 Results and Review

It was a busy weekend, with two GCW shows, an AIW show, and NJPW as well. I wanted to see it all, and review it of course, and well, I got lucky that I am able to do that. NJPW was live from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, and had a bunch of matches, including the tournament to crown a women’s champion. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, so it was interesting to see what I got here, and if you’re a fan, you probably don’t need anything I’m going to say, but alas, I don’t do it for everyone I do it for the two readers that come along with me for this pro wrestling journey.

El Barbaro Cavernario and Virus defeated TMDK (Bad Dude Tito and Zack Sabre Jr.)

I’ve been a huge Zack Sabre fan ever since I saw him take on Okada in one hell of a championship match. It was good to see him in this tag match, and the two teams had some great back and forth. There wasn’t anything too crazy to write home about, but the back and forth action was good, with a mix of technical wrestling and lucha style. This was very much a good, fast paced opener, even though there was some slow down here and there to setup some tag team moves. A solid opener for sure, fun stuff to introduce you to NJPW. I gotta admit that the ending was a little lackluster, but overall, a fun match with some nice moments, but yeah not a great ending moment with a submission, oh well.

Mercedes Mone defeated Stephanie Vaquer

So here we go, the first match of the tournament for the women’s title. Mercedes is whom I wanted to win, and whom I figured would get the upper hand, as I was a fan of her WWE work especially when she was tearing up arenas in NXT. I hadn’t heard of Stephanie Vaquer so I couldn’t comment on her, but this match was definitely worthy of checking out overall. There was some great back and forth here, I loved the intensity from both women. Mone is a little different in NJPW than in WWE and it shows. I liked that, I liked the way she pushed through a bunch of moves, and Vaquer is no slouch either, mixing lucha and modern wrestling styles overall. I liked it a lot, and feel that this was a good opening tournament matchup. Good stuff, with Mone getting the big win moving forward. I miss Money in WWE, or rather I miss the NXT version where she had more time to display action like she did with this match. Roughly 12 minutes, and not a moment wasted, good stuff.

Willow Nightingale defeated Momo Kohgo

I have never heard of either one of these wrestlers, but was impressed with the overall match. Momo was the lighter one here and Willow put on a great show with power moves. The lighter wrestler was throwing a ton of moves at the larger one, and it was a good back and forth matchup. I was impressed with the pacing, and the move set of each woman, including a 619 at one point that I marked out for! Momo was excellent here, and Willow’s power moves made it interesting too, which made me like this match a lot. A good job reeling me in by both women here. The crowd got into it, and I was all for it, great match in the tournament with Willow getting the win.

Juice Robinson defeated Fred Rosser in a Street Fight

I love a good street fight, and I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this. I’ve heard of Juice Robinson before but I never heard of Fred Rosser. Apparently the two were feuding or something and they were led into a street fight to settle their differences. A hardcore match, but not a death match mind you, this was a good showing for the two wrestlers. Both wrestlers had their turn beating up the other, and it was fun overall. There was a belt introduced at one point and it looked painful as all hell. The two fought outside in the aisle at one point, and then would break a couple of doors overall. This was good. It reminded me of a hardcore match from the ECW days or even some of the better WWF matches. The crowd was into this, I was into this, and the two put each other through the ringer to get this going. There was a lot of hard hits, kendo sticks, a stop sign, chairs, doors, and just hard hitting moments. This was a good street fight, and in the end, Juice Robinson got the victory, but it wasn’t without a war of a match. Fun stuff here, a good one has been had.

Kenta defeated Hikuleo in the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Match

I’m tempted to say that Kenta couldn’t hack it in NXT but it wasn’t that. What happened was he got injured, and the WWE didn’t do a whole lot to help his cause. Anywhere else, he’s good, and it shows. Kenta was on the offensive at first here, but he didn’t back down, getting some fight back against Hikuleo. Hikuleo is huge, mind you, he’s bigger than Kenta and he was dominant at first, with some hard hits on Kenta, getting the crowd to woah a great deal. It was mostly Hikuleo until Kenta dropped the big guy off the stairs and through a table! Quite the bump, and that would get Kenta the win, as he beat the 20 count, and that’s that. I disappointed with the ending, but meh, Kenta wins the title with a count out. Hey, it’s their rules.

The Blackpool Combat Club and Shota Umino defeated CHAOS

A six man tag match, with some interesting back and forth. As far as six man tag matches are concerned, this wasn’t too bad. I liked the back and forth, good overall fighting, and some nice submission holds. This was like a clinic in Japanese style modern wrestling as there was a lot of action. There were some moments where if you blinked, you missed it. I was impressed throughout, the pacing was fast, there was some back and forth and the crowd was into it, making this a fun match to watch. Everyone got a bit of their offense in, so it was frenetic at times, but it would be the Blackpool Combat Club that would get the upper hand after a sick DDT called the Death Rider, or writer, I don’t know it was sick and it was all she wrote for CHAOS.

Will Ospreay defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in the number 1 contenders’ tournament match

Back to the singles competitors, I knew these two going into the match, and always love to see them work. Tanahashi and Ospreay were on another level here, with a lot of back and forth, speed, and overall crowd interaction. These two took their time, built a solid match, and was fun to watch. It was a mix of modern and even a little lucha, with a lot of action between. Ospreay with his finisher and a huge lariat, sheesh, the ending sequence was great. Ospreay definitely put Tanahashi through the matt at one point, and I loved it. Great match here, and roughly 16 minutes, but it was good. Back and forth, but Will Ospreay getting the win. He’s really good, I hope he continues to rise up. Tanahashi is no slouch, mind you, but it wasn’t his night that’s for sure.

Willow Nightingale defeated Mercedes Mone for the NJPW Strong Women’s Title

Before this night, I wasn’t familiar with Willow’s work, and through this match and the first match, I was impressed overall. She’s a hard hitting, really good wrestler, and Mone just couldn’t last. Don’t get me wrong, Mone had some good moments here, and she was definitely throwing around some counters, but it was Willow that seemed to get the upper hand. I was impressed. Mone took a beating, Willow showed up to the main stage, and this was one of the best women’s matches I’ve seen in a long time. Loved it, and recommend it.

Overall Thoughts

I heard that Mone broke her ankle during the main event. That sucks overall, but other than that note, this was a good night of wrestling. You didn’t need a lot of hype packages, and you didn’t need to get a lot of story to enjoy the wrestling. I found the wrestling to be hardcore at times, and something for everyone. There was lucha style, Japanese strong style, modern style, and even a little martial arts and mma for that matter. The main event delivered in spades, and I liked this whole 4 hour some odd venture from NJPW. The crowd was into it, the matches delivered, and Money is money! Willow too!