AEW Dynamite 6/21/23 Results and Review

Another Dynamite comes through from Chicago and the crowd was wild for the opening, and throughout. Let’s see how it all went down and my thoughts on the matter.

The Gunns defeated The Hardys

A fun fast paced tag team match. The Gunns were getting rocked a great deal at one point, and there was a lot of fighting to be had. The Hardys threw down a great deal of offense, and it was a fun time, with the crowd all over it. The end came with Bullet Club Gold interfering and ended up getting beat down by the crew, and after a 3:10 to Yuma, the Hardys were put down. After the match they got beat down until Ricky Starks came threw and he got beat down too. Out came FTR as well and there was a wild brawl. Fun stuff to begin Dynamite.

Mark Briscoe defeated Jeff Jarrett in a concession stand brawl

What a wild match! It started in the concession stands and went down to the ring, and it was a lot of fun. Jarrett can still go! Wow, this was a highlight for me, a great deal of brawling, some good wrestling, and just a fun time with the crowd going absolutely nuts. Jarrett would get his friends to run in but they couldn’t finish off Briscoe as he had his own friends come through and help. Briscoe would get the win, and eventually would roll up Jarrett and what a nice matchup. Great overall fun match, check it out.

Minoru Suzuki and The Jericho Appreciation Society defeated Action Andretti, AR Fox, and Darius Martin

A solid six man match. A lot of back and forth happened here, with every guy getting some time to shine. Suzuki is awesome, and was great to see him in this match. He is just strong and bold, loved it. This was a good overall modern style wrestling match with frenetic pacing toward the end. The Lion Tamer came out at one point, and was just a great thing to see, a great matchup with a lot of fun back and forth, I liked it a lot.

Adam Cole called out MJF and he obliged! He came down to the ring to talk with Cole. They were interrupted and were informed that they would have to team up! They would be a tag team for the upcoming tournament to see who would win a shot at the AEW tag titles.

Daniel Garcia and Zack Sabre Jr defeated Katsuyori Shibata and Orange Cassidy

Slow and steady this match wasn’t much to write home about at first glance. However, there were some nice moments between Zack Sabre Jr and Orange Cassidy to be specific. Garcia was great too, and this was a harder hitting match than I had originally expected. If you were expecting a frenetic pace, you didn’t get it here. It was more methodical than anything, and it was a fun match overall. Zack Sabre Jr is my favorite wrestler right now, just impressive to say the least.

Kris Statlander defeated Taya Valkyrie in the AEW TBS Title Match

Taya did a lot of the damage in this match, it was slow and methodical. However, Statlander did manage to reverse some elements, and eventually got the Tombstone piledriver, and got the win. It was a test, however, Statlander stood tall overall, which was a lot of fun.

Overall Thoughts

A great deal of wrestling was found on this show, and I didn’t dislike any of it. I was impressed with how packed the show was, and how much fun I had with it. I loved it overall, and will be watching Rampage, Collision, and Forbidden Door. So much good stuff is coming from AEW.

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.

AEW Rampage 6/2/23 Results and Review

This is the first time I’m reviewing AEW, so that’s something to consider. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly was an interesting night. Let’s see what happened overall, and review the results.

El Hijo Del Vikingo defeated Dralistico, and Komander in the AAA Mega Title 3 Way Match

If you’re a fan of lucha libre, then you’re going to love this match. I loved it, I’m a big fan of lucha style, and these 3 threw down some amazing moments. They threw around some flying moves, and it was fun to see each one respond, and reverse some of the moves. This is the second match I’ve seen from Vikingo and it was incredible, he is truly one of the best in the business. This was an absolute stunner to open AEW Rampage, wow.

Backstage we got an interview with Jeff Jarrett and his crew. Mark Briscoe came out at one point, and argued with Jay Lethal. Aubrey Edwards came out too, and started choking Karen Jarrett! Fun little interview segment.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Action Andretti in the NJPW World Television Title Match

Zack Sabre Jr. is slowly becoming one of my favorite wrestlers. He has a way of putting together some amazing technical moments, it’s just fun. He can control a lot of the match from a wrist lock to a power move, and it was up front in this match. Andretti, I’ve never seen before, and he tried to quicken the pace of the match, but Zack Sabre Jr. kept reversing things.

Willow Nightingale defeated Emi Sakura in the NJPW Strong Women’s Title Match

A solid back and forth affair occurred here. Willow showed off her strength, and Emi was quick and hit a lot of chops, and slaps. The chops were loud, and the crowd was into this one. I was impressed by Emi here, as she wasn’t just letting the champ run her over. That’s not to say that Willow didn’t mount some offense, she threw down some interesting moments, and this match was very fun to watch.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Lee Moriarty in the ROH Pure Title Match

I’ve never seen a ROH pure title match, but this was interesting. There’s a lot of rules that need to be followed to go forward with this one, and it was interesting to see a pure wrestling match. These guys just did pure wrestling, with a bit of back and forth throughout. I thought that the match was good overall. Shibata won this fight, because it was a great  one, and wow, what a win.

Overall Thoughts

AEW once again delivers a wrestling only program, and this time all title matches. I was impressed with the flow, and the work from each competitor. I didn’t find anything really wrong with tonight, and really loved to watch the matches. This was a great hour of programming, and really was pure wrestling with little filler, and no major story line continuation, with the exception of the small interview segment that pushed another story. Other than that, this was a great show, and fun night of wrestling, I loved it.

GCW Lifestyle 2023 Results and Review

Finally catching up with GCW Lifestyle, which aired live from Las Vegas. It had a somewhat raucous crowd, and it started fast. There were already people in the ring at the time of the show beginning, and away we go with the action and my thoughts on it. This event happened on 5/26/23 and it was from the Silver Nugget Casino.

Alec Price defeated Billie Starkz, Damian Drake, Jimmy Lloyd, Matt Vandergriff, and Sam Stackhouse in a Six way scramble match

From what I gathered, this was a match where anyone can be in the ring at any time, and the majority of the back and forth was one on one with different talent in the ring fighting. That being said, this was fun, with a lot of brawling, and some great moves overall. Sam Stackhouse stood out to me as a huge wrestler, and Billie Starkz was rad with her move set. The rest were good too, and everyone had turns with their specific offense, making this a fun romp under 10 minutes. Alec Price got the pinfall victory with what looked like a mule kick off of someone’s knee. They called it a surprise kick, good stuff for sure.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jordan Oliver

I’m a fan of Zack Sabre Jr. as he’s one of the most complete technical wrestlers I’ve seen. He faced off against Jordan Oliver, whom I’ve seen in MLW before. Oliver surprised me with his offense against Zack Sabre Jr. I was astonished that Zack didn’t just bulldoze Oliver in this one. Of course, I would type something like that and recall Zack focusing on Oliver’s shoulder and arm with some stellar technical wrestling. Despite some great offense from Oliver, it was Zack Sabre that pulled this one out with one hell of a submission, with an armbar backwards that jus pretzeled Oliver. Great back and forth, and another Zack Sabre Jr. win.

Maki Itoh defeated Sandra Moone

Maki Itoh impresses me again. Sandra Moone is no slouch, but Itoh is just so fun to watch. Moone put up a good battle against a fast Itoh. The crowd was firmly behind Maki Itoh, and it was interesting to hear them riled up. Moone hit some nice offense, and Itoh would get her shots in, including an interesting falling headbutt that I marked out for. Maki Itoh gets the win here, but not without having to take on some Sandra Moone’s offense. A good women’s match for sure.

After the match Itoh got beat up by Steph De Lander and Matt Cardona, until out came Nick Gage. This is going to lead to a match, I’m sure. It just hasn’t happened.

Joey Janela and Sawyer Wreck defeated Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander in a tag team match

With mixed tag matches you often don’t see the men fighting women, but not the case here. They are all fair game, and it’s not half bad. Janela and Wreck started this one fast, hitting a lot of chops, and good offense overall. The tables would turn a bit, though, and things would be tough for both teams. Cardona and De Lander had some serious heat, and the two had a good amount of offense. De Lander speared Janela through a door at one point, which was rad! Another door was set up, and the two teams fought to stay from getting through it, but out came Maki Itoh and Nick Gage and helped Wreck and Janela, which let Sawyer Wreck chokeslam Matt Cardona threw a door! Then she picked up the pinfall victory, which was fun to see. Fun match!

Blake Christian defeated Dark Sheik

I’ve never seen Dark Sheik but wow, what a performer. She really put on a show against Christian. Blake was able to thwart some of her offense, but it wasn’t easy. Some good back and forth offense was found in this one, and I found it to be fun overall. Sheik’s top rope spinning heel kick was rad, as well as some of her other offense. Christian’s reversals, and moves were cool too, but he didn’t have an easy time with this match. Blake would hit a curb stomp and then choked out Dark Sheik, and that was that. Good match, fun stuff, about 17 minutes of action, fun!

Bussy and Mance Warner defeated Los Macizos and John Wayne Murdoch, Jack Cartwheel, Starboy Charlie and Titus Alexander in a six man tag team three way match

I admit, I was falling asleep at my desk when watching this one. It’s not a terrible match, but it’s overbooked so it can be rough around he edges. Everyone should get a Mancer t-shirt. In the end, it felt like a fast one, and it had some good innovative offense, lucha style,  and modern style mixed. An ok match overall.

El Hijo del Vikingo defeated Gringo Loco, and Komander

The trio here put on an amazing display of lucha libre. This was a purely lucha libre match with everything out the window Each person threw down some amazing moves, and it was incredible to see the wrestling style that each one had. At one point , even though they were high flying, Vikingo ran Komander through a door. Vikingo would hit a 630, I kid you not, a 630, on Gringo Loco for the win. I was impressed, you should be too.

Rina Yamashita defeated Cole Radrick in the GCW Ultraviolent Title Match

Fans of death match wrestling will enjoy this one. This was a back and forth hardcore match with light tubes, doors, glass windows, chairs, and brawling to boot. This was steady, paced well, and had a lot of blood for those that like that. Modern wrestling fans may not be big on this one, as it is brutal to say the least, but if you’re a fan of hardcore wrestling and independent wrestling too, this is a good match to check out. There were some nice moves, and action, so it wasn’t just punch kick, fun match to end the night.

Overall Thoughts

I love GCW and am looking forward to seeing them in person. Until then, I have to watch them on FITE and I suggest everyone get a subscription to it. This was a lot of fun, good pacing, fast matches, slow matches, and some hardcore action too. I definitely recommend this one, so check it out on FITE and see GCW wherever they go, they put on fun times.