Josh Barnett vs Claudio Castagnoli, AEW 10/1/2023
The grappling here was about 5 thousand times better than anything in
Bryan/ZSJ because both guys actually struggled. Claudio does not have
perfect technique, but him trying to put submissions on Barnett was
pretty fun. Barnett is probably the best wrestler in the world simply
for being smart enough to put his arm up and block when Claudio went to
elbow him. Both guys threw some great looking strikes when standing up
and everything continued to feel like a struggle. Claudio giant swing
felt satisfying because there was a build to it and it didn't come out
in a predictable manner. I like that Dean pointed out the defensive way
in which Barnett took Claudios finisher, and the finish was neat. Cool
little match, which actually felt close to a tribute to Inoki, if you
see it as Barnett carrying a random gaijin in a weird IGF match.
Atlantis, Blue Panther, El Pantera, Negro Navarro, Panterita del Ring
& Rocky Santana vs. Aguila Solitaria, Black Terry, El Satanico,
Felino, Octagon & Solar I, CMLL 9/22/2023
I'll admit there's some nostalgia involved in me enjoying this, but
screw it. It's too much fun seeing all these crusty old guys show up in
their working boots and being way too proud to not bring up. Lots of
good exchanges, nearly everybody brings it, and the match had
everything, matwork, some brawling, and the crazy factor of some old
guys doing dives and flying off the top. Santana/Panterita was a quite
nifty mat section for such a random pairing, and Navarro/Solar was maybe
a bit slower than 10 years ago but still pretty cool to see these guys
showing they are a class above while surrounded by these other legends.
Pantera was ballsy here doing a flip dive and taking a crazy powerbomb.
We also get Black Terry punching and sometimes headbutting people in the
face. Santana was the one guy who kinda lost the plot at one point but
it was funny how he just gave up and tapped out. I think Satanicos like
75 but he still has some menace when he starts beating the shit out of
someone in the corner. Octagon is the one guy who kind of half asses it,
but the finish is really neat. Crowd reactions for this were
tremendous.
Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage, AEW 8/19
Very good TV match. I'm not sure what to make of Allins tendency to
start with chain wrestling. It doesn't seem to fit the character, but
it's well executed. I'm going to assume he is in his mellow post punk
phase and thus experimenting. Christian was very good. His deliberate
control segment focussing on the arm was great. The hammerlock slam to
start the segment was nasty and cool. I agree about the subtle greatness
of Christians stomps and punches, and the way he carries himself as a
heel not doing anything fancy and just focussing on being an asshole.
Allin is a good white meat babyface and all his comebacks were good. I
liked when he used Christians goofy turtleneck sweater against him. They
did the same nasty neckbreaker on the ropes spot they did in the
October match, but in this case it didn't lead to Darby doing anything
annoying, instead he just took a nasty slam into the guardrail. Darbys
tendency to go for crazy daredevil moves backfiring on him with the
interference was smart. The build to the finish was well done and the
actual ending made sense with how much damage Darby had taken. Christian
looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world simply by having
focus, understanding his role, throwing a decent punch and not doing
anything stupid. Some parts of the match where a bit overdone/convoluted
(e.g. Darby doing a whole bunch of stuff really fast during his first
comeback attempt) which leads to things being less memorable, but that's
2023 wrestling for ya.
Virus vs. Dulce Gardenia, CMLL 1/13
This was tremendous. We got plenty of the usual high level Virus
grappling, plus this match had a tremendous story and a unique dance
partner in Dulce. The exotico spots early on were a lot of fun, it's
really cool to see someone use his gimmick to try and gain an advantage
like that without interrupting the wrestling. Virus made sure to punish
his opponent with some super nasty looking leg and arm snapping moves.
Dulce made a comeback in the second fall, but it was not an easy win for
him. 3rd fall was pretty epic. Dulce trying to psych out Virus with the
kiss of death was really great. Virus in turn wrenching Dulces wrist
and bitch slapping him was awesome. The combination of wrestling and big
bumps was great. Obviously the armdrag bump was a highlight but I also
thought Dulce getting flung outside when he tried the frankensteiner was
pretty crazy. Virus doing stuff at this like 54 is pretty insane. I
thought this would stand pretty well to almost any singles match in the
last 20 or so years.
No comments:
Post a Comment