Blue Panther vs Ultimo Guerrero, CMLL 8/8/2025
Blue Panther does it all, even at the age of 64. Flying headscissors, dives, bumps on the floor, even a big dragonsteiner off the top! Age is just a number and there's no limit, at least when you're a GOAT level luchador like Mr. Panther. This was really well laid out and a super fun big arena match, just for the insanity of seeing Panther doing all this stuff. There's mask ripping and some mean boots from Ultimo, but he mostly stooges for Panther. It was a bit slow and the finish cheap, but just a boatload of fun here.
Kazusada Higuchi vs HARASHIMA, DDT 7/13
HARASHIMA has been one of the more reliable Japanese big match workers for a long time now. He's 51 years old, which surprised me honestly, putting him at the age range of some of the Mutoha regulars, and here he is still, doing the same thing he has been doing for nearly 20 years now. And this was very much a Japanese big match with all that usually entails. Slow pace, with some limb work that really only serves a perfunctory purpose, and then a bit of cool stuff at the end. For that it was well executed and, but my heart longed for a bit more. The match was also plagued by 'lets stand in front of each other and patiently wait for the other guy to hit back' syndrome which has to be the biggest cancer in modern wrestling. Higuchi seems cool, but being slotted in this kind of formulaic match doesn't allow for a ton of spontaneity. By all means he should be a Tenryu type who fucks shit up and turns things upside down, being big, cool looking and an ex sumo, but it doesn't quite happen. The iron claw is ridiculously fun and I would've been fully on board for them working a match around an iron claw but it didn't play a big role in the match. There are some violent strikes at the end and it rounds up to being a fun match overall though largely feels like something you've seen a 100 times before.
Zandokan Jr vs Judas el Traidor, Lucha Memes 7/19
Here's your lucha brawl of the year. The crowd is solidly behind Judas the Traitor. There's blood, mask ripping, both guys smashing stuff on each others heads, and they never really slow down. And some blood drenched shoot headbutts for good measure. Could've been a bit deeper, as there wasn't a ton of flavor besides Zandokan putting his pirate flag over Judas head and kicking him in the face. That was cool. And the finish is totally fucked up and gnarly. But those shoot headbutts put it over the top for me. More than anything, the match had soul. And blood. Lots of it. What more can you ask for?
Act & Mari vs Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 8/13
Really enjoyed the previous months big tag involving Act & Mari, so this is another great upload. What do ya know, this was really good too! The... act of Act and Mari is clearly one of the coolest things around since they know just the right balance being a pair of badass heels and also throwing out lots of cool kicks. I've never seen Saihara and Fukunaga before, but they are clearly a pair of pretty solid talents. They don't try to be overly flashy which I think is great, they are just really straight forward and solid with their kicks and submissions. They may need a bit more polish but Saiharas German Suplex may have been one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, so yeah Saihara and Fukunaga get a lot right. This is intense from the get go and it felt like everyone was going for the kill constantly, all killer no filler. Saihara and Fukunaga seemed outgunned at first and hanging on for survival, but by the end the tide had turned and Mari was getting destroyed. Thought it was remarkable that they cut such a sharp pace with no obvious filler work, and there were a few moments of cool struggle, the struggle over Saiharas German Suplex or even just catching a random kick at a critical moment certainly felt like a big deal and memorable. Act takes a bit of back seat to the more energetic Mari but I thought all of her involvements were well done, I really enjoyed that spinning front headlock that she angrily threw Fukunaga around with. Mari is clearly really good too, she has the badass vibe of a quicker Akitoshi Saito or Kengo Kimura, she brings both a unique flavor with the cool jumping kicks and also some character. So yeah, fast pace, intense, no nonsense action, heated, doesn't insult your intelligence, this was another really good match from AWG!
Mio Momono & Senka Akatsuki vs MIRAI & Kizuna Tanaka, Marvelous 7/13
Mio Momono is back, and she's got that little pitbull Senka on her side! It's a pretty fun match, and as always they make Senka look unstoppable. Plus you have the aspect of Senka helping out Mio which is always fun. The opening of this gave me bigger hopes than the match could end up delivering on as it turns into a Momono tour de force with endless kick outs. Momono may have great energy, but she really doesn't like selling. There is some good armwork by MIRAI and Tanaka that ends up being completely pointless. Eventually we do get the extended finishing stretch centered around Mio, with her basically taking on both opponents for like 15 minutes straight and not even tagging out to Senka again. Mio survives both opponents, and even wins the match. MIRAI and Tanaka seemed okay as workers but about as generic as they come so there wasn't a ton for me to get into here. Mios offense is fun but when it comes to violent headbutts and double stomps Sareee kind of has the market cornered. Match needed more of Senka.
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