Merman Masakazu vs Aesop, Health Pro 10/5
Two somewhat lumpy old men, hitting the mat and displaying their love for pro wrestling. The match felt like a love letter to 80s NJPW type wrestling. Masakazu is a really cool Inoki worshipper. He looks older than dirt but he will give his all. Aesop also looked like quite the nifty technical wrestler, and he had a great discus punch. Mat work was really fun here with both guys rocking the figure 4 necklock, multiple stump pullers, really cinching armbars and finding cool ways out of holds. Most importantly everything felt spontaneous. There were no overly set up spots, instead Aesop would just rush over and blast Masakazu in the face with a jumping dropkick. Epic feeling finish too with both guys trying to blast each other with jumping kicks. In a way, guys like these two understand the heart and soul of pro wrestling better than most, even if they are limited by age.
Hechicero vs Bandido, RoH 8/29/2025
Long modern style epics aren't exactly my cup of tea, but this was better than most of that style. A lot of that is due to their skillset which is way better than what your typical thighslappers have to offer. Hechicero is a credible badass grappler/powerhouse, and Bandido I buy as a superhero type. So there was a ton of enjoyable action here, mostly Hechiceros excellent submission work and some high level athletic spots. The drawback was that as typical the match went way longer than it needed to and eventually it stopped feeling like a competitive match and more like a loosely strung together sequence of cool moves and spots. Don't get me wrong they were some immensely cool moves and some huge spots and bumps, but the 15th cool spot in a 35 minute match eventually just doesn't hit very hard anymore, especially since there was little consequence to what was going on. Arm work, legwork, a huge slam on the guardrail, didn't matter, Bandido kept coming back in the same way. It very much felt like they were just shoeing as much different stuff as they knew. I don't need every match to have a loser focus on a singular story but there wasn't really much of anything to focus on here besides 'wow look at what these guys can do'. Not even something basic like a power vs speed aspect because Bandido just gorilla pressed Hechicero. In a way this stuff is the counterpart to the Masakazu/Aesop match discussed above: way higher in athletic prowres, variety, even ideas, but the soul was lacking.
Shinji Kamakura vs Blankey Maho, Kobe Meriken 11/7
Blankey Maho has come back from Mexico, and she starts this by showing off some cool lucha armdrags! Nevermind that, because this match soon turns into a WAR style match with both of them hitting each other insanely hard. Still, it's fun to watch a wrestler developing new skills. Maho still has some of the best kicks around. I especially love her thrust kick. It's an actual thrust kick, not a half baked superkick, and she nails Kamakura right in the throat with it. Kamakuras skillset is very basic at this point, but he's fun, and everything he hits he seems to nail with 100% force. Nothing deep her just two talented wrestlers cracking each other hard for 8 minutes and that is very respectable.
Seri Yamaoka vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Marigold 10/26
Well.... this match up is a real no brainer. You have two amaresu freaks in colorful singlets in a match, and they deliver pretty much the kind of match you expect. Mostly Hashimoto putting Yamaoka through the wringer, and Yamaoka having to work hard to even do minimal damage to Hash. The rank difference is well integrated and there is some cool grappling and a few neat moments. Nice to see this kind of Alexander Otsuka/Tamon Hondaesque match in 2025 and the finish was very much Tamon Honda flavoured. Not blowaway great - Seri is still getting there - but a cool little match.
Keita Yano vs Zack Sabre, Jr. Tenryu Project 11/4 - GREAT
Yano takes on the former IWGP champion! Okay, it's crazy that ZSJ is that. They do mostly smooth World of Sport style grappling here. It's probably the best of that kind of stuff you'll see in 2025. Nothing mindblowing if you've seen your fair share of that thing but it was fun, and Yano being such a cult hero taking on a star adds a lot. I found myself hoping Yano would just shoot headbutt Zack in the face or something, though. I would actually look forward to seeing them rematch because I thought there was still plenty on the table here.
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