Johnny Saint vs. Dave "Fit" Finlay (04/09/1988, All Star Wrestling): There's probably better matches to serve as an introduction to British wrestling, but I wouldn't know of any. It's a bit jarring to see a match broken up into 3-minute rounds with the winner decided by a 2-out-of-3 falls decision and that there also additional rules/warnings around disqualifications and penalties. Even with these differences (and how they play into the psychology and flow of the match), the basic story isn't vastly different than what you might get in a typical 2-out-of-3 falls match with the heel gaining the early advantage, the face making a comeback to tie things up, and both guys slowly bending the rules and sneaking in some "cheap shots" to gain the advantage. I really liked the finish of this match too as it actually makes getting tossed to the hardwood floor outside the ring as painful and potentially injury-inducing as it really is, the kind of thing that most wrestling fans take for granted but actually should be played up more. (2.5/5)
Dave "Fit" Finlay and Ricky Moran vs. Ross Hart and Owen Hart (03/31/1984, Joint Promotions): Another match from the UK's World of Sport series, this one features an 18-year old Owen Hart and a 24 year old non-mustached Finlay. Not too much to say about this one beyond it being a decent showing of technical wrestling and grappling with Finlay getting the clean win with his fireman's carry senton slam after 10 minutes or so. Even as a curio to see a very young Owen Hart, this doesn't offer much to maintain one's attention or make you think that Owen was destined to be considered one of the best in-ring workers in the WWE in the 90s. (2/5)
Kota Ibushi and Naomichi Marufuji vs. Mark Briscoe and Jay Briscoe (01/07/2007, NOAH): A hellacious tag team match with the Briscoes looking particularly strong here. I was expecting maybe a touch more "dazzle" out of Ibushi, though even when he's giving a more "restrained" performance or has to share the spotlight in a tag match, he still delivers all sorts of crazy moves and sequences. Some really good nearfalls towards the end. The match seems a bit slow at first and the crowd almost seems unfamliar with the Briscoes or at least not too impressed until they start busting out the bigger spots and tandem offense. As someone who hadn't seen all that much of the Briscoes' work before Mark became a fixture in AEW, it's funny to see that he already had some goofiness and volume to his work. Good stuff. (3/5)
Yumiko Hotta vs. Plum Mariko (07/31/1993, JWP): Watching this match, I didn't realize that Plum Mariko was legitimately concussed for parts of it, though I absolutely should've: Yumiko Hotta's ridiculously stiff kicks to Mariko's face were gasp-inducing. On the other hand, Mariko somehow manages to continue working through a 10+ minute match instead of just collapsing (which shows how incredibly tough she was). Reading up on Mariko and learning that she eventually died in the ring from a Liger Bomb by Mayumi Ozaki and I can understand why this match - and others of its ilk - have such a troubling reputation. Its hard to rate something like this because of the difficulty in separating what we are watching on our screen as entertainment and the real-life consequences of a style that emphasized people kicking, punching, and slamming each other with maximum force. That being said, if Mariko survives the way Aja, Hokuto, and Manami Toyota did, a match like this would probably be more easily revered and not reviled. (2.5/5)
La Parka Jr., Mistico, Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. John Morrison, Pentagon Jr., and Judas Mesias (06/14/2015, AAA): I do not remember Rey Mysterio Jr. leaving the WWE in 2014 and, aside from an appearance The Greatest Royal Rumble, not returning to the WWE as a regular performer for 4 years. I had vague recollections of Rey doing some Lucha Underground but I always thought that was just a few matches here or there. Anyway, it did happen and during that time, Mysterio shared the ring with a real Who's Who of top talent in Mexico and the US - including Mistico (wrestling as Myzteziz in this match), future AEW and WWE stars Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix, The Young Bucks, Ricochet (wrestling as Prince Puma), Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay...the list goes on. Anyway, this match happened fairly early in Rey's "indie run" and features El Mesias (who wrestled as Judas Mesias in TNA), La Parka (but not the real La Parka that most of us know and love from WCW), and John Morrison wrestling as "Johnny Mundo." It also features Arnold Schwarzeneggar introducing Rey Mysterio to cross-promote the failed (but, in my opinion, underappreciated/underrated) Terminator: Genisys and Rey rocking some Terminator-inspired gear and facepaint. When we finally get through all the intros and some stalling to start, the action is pretty good and I actually thought La Parka's work in the middle of the match was maybe the most entertaining 1-2 minutes of the whole thing. Its also fun to Morrison in a "All American Pretty Boy" gimmick, not exactly a super innovative or original character but one that he clearly was having fun doing and that he was comfortable and confident doing too (in comparison to some of his WWE runs in which I'm not sure he ever looked 100% confident with his stature in the company). I'm not surprised this doesn't have any reviews on Cagematch because this plays very much like a fun "house show" main event. Watchable but not particularly memorable. (2.5/5)
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Roderick Strong (07/25/2008, ROH): As good as the action is in this match, I never felt "pulled in" or invested emotionally and, in a nutshell, that's why I'm hesitant to consider Roderick Strong for my Greatest Wrestler Ever ballot. In terms of in-ring skill, moveset, agility, and execution, Strong is one of the best workers of his generation. In the right contexts, he can be very, very entertaining (I really liked his role in the Better Than You Bay Bay storyline from AEW a few years back and have loved his on-screen interactions with Marina Shafir this year), but as someone who was never immersed in Ring of Honor (let alone NOAH), this match does not come across as the sort of "Dream Match" that maybe some fans regarded it as at the time? To me, this is just two excellent wrestlers with deep bags of cool moves pulling out every nifty counter and sequence they knew and going wild for nearly 20 minutes. It's incredibly impressive, sure, and there is something to be said for two guys of very different backgrounds essentially "speaking" through pro-wrestling, but in terms of emotion or story, this had little to say beyond the athleticism on display. (3/5)
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (01/15/1991, AJPW): Taue gets busted open early on in a match that doesn't go all that long but packs in plenty of nasty offense - kicks to the face, forearms and palm thrusts, a knee-first slam on the table by Taue, etc. - and some really good character work to get over the fact that these two guys hate each other. I wasn't a massive fan of the finish, but I could see the argument that part of that is because a full-force clothesline to the back of the head (the Axe Bomber) is not an established or credible finish in the US, but was a "death blow" in Japan. (3.5/5)
Yumiko Hotta vs. Mitsuko Nishiwaki (06/17/1990, AJW): This match didn't leave much of an impression on me. I was also surprised to learn that this match was part of a 1-night tournament and was Hotta's second bout because she holds nothing back in this. Hotta's whole deal seems to be that she can deliver the most brutal kicks of any woman - or man? - on Earth and we get a ton of those here, but Nishiwaki is no slouch and there are some good nearfalls towards the end that make it seem like it could be anyone's match despite Hotta's early control. Another example of how polarizing Hotta can be because, as nasty as her offense looks, it's questionable how much of it was "pro wrestling" and how much of it was legitimately dangerous and unprofessional. (2.5/5)
Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland (03/08/2019, DEFY): The DEFY promotion is based out of the Pacific Northwest, started in the late 2010s (2017 according to Cagematch) and still running today. This match was Swerve's "send off" before he (somewhat briefly) went to NXT, but because this isn't ECW in the mid-90s, the crowd is actually really happy for the guy and not booing him for "selling out." His opponent on this night is longtime rival Darby Allin so, as one might imagine, this match goes from delivering some good wrestling in the beginning to some incredible high spots and hardcore craziness as it progresses, including Darby hitting a chair-assisted Coffin Drop, Swerve taping Darby to a chair so he can hit him with a Swerve Stomp, and then thumbtacks for good measure. I could see some people not liking how far they push things or that they cram so much into the 20-minute runtime that none of it really "sticks," but this was a match designed to be an emotional "thank you" from Swerve to the fans that not-so-subtly gave him one last opportunity to put on the kind of match that the WWE would likely never allow him to do again. A damn good match. (3.5/5)
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP): Nagayo's bizarre MegaMan/Ancient Rome pre-match get-up earns this match a point before it even starts because it is bonkers. Ozaki struck first with a jumping DDT and then a splash to the floor. Ozaki pulled Nagayo through the crowd and hit her with part of the guardrail! She grabbed a nearby screwdriver and, though its impossible to see due to poor lighting and the crowd, opens Nagayo's forehead with it. Back in the ring, Ozaki grabs the mic. An angry Nagayo marches back into the ring, blood trickling from her forehead. Ozaki continues her attack but Nagayo stuns her with an absolutely nasty powerbomb! Holy shit! If this match ended right here, it'd be an all-timer. Ozaki is nearly counted out but gets to her feet to eat a spinning heel kick and then a kick to the face. Nagayo applies a headlock, hits a very snappy DDT, and then reapplies the choke. Nagayo releases the hold, hits a suplex, and then tries to reapply the hold but Ozaki counters out and gets some offense in, including some biting of Nagayo's wound. Ozaki goes to work with a socket wrench (?), which gets a big reaction from the crowd but doesn't seem to do much damage. Back in control, Ozaki applied a seated arm bar and then just wailed on Nagayo with strikes before landing a dropkick and series of running boots. Nagayo fought back, though, and managed to apply a standing leglock of her own. She flips off the crowd too, which is not something I think I've seen in any joshi matches before this. I wasn't familiar with the story but it seems like this match was maybe an inter-promotion one as Ozaki, clearly wrestling as the heel, has her fair share of supporters. From here, we get all sorts of cool moments - Nagayo applying a nasty Sharpshooter and then beating the hell out of Ozaki in the crowd, Ozaki defiantly re-entering the ring with blood pouring out of her head and smeared across her face, more vicious use of the guardrail and chairs, a splash to the floor by Nagayo, knees and kicks and boots to the face galore...even if Ozaki didn't have one of the deepest crimson masks I've ever seen, this match would be an undeniable epic. After going to the floor a third time, Ozaki hits a fisherman suplex back in the ring but Nagayo kicks out at 2 and applies another choke. Ozaki's selling is masterful, as she looks like she is legitimately struggling to breathe/stay awake. Nagayo brings her up for a vertical suplex but drops her stomach-first on the top rope. Ozaki goes to the floor and Nagayo hits her with a suicide dive! Ozaki comes back with a cannonball splash of her own to the floor! There seems to be some sort of hiccup during the next sequence but they right the ship with Ozaki countering a gutwrench powerbomb into a hurricanrana and then a snapdragon suplex ala Kenny Omega. A half-nelson suplex also gets 2 and Ozaki hits yet another for 2.9! The crowd is going ballistic at this point as Ozaki delivers a third half-and-half! Ozaki goes for the Whisper in the Wind but Nagayo dodges it and then hits a running over-the-shoulder backbreaker to get the W. Wow. This blew me away. This had every great element one could want in a wrestling match. It wasn't perfect - there was a lull at one point in the first third or so and I'm not necessarily a fan of mid-match promos - but those are very minor flaws in an otherwise absolutely amazing, all-time great match. (4.5/5)
Terry Gordy and Michael "P.S" Hayes vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and The Great Kabuki (01/22/1984, AJPW): This is about what you'd expect - not a workrate classic but you get plenty of "color" as Kabuki gets opened up and the crowd is pretty hot. The finish is kinda cool as Kabuki blinds Gordy with the mist, which causes him to exit the ring and go out into the stands, leading to a count-out finish. Nothing super special here but at least they kept things moving and didn't bog it down with rest holds. Plus, Kabuki does really bleed a gusher to get over the intensity. (2.5/5)
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Darby Allin (01/03/2024, AEW): This is why AEW has swiftly become my "go-to" promotion in terms of modern, accessible mainstream wrestling. There's not a ton of "story" behind this match aside from the fact that Allin (and Sting) had been feuding with the Don Callis Family. They were involved in a very poorly-received match at the World's End 2023 PPV, but most of that was because of how sick the audience was of Jericho. This match was a "banger" as the kids say, a perfectly respectable TV match that showcased Allin's high-risk offense as well as Takeshita's power and ruthlessness. Highlights included Allin getting knee'd in the face when he attempted a suicide dive, a German Suplex from the top rope, rolling suplexes on the entrance ramp, and something I'm not sure I've seen before when Takeshita broke the ref's count by shoving Allin into the ring and then yanking him out by a single leg. I also really liked the definitive finish, which put over Takeshita strong but, because of the beating he took, it's not like Darby lost a single bit of credibility. Not a "must see" match but a good example of how high the bar is in today's wrestling landscape when a match like this could almost be considered just average. (3/5)
Tiger Mask II (Misawa), Jumbo Tsuruta, and The Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada, and Samson Fuyuki (01/11/1990, AJPW): Not a particularly memorable match, but there is some fun to be had in seeing a relatively young Misawa (wrestling as Tiger Mask) and Toshiaki Kawada mixing it up. I was shocked at how good The Great Kabuki was in this, his uppercuts looking devastating at times. From what I've seen of Kabuki over the years, he's never struck me as a particularly good worker. Tsuruta and Tenryu are clearly the biggest stars of the bunch and their moments together get the biggest reactions and have the most intensity. Inessential "filler" type match that does showcase some of Misawa and Kawada's athleticism and toughness, but neither is as polished as they would become in the months and years after this and its noticeable. (2/5)
Dynamite Kansai vs. Kyoko Inoue (11/19/1994, AJW): This is a great match. Kyoko Inoue is someone who I may or may not get to see enough from in the next month to rank on my Greatest Wrestler Ever list but will probably make the extra effort to just because I enjoy her work so much. As usual, she executes some cool submissions, but I was extra impressed with the amount of springboard and power moves she pulled out. Kansai ends up getting the W with an awesome Razor's Edge from the corner that feels like an absolute death move. A real treat of a match to watch and I'm not surprised it has many admirers on Cagematch. (3.5/5)
