NJPW KING OF PRO-WRESTLING

from Tokyo

TIGER MASK W. vs. RED DEATH MASK (7:25): They didn't admit it...but Ibushi was wrestling under the Tiger Mask in this weird, cartoon pre-show match. Ibushi wrestled for the WWE in the Cruiserweight classic...but I guess he didn't want to sign full time with them? Either way, Ibushi did some cool, suicidal moves and it was decent. **1/2 (out of ****)

TOMOHIRO ISHII, WILL OSPREAY, YOSHI-HASHI vs. ADAM COLE, BAD LUCK FALE, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (8:40): Jeez...why is the awesome high-flyer Ospreay always stuck in these forgettable low-card matches? Adam Cole is the ROH champ. Isn't this kind of slumming it? And without ROH, this show wouldn't exist, would it? Kyle O'Reilly, The Briscoe's, The Bucks, Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish, and Cole are all in ROH. Anyway, this match was probably the best of the multi-man tag matches New Japan loves that were on the show. **1/2

BOBBY FISH, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. BARETTA, JADO, ROCKY ROMERO & TORU YANO (8:10): Honma! He was once awesome. I guess he's gotten old (he is balding). Romero and Baretta are amusing to watch. This was just a filler kind of house show match. **

GO SHIOZAKI, KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA, MASA KITAMIYA & MAYBACH TANIGUCHI vs. HIROYOSHI TENZAN, MANABU NAKANISHI, SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA (12:49): Who are these people? Well, Go Shiozaki is from NOAH and will face Shibata later this year for the NEVER title. This was basic stuff. If you love hard chops and aging legends than you'd have loved it. *1/2

THE YOUNG  BUCKS vs. RICOCHET & DAVID FINLAY (12:47): The Bucks retained the IWGP Jr. Tag titles. Good match, although substituting Finlay for Matt Sydal, who apparently couldn't get a travel visa to Japan for some reason, didn't help. Ricochet was on top of his game. He always is, though, and is perhaps the greatest wrestler in the world in terms of excitement and high-flying. It's too bad he's never in single, main event title matches, just these random, cruiserweight melees. They did a cool deal early on where everyone was doing crazy flips onto the floor but their opponents were moving out of the way and they ended up landing on their feet. I guess, like any Bucks or Ricochet match, you hadda see it to believe it. **1/2

GUERILLAS OF DESTINY vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS (13:57): Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa won the IWGP Tag titles. Not good. I like the Briscoe's...but I'm not sure why, as they're never in great matches. The Guerillas are like The Uso's without the excitement. This was rough and tough but a little too dull. *1/2

HIROSHI TANAHASHI, JAY LETHAL, KUSHIDA & MICHAEL ELGIN vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES (11:42): Naito kicked Elgin in the face and broke his orbital bone, so who knows if their match next month for the IC title will still happen. This was decent, average stuff. Lethal did barely anything, but Kushida and Bushi were great together and Naito was a bit more energetic than usual. Surprisingly, the biggest draw in the company, Naito, was pinned by Elgin. **1/2

KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. KYLE O'REILLY (18:09): Shibata retained the NEVER Openweight title. Early on they wrestled like they were competing in an NCAA wrestling tournament. Yawn. But by the second half they were destroying each other with brutal kicks. It was high intensity and hard-hitting as hell. Shibata really should be in the main event picture by now. He finished off O'Reilly with the sleeper hold. ***

KENNY OMEGA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (21:52): A stellar second half made this the best match on the show. Omega is probably going to end up being the best wrestler of the year considering how many great matches he's been in. Sure, he over-acts, but he's insane and fun to watch. He took a sick table plunge from the top rope and also did an over-the-top-rope suicide dive onto Goto ring-side where his one foot landed right on the metal guardrail. This match was for the title shot at Wrestle Kingdom in January at the Tokyo Dome, their Wrestlemania. The problem was that Omega beat Goto in the G1 final to already win that. So this was pointless but nonetheless a good match. ***

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. NAOMICHI MARUFUJI (28:00): Okada retained the IWGP Heavyweight title. The final few minutes were dramatic as hell, albeit nobody thought Marufuji, who isn't even a New Japan wrestler (he's in NOAH), would win the title (especially considering who ever won the title would main event the big Dome show in January). Marufuji was the big surprise at this year's G1 tournament, beating Okada to kick it off and having good matches with just about everyone. He's fun to watch. He's cat-like, does a lot of kicks to the skull, and has a cool finisher where he grabs his opponent by the neck, runs up the turnbuckles and flips over to deliver a DDT. Marufuji also beat the shit out of Okada. It was a little one-sided at the end. But Okada won with his Rainmaker clothesline. Not the greatest match, but the end was awesome stuff. **1/2

WWE NO MERCY

from Sacramento, CA

THE HYPE BROTHERS & AMERICAN ALPHA vs. THE ASCENSION & THE VAUDEVILLAINS (9:00): This was a decent pre-show match. Although I remiss about the glory days when American Alpha battled The Revival in NXT and were a lot more entertaining. **

AJ STYLES vs. JOHN CENA vs. DEAN AMBROSE (21:40): The first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary got the highest ratings ever for a debate. Tonight at 9 was the second debate so they decided to put the main event of the show on first at 8. It turned out to be a good match but not as good as it might have been later on. It just felt weird. Maybe the drama was missing? Or maybe I'm just sick of these three fighting each other. This wasn't as good as AJ/Dean from last month's Backlash or AJ/Cena from Summerslam. It felt rudimentary. Cena seemed sloppy. It was good, but really, a frigging Miz match was better. That tells you something. AJ hit Cena with a chair and pinned him to retain the title. **1/2

NIKKI BELLA vs. CARMELLA (8:05): Carmella was great in NXT with Enzo and Cass ("She's hot as hell and you can't change that!" Remember?). Now she's just a pretty face forgotten. This was at least fast paced. **

HEATH SLATER & RHYNO vs. THE USO'S (10:20): The coveted Smackdown tag title was retained by the ridiculous team of Slater and Rhyno. This was fast and fun, though. I guess I can't complain. Rhyno is still awesome. **1/2

BARIN CORBIN vs. JACK SWAGGER (7:30): Ugh. Why? -No Stars-

THE MIZ vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (19:45): The Wrestling Observer noted that this was the best match of The Miz's career. Granted, that's not saying much (has he ever even been in a good match?). This was an IC title vs. Career match. Dolph won the title so didn't retire. Two members of The Spirit Squad showed up to beat up Dolph because...why? I don't watch the B-show so who knows? That was the only lame part of this great match. A ton of pinfalls intensified the drama. It was high energy. And Maryse is the best eye-candy the company has. So it was a good one. ***

NAOMI vs. ALEXA BLISS (5:25): Seriously, this match was -* (minus one star). It was atrocious. The women's champ was injured so Naomi faced the challenger Bliss (who's very cute and somehow I've never seen or remember?). Just a God awful mess. I was embarrassed watching this.

BRAY WYATT vs. RANDY ORTON (15:40): Hmmm. This was the main event? I hate the split. The "big" finish had the lights going out and coming back on with Luke Harper in the ring (who just stood there). This caused Bray to deliver his finisher and pin Orton. Dull match. 1/2*

Talking Smack, a post-show talk show ran after this because the show was so short (it ended a little after 10:30). Shane O'Mac looked bored as hell but Daniel Bryan is fucking awesome; excited, funny, exuberant. Even not wrestling he's king. Now, seriously, quit and go wrestle in NJPW.