| 1 | 14.02.2018 | TooSweetForever | 7.0 | |
| 2 | 11.12.2017 | jboyaquar | | Hiroshima - home of Japanese pizza, okonomiyaki, and the impressive Genbaku Dome, remnants of the closest surviving bldg to the detonation of 'Little Boy' on August 6th, '45, hosted the final matches of 'A' block. The only notable occurrance of the undercard was Ospreay pinning Hiromu in the six-man instead of BUSHI or, even more likely, Gedo. Unless the Main Event goes to a (highly doubtful) thirty minute draw, the winner will emerge as the A-block victor. 2nd rate entertainment/thrills in the 'Monster Army'/Bullet Club B-C Team. For example, look how C Owens executed an Irish Whip NE to SW -> running elbow smash. It's embarassing. If he's part of G1 next year -> pathetic. (I write that b/c he's gotten some pinfalls this tourney. ) Here he tapped to MN's Argentine Backbreaker. (1 3/4) Another annoying element of A block is how easy, how glib, the Suzuki-gun squad is with losing. (That DQ loss in Nagasaki really ticked me off. ) There's no reason to book Suzuki to pin upwardly mobile talent in this tourney like Juice and EVIL (he just M Evented Ryogoku for Chrissakes! , ) and as usual, in the end, very very rarely looks weak against anyone. (Perhaps the one time this year was against Omega @ Korakuen during G-1. ) Kozy played face-in-peril as if this was AJPW '08, Suzuki sold during a TenKozy hot tag (putrid 3D, ) the lame-ass Iizuka metal DQ schtick, and Suzuki beat-up the black-trunkers on his way back. Awful (1 1/4 - 1/2) The semifinal was competed like an American indie bout - tornado rules, fast-paced, but little resonated. Yujiro got Sami-kissed, SC hit an double-arm underhook shoulder-breaker and Juice won with the 'P Friction. ' (2 1/3) The M Event worked well-enough and featured a surprising kick-out of CHAOS's Tag League finisher, though the unfortunate camera angle centered on EVIL's too conscientious eye. Yet I could believe it b/c LIdJ took far less punishment t/out. The 'Magic Killer' & Goto's shoulders stayed on-the-mat for 3. (3) |
| 3 | 10.12.2017 | PUNQ | 4.0 | The World Tag League keeps trodding along in it’s own slow pace. Even toward the deciding stages. The main event will at least be in the Top-5 matches of the tour. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Leo Tonga -vs- David Finley & Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura [* 1/2], Raymond Rowe & Hanson & Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb -vs- Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Beretta & Chuckie T [**], Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & El Desperado -vs- Togi Makabe & Henare & Jushin Thunder Liger [* 3/4], Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay & Gedo -vs- Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi [**], Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi -vs- Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens – (World Tag League 2017 – Block A) [*], Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima -vs- Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka – (World Tag League 2017 – Block A) [* 1/4], Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan -vs- Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi – (World Tag League 2017 – Block A) [* 3/4], “King of Darkness” EVIL & SANADA -vs- Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI – (World Tag League 2017 – Block A) [** 3/4] At least they tried a little harder with the Block A decider. Got more time to reach a fine little climax too with two very close near falls at the end really waking the crowd up. Overall solid work, but just by looking at the teams on papers shows you it’s not going to be a sparkling bout. Just systematically paced with a semi-motivated attitude. |
| 4 | 09.12.2017 | TooSweetPhil | 6.0 | Wie auch im G1 beendet Nagata die WTL gegen BLF. Das Match ist an sich seitens Nakanishi schon sehr langsam, aber eben auch recht kurz gehalten. Ganz okay (**). Ai, Izuka sorgt erneut für eine DQ. Das Match ist ansonsten aber nicht wirklich verkehrt, denn Suzuki & Kojima sorgen für 1/2 ganz nette Transitions (besonders bei den Chops). Dennoch schmälert Izuka an sich und das erneut grauenhafte Finish den Eindruck schon (**¼). Death-Juice verabschiedet sich mit einer weiteren wirklich guten Performance. Gegen Page & Yujiro ist das solide Tag Team Action mit einer guten Workrate von Callihan (***). Das Entscheidungsmatch braucht dann etwas Zeit um an Tempo aufzunehmen. Der Beginn ist etwas holprig, aber die Dramaturgie steigert sich systematisch immer und immer mehr. Das sind am Ende großartige Konterserien, Near-Falls & Drama. Mit schnellerem bzw. gekürztem Anfang wären das locker 4*+, so sind's "nur" (***¾ + MOTN). Insgesamt steigern sich die Turniermatches in der Card Konstellation. Dennoch wertet der ME die Show doch deutlich auf: 5. 95/10 |
| 5 | 08.12.2017 | Codebreaker | 7.0 | Die Undercard war okay. Die Big Guys vs. CHAOS 8 Man Tag war spaßig, genau wie CHAOS vs. LIJ 6 Man. Die ersten beiden Turniermatches zeigen wie schwach besetzt Block A ist. Die anderen beide Turniermatches liefern dafür. Page & Yujiro haben ihr bestes Tag Team Match ever und Death Juice verabschieden sich auch mit einer starken Leistung aus dem Turnier (***3/4). Der Main Event war das beste Match von Block A (****). |
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