Latest Comments

[9.0] "This was an amazing match. It was such a pure wrestling match. Bryan with some very impressive technical maneuvers and great work on the arm of Styles while Styles targeted the leg with a more strike oriented offense. I loved the selling by both men, they never overdid it but played it well till the end. The negative is that it lacked a real crowd though this was the best reaction by the crowd stand ins. And it was marred a lot by the constant commercial breaks. They went long, near 30 mins and it was well worth it. Incredible match. ****3/4"

[8.0] "Awesome main event. Dickinson dominated the match and was brutal as always, while Priscilla had some nice revearsals and comebacks. Better than i expected."

[3.0] "First of all it was Apollo Crews in the match, not Ricochet and second of all the match was nothing compared to what these two could have done. The roll up win could protect Cedric a little. The fact remains that despite everything happening tonight, The Hurt Business is something WWE could and should really get behind especially with Cedric Alexander. *3/4"

[8.0] "Chaotic matchup between these three talented and different styles ! The storytelling here was awesome given we finally got the SHIELD facing off in this anticipated triple threat match and it was so good ! I remember really appreciating this considering the stake and the scale with the New Era stuff which was going on. The 2nd great battle of the event imo !"

[2.0] "Wow! At least Murphy and Andrade gave me a few seconds of something before it was snuff out. More Andrade and Murphy, less everything else should have been the game plan. Dominik Mysterio was completely out of his depth constantly marking mistakes and looked like a chump. On a good note, Seth and Murphy break up is something I am really looking forward to. *1/4"

[4.0] "Keith Lee continues to be booked against people he can't beat, and it's annoying. He's the third wheel in the Drew McIntyre/Randy Orton feud, just there to enhance the story between those two. His booking needs to improve going forward, this match was adequate before Orton's run-in."

[6.0] "This was the only thing good about tonight's show. In less than 10 mins, both Drew and Keith Lee delivered a good match. The Dq finisjed was expected but man that punt on Keith Lee wasn't. Good match. ***1/4"

[5.0] "So Andrade and Angel Garza get ANOTHER shot at the titles. They really don't have anyone else it seems. Rollins and Murphy continued their weird deal, Dominik Mysterio got to do a cool spot, and Humberto was there to take the pin. Meh."

[5.0] "I feel pretty secure in calling this the least-liked match of Jumbo's career; it certainly is amongst the Western fandom. I wanted to have as much of Jumbo's work leading up to this under my belt as possible before I got to it. But while I'd love to tell you that I saw a misunderstood classic here, I just can't do that. There's some good stuff here, for sure. I can absolutely see why this match was an important moment for Jumbo's character, and even with the extended holdwork this match does a good job selling the endurance. But man, Choshu is the wrong guy for this. He can definitely do a thirty-minute match - the August 1984 Inoki match is one of the most highly rated on this site pre-1985, and deservedly so - but going broadway? No, at that amount of time his limited moveset really makes things repetitive. There's some moments here that I imagine might be somewhat memorable to the Japanese fanbase; for one, part of me wonders if Inoki and Fujinami borrowed the figure-four shit-talking spot from this for their August 1988 classic. But while it's probably not a fair comparison, that match wipes the floor with this one. **1/2"

[8.0] "I enjoyed much fun with this match, along with the crowd. YOSHI-HASHI does nothing for me really, so this was all on the Flamboyant Moonchild. Undoubtedly well done with an incredible welcome back."

[10.0] "I had so much fun with their last singles match, this was phenomenal! Two veterans hammering each other faces to a pulp. One of the greatest, most vigorous fights in history."

[8.0] "Match was an all-action sprint and everything was crisp and the humor fit within a contest context. I was really impressed with Kobayashi's athleticism and comfort in the ring, I wanna see more of her work."

[9.0] "Jeez this was just a brutal sprint of the match some of the elbows these men threw were incredible. Given how short it was there were some fun near falls."

[7.0] "Their title match almost six months after this match was certainly better, but this match had it's good moments too."

[4.0] "Tenryu worked earlier on the card, in an AJPW vs. Kokusai Ketsumeigun six-man tag. While I can't say this match is that great, I do think putting Ishikawa in his place freshened up the dynamic a bit, by giving the Road Warriors a little guy to punish. I can't recommend any of the LOD AJPW matches in the purest sense, and this is no different, but it is effective at telling the story it's going for, and is adequate enough. Animal powerslams Ishikawa off the second rope for the pinfall. **1/4"

[5.0] "In keeping with his televised appearances lately, Kabuki teams up with a gaijin. Him and Gordy work well enough as a unit. Yatsu worked a singles match earlier in the card, but while putting Khan in his place theoretically makes for a less smooth tag unit, Khan is absolutely fine as Choshu's partner here. This makes for an unremarkable but perfectly adequate native vs heel tag match. Ishingun are awarded the win by disqualification when Gordy cracks Khan with a steel chair. **1/2"

[5.0] "This is the final defense of the NWA International Junior Heavyweight title that Tiger Misawa will have; at some point in 1986, he will transition into the heavyweight division and vacate the belt. The contemporaneous broadcast clips out approximately the first three minutes. TM generally plays along with Chavo here, and the result is a fun but somewhat by-the-numbers match, in my opinion. Serviceable comeback, and then TM counters into a backslide to retain. **3/4"

[5.0] "An ok match, certainly big on star power and the crowd is very into it, and while the action is mostly simple it's effective enough for what it needs to be. Normally I don't mind a DQ ending but the fact that Bagwell and freaking Beefcake are front and center is not a good sign for WCW."

[9.0] "This match was a good match between Jacobs ability to tell a story and ACH's athletic abilities and it made for a real great match. BJ Whitmer did interfere in the match a couple of time each time it was done in a way that it would make since for Jimmy to regain control in the match and not in a way where it took away from the quality of the match. ****1/4"

[5.0] "Ok battle royal, I see loads of talent in the division but seemingly an inconsistent ability to figure out what to do with them. Seems like half the field was eliminated by folks outside the ring as well, bit lazy if you ask me."

[3.0] "That match honestly felt like a parody of current NXT : a lot moves, voerbooking, not a lot of stories going on during the match and in the end it was basically pointless. Could we get back the 2018 NXT please?"

[6.0] "One day after their title vs title match ended in double countout, Flair and Martel team up to face the ace team of AJPW. It's not a surprise how this match turns out, as the politics involved mean that the American champions can't be too compromised. But even if everyone involved is holding back, and the way the politics affect the match make it clear that AJPW needed to start building towards staking out on its own, the wrestling is still good enough to recommend this. We end in a double countout. ***"

[10.0] "That match was just brutal. Weapons, cars, spots, Orange Cassidy, some things fucking ruled. You can see that look on Trent's back. He was so banged up. I feel like Dave Meltzer overreacted on this one. Close enough, but it's not 5 stars. (****3/4)"

[4.0] "This isn't that much of a match, but it achieves what it set out to do. The LOD don't give Choshu and Yatsu much in the way of selling, and it's mostly about just them doing power stuff on Ishingun. It all falls apart into a no contest. The crowd liked it enough for me to feel alright giving this a **, though this is extremely difficult to write much of anything on. Totally skippable."

[6.0] "Nice New Japan singles debut for DOUKI, I really enjoyed his heel work here in this match and felt he brought something different to NJPW. Ren Narita also looked good here and as a first match in the tournament for them this was fine."

[6.0] "Alright match. Wasn't great but was not bad either. Easy to forgot except for Taiji Ishimori's Gangman Style entrance which I never want to hear or see ever again. I don't think many know that Fenix worked in NOAH but he did. Some okay spots here but nothing spectacular"

[5.0] "Similar to the men's battle royal earlier in the pre-show in that it was pretty boring and just kinda there. Also weird seeing Banks, Naomi, Bayley, Lynch and Carmella on a throwaway pre-show match when they were at the top of their division at the time"

[8.0] "This was quite good, should have been on the main card and not on the pre-show. After almost two years since the CWC, Cedric finally is the head of the cruiserweight division"

[5.0] "I remember not really liking this. I found it quite boring, Matt Hardy winning was alright but shockingly it meant nothing."

[5.0] "After making his first televised appearance among Kokusai Ketsumeigun in a match from two days earlier, in which he and Kimura tagged against Choshu and Yatsu, Ashura Hara is making his first chronological appearance on tape in an AJPW/KK six-man. (I say "first chronological" because I don't think this was broadcast contemporaneously. ) And he definitely makes this match better than it would have otherwise been. The inclusion of Ishikawa and Inoue also contribute to making this as good as it could have been without a top-level worker like Jumbo or Tenryu. The Kimura stuff still hampers this, but even though he's in a fair bit of this I was able to enjoy this to a minor but genuine extent. After Inoue hits a pair of his jumping sentons on the downed Tsurumi. Ishikawa barrels in with a diving body splash, and Inoue gets the pinfall. **1/2"

[7.0] "Good work and high-quality preparation for the main matches of the Ishin Gundan and KakuRyu feud. I like how proud Yatsu's work, which takes on more than it can, starts to infuriate Tsuruta and he literally can't accept the idea that Yoshiaki isn't being careful with him. These punches, restrained but ferocious, well characterize the attitude of the wrestlers to each other. Tenryu was more of a supporting player here, which, in principle, didn't stop him from shining and playing a key role in eliminating Killer Khan, who also worked quite well. The count out was appropriate and I'm really looking forward to the next match (***1/2)."

[8.0] "This was sort of an abridged version of their past matches. It was a high-paced, hard-fought match with lots of urgency and little down time. It's unusual for a singles match to serve as a prelude to a singles title match, but they made the most of the opportunity to get the momentum on their side in the upcoming title match. ***3/4"

[7.0] "I expected so much more from thisatch. So i am really disappointed by the match itself. Okada is really pushing for this Cobra clutch finish which i think is a bad idea as Okada can do a better submission finisher other than this. All in all goof but nowhere near great that I expected from these two. ***1/2"

[8.0] "Yes, Ron Bass certainly didn't show anything interesting and even now, two minutes after watching it, I can't remember his actions, but I really liked the match storytelling and Hansen's work with Tsuruta and Tenryu. Genichiro was here in the role of a little brother who is allowed to do a lot, but with restrictions. As soon as Tenryu gets some strong blow, he immediately passes the tag to Jumbo and he continues working. It was interesting enough and made sense, considering that Stan and Ron could just crush him with their weight, while Jumbo has enough experience to face such opponents. But the enraged Tenryu at the end, who is tired of being patient, is clearly the hottest moment of the match. Getting disqualified because of another of Stan's impulsivity was fun, I love this guy. A decent tag team match (***3/4)."

[5.0] "Jumbo and Tenryu square off against the Road Warriors once again, and while not a total success (at least not by the terms of AJPW at the time) I'm inclined to call this the best iteration yet of this matchup. This doesn't try to tell much of a story, but it's hard-hitting and paced appealingly enough to be more than adequate as a semi-main tag. The LOD gets disqualified when Hawk takes a chair to Jumbo on the outside. **3/4"

[5.0] "This isn't as good as the match that Jumbo/Tenryu had with Mascaras and Crews two weeks earlier, but for not having a pairing with as much history and experience as Jumbo/Mascaras this match does just fine as its own little thing. Mascaras does some of his weird lucha holds but in a compact match like this it doesn't detract from the proceedings, and I enjoyed his matwork early on, most notably when he foils an attempt at the sasori-gatame and turns it into a brief little ankle hold thing. Again, Crews isn't the greatest worker, but he doesn't hurt anything. As expected, he takes the pinfall, specifically to a spike piledriver and then a lariat. **1/2"

[10.0] "This was an absolutely tremendous match and even better than their Wrestle Kingdom 11 classic in my opinion. The start might just be one of my favorite openings to a match ever. Tanahashi jumps Naito right away because he can't stand anymore disrespect to the Intercontinental Championship, setting the tone for this hate-filled match. The psychology was absolutely amazing as well. Tanahashi came in with a legit injured arm, and Naito wasted no time working on it with his vicious offense. Tanahashi sold it masterfully as well. I especially loved how he sold it when he missed the HFF. It added such drama to the match. Tanahashi in return worked the leg of Naito which played into the finish. Naito sold the leg very well too. The character work and crowd heat was excellent as well. Tanahashi just snapping and punching Naito in the neck and spitting on him was just awesome. Naito's arrogance and facial expressions were perfect and really got the crowd behind a Tanahashi win. The closing stretch was outstanding with both guys trading their big moves, and Tanahashi referencing Nakamura before the High Fly Flow was a nice touch. After Naito kicked out of the HFF Tana would lock in a nasty looking Cloverleaf for the W. What a match. These guys are just masters of story and in-ring work. It's really a shame they were overshadowed two times in a row by Omega/Okada. *****"

[7.0] "Interesting tag team match. The physical condition of Road Warriors is amazing, their tactics work well, and the crowd likes their work. They take Tsuruta and Tenryu by surprise and earn their first fall. Then begins my favorite stage-Genichiro and Jumbo immediately change the approach to their opponents, begin to alternate more often and connect the mind when necessary. A good interaction between the two teams ends with Tenryu helping Tsuruta make a successful pinfall and equalize the score. Road Warriors who thought there was a double pin start to get angry and start a brawl. Not to say that I didn't expect something like this, but the approach to this story surprised me. I would like to see a more pleasant finish to match the excellent fight of these men, but this option suited me. Good match (***3/4)."

[5.0] "Well, this is certainly a matchup. All in all, it's a fairly disposable six-man with a standard countout finish, but there's definitely some novelty to it. Tiger Misawa does some nice little mat things with Chavo, as a buildup to his NWA International Junior Heavyweight title defense, and Gordy gets to do stuff stuff with Dory, but the highlight is the Terry/Billy matchup. Seeing Terry provoke the British great is a delight, and it really makes me wish they'd had a singles match to make tape. Definitely a mid-80s, upper-midcard AJPW match through and through, and it all feels a bit house-showy, but I had fun with it. **1/2"

[10.0] "A beautifully told story within a wonderful wrestling match. The pre-match video summed up the history of these two very well. Tanahashi was on a losing streak and needed a win to solidify that he was still the Ace after a loss to Okada at WK and later to Omega. Naito on the other hand always wanted to be the Ace and was supposed to be next Tanahashi, but was rejected and found redemption through LIJ. Naito was arguably the best wrestler of 2016 with his hot streak and big match wins. So would Tanahashi lose yet another Wrestle Kingdom match or would Naito continue his rise and finally get his major win in the Tokyo Dome? This all added so much drama because of the many layers of long term storytelling. This was a psychological match with both guys giving tremendous performances. Naito and Tanahashi are just masters in psychology and character work. Naito mocked, spit on, and disrespected the Ace throughout the match. But Tanahashi put a spin on his character work and did heelish actions as well such as hair pulling, dirty breaks, and mockery. The main focus was the duel limb work, which was excellent. Naito was especially innovative with his offense. Directing all his signature moves to continue destroying Tana's leg. Another remarkable aspect about the selling was that both men kept selling their legs whenever they were walking or running the ropes. It's not just limb work as there's many memorable spots like the Sling Blade on the apron and Tanahashi countering Naito's submission into a Cloverleaf. Another great exchange was when both guys went from forearm exchanges to just stomping each other's injured legs. The closing stretch was hot with the crowd going crazy as they began rapidly exchanging big moves and nearfalls. This was a classic match that was unfortunately overshadowed by the Omega/Okada feud. *****"

[6.0] "Like the Choshu/Martel match before it, this is a fifteen-minute exhibition showcasing Flair two days before the NWA vs AWA champion match. And while it's the most minor Flair/Jumbo encounter on tape to date, it's still a nice piece of action. I think Martel/Choshu is better for both the novelty of the matchip and the intensity that Choshu brings, but while these two stay more in a lower gear they still knock out a *** match easily. Fifteen minutes with these two is a solid fifteen minutes of wrestling indeed."

[6.0] "As a lead-in to their NWA vs AWA title match in two days, Martel and Flair wrestle Choshu and Jumbo, respectively, in fifteen-minute exhibition matches. This is minor, sure, but it's really fun! The matwork in the first stretch is great, and we build to some real nice nearfalls. There's definitely a styles clash between these two, but in my opinion it's a stimulating one. This match serves its purpose, but it also really makes me wish these two got to have a longer singles match down the road. ***1/4"

[5.0] "The most notable thing about this match is that Ashura Hara has joined up with his former IWE mates in the Kokusai Ketsumeigun stable. His stuff against Choshu is handily the best thing about this match, which is cool from a storyline perspective but is severely limited from a workrate one by the participation of Rusher Kimura. Kimura's the only participant in this match that I'd call inadequate, so Hara's able to carry this match to something better than it would have been if, I dunno, Goro Tsurumi had been in his place. While Hara can definitely carry this to something "adequate", I can't say that he can carry it all the way to "satisfactory". But he deserves credit for doing as much as he can, for sure. We end in double countout. **1/2"

[5.0] "The contemporaneous broadcast clips out the first three minutes. This is a fun little start-of-the-tour tag match. The Jumbo/Robinson stuff is, as expected, the highlight. However, much of the early goings is dedicated to Robinson matwork against Kojika, and the midcard tag specialist works just fine as a partner for that. McDaniel's contributions are relatively slim, but he definitely brings some good ol' gaijin rough stuff, including a piledriver on the outside to Kojika. Robinson hits his beautiful backbreaker on Kojika to win. I enjoyed this! **3/4"

[0.0] "This wasn't even a match. Just infamous bloody mess with ton of outrageous unprofessionalism and I'll fame for performers. Zero is only fair assessment for this mistake"

[9.0] "This match was much better than the national championship match and it was not only because the pace and service were better, but also in aspects of history. Despite the fact that it was not a title match, the stakes were higher. Nakajima was trying to prove how much his motivation had diminished after moving to Kongo. Kenou tested the new member of the group as a leader, and just wanted to prove that he won the title for a reason. In the end, this led to an excellent ending, where Katsuhiko proved Kenou that he moved to his camp, not because he wanted benefits, but because he believes in his ideals."

[8.0] "This was similar to their PWG matches, with a lot of crazy, fun action that the crowd ate up. I don't think this matched their PWG efforts, mostly due to the environment the PWG audience provides, but this was still pretty great."

[9.0] "Buoyed by a hot crowd, this was in many ways a throwback to the classic "travelling world champion against local star" matches that you used to get back in the territory days. Thing is, why this was helped by a massively pro-Cara Noir crowd, save for the odd heckle, you didn't really get too much of a sense that the crowd were anti-PAC. Maybe it's just me having been desensitized because of seeing PAC appearing for Rev Pro in matches where half the fun has become "how is he going to win and keep the other guy strong", but you never really got the sense that this was too competitive outside of Noir's brief flurries. Noir wasn't too far behind PAC, but this was a similar kind of story as we saw with PAC/Michael Oku in Rev Pro, just with one of the promotion's headliners rather than an "up and comer"."

[9.0] "Just a tremendous display from both men. The only thing I didn't like about this match was the ending but anyway, that was just a great fast-paced match."

[9.0] "So good to see these two great talents in a 20 minute match, all under a fantastic crowd. I thought they used their time to perfection, both guys bumped their asses off, and the finish was more than satisfying. This was just great pro wrestling."

[9.0] "This match is excellent. The wrestling at the start was solid, the upping of the tempo and urgency was perfectly timed and its only because they get too ridiculous and don't bring the selling to match it that its not a higher rating. PAC unfairly gets pigeonholed as a spot monkey when that's blatantly not the case. He can wrestle but he's also an incredible flier, which he demonstrated here. Great main event."

[9.0] "I have massive expectations for this match since it was voted PWG MOTY for 2006. There was some solid wrestling early on before we saw the high flying begin, and PAC was more than able to show far more in this match than he could the previous night. The crowd had been largely dead up to this point, but this match woke them up in a hurry, as Generico and PAC just did insane moves that made you wonder how the hell they did that. Generico did all of his usual moves, but they just seemed to have that bit more impact, and PAC really reminds me of Jack Evans in the way he takes moves to the point where he makes his opponent look like a killer. It just kept getting better and better as they kept doing bigger and better moves, as the crowd rose to their feet. Generico finally got the three count with the Top Rope Brainbuster. While I wouldn't call it a MOTY, I will say that it was one insane spectacle and a must-see match"

[10.0] "Amazing main event. The closing stretch of this match featured major league intensity. This was a crowd that didn't want to see PAC lose as much as they wanted to see Kzy win. Every nearfall was breathtaking. Every move was hit with perfection. I'm not sure what else you could want from a wrestling match. This was major league execution with a top-notch crowd and a unique atmosphere."

[7.0] "A good match here with a less than spectacular ending. Luger was so awesome during this time imo and Tommy Rich done a good job of making himself look like a legit threat here. (***)"

[10.0] "This was amazing. This did live up to the hype. This did meet all expectations. This did deliver the goods the way we all hoped it would. My God. The amount of counter holds seen in this match were unreal. It was wrestling at its absolute best. Amazing stuff here. I can't say it enough. The drama in this match was unreal. You didn't know when it was going to end. There was incredible spot after incredible spot here. Finishers kicked out of, drama at the end, and everything you want in a match. The match time was great, the pacing was really good because it built up to the end and the last ten minutes were as good a finish to a match that you can have. Thank you Shawn. Thank you Kurt. That was an epic match."

[8.0] "Good match similar to Undertaker's WrestleMania matches at 17 with Hunter and 18 with Flair in terms of how good it was. It had the perfect pace with Undertaker using his power, but Orton being able to counter everything he did. The RKO counter of a chokeslam was an incredible spot. They timed it perfectly and I had totally forgotten about it. The finish was fun with Undertaker kicking out of the RKO. I wasn't crazy about the Tombstone finisher because you knew it was over once Orton was going for it, but I understand why it was done. Orton was the cocky heel trying to prove he could beat him with his own move. Really loved that."

[10.0] "This was awesome. They had the crowd in the palms of their hands from the moment the match started right until the end. The bumps were sick. The spots, especially Benjamin's, were innovative. Benoit's selling was awesome throughout the match. This was outstanding. Simply fantastic. Props to all men involved and the booking was perfect. Edge won, but it came off as cheap and opportunistic, so it works."

[6.0] "A very dynamic match from start to finish, Princess KimberLee was a really good Chikara champion, and Mickie James is very good in the ring, and still is. A very nice match, between two wrestlers who are going or have gone down in women's wrestling history."

[7.0] "A pretty consistent contest. This went for 14 Minutes, both guys were working very hard and seemed to be very tired towards the end of the match. Nothing memorable or outsanding from this, just a good, quality match."

[6.0] "It was a pretty good match and I thought the Young Bucks' agility worked well with the more technical side of Tyler Bate and Trent Seven, although I would have preferred it to be a little more dynamic. But at the same time, I wonder if the Bullet Club won just because it's the Bullet Club."

[8.0] "Really brutal match here, Mankind did the two things he did best: take a beating and make a star. I mean Rock was already a big star by this point, but the beating he gave Foley here really elevated him. As was becoming more and more evident to the company, when you need someone to make a star, you get Mick Foley. My only complaint is the commentary: Michael Cole was insufferable here. I realise that JR wasn't around during this time, but he was not ready for calling matches on PPV, as was evident with the forced calls for Mankind to quit. Turn the sound down when you watch this, it makes it a lot better."

[7.0] "Just a good old fashioned tag team match with no down time and fast action. The Steiner Brothers were just so so good even this early on in their careers and The Freebirds more than held their own. Fun stuff! (***)"

[4.0] "Sadly this was pretty underwhelming. They teased a lot of violent stuff but never followed through and it ended up feeling quite tame. I didn't like the finish either as it looked like Bubba was stage diving from the apron into the tables and it didn't look all that impactful."

[8.0] "A lot of people have called this match Vince Russo's masterpiece: I can definitely see what they mean. This was the ultimate swerve: they spent the entire evening hyping up how Mankind was the chosen one that Vince wanted to be the champion of his company. All evening it seems like they are working in his favour, but in reality, they were actually helping The Rock out the entire time. You can see it in earlier matches, it's not all that subtle once you watch out for it. The match itself was really good, but it's the ending that really elevates this to something great."

[7.0] "How can we not find this game funny? Everything is funny in this game: Los Ice Creams themselves are funny, just with their gimmicks, Kikutaro brings a little pinch of Japanese humor to the team, and the 3 Japanese girls are also great."

[10.0] "So I remember Kevin Nash doing an interview, where he said that this is the match where he knew that WCW had lost the war. Personally I think it was the Montreal Screwjob that did that, but this added another nail to the coffin. This is a match where the value of less is more is shown: there were two moves in total in the first half of this match, both downright insane and unforgettable. I know it sounds insane to say less is more in a match where a man is thrown off the edge of a steel cell, but it's true. There was a match after that, but nobody remembers that and it wasn't as important as the spots that came before it. This match made Mick Foley a legend for all time, whilst also making The Undertaker look like a killer, which only added to his mystique and helped with the heel turn a few months later."

[9.0] "Awesome match, this was the match that defined the whole Attitude era style with arena brawling, violence, blood and lots of swerves and interference. It's something that I think they've tried to replicate many times since, but it's never quite been as good as this match was. Foley was already a top star in the company, but this and the Hell in a Cell match helped make him a main eventer and legend. All whilst elevating Austin even more."

[8.0] "Great match between Ishii and El Desperado. An Hidden Gem, everything was great the selling , the storytelling, the psychology, Ishii and Desperado focusing on each others leg, the nearfalls, the counters, the habitual exchanges. It was GREAT! IAnother great match from Ishii."

[6.0] "This match was fine for what it was and the crowd was really hot for it as was the norm in Road Warriors matches. It was short and fun with the only little gripe I have being the fact that Hawk used the phone right in front of the ref and he just let the match continue like it was nothing. Still a fun above average match! (**1/2)"

[8.0] "For how badly injured Shawn was and how limited Austin was with his neck issues, it's quite frankly amazing that they were able to put out this great a match. It would have been interesting to see how this would have played out if both men were healthy: it might have been an all time classic. But what we got was fine, they worked around the limitations well and made this a very watchable main event that gave the fans what they wanted: Austin as champion."

[8.0] "Considering how badly Shawn hurt his back at the beginning of this match, it's a miracle that this was as good as it was. It's a testament to how good Shawn and indeed Undertaker were that they were able to make it look like nothing happened. Great casket match and another fine match between these two."

[10.0] "OK, so a lot of people will think I am overrating this, so let me explain: I am not giving the actual match itself 10. This rating is because of just how much of an impact this match had on the entire wrestling industry. It could be argued that this match is the one that won the WWF the war and control of the entire industry. Without the screwjob, Bret would likely have remained in the WWF a little longer, likely going past Starrcade. Starrcade wouldn't have had that ending with the Hogan/Sting match that tried to replicate the screwjob, which was the start of their downfall. Mr McMahon as an on-screen character likely wouldn't have happened, or if it did, it wouldn't have had the same impact. Thus Austin/McMahon wouldn't have happened, or again if it did, it wouldn't be as important since Vince would have largely just have been viewed as an announcer turned authority figure (as opposed to the man who screwed Bret). The impact of this match should not be underestimated. That far outweighs how good or bad the match was, because all that mattered was that ending and what came afterwards."

[8.0] "Easily the best casket match by a huge margin. The Chemistry of Taker and HBK shows at it's fullest. The Injury didn't really had an effect on Shawn during this match but overall it was a great bout. This inderectly saved Michaels because had it not been for the injury, personally i think he would have OD'ed or something because it was at this point where it was all jacked up Shawn. but thankfully he is with us today."

[3.0] "I love Psychosis, don't really love Iaukea very much, and this was kind of a weird and awkward match. It's not awful but it features a confusing moment where Psych hits his finish and seems to have the win, then pulls up Iaukea for no reason, then they move to a finish which looks clumsy on Iaukea's part. These two can definitely do better."

[10.0] "Simply put, this is one of the greatest matches of all time. I actually like this even more than their Wrestlemania matches from over a decade later. Shawn took one of the most brutal beatings that I think I've ever seen in a match ever, he was a broken, bloody mess by the end of this match. That makes The Undertaker look like an unstoppable monster, until his brother came out and looked even more unstoppable by taking him down with one Tombstone. I love how Shawn had to crawl and cover with one hand to win the match, because he was so beaten up that he could barely move. Incredible match, maybe the best match in the WWF in 1997 or perhaps of the entire decade."

[7.0] "So I never really understood the point of having this match was: was it just so Shawn could stroke his ego and get one over one of Bret's family members? There was absolutely no reason for the match to happen, nor for Shawn to win a belt he didn't need. However, this doesn't mean this isn't a good match, it is a lot of fun, even if the ending leaves a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth."

[4.0] "This was a decent tag team match that was below average. It was smart to keep it under ten minutes. The story was an obvious one with the heels working over Mysterio for most of it to set up the hot tag. Okay match (**)"

[6.0] "This was a solid match. The work in the match was pretty good, but the crowd wasn't into the match. They told a story with Kash working over the left arm and Juvi sold the arm well for most of it, but then it looked like he forgot towards the end of the match. The last few minutes were good with some big spots from both guys. **3/4"

[6.0] "This was a slightly above average tag team match to put over MNM to get them some momentum. The Mexicools duo were both very good in terms of their aerial moves, but they didn't get to show off enough of that like they did in WCW and ECW. The last few minutes were great after the hot tag. Other than that, it was just the usual WWE tag team match. **3/4"

[6.0] "So, this match is a difficult one to rate. Up until Austin's injury, it was on course to be a fantastic match, with lots of good wrestling and plenty of intensity. Then the injury happened and the match naturally ended in a hurry. The match is actually pretty historically important too: Austin more or less had to change his entire in-ring style due to the injury, going from the more technical wrestling style he used to this point to a more brawling based style. That style more or less became the norm for everyone in the company and kind of still is a lot of the time. It's interesting to think about just how different the company would have been from an in-ring standpoint in the Attitude Era and beyond if Austin didn't suffer the injury. Anyway, from a historical standpoint it is worth a look, just to see what lead to Austin's complete change as an in-ring performer."

[4.0] "This was okay. This was an ass kicking by JBL without much offense from Hardy. The story was that Hardy was selling the neck injury after his head was caught up in the ropes. This was done to try to give JBL more momentum because Smackdown was lacking in terms of top heels. Hardy looked like somebody that was not nearly on the same level. There were some stiff punches and clotheslines by JBL in the match as well. *3/4"

[7.0] "This was a good debut match for Christian with Roode being a fine choice for his first outing. It's pretty competitive though at the end Christian did overcome a ton of interference to pull off the win."

[6.0] "This was very fun but too short for my liking. I think it was hurt by the match before it also being a triple threat match because there were a lot of the same concepts in this A good finish made up for some weak spots. Good (***)"

[2.0] "This was a boring match. My question to WWE is if you knew Jones sucked so much why was he in a match at WrestleMania while other talented individuals are off the show? Undertaker had some worse WrestleMania matches, but this may have been the most forgettable one. (*)"

[9.0] "Amazing match, I don't quite think it's an all time great one, but it's definitely a fantastic match. Whilst there is some good, intense wrestling and brawling to be had here, it's the atmosphere that elevates this and makes it something special. Without that crowd reaction, it would just be a match with nothing of note, but that crowd really added a ton to this. Well worth a look for one of the hottest crowds for any match you'll ever see. Also this was arguably Brian Pillman and the Legion of Doom's last great match, with Pillman dying a few months after this and the Road Warriors kind of just existing until their departure a few years later."

[8.0] "Not long enough to be super substantial but boy they utilized every minute of this one. Kikuta's best showing yet and an absolutely vicious performance from Okabayashi. The lariat to Kikuta's leg was one of my favorite spots of the year. Run this again with some added time and when crowds can cheer and I think this one would be a classic."

[6.0] "An exciting fight in a short time and it passed literally unnoticed. A couple of interesting extreme spots and a wild reaction from the ECW fans have a positive impact on what is happening."

[9.0] "The pressure was sure high on Dominik : being the son of one of the most popular highflyers in wrestling's history and having your first match at Summerslam... Yikes. But boy did that match deliver! I mean, the in-ring work was good : while not being like his father or Eddie, Dominik is a decent highflyer that will certainly improve in the future and Seth Rollins was good as usual while making making Dominik look like a talented underdog. However, what makes this match so good is the drama : FINALLY, we get a genuiely good story that is more than your typical "i'm betta than U" or "let's try to be as edgy as possible". And while this kind of story robotic in the rivalry between Gargano and Ciampa, i think it played much better here and felt much more natural. The reason for this may be the fact that the ego Seth displays with this Messiah gimmick seems close to his real ego and that as such he seems more believable despite having characteristics of classical manichean heels. The ending was incredibly well done, with Seth torturing Rey mentally while destroying Dominik. It would have been better if Rey didn't overact as much but i loved how much they played with the fact that it was Dominik's first match and it truely made Seth look like Lucifer himself without making him totally manichean. Overall, if you don't like drama then it's really not the match for you. If you do, go check it out. I would normally have given an 8 but the fact it was Dominik's first match in WWE, i will add one point."

[8.0] "Fantastic farewell match for Natsumi, a high speed style match with brilliant technique displayed by both wrestlers. The little callbacks to previous matches and their tag team were well done. It really felt like Hikari had leveled up as a wrestler and became Natsumi's equal. ****"

[9.0] "This was some great booking, reforming Yuka and Mizuki's former tag teams in a prelude to their title match at WRESTLE PRINCESS. Yuka, Mizuki and Shoko performed as expected, but Itoh stepped up as well. The match was much like last year's 10. 19 KFC tag match, with four wrestlers of equal rank just going at each other for 20 minutes. ****1/4"

[10.0] "One of the most important matches in wrestling history: this is the match that made Steve Austin the biggest star in the business, which in turn boosted the (at the time) dying WWF to a resurgence which would see them kill off WCW a few years later, dominating the industry to this day. It was perhaps the most significant use of the double turn in wrestling history: others have done it well, but never to this degree. Plus the wrestling was as good as anything you'll see. The image of Austin in the Sharpshooter with blood pouring down his face is one of the most memorable to anyone who knows a thing about wrestling. You must see this match at least once to call yourself a fan."

[9.0] "Incredible match, one of the matches that made me a lifelong wrestling fan. This one is chaos from bell to bell, bloody, intense and violent. Very few 4-way or multi-man matches have come close to being this good since, I consider this essential viewing even if it's not quite a 5 star match."

[6.0] "Initially, Randy Orton honestly didn't have much of a chance to take revenge from the Undertaker from WrestleMania, but fortunately for the "legend killer" a chance turned up in the match and Randy was already actively working on the dead man's leg, which definitely increased his chances of success. This part of the fight was thoughtful, but a little sluggish, but nevertheless it was interesting to follow it and the final maneuver with a dummy fan as a trump card in the sleeve finally predetermined the outcome of the fight."

[10.0] "Damn me, I knew they would take a responsible approach to such a significant historical moment, but the implementation was too great even for me. Even before the bell, Tenryu attacks Baba with a suiside dive and this tactical maneuver deprives the audience of Baba for half the match. The next ten minutes are Kimura's cold-blooded destruction with all the consequences. Tenryu and Hansen work great as a team and simply amaze with the quality of their work. Literally the whole match is their dominance over one opponent or another, but they NEVER made me feel bored. When Kimura passes the tag to Baba, he will no longer be on the other side of the ropes, and given the Giant's physical condition, this is a little scary, but it still won't take long to think about It, because the exploding crowd and one successful interaction after another bring me back to the splendor of this picture. Kimura woke up towards the end of the match and contrary to expectations, it was only enough for one action, after which he received a Lariat in his face and finally lost value as a participant. Baba was left alone with two relatively fresh and violent monsters, but thanks to his experience, he managed to make it possible to stay with Tenryu alone. Their final battle was not long, but this minute turned out to be as hot and spectacular as possible. Tenryu completed the task and became the first Japanese who could put Giant Baba on his shoulder blades. Amazing work with 100% dedication from all performers. Masterpiece (*****)."

[8.0] "One of Alexa's best matches against the legend, that is, Kana. At this point, Asuka was at her peak in WWE having her undefeated streak still in tact as the Goddess looked to end it and made for a pretty decent contest in all fairness and this was a commodity for Asuka against anyone during this period. This could've defo been upper card on a PPV in 2018 given the climb of both competitors and given this was the result, it would've likely harnessed good reviews."

[7.0] "Very good final and nice storytelling. The thing that I loved in this match is the continuity of the previous match. Hayashishita was totally weakened. Himeka made a very good match. Hayashishita made a very good performance despite the previous match. The end of this very good tournament with Hayashishita winner. ***¾"

[9.0] "Amazing match, not quite on the level of their Wrestlemania match, but this was still fantastic. If the Wrestlemania match was what made Austin the biggest star in the business, this is the match that legitimised him as a main eventer. The wrestling is excellent throughout and this had a real intensity to it that you got with Austin matches prior to his injuries. A must see match."

[9.0] "I may be extremely generous but what an EXCEPTIONAL MATCH. INTENSITY. Storytelling. They don't want to give up and the work of both was just excellent. Hayashishita becomes one of the best of Stardom and Syuri she is f*cking underrated. I just loved this match. Match of the tournament ****½"

[9.0] "One of the toughest male fights in the company. In this match, almost everything was used and the wrestlers themselves suffered a lot from the effects of cars, including broken glass. Everything looked very brutal and bewitching."

[8.0] "I would have like the match to go longer but for the length of it it was really entertaining to see those two beating the shit out of each other."