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YES:

New Japan on 1/4 - Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata. I really like Goto and I still don’t understand why he got skipped over. He has the look, good moves, the crowd likes him. Anyway this match was very “fighting spirit” in its layout, but again like the last few matches it was the first one on the card like that so it came across as fresh. A little excessive at times in my opinion which is my only notable complaint about the match, but at least it went both ways. Goto was fired up in his return and was really busting his ass, and I am so glad to see Shibata back as he was really 'snug' with his strikes and came across as legit. The strikes were stiff as hell, the downtime was minimal, and it really came across as two men who thought they were the best and wanted to prove it. An entertaining match, and hopefully the beginning of something good for Goto in 2014.

New Japan on 1/4 - Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito. I loved the hell out of this match. First of all, Okada is so smooth, he really is a complete package. He has the size to be a heavyweight, but he is incredibly athletic (the height he gets on his diving elbow drop was unreal) and just is a natural. Naito is no flake either of course and their chemistry is palpable. Also, I love that Okada protects his finisher. How many wrestlers with a strike as a finisher use it constantly throughout the match? Even the greats like Mutoh, Sasaki, Misawa, etc. are all guilty of it, but while Okada went for it a number of times he only hit it once. And that was all he needed. Naito on the other hand was always ready for it, and it took two tombstone piledrivers to make him hurt enough to not be able to reverse it. Nothing here seemed wasted, it was always leading up to the ending that never seemed excessive… they never went over the top with big moves in the stretch run. Early candidate (well very early) for my MOTY.

New Japan on 1/4 - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. It had a hard match to follow, but this was a really good match as well.  It was more traditional with targeting a certain body part, but I liked that Tanahashi never forgot about the leg and really stayed on it from the beginning of the match right up until the very end.  There were a few moments that things weren’t smooth, which isn’t a chemistry issue but just them trying to do too much on the biggest stage.  The match did seem a little flat after the last match, Okada and Naito just seemed more hungry and had more energy in their match, while Tanahashi and Nakamura have been feuding for so long it’s hard for them to do something really new or fresh.   A solid match and a good main event, but it definitely was not the best match on the show. 

NOAH on 1/5 - KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima. I went back and forth a bit with this match.  I think its incredibly good, but it was missing that special 'something' that would get it into my likely Top 20.  But Morishima did a good clubbin' job as I would say, they focused on the strikes which is both of their strengths, and there really wasn't any wasted time with pointless submission holds or mat wrestling as there shouldn't be in a Morishima match.  I am pretending when I am nominating this match that KENTA intentionally didn't hit Morishima with the GTS correctly (I know he didn't on the second, not sure on the first) since that would add to the story that KENTA wasn't able to hit his finisher but couldn't do enough damage on Morishima for the Game Over to work.  So he was just screwed.  When Morishima focuses on what he is good at (big strikes, power moves, etc.) he is really fun to watch, and he has lost weight so his stamina is better than it used to be.

Legend Pro on 1/13 - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Okabayashi. Well this was a man-sized match. What I really like about matches like this is they make every move look meaningful. Since they both wrestle like powerhouses, even a suplex or a powerslam is made to look like a big deal, and nothing is a throw-away spot. Also there was no overkill, Ishii weakened Okabayashi, hit the brainbuster and it was over. They also only really had one "rest hold" in the match, which I define as just a move to kill time and catch a breather, otherwise they were just throwing elbows and chops at each other while mixing in various power moves. I knew going into this match I would like it since I enjoy both wrestlers, and they did not disappoint, I wish Okabayashi was in a promotion that made TV more as I really enjoy his work. The only negative I can really think of is the chop battle at the beginning went a bit longer than I'd prefer, but otherwise just a great hoss match.

Dragon Gate on 1/16 - Masato Yoshino vs. Masaaki Mochizuki. I thought this was a really good match, bordering on great except for some minor issues here and there.  The arm work for the first third of the match was well done, but ultimately meaningless as it did not prevent any moves from being done nor did it really play into the end of the match.  Old timers like Ultimo Dragon were always good at occasionally shaking the arm or having issues with a move to show the damage done but there was little effort here to do that.  Yoshino tried his best to kill off a few of his biggest moves but not his big match finishers so it didn’t come across as burying them, although Yoshino has enough moves he didn’t need to keep doing the Lightning Spirals.  The match was definitely exciting though and fast paced, no real downtime and the crowd really stayed into it.  Mochizuki was a legitimate threat and was up to the challenge so it never felt like a lopsided match.  Overall I enjoyed it, it was fun to watch even if it was a bit overkill at the end, I tend to be more forgiving of that in big main event title matches than I am in average mid-card matches.  Definitely worth the watch.

Stardom on 1/26 - Io Shirai vs. Natsuki*Taiyo. Well this was a match.  To get straight to the point I thought it was pretty amazing.  There were some little things here and there that didn’t work as they tried to get too cute, but considering the speed in which they go and having very little downtime some missteps here and there are expected.  It may stop the match from becoming an all-time classic but it doesn’t take away from all that they did right.  I have to admit any match with a perfect moonsault doublestomp automatically is good in my book, it is such an awesome looking move when hit properly like the second one was in this match.  I hadn’t seen either of these women before and Shirai is great fun to watch as she was just flying around everywhere.  They didn’t spend a lot of time with submission holds, just a few general ‘weaken your opponent’ ones and seemed content to just drop bombs and big moves on each other.  It felt like a big match, and it was as this was a big anniversary show for them.  Overall just a great match, I can look past a few of the hiccups and a few minor selling when a match is as exciting as this one, definitely a must-see.  

NOAH on 2/3 - Kotoge vs. Sugiura. This was Sugiura’s first match in about six weeks after suffering an injury.  Maybe that is why he was so angry.  This was a really good match from start to finish, Kotoge has a lot of fire but Sugiura was just too much for him.  Lots of hard hits on both sides here and there was never a dull moment, it was action from start to finish.  A great return for Sugiura, if this is the way he always wrestles I will be watching him closely going forward. 

No:

New Japan on 1/19 - Rush and Naito vs. Rey Escorpión and Ishii. I like that Ishii and Naito live in their own little vacuum and on all these shows are the ones much more interested in their own feud then interacting with the CMLL wrestlers.  Not that I see that as a bad thing at all, it makes them both look focused on the bigger picture as they should be.  This was pretty average all the way around, it picked up in parts but the beat down segments were a bit slow.  Naito and Ishii showed good fire and Rush is exciting, but Escorpión doesn’t do much for me.  Not a bad match by any stretch, just nothing really memorable about it.  


Current Yearly Ranking:

1. New Japan on 1/4 - Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito
2. Stardom on 1/26 - Io Shirai vs. Natsuki*Taiyo
3. Legend Pro on 1/13 - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Okabayashi
4. New Japan on 1/4 - Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata
5. NOAH on 1/4 - KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima
6. NOAH on 2/3 - Kotoge vs. Sugiura
7. Dragon Gate on 1/16 - Masato Yoshino vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
8. New Japan on 1/4 - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi