wXw Inner Circle 9 05/03/2020
Shigehiro Irie vs. Scotty Davis
Super fun match. No messing around by either wrestler with them going at each other straight away, looking for quick wins. Davis used his speed and technique to counteract the power of Irie. Loved the strike exchange that got thwarted quickly once Irie started to throw his heavy strikes. Like I said, no wasting time. ***1/2
Daisuke Ikeda & Yuki Ishikawa vs. Chris Ridgeway & Daniel Makabe
Bati-Bati time!!! Loved how Makabe had a look of excitement when Ishikawa and Ikeda stepped into the ring. If you think Thatcher was a big Battlarts Fan, Makabe is probably just as worse for it. Ridgeway as well obviously has influences of a similar style whether it’s Battlarts or some the older Shoot style stuff, which is in Ikeda and Ishikawa’s background as Fujiwara students. This had tons of great mat work with cool looking knee bars, stereo kneebars at one point by Makabe and Ridgeway. Makabe looked impressive on the mat against Ishikawa. He pulled off some neat counters as did Ishikawa - that cross armbreaker counter rocked. Ikeda and Ridgeway, being the strikers of their teams, matched up perfectly. Ridgeway brutally kicked Ikeda to the point Ikeda screamed in agony, not something that he does often. He totally proved he could hang with the hard strikes which there was plentiful. The strike exchanges were good, there were a nice variety of different strikes, including body strikes which aren’t utalized enough in my opinion. But the match wasn’t just about single match ups, the tag work was good from Ridegway and Makabe. Their isolationist method of cutting off Ikeda or Ishikawa was effective in parts but you can’t keep the veterans down too long. Awesome match in total, a great premier to the Ambition show that’ll have Ikeda and Ishikawa facing off, as well as the Ambition tournament which includes both Makabe and Ridgeway. ***3/4
wXw 16 Carat Gold 2020 - Day 1 06/03/2020
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 First Round Match: Mike Bailey vs. Chris Ridgeway
This was a good stylistic match to kick off the tournament with both being similar in regards to their kick based offence. But in this case, that may have worked against them. Both guys are people that would benefit from working with different wrestlers with different ideas because there were far too many strike exchanges that lost me. The match showed promise when they incorporated counter wrestling into the mix and began working a competitive, back and forth match but the stop-start disrupted the flow and the potential. The finish was cool with an Ultima Weapon off the top and the backpack driver. It just needed a bit more to it. ***
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 First Round Match: Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Makabe
A cool, tight little match right here. I was torn because Makabe deserves to go further but so does Eddie Kingston. Makabe incorporated some of his cute mat work into the match, forcing Kingston to think creatively and adapt. Kingston stuck with his heavy strikes that looked impactful. The shot to the kidneys, fake shot to the head, back to the kidneys into the tiger suplex was great. Makabe had some crafty moves such as the leg trapped german suplex and a baseball punch that hit directly on its mark. The finish with the missed backfist, followed up by a stiff one was a nice recovery, too. ***1/2
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 First Round Match: Black Taurus vs. Shigehiro Irie
This was fun for what it was. A big hoss battle with big shots thrown in mixed with good athleticism. The dive threw the ropes looked great. ***
wXw 16 Carat Gold 2020 - Day 2 07/03/2020
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 Quarter Final Match: Mike Bailey vs. Bandido
I liked parts but it really didn’t appeal to me personally overall. It was a bit too playful and that clearly played to the crowd perfectly. I’d just prefer a bit more focus on competitive offence rather than showy offence. Shame. **1/2
AMBITION 12 07/03/2020
AMBITION 12 First Round Match: Mike Bailey vs. Scotty Davis
Speedball kicks off his AMBITION run adopting shooter shorts. Nice. Scotty Davis, for those two don’t know, is an OTT wrestler that has a big history with amtereutre wrestling, as far as I’m aware. The match has some scrambles with Davis looking to take control with Bailey using his quickness to avoid getting trapped. Bailey threw some great kicks, including to a grounded Davis as he was shooting in. Davis absorbed it really well and still took Bailey down. Nice and quick. Given Bailey’s standing in the Carat Gold tournament, this wouldn’t be the best choice but I guess this isn’t canon. ***
AMBITION Next Generation Fight: Ethan Allen vs. Luke Jacobs
This was fine. The two had some crafty kicking techniques and they hit hard. But the sequences felt very cutesy at times and I honestly didn’t really buy the KO teases. Maybe they weren’t going for a shootstyle tribute and just wanted to do a normal match with KO rules. Because that’s what this was. ***1/4
AMBITION 12 Semi Final Match: Daniel Makabe vs. Scotty Davis
I didn’t find this to be a memorable outing, sadly. It was fairly short and simple but nothing that would really leave an impression on me. **
AMBITION Super Fight: Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa
This was very heavy with the stiff potatoes they threw at each other. Ishikawa started it all off smacking Ikeda right in the eye socket from the ground in classic Ishikawa fashion -- Ikeda had to keep the eye shut for most of the match -- and then again once he got control. And then they punched lumps out of each other when standing up. Ikeda nailed one on the jaw, rocking Ishikawa badly. Ikeda threw some really nasty down kicks to Ishikawa. The ref even attempted to step in before letting it slide, only for Ikeda to lay a big one in to get a KO count. Ishikawa found some great ways to wrench on Ikeda’s neck like his grovit style neck crank and then another crank using his legs. And not just the neck, both wrestlers constantly fought for the Fujiwara armbar, with them being Fujiwara Gumi trainees, of course. There was a great KO tease when Ikeda totally threw for the wind and almost knocked Ishikawa out cold with him barely getting up before the 10. And that led into them again exchanging hard punches. One particular Ikeda punch left Ishikawa with a big dent imprint on his forehead. The headbutts were fucking vicious and the running headbutt before the finish, where Ikeda would throw a big lariat, then a few kicks for some great near 10 counts and then the actual win, was disgusting. Excellent match where they genuinely enjoyed knocking 10 bells out of each other with kicks, punches and using any moves that they could think of - for old times sake. ****1/2
AMBITION 12 Final Match: Chris Ridgeway vs. Daniel Makabe
A good finals with some interesting grappling from both. Ridgeway incorporated his strikes too, giving the match another dimension to work with. Loved the sharp inside elbows Ridgeway threw at the stomach of Makabe. Makabe had some great counters for Ridgeway and always had innovative offence to match it. The seated version of the cattle mutilation was awesomely sick. ***1/2
wXw 16 Carat Gold 2020 - Day 3 08/03/2020
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 Semi Final Match: Mike Bailey vs. Jurn Simmons
This was an awesome match that made Mike Bailey look great going into the Finals. He controlled the body of the match with his stiff kicks and energetic offence. Mike Bailey didn’t look out of place and actually seemed to earn his way to the finals with his performance. Jurn Simmons looked good when he was on offence but he knew his role and did a great job to make sure Bailey looked good. His selling for the Ultima Weapons were great. ***1/2
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 Semi Final Match: Eddie Kingston vs. Cara Noir
Unlike its predecessor, the winner of the match didn’t really feel like they earned their way to the finals. The key moments of the match and quality was clearly from Eddie Kingston. Cara Noir didn’t really do anything to make me care about him as a face or in general. He is mechanically fine and does stuff well but not much there. Hopefully we see improvements in the finals. **1/2
Daisuke Ikeda & WALTER vs. Timothy Thatcher & Yuki Ishikawa
This was super fun. Maybe not the classic it could easily be if everyone was in their primes. Ikeda is slower and not as spry as he used to be. WALTER, while great, probably isn’t going all out in a tag match that’s not built around him. Ishikawa is still excellent though and Thatcher is Thatcher. So this is all still good. The mat work was engaging. The Duel Fujiwara armbars was a great spot. And the strikes were stiff and not easy on the eyes. Very good match overall. Great send off for Tim. ***3/4
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 Final Match: Mike Bailey vs. Cara Noir
I loved Mike Bailey in this match. Him unloading all of his offence and unleashing it on Noir was so enjoyable and entertaining to watch. Most of Bailey’s offence is variations of kicks but he delivers them with such force and with great creative flair that it all feels fresh and unpredictable. Even his personality was a highlight. Bailey had a great sense of aggression and arrogance to his game. When he shrugged off the sunset flip pin by Cara, his smug face was just pure awesomeness, made only better when he actually missed his follow up (ultima weapon). The only time he loses anything in the match, quality wise, is when he indulges in Noir’s schtick which has been very unimpressive in the short amount of stuff that I’ve seen of him. That mostly includes a bunch of rope running and visually impressive feats of athleticism but it doesn’t really work for me, especially compared to Bailey’s offence which is focused as well as athletic. At one point, Cara grabbed onto the wrist like Okada would in his title matches but of course, it doesn’t mean anything when he does it so it looks totally stupid. Stuff like that is the thing he does that annoys me. Context is key in wrestling, folks. One thing that this match had that I didn’t really like was too many moments where they’d stand around, whether it’d be on the apron or in the ring, and wait for the other to stand up and exchange strikes. It flowed super ugly into the match that was usually full of explosive offence. And I’ll put this on Bailey as well, to be fair, The closing stretch was transitioned to really well with Mike Bailey flatfooting Cara right in the face and hitting an Ultima Weapon on the apron, a move that he missed earlier in the match. That’s great storytelling right there unlike the aforementioned wrist control spot. Bailey going for the kill only to get caught out by Cara’s rear naked choke was a fine finish to the match. A great Mike Bailey performance that’s worth a bunch of praise. Watch this match just for him alone. ****
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