Blood And Guts Ten Man Tag Team Match: The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara & Santana) vs. The Pinnacle (Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood, MJF, Shawn Spears & Wardlow) (w/Tully Blanchard) - AEW Dynamite 2021 - 05/05/2021
A match of two halves. The first half captured the spirit of War Games wonderfully with violent, chaotic wrestling and blood. OMG so much blood. But then they overcooked it, began stalling for TV time (which is why I think PPV would've been better to do this match as you don't have to do that), leaned slightly more into the NXT version where they did a few hokey spots and did an eye-rolling finish. MJF threatening to throw Jericho off the cage to cause the surrender irked me a little. The spot itself has been long over played. I'd prefer MJF to get the win through a submission, which would put MJF over, and then have MJF throw Jericho off the cage. That would've been way more effective. The way they did it came off as undramatic. The crash pads are a little understanding but if you don't think the bump is safe to do without one, don't do it. Wrestling isn't just about those bumps. Just keep it simple. That's when wrestling works best. ***3/4
Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey - Joint Promotions - 28/01/1980
The early portion of the match was mostly all Saint and his tight wrist lock/arm bar variation. Grey has some nifty counters, which come more and more frequent as the match progresses, for the wrist lock before inevitably being locked back in the hold. In Round Three, the match really turns from a Saint showcase to Grey proving he can step toe to toe with Saint by not only locking him in a few holds of his own but setting traps and telegraphing what Saint does after he hits the ropes and locking on a hold. And by the end of the Third Round, Saint turns around and handshakes Grey in a sign of respect. Saint ups the intensity of his holds by getting more aggressive and being rewarded with a pin. Grey responded by wrenching on the arm and picks Saint up using the singular arm before slamming him down which looked great. Saint brings out much more complex moves such as the boston crab, crossbow surfboard and a neat looking tortcher rack variation with Saint also holding the knee joints in Grey’s leg. Grey starts throwing out big drop kicks and then a backslide to get a pin over Saint making it 1-1!!! Grey beat Saint, which stuns me, after a beautiful exchange of pin/reversal/pin in Round Seven and Saint responds by offering Grey a title match for the British Lightweight Title. Great way to finish off a really fun match. I probably need to start watching this stuff more to get some of the subtitles the style has the offer but from this match, I really enjoyed everything they did. Some of the counters were unworldly and I always enjoy a match built around attacking the arm. I thought Grey getting more and more comfortable in the match was very well done and it added a great sense of struggle in the last half of the match. Great stuff. ****1/2
NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard) (w/James J. Dillon) (c) vs. Barry Windham & Lex Luger - NWA Clash Of The Champions #1 - 27/03/1988
Absolutely fantastic match. The pacing was incredibly fast paced but they never lose their way and the match is wonderful from start to finish. Luger opens the match by running wild over the Horsemen by himself and gives the challengers an incredible start before The Horsemen attack the leg and pick it apart. Luger is able to tag out but the momentum sticks with Arn and Tully who double team Windham after the brief spell of mistake. Windham keeps on fighting and selling, which causes the crowd to become molten. And the hot tag came and pandemonium happened. Nearfall on both sides, great counters, J.J Dillon accidentally hits Arn with the chair designed for Luger and that seals the win for Luger and Windham. The crowd is so loud that you can't hear JR or the announcement of who the winner is. Incredible match. ****1/2
NWA World Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match: Lou Thesz (c) vs. Buddy Rogers - NWA Chicago 1950 21/06/1950
Insufferable commentary aside, I thought this was tremendous. Rogers was great as a slimey heel though, using any cheap tactic he could including punches, cheap spots, stepping on Thesz’s head while he's on the ground. Thesz is feisty in return, but he doesn’t lose his cool and instead uses his frustration with Rogers to his advantage with violent knee lifts and tighter mat-work. The finish to the final fall was great as well with Thesz side stepping Rogers, causing him to tie himself in the ropes. Payback for all he did in the match. ****
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