Bret Hart vs Goldust, Shawn Michaels vs Al Snow, Bishamon vs Okada/Tanahashi & Hechicero vs Soberano Jr

Hechicero vs. Soberano Jr. - NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2023 - Day 6 - 28/02/2023

Opposed to the poor match between Hechicero and Euforia, worked in a similar style sans the 3 fall structure, this was much, much better. Mainly because it was more fluid, which is crucial to the maestro style of Hechicero, and more exciting. In addition to being a terrific maestro, Hechicero served as a fantastic base for Soberano, who in turn, leaned towards the maestro style himself, thus blending the two styles. I thought it was superb at being just that. A bridge of two styles that Lucha has historically been terrific at. Put it in a single fall format where every sub/pin attempt matters and you get wonders. ****

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada - NJPW 51st Anniversary 2023 - 06/03/2023

The match started well with Okada and YOSHI-HASHI butting heads at the beginning before Bishamon quickly took over the match thanks to their tag team experience, targeting Tanahashi, who is the weak point of the Okada and Tanahashi dream team by this point. Tanahashi is far away from the Tanahashi of old but he’s still a compelling babyface that the champions can work over. Okada works well in the hot tag role and has some good sequences with Goto, which included him reversing a lariat attempt into a Fujiwara Armbar. Surprisingly spry given Okada’s complete inaptitude when it comes to submissions. And the story kept on reverting back to the team work of Bishamon being the superior force in the match, even over the dream team. One thing that this match showed me is that Hirooki Goto still has some of that quality that he has had throughout his career. All he needs is some faithful booking because the performances are there. The match came to a great end with a lot of nearfalls for the dream team and generally great wrestling with Bishamon trying to finish Tanahashi off, which they eventually did. Awesome match. Bishamon really kept the crux of the match together with their great performance with Okada and Tanahashi adding to it with their parts and moments. ****

Non-Title Match: Bret Hart vs Goldust - WWF Raw - 22/01/1996

A rare champion v champion match on Raw. I know the Goldust gimmick isn't exactly the great match machine that the Natural Dustin Rhodes is but this is still a pretty cool match. And I tend to like Goldust’s gimmick, controversial/offensive or not. Goldust poses before the break and the match returns to Bret Hart applying a hammerlock on the canvas. Goldust breaks out of it, using a rope break before attacking with kicks and getting one of his own. Bret escapes and this leads to Goldust getting a beating. Goldust tries to walk out only for Razor Ramon to stop it and throw him back. Another break follows and Bret is setting up his finish when they return and Goldust taps to the Sharpshooter unceremoniously. Not the best way to protect the IC champion but Bret looks dominant after basically escaping with the title at the Rumble. Bret cuts a promo about what happened and his challenges against Taker and Diesel. **1/2 

 

Leif Cassidy vs. Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) - WWF Raw - 25/03/1996

A match for the crowd more than anything, to get the hometown boy wrestling plus it’s the go home show before WM. And out comes Bret in his John Lennon glasses and Lawler runs away due to “car trouble”. Bret being the cynical analyst sounds a perfect role for him, especially as he’s the heel in this feud and much more dismissive. Bret considers Shawn’s style to be similar to Mexican wrestling - the training montage in the earlier weeks is mostly lucha spots that Shawn botches at one point - and says it’ll be his undoing. Leif Cassidy dominates the match and looks rather good but I’m unsure that this was the best way to build up the challenger. Good match but Shawn needs to look stronger imo. There is a neat pinning sequence mixed in there that wouldn’t be out of place in ECW or modern wrestling and some high impact offence. Shawn Michaels gains control, but then has to deal with Marty Jenetty who interferes before Bret intervenes. Shawn Michaels recovers from the distraction and wins with the superkick. And Bret and Shawn go head to head on the outside after a little skirmish. Solid match overall. **3/4