Category: Ringside Apostles

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AEW vs. WWE [Reviews] – A Fastlane from WrestleDream!

*Zero Hour*

–Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, Athena, and Billie Starkz vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty), Diamante, and Mercedes Martinez – 2/5

–Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Barnett – 3/5

–Luchasaurus vs. Nick Wayne – 2.25/5

–AEW Trios Tag Team Championships: The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn vs. TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Bad Dude Tito) – 2.75-3/5

*Main Card*

–ROH Tag Team Championships: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) – The Ross/Ollies version of The Wyatt Family had no business being put in this spot; then again, what do the ROH Tag Titles even mean anymore? MJF was fantastic. The only guy in the business who can get the crowd to care about basic moves from the 80s. – 3/5

–ROH World/NJPW Strong Openweight Championships: Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata – Great brawl with some old school flavor. Wasn’t fought under Pure Rules, per se, so just Eddie’s titles were on the line. Surprised at how physical this was, considering Shibata’s condition. – 3.5-3.75/5

–TBS Championship: Kris Statlander vs. Julia Hart to retain the – Good match, and Julia is so far improved! She’s becoming a star under our eyes. – 3.25/5

–The Young Bucks vs. The Gunns vs. Orange Cassidy and HOOK vs. The Lucha Brothers – Excellent “Fatal 4-Way” tag that was missing…something – perhaps Fenix, who was taken out early in the match due to a rl injury – from being next level, but the double-team action was fast and furious – 3.5/5

–Swerve Strickland vs. “Hangman” Adam Page – I LOVE LOVE LOVED this match. I’ve been begging for Swerve to get a push and, maybe, here it begins (unless he loses to Bryan on Tuesday). This was all the way fantastic and had a really strong build-up. – 4.5/5

–Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta –Good match between two heels that the crowd took a break on; hard to blame them with how epic the prior match was. Should have been saved for TV. – 3.25/5

–Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – An absolute wrestling clinic, as expected. A dream match for hardcores and fans of technical mat-wrestling; we’ve been asking ourselves who’d win between the two for a while now. I’m expected them to run it back a pair of times, in sort of an Omega/Ospreay-esque trilogy, perhaps one more in NJPW and the finale a little less than a year from now at All In – 4.75/5

–Konosuke Takeshita, Will Ospreay and Sammy Guevara vs. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi – Another banger! Everyone delivered, even Ibushi, who was def the weakest link but still outperformed his sluggish performances in prior AEW appearances. Just SO much talent in this match and pushing Takeshita to the moon again was far from the worst call – 4.25-4.5/4

–AEW Tag Team Championships: FTR vs. Aussie Open – Excellent match that picked up after several minutes thanks to a tired crowd that had already seen WAY too much wrestling. It was gonna be tough to top the last two in terms of heat, but these two teams still gave us a banger regardless. – 4.25/5

–TNT Championship – 2 outta 3 Falls: Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin – The best Christian match by far in AEW and Darby got destroyed a few times. This kid just won’t break. While the surprising main event overachieved, the ending was the talk of the town, with Adam Copeland aka Edge making his first appearance in AEW – 4.25/5

Matches = 3.5/5 (with Zero Hour); 4/5 (without)
Presentation = 3.75-4/5

Overall = 3.75-4/5 Whiskeys.

AEW can’t stop having great Pay-Per-Views. But does anyone care? The Rated R Superstar debuted in a premiere spot that made sense, following a great main event that would barely sound like a strong main event on Dynamite or Collision. AEW’s booking is interesting, but mostly works. Once again, it was another AEW PPV that didn’t need to be THIS long and have FOURTEEN matches, which I would have cut down to 3 on the pre-show and 7 on the main card (not to mention there was a 2.5-hour media scrum following this, too!). That said, much like All Out Chicago, the card overachieved wonderfully and gave fans of pro wrestling everything it could’ve asked for.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso – Michael Cole mentioned Bullet Club. The HHH-era is crazy, y’all. This was an excellent opener. I’m sorta shocked that they’d throw the straps on Cody and Jey, and especially this soon–seeing how that following “the longest reign in WWE history” with the Usos that these Undisputed straps have been hot potatoed to extreme temperatures. That said, this was a super hot opener. – 4/5

-Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. LWO (Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar w/Zelina Vega) – The whole Lash & Profits saga has been a peculiar one, and just as they had some momentum from SmackDown to become something.. enter a consultant from the old Netflix show GLOW to make them all look like geeks once again. At least Swole-ito looks like a physical phenom. – 3/5

–WWE Women’s Championship: IYO SKY vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair – Lots of good action, and crowd was into it, but not the classic it could’ve been. I’m still waiting for the barnburner IYO/Asuka match we all know they can have, even in WWE. – 3.5/5

–LA Knight & John Cena vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa (w/Paul Heyman) – This was the most “WWE style” WWE match of all time. You had Cena in there overselling his own persona, with all the greatest hits, while you have L.. A.. Knight(!!) doing his own greatest hits persona. It’s a sports entertainment match made in heaven, with a way over babyface team going up against a couple of guys from the hottest faction WWE’s had in the past decade. Regardless of what you think of the actual wrestling performed here — and tbh, it was solid — this was mint. Also, Knight’s confidence is through the roof and his in-ring appears to be crisper by the week. YEAH! – 3.5/5

–World Heavyweight Championship – Last Man Standing Match: Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Nakamura has been so hit and miss in his WWE career, but this was a hit. The build-up has been strange, yet mostly strong, especially when they decided to allow Shin to cut his promos in Japanese. The video packages leading up to this rematch have been cool. There were def moments where I thought it was finally his turn, but keeping the strap on Seth is still the right move. And keeping the World Heavy title, basically a replacement for the three other World Titles we never see on TV, strong is as important. This was also very physical for a WWE PLE match, and Last Man Standing’s have been traditionally solid. That trend continues. – 3.75-4/5

Matches = 3.5/5
Presentation = 3.75/5

Overall = 3.5-3.75/5 McAfee Mules.

Fun show! Fastlane was exactly that: under 3-hours, no pre-show match garbage, not a whole lot of stories or angles shot, but a “TakeOver” style of Premium Live Event that burns through the night in half the time an AEW show does. And, thank god, because this WWE doesn’t half the roster that its rival does, so Kudos to Trips for knowing that and not boring the WWE Universe to death. Will people remember this show at the end of the year? Hell, they probably won’t even remember it after Raw. But I’m OK with it. If you don’t need 4.25-to-5 star matches in your life and just want your squared circle action speedy and SPORTS ENTERTAINING, this was it.

-Travis Moody

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AEW ALL IN LONDON vs. ALL OUT [Reviews] – Which Event Were You ‘ALL’ About?

What a week for All Elite Wrestling. By far the biggest roller coaster ride of Owner Tony Khan’s career, AEW went from All In London at Wembley Stadium with the most tickets sold for any pro wrestling show ever(!!) to All Out on arguably the promotion’s single biggest star in CM Punk. Not only did they hand Mr. Brooks his walking papers mere seconds before landing in his hometown, AEW overperformed on the back-to-back PPV as they usually do when everyone questions the card on paper.

All Out was a fantastic show in the squared circle, while All In London was a spectacle unlike any other. But which was the better event? Our Moody man breaks it all down.

ZERO HOUR

-ALL IN-

ROH Tag Titles: Aussie Open vs. Better Than You Bay Bay – A mostly fantastic 7-minute pre-show match to kick off the 81,000 PAID with some fire, highlighted by a Kangaroo Kick and DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE(!!!!) to give the main event another added element. New champs in a quick, yet fun one. – 3.25/5

FTW Title: Hook vs. Jack Perry – A brainbuster on the entrance ride limo kicks off another quick, but fun title match. Perry teases a high spot coast-to-coast but flips the fans the bird. Hook eventually gets his revenge with the redrum. – 3.25/5

-ALL OUT-

Over The Budget Charity Battle Royal (Hangman Page vs. a bunch of midcard crappery): A ring full of mostly job guys besides Hangman, Daniel Garcia, Best Friends and Aussie Open, and not one of the better battle royals from a company that typically excels at them. Garcia’s dancing was the best part, especially his hip-shaking all the way back up the entrance ramp after being eliminated. Just fantastic. Otherwise, pretty typical stuff although I liked Cage skinning the cat following a hurricarana from Page, who won after some difficulty with the Swolverine on the apron. – 2.25/5

Hikaru Shida/Willow Nightingale/Skye Blue vs. Athena/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante – Just a way to get another women’s match on the show after people criticized AEW for having just one female bout a week early at All In. Sky Blue rocked Chi-Town gear and won to many fan’s delight, while Athena needs to move up to the main roster. She’s way overdue for that call-up! – 2.5/5

Trios Titles: Jeff Jarrett/Satnam Singh/Jay Lethal vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn – This was all about Rodzilla and his return to Chicago. Damn, Dennis is looking OLD. He did get in an awesome chairshot on Singh in a battle of former NBA players. Sonjay did a mockery of the whole classic Chicago bulls starting line-up segment. The best thing about all of this was that it was just 6-minutes. Acclaimed retain with Mic Drop. – 2.25/5

Better Zero Hour: ALL IN.

YO JOE!

-ALL IN-

Real World Title: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk – Shame that what happened.. happened, because this was the best of the two Joe/Punk matches in AEW and a promise for some BIG TIME Punk matches in the future — including another one with Joe. Punk pulled out a hilarious Five Moves of Doom into a Hulkster Legdrop on Joe. And later, we did see The Pepsi Plunge — a middle-rope pedigree finish that was a deep cut to Punk’s old ROH days. Regardless, this would be Phil’s last match in the promotion. – 3.5-3.75/5

-ALL OUT-

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe – Going into Sunday there were some questionable matches on the card and this was certainly one of them. SHANE TAYLOR!!!??! REALLY??!!? Hey, it wasn’t bad. I mean, you had Joe there. And it was only 6-minutes. Taylor is a decent hand, but how many folks who follow AEW really know of dude? ROH needs to be on TV… maybe to replace Rampage? So we have an idea who’s at Ring of Honor besided the champs who are also AEW superstars? Just a thought… – 2.75-3/5

Better Samoa Joe Match: ALL IN.

BULLET CLUB GOLD VS. THE ELITE

-ALL IN-

Golden Elite vs. Bullet Club Gold/Konosuke Takeshita – Great match besides the sad fact that Kota Ibushi has lost a few steps. While he looked better here than Blood ‘N Guts in Beantown, the Golden Star is not the world class worker we salivated over in New Japan. In the 6-Man, Kota struggled/slipped on the ropes when attempting to match moonsaults with Kenny to the outside. Above that, this was all about setting up Kenny & Takeshita with Don’s new “son” getting the sneak roll-up on Omega for the win. Tons of action here and the crowd ate it all up. – 3.75-4/5

-ALL OUT-

Bullet Club Gold vs. FTR/Young Bucks – So The Gunns pinned The Gun With The Gun! Because of the weekend’s circumstances, because it was in Chicago at the United Center, because there is the interesting dynamic of Punk’s worst enemies tagging with his best friends the day after he was fired, there was a lot more intrigue in this match than the Gold vs. Golden stuff at Wembley — especially for an 8-man tag that was thrown together last minute. I absolutely adored seeing FTR and the Bucks mix and match their finishers together (Shatter Machine, BTE Trigger), and The Gunns have really stepped up from being in comedy tags in the past. – 4/5

Better Elite/Bullet Club Match: ALL OUT, barely.

TAG TEAM BACK AGAIN

-ALL IN-

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Young Bucks – Arguably the best pure wrestling match from a show that sat over 90,000 folks, a rubber match between the two best tag teams in wrestling today and perhaps all time. Of course the mix of finishers when they super-squaded up at All Out were callbacks from this match last week, as FTR hit a BTE Trigger and the Bucks nailed the champs with their own Shatter Machine. Also kudos to the EVP’s for giving FTR the rub in the biggest match of their life. Even if you hate the Bucks, you’ve got to love this. – 4.25-4.5/5

-ALL OUT-

Ring Of Honor Tag Titles: Dark Order vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Adam Cole – A highly questionable match coming into the card that wound up a hot opener… Look. You know Silver and Reynolds are a dynamic team, maybe the best with double team dexterity in the business. Dark Order really just isn’t a hot act ATM, but Better Than You Bay-Bay is; maybe this was TK’s proof that you could basically mix MJF & Cole with anyone and it would go over. It did, it was incredibly hot for what it was, with MJF playing babyface who gets more cheers the more he heels up (Piper all the way), Kangaroo Kicks, Double Clothesline chants (and one even from the D.O.), a returning MJF from the lockeroom (ala Hulk Hogan) following some deep neck pain, and a terrific D.C. finish with the champs retaining. – 3.25/5

Even better: After the match, Max even gets shoved on the entranceway from Joe (a deep cut to his days when he was a security extra for the big man in the WWE), turning into a brawl with Joe laying the guillotine (*cough* Hi, Punk *cough*) on Max. This sets up an obvious title match, and All Out certainly needed to set up some fresh angles for the promotion moving forward.

Better Tag Title Match: ALL IN.

MORTAL COMBAT!!!

-ALL IN-

Stadium Stampede: Best Friends/Orange Cassidy/Eddie Kingston/Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Ortiz/Mike Santana – The Eddie vs. Claudio rivalry has been one of the most underrated in AEW, and this wild-as-expected bloodbath only enhanced that long narrative. This was a blast, and I’m real happy for the former LAX/Proud and Powerful to get the return pop in front of so many. Umbrellas, tables, ladders, barbed wire bats, boards and chairs, BBQ skewers, cookie sheets, and minivans! It was all here. Thank you, Sue! The then International Champ surprisingly pins the ROH Champ following an Orange Glass Punch, which now may mean something with Mox taking his title 8 days later. – 4-4.25/5

-ALL OUT-

Eddie Kingston/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta – The Saga continues, sans the aforementioned main event Mox vs. Cassidy, this time adding Shibata to the mix. The Pure Champ looked outstanding in yet another hastily thrown together match. What I liked, the tag slowed down the tempo after a furious classic strap match; but it def felt like something they could have easily had on TV. Hell, most of All Out felt that way until we saw how greatly almost everyone performed. The flat euro-uppercut finish from Claudio on Eddie prevented a higher rating. – 3.5/5

Better Eddie/BCC match: ALL IN.

HEY LADIESSSSS

-ALL IN-

Women’s Title: Saraya vs. Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida – Many complained that there was only one women’s match on the show, but without Jamie Hayter, they really had no choice. At the end of the day, you’ve gotta put out the best show possible and, unfortunately, the women’s division at AEW — while deep on paper — just hasn’t lit it up in the promotion. Not having Thunder Rosa around doesn’t help either, and Tony has given countless women chances to get over. Very few have. Maybe it’s the AEW audience.

The British audience didn’t seem like a great place to showcase female talent unless they were from the UK either, so having a fatal four-way here (with Tony & the former Paige present) for the title was the right move. Putting the strap on Saraya at this moment was the right move, too. While I wanted to see a deeper run from Shida, you just had to do it in London, in front of 90,000, and in front of Saraya’s notable wrestling family. – 3/5

-ALL OUT-

TBS Title: Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho – Let’s face it: After the surprise comeback and beating Jade, Kris has cooled off a ton. A unification seems like the right move until they can strengthen this roster. Skye Blue seems in line for something, so they could go there, or call Athena up… so there are options. This match was real good, as Soho is an excellent worker when spray paint doesn’t get in the way, and I like the story they’re telling with Toni and her (former?) Outcasts. – 3.25-3.5/5

Better Women’s Title Match: ALL OUT.

FATHER OF THE YEAR

-ALL IN-

Coffin Match: Sting/Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage/Swerve Strickland – Hearing Metallica’s “Seek And Destroy” at Wembley was mindblowing. Sting used a cricket bat. There were matching thumbtack jackets. Allin Coffin Drops.. the Coffin. OUCH. I really wish they would stop beating Swerve, one of the absolutely best talents in the company in all aspects; but with the direction for All Out I understand why you can’t beat the TNT “champ” either. This was super fun. – 3.5-3.75/5

-ALL OUT-

TNT Title: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin – Maybe the best Luchasaurus singles match we’ve seen yet. AEW certainly has their version of “Kane” with the big Lucha man, and the co-champs thing with Christian is both hiliarious and worthy of nuclear heat. Allin’s best matches are with bigger dudes and this def worked. While Lucha’s tombstones looked weak, I give credit for the big man for protecting the little one, and seeing how Darby was all banged up from All In, Luchasaurus retaining was the right choice. This overachieved. – 3.5-3.75/5

Better Darby/Christian Match: TIE.

THE CALLIS FAM

-ALL IN-

Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay – The Entertainment G.O.A.T. vs. The Star Rating G.O.A.T…. Great story here with Callis, and while folks wanted another Omega/Ospreay at Wembley, the tickets were already sold and they had stories to tell–both concerning the Callis Family, which will obviously LEAD to another Omega/Ospreay match. No need to rush to it. This was fantastic because you had the former self-professed BITW keeping up with arguably the current BITW. 15-minutes, all action, few mistakes and the former Painkiller outdid himself. – 4/5

-ALL OUT-

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita – Another banger in a stretch of bangers at All Out, my current favorite wrestler Omega battled my future favorite wrestler Takeshita. If you like knees, this was the joint for you. Moreover, Konosuke, like Starks, shot himself to another galaxy with this match — and victory — with an explosive performances that saw a DANGEROUS belly-to-back, outside brainbuster, a wicked Blue Thunder Bomb, and, later, a SUPER Blue Thunder, a massive dive on chairs and a gazillion knees. For those not keeping track, Omega is 1-5 in his last 6 on PPV; nearly the same record as the Young Bucks… – 4.5/5

Better Match With Don Callis Present: ALL OUT.

SUNDAY MORNING’S MAIN EVENT

-ALL IN-

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Adam Cole – When announced on paper, this didn’t seem like the best title match to have for such a show this big, but it wound up one of the greatest story-driven matches of all time. As I expected, there were so many twists and turns worthy of a Hollywood script (not conjured up by AI!) with newly embraced babyface MJF entering the match in a grandiose devil mode, playing the lighter side of Piper to Cole’s babyface HBK. Lots of callbacks to their own matches, many classic WWF moments of the 80s/90s, including a self-inflicted DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE (Hogan v Warrior).

Instead of 5 more minutes after a double pin, they went into Sudden Death; they have fun with the classic Eddie Guerrero chair/possum spot; we see a Panama Sunrise on the cement; MJF conflicted about the use of Dynamite Diamond Ring; Cole not accept Roddy’s interference and so forth. MJF retains, but, wow, what a ride. A hug after the bell sends almost 100,000 peeps to the mean streets of London with ultra glee. – 4.5/5

-ALL OUT-

–International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley – O.C. has had arguably the greatest title run in AEW history; he’s also been the most featured pro wrestler in the promotion, wrestling on all 3 shows most weeks, defending his title nearly every time in the process. The All-Atlantic thing Pac had was a weird title with a weird name and stranger purpose, and there’s no doubt that Orange has solidified the International strap as the “worker title” ala what the Intercontinental Continental championship has traditionally meant for the WWE.

Lots of odes to Terry Funk from Moxley, while Orange is the one who bleeds and keeps Jon’s head clean. This match had great pacing, awesome submission grapple work/reversals, lots of brawling and a Beach Break on the cement floor! Just me or Cassidy hitting a spear followed by his Orange Superman punch either a shot/ode to Roman? Also, awesome finish with Moxley nailing not one but two Death Riders followed by a pair of heavy lariats that nearly took Orange’s head off. What a match! – 4.5/5

Better Championship Main Event: TIE, for completely different reasons.

A’THANG ELSE

-ALL IN-

Trios Titles: House Of Black vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn – These two teams never really had chemistry from the jump, and it was the breather before the big one, so it just kinda happened. There was some solid action, lots of love for the returning Bad-Ass and a feel-good moment with the new trios champs getting in that beloved “scissor me” once again. It’s time for these teams to move on. – 3/5

-ALL OUT-

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Miro – I knew this would be a fun hoss match, but the Chitown faithful getting behind these two felt like magic. Miro really needed a big moment here and he got one, with Hobbs showing why he’s got so much fucking promise for the company as the company’s best young big-man. The Game Over break up and exhange of spinebusters was awesome, and the two goliaths had a furious pace for 15-minutes. Lots of fun Big Meat chants from the crowd. This was awesome, and saw the debut of CJ Perry and an intriguing storyline for Saturdays thrown in with it. – 4.25/5

Strap Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks – One of the greatest substitutions in wrestling history! Thanks to Punk, we get a faster return of The American Dragon and A-E-Dub found a nifty way to utilize Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat in an angle with Starks on Collision to build this up in, essentially, 24 hours. It worked in spades, as Danielson gives us yet another classic with one arm not quite ready for return. Bryan admitted in the presser afterwards that there were a lot of “smoke and mirrors” to hide any weaknesses and he put over Starks in the best way ever, even in victory. This was a gem, and Starks elevated to the moon–especially with that great facial as he passed our from the LeBell Lock Choke via leather strap. – 4.75/5

Everything else: ALL OUT (by miles).

OVERALL

ALL IN LONDON

Presentation = 4.5/5
Matches = With Zero Hour = 3.5-3.75/5; Without =  3.75-4/5
Overall = 4.25/5 Johnnie Walker Blue Label Whiskeys.

ALL OUT

Presentation = 4/5
Matches= With Zero Hour = 3.5/5; Without =  4/5
Overall = 4/5 Mikkeller Whiskeys.

Better Presentation – ALL IN 
Better Matches – ALL OUT

WINNER: ALL IN LONDON.

-Travis Moody

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AEW: FIGHT FOREVER [Review] – A Fine, First Fyter Fest.

@TravMoody

I feel like a genius for requesting a Nintendo Switch review code for AEW: Fight Forever. A major wrestling game with the throwback feels of WWF No Mercy for on-the-go use? I’m All In. Despite a surplus of flaws, AEW’s debut entry on consoles is the ultimate pro wrestling game for casuals who don’t require super glossy 4K visuals, a zillion modes and wrestlers on the roster, or a deep customization suite.

Fight Forever should only hope to have the continuous update life of, say, Fire Pro Wrestling to withstand any sort of longevity. Right out of the box, the game feels super MID (*MJF voice*) as FF is severely lacking in replayability – unless, of course, you’re just treating it like the casual pick-up-and-play game that it should. If allowed, Fight Forever can be a wonderful alternative to the WWE 2K series and has a whole other quirky charm going for it. With that said, let’s break down the 4 pillars of this All Elite Wrestling video game section by section.

REVOLUTION

While most squared circle marks are tuning into Titan Tower every week – especially with the Triple H Era giving fans a solid, watchable product on TV and Premium Live Events on Peacock that remind us more of the “Black and Gold” era of NXT – All Elite Wrestling has offered an edgier, more “hardcore” alternative over the past 3-4 years, an amalgamation of WCW/ECW/ROH/NJPW/PWG/AAA fantasy booking. Matches in AEW don’t have one particular style, and there is a rotating door of new characters and athletes in the company week in and week out. With Fight Forever, the in-ring gameplay definitely reflects that wild mix of old and new – from the arcadey design of classic Yuke’s Nintendo 64 wrasslin’ games of yesteryear to current day animation that does an admirable job capturing its TV counterpart. Here, female talent is treated equal to men with no “Superstar” ratings in sight, and they can even capture the AEW World Title. Mixed tag matches are fun, too, and Britt Baker can chuck around the former “Big Show” Paul Wight around like a ragdoll.

You guessed it: a sim, this is not. Most of AEW:FF‘s charm comes from the cartoony character models that, aesthetically, still look very much like the wrestlers it portrays. The multitude of delays certainly looked like it helped character model render development. Kenny Omega, Abadon, Eddie Kingston, and company come off as slightly exaggerated, almost Def Jam Vendetta versions of themselves. While not aiming for 2K’s level of realism, that animated/comic book stylization is still believable and far from the retro/pixelated stylings of RetroMania and super-bloated bobblehead of WWE Battlegrounds. Since I have the Switch version, I can’t compare how FF looks on a PS5 or Xbox Series X in comparison to the gorgeous visuals of 2K23 – and, for that, I’m actually thankful.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

The animations are smooth on the Switch, with the biggest issue being some heavy lag during matches. While far from a gamebreaker, the slow responsiveness and awkward movement when your opponents are lying on the mat, bumping into barricades outside the ring, clustering up too close to each other, etc. desperately needs some smoothing out in a future patch. Omega, Yukes’ chief consultant on Fight Forever, admitted in an interview that there was no way that the game could compete with 2K in terms of production polish and there was absolutely no intention of trying to. Fight Forever does do a bunch of small things great. Malakai Black can squat down “Yoga style” to avoid attacks; he can also spit black mist that will stutter your opponent for a few seconds. There are a lot of smaller, cool moments like these and Orange Cassidy’s sloth-motion hands-in-pockets power, Adam Cole can remove his kneepad and Penta can remove his glove, MJF’s signature play-dead eye-poke that diehard AEW fans will really appreciate.

The match pacing is great, if you’re up for a relentlessly frantic style that is 100x more Here Comes The Pain than the more schematic sim of 2K. It’s all about momentum, mixing up your combat and offering a blend of unique offense and well-timed defense to get that victory. Signature and Special moves are super easy to accomplish, you can obtain these sequences fairly early in the match if your momentum is right, and the animation captures these moments greatly. Fight Forever has absolutely no shame in going over the top, and captures an awesome balance between being cartoonishly arcade and STILL feeling REAL TO ME DAMN IT. You can toss gas cans for some wild explosions, ride around in Darby’s skateboard, and splatter tons of blood via barbed wire brooms, bats, fire extinguishers, and the like. There are over 40 weapons in all! The Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match is super thrilling with a friend and so Fire Pro, even offering a hidden option to recapture the infamous dud explosion from AEW Revolution 2021.

ALL OUT

When it comes to presentation, AEW Fight Forever is not that Dynamite. Maybe that’s the point. THQ/Yukes saves a few bucks by having the four main voices of All Elite say very few things, and, surely, Excalibur, Good Ol’ JR, Schiavone and Taz digitally mail this one in. Hell, Ross sounds like he recorded his bits half asleep on a plane whenever he welcomes the players to an AEW show (“It’s Sunday and you know what that meanzzz…zzz…zzz…). Somebody ought to give this guy a slobberknocker shot of whiskey in his barbecue sauce. Come on, Jim! On the contrary, I’m starting to see a lot of feedback on social media that gamers prefer not having any commentary anyway, judging how the play-by-play and color commentary in WWE 2K has been mundane for years. It’s a shame that wrasslin’ games haven’t been able to live up to the level of NBA 2K or even Madden NFL’s outstanding booths.

Entrances are seven seconds long, deeming the Create-An-Entrance mode worthless. What’s the point of overpowering your hello with pyro for.. seven seconds? Again, it’s one of those things where the smaller budget for FF went to other things than a 40-second plus entrance that most players will eventually skip anyway. That said, Fight Forever’s seven second entrances are great for the seven seconds. You’ve also got to love the Austin Aires/Kenny Omega/Ultimo Dragon ALL DA BELTS pose possibilities. It’s cute, little things like this that give Fight Forever the charm it needs to help separate it from the wealthier competition.

Sadly, you essentially can’t create anyone. The creation suite, particularly create-a-wrestler, is an absolute stinker, incredibly underwhelming, bare-bones, and whatever other adjectives you want to describe what a travesty this mode really is. I even tried to make everyone’s favorite pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer and he has no other choice but to look 35 instead of 63, which I’m sure would make him thrilled. So no face morphing, aging, changing colors of accessories, etc. Worst yet, you can’t download anyone’s creations. A lot of gamers buy 2K JUST to download the amazing work of Dre41, Iconic 2K, Defract, WhatsTheStatus, etc. Maybe this was a heavy copyright thing that AEW didn’t want to deal with; then again, you can still make a Big Lots Cena and Ross Reigns and post video of your creations up on YouTube, so likely just another budgetary thing.

FULL GEAR

Not quite, Adam. Sans the incredibly fun (but still limited) Barbed Wire Death Match and Lights Out matches, Fight Forever offers very few match types and even lesser modes. For a company that has had 100 Ladder Matches with the Lucha Bros, you can’t have a tag team Ladder Match. For a company that often apes the 8 and 10-person tags of New Japan, you can’t have more than 4 wrestlers in a ring. For a company that has Trios TITLES, you can’t have a 6-person tag match. Yeah, there’s hardly any variety here.

I had the most fun with FF’s eccentric little single player career mode, Road To Elite. Because the menus are somewhat clunky, I had no idea I could even take a CAW into the career. Thus I opted for Jungle Boy, who, at the time – but has since gone full-on Luke Perry rogue – appeared like the most white meat babyface guy to start a fresh career path with, and it was a blast getting involved in a “Blind Eliminator” tag team with Eddie Kingston (before that term even became a thing), taking selfies and talking scrap at some tourist sights with Hangman Page, and getting into a love affair turned ugly with Jack’s real life beau Anna Jay. The fact I got to accomplish this all in one single night on the clock at work? “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhh-ohhhh” is right! I’m telling y’all, portable play will have you forgiving a lot of things about Fight Forever.

RTE will bury you, too. There are several paths, stories and even characters to unlock during this mode and it will take you a few times before you get it all. In a way, that’s great; but what happens to our “career” once we complete it? There’s no Universe we can set up once we become “Elite”. There’s just a bunch of exhibition matches. That said, I’m expecting a ton of expansion with Fight Forever; word from THQ Yukes and AEW is that there will be a lot of post-launch support for this one ala FPW, maybe even for years, compared to the annual cranking of WWE entries from 2K. While that would definitely be best for business, I’m wondering if $60 might have been too high for a game that’s admittedly incomplete – especially if you have to pay an extra $20 for DLC. It felt so strange to try to put the FTW title on Hook, the AEW Women’s Title on Toni Storm, and the AEW World Tag Titles on FTR, only to find that none of these real life champs were in the game on day one. Heck, Storm didn’t even make the first wave of DLC that features Cash, Dax, Taz’ kid and Keith Lee, Danhausen and The Bunny.

FORBIDDEN DOOR

The general consensus is here: AEW Fight Forever is a fine start, a solid core wrestling title with lots of kinks to work out, yet a foundation reminiscent of the good ol’ days of games like WCW/nWo Revenge and WWF SmackDown: Here Comes The Pain with lots of promise in the future. Can it ever truly be Elite? Well, that all depends on what you want from a wrestling video game. Old school/arcade fans will eat this up, but for how long? We need an additional GM or Career Mode. We need to download other gamers’ creations. We need to import logos (especially for Create-An-Arena). We need more than 4 wrestlers in the ring. We need more wrestling match types (a future Stadium Stampede mode is confirmed!). Mini-games are fun, but for how long?

Longtime 2K heads will definitely be disappointed by the depth, especially once the nostalgic joy of Road To Elite starts to fade. But, if Kenny & his homies at Yukes (I mean, he brought back Geta!) follow the FPW & Virtua Pro Wrestling formula over the next 2-3 years, we may be in for a lengthy Elite treat without having to essentially buy the same game year in and year out. That’s a whole lot of hope, but if anyone can deliver on the promise it’s The Cleaner – the sweeping brain behind all the silly Mario Partyesque mini-games, international meals and sights that only a Yakuza-loving Best Bout Machine could offer.

P.S. Change all of the music in the Jukebox option immediately to the 8-bit tribute versions of entrance themes. You can thank me later.

Gameplay = 4.25/5
Visuals/Animations = 3.5/5
Presentation = 3/5
Matches/Modes = 3/5
Creation Suite = 1.5/5
Switch Portability = 4.5/5

Overall = 3.25/5 Whiskeys.

-Travis Moody

THQ Nordic/Yuke’s AEW: Fight Forever is available now on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, P5, Xbox One, Series S/X, and PC.

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AEW FIGHT FOREVER [News] – An Exploding Barbed Wire Match That Will ACTUALLY Explode!

THQ Nordic GmbH and AEW today unveiled the extremely punishing and often controversial Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch mode in AEW: Fight Forever. Are you ready to fight for your life in the Fight Forever ring?

Pre-order AEW: Fight Forever now on the following:

Xbox:

Sony PlayStation:
  • AEW: Fight Forever Standard and Elite Editions: PlayStation
Nintendo Switch:
  • AEW: Fight Forever Standard and Elite Editions: Nintendo
Steam – Wishlist:
  • AEW: Fight Forever Standard and Elite Editions: PC-Steam
Scheduled for release on June 29 across console and PC, AEW: Fight Forever’s nostalgic arcade feel already has wrestling game purists fantasizing about their finishers. AEW: Fight Forever presents fans with their first chance to pull off wrestling moves only seen on the wildly popular AEW programming. Online co-op wrestling is going completely next level with Tag-Team matches that feature sequences of team maneuvers performed with simple commands. Game modes include Ladder Match, Exploding Barbed Wire and Casino Battle Royale along with a stacked roster of popular AEW wrestlers. Fans can also enjoy career mode, wrestler customization, signature AEW arenas, and some good ol’ fashioned unsanctioned fun.

The AEW: Fight Forever ($59.99) “Matt Hardy” digital pre-order is available worldwide for PS4™/5, Xbox One and Series S/X, and Nintendo® Switch. It is also available at participating retailers throughout North America including:

The AEW: Fight Forever Elite Edition ($79.99), which will be available for both console and PC:
  • Early Access (24-hour/available Wednesday, June 28 – only for consoles)
  • Matt Hardy and Broken Matt Hardy roster additions
  • Six more amazing AEW in-game roster wrestlers: Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, The Bunny, Keith Lee, HOOK and Danhausen
  • PLUS four mini-games inspired by the biggest wrestlers in AEW
Follow @aewgames for AEW: Fight Forever for updates, and don’t forget to tune into All Elite Arcade on Twitch every Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST.

Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/XkICBGl54Ao
Download the assets: https://bit.ly/3ScXTbo

For more info visit: https://aew.thqnordic.com/
Visit AEW on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/aewgames
Follow AEW on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AEWGames

Play button
About AEW: Fight Forever

Features:
Match Types

  • Single Matches
  • Tag-Team
  • 3-Way
  • 4-Way
  • Ladder Matches
  • Casino Battle Royale
  • Falls Count Anywhere
  • Unsanctioned Lights-Out (allows use of weapons)
  • Exploding Barbed Wire Death Matches
  • Career Mode
  • Wide Range of Customization Modes
  • Custom Wrestlers (attire and appearance)
  • Custom Move-Sets
  • Custom Entrances
  • Custom Teams
  • Custom Arenas
  • Online Multiplayer
  • Leaderboards
About THQ Nordic
Our official boiler plate can be found on our website:

THQ Nordic Website

About AEW
Founded by CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan in 2019, AEW is headlined by CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Thunder Rosa, Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), Adam Cole, Sting, FTR, Jungle Boy, Jade Cargill, Dr. Britt Baker, Scorpio Sky, Hangman Page, Sammy Guevara, Matt Hardy, Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, Miro, Lucha Bros., PAC, Wardlow, Darby Allin, Nyla Rose, Red Velvet, Ruby Soho, Toni Storm, Hikaru Shida, Athena, Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo, Christian Cage, Eddie Kingston, Ethan Page, Orange Cassidy, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, Luchasaurus, Lance Archer, Keith Lee and many more. For the first time in many years, AEW is offering an alternative to mainstream wrestling, with a roster of world-class talent that is injecting new spirit, freshness and energy into the industry.

“AEW: Dynamite” airs every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TBS and attracts the youngest wrestling audience on television. The fight-forward show “AEW: Rampage” airs every Friday from 10-11 p.m. ET on TNT. AEW’s multi-platform content also includes “AEW Dark” and “AEW Dark: Elevation,” two weekly professional wrestling YouTube series, “Being the Elite,” a weekly behind-the-scenes YouTube series, and “AEW Unrestricted,” a weekly podcast series. For more info, check out:
Twitter.com/AEW
Instagram.com/AllEliteWrestling
YouTube.com/AEW
Facebook.com/AllEliteWrestling

All Elite Wrestling Website

About YUKE’S Co., Ltd.
After developing the world’s first 3D wrestling video game engine for the PlayStation, YUKE’S has continued to lead the world in fighting game technology. YUKES’ main expertise lies in having the foresight and planning ability to methodically research the subject matter of an upcoming title to be able to transform the product into the optimal consumer gaming experience, and having the technology at hand required to do so. YUKE’S has undertaken the planning & development of numerous game titles which have been released across markets worldwide. We will continue to provide entertainment, dreams, and profound inspiration to people around the world through the creative expression of innovative ideas.

YUKE’S Co., Ltd. Official Website

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WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND 2023 [Day 2 Review] – TJPW x ROH Supercard of Honor x Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7.

–Free WiFi (Hikari Noa/Nao Kakuta) vs Daisy Monkey (Suzume/Arisu Endo) – High speed tag team match that wasn’t so high speed but super fun for 11-minutes or so. – 3-3.25/5

–Janai Kai vs. Yuki Kamifuku – What I loved about most of these matches is that you had a split crowd for almost every match. Janai looked very strong with strikes with Yuki has the sassy, anime villain doll look going for her and the character work to back it. A fun 5-minutes for what it was. – 2.75/5

–Hyper Misao/Trish Adora vs. Yuki Aino/Raku – Hyper Misao is a superhero! She brought Trish a superhero mask! So cute. So funny. Trish is impressive, physically, with great strength and ring presence, while Misao is a comedic genius. On the other side, Raku matched Hyper with hilarious pillow spots (as a DANGEROUS weapon, as a dangerous version of the sleeperhold) and innocent timing. If you’re OK with Toru-Yano type gaga, you’ll love this. – 3/5

–Wasteland War Party (Max The Impaler/Heidi Howitzer) vs. Shoko Nakajima/Miu Watanabe – Awesome Giants vs. Minis match, or is it Kaiju vs. Mini-Jaegers? Miu feels like the third or fourth biggest star in TJPW, and she was way over and also showcased some immense strength against her far larger opponents (she also performed the “Cesaro swing” to Heidi!), while Shoko’s furry outfit is the cutest thing in the world. This was a super fun match that went into extra gears and told a great story. Tons of dives right in front of your front row yours truly, too! – 3.25/5

–International Princess Championship: Rika Tatsumi vs. Billie Starkz – A good little title match that never really got the time it deserved, with the 18-year old Starkz (who’s been on AEW Elevation/Dark before) showing so much promise. She’s the female Nick Wayne in terms of youthful hype. Rika is also very crafty in the ring. Crowd was into it. – 3/5

–Princess Tag Championship Match: Magical Sugar Rabbits (Yuka Sakazaki/Mizuki) vs. 121000000 (Miyu Yamashita/Maki Itoh) – The reason we’re all here, right! Maki is one of the biggest wrestling stars on the planet, and Miyu and Yuka have gotten a ton of exposure in AEW and ROH. I’m less familiar with Mizuki, but I definitely heard of her name and her style and frail size reminds me of Riho, especially with those twirling planchas (Whirling Candy!). All four come off as Joshi stars, although none bigger than Maki — between her entrance, look, attitude, facial expressions and bizarre in-ring style. This match had super heat and the work rate was also great. – 4/5

Matches = 3-3.25/5
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 3.5/5 Too Early For Alcohols

This show was all about Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s brand, the pageantry, the aesthetic and the crowd interaction. The best part about the 6 matches is that nothing sucked, and I was HEAVILY entertained even when mistakes were made and a grudge or title match would barely scrape 6-8 minutes. TJPW won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s far less competitive than STARDOM; but it’s also unlike anything you’ve ever seen this side of DDT. It never reaches those (sometimes cringy) levels of gaga; it’s on brand with the Princess vs. Evil endeavors and you got good, crisp fun pro wrestling out of it. This was definitely my fav of the indie — i.e. WrestleCon, GCW Collective — shows I saw this past weekend, even when other cards had some significantly better matches. I’m a fan!

–Zero Hour Match: Jeff Cobb vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams – Pretty much a squash.. this makes FOUR matches in 5 events I’ve seen up to this time with Cobb. Just insane. Sadly, nothing really happened here. Glad I watched it on YouTube in the Uber over. – 2/5

–Zero Hour Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Willie Mack – OK, so this one was ALL ABOUT The Bet. Sure, we’re in LA and not LV; but a massive bet was placed at the Arts District Brewery. None of us wanted to miss a Takeshita match (especially against Willie!), but we had a dilemma: we had no idea what order the Zero Hour matches would take place. Do we leave now and possibly sit through 3 matches we don’t care about with expensive bad beer, or stay for one more fine pint of the city’s best IPA’s for half the cost and risk losing out on Konosuke? Well, had we left early and Takeshita didn’t wrestle yet, the round was on me. But since the group chose to stay and possibly miss our Japanese stalwart, my dudes both had to split on merch. So, of course, this match took place SECOND and we had to watch it on our phones in the Uber. I’ll show you the gift down below in the Spring Break review 🙂 – 3.25/5

–Zero Hour Match: Willow Nightingale vs. Miranda Alize – ROH is going to be a great home for Willow and Skye Blue, until they’re ready. – 2.5/5

–Zero Hour Match: Stu Grayson (w/Evil Uno) vs. Slim J (w/Ari Daivari & “Smart” Mark Sterling) – The early arriving crowd was red hot for Stu, who recently returned to AEW and gave it his all in a war against Moxley. Will the Dark Order be ROH staples now? TBH, I think they’d be a great fit there; fun character but really good workers. I don’t know “The Righteous” but they made an appearance at the end to confront our boys. – 2.75-3/5

–AAA Mega Championship Match: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Komander – Word to the wise: you DON’T want to follow Vikingo. That said, EVERYONE (but the Zero Hour folks) had to follow Vikingo. And, as early as Komander is in his singles career, he delivered BIG TIME too. Like I mentioned in the barnburner these had with Black Taurus at WrestleCon, this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — and I get it. SOME OF YOU ARE CRAZY. But, not nearly as crazy as these guys… and the amount of creativity put forth in this 15-minute plus opener was on another level. Super hot start to the show, and I felt bad for everyone afterwards. THIS. WAS. AWESOME. – 4.5/5

–ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Embassy (c) (Brian Cage, Kaun & Toa Liona w/Prince Nana) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik – Two things here: Brian Cage’s contract is up, and he wore very D-X/HHH-inspired tights. But his team won. The other? Good on Tony for keeping the show momentum going with a high-flying team in this spot. It’s a death spot, but at least it was all action for half the time given as the opener. Kaun & Toa Liona have a great look; if they improve their workrate they will be something to watch in the future. If not, they will end up like the Authors of Pain. – 3.25/5

–ROH Women’s World Championship Match: Athena (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki – Yuka didn’t wrestle this same morning like she had a championship match later in the day! What a professional. And this was a perfectly professional woman’s title match, with some great dives from Yuka and awesome power from Athena. She hit her top rope stunner to victory, but not before a couple of great false finishes from Yuka and even better heel work from the champ. – 3.5/5

–ROH World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Mark Briscoe – Uncle Dave called this the biggest surprise over Mania weekend. Since I also said that Cody beating Roman wasn’t exactly a sure-thing, I might have to agree–other than seeing last year’s Mania weekend MVP Mike Bailey lose 4 matches in one day. So, yeah, after a super valiant effort from Brother Briscoe, he still didn’t get it done against Joe and got choked out in front of his kids, nonetheless. Great Redneck Kung-Fu and awesome relentless brawling and submission-based tactics from Joe. This was excellent, despite the not-so-happy finish. – 4/5

–Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia – Both of Tanahashi’s matches this weekend let me down, especially against a pair of my favorite wrestlers currently working for PWG. That said, this was still a fine match-up and the sports entertainer stuff from Garcia got some tongue-in-cheek heat from the ROH faithful. I’d like to see Garcia make a run in ROH, hence why losing this match did him no favors. Tana is well past his prime and didn’t need this, nor the Bailey win at Multiverse. – 3.25/5

–ROH Tag Team Championship “Reach For The Sky” Ladder Match: Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & Dralistico w/Jose the Assistant) – An absolutely AMAZING match that got overshadowed by the unfortunate ankle/leg injury to Dante Martin. Well, since Saturday, our Top Flight stalwart has been released from the hospital and appears to be very optimistic. That all happened during a nutty ladder bridge destroyer onto a table from Penta. The move was executed greatly, but Dante was overshot over the table and snap. It doesn’t sound like it’s broken, so thank God. Everyone here was excellent; I’m so happy to see Aussie Open working among the best tag teams in the world, Rush and Matt Taven stood out in particular otherwise, while the Luchas are beasts. If you can forgive the injury, this was a near-classic with FTR helping Mark Briscoe congratulate the winners. – 4.5/5

–ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata – Maybe another major upset. Despite his pedigree as “The Wrestler” and one of the most dangerous strikers in the professional wrestling world of all time, Shibata wasn’t a lock to win the Pure title. This initially felt like a one-off, but now it’s clear that dude has a new home with Ring of Honor. I’m not sure half of the Mania Weekend audience ever had history with Katsuyori, but he def won some new fans with his dominance of Wheeler, who’s quickly becoming one of the best young heels in wrestling. Pure rules are weird, but both wrestlers made the most of it. – 3.75/5

–ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Eddie Kingston – A very solid fight, a very solid war — that got turned up several notches when Eddie went into a third gear. I noticed the match shifted in several gears for our challenger; just when he looked too exhausted to keep up with Claudio, Eddie would turn it on — whether it was one-kicking out of a finisher or hitting a backfist from nowhere. The climax of the match was absolutely awesome and a bit shocking with a roll-up victory for Castagnoli, but I believe the right man at this moment won. Shibata came out to help Eddie from the pummeling of Claudio and Wheeler, but it wasn’t as effective an ending since we already watched Shibata battle Yuta just moments earlier. – 4/5

Matches (with Zero Hour = 3.5/5); (without Zero Hour = 3.75-4/5)
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 4/5 Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lagers

This was a very strong, very BOLD Pay Per View! The best matches featured Lucha stars, or, at least, Lucha-inspired wrestling, which gives you an idea of where the trend of great “indie” match is going. I say “bold”, because Briscoe didn’t win, Eddie didn’t win, Shibata did and CAGE did! So much for him leaving? But, it’s arguable that the roster for Ring of Honor is stronger with the Lucha Bros, Joe, Shibata, Claudio and Athena as champs. That’s a stacked line-up. Sadly, the horrific Dante Martin injury overshadowed another tremendous ROH PPV and, while I’m pulling for a super speedy recovery for the kid, let’s not overlook what TK and the brand accomplished on Friday night.

–Grab The Brass Ring DLC Match: Gringo Loco vs. Shane Mercer vs. Tony Deppen vs. Cole Radrick vs. Komander vs. Billie Starkz vs. Blake Christian vs. Alec Price vs. Jack Cartwheel – We missed the match because of the Uber craze leaving The Galen Center for ROH, but, from what I gather in other reviews and comments, this was a decent showcase but nothing like the Ladder Match we saw earlier in the day–especially since the winner (Blake) didn’t even have to climb a ladder to win… Glad this was the first match! – 3/5

–Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. East West Express – Big upset here, as the already AEW signed Nick Wayne and Jordan Oliver took the GCW tag straps from the legendary MCMG! This was high-paced; def a passing of the torch match between one of the original innovators of tag team wrestling to the future. Maybe a little too soon for the kids to win — and the finish was definitely flat — but this is GCW where Nick Gage, Masha Slamovich and Matt Cardona have been/are champs, so you can’t be too upset. Lots of spots, dives and speed on display here. – 3.25/5

–Battle of WrestleMania Weekend MVP’s: Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo – Exactly what the match title (that I made up) says. Here, you have arguably the greatest indie performer in one weekend of Mania Weekend history (from last year in Dallas) in Mike Bailey to another guy who’s ready to take that mantle this weekend in El Hijo del Vikingo! While both guys were clearly exhausted and missed the connection on a few spots, it’s still Speedball and Vikingo and they still did the damn thing and turned out a Match of the Show in their (literal) sleep. – 4/5

-Bussy (Effy and Allie Katch) vs. Maki Death Kill (My Wife Maki Ito Moody and Nick Fucking Gage) – OK, here me out. Maki made me a Nick Gage fan, at least for one night. I’ve always been on the line as far as where I stand with the death match legend/lunatic, but this was insane fun. It’s garbage wrasslin’, but Maki made all the gory violence cute…and she was, indeed, the biggest star of the whole f’n show. I’m not sure whether I loved this or hated it, but I love Maki Ito and Maki Ito loves me, so there you go. Also, my 6’3 twin Matt Zack Ryder Cardona came out with a Cody jacket (something I bravely rocked at a GCW show) and beat the living hell out of Gage. It was a fun, violent scrum, and Effy and Allie might be the most ridiculous tag team of all time. – 10/5 (or, really, a 3.5/5 but who’s counting? Lulz)

–GCW World Title: Steph De Lander vs. Masha Slamovich – Overall, it appears the GCW “Collective” is OK with Masha as champion. But this impromptu championship match def took the sting out of the momentum of the zaniness we just witnessed for several reasons I won’t get into here. Even at face value (for whatever title or no title this was or could be for), this was just OK. Def not Masha’s fault, as Steph — in her street attire — didn’t do much to impress much more than her mouth (and I don’t mean that sexually). Big talk, little action. This was only 6-minutes so.. whatever. – 2.5/5

-Joey Janela vs. Kota Ibushi – This never reached great for one reason: I don’t think anyone believed that Joey could go a hard 24-minutes with Ibushi. Despite how hard they worked to put together a great match, it just didn’t make sense. Joey has his supporters and I’ve witnessed him have GREAT matches at PWG Battle of Los Angeles and even on the first night of AEW Dark against Omega, but something about the dude just doesn’t click besides the fact he gets to hand-pick his oftentimes legendary opponent every year at Spring Break and make a big deal about it. Don’t get me wrong; having Ibushi perform in front of a few hundred at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Hollywood was pretty damn cool. But after wars with Jay White, Okada, yadda yadda.. having to struggle a little against.. Janela is all the more baffling. That said, Kota looked great and hit all his spots. I’m just glad he didn’t get killed on an apron DDT — a move I would have stayed away from with his past. Still, this was a strong way to end a wacky show. – 3.5-3.75/5

Matches = 3.25/5
Entertainment = 3.75/5

Overall = 3.5/5

I believe I mentioned a year ago that Joey Janela’s Spring Break had taken a turn from a mostly fun, relaxed wacky night of comedy and surprises to a more serious wrestling show and this year’s seventh sequel in LA was no different. Other than Cardona and (to a lesser extend) De Lander, there were no real surprises here, and, minus a tamer than usual hardcore tag match, we didn’t get a whole lot of hardcore. Instead, we got talents like all the gents and ladies in the opening DLC match, MCMG, Speedball, Vikingo, and Ibushi. GCW feels more serious wrestling-based than hardcore/comedy now, which is a good thing, but it also takes away from what made Spring Break so special in the first place. Since Joey Ryan’s Penis Party blew its last load a few years ago, I was expecting more of a fun, party type of vibe attending my first Break than a “PWG With Pizza Cutters”. That said, JJSB7 still felt like nothing else I attended this past weekend, and, for that and my beautiful Maki Itoh (muah!), I have that to be thankful.

-Travis Moody

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PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2023 [Night 1 & 2 Review] – Appreciation.

NIGHT 1

–First Round–

–Masha Slamovich vs. Alex Shelley – 3-3.25/5 – Good heel work from Alex. Masha had a good crowd backing and not intimidated, won on a cradle reversal of Shelley’s Emerald Flowsion.

image from @RobBishopSD

–Bryan Keith vs. SB KENTo – 3.5+/5 – Match slowly rolled into something real strong. Keith’s hard-hitting debut impressed in the place of injured Lio Rush. SB KENTo will be back.

image from @RobBishopSD

–Komander vs. Latigo – 3.25-3.5/5 – If you love rope-walking, then I’ve got the match for you! Latigo is a solid Lucha heel. Komander is a great Lucha babyface and won with his 2nd or 3rd shooting star SOMETHING of the match.

image from @RobBishopSD

–Jordynne Grace vs. Jonathan Gresham – 3.5/5 – Fun and heartwarming hubby vs. wife match. Grace had the power and Gresham had the Grace. Wife wins.

–Shun Skywalker vs. Aramis – 2.25/5 – One of the few not-so-good PWG matches in recent memory. The force was not with Skywalker here as he looked slow, plodding and didn’t do much. Neither connected with the crowd.

image from @RobBishopSD

–Konosuke Takeshita vs. Michael Oku – 4.25-4.5/5 – One of the more emotional exchanges you’ll see in a first round tournament match. Takeshita is the definition of Rising Sun and Oku has all the goods for a young kid. LOVED THIS.

image from @RobBishopSD

–Titus Alexander vs. Daniel Garcia – 3.75-4/5 – A DQ in PWG is as rare as a 5-star match in WWE. Garcia is the ultimate heel in this promotion– he even wanted to take my NJPW merch that a friend sold me. Red Death is right; he said fuck it and swiped good ol’ Titus in the domepiece. This was a brilliant way of getting the champ out of the tournament and set-up something extra special for Night 2.

image from @RobBishopSD

–Bandido vs. Black Taurus vs. El Hijo del Vikingo – 4.25+/5 – A tale of 2 matches: Despite a horrific injury on a stacked chair apron spot to Vikingo (and later we find out Bandido with an injured neck), these lucha kings attempted almost everything of what little we have NOT YET seen before… and, for that, should be lauded. But the injuries… Hell, I thought it was kayfabe since ‘Dido attempted to bring the Viking Kid back into the ring by the face while being ushered by PWG employees to the back. At this brief moment, Vikingo seemed fairly fine-ish and conscious. While he wasn’t able to return on Day 2, El Hijo del Vikingo will DEFINITELY be among the most requested to return, and Bandido is arguably the indy fed’s biggest star. Black Taurus might just be the most underrated guy in PWG. In all, this was awesome.

Matches = 3.5-3.75/5
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 3.75/5 Pabst Blue Ribbons.

Not every match wowed – or even hit – but an overall excellent first night with a little bit of everything for everybody.

NIGHT 2

–Second Round–

–Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Jordynne Grace – 3.25/5 – The first of 4 matches for Speedball. I joked that whoever booked this match (be it Dragon or Excalibur) must be a big-time X-Men fan with Speedball vs. the Juggernaut. Solid stuff, with some gruesome finger-bending spots from Grace. She provided the power, while Bailey provided the strikes.

–Konosuke Takeshita vs. Titus Alexander – 3.5/5 – I thought Titus was going to get his ass beat again, but he leveled up in this one with a ton of great looking Germans and other power O. But Takeshita had the fighting spirit and finally hit the jumping knee after many attempts.

–Bryan Keith vs. Masha Slamovich – 3.25/5 – This was physical. A little long, but it got really awesome at the end. Crowd into both talents with back ‘n forth chants.

image courtesy of @cozysuperkick

–Komander vs. Bandido – 3.5/5 – What I thought was a “passing of the torch” was more so an upset due to injury. Word has it that Bandido may have made it to the finals but suffered a neck injury – which is strangely but brilliantly used in an angle in the beginning of the match. I guess he figured he had to “go heel” for a moment to put over his friend (who hit yet another ropewalk shooting star). Lots of awesome spots but a few misses, too, with a strange pinfall mishap towards the finish. We’ll need these two to run this one back.

–Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Shun Skywalker – 3.75+/5 – After a subpar performance on Night 1 (with murmurs of Shun saving himself for a big Dragon Gate match), Mr. Skywalker really brought the Force to Speedball. He got over big time, and it didn’t hurt to go against the MVP of the Night. Although Shun has one of the worst outfits in wrestling, looking more like a WWE 2K CAW someone spent way too long creating, I really dug him after this one. Bailey won via double knee shooting star press.

–Special Lucha Libre Showcase–

–Latigo & Black Taurus vs. Aramis & Rey Horus – 4/5 – “This is Lucha! Lucha Libre!”. Crowd was super hot for this one with lots of insane spots. Seeing Horus (who put on a few covid kilos) was nice and he performed great. Aramis also made up for a poor Night 1. Black Taurus is just the greatest, taking a zillion bumps on the horns, while Latigo got more reaction tonight than Saturday.

–Semi Finals–

–Konsuke Takeshita vs. Komander – 3.25-3.5/5 – Awkward match-up but both guys did a lot in the 5-minutes they had – similar to KAIRI and Tam Nakano from Wrestle Kingdom. Takeshita won via backslide to keep Komander strong.

–Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Bryan Keith – 4-4.25/5 – Super hard-hitting. Bailey’s fingers were dead, but he still found a way. Houston’s Bryan Keith was mega impressive this weekend and easily the breakout star of the tournament.

–BOLA Special 10-Man Tag–

–JAS (Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, Sammy Guevara) vs. Jon Gresham, Player Uno, Michael Oku, SB KENTo, & Kevin Blackwood – IT DOESN’T MATTER/5 – WHAT THE HELL!!! The JERICHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY is in The Globe! I don’t remember the crowd going this crazy since Super Dragon’s last return. OK– this was bigger, and holy damn the GOAT Chris Jericho actually wrestled, and took bumps from some indie guys for 20 fuckin’ minutes. This was extra special – and ENTIRELY unexpected!! It kicked off with an awesome intro/swerve from PWG Champ Danny Garcia, with Angelo Parker and Daddy Magic a 2.0 blast, Sammy got the most heat of the Night, the ladies looked fly and Anna Jay had a great moment with Uno (another surprise but..), and Hager REALLY likes his hat! It was nice to see Oku and Blackwood working with Y2K for a bit in the match, too. How do you even rate this? (And, yes, they brought back the slow-mo shit from Classic PWG.. that would have Corny smashing all the kitchenware in his house). To quote Excalibur, this was “UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE!”

–Finals–

image courtesy of @cozysuperkick

–Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Konosuke Takeshita – 4.5/5 – The best match of the weekend, but, boy, did these two stallions have an uphill battle to climb. Imagine having to follow CHRIS FUCKIN JERICHO IN PWG? They kinda did it. No, they definitely did it, and it took nearly 30-minutes to do it, but DO they DID. At the very end was a crazy scary top rope brainbuster on the buckle from Konosuke to Speedball, but he recovered. And Bailey bounced back enough to finish with the shooting star double knee and Flamingo driver. The soft spoken Canadian also had a GREAT speech at the end, and this was definitely one of the more emotional moments in PWG history. As if having 9 matches in 3 days at the last WrestleMania weekend wasn’t enough, Bailey finished the DAY with 4 wins, averaging roughly “4 stars” for each of them. Dude is relentless, and Takeshita is the next big thing from Japan. Both these fucking guys.

image courtesy of @cozysuperkick

Matches = 3.75/5
Entertainment = 4.75/5

Overall = 4.25/5 Santa Monia IPA’s.

While the first half of Night 2 started off a little underwhelming, business picked up when Bailey wrestled Shun and the rest is history. An incredible AEW surprise for the “Loser’s Ball” (not so on this Appreciation Day!), and an even better main event than even last year’s barn-burner between Bailey and Garcia. Kudos to all the talent, the refs (Rick Knox! Knox! Knox!, White/Red/Gold Shoes Justin Borden, AEDub’s Stephon Smith!), the amazing ringside photography of Mikey, Jess and the gang, ring announcer Christian Cole (who has never been more exuberant!), and, of course, our liaison in all this madness, Excalibur. Until next time.

-Travis Moody

Thank you Sex Luger (@RobBishopSD) & Cozy Superkick (@cozysuperkick) for the images.