1) KUSHIDA vs. Matt Sydal
KUSHIDA & Sydal exhibit mat work and counters to start. The leg soon becomes the target of Sydal and as usual, KUSHIDA targets the arm as prep for the hoverboard lock. KUSHIDA gets the first real advantage by catching Sydal with a front rolling kick out of nowhere when Sydal was hitting the ropes. This allows KUSHIDA to hop up on the top rope and do his signature front flip to the outside on Sydal. They pretty much went into the finish sequence after this with several submission teases from hoverboard lock attempts by KUSHIDA and big moves like Sydal catching KUSHIDA with a REVERSERANA in the midst of a back hand spring into the ropes. I marked like crazy for that! Sydal only gets a two count and ends up getting caught in the hoverboard lock soon after this once again. He fights out and throws a number of strikes at KUSHIDA that knock him to the mat. This allows Sydal to ascend to the top rope and finally nail the shooting star press that he missed earlier in the evening. Fun match and a significant victory for Sydal who will be heading to New Japan for the first time ever in a few days.
Match rating - ***1/4
2) Moose vs. Adam Page vs. Takaaki Watanabe vs. Will Ferrara - Four Corner Survival Match
Moose clearly got the biggest pop here, but after everyone was in the ring, the crowd started chanting for Watanabe and it was the sweetest thing ever. He was overlooked at the start of his US/ROH excursion and now he's improved so much that he's won the crowd over. It must feel great for him. It's funny that I wrote all that about him prior to this match because this ended up being HIS match for the most part. Adam Page did his schtick with being the biggest douche bag in the match, Moose had his moments, and Ferrara was pretty much just there. Meanwhile Watanabe was the real star here. The story became his suplex variations and it climaxed with him nailing Moose with one which was epic. He nails Ferrara with an STO for the victory. Wow! I wasn't expecting that. Decent little four corner survival.
Match rating - **1/2
3) Adam Cole vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The match we've been waiting for is here. Right off the bat, it has that same big feel as Kev/Nakamura did in 2014 and just as this feels like a special moment, Cole starts resorting to taunts. Nakamura responds in kind by mocking the "Adam Cole Bay Bay" which pisses Cole off and he gets vicious. The knee becomes the target for Cole. I wondered why, then I realized that it sets up perfectly for the figure four leg lock that he loves to apply. That is indeed what he was building towards and it nearly paid off until Nakamura got to the ropes to break the hold. Nakamura was on the defensive for the majority of this match as he was unable to hit the Boma Ye despite several attempts which made for a nice moment when he finally hit it from the second rope. The action got pretty heated in the final few minutes and in the midst of it, Cole spit in the face of Nakamura to get the advantage and nailed him with a neckbreaker on the knee. The King of Strong Style wouldn't be denied, however. After the running knee only got him a two count, Nakamura went for the landslide, his variation of the falcon arrow and he NAILED IT. 1..2..3.. It's over! Good match between two of the best from their respective parts of the world.
Match rating - ***3/4
NEXT WEEK: Action from Field of Honor
- The Briscoes vs. The Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley)
- Roderick Strong vs. Kazuchika Okada
No comments:
Post a Comment