Drew McIntyre vs Oney Lorcan-WWE NXT 5.4.2017.

I've had a long time fascination with short matches so I'm glad to see them become the hip thing these days. I'm not going to rank a match where someone does a backlfip for a thigh slap big boot as one of the absolute best in the genre, but this about as good as it gets for a four minute NXT TV match. McIntyre dominated nicely, his Belly to Belly Suplexes looked great. Lorcan's comeback attempts were really good, his European Uppercuts were on point and his slap attack was straight out of late 2000s/1early 2010s NOAH. A really neat showcase of how smartly utilizing struggle and violence can instantly raise the stakes of even the most throwaway matches and make more memorable. I can't really decide on a rating-my gut instinct says ***1/4. but this better than Lesnar/Goldberg at least from the perspective on not relying on smoke and mirrors so much and providing a more viable style. But the spectacle and the bullshit is also a part of what makes wrestling so lovely so. ***1/4-***1/2,***1/4+, whatever.

Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WWE 2.4.2017.

The match reminds me of the Ibushi-Perkins match from the CWC. It's the type of match that rules in the moment but is also not self sustainable in the long run. I think WWE has historically done a good job of not falling into that trap, although that's been changing in the last few years, whether it's Triple H's rise in power, the influx of indy guys, Cena watching PWG tapes, when the end result is basically 2009 Tyler Black matches happening as WWE main events something's broken. Now....obviously a pop-up after being hit with several suplexes is ridiculous. But did it ever work here. They constructed the perfect match in terms of their capabilities at this point. Every spot was memorable, every transition logical and complementing what they'd established in their previous matches (like Lesnar rolling out of the ring since defeat was imminent after being hit with the second spear). Lesnar's leapfrog was a stark reminder he was never so revered just for his strength but also his overall athleticism, it'd be nice if we got to see that side of him more often since that's usually when the matches are better too. A nice spectacle, but it doesn't hold a candle to something like Ikeda vs Ono for >5 minute matches. ***1/2

Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe-WWE Raw 6.2.2017.

Not seeing the hype on this one. Joe's beatdown was pretty pedestrian, too many shots that obviously missed, Reigns is willing to sell and bump to put someone over but he could only do so much. Transition watch: a Back Elbow from a rope running counter that worked due to the threat of Reigns' Jumping Clothesline (validated by him using it later in the match) and a simple irish whip counter. They did a pretty good job of building up signature spots in a manner that was used to be pretty common a few years ago using delayed gratification (ie. Reigns goes for a Samoan Drop, Joe reverses avoids it, runs the ropes, Reigns goes for the Samoan Drop again, Joe fights off>Reigns puts him down and Uppercuts him, leaving the Samoan Drop for Joe to use as a pop up counter for the Facewash) and that, Reigns' performance in general and a quality distraction finish entertained me well enough. **3/4

Braun Strowman vs Big Show-WWE Raw 20.2.2017.

As I've become gradually more obsessed with wrestling I've gone full circle to getting bored with a lot of it and watching a lot less of it, so I'm more interested in deconstructing the patterns present in certain styles, their merits and how much I can get ouf of them. This match looked unique enough in that the conclusions they'd come to appeared interesting.

The opening matwork was fun, though it's impossible to say for me that seeing GIF of them doing the same on house shows didn't lessen its impact. It's a double edged sword-if you don't practice a spot you might blow it, if you do it's gonna be as big of a deal for at least someone. The use of the irish whips and rope running was good-Show attempted the classic New Japan "hit a move after your opponent runs the ropes" cut off but Strowman avoided that and took him down instead, successfully used running moves and so on. Strowman's control segment was a little disappointing, throwing people around and beating them senseless is what really made me love him and he couldn't really do that against Big Show. The actual transitions were predictable, not to a huge detriment-but when you know a suplex counter is coming or that Big Show's Vader Splash wont' connect it isn't adding to the match. The finisher kick-outs worked in that they were unexpected for the occasion, unforced and added to the atmosphere of the match without going overboard. Strowman laid in some nice shots but I couldn't shake the feeling that even when the ideas were good (like Big Show attempting a desperate Chokeslam before being put away) there was just something a little artifical about it. I'm not sure I buy into the idea the crowd was constantly into it when they would go silent for long stretches before popping for the highspots, though that isn't really that much different than all other WWE wrestling that just has more highspots. **3/4

Kota Ibushi vs TJ Perkins-WWE CWC 14.9.2016.

Early on Perkins avoided Ibushi's kicks by checking them, countering them with a Dragon Screw and so on, did a lot of matwork, really leaving an impression he had come prepared to face Ibushi, as in Ibushi's last two matches were him just surviving insane bomb throwing. But with them showcasing Ibushi as the favourite to win the tournament, it'd only make sense that it almost didn't matter if Perkins did all that and went to the trouble of cutting off Ibushi's dive, Ibushi was gonna get it in anyway. Whereas that dive cut-off felt like a big- elaborate counter-move from Perkins Ibushi doing something like staying on the apron and hitting a Springboard Dropkick after Perkins had tried to set-up a dive with his rope trick looked like it just naturally came to him. The context really makes the finishing stretch work-it would seem bloated and cliche that was how they'd worked every match. But even in the last two big Ibushi matches the big nearfalls were based on novelty and them doing a good job of setting them up and not so much, well, *really* buying into that they were going to end the match. And that was the case here. It didn't matter how the Sitout Last Ride was used in the rest of Ibushi's career, in this tournament it was a killshot, and this match was the pay-off that they could have and did afford due to the uniqueness of the tournament. And for Perkins to beat Ibushi at his own game it would take a bunch of bombs of his own, and hitting his biggest bomb over and over again and modifying it and boy did they ever accomplish everything this match could've and should've been. ****

John Cena vs AJ Styles-WWE Royal Rumble 2017

This definitely wasn't a PWG stlye match. The beginning of the match was worked at a very slow pace with them taking bumps for weak strikes. You don't have 50 thousand fans going insane before the match starts at PWG either, so no need for that portion where you calm them down. And once they started with the workrate they did plenty of selling and didn't just move from move to move, and that there were touches like Styles doing so much cool kicking offence and Cena busting out Lariats and his most ridiculous Prototype facial expressions are probably what made me enjoy it more than their Summerslam match. It was a match very much built around the workrate, and they did have some nice build around their signature spots when they started with it (the Frankensteiner counter to the Backdrop Suplex was neat), but after a while I just began to wonder whether all of the Cena matches from 2011-2013 would really hold up. The submission countering can be interesting to see what stuff they come up with, but for a match really aiming at that excitement and flash it's completely devoid of drama, Cena hasn't been nearly as graceful in his finisher becoming less efficient as Choshu, Misawa and many others have where they'd adapt to it by treating it differently, coming up with other moves and so on. IDK, I hardly see greatness in Cena sloppily hitting dumb Electric Chairs and indy spots. Stlyes' offence wasn't any different either, nothing carried the sense of actually being a threat to ending the match. ***

Beth Phoenix vs Melina (WWE Royal Rumble 2009)

I watched this match because of a GIF. I vaguely remember this stuff, but the aesthetic of Melina's red carpet entrance, some weird Beth-Santino storyline and Lawler commentating it all in the manner of a 2009 diva match ended up being quite the trip. It was six minutes long, and I like short matches, so maybe my next endeavor could be revisiting the divas division before giving up matches in and then not watching wrestling for a month. A lot of the moves they do don't look polished, but it doesn't matter that much. Many of the men in WWE have had shitty strikes as well and have been given a pass, they're just quick transitions, it doesn't matter much in the WWE style. The lay-out was really interesting-you had Phoenix dominating by outpowering Melina and recklessly throwing her around, maybe she's actually the divas version of Rick Steiner. Melina's comebacks were brief and included doing really wacky springboard axe quicks, roll-ups and a La Mistica, I loved just how ridiculous the whole thing was and the finishing stretch was chaotic, some might be botehred that there are times where you're not sure what's exactly happening and the correct person is registering pain after a botch, but it has a certain charm when you know the match isn't going long and every move could legitimately end the match. And the aforementioned GIF included Phoenix holding Melina in a Stretch Muffler and kicking Melina in the head with Melina's own leg and yeah that spot ruled. Fun match. ***

Braun Strowman vs Sami Zayn-WWE Raw 2.1.2017.

The Zayn that sells is much more interesting than the Zayn that does Half Nelson Chickenwing Suplexes and Michinoku Drivers, his grin before the match when Strowman's music was such a nice touch, Kevin Dunn did well. Strong performances by both men, Strowman's feats of strength were unique, looked great and Zayn bumped great for them, while the DDT counter was hardly the most original spot it was definitely well done as Braun just annihilated Zayn with a Forearm. The match had its limitations due to them adhering to a formula of "Braun dominates-Zayn reaches for a weapon-Braun fights off-repeat" in building the body of the match but it did play to both of their strengths and was definitely a step in the right direction. ***1/4

Braun Strowman vs Mark Henry-WWE Raw 13.2.2017.

Really fun and concise hoss battle with them smartly using the 5 minutes they had. I'm not the biggest proponent of sound effect strikes but they can work just like anything else and Strowman's were similar to Reigns' and Harper's who do them well too, the WSS weight shift was a smart counter you don't see often since there aren't a lot of wrestlers bigger than Henry that'd make that spot make sense. Henry catchin Strowman's arm when he went for the clubbing blow is something I could see annoying an all knowing WWE binge watcher if the "go for the move again once you've executed it correctly only to get it countered" pattern is super prominent in WWE (I'm not convinced of that, I think they vary things enough to that it isn't really an issue in general, only when someone telegraphs it) but Henry made it look so cool by milking the arm catch and following it up with a great fired up comeback. ***

AJ Styles vs Randy Orton-WWE Smackdown 7.3.2017.

Just looking at the transitions WWE style looks way more sophisticated than it's usually given credit. Doing limbwork is one of the first ideas that comes to mind when wrestles think of ways to fill their control segments, and while AJ's bumping may be strong enough that he can turn an irish whip into a corner into a believable beginning of a back work Orton in control feels like it was thought up by an e-fed writer, just a lot of moves that target a body part done consequently, not that much different from the logic used in spotfests. Styles carried those segments with his bumping and acting and when in control did some nice kneework, but what I most liked about it is how rough the match felt. Orton's sprawls when AJ would go for his leg, the sandbag on the Styles Clash and Styles sucking Orton in on a Springboard RKO counter everyone expects by this point created a level of struggle you don't see in an average WWE TV match. ***1/4