.png)
Welcome back to another edition of my weekly roundup. This week happens to be a big one for women's wrestling with ⅞ of the current matches being women's matches. That is also with me not having the time to check out Ryo Mizunami winning the Oz Academy title or the CMLL women's grand prix due to a bit of a busy schedule. While this week's issue may be a little bit shorter than usual the quality is still really high with some nice variety. I also take a look back to 1980 with Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey, perhaps one of the finest bouts of the world of sport era of British wrestling.
Marigold Fantastic Adventure - Day 7
Miku Aono vs Nagisa Nozaki
This was a very good defence of the Marigold United National Title for Miku Aono. It was a very intense fight with Aono bleeding from the mouth following some vicious kicks from Nozaki. Aono got her revenge with a vicious move of her own, a styles clash on the apron. It was also the styles clash that got Aono the win when she applied it later in the middle of the ring for the three count. This was exactly what you want from a secondary title match.
Match rating: 3.75
Sareee vs Bozilla
This was a world title match I'd been eagerly anticipating ever since Sareee won the title. Bozilla has been hugely impressive as a monster heel in Marigold and Sareee has been a complete revelation since leaving WWE so this was always bound to be a good one. Bozilla dominated early on as expected but this match really burst into life after Sareee started bleeding after a few chairs were thrown at her. Sareee dug deep and was able to hoist Bozilla up for the uranage but it wasn't enough, only keeping the monster down for a 2 count. Sareee claimed victory after Bozilla tapped out to an armbar submission hold. This match was really effective at getting Sareee over as an unstoppable champion. If Bozilla can't beat her then who can? That is a question that will have to be decided but I think whatever you think of Marigold you can't argue with their booking of Sareee. She has undoubtedly been one of the wrestlers of the year and Marigold gave definitely gotten their treatment of her exactly right.
Match rating: 4.25
TNA Bound for Glory
Mike Bailey vs El Hijo Del Vikingo
I don't know if Mike Bailey has changed his breakfast or what but he seems to be operating on an even higher level than normal these last few weeks. This was also definitely Vikingo’s best match since returning from injury but of course, he got injured again in this match so I better wish him well in his recovery. This is pretty much the blueprint for what you want an X-division title match to look like. Both of these guys are two of the best and most innovative cruiserweights around so that was no surprise. The highlight was probably a Canadian Destroyer by Vikingo which he hit by jumping off the ring post onto Mike Bailey standing on the apron. Speedball got the win with a crazy move off the top rope which I could best describe as a moonsault fisherman buster. A great match to cap off a great month for Speedball.
Match rating: 4.25
Jordynne Grace vs Masha Slamovich
Jordynne and Masha are probably the two best women's wrestlers based in America not under AEW or WWE contract and they're always a fun match-up. Like their previous match at Bound for Glory this featured a lot of both women just hitting each other with as many high impact moves as they could. Their matches always have a Joshi feel to me for this reason. Masha got the win with a piledriver variant to win her first Knockouts title! Something that was long overdue in my opinion.
Match rating: 4
Stardom Goddess of Stardom Tag League 2024 - Day 2
Mei Seira vs Yuna Mizumori
This was a fantastic high speed title match. Mei Seira has been awesome as champion. The last few minutes of this, in particular, was absolutely superb high speed wrestling, however, my favourite moment of the match was a powerful lariat from Mizumori to the champion. A terrific defence for Seira and long may her reign continue.
Match rating: 4.25
Marvelous 27/10/2024
Meiko Satomura vs Takumi Iroha
This match wasn't as exciting as it looked on paper but still featured some very solid wrestling. We haven't got many Satomura matches left so I think it's important we savour them, especially when the opponent is as good as Iroha
Match rating: 3.5
Team 200kg vs Bob Bob Momo Banana
This has been one of the best tag teams rivalries of the year in Sendai Girls and this event saw the rivalry make its way to Marvelous in what may have been the best match in the series yet. Hashimoto and Yuu are a super powerhouse tag team and the duo of Momono and Oka are the perfect underdog babyface tag team to face them. These matches usually centre around Hashimoto and Momono but this one saw the most action between Momono and Yuu. Mio Momono snatched the win with a neat powerbomb reversal on Yuu in a feel good moment.
Match rating: 4.25
Rise Underground Spooky Slam
Millie McKenzie vs Emersyn Jayne
If you've followed me for a while you'll know I'm a big fan of these two women. I think both are among the best unsigned wrestlers on the planet. This match was them going balls to the wall and having the craziest death match they could muster and of course, it was great. Both women bled thanks to the maniacal use of light tubes, skewers and other such apparatus. The match even featured a perfectly executed avalanche poison rana from Millie McKenzie. McKenzie followed this up with a spear through a board fitted out with light tubes to get the win and become number one contender for the women's championship. Awesome death match.
Match rating: 4.25
Classic Matches
As always the classic matches are sourced from the Wrestling Playlist project. This is a daily newsletter that takes a chronological look at wrestling footage dating back to the turn of the 20th century. You can subscribe to at https://wrestlingplaylists.substack.com/ This week's matches are from issue #226 of the newsletter.
Joint Promotions 28/01/1980
Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey
When people talk about the World of Sport style this is a prime example of the type of wrestling they're referring to. This was a lightweight contest, fought over 8 rounds and 2 falls. Saint was the world champion and Grey was the British champion.
What you had here were two of Britain's finest technical wrestlers putting on a grappling clinic. Johnny Saint was incredibly impressive in this match in particular. The wrist control from him in the first couple of rounds was nothing short of phenomenal and the way he won the first fall was absolutely ingenious. This was a very sporting contest fought extremely cleanly and Grey levelled the score with a version of the backslide. The closing sequence was an exhilarating lightning fast grappling exchange that saw Grey get the better of the world champion, for the second time in about a month. After the match Saint made it known that Grey had truly earned a world title shot after pinning him twice, reinforcing the sporting nature of the contest.
This was a shining example of how to work a babyface vs babyface technical match and surely one of the best matches of 1980.
Match rating: 4.5
Commentaires