All Out and Stardom 5 Star and To The World

Let's go back a bit and start with 5star. I didn't meticulously rate everything, but a few things definitely stood out.

5STAR Grand Prix

Rina vs Starlight Kid

Day 10

Rina is breaking out of the Kid Zone. All the children of that generation, even as their age and skill surpass their youth, still carry that role of "baby" with them until they can find a way to escape. Kid did it awhile ago, and it's exciting to see Rina getting to the cusp too. Great match.

Ami vs Momo

Day 12

Two big mean girls just beat the hell out of each other and I just think that's neat. I missed Ami and Momo is the perfect opponent for her.

Momo vs Sareee

Day 12

If I gave Ami and Momo 4 for mean girl violence, I gotta give this 4 and a 1/2 cause god damn Sareee chill the fuck out.

Momo will just beat the shit out of anyone though, what a boss.

I didn't rate the semifinals in the moment, and they're not clear in my head anymore, but all three were pretty great. It was definitely a good 5star for mean girls and fighty girls. Momo, Saree, Suzu, and Saori were probably my top 4 for the tournament and the people below them all did great too.

Stardom to the World

Suzu vs Sareee

Sareee has the meanest Office Lady energy like she moonlights as a wrestler and gets hours of stress out on her opponent's brain. Neither her or Suzu have any chill. Any time these two just beat the shit out of someone -- or each other -- I'm satisfied.

Starlight Kids vs Tomoka Inaba

Kid seems to make a knee-based suicide pact with all of her opponents. She's a cat who has mistaken legs for string.

Glad to see Tomoka have a big time Stardom performance. Always extremely good, but they definitely kept her down for awhile for being a guest.

Always have fun teasing Karami that the highflyer, Kid, just LOVES grappling and submissions. It's such a cool style.

AEW All Out

Great show. Everything over-delivered and the card was built for great in-ring matches. So much more satisfied than Forbidden door. The MJF/Mark Briscoe match was insane. Riho vs Mercedes was real good, but had some weird "TV main event" pacing. I was shocked Statlander won, but Toni has no viable opponents and her run feels 'complete'. Having her chase again will be good for her, and Stat needs a bit of a reset like this anyways. Between this, Jurassic Express, and the Acclaimed, it looks like we're getting a few resets. Even The Bucks having normal entrances again...

Okada vs Takeshita vs Dorada

I had no idea they would give Dorada this much. I went in thinking "some people will be confused that Dorada is here, but by the end everyone will understand why he was included."

Fuck that, he had the crowd in like the first 20 seconds. The whole match was BASED around him. 100% the right decision, but not the decision I'd think they make. No matter what I sometimes think about TK's booking, I will always love his willingness to book on talent rather than "overness". He knows when people are good enough to get over on the spot, and after awhile you just gotta trust him and let the man cook.

I feel this is a little high for a match that felt like it had no real stakes, but on the other hand it was THAT cool and fun.

Darby vs Moxley, Coffin Match

The high spots on this were really high -- as typical with Darby. The continuation after the match was also great. Obviously the best bit is Danielson passing Darby a bag and screaming "GIVE HIM WHAT HE DESERVES" or whatever it was.

It almost feels like a 4 and a half but when I look at the 3 matches I liked the most, it felt like the weakest, so... idk. I feel like on a different show I'd add the half star, which shows you how little these ratings matter.

Hangman vs Fletcher

Like I got nothing to say. There wasn't a 'stand out thing' or great storyline moment, or a particular theme my mind goes too. The exact story they said was going to get told got told and everyone evolved did everything perfectly.

This is a perfectly cooked steak of a wrestling match, good in such basic, and pure ways. I hate "This is Wrestling" chants, but... well, this is wrestling.

You can also check my dropkickd for the original versions of some of these reviews