Takeover XXV, the A Block finals of BOSJ and whatever else there was time for! What made the Top 5 Matches this week?

There really isn’t enough time in the week for all of the events that go on in the wrestling world. But some of the bigger points got hit this week!

As for last week, come on now, Dustin Rhodes vs Cody Rhodes from Double or Nothing, was the match of the week. This does make for an interesting vote for our MoTY May Pool!

• AJPW Champion Carnival Finals: Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee
• MPACT: oVe Rules 8 Man: oVe vs Tommy Dreamer vs Fallah Bahh vs Rich Swann vs Willie Mack
• WWE MiTB: Universal Championship: AJ Styles vs Seth Rollins (c)
• AEW DoN: Dustin Rhodes vs Cody Rhodes

See it’s month’s like this that make wrestling fun. Four different companies, and really, four different styles of match. My vote has to go to Brother vs Brother, because Megadeth’s Holy Wars is a great song.

No? Fine, if you read my previous matches article, you’d know Cody versus Dustin is my personal Match of the Year.

Now let’s see what this week gives us!

5. Impact: Johnny Impact & Michael Elgin vs Rich Swann & Willie Mack

From My Analysis:
Not a bad tag team main event at all! Constant action, great big moves from everyone…and then we see the heels do heel stuff. A few miscommunications annoyed Elgin to the point of just walking away from the match. Swann takes advantage of the fissure, hits a Lethal Injection, into a 450 for a win to keep his momentum.

Winner: Swann via 450 Splash

Rating: *** 3/4

4.  NXT Takeover XXV: Roderick Strong vs Matt Riddle

From My Analysis:
The match built slowly, which allowed Roddy a few opportunities to land a myriad of back breakers. Working over the back came into play at numerous points during the match, making Riddle unable to pull off certain moves. Hell, Riddle couldn’t hold the Bromission, which gave Roddy a glimmer of hope towards the end, but Riddle pulls out the Cradle Tombstone Piledriver, which I haven’t seen him use lately. Good match when all was said and done, plus it got the crowd going within the last few minutes.

Winner: Riddle via Bro Derek

Rating: ****

3. NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 12: DOUKI vs Will Ospreay

Given the fact I haven’t been able to really sit down and watch all of the BOSJ matches and have only been picking and choosing, Douki put on a hell of match. He’s got great flexibility and mixed Lucha Libre style with Japanese Junior Heavyweight style very well. His flexibility is also very hard to argue.

A nice wrinkle through this match was Taichi’s interference since he was at commentary. It didn’t play a big part, so instead of detracting from the storytelling, it actually seemed to help. DOUKI had a few close calls, a big near fall with a Gory Backbreaker, that he brings them down as he does a split and then does a backslide to go into he pin. Very cool moves, but Ospreay is just too much.

Winner: Ospreay via Stormbreaker

Rating: ****

Honorable Mentions:

NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 12: Bandido vs Robbie Eagles
Winner:  Bandido via Moonsault Press
Rating: *** 1/2
NXT Takeover XXV: NXT North American Title: Tyler Breeze vs Velveteen Dream (c)
Winner: Dream via Purple Rainmaker
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 13: Dragon Lee vs Marty Scurll
Winner: Dragon via Desnucadora
Rating: *** 1/2
NXT: Mia Yim vs Bianca Belair
Winner: Yim via Protect Yo Neck
Rating: *** 1/2
WWE Raw: Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn
Winner: Rollins via Stomp
Rating: *** 1/4
NXT Takeover XXV: NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler (c) vs Io Shirai
Winner: Baszler via Kirifuda Clutch
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 12: Ren Narita vs YOH
Winner: YOH via Calf Crusher
Rating: *** 1/4
SmackDown Live: Kofi Kingston vs Kevin Owens
Winner: Kofi via Trouble in Paradise
Rating: *** 1/4
Impact: Street Fight: Killer Kross vs Eddie Edwards
Winner: Edwards via Boston Knee Party
Rating: *** 1/4
NXT: Drew Gulak vs Kushida
Winner: Kushida via Gedo Clutch
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE Raw: Cesaro vs Ricochet
Winner: Ricochet via Hurricanrana
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 13: SHO vs Jonathan Gresham
Winner: SHO via Shock Arrow
Rating: ***
WWE Raw: Number 1 Contender for Universal Title Elimination Match: Baron Corbin vs The Miz vs Bobby Lashley vs Braun Strowman
Winner:  Corbin via End of Days
Rating: ***
NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 12: Rocky Romero vs BUSHI
Winner: BUSHI via MX
Rating: ***
SmackDown Live: Roman Reigns & R-Truth vs Elias & Drew McIntyre
Winner: Reigns via Spear
Rating: ***
NXT Takeover XXV: NXT Tag Team Championship 4 Way Ladder Match
Winner: Street Profits
Rating: ***
Impact: Moose & The North vs RVD, Sabu & Tommy Dreamer
Winner: RVD via 5 Star Frog Splash
Rating: ***

2. NXT Takeover XXV: NXT Championship: Johnny Gargano (c) vs Adam Cole

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Cole argues with the ref, and goes to the outside. He gets a chair! The ref tells Cole to drop the chair but Cole doesn’t care. So the ref grabs the chair, only for Gargano to DIVE! But Gargano gets the ref instead of Cole! And now, Cole swings! But Gargano dodges and SUPERKICKS the chair into Cole’s face! Gargano puts Cole in the ring and covers, but the ref is out! The fans count past 10 but it doesn’t matter because the ref has to do it. Gargano hobbles to help the ref, but of course Cole has help of his own. Cole waves, and Gargano prepares for the Undisputed Era. But when the Era doesn’t appear, Gargano goes to the ring. Cole gets Gargano with a draping piledriver!! Cover, TWO?!? Cole is at his wit’s end. But fans know “This is Awesome!”

Cole sits Gargano up and runs, but Gargano just flops over. Gargano denies Last Shot just by not being able to do anything. Cole makes Gargano sit up again, but gets caught in GargaNO Escape! And Gargano uses his own leg to prop up the other! Cole crawls for ropes but Gargano rolls him away! Cole elbows the bad leg over and over and over until he’s free! He mule kicks the leg over and over, then hosp up again, PANAMA- Gargano sits down! TWO, roll, and Gargano can’t get up. PANAMA SUNRISE!! LAST, SHOT!! Cover, Cole wins!!

Winner: Cole via Last Shot

Rating: **** 1/4

1. NJPW BOSJ 26 Night 13: Shingo Takagi vs Taiji Ishimori

This match was for the A block. Shingo’s perfect record, and Taiji had only one loss. A match between two journeymen, Taiji from Pro Wrestling NOAH and Shingo making his name in Dragon Gate. What comes from this dream match up?

Just, wow. Both took it to one another with hard quick strikes. Ishimori’s speed was his greatest asset and Shingo’s power has kept him ahead of the pack. Ishimori pulled off great moments, a snap Hurricanrana, his Sliding Middle Rope German Suplex, and most of his signature stuff, just everything felt like it mattered a little more.

The finish was different since Ishimori had all the moment, went for Bloody Cross, Shingo blocked and just powered Ishimori into Last of the Dragon position, and landed his finish for the pinfall. So Shingo becomes the first person to have a perfect record in block. LIJ’s dragon is damn impressive.

Winner: Takagi via Last of the Dragon

Rating: **** 1/2

Thoughts:

Shingo was always a favorite of mine. He was one of the main reasons I even pretended to care about Dragon Gate in the last few years, his participation in last year’s Champion Carnival was a treat, and now that he’s in New Japan…I’m just giddy. Yes, this is all leading to me picking Shingo vs Taiji as the match of the week, and it’s not even really close.

So there we go. Let’s here your opinion on the month of May and this week’s matches!