AKIRA TOZAWA VS. TONY NESE
Pretty obvious what each man needs to do here: Nese needs to ground and pound and keep Tozawa in a tight spot, in a corner is good, while Tozawa needs to keep the pace fast and furious and use his speed stay out of Nese’s grasp. Nese would seem to be the better wrestler, he has the speed and power, but I think Tozawa is gonna come out on top. Nese will make a big mistake and Tozawa will capitalize. Tozawa does the opposite of what his game plan should be early on and locks up with Nese then gets in close with strikes. That’s going to be a big mistake if he continues to wrestle this match like that. Nese spends too much time flexing and giving his opponent time to recover. Tozawa does capitalize on Nese’s mistake and the pace really starts to pick up with a suicide dive and a double dropkick off the top turnbuckle. He takes way too long going up top a second time and Nese is quick to hit him with a gut buster. He makes that same mistake yet again, he really needs to wait until he’s sure his man is down before going up top. This time however, it pays off as he slams Nese from the top rope and hits his senton splash for the win. Lucky that he hit that counter from the top rope, because he was in trouble if Nese hit the superplex. Good match.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
Cedric wants Hideo Itami, Drake Maverick will consider it. I don’t know how good of a match that will be. For some reason I feel like it may not be that great.
LIO RUSH VS. DEWEY JAMES
Dewey James looks like more of a jobber than James Ellsworth does. Rush shows off his heel tendencies right away, and also shows off his amazing speed. No offense at all from Dewey James, not that any way expected. Rush hits a big frog splash called the Final Hour for the win. Good debut squash match. As Nigel points out, leave them wanting more. One issue is that his promos need to sound less rehearsed and more natural.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
SIX-MAN ELIMINATION TAG MATCH: LUCHA HOUSE PARTY VS. THE BRIAN KENDRICK, JACK GALLAGHER, & DREW GULAK
Billed as the kiss-off match for this feud, I’m almost sad to see it end because the matches have been so good, but it’s definitely time because for the first time since Gulak started feuding with the luchadors, when I heard about this match, I said to myself, “Again?” So they’re ending it at just the right time. LHP flies over and through the ropes to start the match to get an early advantage before the bell rings. Gallagher eliminates Gran Metalik early with a head butt to give the heels a 3-on-2 advantage.
Gulak rips off Lince Dorado’s mask and Kalisto immediately helps him get it back on before anyone can see his face. I enjoy that aspect of Gulak’s attack because it makes the luchadors think about keeping the mask on and opens them up to more attacks. The heel team uses their numbers advantage to beat down Dorado some more as he continuously checks to make sure his mask is on. Out of nowhere he catches Kendrick and gets a pin to even up the sides.
Dorado has been in the ring for a long time and has taken a ton of punishment. A hot tag to Kalisto should be near. Or Dorado will get pinned and force Kalisto in. Either way, Kalisto will be in soon. They tease the hot tag a couple times but the heels are too quick. Brian Kendrick, out of the match, yanks Kalisto off the apron and Gulak taps out Dorado with the Gu-Lock, and as I said, one way or another, Kalisto is coming into the match. This is the way I expected it to happen.
Kalisto is all over Gulak and drives him face first into the mat with a baseman hurricanrana but Gallagher breaks up the pin and punishes Kalisto on the outside. This is where Kalisto is at a huge disadvantage, it’s two on one. He needs to take out the guy in the corner first, if he even gets that opportunity, then try to pin the guy in the ring. Gulak and Gallagher are doing everything the can to make sure Kalisto has no room to breathe, but he counters a suplex, kicks Gulak off the apron while hitting a Salida del Sol on Gallagher, and now it’s a one-on-one match. That was really fucking awesome.
Kalisto was in control but got a little too cute and Gulak countered a Salida del Sol attempt into a punch to the back of the neck followed by a brutal lariat. Gulak counters another finisher attempt into the Gu-Lock to once again force a member of Lucha House Party to tap. He then ceremonially destroys Penelope Gulak. Very good match, really good action.
Match Rating: Seven Gold Medals
Overall Show Rating: Six Gold Medals
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