Toni Storm vs Hiroyo Matsumoto
So this episode kicks off with a cracker of a match. Loved
the opening, evenly worked matwork being paid off by Matsumoto heeling it up by
booting Storm in the stomach from a handshake. From there, Matsumoto controls
Storm, breaking her down with a lovely missile dropkick and focusing on the
back. Toni gets a lovely snap German suplex and a corner charge, but after both
ladies build up momentum by running the ropes, it’s Matsumoto who takes
advantage with a massive clothesline. Hiroyo hits the Vader Bomb kneedrop and
shows great strength by muscling Storm up for the Rock Drop, but Toni makes the
ropes. Matsumoto hits a pair of vicious clotheslines, but showboats too much,
allowing Toni to reverse a third into a bridging cradle for three. Storm ate a
lot of punishment here, so it made sense that her win would have to come from a
reversal, and Matsumoto’s hubris came back to haunt her.
Rhea Ripley vs Kacy Catanzaro
There were bits of this I really dug, mainly the bits where
Ripley’s raw power let her muscle Catanzaro around, but I’m still unconvinced
by Kacy’s offence. I liked Rhea having enough awareness not to fully sell a
glancing flying headscissors, stumbling but not going over. Kacy getting a
small package when Ripley was too nonchalant going for a suplex made sense,
looked like she really caught Ripley unaware. Ripley hits a neat low dropkick
to Catanzaro’s face as she sits up and a great delayed vertical suplex, walking
her around the ring. Rhea whips Catanzaro off the mat, through her legs, to lock
in a neat cloverleaf variation. Kacy gets a small run off offence, fun
tilt-a-whirl DDT and a nice twisting plancha, but her botching a springboard
dropkick and just repeating the spot is a bit iffy. Ripley plants her with a
sitout powerbomb for the win.
Taynara Conti vs Lacey Lane
I’m totally becoming a believer in Conti, thought she was
excellent here. She’s believably cruel in her actions, loved her getting Lane
off the ropes by a pair of nasty kicks to the hands. Lane has some flash, but
Conti provided the meat of this match, with a big judo throw and a slam from
the corner both looking great. Conti goes for the judo throw sideslam that won
her the last match, but Lane reverses to a crucifix bomb for the win. This was
brief, but fun.
Meiko Satomura vs Mercedes Martinez
This match had the potential to be excellent, and it
massively achieved it and then some. Both women are portrayed pretty evenly, as
two veterans and two of the top seeds in the tournament. Satomura sets the bar
early, with a nice kick combo polished off with a big legsweep. Martinez slaps
Satomura, before laying into her with a series of big strikes and a flurry of
elbows to the head. At one point Satomura gets fired up and looks to be
mounting a comeback, only for Martinez to crotch her on the top ropes and nail
a swinging neckbreaker. Loved how Satomura’s comeback was worked, as she caught
Mercedes unaware with an armbar, giving her the opening to then lay into her
with some kicks. A pair of nasty looking DDTs followed, but Martinez blocks a
Pele kick to nail a Fisherman Buster. This only gets a two count, and Martinez
tries to lock in a surfboard. However, Satomura breaks it, and kicks Martinez
as she tries to get up. The Scorpion Kick finishes it moments later. Really
great hard-hitting stuff, with Satomura being just a little too quick and
focused for Martinez.
No comments:
Post a Comment