Joseph Montecillo's Best of the Month (April 2023)
Joseph Montecillo's Best of the Month (April 2023)
WrestleMania weekend to a big return in the southeast!
Honorable Mentions
Naruki Doi, Yuki Yoshioka, & Dragon Dia vs. Kzy, Jason Lee, & Jacky “Funky” Kamei (Dragongate 4/1/23)
Strong BJ vs. Yuya Aoki & Takuya Nomura (BJW 4/1/23)
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos (WWE 4/2/23)
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino (NJPW 4/8/23)
Bryan Keith vs. Kevin Ku (Freelance 4/14/23)
Mistico, Stuka Jr., & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis Jr., Volador Jr., & Averno (CMLL 4/21/23)
Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Syuri (STARDOM 4/23/23
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio (WWE 4/1/23)
The most tightly structured match from WrestleMania weekend. It’s a beautiful thing, fully leaning into exaggerated old school babyface/heel dynamics, complete with an ass whipping that ranks among the best moments of the year. Rey’s greatness is more than known at this point, both sympathetic and athletic—the perfect babyface. He’s exhilarating on offense and takes some grotesque bumps on the sell. Dom matches his father’s likeability with immense heel brilliance here. Coming out in a mockery of Rey’s iconic Halloween Havoc gear, taunting his family as a means to distract Rey and steal the advantage, and basing and bumping for one of the greatest high fliers ever. Absolutely willing to eat up more of this feud in the coming months.
Rating: ****
Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre (WWE 4/2/23)
It’s not a complicated thing. They hit each other really hard for just the right amount of time before wrapping things up. There’s nothing too fancy about it. Structurally, it’s your standard WWE three-way, but it’s just that they’re hitting so goddamn hard. It’s a beautiful thing to see in such a wide, open arena, how none of the spectacle from those meaty shots ever dissipates. Hell yeah.
Rating: ****1/4
Atlantis Jr. vs. Mistico vs. Rocky Romero (CMLL 4/7/23)
While I typically associate the best work of CMLL to be highly structured trios matches, every now and then we get something a little too spectacular to deny. This match leans far heavier into being a dazzling display of athleticism. There’s a lot of dives, big bumps to the floor, and it doesn’t really follow the same kind of rigid structures that I enjoy so much in CMLL’s tag work. The thing is that the fireworks are just a little too hard to deny here, especially when it’s combined with the ability of all three men to work up the Arena Mexico crowd into a lather. Even better too is the wear that all three display towards the end of the match. I’ve seen a million spotfests where the wrestlers move at the finish just as they do for the rest of the match, whereas here all the big risks actually feel like they have consequences.
Rating: ****
Mad Dog Connelly vs. 1 Called Manders (SLA 4/14/23)
My favorite discovery of 2022, Mad Dog Connelly, delivers yet again with a heated and compact slugfest. It’s not just that these two hit each other really hard, though that is a big part of the appeal. With Mad Dog especially, it’s much more about the overall package. His physicality and forward moving aggression feel so damn real. At no point does it ever feel like Mad Dog is trying anything less than to hurt Manders, and that’s not really something you can say about many people in wrestling.
Rating: ****
Mio Momono vs. ASUKA (Marvelous 4/22/23)
Two of the best women’s wrestlers in Japan just having a really fun match. These two are talented enough that given enough time, they’re bound to produce something great which they do here. ASUKA’s size advantage plays well perfectly with Mio’s scrappier babyface fire. ASUKA’s such an innately likeable wrestler that it’s fun to see her play a bit of the bully here and having Mio struggle up against that dynamic. This does have a non-finish, which is a shame, but it’s really not quite enough to detract from all the great work that preceded it.
Rating: ****
D’Courage vs. Kzy, BIG BOSS Shimizu, & Jason Lee (Dragongate 4/23/23)
A wonderful little trios match. Classically structured, built around a lengthy heat segment on Dragon Dia. The often fun loving Natural Vibes trio here adapt real well to the circumstances of a very pro-Dia crowd and really heel it up to draw the ire of the fans while working over Dia. Even beyond that, we get a lot of the really speedy, crisp, and flashy offense that makes the Dragongate house style so compulsively watchable throughout too. One of those matches where there truly just is nothing to complain about.
Rating: ****
Mercedes Mone vs. Mayu Iwatani (STARDOM 4/23/23)
I’ve been fairly high on the work that Mercedes has been able to do since returning. In my opinion, this is her best work since coming back. Fast paced and heated, like both women going out of their way to show what they’re both capable and willing to do for the title. I’ve seen a decent amount of criticism, even from fans of this match, that it felt like these two left a little too much on the table for down the road. I can certainly see where that thought comes from, but in my mind, they moved at such a quick pace and with such intensity that it didn’t shock me that things burnt so brightly and so fast. I also hold true to my statement that Mercedes hits an all-timer of a Three Amigos in this.
Rating: ****
Adam Priest vs. Daniel Makabe (ACTION 4/28/23)
The last time that Daniel Makabe wrestled Adam Priest in a singles match, it was at the 2021 Scenic City Invitational. At that time, it was conquering hero Makabe putting away the promising heel Priest. Two years later, and Priest is an unlikely hero at ACTION, but more importantly now one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. I love that the setting forces a more petty and vicious Makabe to come to the fore, his work here feels reminiscent of his lovely heel title run in 3-2-1 Battle!
It’s a double knee work match worked here, but what elevates it beyond the usual is the circumstances around Makabe’s knee getting worked come across more naturally. It’s when Makabe misses a big knee drop off the ropes that Priest finds the opportunity to zone in on the body part to lead into the finish. Perfect karmic justice from two of the smartest workers on the planet today. Few people on the indies structure matches better than these two and it showed in this whopper of a title match.
Rating: ****1/4