ZERO1 has always had a special if small place in my heart. It was a prominent Japanese indie company at a time when American indie companies were starting to gain more exposure thanks to the internet. As such, it served as the home base for a lot of guys’ initial excursions over there. I believe Samoa Joe, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, CM Punk, and Low Ki all worked in front of Japanese fans there first. Steve Corino spent the twilight of his career there.
The company was founded in 2000 by Shinya Hashimoto after he was fired from New Japan. Hashimoto had originally wanted it to be a vertical within NJPW, but when he was let go he (along with Shinjiro Ohtani) just started it up as its own thing. He started running shows in ‘01 and did talent exchanges with basically every company in Japan except for NJPW.
In 2004, Hashimoto retired from wrestling and left the company to Ohtani’s new holding company. He died of a brain aneurysm a year later. The company was renamed ZERO1-MAX. During the Hashimoto era, ZERO1 was the Japanese NWA affiliate. Under the new regime, the NWA aligned with NJPW and ZERO1 formed a relationship with an AWA offshoot. For more on that, check out the end of my AWA Championship review. They’d later be readmitted into the NWA (in the pre-Billy Corgan era). But during their dalliance with the AWA offshoot, they came into possession of the Big Gold AWA Belt. It would later transform into their own namesake top title.
October 26, 2007 – Tokyo, Japan
Masato Tanaka def. Takao Omori {AWA World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Innovation. This title’s history is so weird. They use the final AWA Championship belt, but have no actual connection to the original AWA Championship. It was basically a midwest indie title that became an east coast indie that became a west coast indie title that eventually got rebooted as a Japanese indie title. This is the end of that path. I had much more fun with this match when Omori was in control, mostly because I was flabbergasted by some of the things Tanaka allowed to be done to him. Foremost was the Axe Guillotine Driver from the apron through a table on the floor. Seeing it done was one thing, but the fact that Tanaka was dead on his feet for quite a while after made me very happy. Watching so many matches lately where someone hits a huge move on the floor only for the victim to be up like nothing happened under a minute later drives me insane. Omori did a bit of that here, taking Tanaka’s big strikes down the stretch and then standing up right after for the sake of getting into position for another. What I’m describing wasn’t your typical fighting spirit power-up, but rather just Omori standing up because the next move was on its way. Tanaka hit the Sliding D for the win at 14:06. ***¼
At the end of the year, ZERO1 and fake AWA parted ways. Because the AWA was having legal troubles and would soon be dropping that name altogether (thanks to a lawsuit from WWE), ZERO1 kept the belt and rebranded it as their top title. Tanaka held the title for a year before losing it to Yuji Nagata on a New Japan show that isn’t up in full on NJ World. Very frustrating; it was the semi-main event! Nagata held it for five months before dropping it to Ohtani.
February 27, 2009 – Tokyo, Japan
Shinjiro Ohtani def. Yuji Nagata {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Wrestler’s Belief. Ohtani has always looked so much older than he is. Here, at 36 years old, he looks 50. It’s the old Arn Anderson bald spot problem. The story here is that Nagata is neutralizing the leg so that Ohtani’s Face Wash isn’t all that powerful. And it pays off, as Nagata is able to be in control of most of the match and get very close to winning it with a Figure 4 Leglock. But there are two meta issues. The first is that main event matches in Japan basically never end on a submission. Only the second issue impacted my enjoyment of the match though. And that’s that Nagata just sort of became useless in the final minute of the match, looking alert but allowing Ohtani to hit him with a wild barrage of offense out of nowhere and get the win with a dragon suplex at 20:48. That ending felt so strange. The rest of the match was a lot of fun though. After the match, Steve Corino challenged Ohtani to an impromptu title match, which Ohtani won in ten minutes with the Spider Bomb. That’s a hell of a way to establish yourself as champion. ***½
March 29, 2009 – Tokyo, Japan
Ryouji Sai def. Shinjiro Ohtani {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From the Yasukuni Shrine Festival. This is how you elevate a new guy to the top of the card. Ohtani fought like an ornery bastard here, angry that the larger Sai was controlling with gnarly kicks early on. But Sai never backed down. He fought through Ohtani’s heel hook for a crazy long time, longer maybe than was believable. But the moment that sold me was Ohtani going up top for a diving move and having to fight off Sai half a dozen times before succumbing to a superplex. That was terrific. Most of the match was Sai going for kicks until Ohtani was able to block one and then Ohtani working over the leg. Even in this long match, it never got dull. Sai eventually was able to brute force his way to the win, kicking out of Ohtani’s dragon suplex and Spider Bomb and connecting with the Sky Kick for the title at 26:17. Sai lost the title to Tanaka three months later. ****
October 24, 2009 – Tokyo, Japan
Toshiaki Kawada def. Masato Tanaka {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Wrestler’s 6 ~ Never Gonna Stop! This is the matchup that got me wanting to do this lineage. Kawada’s career was winding down, so I’m not expecting a ton out of him here. In fact, this was the final wrestling championship he ever held. Still, it’s Kawada. And the match was a blast. Kawada had a lot of trouble early on, almost getting knocked out trying to go blow for blow with Tanaka. But then Tanaka became myopically focused on putting Kawada through a table. That ended with Kawada basically using the table to destroy Tanaka’s tailbone. Quite a bit of the match was each guy trying to adapt after his initial plan proved faulty. Kawada redeemed his early-match weakness by elbowing and kicking Tanaka silly, hitting him with a powerbomb, and then putting him away with a kick version of the Sliding D at 14:20. Tanaka is still active today, three years older now than Kawada was here. He’s in much better shape now than Kawada was here, but Kawada has never been the same kind of abdominal monster that Tanaka is. ***½
April 11, 2010 – Tokyo, Japan
Kohei Sato def. Toshiaki Kawada {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Yasukuni Shrine Festival. The title changes hands at this event a LOT. I know this was Kawada in 2010 and not Kawada in ‘98, but seeing him lose so easily to Sato here was baffling to me. I suppose given that it was Kawada’s final match in ZERO1 and that he only had seven televised matches left in his career (over the course of the following four months) it’s less confusing. Truly, what’s more baffling to me is that Sato was the guy that ZERO1 wanted to be on top at the time. Dude is a charisma vacuum if you ask me. Kawada rolled him in the first half of the match, and probably should have won by KO when Sato was unable to get up after a gnarly kick for several minutes. But then Kawada went for the pin and only got two. From there, things were more even, and Sato won with a running kick and a German suplex at 15:22. A solid match, but nothing to write home about. It’s historically significant if you want to see what a half-motivated Kawada looks like putting over a young guy near the end of his career. **¾
July 11, 2010 – Tokyo, Japan
Bambikiller def. Kohei Sato {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From One Knight Stand. You had to know they didn’t think of Bambikiller as a game-changer because this match wasn’t the main event of the evening. The crowd seemed to agree, as they were silent for most of the match and then buzzed a bit when Bambikiller won the title. And I do mean just a bit. The match was a bore, so I don’t blame them for their lack of volume. Bambikiller looks like a mid-aughts WWE reject. And he wrestled like one here. Or Thomas Latimer. He looks a lot like Thomas Latimer. No thanks on all counts. He hit a pair of Killer Bottoms for the win at 13:11. The name of that move does not match this fella’s gimmick at all. **¼
September 9, 2010 – Tokyo, Japan
Daisuke Sekimoto def. Bambikiller {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Euro Vintage Action. I’d never seen a Bambikiller match before his ZERO1 run, and I always assumed he’d look like more of a dirtbag deathmatch wrestler than a jacked up strong style guy. I don’t know why I thought that; it was probably because of his stupid name. But he’s bigger than Sekimoto, which I guess isn’t that much of a feat given the beef boy’s height. This wasn’t anything special. The crowd didn’t care about Bambikiller, and they didn’t give Sekimoto much love either. There was nothing between the few big throws, but at least those throws passed the 14 minutes well enough. Sekimoto hit a pair of German suplexes for the win and the title at 14:09. **¾
March 6, 2011 – Tokyo, Japan
Ryouji Sai def. Daisuke Sekimoto {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From the 10th Anniversary Show. I think it’s so funny how so many Japanese companies exist for years at a time before establishing a top singles title. They really loaded up this show; this match wasn’t even the main event. That honor went to Ohtani as he took on Yoshihiro Takayama. And right before this, Tanaka fought Nagata again. And also Masahiro Chono was on the show in his second to last ever singles match. For a while, I wasn’t thinking this was living up to its place on the card. It took its sweet time cranking things up. But then Sekimoto hit a press slam into the turnbuckle and threw Sai’s rebounding body into a German suplex. Things were plenty cranked from there. I have a feeling this is going to be the general level of these title matches; they’ll essentially be the same kind of strong style bouts that BJW Strong Championship matches see, but a step or two faster. I appreciate that. Sai won the title with a nasty diving double stomp that he calls the Nachi Waterfall at 14:50. Ah, that’s why he does the praying pose before he hits the move, because he’s referencing the waterfall meditation/austerity. I love it! I’m not sure how his Spider-Man tights relate to his contemplative finisher, but I can set that aside. ***½
July 3, 2011 – Tokyo, Japan
The Sheik def. Ryouji Sai {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship vs. NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Destructive King 7th Anniversary of Death Commemoration. Sheik was the reigning NWA Champion here. This was very different from the strike-heavy matches up to this point. Corino helped Sheik cheat throughout the match, handing him a spike and distracting the referee so he could use it. Sai bled buckets, but that blood helped him rally the crowd for a few fun hope spots. Beyond that, there was very little to this. Sheik put on the Camel Clutch and the referee eventually had to call for the bell at 13:21. I imagine this was pretty good by Sheik’s standards. And they say only Gene Kiniski held the AWA and NWA titles. Sheik has them at the same time here! I’m being silly, but while this is the ZERO1 title at this point, the champion continues to be called the AWA Heavyweight Champion by the ring announcer. ***
November 5, 2011 – Tokyo, Japan
Kohei Sato def. The Sheik {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Yarisugi Forever I. Sheik was stripped of the NWA Championship back in July for failing to defend it against Adam Pearce in Ohio. He claims he was never booked for the Ohio show and was clearly not going to make it as he was in Japan. He still has the belt here, because why return it, I guess? This match was a total snooze. MLW is right to use Sheik as a manager rather than a wrestler because he just doesn’t show the goods in the ring. As I mentioned above, this guy found a quirky way to hold the NWA and AWA Championship belts at the same time, but yikes is he not the guy you want to think about as holding that honor. Sato hit a German suplex for the win at 18:10. He lost the title to KAMIKAZE after a three-month reign. **
March 2, 2012 – Tokyo, Japan
Akebono def. KAMIKAZE {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From the 11th Anniversary Show. Dammit, I really thought this was one of the matches I couldn’t find and I was not upset about that. I know his name is KAMIKAZE, but I’m sure he was still upset when Akebono stepped out of position for his moonsault to the floor. I’ve certainly seen worse Akebono matches, but this stayed in coast mode most of the way as most of his matches do. The finish was interesting in that Akebono hit a splash off the top for the win at 10:12 and somehow a man of his size doing that didn’t strike me as impressive because of the blase way he treated it. **½
Akebono held the title for six months before he was forced to vacate it. I want to say it was due to injury because he took three months off around that time, but it’s hard to confirm that because he lost most of his championships by vacating them rather than jobbing to someone. So who knows. I’m not happy that his health has deteriorated so much in recent years, but also screw that guy’s wrestling career. It was bad. Anyway, the next champion was determined in the annual Fire Festival tournament, which James Raideen won.
March 30, 2014 – Tokyo, Japan
Kohei Sato def. James Raideen {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From the Yasukuni Shrine Festival 11th Anniversary. A seven month run out of someone who was essentially just a dude from New Zealand in Blade Runners face paint has to be considered pretty solid. Imagine if someone with the same look and ability as the Ultimate Warrior cared more about being perceived as a workhorse. That’s what I got from Raideen here. These outdoor festival crowds seem to be very medium engaged regardless of where they are. At the end they tuned in more than say the Download Festival crowd ever has. But in their defense, there wasn’t a ton to go crazy for here. Lots of strikes that went nowhere early on, not a ton more than that for most of the match, and then Sato hitting a German suplex for the win at 13:12. **¾
July 6, 2014 – Tokyo, Japan
Masakatsu Funaki def. Kohei Sato {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From WRESTLE-1 Fighting Entertainment Impact. This was a big show for W-1. It featured titles from promotions all over the world, including the TNA Tag Team Championships. This match went third from the top below a Great Muta match (duh, he owned the company) and a match where one guy risked losing his hair. Funaki had been in the crowd scouting during Sato’s title win. He’s still doing the same shoot style stuff he was doing in All Japan as the Triple Crown Champion, but this lasted longer than his title win over Jun Akiyama. After a ton of leg kicks, he choked out Sato for the win at 12:11. I can’t tell if they deliberately kept it slow because it was lower on the card or because that’s just how Funaki do. **¾
September 19, 2014 – Tokyo, Japan
Kohei Sato def. Masakatsu Funaki {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Tenka-Ichi Special. Yeah, I’m just not a fan of Funaki. This was shorter than their first match but no more interesting. The first five minutes was boring mat stuff that went nowhere followed by a more exciting few minutes of strikes and suplexes. But nothing anyone would ever need to see. Sato hit the Ganso Bomb and a German suplex for the win at 9:47. Sato broke Tanaka’s single-reign longevity record, holding the title for 408 days before dropping it to Hideki Suzuki. **½
March 27, 2016 – Tokyo, Japan
Kohei Sato def. Hideki Suzuki {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From the Yasukuni Shrine Festival 13th Anniversary. I have yet to be impressed with Suzuki, though I’ve only seen him in a couple of Big Japan matches. I liked the intensity with which he stretched Sato’s arm here. I liked less how long he did it on the mat, though once he started trying to do it while standing he got a knee in his gut. So maybe he should have stayed on the mat longer. But it was getting dull. I’m torn. Once Sato took over, this became a bog standard back and forth affair. Nothing happened that you couldn’t predict easily. Sato hit a German suplex for the win at 13:49. ***
Sato held the title for almost exactly a year before losing it to Tanaka.
January 1, 2018 – Tokyo, Japan
Yusaku Obata def. Masato Tanaka {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Happy New Year. Tanaka had a 10-month reign, but couldn’t match either of Sato’s previous two reigns for length before losing here. Tanaka has the Fire Sword, having won the last Fire Festival by beating Obata in a final decision match. That match lasted 30:10, which I love because they wrestled to a 30-minute draw with him in the tournament proper. I guess Tanaka just needed the tiniest bit more time. He loses here though. This feud had great heat thanks to them formerly being teammates until Tanaka turned on Obata and joined the Voodoo Murders. This was the first Obata match I’ve ever seen (I’ve never heard of him before, to be honest) and it was friggin’ awesome. It was all killer no filler, which is probably the result of taking a 30-minute routine and shaving off the parts you don’t need. Obata was in trouble for most of the match, gaining control for a bit after hitting an Io Shirai-like dive from the top of an entryway onto Tanaka through a table. But he got greedy and tried to throw Tanaka off of the ramp through another table and got brainbustered on the ramp. From there Tanaka owned him. The different ways the champ got Obata into position for the Sliding D were so cool. Obata almost won with a trio of Meteoras, but the third missed and Tanaka brutalized him with a Sliding D. He went for another but Obata saved himself with a pair of gross headbutts and hit that third Meteora for the win at 23:54. I have no idea if this is indicative of Obata’s work in general as it followed the general pattern of Tanaka matches and just turned up the energy. But if he can deliver like this with any consistency then I want to find more of his matches. ****¼
Obata’s reign came to a very scary end six months later. Obata suffered heat stroke during the match because of dehydration. He fell off of the top rope and chipped a bone in his neck, causing the referee to stop the match and award the title to Tanaka. You hate to see it. Tanaka lost the title in his first defense to Sekimoto. And from here on out I’ll be reviewing every title change to date.
September 14, 2019 – Tokyo, Japan
Yuji Hino def. Daisuke Sekimoto {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From ZERO1 on Niconico. This was the end of a nearly 300-day reign for Sekimoto. Over 300 days if you go by when the match aired and not when it happened. I think it’s different in Japan and they generally don’t pretend that a match only exists once it’s been on TV. I loved one of the two Hino matches I watched for the DDT lineage, so I have medium hopes for this. Hino had the Fire Sword, which I assume earned him this title shot. These two chodes were not afraid to get silly out there. Hino’s sumo-mimicry in his hand waving was funny, though his back slapping bit went on a little too long. The finish of the match was super interesting. Sekimoto got 2 off of a German suplex, then went to the top rope. Hino pulled him down to hit his own German while Sekimoto grabbed for dear life to the ropes. Hino won that battle and it won him the match at 25:33. The struggle for the suplex was cool, but would have meant a lot more had they teased Hino’s German suplex being a killer throughout the match. ***½
March 1, 2020 – Tokyo, Japan
Kohei Sato def. Yuji Hino {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From the 19th Anniversary Show. I’m not trying to slam the guy or shame him in any way, but Hino’s outie belly button is the biggest one I’ve ever seen. Is it possible he has a hernia? I have an umbilical hernia that is thankfully very small and isn’t visible (probably because my belly button is an innie and a deep one at that), but I can feel it. That’s probably more than you needed to know about me. Anyway, googling to see if anyone else noticed this led me to the fact that Iron Sheik has aged into a herniated belly button too. A support group might be helpful. This match doens’t quite come together as a banger, but it was a few great moments. One that I won’t soon forget is Sato hitting a headbutt that immediately causes blood to stream down Hino’s face. That was like something out of a movie. Also memorable is Hino’s pride getting the best of him when he put his arms behind his back to egg on Sato to chop or kick him, but then to find himself getting arm-trap suplexed. That gave Sato the win at 19:19. That match time is insane given the show this was on. ***½
May 3, 2020 – Tokyo, Japan
Chris Vice def. Yuji Hino {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From Chojin Matsuri In Samurai! TV. Opa, we’re in empty arena pandemic territory here. Vice looks (and presumably sounds) like a shorter Nathan Jones. Luckily, he moves around the ring better than Jones. Unfortunately, Sato’s penchant for run of the mill matches and Vice’s apparent lack of flash made this a rough hang with no crowd. There’s just nothing to hang your hat on here. Vice hit a package piledriver for the win at 16:47. The shocked look on his face after winning is the only thing exceptional about this match. **¼
August 27, 2020 – Tokyo, Japan
Hayato Tamura def. Chris Vice {ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship Match}
From New ZERO1. The fans are back but they’re shrouded in darkness. And they’re quiet. Japanese audiences are told not to cheer to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, but this crowd didn’t even clap for much. The first big chunk of the match was filled with Vice’s rest holds, but the final five minutes were stiff and exciting. Tamura hit the Hayato Driver for the win at 20:19. He’d have a much better outing on New Year’s Day 2021 against Tanaka. But you’ll have to read my monthly title change review for that. **¾
From Diamond Ring Kensuke Office Changes. They emphasize that Nakajima beat Dragon Gate wrestler Kenichiro Arai 
From Dynamite 131. This is a qualifying match for the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Joe debuted at ROH Supercard of Honor, saving Jonathan Gresham from Jay Lethal (whose soul searching apparently led him to turn heel) & Sonjay Dutt after the main event. And now that ROH and AEW are the same thing, that seems worth mentioning. Caster’s pre-match rap was cute. This was real squashy, with Joe needing only two minutes to put Caster down with the Muscle Buster at 2:52. Lethal & Dutt pop up on the big screens and Lethal says he’d been trying to get a hold of Joe during his difficult soul searching time, and Joe never picked up. They have a present for Joe next week. N/A
From Dynamite 132. Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt were in the front row cheering on Joe. Sarcastically, probably, as they brawled with Joe at ROH Supercard of Honor XV. 
From Rampage 39. 
From Dynamite 137. 
From Dynamite 138. This is a 
From Double or Nothing. 
From PWF York Cougar Football Fundraiser. I didn't know that this match happened until over a month after the fact. This started out as a non-title match, but we'll get to why I've listed it as a title match in a moment. FTR have Mick Foley in their corner while their opponents have Bill Behrens. I’ve never actually seen Behrens do an on-camera gig before. He's holding a tennis racket, presumably as an Umaga to Jim Cornette. But it's confusing because there was actually a tennis player named Bill Behrens. They announce this match as having a 20-minute time limit. Only 11 minutes in, they say there are three minutes remaining. Until then, this was as run-of-the-mill as a modern FTR match gets. But the announcement snapped everyone out of their heat-on-Wheeler funk and forced them to go for desperate pins. They announce ten seconds remaining a couple of times, but no one can get the roll up pin they're looking for. The 20-minute time limit expires at 1
From NXT UK 183. McGuinness started by essentially saying that Fraser is going to pee or poo himself during the match. Unnecessary. Had Shawn Michaels been game to have a good match against Vader, this is what it would have looked like. Actually, a more appropriate and modern analogue is Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins from SummerSlam. Much like that match, Frazer used quick strikes and avoided his larger opponent’s signature big move to stay alive. Here it was the powerbomb whereas there it was suplexes. Here, Frazer also successfully damaged WALTER’s knee, which slowed the big man down and made it hard for WALTER to hit the powerbomb. Unfortunately for Frazer, WALTER was able to bide his time and clothesline Frazer’s legs out from under him. An inevitable powerbomb followed and won the match for WALTER at 14:02. I hate to say this because I’m happy that he’s healthier, but the way WALTER has slimmed down has taken some of the magic away from his aura. At least for me it has. That said, dude can clearly still go as well as ever in the ring. ****
From NXT 659. Strong was feeling it here, which is thanks in large part to the crowd being maniacally loud from the get go I’m sure. His whole game was fast and devastating stick and move attacks. That worked pretty well, as WALTER was dazed from time to time. But as with all good WALTER matches (which is pretty much all WALTER matches), everything WALTER does is devastating here so it takes very little for him to take back control. And eventually he did just that and hit the powerbomb for the win at 9:46 (shown of 12:18). After the match, WALTER gets on the microphone and says that his name is Gunther now. I did not think WALTER would be a victim of the renaming curse this far into his run. What will they rename Strong?! ***¾
From NXT UK 185. Andy Shepherd helpfully announces from inside the ring that the reason for the stipulation is that the feud has gotten so violent that it wouldn’t be safe to have fans around. Devlin says during the match that it’s because he thinks Dragunov could only muster the energy to win if he had the crowd behind him. I like that explanation a lot more. The only real reason I could think of to do this without fans is that there was a scheduling conflict with one of the wrestlers for the regular TV taping date and they needed to get this thing filmed. We just had such a long stretch of empty arena NXT UK episodes that I can’t imagine anyone was dying to get another taste of it. This aired the day after Adam Cole vs. Orange Cassidy in a match that was also no disqualification and falls count anywhere, and this served up everything I felt was missing from that match. Now you might say, “Brad, Cassidy is not the same kind of character as Devlin or Dragunov, how could you expect the same level of violence or intensity?” To that I say, when Cassidy started his match by breaking his own sunglasses and rapidly punching Cole, he was indicating that level of violence and/or intensity. And instead the match was mostly wacky. Anyway, this was not wacky. It was stiff and intense and featured weapons that made sense and spots the didn’t take forever to set up. Dragunov got in trouble when his eye injury acted up. Devlin took control and beat the crap out of him. I wasn’t wild about how meek Dragunov was when Devlin was zip tying his hands, but I did like that in the end it turned out to be an error on Devlin’s part anyway because Dragunov’s finisher requires no hands. And indeed, a bound Dragunov jumped off the steel steps (which had been brought into the ring) and hit the Torpedo Moskau on Devlin for the win at 21:43. NXT UK is still sneaking in these dope matches that no one is watching. Y’all should watch them. ****¼ 
From AAA Triplemania Regia. FTR come out with Vickie Guerrero. This was supposed to be explained at an earlier AAA taping but FTR and Guerrero all missed them. AAA is notorious for having this kind of luck/being incompetent lately. FTR is also wearing Eddie Guerrero tribute tights, with American flags on one side and flames on the other, I suppose to pay homage to his Gringos Locos and Latino Heat gimmicks. This match mostly sucked, but one cool spot saw FTR tie Pentagon’s mask to the ropes and force him to unmask with his hands over his face to stop them from climbing the ladder. That would have been a very meaningful moment to lead up to the Lucha Brothers winning the titles back, but unfortunately instead it led into nothing. He just got his mask back and the match continued on in its lame, derivative way. At one point, Pentagon was the only man standing, but instead of climbing the ladder he grabbed a table from the floor. So the titles mean enough to him that he’d unmask to stop his opponents from winning, but not enough for him to get the titles when he had a clear path to do it? Vickie powered Pentagon, causing him to voluntarily jump through the table and Harwood grabbed the belts at 12:12. This was abysmal. *
From AEW Full Gear. Silver was hamming it up a lot more here than he was the year before in New York. That said, this had stronger just-a-match vibes than the aforementioned match. After Silver ripped out Cassidy’s pockets, Cassidy turned up the heat and these guys put on a middle of the row undercard match. Not bad by any means, but nothing memorable either. Cassidy hit the Beach Break rather out of nowhere for the win at 9:42. **¾ 
From the second Honor Reigns Supreme. The commentators sold this as Gresham getting a big shot against a top ROH guy after being an also-ran in the Television Championship division for a while. This was terrific. Both guys did a fantastic job selling their respective targeted limbs, and Gresham in particular played the role of the tenacious underdog perfectly. He didn’t just watch to see where Lethal would have trouble executing his finisher because of the damage he’d done to the former ROH Champion’s arm, he pressed the assault whenever he could, taking out the arm to make sure the Lethal Injection would never come. But what he couldn’t do was stop Lethal from battering his knee and ultimately winning with a Figure 4 Leglock at 17:54. ****¼ 
From the second Masters of the Craft. Columbus has way more Gresham fans than Concord did. That’s a neat little advancement to the plot, innit? They both went after the same limbs that earned them dividends in their previous match. And then they went ahead and built an incredible match out of that story. At first it seemed as though Lethal wasn’t going to be able to get Gresham’s leg to give out. But about halfway through the match, Gresham’s knee was in trouble. Gresham was able to escape the leglock this time by using the momentum of Lethal pulling him away from the ropes to shift to an armbar. But Gresham’s focus on the arm bit him in the ass. Lethal went for the Lethal Injection and collapsed again, but when Gresham went for a roll up after that Lethal cut back on it for the win at 18:27. This is one of the best American examples that I've seen of a match building on the match that came before. Rather than try to outdo the maneuvers from their first meeting for the sake of a big crowd reaction, they adjust their game plans in logical ways that, to me, were just as exciting. I think this match is slept on, by virtue of the fact that I’ve never heard anything about it before watching it. ****½ 
From ROH Wrestling 364. In real life, 
From Death Before Dishonor XVII. Gresham and Lethal had been teaming, but Gresham grew frustrated and started heeling. Ultimately, he turned on Lethal. It took them a little while to get there, but once they got into a groove this was exactly what I wanted from this match. It was back to their old tricks, with Lethal targeting the leg to set up for the Figure 4 Leglock and Gresham targeting the arm to block the Lethal Injection and set up for his Octopus. In the end, Lethal tried the cutback trick that worked for him in Columbus, but Gresham countered to a pin and then put on the gnarliest Octopus for his first win over Lethal at 17:20. This is the best kind of wrestling series. And none of it felt stale because it was a year after they’d wrestled last and because they found ways to energize the old tropes. And that’s not to mention Gresham busting out what I can only describe as a sumo-style assault. Gresham and Lethal make up after the match. ****
From ROH Wrestling 500. During the pandemic, ROH made the most of their empty arena shows by kicking them off with a tournament to crown a champion for the revived Pure Championship. Gresham won the tournament, and this was his fourth defense of the title. Lethal and Gresham were still allies here. In an interesting move, the other match on this milestone episode was two other partners fighting in Jay and Mark Briscoe. They cut to a commercial break about six minutes in, though the action didn’t get beyond (admittedly fast-moving) mat wrestling until the 10-minute mark. That had me thinking this was going to go long, but things took a different turn. Both guys had abused the other’s shoulders, and Lethal used that to his advantage best. He forced Gresham to use his first rope break to stop a pin, and his second to escape a crab. Then, he used the failed Lethal Injection to bait Gresham into a crossface, forcing the champ to use his final rope break. But he made the mistake of giving Gresham a breather and was quickly caught in a head scissor takedown giving Gresham the winning pin at 14:06 (shown of 16:40). For an empty arena match, this held my attention. It was totally different than their previous matches while still using a couple elements from the rivalry to elevate it just a bit. Not essential viewing, but if you’re working your way through their series you shouldn’t skip it. ***¼ 
