5 Count: February 1st-15th,2025

1) Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet (AEW Dynamite 2/5/2025) Winner: Ricochet. Last year The Swerve-Hangman feud was a yearlong story started with a classic premise: the focused, dangerous Swerve, a man willing to sacrifice anyone and do anything versus the always conflicted Hangman Page, a character that is defined by doubts. Along the way we had Swerve break into Page's home and threaten his off camera newborn, a blood swallowing Texas Death Match, a World Championship, and Page burning down Swerve's childhood home.

At the same time Swerve was also getting over with the crowd—he was too good in the ring, too cool and charismatic for the fans to turn on him even against a beloved babyface. Instead of trying to backtrack and whitewash his transgression, the two took the harder road and leaned into it; making it a defining moment for both characters.

The feud culminated in a steel cage. The ensuing match was bloody and brutal, ending with a single but thunderous chair shot to Swerve's head. However, the result did not feel cathartic; instead the feeling was discomfort. Two fan faves attacked each other with hate in the hearts--no attempts to escape, no outside interference, no high spots from the top of the cage. The violence was unfettered, but it also showed that violence had it's limits. It subtly succeeded in changing the alignments--Page had claimed his vengeance and victory but finding it hollow turned our righteous hero into a unhinged madman. Swerve stood and faced his fate, not running from his comeuppance. He did not show remorse and was not redeemed, but it felt like his debt was paid. When he returned a month later at WrestleDream-he was symbolically clad in white.

Post the Hangman feud, Swerve engaged in a entertaining, but unsatisfying story with the debuting Hurt Syndicate--giving Bobby Lashley a big win to start his AEW career. A rematch became unlikely and Swerve was in need of new sparring partner. Enter Ricochet.

After a lengthy tenure in WWE, Ricochet arrived in AEW at their tentpole event ALL IN. Initially seen to be the perfect fit for the promotion--a creative worker with an unquestionable indie pedigree that some felt was ill used by Stamford brass. After the glow of his debut dimmed, however things began to get rocky. Once considered the top of the high flyer set, he found the bar had perhaps risen in the work rate focused AEW--and what had set him apart in the past and in WWE was no longer true. Also there was the classic Ricochet issue--in the ring his high spots would make you ask "Is this guy for real?", but outside the ring his demeanor and promo work would make you ask the same question, but with a more negative connotation. He has always come off a little, well "corny" may be to loaded a term(especially from nearly 50 year old white man), but definitely a try hard; desperate to possess the cool factor that Swerve seems to naturally exude.

So when the two began their feud, it was perfect personality clash—a vibe not unlike the Kendrick/Drake beef. Ricochet did his part by leaning further into a heelish character--the buffed on the outside-angry nerd on the inside. As Swerve's mocking increased so did Ricochet's resentment, boiling over into drawing blood by a scissor attack.

The match itself was exactly what you wanted for these two– creative and violent. Ricochet caught Swerve with a chairshot before the bell and proceed to go for the kill. Swerve held him off until he could get his footing, and Bam--it was on. Highlights include Ricochet dropkicking Swerve in a mid-air leapfrog, those beautiful housecall kicks to the head, and of course Swerve countering a rana attempt into a powerbomb on the guard rail! Ricochet scored a undecisive victory from an inadvertent crotch shot on Swerve stomp. The cheat finish was bit of a downer, but it was smart out. It was a helluva taste for the next chapter in the feud. Rating: Roast

2) Marina Shafir (c) vs. Zamaya (DEFY Hundredth 2/7/25) DEFY Women's Title Match. Winner: Shafir. If you've read my previous entries, you'll notice I appreciate powerful and violent woman in the ring. Watching a bad ass lady throw a stiff clothesline is one of those things that makes me go "mmmm". Relative newcomer Zamaya checks those boxes. The Arizona indie grappler works big and strong. She literally wears her influence on her sleeves as well as her face decked out in Bull Nakano style make up and hair. Chances are she won't reach the heights of the Japanese legend, but she has great potential.

Shafir has come a long way from her wrestling debut in 2018. A former MMA competitor, she's had trouble translating those skills into pro-wrestling career. Unlike her friends Shayna Baszler (who was a quick learner )or Rhonda Rousey( who's name value was so big that her opponents did a lot to cover for her), Shafir seemed awkward in the ring and when WWE cut her; it wasn't viewed as a big loss. Her early AEW left a lot to be desired as well. To her credit, she kept working, doing the indies, getting advice from current Death Riders stablemate Jon Moxley and this last year has seen some real improvement. She has found an appreciative crowd at Washington Hall and became the second Defy women's champion last year.

This match was a nice contrast in styles and personality. When ring announcer declared it was title match, Zamaya roared from the top rope while Shafir was cold blooded and calm Shafir took control early--out maneuvering her larger foe and working her into submission holds. Zamaya showed frustration without being able to land her spinning back fist or attempted germans. Shafir scored a nice kick to the face which just increased the mean mugging. Eventually, Zamaya was able to counter Shafir witch some techinical moves of her own, and got Shafir outside the ring. There Zamaya started brawling with some good looking punches, a SMACK of a overhand chop, and suplex on the floor. Back in the ring, the physicality escalated with Shafir giving three hard judo tosses and a brutal neck toss. Zamaya answered with a spear and a couple big lariats-mmm-mmm-mmm. Zamaya kept up the attack with big corner splashes, but got caught with big kick to the chest and fell into Shafir's Mother's Milk submission. Good match--a couple of rough spots (Shafir had a hard time getting Zamaya up for a body slam and didn't give a lot of help on a couple of Zamaya suplexes. Gotta give al ot of praise to Zamaya for bumping and making MMA offense look great) but both came out of the match looking strong. Rating: Rocks

3) Star Jr. vs. Zandokan Jr. ( CMLL Martes Populares 2/11/2025) Lightning Match. Winner: Zandokan Jr. The first time I watched a CMLL match--it was contest between Mascara Dorada 2.0 and Titan and I was colored impressed. It was such a poetic balance between athletic high spots, smooth transitions in and out of submissions while still maintaining the physical nature of a fight. Since then, I've been a regular viewer of their Friday night spectacular and am still amazed at the presentation and depth of the roster.

Take Zandokan Jr for example—he could be the promising ace of most indies and smaller promotions, but in CMLL--he may not even break the top ten in their depth chart. In regards to presentation, Zandokan is presented as a masked pirate. In an U.S. promotion, this gimmick would be milked for childish comedy—probably come to the ring in dinghy or throw saltwater in his opponent's eyes. Instead, in CMLL he just comes off as cool as pirates are cool. A lot of this has to do with Zandokan himself, he's got the presence and charisma to pull it off. It what puts him ahead of someone like Star Jr who could be considered a better worker(tho both have some nice long locks flowing from under their mask– nice hustle to keep both mask/hair match paydays in play for the future!)

This being a 10 minute lightning match; the two started fast-throwing punches at the sound of the bell. When Zandokan got knocked out of the ring, Star hit one of those bullet suicidas thru the --knocking Z back into the guard rail. After kicking out of a top rope splash, Zandokan answered back with power--popping Star up and letting him drop face fist to the mat and delivering nasty clothesline in the corner. For the rest of the match a pattern was revealed. Star would hit a series of high flying spots (including a nifty spingboarding into a leg drop while Zandokan was between the ropes) but Zando would end his run with some big power moves. Highlight was Zandokan uses his legs to push Star into the air and out of the ring, then following up by leaping off the apron to just crash straddle Star's head.

Zandokan finished the matched an avalanche underhook power bomb that looked great as did most of his offense. To be clear, Star was no slouch as both kept a nice intensity throughout the match. Rating: Rocks

4) Raj Dhesi vs. A-Buck (APC Catch Winter Shock 2/1/25) Winner: Dhesi. If you've been reading this blog (which is a pretty big IF and most likely IF from the mind of John Krasinski), you may have notice the lack of of negative reviews. Please be assured this is not due to "Just Enjoy Wrestling" form of toxic positivity—like any performance endeavor,pro wrestling has plenty of mediocrity to choose from. It stems more from the fact my time is valuable (if only to me), and as I close in on my 5th decade on the planet, I rather not waste my dwindling energy watching much less writing about the forgettable. Let the dead bury the dead.

Still there are time when my curiosity trumps my better judgment--like the Underground Man says rationality be damned! The former Jinder Mahal main eventing a French indie? Well raise my eyebrows!

To be fair, APC Catch has had some good shows and hot crowds and seeing a former WWE World Champ (even a fairly unpopular one) walk thru the gym doors could be a thrill. So the match had my attention...sadly it could barely keep it. Dhesi got a good reception from the crowd and has maintained his chiseled physique. His local opponent A-Buck is also pretty strong looking dude so a quick but solid hoss match did not seem out of the realm of possibility.

Instead it was a stilted and a lot of drag for 10 minute match. For all his muscles, Dhesi's movement comes off awkward and unnatural; some clumsy bumps. The two traded hip tosses and sold like it was the height of the athletic prowess. Dhesi gives A-Buck a body slam and he has to roll out to clear his head. A-Buck then drops Dhesi with a clothesline and then he has to roll out for a refresher. They trade suplexes and both lie on the mat, selling exhaustion. There was more time stretching than Reed Richards in a DeLorean. On the plus side-the two traded some good chops and punches. A-Buck looked decent had some smooth offense, but he seemed to be using a soft touch--not a lot of impact. In the end, both wrestlers hit their finishers twice with A-Buck going down two times, but only coming up once. Dhesi getting the win in the lifeless affair. Can't help but think a 5 minute squash wouldn't have been more interesting. Rating: Rent

5) Zack Sabre Jr.(c) vs. Hirooki Goto (NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka 2/11/25) IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match. Winner: Goto. Never been a regular New Japan guy--knew it's rep, and would check out the big matches from time to time; mostly satisfied by their wrestler's appeareances in AEW. However, after watching their New Years shows and seeing the young talent coming up, I called a family meeting, looked them all in the eye and said" Today, I am going to subscribe to New Japan World." A child(perhaps mine-they looked familiar) came up to me and whispered into my ear "It's not too late for Goto, but it is too late for my love."

Even with my casual relationship to the promotion, I knew about Sabre and Goto. Great workers who earned their stripes and dedicated fan bases. Sabre captured his first IWGP World Championship late last year. A title that Goto has wrestled for many times, but has come up short.

Vibes were special for this one. Crowd was hot for Goto. Sabre was cooly confident, working his signature techincal style--twisting, stretching, pulling his opponent --wrapping him a tight like a drowning victim pull down his rescuer. Goto would escape or break-maybe get it some offense, but Sabre would counter smoothly and back into the spider's web again. Momentum began to shift when ZSJ put Goto in a standing sleeper and Goto faded to the floor as the crowd chanted his name. Zack released the hold and executed a stiff punt kick--waking up the devil as Goto popped up, turning the champ inside out with a big lariat. From there Goto went to work—multiple head butts, more clotheslines and a Shouten Kai -suplex into a side slam. The feeling in the crowd was building, Zach got in a few parting shots, but Got hit his GTR finisher twice in a row and secured the pin. Rating: Roast