A worthy sequel to their epic 2019 G1 Climax encounter, the escalating violence and anger in the strikes between Jon Moxley and Tomohiro Ishii brought new meaning to "big fight feel" - this felt big and like a fight alright, but the two men couldn't have cared less about spectacle as they were laying into one another.
The arrival of Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston to stare daggers at one another on the floor helped the two mirror the same spot from Forbidden Door's ten-man tag, but as chops became forearms and forearms became lariats, the tension built without the simmering Chikara rage needing to boil over.
Boil over it would, but not before Moxley drilled Ishii with the Death Rider to pick up a powerful win in a fun and committed opener. On second watch, it's even easier to see why Blood & Guts drew such a listless response. Moxley's primary concern is Kingston and his secondary one was surviving this. A double cage bloodbath should be third on the agenda, but such is life when you've got that many irons in the fire.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
