MINORU’S MUSINGS [Conviction XXII]

Hello professional wrestling fans, I am your mother’s favorite, The Black Lion Minoru Tanahashi, and today you get to read the first ever Minoru’s Match Musings. On this edition, we will be focusing on one of my home promotions, OATH Pro Wrestling, and their last show, Conviction XXII, which I unfortunately was not able to be in due to the fact I am currently competing in the #NOWCup2020 in my native Japan. If some intern wouldn’t have screwed up, you would have heard about that during the show, but you know now and it’s time to get this show on the road.

Pre Show Match Musings Not gonna get into much detail about these, they were what they were. The people that were expected to win won and they were perfectly fine matches, but not.

Davis Vs. Hamilton Musings First things first, fuck Zeke Davis. That guy is a piece of shit and I was really hoping Samantha Hamilton would do the World a favor and kick him so hard in the balls that he would be unable to ever reproduce. Instead, she didn’t even show up and that asshole got a completely undeserved win. 0 Stars

Matsuda Vs. Wales Musings A battle between two women both trying to find their way in Oath, and I really enjoyed this one. Some great hard hitting back and forth action from the two ladies. Matsuda really showed off her aerial prowess, but Wales showed her technical ability, intelligence and savvy to pick up a well earned victory. 3 stars

Aguero Vs. Helms Musings This was a very interesting match. Leah showed flashes of brilliance, but Helms was in control for most of it. Everytime it seemed like he was set to put it away though, Aguero would fire back and show that she is no pushover. I kind of want to know what he whispered to her, but I also really don’t. In the end, she snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and Locke Helms falls once more. 2.5 Stars

Marshal Vs. Young Musings The first title match of the night and my personal favorite match of the night, although I am probably a bit biased since I consider the champ a friend and the challenger has been nothing but pleasant to me. Putting that aside, this was an incredible match and both of these women brought it. Qiyanna Marshal came out on fire, but the power from Young was too much for her to handle and it looked like the champ was on her to taking the first fall, but Marshal managed to get the all important first fall and put the champs back against the wall. Unfortunately for Qiyanna, that’s when FM is at her best, I know from personal experience. The second fall was a bit more back and forth, and I was starting to think Qiyanna was gonna do it in two straight falls. She was very impressive in this match. The champ manages to secure the second fall though, showing off some of her aerial ability to go along with that great power.

So it was back to even for both ladies. You win, you’re the champion, you lose, you go all the way back down the ladder. That third fall, that was a lot of fun. More back and forth action, neither woman willing to back down from the other. Marshal looked like she could have it a few times, and showed some great resilience, but in the end the champions power and endurance allowed her to take the second fall and retain the title. 4.5 Stars

Holland Vs. Macbeth Musings Holy fuck does Ben Macbeth have guts and heart. He took the fight right to the champion in this one. A bit of back and forth, but then Macbeth really took control of the champion as he was fighting like a man possessed. Then came the pain. Macbeth took a bit of an unnecessary risk and ended up getting driven into the ring post back first, over and over and over again. This was the key moment in the match. Macbeth continued to fight with everything he had and there were times he had the World champion rocked, but one shot to that back or the midsection and it was abruptly halted. The kid fought that whole damn match and Holland may or may not admit it, but I think he was pushed to his limit. In the end though, Holland came out with a victory in a damn good match. 4 stars

So I’ve skipped the other non match related things since this is Minoru’s Match Musings and not Minoru’s Show Musings, but I have to say Reo Ojima is a fucking bastard. A behind the back attack, then using that slimeball Zeke Davis to hold Holland’s manager and make her watch on. These two are scum, but we are going to move on to the main event.

Black Vs. Edwards Musings Another great title match, hell another great match period. Probably my third favorite on the show. A great back and forth contest between champions past and present. Fantastic displays of striking, technical wrestling and submissions. Some will say Black was too cocky or played to the crowd too much, but that’s part of the business. Hell you can lose a match and be remembered more than the guy who won, if you get the people to give a shit about you, positively or negatively. Black has been a champion before and had a damn good career because he gets people to talk about him. Look how much I just wrote about his arrogant ass. Edwards and Black threw everything they had at each other in this one, and I for one would love to see a rematch, but Locke Helms might have other ideas. In the end after each man missed a big strike, the champion connected with yet another impressive signature move and secured the victory for himself. 3.5 stars.

There it is folks, Minoru’s Match Musings for Conviction XXII. I hope you enjoyed reading this, will tune in for Conviction XXIII, and read the next Minoru’s Match Musings.

Final Grades Davis Vs. Hamilton – 0* (Zeke Davis is a piece of shit) Matsuda Vs. Wales – *** Aguero Vs. Helms – **½ Marshal Vs. Young – ****½ (MOTN) Holland Vs. Macbeth – **** Black Vs. Edwards – ***1/2