Minutes to Bell Time

Must See From 1/27 – 2/2

Five Must Watch Matches

Below are the Minutes to Bell Time must-see items from this week’s television and pay per view. Promotions regularly reviewed include AEW, Impact, MLW NJPW, NWA, NXT, ROH, and WWE. The matches below are listed chronologically.

Note: New Japan had two great shows in Sapporo over the weekend. Watching the last three matches from both shows is a great investment of your time.

  1. Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle vs. Grizzled Young Veterans – Finals of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – NXT (1/29)
    • Very good tag team match that leads to a title opportunity at Takeover.
  2. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil – NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo (2/1)
    • Nothing formally at stake in this match, but it is exactly what you would expect from both men.
  3. Ryuske Taguchi, Sho, Yoh, and Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki, Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and El Desperado – NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo 2/2
    • I usually feel that the preliminary matches are skippable on New Japan shows. This was a car crash.
  4. Will Osprey vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo (2/2)
    • Not the kind of match you’ve come to expect from Will Osprey. It wasn’t without high spots, but they fit into the otherwise technical match very well.
  5. Taichi vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo (2/2)
    • A long match, but the last 10 minutes or so were way better than the normal Taichi match.
Other Items of Interest
  1. Nick Aldis and Marty Scurll Interviews – NWA Powerrr
    • This is how you create a big match feel.What a great way to build up
    • You Tube Timestamps  – From 2:10 to 8:30 and From 48:30 to 59:03
  2. MJF delivers the bounty to Butcher and Blade – AEW Dynamite (1/29)
    • This segment did a great job establishing the Butcher and the Blade characters. It looked more like a scene from a movie.
  3. Simon Gotch vs. Davey Boy Smith – MLW Fusion on 2/1
    • The match was not especially good, but put it in your “something different” pile.
Championship Changes This Week
Share this: