I'm continuing to take a peek at early 2000's New Japan. Early on we're going to look at some NJ vs NOAH that I didn't cover back in my NOAH 2002 posts from last year (I think). Some might be in a NOAH ring but I'm counting them. But overall this is just a mix of matches from 2002 New Japan that I thought looked interesting and were online
Yuji Nagata vs Jun Akiyama (01/04) - Oh, that was a great bout! No way you would guess this is their first time working together and at the Dome no less
I'm really digging 2003 NJPW even with the MMA Inoki-ism. Well I'm avoiding the legit MMA that is shown. Here I came across a commercial compilation showing things from the summer of 2003. It starts with the Best of the Super Jrs. X which I'm happy to find. The matches they have included only have the last few minutes shown. It's a nice taste of the action. I believe I've seen some matches NOAH's Takashi Sugiura wrestled...maybe I really dug he vs Kanemoto from 06/11. Also there's another tag L
Here we are for the final post for my very narrow look at Ring of Honor for 2009. This should be a good one! We're looking at DVD events only.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Davey Richards (Final Countdown: Dayton 09/18/09) - Good stuff especially at the end. It wouldn't surprise me if this was a mid card match. It lacked the intensity and pacing of anything else. But it's been awhile since I've seen Claudio. He did some really cool strength moves. Yeah this was good.
American Wolves vs Briscoe
I'm still trying to get through my pile of DVDs. A big blind spot is Ring of Honor starting with the HDNet era stuff. I'm going to start with 2009 and I'm going in with the DVDs that I got: Best of ROH on HDNet vol. 2, American Wolf: Davey Richards comp and Best of the American Wolves that was a bonus DVD compilation with Champions vs All-Stars 2011 (pretty obscure place to put a Best of Comp). I think I have 3-4 matches from YouTube. I'm not going to find more...there's way too much material to
We're getting into the main chunk of the ROH on HDNet DVD now.
Chris Hero vs Jerry Lynn (ep. 13) - You know another reason Jerry Lynn was champ, beyond Nigel's injuries, beyond Nigel probably already planning going to TNA but specifically giving it to Jerry was this TV deal. Lynn is pretty much the only recognizable face in ROH at this time. They are trying to grow and get new fans and Mr. JL is someone watching TV is going to remember. A lot of folks wanted them to pull the trigger on Tyle
This week features ROH on HDNet matches predominantly. Let's see how they are
Austin Aries, Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs Jerry Lynn, Kenny Omega & Erick Stevens (ep. 16) - It sounds like Jerry Lynn already lost the strap to Austin Aries. Man...for all of the complaints... Lynn barely had the title especially in comparison to Nigel, Danielson or Joe. Anyhow, very fun match...lil FIP reunion with King & Stevens, Omega & King have history, Jerry & Austin do too. Yeah this w
The second post is Davey/American Wolves/Steen centric post. So I'm only looking at 4 matches this week. I was going to watch American Wolves vs Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black (Tag Title Classic (Double Feature) 2009) but it's a long ass match. I don't have time for that. I'm not in my 20's...I'll get around to this at the end if I have the will to continue. Seeing as its called Tag Title Classic, I'm not really unearthing anything new, overlooked, or forgotten...which is an objective of thi
Akira Hokuto & Etsuko Mita vs Kyoko Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa (W*ING 08/02/92): Who knew this match took place in a W*ING ring? Not I, I sing! Dr. Seuss...It's a pretty darn good match too. Sure, it gets the standard W*ING buzzcut in the middle and it starts raining but, its these 4 in 1992. So, if you ever needed an incentive to check 90's joshi out this might be it: 4 greats, tag match, sopping wet babes, insane dives in the rain, and not a super long epic. Thanks W*ING!
Now o
Episode #173 collects matches from late autumn of 1988.
Shunji Takano vs Shinichi Nakano (09/15/88): I'm skeptical of the date on this because it looks like there is a different mat in the next bout. This one IIRC is an all blue mat. But that's the date that everyone has for this match so why not This is very much my type of non-cooperative wrestling. Special emphasis on "wrestling" until they start slapping memories out of each other's heads. Oh did I mention the headbutts? Oh yes,
AJPW Classic Selection #172
Stan Hansen & Danny Kroffat vs Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton (10/26/88): Gibson seemed like he had a bad ankle and was really only in for the key spots. Ricky therefore wrestled his butt off with Kroffat and Hansen. The story focus seemed to be on Rock n' Roll vs Hansen which helped in the drama department. I believed that they, combined, could take out the Texan. Kroffat was there as junior talent to keep up the pace and action of the match. It was
This day in puroresu history...Stan Hansen & Toshiaki Kawada had a really great match here. I didn't think it was a classic but, pretty comparable to Kawada's match versus Jumbo in 1991 in terms of greatness. Here's some of the other matches that happened that you might have missed:
Kenta Kobashi vs Dan Spivey: JIP This was an intense yet somewhat unorganized bout. It was plenty exciting but, not to the effect that is was super engaging. Spivey botched a Canadian Backbreaker Slam
Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama Champ Carnival (03/21/95): This seemed like that match people were talking about when they were discussing Kobashi vs. Jumbo back in '91. Just an excellent match that really made Jun look like the future star and it made Kawada look tough yet beatable. Really cool match with Kawada getting really stiff at times. ****1/4
Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada Champ Carnival: Talk about a grisly wrestling match. Hit the guy in the shoulder- fine, hit the guy
So, this is where my official massive block of AJ Classics starts. Boy, its a good start
Great Kabuki & Akio Sato vs Jimmy Snuka & Tiger Mask II (09/15/88): A really enjoyable match with great offense from Jimmy & Tiger. Kabuki was really effective when inside the ropes & Sato made everyone look good. I recommend checking this out especially for Superfly & Misawa's team work.
Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (07/29/8
I really enjoy puro from the late 80's so, I'll admit that I probably get more rewatch value from pre-Jushin Liger Yamada than most. I think when I think about his work with and without a mask, he's probably in my top 10...I think! There's been a backlash against the 90's NJ Jr. style but, I've also seen that with the 80's Jr. stuff as well. That's cool but, that ain't me.
Keiichi Yamada vs Marc "Rollerball" Rocco (09/01/87): JIP, All action plus a leapfrog face to the nuts spot! Yes
More 1987 AJPW goodness!
AJ Classics Selection #153
Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue vs Isamu Teranishi & Masanobu Kurisu (07/30/87): Well, this was a barrel full of monkeys! I loved it. All kinds of different offense or should I say 'awe'fense. Cheesy like Kraft. This took a little bit to get going in terms of direction and pace but, turned into a smile worthy Asia Tag match.
Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (07/11/87): P
The Japanese garbage wrestling scene in the 90's is really interesting. One that I was ignorant of until a while ago was W*ING. I'd seen the wrestlers before in IWA Japan, FMW, or Big Japan. Honestly, the matches aren't too different as essentially IWA Japan was started from the ashes of W*ING. BJPW upped the kooky death match stipulations but, many of the guys were there in the early days like Mr. Danger Matsunaga & Nakamaki.
W*ING featured some really exciting matches though. I
In true Mixed up Monday fashion, I'm going to do a whole show review which is all mixed up since, I usually just toss a couple random fun match reviews up.
I bought the official NOAH DVD from Highspots. Its got English commentary. Its not very good commentary but, its not awful either. Its laughable that at every (yes, every kickout), the lead commentator asks, "Did he kickout!?" Does he mean that he literally cannot see the kickout or is that a dramatic phrase? I wonder even as I wr
The NJ vs NOAH feud was pretty well regarded in what was considered a down year for puro. This talk was over 5 years ago so, its something I think most people, especially those not hip to pre-Kobashi GHC title run NOAH, may have missed.
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue (02/17/02): This is one of the earliest in the feud and its full of stiff shots and heat. Its getting hot in here! Like Nelly! Remember him? Not Nelly Furtadoshe was cute tho
Its always a bit of fun when you're going back to write about or watch wrestling matches and it's the date of a historically important match. Or is that just me? Today is the 32nd anniversary of the much loved Choshu & Yatsu vs Jumbo & Tenryu tag match in AJPW. It's like a holiday No celebration but, still pretty cool and a reason to be hyped for the day. Plus it's sunny out so, that's nice too!
Here's my take on the match and if you have not watched it, make some time this
I'm a big giant fan of tag team wrestling. I'd say that I prefer tag and 6-man matches over singles competition. All Japan and NOAH are more known for their epic title matches but, have always had great team wrestling. I don't think that's a surprising statement however, there are others worth enjoying besides the classics. Here are some that I've enjoyed:
Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs Stan Hansen & Joel Deaton (06/03/93 AJPW): Although it was only 6 minutes & 47 second
We're back with Part Four of my review of Muto's AJPW 2002. Thanks for waiting! There's a bunch of tag matches this post.
Arashi, Dr. Death, Tenryu, Koki Kitahara, & Masao Orihara vs. Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Hase, Jinsei Shinzaki, George Hines & Kaz Hayashi (08/31): A very good elimination match that was best earlier on. In all fairness, this would have been great if it were a single fall match and kept the pace up. In this form, things dragged on too long with the younger/athletic guys
Here's the final post for AJPW 2002. This covers more of the Real World Tag League.
Otani & Tanaka vs Dr. Death & Mike Rotunda (11/27): Half shown but no idea where the other half was clipped out. No matter this was great in this format... absolutely back on track with the quality here. We get tastes of Dr. Death vs Tanaka (Tanaka taking the first real Dangerous Backdrop in a few years for instance). I'm not sure this match would hold up in it's full form since the full match tim
Let's go back to 2011 and see what I missed the first time around. I'll post the links to the Gaora YouTube videos for your enjoyment:
Minoru Tanaka vs Kaz Hiyashi (01/02/11): This was a very good junior battle with two legends of the style. I think they have something better in them but this was still pretty good stuff. My issue is with how they're not really transitioning control from one guy to the other. It does seem a bit like 'your turn-my turn' and I'd like to see a reason why Minoru
I'm back with the second half of 2001...and I bring you more reviews & Gaora videos
Dr. Death & Mike Rotunda (The Varsity Club) vs. Kojima & Hiro Saito (06/08/01 AJPW PPV): 11+ min match that was 100% action. Obviously Mike Rotunda (even in '01) is going to bring good stuff. I was worried about Saito but no! He was really good. I think he was perhaps as good as Tenzan at least. Another great k.i.s.s match. This easily could have been a match from 1991 instead of 2001 but I find
Here's the final part of my 1980 NJPW cherry picking expedition.
Kengo Kimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami 09/25: One of the longer matches. Classic Inoki Strong Style technical game-of-human-chess duels. Competitive, non-profit cooperative looking. Doesn't rely upon stiffness but instead counters, reversals, escapes and blocking of moves & holds. There's moments where at first you think they've made a flub but they transition into to capitalizing on the "flub" that it was either planned or the
