This is my 100^th blog post! Yay!

So, I wanted to make it about something special. An overlooked wrestler, a series of great matches, or something like that. Of course that would take me starting from scratch and I’m just a little busy with my day job & life-things to deep dive into a theme. Damn you Go Shiozaki and Youtube for taking me down a path unfit for this milestone post. So, instead I decided to offer 100 tidbits to you the reader. What’s funny is that I thought it would be a time saver but, in fact it took a shit load of time. I probably could have watched 3-4 matches and gotten a review for each in the time it took me to scribble down & cross out my choices in my notebook. Then, I had to type them out! What a dummy!

I’ve got some top 10 and essential viewing lists but, these are by no means comprehensive. Somethings were omitted intentionally and others were omitted due to ignorance. I’ve seen a good bit of stuff but, not everything J Plus most are not in a particular order. “So, what F-ing use are they then!?” you say? Yeah, um see…it’s more like that’s the order that I thought of them in OR they’re chronological. The lists are almost like a peek into my wrestling brain. It’s a little rough and a little hazy at times but, hopefully, it gets you watching, reading, or thinking about different stuff.

 

 

 

Who I watch out for when Youtube Surfing:

1. Los Cowboys (Silver King & El Texano) – Well-travelled team always get the best out of their foes.

2. The Headhunters – Agile big men always down for mixing garbage/hardcore wrestling with highspots

3. Togi Makabe – “Newer” guy brings old school flair, intensity, AND stiffness

4. Masashi Aoyagi – Karate man constantly kicking people and stirring shit up

5. Shiro Koshinaka – 100% effort and charisma wrestler, a utility man who can shine in all settings

6. Masahiro Chono- Trained by Thesz & Inoki, charismatic and believable despite limitations

7. Masa Kurisu – AJPW trained, got kicked out of FMW- yeah that’s right…

8. Kendo Nagasaki – AJPW and Stampede pedigree, early FMW and started BJW

9. Tarzan Goto – Notice a pattern?

10. Jun Kasai – Comedy, violence, sound wrestling ability, death defying leaps, and charismatic to boot!

 

 

 

Iconic Bumps or Moves:

1. RVD’s somersault senton from the top turnbuckle into the crowd versus Bam Bam Bigelow

2. Kawada taking Tiger Driver ’91 on 06/03/94

3. Masato Tanaka taking an Awesome Bomb through a table to the floor with enough momentum carry his head and neck underneath the guardrail.

4. Jun Akiyama riding Akira Taue’s skull off the apron on 01/22/06

5. Kawada getting German suplexed by Kobashi while ‘KO’d’ on 12/03/93

6. Inoki getting German suplexed by Vader, 01/04/96

7. Mr. Danger Matsugnaga’s somersault senton onto his opponent in a Barbwire Net Scaffold match (BJW 98?)

8. Onita shouting “Thunder-Fire-Power-bomb!” as he delivers said move to Hayabusa in the ’94 Cage retirement match

9. Sabu wrapping his legs in barbwire and then Leg dropping Terry Funk at Born to Be Wired, ECW

10. Akira Hokuto doing maybe the 1^st reverse frankensteiner to Toyota, all dangerous joshi style too

 09/02/95

 

 

 

Most Brutal Joshi Matches:

1.  Lioness Asuka vs Yumiko Hotta 03/26/95 AJW

2. Yumiko Hotta vs Aja Kong 01/24/94 AJW

3. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs Grizzly Iwamoto & Bull Nakano 08/19/90 AJW

4. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 08/09/97 AJW

5. Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota 09/02/95 AJW

6. Manami Toyota & Toshida Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki series (92-93) AJW

7. Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori (April & December 1993) AJW

8. Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda 3/31/96 FMW

9. Crush Gals & Ogura vs Dump, Leilani Kai & Crane – 2/3 Falls (Mid 80’s?) AJW

10. Manami Toyota vs Karou Ito 08/09/97 AJW

 

 

 

Most Brutal Men’s Matches:

1. Sabu vs Sandman – Stairway to Hell match 1998 ECW

2. Jun Kasai vs Takashi Iizuka – Deathmatch TAKA Produce 2018

3. Kobashi vs Misawa 10/21/97 AJPW

4. The Rock vs Mankind - St. Valentine’s Day Massacre 1999 WWF

5. Cactus Jack vs Terry Funk – Duel of the Wilds 1995 IWA Japan  

6. There’s some Tarzan Goto glass deathmatch in BJW 1998 or 99 where he carves a notch into Ono’s (I think) arm with a shard of glass.

7. Headhunters Glass Deathmatch 1995 IWA Japan

8. Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano 08/24/89 UWF 2^nd Stage

9. Onita’s main events in FMW (89-92)

10. Terry Funk vs Sabu Born to be Wired 1997 ECW

 

 

 

ECW Memorable Moments:

1. First time the Dudley’s did the Flaming table

2. Seeing Super Crazy vs Tajiri vs Travelling Luchador or Japanese Jr. vs Spike vs Little Guido vs Jerry Lynn every week

3. The “Catfights!!!!” 

4. New Jack jumping off the back of a raised basketball hoop backboard through a table

5. Balls & Axl’s chair shots that bent the seats

6. Taz vs The Franchise rematch on TV where Franchise gives this speech about giving the fans a good match and sez ‘whaddaya say Taz?’ Taz, stern as ever, mutters in the mic “Ring the fucking bell…” Aw shit! That was killer!!

7. Sabu’s entrance music

8. New Jack playing Natural Born Killaz throughout every match. Also him hitting people with household items like NES’s and Sweepers

9. Um…Born to be Wired…seriously, it blew my mind.

10. Being able to watch ECW 2-3 times a week (our channel would rebroadcast Hardcore TV) with my Dad during my crappy High School years. It was the perfect escape for me J

 

 

 

Favorite Moves in WCW vs The World PS1 Game (sorry I’m in High School mode right now):

1. Top Rope Powerbomb

2. Steiner Screwdriver

3. Tiger Driver ‘91

4. Akira Maeda’s Capture Suplex when countering an opponent’s kick

5. Jumping DDT (Onita’s DDT)

6. Western Lariat (the best its ever looked in a video game…for reals)

7. Mil Masacara’s Headstand leg scissor takedown

8. Throwing German Suplex (Rick Steiner style)

9. Shinzaki’s Asai Moonsault where he’s praying mid-moonsault!

10. Hayabusa’s Firebird Splash (or whatever that animation is!)

Honorable Mention: All strike combos that end in that cool KO animation J

 

 

 

Essential 80’s NJPW:

1. Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid 01/28/82

2. Maeda vs Fujinami 06/12/86

3. Koshinaka & Muto vs Maeda & Takada 03/20/87

4. 5 on 5 match 09/16/87 OR Hase vs Takada 03/11/88 (tie for me)

5. Inoki vs Fujinami 08/08/88

 

 

 

Essential Misawa vs Jumbo Feud AJPW:

1. 06/08/90

2. 09/30/90

3. 10/19/90

4. RWTL 12/07/90

5. 04/20/91

 

 

 

Other Essential Joshi:

1. Lioness vs Jaguar Yokota AND Chigusa vs Devil Masami 08/22/85 AJW

2. Crush Gals & Ogura vs Dump, Leilani Kai & Crane – 2/3 Falls (Mid 80’s?) AJW

3. Chigusa vs Lioness 02/26/87 AJW

4. Fire Jets vs Marine Wolves 1989 Tag League (?) 2/3 Falls AJW

5. Plum Mariko & Devil Masami vs Chigusa & Cuty Suzuki (11/18/93) JWP

6. Toyota & Hokuto vs K. Inoue & Yamada (both matches) 12/10/93 AJW

7. Ozaki, Plum & Cuty vs Dynamite Kansai, Devil & Chigusa - 2 Count match 01/1994 JWP

8. Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue vs Manami Toyota & Aja Kong 03/03/94 AJW

9. Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto vs Yumiko Hotta & Dynamite Kansai 08/24/94 AJW (24 years ago!?)

10. Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong 11/20/94 AJW

 

 

 

Essential Independent or Other Promotions of the 1990’s:

1. Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Kurisu & Dragonmaster Kendo Nagasaki 04/19/90 FMW

2. Onita vs Goto 02/26/91 FMW

3 Tenryu & Ishikawa vs Hashimoto & Choshu 04/02/93 WAR

4. The Headhunters vs Miguel Perez Jr. & W. Kanemura – Barbwire Cage Match 05/09/93 W*ING

5. Captain’s Fall Barbwire Bunkhouse Match 08/29/93 W*ING

6. Jinsei Shinzaki vs Great Sasuke 04/29/94 Michinoku Pro

7. Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Delfin vs Dick Togo, Men's Teioh & Shiryu 11/12/96 M-Pro

8. Sasuke, Hamada, Super Delfin, Gran Naniwa & Yakushiji vs. Togo, Men's, TAKA, Shiryu & Funaki 12/16/96 M-Pro

9. Yuki Ishikawa & Mohammed Yone vs Daisuke Ikeda & Ikuto Hidaka 06/20/99 BattlARTS

10. Ishikawa vs Ikeda 07/29/99 BattlARTS

 

 

 

Projects I’m Really Going to Get To in the Next 3 Months:

1. Pick back up AJPW Classics 1989-90 (I’ve got a DVD set thick enough to stop a .22)

2. Focus on AJPW 2011-2015 DVDs

3.  Assorted ROH & PWG DVDs from 2014 to 2016 along with some Young Bucks in PWG

4. Looking at some NJPW 1990 tag’s I’ve been wanting to see for YEARS

5. NJPW 1988 – couple discs of some goodies I keep putting off

6. Momoe Nakanishi DVD that I just can’t seem to remember that I have

7. NOAH 2007 – A small sampling, me thinks

 8. I’d like to get into 95-98 FMW but, my two big YT sources have been shut down. I’ll scrape through perhaps.

9. I’ve been getting the urge to watch early 80’s AJ & NJ along with whatever AWA stuff I can find

10. More 2010 NJPW multi-mans, tags , and Jr. matches

 

 

 

Thank you very much for reading!!