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Ship Canal

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  1. Ship Canal
    Episode 9 - Match Microscope (II): Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkel Strap yourselves down and force your eyelids apart with cocktail sticks, as the boys are back with their second in a trilogy of in-depth looks at classic Japanese pro wrestling matches a little off the beaten track. This time around Daniel, David and George are hurtling back into the dim and distant past (the 1980s) to run the rule over a clash between two of the greatest technical wrestlers the Western world has ever produced. Along the way we'll take in exactly how the UK's most terrifying geezers were produced, which Japanese women's wrestling legend has a burning desire to visit Wigan, and revisit Daniel's love of Last of the Summer Wine in what is alarmingly not a first on this show. Matches: Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkel (AJPW, 11 December 1980) https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/episode-9-match-microscope-ii-billy-robinson-vs-nick-bockwinkel
  2. Ship Canal
    EPISODE 8: Match Microscope (I): Kota Ibushi vs. YOSHIHIKO (feat. Jamie from Dramatic DDT) Join George, Daniel and David for the first in a new series called Match Microscope, in which our intrepid hosts tackle a single puro match in detail and tie it in with what it meant to Japanese pro wrestling at the time. Then, in Part 2, the guys welcome Jamie from Dramatic DDT for an expert interview about the DDT promotion, and try to unpick the full story of this most offbeat of promotions. Featuring George making the case for the most underrated high-flyer of his generation, the time a pork cutlet won a pro wrestling belt, the flamboyant enigma that is Danshoku Dino, and all the good cheer you've come to expect from the Puro Pourri Podcast! Matches: Kota Ibushi © vs. YOSHIHIKO ©(KO-D Heavyweight Championship and DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship) (DDT, 25 October 2009) https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/episode-8-match-microscope-i-kota-ibushi-vs-yoshihiko-feat-jamie-from-dramatic-ddt
  3. Ship Canal
    EPISODE 7: HEAVEN IS A HASH FIGHT The NJPW vs. UWFI saga marches to its heady climax as David, George and Daniel look at the death rattle in UWFI's dessicated throat. Marvel as Riki Choshu continues his Burial Tour '95-'96, a fat Elvis impersonator shows why he was the most badass action hero of all time, and the guys laugh at Yoji Anjo some more. They also somehow manage to mention a storyline where a sumo wrestler hatches out of an egg not once, but twice. A typical two hours' work from the Puro Pourri Podcast. Matches: Riki Choshu vs. Masahito Kakihara (NJPW, 4 January 1996) Keiji Muto © vs. Nobuhiko Takada (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (NJPW, 4 January 1996) Nobuhiko Takada © vs. Shinya Hashimoto (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (29 April 1996) https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/episode-7-njpw-vs-uwfi-iv-heaven-is-a-hash-fight
  4. Ship Canal
    After our brief diversion into the strange and terrifying world of modern-day WWE, the boys are back on familiar terrain, though no less strange and terrifying. 1995 is solidly behind us as we move into what 1996 meant for the New Japan-UWFI feud, mourn the sad death of Yoji Anjo one more time, gush over one of the greatest wrestlers of all time (and talk about Antonio Inoki as well), and reference Takeshi's Castle even more than usual. Matches: Yuji Nagata, Shinjiro Otani and Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Kenichi Yamamoto (NJPW, 4 January 1996) Yoji Anjo vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki (NJPW, 4 January 1996) Antonio Inoki vs. Vader (NJPW, 4 January 1996) https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/the-puro-pourri-podcast-episode-6-njpw-vs-uwfi-iii-vaders-gonna-vade
  5. Ship Canal
    Hello! It's taken us longer than anticipated to edit together our next lot of shows, so in the meantime we present to you a special double bonus episode covering Wrestlemania! Not merely another match by match, play by play rundown of the show, but filled with our usual brand of deep cut tangents. With scorching cold takes fresh from the barrel, the Puro Pourri Podcast boys are here with a slight deviation from the norm, as they look at Wrestlemania 33. Along the way we take in Daniel's visceral hatred of Mojo Rawley, David's small part in getting Impact cancelled in the UK, and the time George got his ass handed to him by a grandmaster (a chess grandmaster, not Brian Lawler). Give these three the green light, cos they're ready to go. https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/the-puro-pourri-podcast-does-wrestlemania-part-1 The hosts conclude their look at the best Wrestlemania for at least twelve months. Between Daniel's impassioned defence of Roman Reigns, George's unaccountable love for Triple H and David's interior decorating, they take in fake wedding proposals, Love Actually, Bob Marley's disappointing children and, of course, when Pitbull will finally be given his long-sought green light. https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/the-puro-pourri-podcast-does-wrestlemania-part-2
  6. Ship Canal
    Yeah I think we accidentally uploaded the wav! Here is a much smaller mp3 version for everyone, apologies! https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1Iq94dErccueENadEhDV0FCRHM
  7. Ship Canal
    I thought that. At first I thought it was in Japan but then I looked again at the line ups on each team and also copped the blue flooring and advertizing.
  8. Ship Canal
    So. Many. Crap. Nu. Metal. Themes. Really not my thing, although given I was 15 in 2000 I may well have dug it had I chanced upon it back then. Genuinely thought Rukkus was going to kill that poor lad with his pump handle slam. Q Sick took a nasty bump against a wall from a seemingly standard irish whip. That's about the extent of my comments tbh.
  9. Ship Canal
    Episode 5 is here! Currently streaming on our Soundcloud and Itunes, also due to be uploaded to the PWO network soon. After a difficult gestation involving lost audio, a re-recording and one of the presenters' dogs shitting everywhere mid-episode, George, Daniel and David are back with another look at the famous NJPW vs. UWFI feud from 1995-1996. Continuing their look at the October 1995 Tokyo Dome show, the hosts bemoan booking, laugh themselves into a stupor at one of the most hilariously one-sided squash matches of all time, reveal which British supermarket has a better opinion on Wrestle Kingdom 11 than other leading brands, and fantasy book Jushin Liger against one of the UK's leading Brexiteers. All this and more on the Puro Pourri Podcast! Matches: Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 9 October 1995) Riki Choshu vs. Yoji Anjo (NJPW, 9 October 1995) Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masahito Kakihara (NJPW, 9 October 1995) Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tatsuo Nakano (NJPW, 9 October 1995) Keiji Muto © vs. Nobuhiko Takada (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (NJPW, 9 October 1995) https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/episode-5-njpw-vs-uwfi-ii-fit-to-shoot
  10. Ship Canal
    You didn't think the Ogawa/Murakami vs Hash/Izuka tag stood out? I'm not saying you had to think it was any good, but to suggest it doesn't stand out or is overshadowed by the two matches after it seems a stretch to me. It stood out precisely because of how batshit it was and the manner of presentation. Again, I'm not suggesting you have to like that sort of thing, but almost by dint of how different it felt to the rest of the show it automatically stands out as memorable in a very particular way.
  11. Ship Canal
    Vacillates wildly between completely falling apart into a hot mess and the most intense, wild bomb throwing fest you'll ever clap eyes on. I've seen the Hash/Ogawa matches before but never this one and I think it's very interesting to compare the two. With Murakami and Izuka in there as well this feels more poised in terms of the variety of stories that can be told and the tag structure makes for obscenely satisfying pacing r.e the bigger spots (usally suplex or strike flurry based) because of the ebb and flow or having different combos in there. Considering Ogawa/Hash is a feud that is often pointed to as an example of the worst excesses of Inokism (although I have to say, I love the matches) in terms of eventually removing a lot of the aura surrounding one of his best draws, this match really manages to keep everyone looking incredibly strong and really jumps off the screen as one of the hottest feuds on the entire planet at that point.
  12. Ship Canal
    I have a huge soft spot for Duggan vs Buzz Sawyer. Perhaps not on the level of those outlined above, but hugely fun none the less and never outstays it's welcome.
  13. Ship Canal
    Is there no video of #1 because no one has uploaded it yet? Or is it a mistake with the html on the blog? Great list btw, going to be keeping up with these as much as I can. Trauma vs Lupus was my MOTY last year, so keen to check out another crazy IWRG blood feud!
  14. Ship Canal
    It's never bothered me in the slightest. I get pissed off at Marufuji matches because I don't like the way he constructs them and some of the (wider) work in them. But I see the thigh slap as largely neutral, in the same way the old school mat stomping when delivering a punch is. If it's done well, the extra element of theatricality doesn't affect my enjoyment. A smidgen just the other way though, and it might. To paraphrase Pacino, wrestling's that game of inches. Tbh though, I see far less egregious thigh slapping these days than there used to be dodgy foot stomping back in the day. Is it just the sound that people find so offputting? Or are people saying they can actually see the moment the wrestler slaps their thigh to create the sound and that's what's so distracting? Because I feel pretty thick right now, as I can honestly say I don't think I've ever noticed the thigh slap itself outside of hearing the sound. And it's not like I don't watch a lot of matches. Maybe I just let those mlments wash over me subconsciously, I dunno. Thigh slapping/game of inches. I'm this far away from being Benny Hill right now.
  15. Ship Canal
    I enjoyed this a great deal, even if I felt like it could have had 5 minutes or so shaved off the end to make things a little punchier. This seemed one of Akiyama's more understated but viciously methodical displays. I loved how he'd just tag in, lock something on and wrench it unforgivingly before letting someone else pick things up. There was a kind of half STF (I'm terrible with the names of moves) that he kept cranking and it made me really appreciate the little touches he adds into his matches that set him apart. The way he used his foot for leverage and would half circle back on it before syncing it in even deeper was such a nice touch that a lesser wrestler might not have thought of. Things like this really make him stand out even in very unshowy performances. Also a huge mark for slightly grizzled, stubbly Kobashi during this period. I tend to think there is more evolution to his character than some give him credit for.
  16. Ship Canal
    Ahhh great shout! I've seen Cobra matches but on a big long stretch of 80's stuff I watched back to back and some of it medled into one. I'm enjoying this project so far because I work from home so I can fit in the odd match here and there and then watch more when I've finished for the day, so there is space to breathe between watching matches. I'm hoping this will mean the stuff I dig remains fresher in my mind for longer.
  17. Ship Canal
    GUYS, CAN WE TALK ABOUT TAMAKAWA'S FASTEST DRAW IN THE WEST GIMMICK PLZ? Complete with "shooting" someone to death during his entrance? Wild. So, anyone who has listened to the Puro Pourri Podcast will know that out of the three of us that host it, David is the one with the biggest love for the death match scene and BJW in general. Most of the BJW stuff I dig has been from much later on, the big meathead battles between Sekimoto, Okabayashi etc etc. I generally steer away from their death oriented stuff because guys like Jun Kasai and gaijin like Masada etc really don't do much for me. But stuff like this does make me think that David was correct in his assertion that during the late 90's - early 2000's Japanese scene, in it's varied incarnations from FMW and further down the pecking order in terms of drawing and hype in the west, the Japanese death match may as well be on another planet to the type of stuff that the US scene eventually begun to pump out later. At the very least, there is often a kernel of a good meat and potatoes narrative to get (no pun intended) wired into. This was no different and I liked how the table spots didn't feel excessive despite the patently gonzo nature of the entire setup. This was a match that slotted perfectly into the universe it had created for itself and despite some reservations - there are certain moves I just feel it's counterproductive to keep working after given their kayfabe impact* - I really enjoyed brawling sections that worked up to the more brutal bumps. I'm not someone who gives out star ratings but I enjoyed this a great deal more than I thought I might. I thought Honma worked super hard and was probably the stand out. *On this note: one thing I've always wondered r.e the significance of certain moves in the west vs the east: who was the first Japanese worker to perform a tombstone and do fans in the west get more het up about it being used as a transition spot due to the fact it's 'Takers finisher and was so protected for so long over here? I'm not saying I don't find it jarring when someone kicks out of one, but I'm trying to think who the first Japanese wrestler was I've seen perform it going back historically and I can't think off the top of my head.
  18. Ship Canal
    I loved this. 2 out of my top 3 matches from last year were Canis Lupus / Trauma and Rush/La Parka, so it's safe to say I love me a lucha brawl with lots of crazy antics and blood. While this was nowhere the transcendent level of those two matches, I was hooked for the entirety of the 15 minutes and didn't fidget, check my phone or get distracted once. For someone of my level of concentration (largely a result of anxiety problems), that's really saying something, especially as most of my exposure to Bucanero has been from more modern stuff and I've seen very little of Tarzan Boy. I loved the desperation of the submission in the third fall being escaped from by a simple, slightly angled back smack in the face... it perfectly suited the whole vibe of the match. One thing I was curious of was it the cuts to Satanico on the outside and his gloved hand...was the glove meant to be loaded? I speak zero Spanish so couldn't pick up what the commentators were saying about it either.
  19. Ship Canal
    Having only really gotten into lucha in the last two years, this was quite challenging to watch for a number of reasons. Firstly, I've gotten onto lucha more or less entirely through posts on this board in The Microscope/GWE etc, so my lucha watching has involved a lot of high volume from a select amount of guys, most of whom are considered at the very least highly notable, if not necessarily top 100 material. This has meant that I've sort of started at the blow offs to a lot of feuds and worked backwards. At this point, while I'm probably the most well versed in lucha of the friends I watch and talk about wrestling with, in places like this I'm very much a beginner compared to some of you guys. I like that though, I feel like this project should help me to get a good handle on where lucha was at during this period. I've watched the DVDVR best of the 80s and 90s lucha sets etc, but I feel like watching more of this baseline stuff, as I think Chad described it, is useful to get a better read on the style at the whole during the time. Anyway, I've seen very little of any of these guys apart from Solar and Antifaz, and even then I've not taken in anywhere as much as I have the likes of Casas, Satanico, EHDS etc etc. I really enjoyed Solar during this, it felt like everything he did was weighted just right to lead into something else and he was never selfish and seemed to know when to let his team mates shine as well. Would I be right in thinking he was the biggest star on that tecnico side at this time? As I say, my grasp of the context here is virtually non existent That bump on the outside from Mr Mexico made me wince! It's funny you say that Grimmas, my initial thoughts, as someone going in cold, were that Mr Mexico carried himself with a fair degree of charisma but that didn't translate well into much else past the initial jostling with Solar. I thought he looked like a badass though. Is this near the beginning, middle or end of his career?
  20. Ship Canal
    I could be wrong, but I'm sure I picked up an RF Video HBK shoot around this time that had this, and some other TWA matches on it. It's a bit of a long story (cheap plug: hear it on episode 3 of the Puro Pourri Podcast, right here, on the PWO Network!), but through a local shop we were able to get a lot of tapes and this particular shoot was being hyped by the guy behind the counter for ages. I have no recollection whether it actually contained any remotely decent stuff during the interview portion, and lord knows these days I'd balk at listening to Shawn talk for an hour plus non stop, but it did bring back nice memories of my adolescence. I kind of loved the huge "Texas Discount Furniture" logo in the middle of the ring. Reminded me of the Portland footage in which they'd big up the upcoming events at the fleamarkets, Memphis tapes complete with adverts for local car show rooms between the matches... I dig that kind of thing. As for the match itself, I thought this was fascinating given the respective career trajectories of both guys. What I found most intriguing was how the tiny little details that the guys actually lacked (hardly a criticism for guys as green as this), especially Danielson. Just little things like there being very obvious, defined phases in his work as opposed to him having quite grasped how to transition into things without it seeming a bit jarring. He was wrestling with a lot of full stops here, as opposed to commas, if you will. Super fun and a great piece of history. I wish I could say I had both these guys marked for greatness when I first saw them as a kid, but as pointed out above, I imagine Spanky was the guy I would have viewed as the next big thing based purely on this match.
  21. Ship Canal
    Thanks!
  22. Ship Canal
    Episode 4 drops!!! Episode 4 sees the hosts begin their first story arc, as they start to explore one of the most famous and most controversial feuds in the history of puroresu - New Japan vs. UWFI. Join George, Daniel and David as they give you the lowdown on the history of shoot style and New Japan's dalliances with martial artists, get into Street Fighter and Nuts TV, and discuss how long they think they'd have lasted in the ring with Rickson Gracie. All this, and more, on the Puro Pourri Podcast! Matches: Yuji Nagata and Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Kazushi Sakuraba and Hiromitsu Kanehara (NJPW, 9 October 1995) Shinjiro Otani vs. Kenichi Yamamoto (NJPW, 9 October 1995) Takashi Iizuka vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NJPW, 9 October 1995) https://soundcloud.com/the-puro-pourri-podcast/episode-4-njpw-vs-uwfi-i-strong-style-and-shoot-style
  23. Ship Canal
    I deliberately didn't listen to the CWF-MA stuff because I'm planning on watching the show at a later date. Do you know if it will be shown for free on their youtube channel or do they have a VOD service for big shows? I'm pretty much starting fresh with this promotion this year thanks to the good things I've heard on your podcast.
  24. Ship Canal
    Thanks so much for the kind words so far guys. For anyone interested, the podcast actually grew out of a facebook group I started a while ago to keep in touch with friends I'd met at shows and bring in some other friends who were fans but didn't have a whole lot of other people to talk to about wrestling. That mushroomed and we've now got a website which has a fair bit of content but which is still developing. For those interested: http://www.imaintainthedoublefootstompissilly.com/
  25. Ship Canal
    On the topic of Marxism and wrestling, the prominent British Marxist and writer Richard Seymour recently revealed himself to be a fan. While I have major differences with some of Seymour's analysis (I'm a libertarian* communist/anarcho syndicalist), it was none the less nice to see someone else on the far left writing about wrestling. http://www.leninology.co.uk/2016/03/kayfabe-is-dead-or-i-was-manic-pixie.html There is also this article from Jasmin Mujanovic: The political economy of professional wrestling: Capital, unions and spandex https://libcom.org/library/political-economy-professional-wrestling-capital-unions-spandex *Libertarian in the traditionally understood European sense, i.e the antithesis of what would later claim that name in Austria/the US etc. I'm not trying to patronize anyone by outlining this, I'm sure plenty of people understand the distinction, but given the high amount of US posters on here it'll probably cause less confusion if I just mention that distinction from the get go.
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