silverwidow

I love Jumbo Tsuruta's passionate determination during his wonderful matches against Terry Funk and Harley Race in the 70s.

Please, please, please watch Yoshida/Fukawa, Loss. The crowd's rocking like it's 1999 towards the end there.

Getting a chance to kick back and watch wrestling on a holiday is a beautiful thing! Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu, NJPW, 2/17/94 An absolutely thrilling 15 minutes of action -- just a whole bunch of ass kickery from two guys fired up for a big match. Old Man Tenryu's limitations do pop-up when he tries to get too fancy (his enzuigiris are typically lame), but luckily for him, Hash turns in one of his most inspired efforts in carrying this thing. Great match -- highly recommended viewing as a change of pace from the usual NJPW heavyweight formula with its obvious All Japan feel. It's similar to the 4/96 Hash/Takada Dome match in terms of heat but on a smaller scale. ****

Hashimoto/Hase, 12/13/94 kills them both in my opinion, particularly when it comes to the build. It has a nice blend of urgency and patience during the first half that I didn't find in the Mutoh matches. All in all, very passionate matwork where almost every hold was a struggle. Plus, if you're an All Japan fan, the stretch will seem wonderfully familiar.

RE: Kobashi/Suzuki GH, I think you're underestimating Kobashi's performance in this match. Just a couple of things to touch on really quickly: The fire that Kobashi put behind his headlocks were enough to keep the spots interesting to me. They were good in that it allowed Kobashi to exert a sense of dominance and control at the outset without having to dig too deep. As for Kobashi's selling of the arm throughout -- pretty damn good if you ask me. From what I've seen, he tends to produce quality performances when that theme is sewn into a match (i.e. 10/95 M/K vs. K/T and 4/04 vs. Takayama come to mind). That said, it was still a one man show -- I wasn't into Suzuki's clowning at all, although his submissions were quite fun. Good, enjoyable match but I wouldn't go higher than *** or ***1/4.

Didn't WWE produce Brock Lesnar? He had far more natural talent in my mind.

-All Japan (1993) Self explanatory to anyone who's sampled the TV from this period. Just a wonderful blend of elite talent (both native and foreign), excellent booking (notably Kawada switching sides), and, of course, some of the best matches to ever happen all inside of one year. An easy choice for #1.

GH: Some cliff notes on what to get... Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue, 5/23 (This is their first meeting and is essential because of how it plays out with Misawa taking somewhat of a backseat in letting Akiyama "prove himself" with the big boys. The finish is very, very important as well). *Note: Here is Misawa & Akiyama's classic title defense against Steve Williams & Johnny Ace from 6/7. A critical bridge to the RWTL Final. Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue, 7/9 (Not as good as the 5/23 match but still excellent). Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue, 11/24 (This is available on Samurai TV in complete form. Another must). And I'm sure you have the 12/16/88 Hansen/Gordy vs. Tenryu/Kawada that they draw from as well.

My tentative list (order can always change): (1) Misawa/Akiyama v Kawada/Taue - 12/06/96 AJPW RWTL final (2) Hokuto v Kandori - AJW 04/02/93 Dreamslam I (3) Misawa v Kawada - AJPW 06/03/94 (4) Toyota/Yamada v Kansai/Ozaki - 11/26/92 AJW Dream Rush (5) Misawa/Kobashi v Kawada/Taue - AJPW 06/09/95 Some brief thoughts: 12/96 is the greatest climax to a deep rooted story that I have ever seen. Plus, the actual work itself is on a similar plane (which isn't always the case in a lot of story driven matches). To me, Hokuto/Kandori is more powerful and emotional than Misawa/Kawada, even though the latter plays off of more history. The Dream Rush tag is probably the most intense match out there. The interpromotional story is fantastic and more than makes up for a lack of smoothness in some of the work. And as great as 6/95 turned out to be, I've always found it to be a clear 2nd to 12/96 in the All Japan realm of tags. Better roleplaying from Akiyama, not to mention a much better Taue.

That photo is just CLASSIC

Sadly, yes. There's like a two second delay between the video and audio. It sucks when Austin bashes Bret with a chair and you have to wait to hear the impact.

That's a bit surprising, Loss. The Akino match has always struck me as such a great technical clinic, even if it's somewhat stoic emotionally. I'd be interested in hearing more detailed thoughts at some point.

- What is your favorite singles match? - Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota, 8/21/93 (Most exhilarating five minute stretch run I've ever seen). - What is your favorite tag team (2 teams of 2) match? - Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue , 12/6/96 (The pinnacle of All Japan's great story driven tags). - What is your favorite multi-person (2 teams of 3 or more on each side) match? - Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue/Ogawa, 7/2/93 (This is paced so quickly that it has the feel of a Junior trios match as opposed to an All Japan main event. Mindblowing). - What is your favorite type of wrestling? - Early 90s All Japan. AJW from the same period comes close for me, though. - What is your favorite angle of all time? - The whole Bret Hart/Steve Austin double turn saga. - Who is a wrestler you found to like because of the internet? - Too many to name. - WCW or WWF 1996-1998? - WCW for match quality, WWF for storylines. - Do you like Lucha Libre? Why? - I don't follow it but I'd gladly seek out essential matches, especially if they involve Santito. - If you could book a "Super Show" card with 3 matches with a guarantee to draw a huge crowd and maintain monster heat the whole night, what would it be? Rey/Eddy, 10/97 Rock/Jericho, 10/01 Wargames '92

Santo vs. Casas (mask vs. hair), 9/19/97 Although I haven't seen a ton of Lucha, this stands out as the best. Not quite as flashy as their '87 L.A. match but much more hate filled and dramatic. The UWF-style submission work that they integrate throughout is fantastic, too. A must-see!

Not keeping up with the current scene makes this pretty hard to answer. But, when it comes to somewhat recent work, two workers that consistently impress would be Bryan Danielson (his old-school matwork is really fun, especially if you're a fan of Billy Robinson) and KENTA (just about the most explosive motherfucker I've ever seen on offense). I'd love to see those two in a singles match...

I think that's my favorite match on the Benoit DVD (the Sasuke match is better but I've watched that to death). Just one heck of a sprint. A major credit to both for jam packing so much goodness into that short time frame. Loved Benoit's vicious collection of moves (that powerbomb was almost - almost - as cool as the one Eddy delivered against Rey at Havoc '97) and any time Eddy gets to show off his selling skills, you're in for a definite treat.

Ito/Nakanishi/Takahashi vs. Mita/Shimoda/Maekawa, AJW, 11/23/00 Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura, GAEA, 4/29/01 Kaoru Ito vs. Momoe Nakanishi, AJW, 7/8/01 Kaoru Ito vs. Manami Toyota, AJW, 8/17/01 Kaoru Ito vs. Momoe Nakanishi, AJW, 9/16/01

A lot of my favorites have already been picked. Here's a few more: Devil Masami vs. Bull Nakano, JWP - 4/18/93 Akira Hokuto vs. Yumiko Hotta, AJW - 8/21/93 Kyoko Inoue vs. Shinobu Kandori, AJW - 8/25/93 Kong/Hasegawa vs. K. Inoue/Yamada, AJW - 10/10/93 Hokuto/Kong vs. Kansai/Hotta, AJW - 8/24/94 Ito/Watanabe vs. Mita/Shimoda, AJW - 9/21/97 Mariko Yoshida vs. Mika Akino, ARSION - 1/17/99 Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiromi Yagi, ARSION - 2/18/99 Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura, RINGS, 1/22/97 Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, RINGS, 6/27/98

It doesn't get any cooler for me than seeing Dick Beyer and Mariko Yoshida -- two of the greatest mat wrestlers from entirely different generations -- in the same shot. Just don't ask me why it's upside down.

I'd say this is tops without reservation... AJPW 7/29/93 @ Budokan Hall: Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada Honorable mention: AJW 8/22/85 @ Budokan Hall: Devil Masami vs. Chigusa Nagayo Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka

That's the story from the famous 11/17/97 Observer. I've seen it posted at Bret Hart's website, too.

Excellent thread. Should be quite resourceful for those looking to catch-up on certain promotions (NWA/WCW in my case). BTW, Loss, make sure goodhelmet sends you that Yoshida comp he's getting -- it has three of my favorite matches ever on there (vs. Akino, Yagi, Fukawa) and I'm sure these will do quite well on your list. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on them at some point, too.