gordi

That is purely awesome. I am happy for her, she really seems to be having fun.

Mainstream Japanese porn, at least the stuff they show at Love Hotels, is much less sleazy than mainstream North American porn. In the Japanese porn I've seen, it's generally one-on-one vanilla sex and they blur out the genitalia. I'm sure that there is underground Japanese porn that's purely horrrific... I've seen some cartoon stuff that's stomach-churning... but all of the stuff I've seen with actual human beings involved (not much, but some) has been a gentle step beyond US soft-core. And, yeah, wrestling has its scummy side... but does Porn have anything like the family atmosphere at Osaka Pro shows to balance that out? Does wrestling have anything remotely as bad as child porn or snuff films?

So we were over at Chitose's mom's friends house for drinks (I'm on vacation in Japan), and the TV was on. It was some kind of Celebrity Bowling show, with famous people teamed up with former pro bowlers. It was pretty interesting, as you saw the famous people slowly get better as the ex-pro-bowlers gave them advice. Everyone got all excited as they finally started rolling spares and strikes. There was one celeb on the show, a woman approaching young middle age, who was really positive: smiling and laughing and encouraging everyone. She seemed to be having the time of her life. It was Akira Hokuto.

Misawa was DEFINITELY hurt going into the match. Still, it came across very well from my seventh row floor seats. The crowd was fully into it, which I understnad didn't come across well on tape. Live, it was intense and it felt like it meant something... but Misawa was hurt, Joe was holding back a bit, and the ending was kind of abrupt. Still, it was a long way from being a terrible match. I haven't seen the online version, but I'm not exactly shocked that it was probably much, much better live. The GHC tag title match was great. It's well worth seeking that one out.

Here's a nice commentary by Dory, Jr. Dory remembers Jumbo

Yes. Obviously.

It was right around the time of this match that I started to cheer for the bad guys in certain circumstances. Bad guys like Rude, Fernandez, Arn, Beautiful Bobby, Sweet Stan, The Nature Boy.... (and in WWF the Harts and Harley...) ...they were just so much more compelling than the all-American good guys. This is the kind of match that, watching it now, I kind of wish I could push a button and get back into pure kayfabe mode and just cheer for the good guys to beat the bad guys. It really sounds like the crowd is having a great time at this match! Of course, I was also having a pretty good time back then cheering for the bad guys and feeling all superior for it. Having a good time now, too, feeling all nostalgic and contemplative...

Very interesting to see some early-80s lucha. Glad to see that Koshinaka's rear-end-based offense is over in Mexico, too. Was that a straight DQ? It looked to me more like Koshinaka chopped his leg and Satanico faked the faul... like an early model version of lie, cheat, and steal.

Oh yeah... a bit. A very little bit... His borderline madness made him damned interesting, though. I genuinely miss reading Hyatte's take on things.

Eh, I just think they are really lame, is all. For the same reasons I don't like reading MMA opinion articles. I agree with you: Sadly, the vast majority of pro wrestling and MMA columns these days are pretty terrible. There are still a few good writers out there, though.

I don't know who wrote it, maybe Tomk, but somebody once posted something to the effect of: "this guy's style is like a frat boy getting laid, switching positions every 2 minutes desperately trying to make the girl cum." That's the best analogy for MOVES heavy matches and workers I've ever read. "well that didn't pop the crowd too much, HOW BOUT THIS????" That's definitely a good analogy for many MOVES~! - based matches. If you think the analogy applies to ALL matches where the wrestlers use a lot of MOVES~!, I'd say that you are wrong. Well of course it doesn't apply for all matches with a lot of moves, but it can apply to most matches where you don't even care anymore. I think this conversation is generally about people who say John Cena sucks because he doesn't have an incredibly deep moveset, and for people who seem to love matches just for the moves that are done. Its like reading a really poorly written book with a shitty plot but they hide it by having a large vocabulary. Its a good way to hide lack of substance, pretty much. Like mentioned, the FU and STFU have a pretty high success rate, and you know when they are going to happen, that the match is probably going to end, or at least take a drastic turn. But when you have guys hitting standing SSPs and brainbusters just to set up another, more spectacular move, or when a guy has 8 versions of a move, each one more DANGEROUS~!!, the original move can be rendered worthless. Like if Cena started using the FU just as the move to get a mid-match 2.9, and the top rope FU was his finisher. Then eventually, that gets kicked out of quite often, so he starts doing a WRIST CLUTCH version, etc, etc. Oh, yeah, the escalating highspots thing is a real trap that modern pro wrestling is still trying to dig its way out of. On the other hand, I would hate for the pendulum to swing so far the other way that legitimately excellent wrestling matches like the 10/10/96 Michinoku Pro 10-man, The Era of Honor Begins three-way, Rey vs. Psicosis from the '95 Super J, or even say the Hardys vs. The Serial Thrillerz from OMEGA all get written off as lousy matches because they have too many MOVES~! There are a ton of ways to put a very good to great pro wrestling match together. Not everyone wrestles like Dick Murdoch, nor should everyone be expected to. (And Murdoch, of course, shouldn't be expected to wrestle like Hayabusa, either).

Insidepulse gets over 750,000 hits a month. A lot of those are probably for the reality TV section, though. Well, how many of them are unique visitors? I don't think its hard to believe that people still go there, I just think that its hard to believe that its 2007 and people still find the wrestling column to be a viable way to spend time. I remember in 1997 really getting into reading people's columns and wanting to write my own and have people read them and gush over my opinions, but once you realize that message boards are essentially the same thing without the hubris of "I AM COLUMNIST" it becomes null and void. I haven't read a pro-wrestling column in fucking years and don't know many people that still do. I really think people of worth should just stick to conversing with other people and leave the internet columnist stuff to Phantom Lord-type dudes. But thats just me. I looked it up and I had it wrong. It's actually 750,000 unique visitors per month. There is definitely a difference between writing a column and discussing the same subject on the internet. Columns give the writer the freedom to go more in-depth on a particular subject. Since the death of Smarkschoice, I haven't seen too many posts on any wrestling boards that go longer than a short paragraph or two. Longer posts usually get dismissed with some kind of sarcastic "dr,tl" type of crack. I tend to enjoy discussing on boards just as much as writing a column, but cranking out a long column and getting feedback that leads to more in-depth discussion on a subject that interests me can be very satisfying. Outside of FLEA, Eric S. and Hyatte, I can't think of too many internet wrestling columnists who seem to be operating under the grip of hubris, and with Eric it is 90 per cent an act anyway (Hyatte is legitimately a crazed egomaniac). Also: All three of those guys are hilarious, and all three of them can really write, as well. In my experience, the insidepulse crew and guys like Campbell, Czonka, and Dunn are all genuinely good guys: Humble, open to discussion of contrary opinions, and willing to learn from others. On the other hand, there are a TON of posters on internet boards who think that they hold the full monopoly on knowledge of and correct opinions on their particular corners of the pro wrestling and MMA worlds. The "fuiud" philosophy that's so common out there these days hardly leads to much back-and-forth on a given subject. There's definitely room for both columns and discussion boards. What you're saying there actually comes across kind of like sour grapes, Spunk.

Well, presuming you are in fact the same Mike Campbell who writes at 411, it was actually you who got me interested in Puro and helped me recognize storytelling in wrestling. So yeah, I'd put you on a top list of reviewers. And Dunn is great. Does a really good job reviewing a variety of material. Helps that I tend to agree with many of his ratings. Dunn and Campbell are two of the guys that I go out of my way to read. They generally find a lot of the same things funny, annoying, thrilling, and/or tedious that I do. Even when I wildly disagree with their opinions, those opinions are almost always clearly explained, well-written, defensible, and understandable. I don't go out of my way to read anyone at WO any more.

What a pleasure to hear Gordon Solie calling a match. Listen to how he and Dusty (and... was the third man in the booth Eddie Graham?) focus on calling the action as its happening rather than telling sophomoric jokes or hysterically shilling their own show, how they put over the contrasting characters of Race and Windham rather than pointlessly bickering or desperately putting their own characters over... THAT is how to call a pro wrestling match, my friends. Seeing a main-event level match like this go to a clean finish on free TV was very rare in the 1980s. Was this more common in Florida? I'd guess that Windham was the young athletic crowd favourite, like Bret was in Stampede... I love clear good guys and bad guys and what that dynamic can bring to a match. I don't mind the shades of gray booking of modern pro wrestling too much, it can be fun in its way... and it certainly helps me appreciate the old style more when I have the chance to watch something like this. I like how the post-match shenanigans take what is already a compelling match (the devious world champion vs. the local hero) and make it personal. Great stuff. Thanks for putting this on the disc, Loss!

The DVD arrived today. I was looking forward to this match, as I don't believe I've seen this one before. It's your basic 1990s New Japan super-heavyweight striker vs. bulked up light-heavyweight grappler scenario. It makes sense that Hase wants to keep things on the ground, but that strategy seems to lead to a lot of relatively aimless hold-exchanging, and it's an effort of will not to reach for the old fast-forward button after a while. Once they move on from the mandatory mat-work, however, things escalate quickly. Hash just absolutely destroys Hase's arm with a SICK top-rope double stomp... but then it's right back to the mat for an extended body scissors work-over. Maybe the stomp was meant to have damaged the ribs. What I am wanting to see is Hase selling for Hash's striking... and when we finally get to that, it's more than worth the wait. Those bits are the most entertaining part of the match, as each guy puts everything into making it work. Sadly, Hase's comeback isn't built to in any kind of sensible storytelling fashion. Rather, he hits the kind of out-of nowhere adrenalin-rush "now it's my turn to hit you" stuff that certain snarky people like to criticize Kobashi for. Once Hase grabs the momentum, though, it's lots of fun as he gets some tight near-falls. Hash smartly regains the upper hand by going after the damaged midsection that Hase has sold brilliantly throughout the match. The great pleasure of the match is watching Hase selling of Hash's crushing power. There's also a very hot crowd, and the whole thing does have a fairly epic feel to it. Also, Hase appears to soil himself slightly from the impact of a Hase senton (or maybe from the big elbow drop). In addition, Kensuke is cornering Hase and staring-down with Hash, and he is sporting his most ridiculous mullet. It's still not my favourite Japanese heavyweight match from 1994 In fact, it's probably my third-favourite Hashimoto singles match from that year. I remember enjoying the Tenryu and Liger matches a wee bit more. In the end, though, this is still a damn good 1990s-NJPW-style heavyweight war.

I don't know who wrote it, maybe Tomk, but somebody once posted something to the effect of: "this guy's style is like a frat boy getting laid, switching positions every 2 minutes desperately trying to make the girl cum." That's the best analogy for MOVES heavy matches and workers I've ever read. "well that didn't pop the crowd too much, HOW BOUT THIS????" That's definitely a good analogy for many MOVES~! - based matches. If you think the analogy applies to ALL matches where the wrestlers use a lot of MOVES~!, I'd say that you are wrong.

Insidepulse gets over 750,000 hits a month. A lot of those are probably for the reality TV section, though.

I don't really disagree with what anyone has had to say on this subject so far. Here's my two bits' worth: People who think that the only way to structure a great pro wrestling match is to string together one crazy highspot after another are wrong, of course. People who judge pro wrestlers based on how many move they "know" don't really understand pro wrestling. It's not how much you do, it's how much you do well. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to. ...and so on... HOWEVER: People who think that matches with lots of highspots or pro wrestlers who use lots of moves are ALWAYS, by definition, bad... those people are also wrong. I'd actually say that, in the places I go to discuss pro wrestling, there seem to be more of the latter than of the former these days.

Yep. Arguably the most egregious example of that, since he completely succeeded in destroying both Taylor's career and his legacy. He tried even harder to do the same with Big Dust, but Rhodes somehow had enough fun with it to almost make it work.

The potential card has been announced: NOAH, 10/27/07 Tokyo Nippon Budokan 1. Akira Taue & Go Shiosaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano 2. Takeshi Morishima, Mohammed Yone & Atsushi Aoki vs. D-Lo Brown, Buchanan & TAKA Michinoku 3. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith 4. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Mushiking Terry © vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru 5. GHC Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa © vs. Samoa Joe Matches 1 & 3 are, I assume, part of the GHC Tag Title Tournament. Taue and Takayama laying it into each other should be quite a treat. Seeing TAKA bounce around for Mori will be cool, as well. It's nice to have two title matches on one card. I wonder if they'll toss in the Tag Title Finals as well. That'd make three! Misawa is my second-favourite pro wrestler of all time, and Joe is my second-favourite current US-based pro wrestler... but even more is the dream of seeing a world title defended in Budokan Hall as the Main Event of a big card. The cherry on top: the undercard booking looks to be way less random than usual for NOAH. I'm obviously pretty happy about this.

That's long been a complaint people have had about Flair and (no offense, but...) I've always found that to be just about the dumbest of the many common complaints that people make about pro wrestling. (I'm not saying that YOU'RE dumb...) If you're any kind of wrestling nerd at all, you must have tried the figure four leg lock out with your friends at some time... and the fact is this: The figure four really hurts, whether you've set it up or not. With the recent rise in popularity of MMA, this common lament seems even more out of place. Does Minotauro Nogueira need to set up Bob Sapp or Cro Cop's arm before he puts them away with the arm bar submission... or does he absorb what they are dishing out and earn the victory the first time he sinks the arm bar all the way in? In 2006, when Mike Swick ended two fights in just over two minutes each in consecutive events with a guillotine choke --without first setting it up by working his opponents' necks -- did that seem fake to anyone? In the 1970s and early 1980s, when fewer people had seen MMA, it might have made sense to complain that Flair just sinking in the figure four for a victory didn't make sense unless he'd already worked his opponent's leg... but these days, everyone knows (or should know) that submissions don't really work that way. I guess that you can claim that pro wrestling story telling requires the finisher to be set up by appropriate body part work first, and I guess I could buy that. I am being a bit facetious with the MMA comparison... but, even in the very early '80s, it made sense to me this way: Maybe some finishers need to be set up, but the figure four isn't one of them. All you need to do is wear your opponent down enough that he can't turn over to reverse it, and it will work every time.

This isn't particularly at gordi, but why not; One talking point that I'll never really understand is how WWE's "insane" schedule will kill you, but then on the other hand, there is never ending complaining about how if so-and-so goes to WWE they'll never get a chance to shine and be working short TV matches. Bryan Danielson is the iron man of the US indies, and a lot of people expect to see him and see him go all out for half an hour, or do restholds for half an hour, then a finishing stretch of half an hour to reach a draw. Danielson isn't Flair, and his opponents aren't guys like Dusty Rhodes. Danielson going 60 or even long is a whole different world from what it was in the 70s and 80s to go 60. I'm just not following if its supposed to be 'going to WWE means they will never wrestle' or 'going to WWE means they are going to work too hard' as the main point of contention against the evil Vince empire. In WWE you'll work maybe 4 nights a week, doing maybe a total of 45 minutes of in-ring a week. Working 3 nights in various indies and being a guy like Danielson will probably equal out to about 2 to 2 and a half hours of wrestling, and in a waaaaay more dangerous style. No indy uses road agents to help lay out matches, where they would call you a moron for wanting to go out and get dropped on your head 4 times in a row. You raise some good points, but I don't know if they really address what I was writing about. What I think is (figuratively and literally) killing so many WWE guys is the lack of any real time off. The human body is amazing in its capacity to heal itself, but you need to rest in order to heal. The other (related) problem with being on the road constantly is the drug culture. You pretty much NEED pain killers to keep going night after night after night with even minor tears and strains. Speed to keep moving, downers to help you sleep, steroids to keep the look up to standard... there's all there, all available, all part of the life style. It's not like that stuff isn't available on the indy scene, but it's pretty apparent now that it's pervasive on the WWE scene. I'd say that, in the long run, those factors do more damage than wrestling longer matches in a stiffer style.

The Crusher cuts a promo

I agree, Misawa vs. Joe makes the most sense. I just don't want to get so hyped up to see it that I end up being disappointed if it's anything else.

So, it's going to be Samoa Joe vs. either Misawa or Marufuji for the GHC Title as the Main Event. I'm insanely happy about this, mainly because... I'm going to be there LIVE! I'm getting married in Japan in November... and my wife-to-be was willing to book my ticket so that I can be in Tokyo for the Budokan show before heading down to her mom's place. (We'll also be going to see Dragon Gate in Kyushu for their shows around the November Sumo Basho... which we'll also be attending). I know that it's trendy to bash Joe's wrestling lately... but I am quite sure we'll see some of the old Joe outside the confines of TNA. I know that Misawa is a broken down old man now... but I still got goosebumps just seeing him live for the first time in 2004, and I really hope that he's still the champ for the show, because seeing him in a main event title match would be a dream come true even if it's about a decade too late. Even if it turns out to be Marufuji vs. Joe, I'm still going to be pretty excited to see it. Between this, Loss' DVDs, and Danielson vs. Pierce at a local indy show... I'm becoming a flat-out pro wrestling fan again.