Phil Schneider

This is about as good an Abyss match as you are going to have. Ki bumps huge for all of Abyss's spots, kicks the big guy pretty hard and they have a bunch of amusing horseshit, plus where are in and out in under 7 minutes. Abyss is the hired gun of the Killer Cult faction in AAW and cost Ki the AAW title in our reigning match of the year. Here the story of the match is the manager paying for his sins. First Ki just wipes him out with a diving through the ropes dropkick. Then they have a fun finish with Ki hurling a handful of thumbtacks into Abyss's eyes, the blinded Abyss chokeslams his manager into the tacks and gets rolled up for the pin. Kind of a waste of Ki (so many more intriguing matchups with the talent booked on the show) but I dug it.

What a sleaze soaked pleasure this match was, the wrestling equivalent of eating a giant roadhouse bacon cheeseburger. Goto is a treasure in this, I can't believe I ever used to diss this dude. He basically works this as a fat grotesque Tenryu as he beats the bricks off of Motegi with chair edges, meaty punches right to the nose and thick headbuts. Motegi bleeds a ton and was pretty great as a fired up babyface, by far the best I have seen him look. Nakano and Miyake were really fun as the secondary dudes too, they would tag in and slap the shit out of who ever was in the ring. I really miss this kind of dirtbag Puro indy, now all Japanese indies seem to be about telling jokes, there was nothing funny about this match at all.

" If a karateka vs. Garbage wrestler match that turns into attempted murder sounds good to you this is your match." This sounds very good to me

This is one of my all time favorite wrestling feuds, they ran it in multiple federations, with big violent gimmick matches, CZW, ROH, IWA-MS. This wasn't building on any big feud in IWA-MS, they were just booked on the same card, so they decided to try to kill each other. This might be the apex of indy wrestling weapons brawls. It had all of the huge violent spots you want to watch in slow motion along with an almost Funk v. Lawler or Magnum v. Tully level of close fight brawling. Both guys kept ripping at each others eyes, not an a wrestling eye rake way, but in a blind a guy in a barfight way. Both guys recklessly chuck weapons at each other, not really concerned with how they land, Hero just hurls a chair from the floor into the ring and it hits Eddie right in the back of the head. At some point Kingston gets his nose broken awkwardly and is leaking blood, not a clean break either, but the kind of break which will disturb his sleep for life. There is just a total disregard for the guy they are in the ring with, the constant cursing and shit talking makes this seem like a fight to the death, Kingston is yelling "You better kill me motherfucker", while Hero is calling Kingston a punk bitch and piece of shit. I have said it before, and I am sure I will say it again, Kingston is one of the great brawling sellers in wrestling history, you really feel like he is guy in an alley trying to escape with his life, and he can get up after huge spots because of how good he is at conveying their effect on him. After fighting through some really hellacious blows, Kingston is able to hit a backfist and wastes Hero with three backdrop drivers, including on the guard rail, for a match with some huge and violent spots, this felt like a finish. Great stuff, career match for Kingston and possibly Hero's best as well.

I really enjoy Baszler, she came over from UFC with a really fun asshole charisma, she was working more straight heel then in the AIW match I really loved and she reminded me of a distaff Minoru Suzuki. She has also clearly improved a bunch as she has a bunch of cool moves I haven't seen before, there was an awesome top rope gutwrench chained into another gutwrench and a great falcon arrow right into a choke, she also isn't pulling her stuff anymore as there was a nasty headkick, and some really killer bodyshots. I also liked her selling Shirai worked over her back and there were moments where she couldn't fully execute a Kimura because her back seized up. Shirai was fun too, she has a bunch of cool highspots, and it felt a little like a better version of Sabu v. Taz. I did think the finish was a bit abrupt, as Shirai just kind of ran through some big moves and pinned her, but outside of that I really dug it.

It is still my top match, what tops it for you?

So no updates for a couple of weeks, I wonder if this is done.

Shank is one of my favorite gimmicks in wrestling history. He was a guy working a babyface convict gimmick where he would threaten to rape and murder his opponents. He set up this match by laying in wait outside of Timbers family's house and discussing how his grandmothers body would never be found. The Cell Block match is a cage set up in the unpaved parking lot outside the Wildside arena, no ring, just a cage on dirt. This is a match I have wanted to see since it happened, so I was amped that I unearthed a copy. The match has amazing opening, Timber is in the cage screaming for Shank to get in there, and Shank appears from out of a hole with sod placed over it and jumps Timber from behind. The punches and kicks in this really felt like a pair of guys fighting over weight time in a yard. Shank really stomps like his trying to mush someones head. They also both land some really brain damaging unprotected chair shots. Finish was kind of silly, but nutso, Shank pries Timber's axehandle into the top of the cage and uses it a platform to hit an moonsault where he hits his knee into Timber's temple. Shank then just squeezes his way out of a hole in the cage, before he is jumped by Terry Knight and Jeff G. Bailey. This wasn't long, but really violent feeling, and Shank rising from underground like a raised vampire was one my favorite freakshow spots ever.

This is a Gulf of Mexico match, where the only way you can win the match is to throw your opponent into the Gulf of Mexico. This was a really fun brawl with Chavo looking totally awesome, he opens the match by taking a huge bump to the floor and is great both brawling and bumping throughout. Early WWE Punk was really hit and miss, but this is one of his better matches. They brawl out into the street, a sedan slams it's breaks on only to have Punk hurled onto the hood. They also smash the windshield of a truck and Chavo scares away some guys fishing and hurls the tackle box at Punk. The current looked really strong every time they showed it, which really added to the danger of the match, this wasn't chucking someone into a swimming pool, the loser really could get swept under. Great hidden gem of a match, and a fun way to spend 10 minutes.

Eric and I reviewed the pretty great Gulf of Mexico match between CM Punk and Chavo Jr. http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/05/unicorn-gimmick-matches-gulf-of-mexico.html

I reviewed the pretty boss Dungeon match between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/05/unicorn-gimmick-matches-dungeon-match.html

Man I want to watch good matches, why are you guys nominating the worst of Russo?

Nope there were three HHH v. Godwin, Bischoff v. Austin and Santino v. Chavo and Vicky Still that could be a good one, HHH v. Godwin is the only one that mattered

I started a new feature on Segunda Caida where I am reviewing Unicorn Gimmick Matches, fun gimmick matches which only got run once. I opened it up with the nutso Cellblock match from Wildside between Shank and Timber the Lumberjack. http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/04/unicorn-gimmick-matches-cell-block-match.html Any other suggestions?

Man they are really cockteasing us with this Jan 81 card Tank Patton v. Putski? Just give us Terry v. Wahoo already

Good point! Narcissistic bullies with long admitted histories of touching people inappropriately have no place in the hallowed halls of wrestling. Good for you for taking a stand!!

Main event of that show is Mexican Death Match: El Halcon & Jose Lothario d. Gran Markus & Gino Hernandez Which is really intriguing

This was a three team, two ring War Games with ownership of IWA-MS at stake. While it was a little overstuffed (Team NWA seemed superfluous, and were the first team eliminated), this really shows the value of having great brawlers and letting them brawl. War Games are always going to have section where lots of guys are just wandering around kicking and punching, Corp, Ian, Eddie Kingston, Bull Pain, Tank, these are all time great punchers and kickers. Watching Corporal Robinson hurl those half punch/half forearms is just pleasurable. We also had the Chris Hero v. Eddie Kingston feud weaving through this, which is one of my all time favorite indy feuds, there is a great moment near the end where Hero just unloads with crazed elbows. Steve Stone was my favorite under the radar guy in the match, his brawling looked on the level of the legends, he bled a ton and he took some nasty bumps. I didn't love either finish, Tank seemed like he went down a little early, and having JC Bailey turn on Fanin seems like a weird finish for a face team to win. Still this is a violent bloody brawl which was very entertaining and worth tracking down.

I remember this being a totally shocking result when it happened. Villano V wasn't really wrestling super regularly, and it felt like he was being brought in specifically to get a mask loss payday, plus Panther had one of the iconic masks that you figured he would keep forever. Panther is a guy best know for his llave, but this was a straight up brawl which had some of the greatest topes in wrestling history. Villiano V delivers an insane dive bumping performance, he is flying recklessly back on every Panther tope. There is the iconic moment in the first fall where he smashes the back of his head on an armrest leading to a grisly bloodstain, but also he hurls himself into the crowd on another tope, and takes a full force back bump on the floor on a third, Panther has a great looking tope but Villano made it look like a cruise missile. Loved the finishes of all three falls, Villano is woozy from blood loss and tries a rudo trick by swiping Panthers mask, and rolling him up before he can recover, before he could steal a fall, the ref sees the maskless Panther and DQ's V5. Perro Jr. is V5's second (which is kind of weird, he's Villano 5, aren't Villano's 1-4 available to second their brother?) and he spends much of the fall break pouring water on the bloody back of Villano's head, including loosening his mask. Panther rips the mask to work the cut and his slips right off in his hand giving V5 the even up fall. Third fall is awesome with more great topes and a sneaking old school finish, Panther nearly gets the tap with his snap Fujiwara, but when he goes for it again, Villano counters with a crucifix pin. This match had a odd pacing with the Villano injury, but man did it build to an epic climax, worthy match for Panther drop the hood.

Callihan is the AAW champion and is coming in trying to avenge a beating Ki gave him in JAPW back in 2011, and it really delivers the level of violence that set up promise. Ki is rocking his Hitman suit gimmick and both guys rip into each other early. Callihan is landing straight punching him in the forehead and Ki is lacing him with chops. This is the best Sami performance since his return to the indies, violent, explosive, and a bunch of fun Finlayish tricks like catching Ki in the ring skirt and yanking Ki's arm and causing him to whiplash himself into the top rope. There were moments in this match which felt like high end FUTEN which isn't something you see in wrestling these days, near the end Ki is unloading these uppercuts which are thrown at full force. There was alot of fun horseshit in this match too, Callihan tapes Ki to the top rope and brutalizes him with a chair (including a shot to the face which was super nasty) when Ki gets loose he retaliates by grabbing Callihan by the jaw and dislocating it, Callihan then rips his managers shirt and makes a makeshift bandage. This was working it's way to an all time classic until the plum awful Abyss run in, about the worst way to end a great match reminded me of the end of Lesnar v. Reigns or Fiera v. Estrada. Still strong MOTY contender but any better of an ending it could have closed the debate.

We are updating this weekly over at Segunda Caida, with a new entry every Tuesday and a challenge every Saturday. Just had a new upset for 2006 http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/03/all-time-moty-list-head-to-head.html 1950 Buddy Rogers v. Lou Thez Chicago 6/21/50 1962 Dan Aubriot v. Pierre Bernaert French Catch 9/11/62 1965 Gilbert Cesca/Ben Chemoil v. Anton Tejaro/Inca Peruano French Catch 3/12/65 1967 Anton Tejero v. Walter Borders French Catch 8/29/67 1971 Bert Royal/Vic Faulkner v. Tony & Roy St. Clair WoS 1/12/71 1975 The Destroyer v. The Spirit AJPW 7/25/75 1976 Killer Karl Kox v. Dick Murdoch AJPW 12/9/76 1977 Harley Race v. Terry Funk NWA Houston 7/1/77 1978 Wahoo McDaniel v. Harley Race NWA Houston 2/10/78 1979 The Spoiler v. Wahoo McDaniel NWA Houston 4/21/79 1980 Roddy Piper/Rick Martel v. Buddy Rose/Ed Wiskowski PNW 8/2/80 1981 Andre the Giant v. Stan Hansen NJPW 9/23/81 1983 Sangre Chicana v. MS-1 CMLL 9/23/83 1986 Akira Maeda/Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido/Nobuhiko Takada/Kazuo Yamazaki v. Antonio Inoki/Tatsumi Fujinami/Kantaro Hoshino/Kengo Kimura/Umanosuke Ueda NJPW 3/26/86 1989 Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Kazuo Yamazaki UWF 7/24/89 1990 Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto v. Kendo Nagasaki/Masanobu Kurisu FMW 4/27/90 1991 Vader v. Tatsumi Fujinami CWA 12/21/91 1994 Mitsuharu Misawa v. Toshiaki Kawada AJPW 6/3/94 1997 El Hijo Del Santo v. Negro Casas CMLL 9/19/97 1999 El Hijo Del Santo/Negro Casas v. Bestia Salvaje/Scorpio Jr. CMLL 3/19/99 2001 La Parka v. El Hijo Del Santo Monterey 12/23/01 2002 American Dragon v. Low-Ki JAPW 6/7/02 2003 Tamon Honda v. Kenta Kobashi NOAH 4/13/03 2004 Necro Butcher v. Toby Klein IWA-MS 6/25/04 2005 Daisuke Ikeda v. Yuki Ishikawa FUTEN 4/24/05 2006 Team Anarchy (Shadow Jackson/Nemesis/Slim J/Ace Rockwell) v. The Devil's Reject's (Iceberg/Tank/Azrael/Shaun Tempers) NWA Anarchy 7/22/06 2010 Daisuke Ikeda/Takahiro Oba v. Makoto Hashi/Kengo Mashimo FUTEN 10/25/10 2011 Dick Togo v. Antonio Honda DDT 1/30/11 2014 The Shield v. The Wyatts WWE 2/23/14 2015 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Low-Ki JAPW 11/14/15

What a grizzly blood soaked war, Devil's Rejects have to be the scariest faction in wrestling history, they look like a gang of hillbilly cannibals. It really adds something to the danger of WarGames it is one thing to be locked in a cage with Arn Anderson or Sid, totally different thing to be locked in a cage with a bunch of guys who look like they have lost hikers chained up in their basement. Rockwell comes in with a broken arm and Slim J comes with a bad eye and they both injuries get exploited in horrible ways, Rockwell gets crucifix powerbombed arm first into the cage, Tempers drives a fucking meat cleaver into Slim J's eye. The babyface comeback after the sides equalled up was awesome, Shadow Jackson was great in the Nikita/Sting roll of powerhouse babyface roll coming in an powerslamming the 600 pound Iceberg. Rockwell wails on Azreal with his cast, and they end up Russian legsweeping Tank off the top through a table and superplexing Iceberg which might have opened up a crater in Cornelia. Finish was totally legit as Rockwell takes a claw hammer and tries to rip out Tempers cheek. Post match was crazy too, the match was control of Anarchy v. owner getting 5 minutes in the cage with Rev. Dan Wilson (all of these War Games seem to be about control of the fed, fucking McMahon GM nonsense ruined indy wrestling), the owner gets one punch in and then the Reject's stream in and maul that dude, stab him in the head, Iceberg second rope splash, meanwhile the crowd is hurling garbage and wrestlers are trying to scale the cage.

So glad to see these two guys back and brutalizing each other. I am continually amazed by what LA Park is doing at 51 years old, this isn't a guy working slick mat holds or even stand up brawling like Black Terry. This is a fat old man getting rolling drink carts hurled at his head and hitting flying full speed tope and mega height planchas, probably the most impressive post 50s wrestling performances I can remember, not only smart and awesome work, but athletic and dangerous too. Rush is a great foil for Park, smarmy, hateable and willing to bring the violence. I am not sure how much Rush has bladed before, but when Park breaks out the case of beer to the head, and the broken beer bottle to the forehead, Rush starts leaking like an old pro. I am really over lightubes, but an old fashioned broken beer bottle to the head still warms my heart. Finish was a bit of booking overload, but I did love some of the near falls, including Parks great spear. Nasty bit of violence and a real treat.

I really liked babyface Percy Pringle in the waining days of World Class, I think it works best as a babyface turn for a longtime heel manager. I imagine Heenan turning face to deal with a greater evil would have been a huge deal.

Powerbomb.TV delivers with this barrel of fun 3 way dance. Janela gets a great heel reaction from me by turning a singles match into a 3-way, always my least favorite booking move, but bumps his way into my heart, with a missed top rope senton on the ring apron which looked chiropractic. The low celling was clearly fucking up his flying, but outside of that 2 Cold looked awesome, he is wrestling like an athletic Gypsy Joe at this point, as he mixes in shoot punches and chops with great looking flip kicks right into faces. I really enjoyed all of the karate sparring face offs with Bailey early, and Scorp isn't afraid to take a shooting star kneedrop right to his kidneys. This had some of the 3-way awkwardness, but man alive did I love watching it.