Phil Schneider

Yeah this was amazing. Tenryu and Ishikawa are both so great as cheap shotting dicks too, no one stomps a guy from behind as nastily as Ishikawa, and Tenryu short punts are as violent as anything in wrestling history. Choshu is Choshu and I loved all the different ways Choshu set up his lariat, my favorite is when he shifted direction and just blasted Tenryu on the apron. This was really Kido's career performance he is so spectacular in the end run of this match throwing out counter arm bar after counter arm bar, you get the sense that he wants the win more then he ever wanted anything. Another match which really compares to anything being done in your more acclaimed puro promotions.

I think the WWE's policy is to pick up the rehab tab of any of their former wrestlers. I know guys like Waltman and Hall have done rehab on the WWE's dime.

Dave hated 89 Embry? Man Meltzer has always sucked

That is a lunatic approach. I can see Vince yelling at that lady and telling her to keep calling the blogger.

So the Lawler project got started because of this discussion. Folks should check out Lawler v. Tito which I linked to on Segunda Caida. I know JDW is a Tito fan and this was pretty damn great for a totally underground match.

One thing that has blown me away while watching the WAR is how good Tenryu is at working compelling, exciting matches with overmatched opponents. He had great singles matches with Kitihara and Anjoh where I totally bought into the possibility of an upset, even though there was rationally no way that Tenryu would lose.

The Fujiwara wave coincided with the 80's Other Japan set which had 21 Fujiwara matches which a big group of people watched and discussed, and then the 80's NJ Set which had 30 Fujiwara matches which a big group of people watched and discussed. Add that to the Complete and Accurate list over at Segunda Caida http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2009/08/c...-of-all-of.html the matches are out their, pointed to, and discussed heavily. this isn't a case of me and TomK saying something and folks parroting it, it is a case of lots of people watching lots of matches and coming to similar conclusions.

I think the Tomk stuff is in this thread http://board.deathvalleydriver.com/index.p...t&p=1287042

This is one of the lesser know MPRO 10 man tags, but it was right there with all of them quality wise. The match took a bit to get rolling, as they worked more strikes then fast rope running exchanges. It gots kicking though when Togo and Yakushiji match up. They are really one of the most breathtaking pairings in wrestling history, the speed and precision with which they execute their ranas, armdrags and headscissors are without peer. Sasuke and Funaki have a couple of really fun shootstylish face offs too, which was unexpected, and Gran Hamada is Gran Hamada. The finish run was amazing, it reminded me of the last 25 minutes of Children of Men with mayhem and insanity exploding when you least expect it. Guys were hitting crazy dives with minimal set up, some thing insane would come out of the corner of your eye. Yakushiji won the death race with a tope over the ringside table, where he ended up completely vertical. You also had pretty perfectly timed pin break ups, as guys would be swooping in at the absolute last moment. Our man Dick gets the win with his unparalleled senton as he is suspended in air like a parade float only to land like boulder.

It seems pretty trite in a Dick Murdoch review to talk about how great his punches are, but goddamn are Dick Murdoch's punches great. Short jabs, big rights, beautiful uppercuts, just mixed it up and they all were gorgeous. Of course Fujiwara has some of the best punches in wrestling history too, and they had lots of really great exchanges, with Fujiwara being sneaker and not wanting to box heads up with Murdoch. Speaking of turning tables, Murdoch is actually the first guy to try a Fujiwara ambar, which Fujiwara counters by making a pyramid with his head and legs to relieve pressure, then spinning out to counter. Murdoch then counters Fujiwara's armbar attempt by twisting at the knee. It was an awesome bit of mat wrestling by both guys, and just a small piece of awesome in this awesome sandwich of a match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Tatsumi Fujinami v. Nobuhiko Takada/Masahito Kakihara UWFI 6/26/96-GREAT This was a main event of a UWFI show during the UWFI v. NJ feud, with Fujiwara and Fujinami representing NJ. Pretty cool match with the frisson between the styles providing a bunch of neat moments. Of course Fujiwara is a master at shootstyle wrestling, but it was cool to see Fujinami throw in stuff like top rope diving knees and clotheslines off of the ropes. The crowd reacted big whenever Fujinami used pro moves, and it nicely demonstrated the battle of styles. I haven't watched any UWFI in years, and I was impressed in Takada here, he was still a little bland, but he was laying in the kicks and he projects a big star aura in a way he didn't in the 80's. Kakihara has impressively fast hands, and I loved the little story that he and Fujiwara were telling throughout the match. In the early part of the match you could tell that Kakihara's hand speed was bothering Fujiwara, he was getting caught with flurries and kicks and got knocked down several times. By the end of the match though he had started to time Kakihara and was able to block and avoid most of his shots. The finish was awesome with Fujiwara dancing away from an increasingly desperate and reckless Kakihara until he catches a leg on a kick and sinks in a kneebar for the tap. Totally cool story, reminded me of the Juan Manuel Marquez v. Juan Diaz fight, with the wily veteran initially overwhelmed by the athletic freak, but able to use his guile to adjust.

Man I cannot picture Valentine working babyface. He is not someone easy to root for.

He is usually worse. Out of all the awful people who write for the WON page he is the most awful.

Here is the review http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2010/07/w...-blood-and.html

Shaquille O'Neal would be the other one.

Chip Minton would be the bobsledder, but he never wrestled in WWF.

The idea we had spitballed for the 70's was three sets, US, Japan, Europe. Probably enough in those three categories to make three good sets.

Watching some of Will's Dustin set, I think 1994 might have been his best year. The brawls with Buck are some of the best in wrestling history, he had the spectacular Clash match against Vader and a bunch of fun six man tags against the Stud Stable.

Commando Negro started in 2008.

Homicide v. Liger was fun, and I really liked the first six minutes or so of Cide v. Sami Callihan from CZW.

Anyone who isn't a complete idiot make the argument?

I agree. I am specifically interested in seeing during what year the drawing gap between Flair and Hogan widened the most. Flair's drawing power at his peak sometimes gets undersold because it wasn't at the level of Hogan's, although he is still in the top handful of all time draws in the U.S. I like mentioning that because some like to make the argument about how most of the biggest draws have been guys who weren't that good in the ring, when really, Hogan is the exception, not the rule. I say that acknowledging that Flair's persona is what made him a draw. But the longevity came because people knew they were getting a show when he headlined. What big draws were bad workers? Hogan, Shiek, Big Daddy. Pretty much everyone else has been pretty good or great.