Dylan Waco

Wrestle 1 Debut Show (9/8) Daiki Inaba & Hiroshi Yamato vs. Tokyo Gurentai (MAZADA & NOSAWA Rongai) This was a completely inoffensive opening tag. I didn't get the sense that the crowd gave a fuck about any of these guys which is probably not the best way to kick off a new promotion, but aside from that, this sort of felt like a modernized version of early 90's WCW opening tag matches I saw live, with your really over the top heel team and your really vanilla babyface team. I'm not sure there is a single thing in this match that stood out other than a really nice looking missle dropkick, but it wasn't sleep inducing either. Kohei Sato & Ryouji Sai vs. Ryota Hama & Yasufumi Nakanoue Man I love Hama. I'm sure to many people he qualifies as a "guilty pleasure," but I feel absolutely no guilt about it, and I'm not sure there are ten guys in Japan I'd rather watch more than him. Here he is debuting his Rikishi get up and is just about the most slovenly looking fat guy ever in wrestling which makes it even more awesome when he crushes someone with a crossbody or takes a double suplex on his head. I'm sure the guy has to be falling apart doing that sort of stuff and they are wise to hide him in short matches and tags but he really is outstanding at the tasks they assign him. As a whole this is a pretty decent match, in large part because they use Hama's freakshow stuff to keep the match from falling off a cliff into hyperactive spot trading. The end result is that Nakanoue actually looked better than he probably is (he does have a pretty boss elbow drop though) and the Sato/Sai team came across like ass kickers. Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoshiko This was better than I expected it to be. I mean way better. Perhaps that's because every time I try and watch Joshi these days my eyes glaze over and I almost immediately lapse into full blown "fuck this to hell" mode which really dampened my expectations for this, but in any case I actually enjoyed this a good bit. I think it helps that this felt special on the show and was a real change of pace from the matches that proceeded it. It also helped that this was kept very short and Iwatani was working as a sort of "going for broke" underdog babyface against an absolute savage asskicker in Yoshiko. There were definitely some less than clean moments in this, but I dug the opening rope running bit and I loved the drop down rana into a half crab bit from Yoshiko which looked fucking killer. Iwanti is better as a ragdoll than an offensive worker, but when she did get the rana in later I actually bit on a false finish which is rare. I also liked the finish with Iwanti kicking out of a couple of credible potentially finishes and then getting wrecked by a second rope senton after having survived a standing senton from earlier in the match. This wasn't great or anything, but it managed to be a quick match that still had a real sense of escalation to it which is not something that is easy to do. Fujita Hayato & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Junior Stars (Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka) I actually like everyone in this to one degree or another, but this was not my kind of match. These sort of back and fourth matches can work at times, but I prefer tag matches to have at least the pretense of one team having real momentum for some meaningful period of time. Unsurprisingly I thought the highlights of this were the exchanges between Kanemoto and Hayato, which came across as both more intense and sharper than anything else in the match. I wouldn't say this was bad, but I wouldn't watch this twice. Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo vs. Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi) This was okay. On the one hand I liked that this was set up with the muscle heads as dominant and the match built around them in control and Hayashi/Kondo making comebacks. On the other hand the muscle head offense was really lacking at times and really stupid at other times. I'm not sure there is a spot in wrestling I hate more than that double German spot they do and the sequence where they were running through body slam variations forever got tired fast. Watching this actually kind of depressed me because I remember when I thought Hayashi was pretty great and while he has a moment or two in this, I actually thought a lot of his comeback spots looked really silly. I think the best moments in the previous tag were better than the best moments in this, but this was better put together. Neither match worked for me as a whole, but I imagine big fans of modern Japanese wrestling would really like both. Laughter7 (Katsuyori Shibata & Kazushi Sakuraba) vs. Stack Of Arms (Masakatsu Funaki & Masayuki Kono) This could have, and maybe should have, been better than it was but I still enjoyed it. I know some people thought Kono was terrible in this, I thought he was okay, but he did stick out like a sore thumb and it hurt the match. Still, Laughter7 is one of my favorite things in modern Japanese wrestling. I'm not even that big a fan of Shibata, but there is something interesting about the dynamic they have and every time they work even simple double team spots I mark out for them. Funaki is still a really good worker in the right setting and he had some flashes in this, but I thought the best guy by far was Sakuraba. I liked some of Shibata's offense, but in general I thought Sak's grappling, subs and strikes all looked better and I also think the way he reacts to stuff is more interesting. It's hard to articulate why I enjoy him, and I'm not even positive he's all that great a worker, but there is something novel about him popping up these days and I want to watch every match he's in. As a whole this was pretty good, if not particularly exciting. KAI vs. Seiya Sanada I actually liked Sanada as Rene Dupree's traveling opponent in this years Maritimes tour and I liked KAI a lot v. Akiyama in the Carnival, so this is a rare case of two young Japanese guys with ridiculous haircuts opposing each other in a match I was sort of interested to see. There was some Tanahashish execution that I found annoying, but in general I liked this a good bit up until Sanada's comeback. Dude took a fucking brainbuster on the floor, a brainbuster in the ring, gets choked out and then after laying on his face for a few minutes pops up and the typical bullshit "stretch run!" that never ends stuff that I absolutely loathe kicks in. This pissed me off far more than it should have because there really was no reason to believe this match would go any other way, but the fact that the first half was pretty sensible, made the second half all the more intolerable to me. Yuck. Bob Sapp & Keiji Muto vs. Rene Dupree & Zodiac I thought Dupree was absolutely awesome in this. Actually I have to give the heel team credit as a whole because this really should have been a complete trainwreck and I was really pissed off coming off that last match and this match was actually respectable despite the fact that the babyface team is just about the least appealing "veteran" duo I can imagine. Zodiac isn't going to light anyone's world on fire, but he looks like the sort of guy who'd sell Dupree party drugs out of the back of a van in North Sydney and that's really all I need out of him. Both the heels did a great job making the faces offense look good, especially Dupree. He was taking these big impact bumps and delivering with these really strong facial expressions after everything. I also liked this offense which was not fancy, but well executed and direct. This was well structured and they even managed to do some pretty fun stuff with Sapp on the defensive which is a minor miracle. By no means was this a great match. It wasn't even all that good really, but it made up for the last match. Overall Thoughts I actually thought for a debut show this was pretty decent. There was nothing out of this world, but there was a lot of variety on the show and it felt distinct from a lot of the stuff I've seen out of Japan this year. No match was a home run or even close to it. In fact I don't know that there is a single thing on the show worth going out of your way to see. But it was a very digestable show, with nothing overwhelming, no matches that dragged or went on too long, and nothing that was fatally offensive to my tastes.

My thought on reading Dave's bio (twice actually) was that Sasaki's pre-prime was better than I remembered, his prime years were basically exactly as I remembered, and his post-prime was actually a bit less impressive than I remembered though I generally think that he was very wise in how he managed himself as a freelancer and I might give him some fringe credit for that which others who are voters or interested in the HoF might not. In general I wish those who are advocates or voters or both would do more work like what Dave did for Sasaki, because even if it lacks in detailed analysis in parts, it's at least something that can pointed to where detailed analysis - and yes criticism - can come from.

Man I love those Mason v. Allmark matches. Oh well.

Best match from anywhere in the world that year

I remembered this after reading Loss review of the match Togo had with Honda, but Togo's carry job in a thirty minute plus match against Billy Ken Kid of all people has to be one of the most incredible carry jobs I've ever seen

Gamecocks fan here.

I've seen people say that a ton. I'm not saying you are wrong, but when I look at the way in which he has been scaled back v. the way number one WWE draw Cena was booked when he wasn't the champ and they were trying to get Punk over the difference is massive. Perhaps this is a bad comparison because lots of us think the WWE's booking during that period was fairly unwise. Still the point is that Tanahashi's "deemphasis" is much more clear than Cena's was and it makes claims about him still being the top draw in NJPW much more speculative than they would otherwise be. I'll be interested to see if they have him beat Okada for the belt, how that show draws and if he doesn't win, who Tanahashi will work at this years Dome show.

Was combing through results for something unrelated and I came across this show in my home town. NWA @ Chattanooga, TN - June 24, 1990 Tracey Smothers defeated Dutch Mantell Brian Pillman defeated Barry Horowitz Tommy Rich defeated Jimmy Garvin Ricky Morton defeated NWA Tag Team Champion Ron Simmons via disqualification Rick Steiner defeated Buddy Landell El Gigante defeated the Cuban Assassin The Junkyard Dog & Doug Furnas defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair & NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson That has to be one of the strangest cards I've ever seen. In my mind I want to imagine the WCW brass putting Furnas in the main event here because of his background in East TN but then I remember its WCW

Awesome thanks Kris. One of the first things that stands out to me after reviewing this is that Tanahashi has been in the main event of a non-G1 Final show that sold out Sumo Hall once: NJPW, 2/18/07 (WPW/PPV) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 11,500 Fans 1. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito beat Takashi Uwano & Mitsuhide Hirasawa (12:04) when Yujiro used a German suplex hold on Hirasawa. 2. Super Jr. ~ THE CROSSOVER: Tiger Mask, El Samurai, Dick Togo & TAKA Michinoku Kaientai Dojo beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Jado, Gedo & Shuji Kondo (12:42) when Tiger used a Tiger suplex hold on Liger. 3. Kakumei CRASH: Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka beat Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii (8:25) when Iizuka used a cross armbreaker on Ishii. 4. New Japan vs. GBH Special Singles Match ~ "GREAT! BIG vs HIP": Shiro Koshinaka beat Manabu Nakanishi (9:30) with a jumping hip attack. 5. BLACK vs. GBH Special Singles Match ~ "SANCTIONS": Shinsuke Nakamura beat Togi Makabe (11:42) with the Landslide. 6. BLACK AUTHORITY: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & TARU beat Masahiro Chono & Milano Collection AT (11:28) when Tenzan used the TTD on Milano. 7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Minoru © beat Wataru Inoue (11:38) with a cross armbreaker (1st defense). 8. It's real! It's impulse!: Kurt Angle TNA Wrestling & Yuji Nagata beat Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko (14:43) when Nagata used the Nagata Lock II on Tomko. 9. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © beat Koji Kanemoto (21:52) with a Dragon suplex hold (4th defense). Looking at that show I find it hard to believe that the main event was the reason for the sellout, but who knows. The other time he came close on a non-G1 show was here: NJPW/AJPW "NJPW & AJPW 40TH ANNIVERSARY ~ WE ARE PRO-WRESTLING LOVE!", 7/1/12 (WPW/Asahi Newstar/GAORA TV) (Look!) Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 11,000 Fans - Super No Vacancy 1. KENSO, Masanobu Fuchi & Captain New Japan beat YOSHI-HASHI, Jado & Gedo (7:02) when Captain used the Caribbean Death Grip on Gedo. 2. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Shiryu, BUSHI & SUSHI beat Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi, KAI, Hiroshi Yamato & Hiromu Takahashi (8:50) when BUSHI used a Firebird splash on Takahashi. 3. Takao Omori, Manabu Soya, Hirooki Goto & Karl Anderson beat Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, TAKA Michinoku Kaientai Dojo & Taichi (12:09) when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Taichi. 4. Masakatsu Funaki, Masayuki Kono & Minoru Tanaka beat Yuji Nagata, Wataru Inoue & KUSHIDA (9:48) when Funaki used the Hybrid Cluster on KUSHIDA. 5. All Asia Tag Team Title: Akebono & Ryota Hama beat Daisuke Sekimoto Big Japan & Yuji Okabayashi Big Japan © (12:35) when Hama used the Ryota Hammer on Okabayashi to become the 88th champions. 6. Seiya Sanada & Joe Doering beat Tetsuya Naito & Tama Tonga (12:21) when Doering used the Revolution bomb on Tonga. 7. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada beat Suwama & Shuji Kondo (14:13) when Okada used the Rainmaker on Kondo. 8. NJPW & AJPW 40th Anniversary Main Event I: Keiji Muto, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima beat Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii (12:09) when Muto used a moonsault press on Ishii. 9. NJPW & AJPW 40th Anniversary Main Event II - Triple Crown: Jun Akiyama Pro Wrestling NOAH © beat Taiyo Kea (23:26) with the Sternness Dust (4th defense). 10. NJPW & AJPW 40th Anniversary Main Event III - IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi © beat Togi Makabe (22:41) with the High Fly Flow (1st defense). Obviously this was a super show and had a different dynamic. It does interest me that Akiyama was on one of the most successful shows of Sasaki's freelance career as an opponent and was in a co-main on one of Tanahashi's best drawing shows and yet he has never gotten much traction or the benefit of the doubt. I look at this years Sumo show with Okada drawing 8,200 (I think the cover story here for why it didn't sell out is that they ran in Tokyo the day before too though I could be wrong) and...I just don't see it. That's not a bad number for Sumo, but it's only a bit more than 2/3rds full and you would expect better for the top two stars from a promotion that is as hot as NJPW is said to be. Meltzer reported today that NJPW's profits are up 500% so far this year relative to last and iPPV has been huge for them. The Dome show was way up. I don't want to diminish the stardom of Tanahashi or his value as a star. But Okada just drew a legit sellout of basically the same figure v. Kojima. Maybe Tanahashi and Devitt were a part of that underneath, but someone would have to pitch that argument to me from a perspective that didn't reek of advocacy and I'm not sure that's possible. I still think Tanahashi is someone with good-to-great HoF potential, but after looking through this I'm even more positive that it is too soon for him. I also think Okada is the stronger Wrestler of the Year candidate at this point but that's a different story.

I actually really enjoyed it, especially Dusty's subtle kayfabe turn at the end and you working with him a bit so he could make the pitch for the ppv. Thanks for asking some stuff about Murdoch. Still the most insane revelation to come out of this is that you are from South Carolina too and we possibly went to a bunch of the same shows at the Township

I am mildly ashamed to admit I have done this sort of thing before several times with brothers and friends

Thanks for all of the work there guys. I could probably find this myself, but I'm curious what the top drawing shows with Tanahashi in a feature match would be. I'm not looking for a huge laundry list, but maybe a look at his twenty best shows or so over the course of his peak as a star.

The question of what to do with smaller spot shows is always tough. I ran into the same problem when I was comparing 1986 AWA attendance to 1993 WCW attendance. There is no good way to correct for it, which is why I also include things like number of 5k plus shows and number of 10k plus shows as a metric. With NJPW I would want to see how the big shows compare from one year to the next.

I wouldn't put anyone in on ring work alone, including Daniel Bryan who is probably the best of this era excluding maybe Rey. How much has NJPW turned around? Has anyone looked at attendance and laid out the trends? Paging Harrington!

I haven't seen it since it aired but I remember thinking there were some disastrously awful moments in that match, but it redeemed itself with a great finish

I don't even think Tanahashi is a good worker, let alone great, but that's not why I oppose him at the moment. I'm also not really opposed to the idea of active guys going in, though I would prefer 45 years of age be the minimum age for ballot inclusion. What I am opposed to is guys being voted in on potential and to me Tanahashi falls under that category. There is no reason at all to rush him and the idea that he is the only guy on the ballot who ticks all the criteria seems incredibly over the top to me. If NJPW stays fairly hot and gets hotter over the next couple of years he will have a real strong case and a much more clear legacy. One other thing that I find odd is that there are a ton of people who seem to advocate for both Sasaki and Tanahashi with drawing as a clear and major plus, and I'm not sure how that works. The big thing with Sasaki is that he was a part of some major shows and got some impressive main events, but when he was one of the last remaining major stars business was crashing everywhere. I actually think Musgrave's bio above shows this pretty clearly. You can make a paper case for him as a big draw, but when he was on top as one of the primary guys the business slid, so it's hard for me to view his drawing power as an overwhelming positive. In fact that's kind of been the drawing case for Tanahashi: Japanese business was on it's ass because of Inokism, the long term effects of the AJPW split, failure to create new drawing stars, the stars who were on top failing, et. and Tanahashi slowly worked his way up, became a real star of note and now business is the best it's been in years. I'm not saying one can't support Sasaki and Tanahashi, but it seems like there is a disconnect there.

On the audio update today Dave sort of buries Don Owen as a candidate (not overly harsh, but flat out says he doesn't see him as an HoF promoter and he usually avoids those sort of declarative statements before the deadline) and also says that he thinks Tanahashi is the best guy on the ballot and is the only one he is sure checks off all the criteria. I understand that if you think Tanahashi is an all time great worker you are more likely to see him as an HoFer, but I can't really figure any unbiased assessment that would lead one to conclude he is the only guy who checks off all the criteria on the ballot. I think it's far to soon to tell how influential he is or isn't and his drawing record is much more limited then a lot of guys who are on the ballot.

My good buddy Dave Musgrave shows his work on Kensuke Sasaki: http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-sto...he-hall-of-fame

Tom Prichard carries a kid with almost no talent at all to a really good match this year. That's one of the more egregious carry jobs I can think of

You hear different things about his early years as a face. Some say he was bland but fine. Some say he sucked. Some say he was a good hand. There is no real consensus. From the heel turn forward the majority of people you talk to seem to think he was at minimum a good worker. I've mentioned this before, but Matysik seems really high on him as a worker. Obviously he was great in 1980 which was the peak year we have enough on tape to document.

Funny enough I thought the Allmark v. Dynamite tables match was really disappointing and one of the worst matches I've seen from ASW all year

Since we have had other ballots posted I may as well ask - John, who are you voting for this year?

This is my current UK MOTY Dean Allmark/James Mason vs. Sam Adonis/Rampage Brown, ASW 3/3 Ladder Match It's up on youtube and features a pretty awesome performance from everyone including Adonis who is really more miss than hit. I should have mentioned Scurll and Mark Haskins earlier as guys who are in the second rung of guys from the UK IMO. Mikey Whiplash too. That match John posted is a ton of fun. I like Moss fine for a guy that jacked, but everytime I've seen him pop up I felt like he was the "other" guy in a match with a vastly superior wrestler. I am open to suggestions though. Travis and Chris Masters had a very good match I think a lot of people here would like if they give it a chance, but I have no feel for Travis the worker from that match and have seen only clipped stuff otherwise. I'm indifferent to Sabre Jr. which I know is heresy to some, but he's not really the style of worker I generally like. If pressed my top ten in the UK at the moment would probably be: 1. Rampage Brown 2. Robbie Dynamite 3. James Mason 4. CJ Banks 5. Dean Allmark 6. El Ligero 7. Marty Scurll 8. Mikey Whiplash 9. Nathan Cruz 10. Dave Mastiff If you count Gallagher he'd be in the top four.