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Childs

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  1. Childs

    1997 Hype

    Childs replied to Loss's topic in Pro Wrestling

    That's a reflection of where All Japan was headed. The great matches were still really great, but with the loss of TV time and corresponding diminution of the midcard, the depth just wasn't there. There weren't many borderline matches that Will and Loss decided to drop. This set will definitely ride on WWF and WCW booking more than any of the previous ones. You look at a lot of the discs and they're as reliant on promos as matches.
  2. Childs
    I'm late to the game on this but enjoyed the podcast guys. You've built a rapport that resonates, and it didn't hurt that you were discussing a formative period for my wrestling fandom. As for the discussion questions: 1. I was aware of Piper/Valentine, even as a kid. There always seemed to be pictures of it in the Apter mags or the few wrestling books I owned. And it didn't disappoint when I actually saw it years later. It was my first exposure to bleeding from the ear in a wrestling match, and what better way to win a young man's heart? 2. I don't see a case for Bobby Fulton over Arn but then, I'm not a huge Fantastics fan. Arn was just so damn consistent and so adept at flipping the switch from stooge to badass. He wasn't on Flair or Tully's level in the '80s, but he was the perfect glue guy. 3. I agree that Funk carried the emotional/character side of the Flair feud. But part of the reason the GAB match is so good is that Flair wrestled pissed off, clearly shifting his usual tone to fit the moment. And he also gave a good performance in the "I quit" match as the vengeful guy trying to put a stake in the vampire's heart (though I rate the GAB match a good bit higher). Jerry, maybe you're just not used to Flair being the more subdued character in a feud? Anyway, when it was time for him to bring it in the big matches with Funk, Flair was all there. 4. Totally with you on Garvin. I loved him as a kid, perhaps because I desperately wanted someone to take the belt off Flair, perhaps because I saw Flair and Garvin go broadway in the main event of one of my first NWA shows at the Baltimore Civic Center. I only realized later on that people hated Garvin's title reign. But watching the matches now, I don't think there's any question he was an excellent worker and totally believable in his role as the tough, no-bullshit fighter. I also liked his stuff from the Memphis set and even the '89-'90 matches I've seen from WWF.
  3. Childs
    The first half of this was sooo slooowwww. I respect their desire to build a match from basic holds but fuck, toss in some flurries to keep me (and the crowd) from dozing off. From the mid-match headbutt exchange on, it was good. But they certainly did better on multiple occasions.
  4. Childs
    I don't think I would have liked the first match nearly as much without the second match as an emotional payoff. As others have said, the first one was a straight burst of action that sort of touched on the broader story of Hokuto breaking down but without an ultimate payoff. The second match was such an effective portrayal of perseverance that it cast a glow over both. Again, Hokuto had a rare gift for making everyone -- the crowd, her peers, a random American watching her 20 years later -- feel her pain and determination. And the other three fit themselves around that perfectly, from Toyota toning down her worst no-selling instincts to Yamada doing her best to give Hokuto a sour ending. Really good ending to a year of big Joshi matches.
  5. Childs
    The staking of Sasuke's back was fucked up. Why would you let someone mutilate you in that particular way? It really is amazing that guy seems reasonably healthy 20 years down the line. Anyway, I enjoyed the match a lot. Goto is a fucking bull, and he was awesome again here, just wrecking Pogo and Toi in the early going. Actually, they fit all the weirdness into a pretty traditional tag structure. Like Graham Crackers, I found it highly amusing that the ref was a stickler about tag rules but completely cool with a broken stick being ground into an open wound along a man's spine. Glad this made the set.
  6. Childs
    I love Togo, so it was good to see him in a big singles match from early in his career. There was a lot of really cool looking stuff, highlighted by Togo's dive where he jumped to the turnbuckle in one motion and then flew waaay out onto the floor. The chubby athleticism was in full effect. That said, despite Delphin's dickishness, this suffered from the lack of emotion that renders Japanese wager matches disappointing compared to their Mexican peers.
  7. Childs
    A second Joshi match I liked from the same show. Yikes, it's becoming a trend. Seriously though, this style appeals to me a lot more than the more lauded tag match from later in the show, which I eventually found numbing. Kudo brought great focus to her strategy, and Aja put it over by selling it all as a real threat. They really made the nearfalls count instead of reeling off one after another. When Aja finally nailed the backfist at the end, it felt like she had punched herself out of real danger.
  8. Childs
    This pretty well defines the big match feel, from the crowd to Lou Thesz to the way they worked it. I actually do think Takada is one of Vader's best few opponents. I know Vader working shootstyle isn't very shoot-like, but I liked the way he used his size here, pinning his weight on Takada's chest and popping him in the head with palm strikes. I also really liked the way he sold Takada's leg kicks. Takada was very good in his own right, giving Vader plenty of space to be the bear but making his counterattacks look sharp. He felt like the underdog, yet his victory seemed a reasonable product of the things he did well in the match. Their '94 match is even better, but this was great main event wrestling.
  9. Childs
    I was curious about the emotion from the other wrestlers on the outside. Was it simply a reaction to Hokuto pushing her body like that when she didn't have much left? It was certainly dramatic but seemed to come a bit out of nowhere the way they incorporated it in the broadcast. Anyway, this was an easy match to appreciate, even for a Joshi skeptic. The opening punch exchange was so direct and brutal. And I loved Kandori teasing the attack on Hokuto's arm, as if to say, "Hey, I always have this nuclear bomb in my pocket." Hokuto was great as usual, conveying just how much she was giving to pull off this spectacle.
  10. Childs
    Will mentioned this thread to me on the phone, so I went back to watch the match, which I liked a lot on first viewing. And it still worked for me. The Rockers had been feuding with these guys for months, and they were tired of being nice guys. They had Buddy and Doug in the cage and they weren't going to pass up this opportunity to unleash hell, to the point where their blood lust got the better of their senses. And here's the key thing for me: They paid a price for abandoning their normal character. Michaels took a terrible, bloody beating. If you want to tell me the initial section of Rockers offense went on too long, okay maybe, though Buddy broke it up with some teased momentum changes. But I don't see some fundamental flaw in the structure or spirit of the match. I've told Matt this before: I appreciate that he watches wrestling with a point of view and articulates his arguments well. But I feel like this match, where the blood and moment-to-moment intensity were the keys to the spectacle, fell into a kind of blind spot for him because he couldn't get past the structure. All of that said, I also love the second cage match and haven't decided which one I'll rank higher on my final tally. They'll both be top 20.
  11. Childs
    This was great, probably the best "late Baba" match. Hansen worked his ass off, handling 90 percent of the offense and the selling for his side. I loved this one sequence where Baba whipped Kobashi into a would-be lariat only for Kobashi to drill Hansen with a dropkick. Kobashi being Kobashi, he tried to take the fight to Hansen instead of tagging out. He got cut off with a nasty shot to the back of the head for his hubris. I also liked that Misawa didn't hesitate to blast Baba with an elbow if that's what the moment retired. Finally, it was neat how everyone gave it their all, and Baba was left as the freshest guy in the match when the bell rang. Was this the best tag league ever? Had to be right there.
  12. Childs
    Now this here absolutely ruled with the Infernales doing to one another what they've done to so many others. This had all the blood and fire you'd want from a wager match. But as Loss alluded to, these guys took it to another level with the little touches -- Pirata worrying about his positioning on the figure four, Satanico slipping in kidney punches whenever he had an opening on the ground. Every moment felt like a struggle. One of the best lucha brawls of the decade.
  13. Childs
    One of my favorite matches of the year, if not one of the best. You had these four behemoths, seemingly hanging onto Cold War animosities, and the whole match felt a knife's edge away from all-out mayhem. I loved Hashimikov's throws and fire on the New Japan set, and he never disappoints me when he resurfaces. Really, I'm just a total sucker for Russians in shootsyle scenarios.
  14. Childs
    I realized I never went through the last few disks of this yearbook. This was even better than I remembered. I just finished 1991, so what really struck me was Bossman's superiority to Gordy in a similar setting. I loved all of his uppercut variations, and he also bumped like a motherfucker. The work on Kawada's leg was excellent, and he did a great job balancing his selling with a really gutty effort to give Taue the space he needed to get the win. They had the crowd hanging on every move in the finishing stretch.
  15. Childs
    Territories, probably in small-batch sets, NWA/WCW, Joshi in theory.
  16. Childs
    How is Showtime helping boxing get its shit together? Showtime is a major contributor to the blood-feud schism between Golden Boy and Top Rank that makes countless attractive match-ups impossible. Don't get me wrong; I'm fine with Showtime stepping up as a stronger player. But boxing is as fucked up as ever.
  17. Childs
    Viewed as just a Hogan-Flair house-show sprint, this was good. Flair's signature bumps actually fit really well with Hogan. Ric could've seemed a little tougher in his control segments, but that probably wasn't in the cards no matter where they matched up. Of course, it's hard to ignore the broader context of this not seeming as big as it should and of them diminishing Flair as a threat out of the gate. It's a shame, because they clearly had a memorable Wrestlemania match in them.
  18. Childs
    I haven't watched the SuperBrawl match recently enough to make a good comparison. But this was an excellent showcase for Liger, who couldn't have asked for a better U.S. opponent than Pillman. I always have trouble getting past the Jersey smark commentary. I suppose that's small-minded of me.
  19. Childs
    This was actually pretty fun to watch, because Berbick was so animated as the guy getting double-crossed. I don't agree with those saying he came off as a bitch. Takada was the clear asshole in this scenario. At least his veneer of legit toughness would eventually be shattered.
  20. Childs
    Watching Portland wrestling from 1981 and just saw a promo by a fresh-faced Bourne and a pre-insane Buzz Sawyer. Depressing.
  21. Childs
    Excellent match. Hogan really upped the quality of his offense in response to Tenryu's stiffness, and the whole thing had the Clash of the Titans feel you'd want. This was my favorite Hogan match of the year and quite possibly Tenryu's best as well.
  22. Childs
    I really dug this as well, Pete. Norton's strongman spots looked very cool, and Hase did a great job in general eating punishment and bouncing around for the big guys. Typically hot finishing stretch for a Muto-Hase tag, with the crowd going apeshit. I'm not sure the NJ tags have been better than the AJ tags this year, but it was certainly still a valid debate at this point.
  23. Childs
    This blew away the Thundercats -Trio Fantasia match in terms of building drama. I was glad I had read Bix's post before watching, because I would have found the rules confusing. But knowing the set-up, I loved the way Black Shadow staged his run at Santito's mask. I'm a sucker for Santito bleeding through his mask, and this was one of the more dramatic examples I've seen. All the brawling outside came off as really intense and crazy, and both guys showed great fight through the nearfalls. This might be my lucha MOTY. I had never heard of it before and really loved it.
  24. Childs
    Sugar rush ... Andre-Hansen, Lawler-Dutch barbed wire, Gordy-Khan, Funk-Flair GAB, Kobashi/KIkuchi vs. Kroffat/Furnas 5/25/92, Hash vs. Tenryu 8/1/98, MPro multi-man 12/16/96, Eddy-Brock title change, Danielson-Morishima 8/25/07, Sting-Vader strap match, 9/12/88 NJ 10-man.
  25. Childs
    Needless to say, I'm curious about this latest New Japan "best show ever" without having any intention of watching it myself. Work your magic Dylan.
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