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Childs

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Everything posted by Childs

  1. Childs
    Really? I think Steamboat would be more of a candidate for the consistent list than the inconsistent.
  2. Childs
    He'd be pretty middle of the pack for a sports writer. His stuff isn't any better/worse than what you'd find on ESPN or CBS. There are some practically illiterate people writing about sports. I'm late replying to this, because I didn't see it before, but that's frankly a ridiculous statement. I've worked as a journalist for 12 years and and have been a high-volume consumer of sports writing for longer than that. And I never see the kind of shoddy writing that appears weekly in the WON in professionally edited publications. I have great respect for Dave's work ethic, contextual knowledge and overall source base. But he needs a real editor to help him clarify individual sentences and to organize his thinking. Just read his Yahoo work to see how much of a difference decent editing makes. The WON audience has never forced him to adopt higher standards in the newsletter, so it's understandable that he hasn't made the investment. But come on, ESPN.com, for all its flaws, would be ashamed to publish the kind of copy that appears regularly in the WON. Personally, I find it frustrating to read his work, especially the big historical pieces, because he comes up with great raw material that would really pop if it was presented more professionally. But like many of his subscribers, I read anyway, because no one else comes close to presenting a similar volume of interesting reportage on wrestling.
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  4. Childs
    I always watch this match with a skeptical eye, thinking it might not be as great as I remember. But fuck that -- it's the greatest match of all time. I started counting the moments I love as I watched it last night, and the number got well into the 30s. In other words, I found about one moment per minute that would be the highlight of most other matches. Kawada booting Misawa off the apron, Misawa receipt-elbowing Kawada off the apron, the overzealous murder of Kobashi's leg, Misawa fighting his way up from Kawada's kicks in the corner, Kawada setting up for the stretch plum and instead grinding his forearm across Misawa's eye, Kobashi's gimpy moonsault, Taue hitting the pivotal move after taking a backseat for most of the match, Misawa starting to rally anyway, Kawada's look of absolute hunger throughout. I better stop, but two last things responding to Loss. First, I totally get how Kobashi's performance could strike people as over the top. I find his refuse-to-die schtick annoying in other matches. But it worked for me here, I guess because his leg was set up as a key story point early, and it seemed like such a Platonically ideal Kobashi thing to fight through it the way he did. It was a very broad performance in a match that was telling a very BIG story. Plus, it didn't work, which is kind of a great little kick in the ass. Second, I didn't think Misawa was clearly going to lose until the last minute of the match. He had come back from Taue's apron nodowa in April, and he did the same shit here that he did to kick off his rally then. It was only Kawada's desperate need to win that finally checked Misawa, and I can't think of a better possible ending. So yeah, this is still it for me, the be-all and end-all.
  5. Childs
    I really dig heel Rock & Roll. It's no surprise that Morton could do just about anything in the ring, but I did not expect Gibson to shine as a tubby, smarmy asskicker. Loss' point about them integrating their classic teamwork spots into a heel context is right on. PG-13 looked great too, sort of playing an updated version of the Rock & Rolls to Morton and Gibson' spin on the Midnight Express role. Lance Russell was excellent on commentary, explaining Morton and Gibson's heeling as a reasonable response to PG-13 rather than seeming unduly aggrieved by it. I'm glad I saw this.
  6. Childs
    I had somehow managed never to see this, but it was a lot of fun. RVD's more innovative spots translate to just about any wrestling audience, a virtue for which he probably doesn't get enough credit. And Kroffat put together sequences that allowed them both to look good. I did think RVD's strikes came off as embarrassingly weak in this context, but it wasn't like that killed the match or anything. In fact, I enjoyed the goofiness of their karate exchanges. I'd put this below the Hansen/Spivey vs. Doc/Gordy tags from the aforementioned list, but it's certainly a highlight of non-four-corners All Japan and one of the promotion's few memorable juniors single matches from the decade.
  7. Childs
    I hadn't watched this in a long time, but it's even greater when viewed in the context of the whole Carny. The first half was great fun with all kinds of nifty counter spots, very little fat and a nutty crowd. The build to Taue's nodowa off the apron took it to another level. No one had been able to recover from that move, and the crowd kind of roar/gasped at the real possibility of a Misawa loss. That, of course, made his long rally so much better. I loved the way he fell to his knees after the first few elbows, keeping open the possibility that he might not be able to fight his way back. Once his comeback picked up steam, he threw some of the fiercest elbows of his career. Taue took and sold them like a champ. Taue's last-ditch attempt to claw at Misawa's bad eye was also great, showing his desperation as his brilliant Carny run slipped away. They didn't go back and forth unnecessarily or push it a second too long. Hard not to feel energized after watching a match this fucking good. If this isn't MOTY, it's probably No. 2.
  8. Childs
    I like Toyota more against Aja than against anyone else, because she was forced to play the role for which she was best suited. She pretty much had to eat offense and sell for longer periods, and her rallies carried more drama because of it. She still blew off the back work, but at least she wasn't bouncing up every 30 seconds.
  9. Childs
    I don't know; it goes a long way for me.
  10. Childs
    You could definitely notice something "off" about Misawa's performance even if you didn't see the kick to the eye. He blew a couple of moves from his basic repertoire, which just wasn't something you saw from him at this point. I would put this in the bottom 1/3 of their matches; there wasn't a tremendous amount of focus to either guy's attack. But they were so fucking great that they still managed to settle in for an excellent match with a hot finishing stretch. When you take the injury into account, it's certainly a memorable effort if not a memorable match by their standards.
  11. Childs
    This was an awesome way to launch Taue's big Carnival run. They wrestled a tough, even match for the first 2/3 and then Taue showed he had an extra gear with the run of big offense. It's natural to focus on the guy delivering the killer moves, but Kobashi deserves a lot of credit for the way he put Taue over as well. After the nodowa off the apron, he clearly switched to survival mode and thus, gave the spot the respect it deserved. It's always cool to see a performance that serves the exact right purpose for the bigger picture.
  12. Childs
    It's funny to come here and read your thoughts, Loss, because my strongest impression while watching the match was, "Wow, Benoit really looks like a serious contender for best wrestler in the world." You expect his big power moves to be perfectly executed and devastating, but he looked so tight and vicious on the mat. And he fit it all around a nice little story of continually underestimating Kanemoto's toughness. I know a lot of people have trouble debating Benoit as a wrestler, but this felt like a top 5-10 match for his career (from the yearbooks, I'd only rate the 6/11/96 match against Eddy ahead of it.)
  13. Childs
    Not sure if I saw this anywhere else in the thread, but Genichiru Tenryu/Ashura Hara v. Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto from WAR 3/2/94 is a must. Tenryu v. Tatsumi Kitahara from 11/29/94 WAR is also good. The 1/5/94 tag referenced earlier in the thread is Tenryu & Kikihara vs. Mutoh & Samurai. I haven't watched the WAR six-man tourney from 6/30/94 but there are some intriguing combos. You also might want Inoki/Tenryu from the NJ dome show for historical value. From UWFI, I liked Sano vs. Tamura from 5/6/94
  14. Childs
    Yeah, I know it's not on the set but I thought that six-man was a total blast, with Baba having a great time and Kawada busting out old Footloose high spots.
  15. Childs
    I'll probably have a firmer opinion on this after going through the set, but was this the greatest Carny of all time? You had great matches from every possible combination of the pillars, several mid-level MOTYCs from the body of the tournament and an undisputed classic in the final. I like '94 as well with Hansen and Doc in the mix, and '93 featured some great matches, but this one seems pretty hard to top.
  16. Childs
    If this is a great match, joshi is just lost on me as an art form. From the extended run of my-turn/your-turn 2 1/2 counts in the first fall to the shitty table spots to the complete unwillingness to sell anything for more than 30 seconds, I thought this was dreadful. Not disappointing, dreadful. The effort was there, no doubt, but that's the only good thing I can think to say. I need to stop commenting on joshi, because I don't enjoy being this kind of crank.
  17. Childs
    This was exactly the match you'd want these guys to have. Kid did all the expected bouncing around and selling, but in a way, Bam Bam made the match by really putting over Kid's offense. I loved the spot where Bam Bam blocked a kick, countered with a quick, perfect enzuigiri and then ran over to high five Dibiase. Great ending too, with Kid slamming Bigelow off the top into a nearfall and then getting caught off his own top-rope move into a finishing slam. I didn't think this was too squashy. Kid got a big run of offense and a few hope spots that the crowd really bought. Overall, a great example of why the yearbooks rule, because I never would have tracked this down on my own.
  18. Childs
    Interesting analogy. I always think guys like that are underrated as athletes. Kawada looked like a dumpy little dude, sure, but you don't have the timing he did (I'm thinking of the leaping kicks to the faces of running opponents) without terrific natural coordination. I think he was a better natural athlete in many ways than Kobashi and Misawa (who, as you know, took five years to look comfortable executing his big spots.) Akiyama might have been a better natural athlete than all of them, given how quickly he fit in. Is Taue Tom Glavine? I don't think any one of them is Smoltz, exactly. Maybe Akiyama could be Kevin Millwood. Tom Boswell wrote a really good profile of Maddux for Playboy that talked about his underappreciated athletic ability. I'm rambling, but I'm fascinated by great athletes trapped in visually unimpressive bodies.
  19. Childs
    The Mutoh-Owen match has received love in some quarters over the years. I don't recall having a strong feeling about it one way or another, but it's a match-up people might enjoy if you have space.
  20. Childs
    The yearbooks are a great way to breeze along, because you never bog down with one thing. In your case, it's interesting that All Japan feels like a grind because based on your comments, it seems you liked a lot of the matches you watched most recently. I'd urge you to try and stick it out with the promise that a lot of the best stuff comes at the end. In general, I go through different phases. If I'm working on an 80s set, I try to be disciplined and watch at least a little bit of footage from that promotion every day (I'm currently slacking on that bigtime.) But I go through other periods when I just say fuck it; I'm going to watch whatever I feel like popping in on a given night. In general, I try to remember that it's a hobby and I should watch what brings me bliss.
  21. Childs
    Do you think Buddy should get in just for work? I think he has a better case than some of the "work" candidates like Hase and Saito (and of course Angle but that's a losing argument with the WON crowd). It also seems indisputable that he was the longtime centerpiece of a successful territorial promotion. But as you say, the numbers might not be there to make that argument as strong as it could be. I think of him as Lawler with 1/3 as long a career, but again, I'm not sure that's a winning POV given the voting base.
  22. Childs
    On the theme of All Japan matches from early in the year, you should consider Doc and Gordy's title win over Hansen and Tenryu, which I think happened on 3/6/90. First big match for Miracle Violence and one of Tenryu's last in AJ. I'd also include Tenryu-Savage from the AJ/WWF show -- lots of fun watching Savage work American heel schtick in that context. From New Japan, the Hash/Choshu match from 11/1/90 should make the cut. You talked about the emergence of the Musketeers and that's one of my favorite old guard vs. new guard matches from the promotion.
  23. Childs
    I was very pleased that Walton made it. He really defines British wrestling for me in a lot of ways. Doc was a so-so candidate, but I had a positive instinctive reaction to his election and enjoyed the bio. Certainly not a bad year in the wash.
  24. Childs
    He tended to be a very visible part of matches and angles, overturning decisions, cutting promos, getting into it with wrestlers in a heavy-handed way. You could argue, and some did during discussion of the set, that the fault lay more with Fritz Von Erich as the booker than with Manning himself. But regardless, Manning was the epitome of a ref who acted like he was just as important as the wrestlers.
  25. Childs
    David Manning of World Class was the most reviled ref from the 80s project.
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