Chess Knight

I've heard that he said he wanted to come in as a stereotypically Asian heel because he didn't think the audience would be familiar with him, but I've not actually seen it backed up.

Andre vs. Big John Studd 11/10/84 is worth a look, maybe my favourite Andre singles match in the WWF tbh.

There isn’t much better pro wrestling than Kenta Kobashi selling a limb. The Big Fight Feel in the room is already tremendous during Kobashi’s entrance and the introductions, All Japan just does not here feel like accompany that’s on the brink of getting gutted. Takayama kicking Kobashi in the head worked to keep the atmosphere up, and forced Kobashi to work upward a bit even against a wrestler ranked lower than he was, which was a great way to begin. Takayama wasn’t quite a main event monster yet, though he looked like he was slowly turning into one during this match by refusing rope breaks and using those massive knees which always felt like a momentum killer for Kobashi, and got a big audience reaction. Kobashi’s higher rank kept the match pretty even despite that start, until Takayama focuses on the right arm. Kobashi selling the arm was of course great for his grimacing faces and hurled over body movements and how great his “I’m sick of this shit” aura is, but it also felt a little more unpredictable than most people selling a limb; it looked like he was ready to mount an offense again several times but couldn’t get it done. They kind of worked me in a way that wrestlers work most people in the arena with hope spots. The finish stretch was absurdly good, I feel like these two could have worked against each twice a year in a big match and created endless moments of magic. The lariat with the hurt arm was amazing because of how Kobashi fell clutching the arm, and because it really looked like Takayama just wasn’t expecting Kobashi to bother trying it. Another highlight for me was when Kobashi - having already taken at least one German - was fighting his way out of another German where Takayama had locked both Kobashi’s arms down. So basically, good luck to Kobashi not landing on his head if he doesn’t get out. Then there are the fisticuffs which blew me away tenfold. Their 2004 match has Takayama, near the end of the match, trying to desperately swing at Kobashi to finish him off (which may be the best moment in a match the whole decade) and so seeing these two go apeshit at each other like that here was amazing. And well shit I certainly didn’t remember it happening in this match let me tell you. Kobashi was awesome trying to only use the left arm during the fisticuffs, but then realising whatever further damage he does to his right arm is worth the damage saved done to his head. A lot of this felt like Kobashi taking Takayama off guard to pull the victory through a mix of guts and intelligence and it’s incredible to watch. If this match isn’t a classic then it's of the highest ranks in the tier below it.

Goddamn I thought this was fantastic. More of a classic grappler vs. striker story than Hoshikawa/Murahama but executed excellently. Murahama was getting rocked on the mat with Delfin knowing how to get the best of whatever Murahama tried putting out. I haven’t seen Delfin in forever but I didn’t know he had this in him. He always went into each confrontation with a game plan to get close and deliver just these amazing looking, and varied takedowns that I wasn’t ready for a Michinoku Pro guy to know how to do so well. Looked to me like he would have had the match won in a couple minutes on grappling had there been no rope breaks. Loved the peppering of grounded palm strikes he threw in too, and he made a German look as credible in this setting as you’d ever see it in any shoot style company. I thought the round breaks in this match felt like a better fit than they did in Hoshikawa/Murahama, especially because a frustrated Murahama came out of each one swinging just that little more frantically. He got so burned on the mat in the first round that he knew there was no other way to win than to try to go in with punches. There was one exchange where Delfin droops onto the top rope and Murahama just will not accept a break because he wants to maximise as much as he can from a free set of strikes. The finish was terrific, and the exasperated eye gouge close to the end especially set up a rematch. I know he was a pro fighter but I’m two matches in and Murahama has to be the most impressive rookie in wrestling history. Legitimately could be a top five sub-ten minute match ever.

Well holy shit this was pretty nuts. Murahama looks like he treats every exchange here like he’s shooting. He’s bouncing around at all times and throwing little jabs every approach. He’s got a great outsider energy to him and even a level of disrespectful attitude toward the early rounds when he ignores some rope breaks, babyfacing Hoshikawa in the process (to me anyway, who is unfamiliar with any of this). Hoshikawa later says fuck it I’m not breaking either and - likely because Murahama had his guard down expecting the break – delivered a hell of a couple of Germans. Murahama trying his own German only to have Hoshikawa ride the wave and latch onto the arm so he could get a keylock was badass as hell and it especially put over the theme of Hoshikawa knowing holds better. He did almost choke Murahama out a few times on the mat in earlier rounds to. The drama created by the keylock into the cross armbreaker was an incredible uptick and it sounded like the audience actually booed the round ending a bit, probably because they were sure Hoshikawa had it in the bag. The last round has Murahama showing he’s the quicker, more prolific striker and he just fucking WAILS on Hoshikawa and turns up the heat by stomping on him during a down count. I was slightly feeling like the rounds throughout the match were hurting the flow a little but I think it was worth it to get that last one. This really could have been a usual grappler vs. strike match but managed to something that felt unique and captivating.

Can’t believe how on-fire CMLL were with these awesome trio sprints in early 2000. I’m losing count of the amount of blood feuds CMLL seem to want around this time but I’m of no complaints – to me the further lucha strays away from this kind of pure anger, the worse were are for it. I don’t know shit all about Mr. Mexico but I found him really impressive; a guy who can capture the eyes of a crowd easily and mix badass confrontation with sprinting cowardice in a way that can easily come off terrible for most. Tony Rivera has never been an exciting worker to me but he has a human forehead that bleeds when you cut it, so he’s got all the tools necessary to be the tecnico starting the rivalry in this or any other trio. I’m not used to Charles as a tecnico but he ruled just as much as he does as a rudo, absolutely loved him unloading on Black Warrior to open the second fall. Speaking of Black Warrior he had an absolutely OUSTANDING plancha in the dive train. Hell all of the dives in succession felt chaotic in a way that most wrestlers would only dream of puling off without actual injury. The frantic low blow endings in lucha have my heart at the moment after watching a lot of the 1990 Satanico/Dandy feud again. I fucking loved this.

Well this certainly went a different route than I expected halfway through. Similar to Akiyama on Vader a month earlier, Kaoru gets the early jump on Aja, and even though it gets less time and there’s also an easy German suplex, I think I preferred how this was done by quite a lot. Joshi crowd brawling may have been tiresome by now but not the way Aja did it here; partially because it was her best chance to make sure Kaoru couldn’t keep up her assault. Some of those chair shots…weren’t even shots because she threw the chair like an old lady trying to kill a mouse in her kitchen. Speaking of violent foreign objects, unsure I can remember a match where the table actually felt more impactful and even necessary in big spots than this one. Maybe it was all Kaoru’s body language and hurriedness but it really gave the impression that she was doing a lot more damage by laying Kong out with the table than without it. Then the big unexpected moment happens when Kaoru blocks the backfist with the chunk of wood (a part from a table?). I’ve never seen Kong sell the way she sold here and she was exceptional at it. Her screams gave the impression her arm was broken and all of a sudden Kaoru had become the favourite. Not even a surprise backfist from Kong kept Kaoru down very long as a result of all the punishment on the arm. The finish run ruled as a culmination to everything in the match. Kaoru is bloody and in a lot of pain but Aja has a crutch so major that unless she gets one massive move, she’s probably doomed. Watching Aja Kong get what you might call hope spots in, like a backdrop, against a bleeding opponent is something I never figured I’d see in a match. Thought the finish was about what it should have been too. Great match.

I was not expecting to think as highly of this as I did. Vader was notoriously physically limited by this point so I really loved how he felt just a little more like late 80s Andre here than just a past his prime fat dude. He hit a better combination of “giant looming threat” and “could collapse at any moment” than I could have assumed he would in the 21st Century. I thought the outburst of offense Akiyama got against him was more compellingly done too; the forearms didn’t knock Vader down right away (and the one that did Vader sold awesomely by facing the side a bit), ducking the punches was great, and as far as I remember he and Kobashi never actually got a German off on him like they attempted to. It was much more interesting to me how they took the leg out from under him, despite how common “go for leg of big guy” is, than it would have been had they gone back to Vader just getting overwhelmed so quickly. The leg was a lil target they could always try to go back to as well and Vader looked about ready to throw in the towel huffing and puffing trying to tag out at one point. Williams working the mat vs. anyone is usually cool even if you sometimes think he should just be bodying ‘anyone,’ and I love how vocal he was on the apron around this time. Vader and Williams isolating Kobashi away from Akiyama near the end was fantastic, and by the end I was a little surprised at how closely they got to resembling a peak King’s Road finishing stretch. I thought Akiyama took a bastard of a chokeslam in his singles match with Vader but Kobashi apparently saw the tape and laughed at it. And that was after the dragon suplex. I know he specifically trained his neck but goddamn Kobashi. Like I said, didn’t expect to come away from this thinking it was pretty great but am I glad to have been wrong.

This had intense drama, great fundamental work and an appropriately good Satanico performance but was a pretty deflating hair match. I was a little worried it would be, but I at least expected the match to be bloody, and expected Satanico to get the real asskicking he deserved after tormenting Tarzan Boy for weeks. Olimpico and Bucanero scrap in the audience between the first and second falls and I asked myself “why are they having a more violent apuestas match than the people in the ring?” I also really have no earthly clue why this needed to both have three falls and also be only like ten minutes long. The first two falls felt essentially meaningless since they were basically even at the beginning of fall 3. Maybe a “good match,” in that the work was actually really good (it is Satanico) and the heat was on, but in context an unfortunately large let down.

I was a little torn on how this started. I don’t need every Vader match to have a big build up to him being knocked over, but I really didn’t love the exact first move being Akiyama knocking Vader over in one hit. Vader being overwhelmed and taken off guard is a great beginning in theory but I sort of felt like Vader looked like an incompetent goof getting German’d twice and struggling to get shots in. That is until Vader slams Akiyama on an outside table, powerbombs him on the floor and tries to involve a chair (stopped by the ref). It was there that I thought maybe I was just being impatient for the receipts I was always going to get to see. Vader was obviously past his prime by now so he’s not as purely interesting at working over someone as he was nine, seven, six, five, four years ago so some of his offense came off as unfortunately a little dry. At the same time though, he still feels like Vader-Vader, in that every move is clearly taking a big toll on the opponent, and any momentum Vader-Vader’s opponent gets (a) feels like something for the audience to start standing up at and (b) can believably end at any moment. I thought they did fine rebuilding Akiyama back up to make the match competitive. I don’t remember where else I would have seen Vader take a dragon screw leg whip and I was a little surprised by how smooth he looked doing it, especially in 2000 when he at times looked like he hated even being upright let alone wrestling a match. I sort of wish the match ended on that AWESOME release German but either way, that and the chokeslam capping things off will certainly make me remember this more fondly. Still a fan of this one overall, it’s a remarkably quick fifteen minutes to me.

I don't think I've watched that Philly one, and the last time I watched the MSG one I still thought it was really good but also felt a little flat in the middle for some reason. Maybe I'll like the Philly one more too.

Another good trio, even if not a great one. It took a bit for the Dandy vs. Satanico violence to really get its spotlight. Prior to that, there were more moments in this one compared to 11/16/90 where it felt like people were moving around with less purpose (think a Royal Rumble with 13 guys biding time…but not THAT bad). I obviously have to highlight Dandy vs. Satanico itself, and Chicana’s selling again, though. Endless love for those three. They call back to the liar low blow of the super libre match, and milk it even more with Ulises giving Satanico stretch exercises, which was entertaining. Dandy comes over and legitimately headbutts Satanico in the balls for a big pop. These moments were cool, but I think it might juuuust be a bit late in the feud to do that instead of focusing all on violence. At least that’s how I feel coming off the pure venom from the 11/16/90 trio. Might have all been worth it to see Satanico sell it in post, though. I’m about convinced he is the best worker of 1990 by now. I could barely even tell what the finish of this was, I think overall the booking hurt this for no reason this close to the hair match.

Awesome mix of chaotic all-over-the-place brawling, and then a fairly traditional trio, then even more chaotic all-over-the-place brawling. Satanico and Dandy are obviously at each others’ throats for a lot of it and you can guess what I thought of that. Some of their exchanges were actually even more intense and violent than in the October super libre match, which makes me giddy as a child on eight kilograms of ice cream for their hair match. Sangre Chicana was so fucking good. Smooth as silk on some cool, bizarre Lucha offense and an absolutely all time great seller. Mendoza kicking Blondy’s ass was a lot of fun. Blondy didn’t strike me as a very good worker with fundamentals, but had a strong personality, and when stooging he felt a bit like the EMLL answer to Bobby Heenan (though nowhere near the bumper Heenan was). Unfortunately, I was a little deflated by the end of this. The violence between Dandy and Satanico was incredible to the point where I was thinking I would rank it ahead of the super libre match, but then it just kind of ends with Blondy of all people getting his hand raised. With a heavy third fall thrown in I may have called this a MOTYC. As it is though, still a heavy hitter and a fantastic continuation of maybe the two best wrestlers in the world at the time chewing at each others’ bloody foreheads. I could watch it again right now and enjoy it just as much.

Satanico turned on Dandy about a month earlier and is largely the actual rudo rudo of the two here, with Dandy from what I can tell even being announced as “rudo tecnico.” And they apparently don’t piss about with a basic singles match leading up to this and go right into the heated forehead biting. I’ve always been under the impression that “super libre” just meant “no dq,” so I’m not sure how the ref cared about a low blow to end the first fall (even if it wasn’t real and Satanico was a liar), but it was amusing either way. The second fall had an even more bizarre ending but watching the ref flail after getting hit in the face like that, again, amusing. You know I always assumed Dandy would remain my 1990 WOTY but Satanico felt like the stand out between the two here. Super vicious in throwing his offense, and makes even the most basic of moves look like they have the malice of the actual Satan behind them. The vq is bad and all but I can just see the guy grimacing on everything like he’s an aging gangster rubbing a cigarette in a guy’s face. I mean it takes a special kind of wrestling sadist to think of ripping armpit hair out during an armbar. Not to mention this bit - when Satanico starts bleeding in the first fall, he only recognises it when he wipes his forehead and checks his hand, and once he realises it, sprints for Dandy and starts chewing the forehead. One of the best damn things I think I’ve ever seen in a match. I obviously have praise for Dandy too, as all of that Satanico viciousness had to be for a reason, and the match was gradually Dandy being built up as a more sympathetic tecnico despite his own remaining viciousness. I’ve already rattled on about him being a great seller while talking other matches. Serious contender for top ten match of 1990, and I am damn hyped to see that hair match again.

Some of what they do in this match is actually beyond description. I’d have to list where each body part is to try to put into words what is going on at times. Not everything looks entirely unco-operative, but if we cared about it to that extent then none of us would like any match with an Irish whip or arm drag. The first two falls mostly come off to me like Azteca confidently reversing Dandy, and how much mileage Azteca can get out of his holds. He isn’t able to keep on each one for a terribly lengthy amount of time in the first fall especially, but he’s able to slap on several different holds and apply a lot of pressure on each. Every time Dandy stands up, you can see how much of a toll it’s taken on him through his selling (his left arm alone was aching only a handful of minutes in). Dandy getting outdone again and again and resorting to slams, a lariat and a leg drop was more of the fed up, annoyed Dandy that we saw in some of the trios leading to this, but Azteca had just worn him down too much for it to really matter. Each guy had a lengthy leg-based hold in the second fall, which was great, and although I wished there was a little more limping especially from Azteca, it mattered a lot later when Dandy failed a surfboard in a pivotal moment in fall three. I loved how that third fall started. It was small, but Dandy dodging the dropkick felt like Azteca didn’t have the same smooth confidence that had carried him through most of the match. Fall one and two he could have begun with that and nailed Dandy in the chest, but by now he’d been drained from the leg hold and then was flash pinned in a way he didn’t expect (and heavily trying to kick out before the one count was a good way to put it over). Some of the work around the legs to start the third fall is just outstanding. Again I can’t even try to play-by-play where each of the eight limbs are to try to get across some of what they were doing, but I can at least tell you Azteca has a hell of side Russian leg sweep - a move that rarely actually looks good. Dandy’s fatigue selling was completely fantastic, he looked so beat by everything that he struggled to capitalise on the big moves he did get, I particularly loved how he rolled out of the ring for separation. Azteca isn’t as great a seller as Dandy, but taking his time after his own moves landed helped make the your turn-my turn finish stretch feel more justifiable to me, when I often dislike that kind of thing. It’s such an incredibly built match, especially how they get all the use in the world out of grappling - from the simple to the indescribable - to wear each other down, until we hit the peak of tercera caida excitement. People who don’t like lucha, especially the ground work, will get pretty much nothing from this, but I can happily report to myself from over 10 years ago that 2024 you still sees a huge achievement in mat based wrestling.