Zenjo

A most enjoyable encounter with the fans firmly behind young underdog Tamura. He showed some of his excellent potential, but wasn't quite strong enough at this point in time. Often Kiyoshi would gain the initial advantage with his speed. Yet it would usually be countered and he'd be the one grabbing for a rope break. Anjoh showed a little dickishness, but was mainly focused on business. Tamura kept hanging on and there was always a chance of an upset whilst he was still alive. The best UWFI match of 1991.

You've already done one review for everything on the Yearbooks. I know that originally you were planning on releasing an e-book with detailed reviews of all the matches. But that's a ton of work so it's probably best for your sanity to just put out the rankings and move on. It doesn't matter if you're not 100% happy with it because you can edit it later on if you like. Plus it'll be the best top 500 matches of the 90's list out there guaranteed. I'm planning on completing my own Top 900 of the 90's list next year. It'll be along the lines of 'here are matches 701-725' then having the 25 matches in that range listed. So everything is in the right type of place. Ranking a top 100 for an individual year is tough enough, and that's for stuff in recent memory.

To be fair, ADR is probably so out of his mind on drugs he'd honestly forgotten he was still married.

Wrestling fans are such an unforgiving bunch. All it takes is a couple of murders and they turn on you in a heartbeat. Plus the Undertaker killed his parents and nobody holds that against him. Talk about double standards.

Oz Academy was originally a cross promotional stable comprised of Ozaki, Sato, Nagashima and Reiko (Carlos) Amano. Sato and Nagashima were GAEA full time. Amano was a JWP worker who didn't join GAEA until 2002. Ozaki was a JWP original that over time had more GAEA appearances before jumping ship in 1998. GAEA PRODUCED ROOKIES - Sonoko Kato (1995) - Sugar Sato (1995) - Chihiro Nakano (1995) - Chikayo Nagashima (1995) - Toshie Uematsu (1995) - Maiko Narita (1995) - Meiko Satomura (1995) - Makie Numao (1995) - Maiko Matsumoto (1996) - Rina Ishii (1996) - Sakura Hirota (1996) - Hiromi Kato (1997) - Saika Takeuchi (1999) - Aya Sakurai (2001) - Ayane Mizumura (2004) - Hitomi Hayashi (2004) So all four of these girls were second year pro's. With that in mind this is one of my favourite surprise Joshi matches, when I wasn't expecting much going in and got way more than I bargained for. Hikaru vs Mika Nishio from 11/7/04 was probably the most surprising on that list. Even the most hardcore fans would probably be wondering who on earth are Chihiro Nakano and Makie Numao? They didn't make much of an impact on Pro Wrestling. It's a real shame they couldn't stick it through Chigusa's training regime, which was insanely brutal to be fair. You could only say 7 of the GAEA trueborns had full length careers. Nakano and Numao were both real losses to the promotion. Here they brought aptitude, aggression and teamwork. As did their opponents. All performed like experienced wrestlers in their prime. There was great intensity throughout and the champs in particular connected with the crowd. High quality and exciting. I just loved the style they were building with the submissions and counters being added to the traditional Joshi. A fair bit of chair usage as well. With the complexity and ambition I was expecting disaster at some point. There were times it wasn't perfect but they kept it all on track. Everything worked out as well as it could've done.

The early stages were almost shoot style with stiff kicks and matwork. It moved closer to traditional Joshi as it progressed. The transition between the phases was really well done. For a while Chigusa was almost toying with her pupil who looked overmatched. Yet the longer it went the more Kato was able to take it to the legend. Suddenly she was looking young and strong and Nagayo was looking old. Sonoko wrestled well beyond her years and the way the match flowed made a close contest totally believable. Superb performances from both in their respective roles.

This event was held in Singapore, so they did more OTT mannerisms and psychology for the unsubtle foreigners. Does Singapore have a wrestling scene? I've no idea. A decision bout for the All Asia Athlete Women's title. I guess they wanted to show that it really did cover all of Asia. Like the WWF European title started life in Europe. Or the Intercontin...no scrap that. Any relation to the name of another title was entirely coincidental Pete. They produced a well worked heavyweight match. They had both become power wrestlers in their 30's, so they built it up nice and steadily and had a sensible duration. More JWP in style than GAEA. Consistent quality throughout, with fun moments and good old school wrestling. A most satisfying 1st title bout. And who doesn't love it when the booker becomes champion?

Young Meiko Psychomura was practically frothing at the mouth during her early years. I'm not sure what pills Chiggy had her on, but the supply was plentiful. She was the strongest worker here, a bolt of electricity. High flier Nagashima also impressed. Sucre was generally good, though sloppy at times. Kato a bit repetitive today. No end of toukon and energy, I certainly enjoyed it. The ending was a bit overcooked. There's no need to be that complex down the stretch as they'd already delivered a fine match. Then again it was big title bout. Kato & Satomura become the inaugural AAAW Tag Team champions.

From a time of golden promise with so many youngsters starting off on the right track. For these 4 girls it really was a BRAKE OUT! I couldn't believe this only lasted 15m as they fitted so much in. Started off with brawling over the arena before spilling into the ring. Kato had her knee attacked with a chair. In hindsight not the best idea. The injury was worked over before an elongated tornado stretch. It was super action and the jakked crowd added to the excitement. It's amazing what they were doing with their inexperience. There were moments where that showed and there was sloppiness. Without it we are talking a top 5 women's match for '96 it was that damn hot. Super fun.

Good Lord, it's another expiration. I'm not complaining, as like the Rings match from 4/4 there's plenty to appreciate here. Hard hitting, stiff physicality combined with skilled matwork. The restrained pacing helped to produce a consistently good level throughout. They tried to step it up towards the end, but the quality didn't fluctuate much. I was always engaged throughout the 30m, though at times my thoughts drifted towards the homoerotic undertones. Not like Dragon Gate. It's the intimacy, the machismo, the flagellation and the absolute maleness of the environment. The crowd was fairly quiet, but they were into it. At times Ishikawa could barely contain how much he was enjoying himself out there. All wrestlers have certain masochistic leanings, some more than others. They were evenly matched and a draw was the right result.

Kaoru got the jump start, hit three spectacular moves and I was loving the opening. Then Hokuto totally brushed it off and I was hating the opening. Whilst there was some decent enough action it wasn't enough to win me over. There were several wrong choices made over move selection. GAEA Hokuto was a shadow of her former self with occasional exceptions. After the convincing victory Oz Academy attacked her and buried Akira with chairs. Again totally no sold. Was she taking wrestling advice from her husband?

The classic battle of speed vs power. Fukuoka was a flashy high flier who had solid fundamentals as well. I'd say Itsuki Yamazaki from the 80's was her closest comparison. It was in a way a changing of the guard moment with Fukuoka climbing to the top of the mountain and becoming JWP champion. Dyno was still good, but now past her peak. As it would turn out Kansai's career went on a fair bit longer than Hikari's did. The match improved in quality the longer it went. It was laid out as a big title match and well executed. The champion had most of the offence, but the challenger survived everything thrown at her. A strong finish saw Fukuoka nail a pair of Moonsault Footstomps to realise her dream. Damn that move looks painful. Emotional scenes in the aftermath.

There certainly aren't many ECW matches that I like. This was one of them. There weren't any ECW wrestlers involved and the crowd wasn't as awful as usual. I wouldn't say that the workers did much to adapt. They just did the MPro style which has a lot of international appeal. There's a natural heel/face dynamic, high workrate, plenty of highspots and its fun. Yakushiji is the lowest profile guy here, but his aerial ability stood out. Dick is the coolest MF'er around. Relentless action, it felt longer than it was. Lots of entertainment in the early going, then it had the typical 6 man dip. They got back on track before overcooking the finish. Good stuff overall.

If one is searching for peace and tranquillity, wrestling isn't the most obvious vessel for arriving there. Yet that's what I found for a time here. Everything was so stripped back and pure. Simple production, no commentary, little colour, an intently watchful audience. The wrestling was all in the heart of the ring with few frills and plenty of substance. It took me back to the time limit draws they'd regularly have in the UWF, apart from being a whole lot better. They worked hard whilst maintaining a sensible pace. The points system was really well utilised with scores at occasional intervals and drama created near the end. There were a couple of stoppages for head blood, one either side. Fortunately the State Athletic Commissioner wasn't on duty. It actually became rather exciting in the second half. This crowd is so fucking hardcore. What a pleasure it must be to wrestle in front of such knowledgeable and respectful fans. Eventually the time limit expires and both men equally deserved to have their hand raised. As it was Kohsaka took it on a narrow points decision.

I think that everyone in WWE these days is required to cry and express disbelief after near falls, so no wonder it didn't stand out to me at all whilst viewing this. The opening exchanges consisted of a few fun parity spots. They paced the opening 10m like they might be going long. Instead they picked things up and still had plenty enough time for the stretch. In '96 Akiyama had broken through in the tag division. Here he demonstrated that he was worthy of a push in singles as well. At one stage there was the inkling of an upset, before Kobashi came through strong at the end. A nice Carny match with a fresh rivalry. No need to go overboard.

Their annual Carnival draw, and it never looked like not being so. Kawada did the majority of attacking, but he can't beat Misawa. The edge had gone from their rivalry and this was unbelievably stale as a result. You'd be doing yourself a favour sticking to the clipped version as I found the 30m a chore to sit through.

They kicked things off with some crowd brawling. Then in the ring Hart began working over the leg. Poor mid-match use of the Stunner. A pivotal moment came on the outside when Cold was busted wide open. The closing stages took it to a whole new level with the iconic image of blood pouring from a stone. His face contorted in pain, desperately fighting until the bitter end. It was the postmatch that accomplished the double turn. Bret acting like a coward and Austin being the proud warrior, beaten in body but not in spirit. A classic for sure. A lot of its reputation comes from its legacy rather than strictly match quality, excellent as it was. So I'll probably have this ranked a bit lower than others as I rate at the final bell.

The finest singles match of Plum Mariko's career. Beforehand they showed her training at the Rings dojo, working on submission techniques. She stormed into the ring and right away Chiggy bleeds~ The blood loss was a great idea as it helped towards evening the odds up. It wasn't long before the tide turned as Nagayo fought back with head kicks. She was heeling it up and the mixed crowd reactions were really fun. The style was very hold based, not your contemporary Joshi at all. The slower pacing suited them both. I liked the structure with timely shifts in momentum. The hard resets weren't welcome however. Near the end the submission work was excellent as they were fighting hard against the moves and searching for counters. It felt longer than 22m, in a good way for me though others might see it the other way. The psychology was top notch both in terms of crowd control and the storyline. Though she lost the match, Plum proved herself to Chigusa, and to me.

CMLL announcing seems to follow a similar structural pattern to Horse Racing commentary here in the UK. One commentator will describe the action for a while, and then say the name of the next commentator, who they will hand over to. Back when I first watched a Cibernetico my thoughts were mainly along the lines of 'What's goin' on 'ere den?' To put it concisely: Begin with half a Battle Royal, then have Team Floor facing off against Team Ring in an Elimination Match. Or just watch it twice. The mixed tecnico/rudo teams didn't have that much of an impact. This wasn't about beatdowns. Nor indeed matwork. For any fan of fast paced, spectacular Lucha this was a treat. And I'm definitely one of those fans. Whenever a new pair entered the ring it was like a showcase to see what they could do. There was a hell of a lot of talent among the 14 competitors. CMLL had an awesome roster. Superb quality wrestling. I liked how the pace slowed over time as damage set in. Duration was just right. I liked the pacing of eliminations over time. It wasn't all in a heap near the end. With a bit longer duration they could've fleshed out the closing stages a bit more. Maybe next time. They also continued the Santo vs Casas feud. Excellent.

Lol so true. Why couldn't he watch AJPW and Crockett tapes with his girlfriend? Nikki is always trying to get him to show an interest in RINGS.

MPro at it's best, before Kaientai headed west. This holds comparison with the other 10 mans apart from These Days. 100mph action throughout, with enough variety to keep things interesting. Plenty of fun Lucharesu action with high flying in plentiful supply. Quick tags, double team moves and heelishness abound. There was also outside brawling and short periods of rudo domination to provide spice. At the end it seemed like it was about to build up to a crescendo. But then it ended too early. Oh well. If they'd have taken it on, then the level could've gone up a notch and left something memorable. Still very good.

I thought that the initial matwork between Ultimo and Pierrotito was good. Then Ramirez and Guerrero entered the ring and blew them away. Spectacular. They were every bit as adept at fast paced, aerial Lucha as well. I never thought I'd be wanting a Virus in my life. As none of these four men are all that small I'd forgotten I was watching the minis division. It didn't seem to matter. From a technical wrestling standpoint this was excellent. Structurally I thought they should've shortened the first two falls and added time to the third. Not a major problem. If it was more of a feature match then it could've been a Lucha MOTYC. An undercard atmosphere brings with it a ceiling, no matter how impressive the wrestling. There's so much potential here.

The third and final match in this outstanding rivalry. Kudo is the perfect sympathy babyface. Badass Kandori has no problem fitting into the role of heel when required. The LLPW invader dominated the early stages. Megumi fought back and it was a surprisingly even contest. The hardcore environment gave the FMW star home advantage. Both women bled more than a little. They also made dramatic usage of the barbed wire ropes. Running the ropes is suddenly a far less attractive proposition. In the end MK proved herself once more as Queen of the Death Match. Very well worked and a worthy follow up to their January classic.

It was inescapable that Atlantis was a much better wrestler than his opponent. Both in actual ability and how they worked this. He comfortably took the primera and 2-0 looked like a genuine possibility. Black/Orange Warrior just managed to hold on and came back into it with a nifty counter that damaged the leg. In a really clever piece of match psychology it was this leg injury that was the catalyst for the eventual upset. The underdog had a lucky break and thus won in a logical manner. Now on the downside Black Warrior was only midcard ability by CMLL standards of the time. Plus the action almost ground to a standstill at the start of the tercera. But the ending was most satisfying, and that counts for a lot.