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Zenjo

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  2. Zenjo
    The fight itself was kind of sad. When Punk's music hit and he walked to the ring it was clear he was in his element once more. The showmanship, the buzz of the crowd, the anticipation of the big match. CM had obviously missed the thrill of competing and was so happy to be back in the limelight. Unfortunately once the bell rang reality immediately set in. His 18 months of training gave him some defensive techniques to turn a 20 second fight into a 2 minute one. Afterwards he puts his opponent over and cuts a pure babyface promo filled with every inspirational cliché he could muster. He forgot the UFC rule about saying fuck in every sentence, but I'm sure their fans will forgive him in time. Don't be surprised to see this guy back at Wrestlemania one day.
  3. Zenjo
    No Punk wouldn't have become an MMA fighter were he born a decade later. The Evolution of Punk documentaries actually made him seem like a great guy. So impressive editing perhaps? He's dedicated, he's humble, he loves his fans, he went from nothing to superstardom against all the odds, he's got a perfect marriage and a loving canine. But for some crazy reason he goes and gets his ass kicked every day to follow a pipe dream. I don't recall money being mentioned so perhaps he was doing it for free? It would've been ridiculous to do all that training were it not for the accompanying TV show. Punk even moved house to cut down on the 3 hours driving to the gym each day. Of course he got seriously injured twice as well. He could have taken the Steve Williams approach from back in the days when Puroresu stars used to show up in MMA. Do no training at all, lose the fight in 30 seconds, get paid.
  4. Zenjo
    A title vs title bout with Toyota's IWA World Title up against Kyoko's All Pacific Title. The first half was good level. Their matches may not have huge amounts of psychology but are so easy to watch with a lovely rhythm and flow. The Toyota vs Kyoko combination is the purest embodiment of the Go Go Go style from the era. The stretch was excellent as they shifted into top gear. Plenty of drama and excitement was provided without overcooking it. Kyoko kicked out of the JOCS, which was a first. That certainly ratcheted up the tension. Kicking out of finishers is a bad thing long term, but the first time it happens is gold. It seemed like an Inoue win after that, yet she got caught out by a very pretty top rope Sunset Flip. Manami is now laden with gold, being a WWWA Tag Champion as well. A few sloppy moments from her along the way. On this occasion I didn't find them damaging. Overall it was very exciting and quite the spectacle.
  5. Zenjo
    (30:00) When the time limit expired. The opening stages weren't quick, but had enough action and psychology to provide interest. Hash's serious approach counteracted Shiro's goofiness. Brown had superior firepower so Kosh had to use his speed and experience to hang in there. About 17m in the Ambassador stepped things up and got close to victory with powerbombs. Shinya wisely responded with submission work to allow recovery time. The final stages were back and forth with both men surviving everything thrown at them. There were some silly moments from Kosh and he overused certain moves as well. Hash reeled him in for the most part. Quite well planned but always felt like a draw. I'm not a big fan of time limit expirations these days. They generally feel manufactured. Like they're catering the match to last a certain length rather than going with the natural flow. Though you could argue that most TV matches are the same, but different lengths.
  6. Zenjo
    A few minutes of (proverbially) feeling each other out before tempers flared. Mr PWFG was on offence the majority of the time and gained the upset victory. Entertaining for what it was, but lack of ambition is a continual theme throughout this G1. It would've been interesting to see what these two could've done in a full length encounter.
  7. Zenjo
    I'm surprised by the reaction to this as I thought it was comfortably the best match of the G1. I've given Koshinaka a fair amount of stick over the years so I get where people are coming from. The commentator kept mentioning their junior rivalry from the 80's so there was naturally a dynamic to see who had progressed further. Good matwork early on with chain wrestling holds. It was so much better than Mutoh and Chono managed the previous day. Then the pace was stepped up at just the right time. It got really hot with a fully involved crowd. They worked at a furious pace, mixing high flying moves with high powered ones. Some close near falls, which actually had rarity value this tournament. Very good overall.
  8. Zenjo
    That is a gigantic character list. It's not just repeated versions of the same superstars either. Apart from the 3 Faces of Foley. Original. And Hell Yeah, it's Steve Austin again too. But seriously they have done a really good job of covering the current roster. This is easily the biggest women's roster ever too. 2K16 didn't even have Charlotte/Sasha/Becky and 2K15 wouldn't even let you create female characters.
  9. Zenjo
    Panther vs Tiger = Battlekat. Though a title bout, the power of the Commission ain't what it used to be. Felino and his second were engaging in plenty of rudo chicanery. That helped him maintain control through the opening half. For the most part it was decent enough quality without being the most dynamic or engaging of contests. Things picked up big time towards the end. The finish was a really neat play off the opening fall conclusion. Top 100 list filler.
  10. Zenjo
    Volk Han was putting on a show and wowing the crowd. Even more so than he usually does. It was a contest he could've won quite comfortably, but today he was showboating and not taking Nagai all that seriously. This resulted in a much tougher nights work than he had anticipated. Really good storytelling. It puts over both Han's character and Nagai's growth. It also allows a main eventer to have an even match against a midcarder without it seeming contrived.
  11. Zenjo
    Bobby Eaton is crazily overrated in these parts. Somewhere along the line he seems to have become the poster boy for 'Smarks appreciating the underappreciated' and it's gotten totally out of control. Someone who was never a star, never a draw and not an influence being voted the 28th greatest wrestler in history is lunacy. I wouldn't even call him a worker who stands out from the crowd. The 6 man tag format is fundamentally inferior to both singles and tags. I'm not sure if this is against the grain or just something people don't think about much. You can certainly have plenty of G-VG 6 mans but I find them to have a low ceiling. The additional participants are restrictive towards the psychology and storytelling, because you can't focus on everyone in the match. There isn't time. Ideal if you want to hide weaknesses, but not conductive to stronger wrestlers all reaching their peak level. 6 mans tend to have less variation in structure with the emphasis usually being on workrate and keeping the action flowing.
  12. Zenjo
    For the most part a highly technical bout that was all about holds, counter-holds, damage and selling. A lengthy period of matwork could've been boring were it not in the hands of two highly skilled practitioners. I can understand why it would get a mixed reaction. From my perspective it was refreshing and fulfilling. The work was thoughtful and nuanced. The structure sound. Hase came in with a clear game plan to ground the champion and neutralise his strikes. This defensive strategy gradually wore Hash down over time. After a slow burning build the pace shot up as the challenger unloaded all his artillery and gave everything he had. It wasn't quite enough. I really dug how quickly and decisively Hash then turned it around. The result had effectively been revealed when Hase couldn't ride the momentum home. They usually then have a couple of token kickouts before the pinfall. No need. They played off the prior G1 encounter nicely. In the end it was proven that Hase couldn't win without a surprise tactic. Excellence all around.
  13. Zenjo
    In Rings you can dip under 10m and still have a full length match, sometimes even shorter. They went at it hard from the bell. Yammammotoh's decided edge in the speed department gave him the early ascendancy. I loved his showboating. It's not something I've seen from him before this point. It really put over the young challenger vs grand master psychology. Whilst it seemed likely the veteran would use his know how to win out, there was a scent of upset in the air. Bit of a shame it didn't happen. Breathless action and a red hot crowd made this a treat.
  14. Zenjo
    On paper this wasn't a standout match. Naruse in particular looked really young. Nagai had a bit more experience and you always felt that he had a slight edge. I loved the spirit in which this was fought. Both men were giving their all. Some nice matwork and counters, they'd clearly been training hard. Not always the most polished, but like the crowd I found plenty to appreciate. Good stuff.
  15. Zenjo
    Clipping the first 5m or so out of a 25m match on the surface may not seem all that important, but it often is. Some of the selling in the middle of this threw me as it wasn't stacking up to what had been shown. Misawa spends a solid 15m in there without tagging, nearly all on the receiving end. It was like a handicap match with MVC levels of offensive domination. I didn't care for the structure at all.
  16. Zenjo
    Kakihara blitzed his opponent from the off with speedy attack flurries, scoring a couple of quick knockdowns. Yamazaki showed his experience by smartly slowing down the pace and grounding his adversary. Ka-Ki still kept causing problems and got UWF music down to his final point. The upset was averted however as Kazuo turned it around in the nick of time. The finish was a little rushed and contrived, but I appreciated the storyline and the wrestling was good.
  17. Zenjo
    I really enjoyed the Full Metal Jousting TV show from a few years ago. The format was good with 16 Jouster's split into 2 teams and having a knockout tournament, along with the reality TV build up to provide faces and heels. The sport itself is a heady mix of beauty and brutality. It's a shame they didn't make a second season, but for a niche show it must be high budget.
  18. Zenjo
    Kyoko Inoue is unrelated to Takako Inoue who is unrelated to Wataru Inoue who is unrelated to Masao Inoue who is unrelated to Mighty Inoue. In Mexico they'd all be part of one big wrestling family.
  19. Zenjo
    Seamlessly transitioned from fan-cam to TV taping. Will's editing is awesome. My favourite part was at the beginning when they established the rivalry. It may have been a bit by the numbers and one of the lesser encounters in the series. But hey, it's half an hour of quality wrestling. Always felt like a draw except for one moment when Taue was dangerously late kicking out of a cover.
  20. Zenjo
    One of the great WWF moments of the 90's as Mr. Backlund begins 3 glorious days of decency, morality and principality. This may be my favourite Hebner match as well. A real epic at 35m. Scientific all the way. I loved the way they worked it. Both men clearly had an eye on locking on their finisher, yet all attempts were being fought off. So they had to work over the target body parts first. I enjoyed the pure wrestling with sound technique and fighting over holds. A figure four leglock in the middle was a key spot. Then Bret finally acquired the Sharpshooter, but his dastardly younger brother quickly broke it up. Bob then enacted a procurement, cue Hart family melodrama. I did enjoy what they were doing, but it went on for twice as long as was necessary. Bit of a rating drain. Nevertheless I marked out big time for the finish and it was a very fine contest.
  21. Zenjo
    It was really interesting to watch this again because my opinion on it has changed so much over the years. As an initial introduction to Lucha I didn't get it at all. Second time around I appreciated the psychology and crowd manipulation, but didn't feel like the wrestling itself was all that hot. And now? It stands out as a unique match in the history of wrestling. Not just because of the one-off nature of the event. The structure of the match itself was alien and quite brilliant with it. Love Machine had so much personality he'd have definitely been big in the States had he taken a few less vitamins. It was USA vs Mexico and the crowd hated Los Gringos. The rudos took the first. Seeing Santo then get pinned in the 2nd is such a shock to the system for Lucha viewers. Octagon was able to fight back and stave off disaster. But then in the decider Barr utilises a banned piledriver and Octo does a stretcher job. The payback spot with Blue Panther interfering is cool. Santo then finishes off mano a mano against Eddy and saves his heritage. Great structure and the 2nd best AAA bout of the year. The ultimate irony of this event was that a couple of years later AAA would lose many of its top names to WCW. Mexican wrestlers would be imported but not Mexican promotions.
  22. Zenjo
    The opening was electrifying. Vader was punking out the young punk before Dustin absolutely exploided onto him. Literally!!! They worked a pretty snug pace thereafter and fitted everything nicely into the time frame. Tailed off a bit from the early heights but good stuff all the way. Like Sting, Rhodes had the height and enough power to cause the super heavyweight problems.
  23. Zenjo
    So El Mariachi is Solar with a far inferior mask. On paper this looked great, with the only danger being AAA shenanigans. Fortunately they were all confined to the postmatch. Between the bells was all I hoped it would be. A technical clinic between two masters of the mat. Terrific scientific Lucha. I sometimes think how weird the majority of wrestling fans would find my reactions whilst viewing. One of the things that makes me mark out the most isn't the big moves or near falls. It's sound application of leverage. I liked how the segunda was a competitive event as well, teasing the 2-0 victory. The third was full of long and dramatic 2.9ers. I've grown to like the long counts. They're much better than going too quickly like some officials. One of the top handful of Mexican matches from 1994.
  24. Zenjo
    A reasonable enough match, although not close to their January 1992 encounter, which was actually taped in December 1991. The problem was that they were trying to fit a 15m structure into a 10m timeframe. I'd imagine they were instructed to do this at the last minute, otherwise they'd have planned a better fitting 10m match.
  25. Zenjo
    This ruled from before the opening bell as there was badd blood coming in. The earlier group phase match between these teams is a must see. Action packed throughout with some spectacular offence on display. It's a shame there wasn't more of an emphasis on junior tags before the late 90's, when they formed the IWGP Junior Tag Titles. The lack of formula is certainly refreshing. Sasuke held his end up in a secondary role. Ohtani brought his wrestling prowess and his burgeoning character to the fore. Benoit was really sharp and had a keen rivalry with his fellow foreigner. Eddy was incredible, his best ever performance in Japan. Full of rudo charm and dickishness. Pretty much everything he did was awesome. By all rights the fans should've been going crazy throughout. They certainly won them over, but didn't get the heat level that they deserved. Ending was botched, but wasn't all that important. One of the highlights of the NJ year.
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