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Zenjo

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Everything posted by Zenjo

  1. Zenjo
    You wouldn't have been seeing this before 2000 had Baba still been alive. This rivalry needed to be put to bed, and in fact was done following this. Neither man was in the best of shape so they substituted some of the athletic spots with even more hard strikes. They were nailing some vicious blows to various parts of the noggin. Stale though the rivalry might have been I can't deny this was a good match. It's harder to appreciate the good when it follows the great. Comparatively compact pacing. Misawa tamed his bitch after a Tiger Driver '91. I'm not convinced that was the planned finish but for some sharp thinking from Kyo-hei! I don't praise Mr Wada enough as he was a great referee.
  2. Zenjo
    Light and frothy entertainment for all the family. Well those members who like wrestling at least. They were enjoying themselves out there with plenty of playing to the crowd and imitating their opponents. Had an M-Pro type of vibe to it. Fun action all the way and easy viewing. I don't really get the MOTYC talk as it didn't feel particularly important to me.
  3. Zenjo
    Holy shit! This was one of the most brutal and vicious bouts in company history. The palm strikes to the face, elbow smashes and head kicks were plain nasty. Of course it's best remembered for the bloody hand. Both wrestlers and the ring surface ended up smeared with the rouge. Aja was remorseless in attacking the wound. Managing to turn an asskicker like Hotta into a sympathetic babyface is quite an achievement. It's always satisfying to see her get a taste of her own medicine. Not just stiffness and blood either as they constructed a great match around it. Maintaining a great intensity level throughout and keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. There was the possibility of a title change before Kong went over strong at the end. MOTM. Afterwards Hokuto issued a challenge for Queendom. There were many outstanding interpromotional shows in 1993. Here AJW moved back to doing it by themselves. The card revolved around the big two titles rather than dream matches. Three strong matches that each brought something very different, with the diversity complementing each other. It was the best promotion in the world after all.
  4. Zenjo
    There's some really good analysis and discussion here. On the Mita vs Shimoda issue I'd have said Shimoda was my favourite in the past, but the balance has shifted over time. Either way it's a close run thing. Their team chemistry works so well because they were always near enough equals without being the same. The notion that tag teams need to look and wrestle exactly the same is clueless. Mechanically Mita was better. Shimoda wasn't quite as naturally talented as her contemporaries and struggled to keep up in her first few years. Fortunately they stuck with her, (remember someone as good as Kudo got kicked to the kerb) and Mima became a great worker as well. From initial impressions Mita might seem to be the quieter personality, but she's actually got lots of character and certainly isn't quiet! One of the best screamers. Yeah you're a hardcore Joshi fan when you have screamer rankings. Then you've got Shimoda's sex appeal. Both of them are awesome heels. The way they're strong individually, yet even better as a unit. Personal mark out mania, and my favourite tag team of all time. Although they didn't win, this contest was a big breakthrough for the Orientales. They made the transition from midcard to WWWA TT challengers with style. It was a generous 38m of fast paced action with very little repetition. All four women had deep movesets. Las Cachorras generally liked to control proceedings, but were up against superior foes. The first fall was good. The champions had the best of it, so it was no surprise when they got the pin. LCO needed to step up their game, and certainly did so. The crowd got right behind them in a red hot segunda. Going full length worked because 2-0 was a genuine possibility. At this juncture it was a potential MOTYC. The final fall proved too long as they slowed it down and paused for breath. They came back at the end to provide a satisfying conclusion. Excellent effort as all 4 brought the goods and left everything in the ring.
  5. Zenjo
    Again this was una sola caida, which is unusual for a wager match. They worked it just like they would a 3rd fall in a big match. No build, no foundations. There wasn't anything wrong with the wrestling per se, but it had a low ceiling because of how they worked the format. 2/3 falls would've been much better for such an important contest. It's a shame Bucanero lost as he had a cool mask, whilst Shockers was generic. He'd also unmask a couple of months down the line at the Anniversary show.
  6. Zenjo
    I didn't realise how the Ruleta de la Muerte worked until I went and looked at the full results of the card. I'd assumed it was the same as relevos suicidas where they have a tag bout and the winning pair go on to have a mask/hair match. In fact this event featured an 8 team, one fall tournament and this was the final. Rather than winners advance it was losers advance. So the misfiring Rey Bucanero and Shocker team had now lost 3 straight. Watching this it felt like it was clipped without being so. The fact that both teams have had two previous matches explains why things seemed a little off. As can often be the case in one fall tournament lucha they tried to compress too much into a short time frame. Despite being messy it had its fun moments.
  7. Zenjo
    I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that the style in Mexico's biggest promotion was being influenced by a medium sized Japanese promotion back in 1999. This was a Torneo Cibernetico so single elimination rules apply. It was smart thinking to only allow one partner on the apron at a time, so as not to block the view. As expected it was fast paced action all the way. Some spectacular flying from Mr Aguila in particular. Once I've finished my 90's project in 2017 I can move onto Lucha from this century. When that happens I'm definitely planning to catch a Virus match or 30, he looked great here. Satanico seemed out of place because he was a different generation to the other 9 Luchadors. The quality level was generally impressive, although there were minor mistakes. You have to remember these guys were midcarders rather than the main eventers you had in the famous 1997 Cibernetico's. Zumbido and Satan were the survivors.
  8. Zenjo

    Sasha Banks

    Zenjo replied to Grimmas's topic in Nominees

    ...Ayako Hamada, Amazing Kong, Michiko Omukai, Candy Okutsu, Carlos Amano, Mimi Hagiwara, Misae Genki, Mitsuko Nishiwaki, Mizaki Kana, Momoe Nakanishi, Cooga, Nanae Takahashi, Nancy Kumi, Devil Masami, Ran Yu Yu, Eagle Sawai, Fabi Apache, Harley Saito, Sonoko Kato, Sumie Sakai, Suzuka Minami, Jumbo Hori, The Bloody, Kaoru Ito, Tomoko Watanabe, Kazuo Nagahori, Kumiko Maekawa, La Galactica, Yasha Kurenai, Leliani Kai, Yoko Kosugi, Lucy Kayama, Maki Ueda, Mami Kumano, Yumi Ikeshita, Yumi Ogura, Cheerleader Melissa, Mercedez Martinez, Sara Del Rey, Dark Angel, Madison Eagles, Kana, Ayumi Kurihara...
  9. Zenjo
    My Spanish is way off. There was a Luchador on the 80's set called Eskeletor, based on the cartoon. I believe he may have lost his mask to Copyright.
  10. Zenjo
    Knowing WCW they probably had the wrong wig delivered. I did like Nash's fake laugh, but as Tim points out numerous wrestling announcers do that. And chat show hosts. Nash is being wary here not to make it too personal. He knew he'd be back up north again one day.
  11. Zenjo
    A couple of weeks off the vitamins and Big Poppa Pump is a calm, down to earth guy. I'm quietly optimistic about his hopes for a comeback.
  12. Zenjo
    Madusa jiggles out to ringside in a bikini. I'm having flashbacks to Baywatch here. Then she 'shoots' and mentions Vinny Ru. This PPV is quite something.
  13. Zenjo
    I was intrigued about what an Exploding Anal Bomb Match might entail. There was a firework display in the back garden, to try and put it tastefully.
  14. Zenjo
    Vacate the World Title for no reason and have a 32 man tournament to determine the new champion. What is this, TNA 2015?
  15. Zenjo
    I thought this was effective for putting over the new characters of the APA. Both the bar and its denizens take a trashing. There really was no need to bring racism into it though.
  16. Zenjo
    If 1% of the fanbase wanted to see stuff like this I would be surprised. The Russo era is going about as well as I remember.
  17. Zenjo
    The retarded mutants in the crowd started up a "Hi-ro-shi-ma" chant at one point.
  18. Zenjo
    I'd never seen this before. Obviously I haven't been aware of it being pimped much over the years if indeed it has been. Then in this thread you've got Loss, Tim and Chad calling it MOTY. Well that certainly piqued my interest, so let's see... If only you could bottle crowds like this. Great atmosphere throughout, and the commentary was excellent too. Tamura cheapshotted his adversary before the bell, immediately establishing a keen rivalry. Some red hot matwork then kicked off. High intensity mixed with beautiful fluidity, all executed with expert technique. Surely for any fan of shoot style it's a joy to behold something like that. Obviously they couldn't work at such a frenzy for 20m. During the middle stages they not only maintained a very strong level, they also added some narrative. Yamamoto was throwing some light punches whilst in holds early on. They weren't having much effect, so why doesn't he hit harder the viewer might ask? A yellow card from the referee provided the answer when he tried it. So that had established legal parameters. Later on when both men were badly damaged the punches returned. This time however they had far more effect, and were successful in breaking and countering holds. Something that had initially seemed a bit pointless was turned into a wonderful storytelling device over the course of time. The final 5m or so were simply divine. Both men were attacking with flurries of strikes. They could barely stay on their feet, yet refused to buckle. Fighting to a standstill whilst still somehow pressing forwards. Absolutely thrilling action until the final bell. It really didn't matter what the final result was. Win, lose or draw. Both men deserved to have their hand raised after extraordinary performances. The best shoot style match I've ever seen. You can add me to the growing MOTY consensus.
  19. Zenjo
    A 15m bout and they only find video space for 2/3rds of it. Ugh. Totally wild and out of control hardcore action. Tenryu was walking around in protective gear looking like a total outsider. He beat up anyone that got in his way and sold the jobbers offence for all it was worth. Whilst fun this contest did give me a headache. 8 people in the ring was too much. With the wide camera shots as well it was information overload.
  20. Zenjo
    First Sambo Asako sighting in quite a while. The years had seemingly been rough to him. Now the problem usually with these 6 man's is that the heat dies so quickly when it's jobber vs jobber. By having Tornado rules they got around that problem, as either Tenryu or Onita could be on screen at all times. At the start I was thinking 'don't you dare take the camera off the stars' and the director was on exactly the same wavelength. Even when the leaders weren't facing off they were beating the crap out of the jobbers. Plenty of chair shots, high impact moves and a splattering of blood. Nothing high end but good fun all the way and didn't outstay its welcome.
  21. Zenjo
    These two were so selfish. Hogging MOTY honours every year. I haven't finished 94, 95 or 97 yet, but it's a possibility Misawa could top my list for 94-98 inclusive. This match for 99 was a fine effort to continue the streak. They went for an epic classic and once more delivered. The 43:40 duration seemed to fly by. There was never a period where I was bored. Sure they could've tightened it up, but the length didn't work against it. There weren't any sections of bad work or moments that annoyed me either. Both men were at the top of their game and crucially, in good shape physically. By this point in time that was a luxury. They built it up slowly, using a wide variety of moves and holds. Plenty of pure wrestling in the first half. Kobashi then had a period working over the arm. He inflicted a fair amount of damage, although it wasn't sufficient to neutralise the weapon. Misawa's selling was excellent throughout. It was over 30m before a realistic near fall, it was always going long. I can appreciate why people might believe the stretch to be overkill. I didn't find it that way because the build was so long. With the type of bout they were going for it felt justified and proportionate. Plenty of big bombs were certainly unloaded. Highlights included the Tiger Driver '91 being kicked out of, they got me on that one. Plus a reference to 7/31/93 which the commentator was kind enough to point out. I just love how Misawa can be 40m deep and still be the thinking man's wrestler. Fighting tactically and logically rather than instinctually and emotionally. He's like the mirror image of Ohtani at the death. With his ultimate champions mentality it makes sense that he wins all the time. To this point my favourite for MOTY, but June ain't over yet.
  22. Zenjo
    I knew they could manage a funny segment if they kept trying. Going to a pimp to cure your sex addiction. Hmm.
  23. Zenjo
    This was one of the better films made about wrestling.
  24. Zenjo
    The Rock 'n' Sock Connection had 3 tag title reigns which lasted a grand total of 15 days. Aah 1999. This was indeed a good way of booking the book storyline.
  25. Zenjo
    Fair enough. The Rock in 1999 was probably the most obnoxious babyface since Hulk Hogan. Like I've said earlier he got away with it by being insanely charismatic.
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