Zenjo
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Everything posted by Zenjo
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That could well have been the hottest NJ crowd of 1999. You can chalk off another NJ entry from top MOTY lists due to clipping. This was the most frustrating one yet. I mean what better stuff could they possibly have to show instead of the remaining 8-9m?
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Those who fail to learn from history... Would it be an exaggeration to say that Hogan could show up on a Monday afternoon, tell Bischoff that he wanted to become champion again, and would be wearing the gold at the end of the evening? Best. Contract. Ever. Savage lost 3 world titles to Flair and 3 to Hogan. He won a couple from Flair and none from Hogan. But he got his own back on the Hulkster by calling him a coward on his hardcore rap album.
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I can remember my thoughts whilst watching this in July '99: 'Fuck no. Not again!'
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This is really awesome. There is the minor issue that this is supposed to get the Rednecks over as heels. But sometimes WCW's stupidity had positive consequences.
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This is one of the great wrestling songs. Simple and really catchy. You don't need many listens to know all the lyrics by heart.
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OVW is hitting the big time. Al Snow vs Droz baby!!! It seems like matchmaker is the new kayfabe term for booker.
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Fake Sting appearance #8346! If you're playing a Yearbook drinking game then grab that bottle again. To be fair to the announcers, their job does involve lying constantly.
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A heartfelt and real promo from Bret at a time of huge turmoil in his life. In retrospect it would've been better for him to retire here, or after one final match. That way he could've gotten out with his health and on his own terms.
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I thought that this was a bit too entertaining to be a shoot. Yeah I love MMA. Goodridge took a severe beating for a worked bout.
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How Much Bullshit is the PWI 500(full list below)
Zenjo replied to dkookypunk43's topic in Pro Wrestling
The lower you go the better the names get. -
It played out the way you might expect at this point in time. Teasing that Kyoko would spring the upset before falling just short. This wasn't 1991 anymore where Nakano was the dominant force in AJW and Inoue was breaking into the big time. The status gap had closed a lot and there was a genuine chance of a Kyoko win. In '91 they had to have Bull bleed to make it more of an even playing field. Here they had more of a traditional wrestling match. Bool enjoyed majority offence but took plenty in return. The opening stages were lively. The build was pretty solid but ran 5m too long. There wasn't any particular focus to justify the 27m length so it dragged at times. The closing stretch was much better and overall I liked it a little more than last time out.
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Judging by the lack of mentions in the reviews it doesn't sound like everyone realised that this was a 2 count match. The wrestlers did well to remember it. Changing one of the fundamental rules of pro wrestling like that could take anyone out of their comfort zone. There was no way the underdogs were going over normally, so it made an upset seem possible. The Oz team were able to hang with the heavyweights for 30m because they fought for one another and worked as a unit. Guest star Chigusa had a rivalry going against all of the opposition members. Her victory over Plum would set up a singles encounter the following month. This had its good moments, yet didn't live up to the rewatch for me. Shouldn't the rule change make the duration shorter? It ran 10m too long. Also they had endless broken up one counts, which got repetitive. It was a novel idea as a one off. Surely the underdog team should've won it though to make the idea worthwhile?
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[1999-04-16-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Vader vs Kenta Kobashi
Zenjo replied to Loss's topic in April 1999
The crowd took quite a while to get fully engaged, which is unusual for Da Budokan. Vader had more of the offence but didn't look like a monster on this occasion. There was sure to be an element of fatigue at the end of a tour of singles matches. Solid for the most part before a strong finish brought it up to good level. They got there in the end and produced a satisfactory Final. I preferred their January bout. With both the Triple Crown and the Champion Carnival, Vader was now the man in All Japan. -
[1999-04-26-BattlARTS] Daisuke Ikeda vs Alexander Otsuka
Zenjo replied to Loss's topic in April 1999
JIP after 5m as Alex draws blood with a legit headbutt. Of course there were plenty of meaty strikes and submission attempts. What differentiated this contest was the pro moves you wouldn't normally find in the BAT. There was even a wicked dive. It all fitted nicely together and was a good all around match. I don't think the clipping would've done much damage, if any. -
So was I.
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Even I have been a bit creeped out by the Ice Ribbon promotion. Having a 12 year old girl wrestling in front of a crowd of about 40 middle aged men. Only in Japan. The fans did used to be normal, insomuch as wrestling fans are ever normal. You had hordes of screaming schoolgirls in the 70's and 80's. At the start of the 90's it transitioned onto your typical Puro fan demographic. It's only the last 10 years or so that the scene has been totally dead so that only the freaks remain.
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Could this feud get any worse? It's WCW, of course it can. Apparently Nash and Savage have their own personal cameramen to follow them 24/7. It's not a movie FFS.
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There's no way I'd still be watching wrestling without looking at it through a hypercritical eye as you phrase it. There's only a limited amount of enjoyment to be had from experiencing pro wrestling on the surface level. If following storylines and supporting all the fan favourites is good enough for someone then I don't look down on them. Most pure marks only watch for as long as they're enjoying themselves. The worst place to be is the middle ground. Being a smark isn't about knowing it's a work. Nor about knowing insider terms or backstage gossip. When fans spend all their time complaining and fantasy booking then it's all too easy to forget that it's meant to be fun. Hoping for things that probably won't happen rather than accepting them for what they are. If you don't appreciate what you're seeing then seek a better path. Ultimately what has kept me a fan for over 20 years is a deep love of the art of pro wrestling. I don't mind about knowing the result in advance. It doesn't bother me knowing the match duration or what's about to happen. It's about enjoying the journey. There's pleasure to be had in the extraneous aspects, but match quality is the core. That's why I mainly watch historical wrestling. Expectation of high quality wrestling rather than hope. There's no 'one great art' to watching a match. You're just making personal comparisons against prior experiences and expectations. Finding things that you like or don't like to see. There's many different ways of looking at things, and that's what makes wrestling endlessly fascinating to me. Analysing and determining what constitutes good wrestling is what being a smark really is. I look upon the Yearbook threads as a great tapestry with thousands of layers. All the time people come up with observations and viewpoints that I'd never have considered. Some of them may be fascinating, others pointless or far fetched. The opinions of others naturally shape your own over the course of time. It's all about you though at the end of the day. If trying to view wrestling in a certain way isn't enjoyable then don't do it. The path to enlightenment is about maximising your own wrestling experience.
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Ass versus Mabel Mabel versus Ass It's a tough one, but I'm going to pick Ass.
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Goto and Ohara actually won the tag straps in one of the biggest upsets in title history. Neither of these two had many nights in their career when they hadn't hit the showers by 8PM.
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In April there was a shocking segment on Raw in which a cake did not come into contact with anyone's face. Thankfully there was this moment to reassure me that all was still right with the wrestling world.
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Where them fans at, there they go Where them ratings at, there they go Where them dollars at, here they go If you came to get suck then throw yo hood up
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Don't worry Loss. There was a Juniors match right before this and the crowd were comatose. This was marginally the best bout of a disappointing Dome show. The quality level was up and down. Some good spots followed by something unimpressive. There were more double team spots than you'd normally see. Liger won it by executing Wagner with a brutal top rope brainbuster. Solid overall.
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Vince is both the Greater Power and the Higher Power, so we can thankfully put that one to bed. I did like his initial promo. Linda McMahon needs to be banned from speaking on TV. She has the most boring and monotonous voice to go along with the charisma bypass. Stephanie probably grew up wanting to be both an actress and a businesswoman. Wrestling has allowed her to fulfil all her dreams. Doesn't that make you happy?
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That's my favourite Undertaker line ever. That was by far the highlight as this match format is starting to get old now. Lots of arena brawling, lots of swerves and overbooking, not much wrestling.