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Zenjo

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Everything posted by Zenjo

  1. Zenjo
    An incredible atmosphere for such a huge encounter. Fans were jumping up and down at the end. From my observations Japanese people seem to be either very quiet and reserved, or very excitable, with no middle ground between the two! This was like a Wrestlemania main event with the face getting the feelgood world title win. It was well worked for the Dome with straightforward action and no wasted motion. They combined well as Hash always used shoot style elements and Takada had learnt his trade in the Strong Style. I found it to be satisfying and a really good match, but wasn't blown away. They'd have to of taken it longer to reach higher levels. Because of the setting and the historical significance it's naturally overrated.
  2. Zenjo
    Within seconds Finlay had put his boot through a car door window. The Parking Lot Brawl was an extremely dangerous scenario with steel, glass and concrete replacing a padded ring. It was just begging for injuries. Bischoff kept imploring the cameraman to keep a wide shot in case, heaven forbid, there was any blood. What kind of things was he expecting to happen putting these two in a match like this? It was short, brutal and they weren't holding back. For a 6m TV segment I thought this was spot on.
  3. Zenjo
    As Sasuke's leg was taking an extended pounding I knew exactly what was coming next. Selling that would make Toyota blush. Dreadful.
  4. Zenjo
    There was certainly some impressive technique. Early on some of the counter moves were a little too fast, without enough of a struggle. This improved as they settled into it. The heavy emphasis was on groundwork with occasional strikes. Ultimately it was crying out for more psychology and a rivalry. That would've made a big difference.
  5. Zenjo
    It had been so long since I'd watched this that I'd forgotten all about it. I wouldn't have fully appreciated it back then because I hadn't followed Akira's story. This time was his coming of age, and not just because he won the Champion Carnival. He was headlining Budokan Hall as the top native for the first time, and the fans believed in him. Taue was so popular there wasn't even dai boo-ing in the usual spots. Right off the bat there was a fevered atmosphere and intensity. It lasted over 20m yet felt like a sprint in parts. Williams may have taken a years 'sabbatical', but after a series of singles matches was back to his best. He had most of the offence, yet Taue seemed to get stronger the longer it went. The action was high impact and exciting. It would be remiss not to point out the execution problems, which were more than minor. In terms of pure enjoyment this is right up there for me, but I'd have to dock some marks for technical merit. The psychology was outstanding as Taue got a breakthrough win and looked like the man in doing so.
  6. Zenjo
    It didn't make the 80's Lucha set. I'd say it warranted a spot. Casas had yet to reach his prime, and you could see that in his movement and hesitation at times. He already had a good ring presence though. Solid work from Guerrera and a decent title match.
  7. Zenjo
    Ad breaks or clipping of matches definitely affect my enjoyment. There is the element of 'what did I miss?' Stalling and resting would often be the answer, but I'd still prefer to see it. More than that it's the disruption to the flow of the match that bothers me. Even if the footage is spliced together then I can find it hard to get back to where I was before the interruption.
  8. Zenjo
    You're in a fight and have just hit the other guy. For your next move do you: A - Hit him again. B - Stand there and invite him to hit you back.
  9. Zenjo
    Dear God this was unbelievably brutal. A harrowing war. As nasty a worked bout as I can recall. Both men extensively attacked the face with vicious repeated shots. There was one where Finlay just punched Regal smack on the nose drawing blood. When they weren't exchanging stiff strikes they were grinding the other man down with holds. It certainly wasn't pretty, yet stylistically it was so different that I found it refreshing. Having to bring it to a conclusion before 30m was definitely a positive for match quality and their wellbeing. They'd already both be feeling it for a long time after this. It didn't have crowd heat, didn't need it. It didn't have a finish, didn't need it. There were no winners in this fight. The whole time I was cringing. A gripping battle where I could hardly believe what I was witnessing.
  10. Zenjo
    I really disliked the other match from the show so I'm glad I watched them the wrong way around. Late 90's head dropping BS. They briefly showed their familiarity before Kawada had a sustained control segment attacking the arm. Taue came fighting back and they battled back and forth the rest of the duration. It always looked like it was going the distance. I was hoping they were going to take it up a notch around 20m or so. The quality level remained at a consistently good level throughout. They'd had better matches in the past. Nevertheless a worthy addition to the rivalry.
  11. Zenjo
    It's bizarre that this took place in Japan. Nothing going on in the first half with a dead crowd. God bless the Junior style. Things picked up once action time started. Quite good overall, yet I would say it didn't do it's job properly. The storyline was that the bridesmaid Ohtani finally wins a title. He should've been hitting lots of big moves with Benoit just surviving. They didn't do that and he was having to do excess acting during the presentation to put the storyline over. They should've been doing that during the match.
  12. Zenjo
    A pleasant way to pass the time. Nothing to live long in the memory banks. Johnny Ace was a bit of a weak link, overshooting a moonsault. The highlight was Allbright taking over with a barrage of suplay at the finish.
  13. Zenjo
    Build phase was decent. Ohtani did some arm work which I thought had been subsequently forgotten before they came back to it near the end. As soon as the stretch started it got hot. Ohtani's OTT acting is amazing and it soon had the audience marking out. Some hot action and near falls. Shinjiro hit his finisher but didn't nail it right first time around. The second time Liger was too near the ropes. I would've liked the champion to use a different final move after that as the Shotei felt a little anticlimactic. Another agonising near miss for the challenger, who's once more left shaking his head in frustration and disappointment. Effective storytelling and a VG match. It wasn't as strong as vs Samurai and yes, Junior matches used to be overrated across the board.
  14. Zenjo
    Quite a lengthy 6 man. At times it had a chilled out vibe, yet was also frenetic in parts. It felt inconsequential. They needed to have heel & face factions, that was a key ingredient of the 10 mans. The first 80% was okay before the stretch picked up a lot. It turned watchable into decent. I'm looking forward to seeing whether the famous matches later in the year hold up for me.
  15. Zenjo
    It had been many years since I last viewed this and going in I wasn't filled with optimism. I'm not a big fan of broadways. There's never been a singles bout that's needed over 45m if you ask me. Plus I feel much the same way about Michaels as Bret Hart did, albeit a lot less passionately. So it was pleasing to see that it was Bret's style of match all the way. Despite being face vs face there was never any Mr Nice Guy or mutual respect. The dislike was tangible. In the early going they certainly paced themselves. That was necessary as they were quite rightly spent afterwards. At times it got turgid with the chinlocks. Still, it was pleasing how they maintained a technical focus and kept it inside the ring. Having falls would've brought advantages as people have discussed. Yet having none at all was a crucial part of it's future aura so I wouldn't change that. I liked the closing stages a lot with the Sharpshooter at the end of normal time. They got that just right. The overtime period worked well and even a non-fan of HBK like myself got a bit emotional at the finish. His entrance and postmatch celebration are burned in all our memories I think through years of highlight reels. It's a very hard one to rate with the long duration, highs and lows. I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting so I'll say VG range. For better or for worse it was one of the defining matches of the era.
  16. Zenjo
    Felino's mask is so cute! Whilst watching the early stages I was temporarily taken over by the spirit of a 10 year old girl and wanted to see Felino in a trios with Felina and Felinito. The Feline familia. I've just checked and of course they both existed. But then I started to wonder if they could be joined by Faglino the Exotico and things were getting too weird... I decided it was best to start over again. Felino was one cat with great pedigree. Even staying within the confines of the title bout style he was able to inject some roughness and take shortcuts. Decent matwork early on though not exceptional. It was mainly about the high flying, which was often spectacular. Coming to this after watching 1993, Santo had notably updated his offence. There was plenty for the highlight reel, with excellent moves to end the first two falls. Then drama in the tercera. High quality action from two mighty fine workers. The pacing was quite tight, it had just enough time. 5m more would've been welcome. Really good match.
  17. Zenjo
    From a show in honour of CMLL founder Salvador Lutteroth. Good way to motivate the workers~ The correct date is 3/22 BTW. The highlight for me watching the Yearbook's is discovering Lucha classics. Unlike the US and Japanese stuff I often don't know what to expect going in. This established itself as the MOTY thus far in '96. The talent on display was remarkable. My top 3 Luchadors ever at this point, and other amazing workers I'm growing increasingly fond of. I don't have firm opinions on all of them yet, but it's clear they got assigned to this match based on in ring prowess. The quality of the wrestling was right out of the top drawer. They were going flat out for 20m of non-stop action. Everything was so smooth without looking overly choreographed. Whilst the pacing was tight it never felt rushed as can often be the case with ciberneticos. The eliminations were well spaced out and the booking was strong with Wagner nearly coming back from 1vs3 down. Atlantis was the sole survivor. I'd say he was actually the weakest on the day, though certainly not bad. Felino and Santo progressed a singles feud. Dandy and Casas were the best performers of all. There was no extended beatdown phase, no mask ripping, no screwy finish. Simply wonderful action from start to end and a joy to watch. Right up my street.
  18. Zenjo
    Two legendary tag teams collide in what I'm sure was a dream match at the time. It's nice to see them go full out on TV, it felt a fair bit longer than 10m. The bout could best be described as a power move fest as both teams dished out loads of high impact offence. You could say that the selling was minimal and the structure was all messed up. Neither of these teams were noted for their match construction skills. With all those potential finishing moves they hit it was galling to have an international object screwjob ending too. Overall I quite enjoyed it though.
  19. Zenjo
    Y'know, there are times when it's rewarding to stop analysing, sit back and just enjoy. This was held on a UWFI show. As it was at a big venue (Da Budokan) however there were a lot of NJ followers and more casual fans in attendance. This wouldn't have gone over half as well in front of just the hardcores as it was pro style all the way. Takada let Kosh take the lead and do his thing. It was slightly ludicrous seeing this in a UWFI ring but I was happy to go with it this one time. The crowd were going nuts, the action was exciting, and at 11m it didn't outstay its welcome.
  20. Zenjo
    The UWFI men wore mock Super Strong Machine masks to the ring. Anjoh is a monumental douchebag, and was good value here. Takayama showed some decent strikes but hadn't figured out how to fully utilise his size yet. Hash was crazy over. It was like most of the crowd had bought tickets just to see him perform. Hirata was passable, I've never been a fan of the guy. There was only one NJ fighter I wanted to see in there. Generally NJ style oriented as the outsiders concentrated on strikes. Quite compact and an enjoyable contest.
  21. Zenjo
    It's a continual battle. Having to keep the good moves and actions coming all the time to disguise the desperate limitations and inherent boredom of the 6 man tag format. They did a reasonable job of it here. I like the Kanemoto/Ohtani combo and the two Americans had some smooth exchanges.
  22. Zenjo
    Back the following week and good Lord it's another straight sets victory. This time for team tecnico. Emilio looked like a caveman who'd discovered the razor. Whilst past his physical prime he could certainly still go in the ring and was radiating character and personality. Once they got past the initial stalling things got hot with some sweet action. Caras vs Panther was particularly tasty, two legends of the mat. Again the rudos took control in the 2nd. That's fine but you need a 3rd fall to make the format work. Last week the 2-0 worked well but this time there was a horrible DQ finish. It was the better match before that yet ends up ranking slightly below the previous trios. Both were good level.
  23. Zenjo
    Sure enough Satanico had recently lost a hair match. Having a short haircut has disadvantages for a Luchador. The individual matchups here were all strong. Dandy vs Satan on the mat. Heated between Dantes and King. Then the ever great Santo vs Casas feud. Impressive action all around in the primera. It cooled off as the rudos controlled the segunda. But then we had a smartly done finish. Santo's shoulder was up but the ref was unsighted. Two-Zip is a pleasant surprise to bust out occasionally.
  24. Zenjo
    Well the ref got his own ring introduction and entrance music, so obviously he thought he was the star of the show! I couldn't sit through the whole match as wonky fancams do my head in.
  25. Zenjo
    Decent effort with the Juniors fulfilling their role on the card. No need to go too crazy. Give the fans a strong B match and warm them up for the big boys. Which isn't to say this wasn't the best match on the show. Ohtani and Kanemoto were dicking it up and made a good combo.
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