Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

Zenjo

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2204

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Zenjo

  1. Zenjo
    A superb legends battle that lived up to all my dream match expectations. I disagree about it being out of date because the Joshi you'd see on TV never used to be like this in the 70's and 80's. In many cases it was as quickly paced back then as in the 90's. OK the original JWP was more mat based than AJW but they didn't have a TV deal before 1990. It was stylistically more like a heavyweight match from that era, which in this setting is very unusual and refreshing. There was certainly an atmosphere worthy of the occasion with the crowd supporting their former AJW star against the current one. At 37m it was a real epic with fine wrestling and filled with great touches of psychology. They really had the fans in the proverbial palms of their hands. There was a clash of the titans feel as they both absorbed so much punishment and neither could put the other away. Finally the somersault legdrop got it done. It certainly wasn't flawless and there were spells where the quality level dipped. With the length this was inevitable. But it always remained compelling viewing and told a great story. A low end classic.
  2. Zenjo
    Generally solid fare before sharply picking up at the finish. Anjoh threatened the win on the ground but Yamazaki just killed him when the kicks started flying. I thought these guys summed up the two main characters of shoot style workers with the dick vs the consummate professional.
  3. Zenjo
    The KKrowd were lapping it up which added a lot to this and made it feel meaningful in the middle stages. The underlings took their punishment early on. The exchanges with Kawada vs Misawa/Kobashi were the highlight. It got hot at what should have been the finish. Alas it outstayed its welcome by going 25m instead of 20m. And Kobashi pinning Ogawa means fuck all. The results of nearly all 6 mans mean nothing because they're not important matches. As a format it's deficient and has a low rating ceiling in my book.
  4. Zenjo
    I love Felino's fluffy outfit, he was like the Mexican Tiger Mask. I was glad he won as he also showed plenty of charisma. Ramirez did a few nice dives but otherwise didn't have that much going for him in terms of ability, personality or image. The match quality was reasonable enough and the stipulation always adds a lot.
  5. Zenjo
    Given the build up this didn't deliver. Hopefully the rematch will do. A bit sloppy and messy at times. Plenty of leg work from Hash. There was some decent stuff at the end but they hadn't given themselves the base to launch off.
  6. Zenjo
    Would've been a bit confusing if I hadn't read this topic beforehand. I don't think Shadow did throw the match. It looked to me like he just got frustrated at not being able to put Guerrera away. There was no logic to him getting involved at all in the tag match except laying down if he wanted to lose. As it is he wrestled longer than Santo so went in at a disadvantage to the decider. Regardless it was a highly dramatic mascara con mascara between the losers. Santo bled heavily through his and was in all sorts of trouble. It was a real close call with plenty of near falls. Strong action and psychology. It might have been a MOTYC. I say 'might' because it was clipped up, had no crowd sound and a studio voiceover. It was extremely frustrating and certainly had a negative impact on the viewing experience. I can only rate what was shown rather than project what might have been. A lot better than nothing but I'd love to see the raw footage.
  7. Zenjo
    This was one of the promotions better matches, and that's a backhanded compliment. It didn't get going until the stretch which was quite interesting. Hogan kept hitting finishers and Tenryu kept kicking out before eventually succumbing. Given that he did the job this put GenTen over too. Having now watched the 90,91 and 92 yearbooks I can hopefully say good riddance to SWS forever. I can't stand the promotion and haven't particularly liked any of its matches. It's whole philosophy was to just throw money about and hope things worked out. It had no identity, obviously no history and no soul. Aside from Tenryu it's talent recruitment was laughably bad. There was more dead wood than a ship wreck. It was hugely beneficial to the AJ roster as it got rid of a whole bunch of guys who would have been stinking up the midcard for years to come like Hara, Yatsu and Fuyuki. Okay so they lost Tenryu but that encouraged Baba to promote the new generation of stars. Ironically what looked like a potential disaster back in 1990 turned into a big positive for Zen Nihon. That was the legacy of SWS, it's utter incompetence helping others.
  8. Zenjo
    Had a lively opening but then settled into solid territory as it got a little bogged down. Williams in particular at this stage didn't sell enough or appreciate the value of an opponents momentum. It did improve quite a bit later on as they had a long and intricate stretch more like you'd see in later years. Misawa had a spell layed out on the floor (recurring theme), but he just made it back in time. The result was in the balance and they missed a trick by not having a home win as the fans would have exploded.
  9. Zenjo
    This felt like the first match in a series. They were feeling each other out and weren't sure how to work together yet. There were hints of what was to come from Han.
  10. Zenjo
    Far be it from me to object to another AJ classic. They never paced it like a draw, working what looked to be a 20m bout of very high quality. Kawada's ribs were worked on early and the heels du jour had the majority of the offense. Misawa came in with an eye injury and it was so clever the way they held back the segment where it got attacked. This meant that after the false stretch they'd have something to keep up the momentum until the final 2.9ers near expiration. Such intelligent construction. Everyone performed really well and Jumbo was once again the star of the show. He always seemed to know just the right move to choose. Surprisingly this ended up being my favourite AJ match of 1991, though I would project it won't make my top 20 for the promotion in the 90's.
  11. Zenjo
    It may not match the previous years encounter but this was really good in its own right. Hot start as Dandy goes 1-0 in double quick time. It was like a title match format only with an emphasis towards brawling instead of matwork. There was variety and a strong rivalry. They really could have used some blood though given the stakes, and the ref was too involved. Nice drama down the stretch and this time the magnificent mullet gets the chop.
  12. Zenjo
    I was pleasantly surprised by how good Norton was here, strong in more ways than one. The challengers dominated the offence. But the champs took their medicine and caught Hash in a double team to grab the quick pinfall. The end came quite suddenly given the pacing. Good quality work as you had three top guy's keeping their end up and one overachieving.
  13. Zenjo
    Jake is an amazing promo, what a sick fucker he is. Like Pete I was thinking what a great Hollywood bad guy he could have been. The furious Savage gets a temporary measure of revenge for the snake bite. A short match that was good while it lasted but the main fun was afterwards. Macho Man tries to do more damage but things go downhill in a big way. Liz comes in to protect her man. The evil Snake taunts and tortures poor Liz and then slaps her in the chops! Seriously, this was for kids? Fantastic feud.
  14. Zenjo
    Boat making a shock return as a mystery partner was pretty awesome. Kind of like the opposite of the Shockmaster. This helped create an electric atmosphere which certainly never hurts. The standard structure but it was very nicely done. They kept it to the right length, the timings were right and there was an air of excitement.
  15. Zenjo
    All the fun of the fair. There was naturally some comedy with Super Porky, he was the central character of the piece. Importantly the wrestling was impressive too with matwork, flying and near falls. The finish to the primera was particularly strong. I felt like Porky should've been involved at the end as it seemed to be building towards that. Los Brazos matches aren't generally my type of thing but this was the best of them.
  16. Zenjo
    If you wondered whether this might be friendly Kawada vs Kobashi gave the answer in the opening minute. It was also competitive as the underdogs gave a strong effort. There was even a period where Kikuchi was trying to be manly and assert himself. Naturally he soon got slapped down and was FIP. A quality match and after the final bell they were friends once more.
  17. Zenjo
    A PG brawl featuring a plastic trash can. In later years they just used the lid. Half turned into 'I Quit' at one point. Good stuff as they were given full length and a clean finish on a TV taping. Decent action and it told a story. A trial run for Beach Blast '92 which I thought just shaded this.
  18. Zenjo
    Hansen was really pumped up and unloaded some stiff offence. The opponents responded in kind and there were some exciting moments. Unfortunately there was also Spivey who wasn't actively bad, but was very much a weak link in this company. I wanted Stan to be in the ring at all times.
  19. Zenjo
    The first of Kawada's many Triple Crown defeats. A nice veteran vs youngster dynamic. As people have said in other threads it was great how Jumbo had such strong feuds going against multiple rivals. Generally very good and got hot at the finish as Dangerous K survives the backdrop but not the backdrop hold. There were a few ill advised move choices. Tosh wasn't yet the finished article and was severely testing rather than threatening the champ.
  20. Zenjo
    Misawa came into the match with a nose injury. His weakness was ruthlessly attacked on the rare occasions he entered the ring. He spent most of the time lying on the floor, which is an absurd way to sell a nose injury. Seriously WTF? Still the others made up for him. Kikuchi took a Jumbo sized beatdown and Kawada brought the anger. The heels were really dominant and all kicked ass. A little long but a good watch throughout.
  21. Zenjo
    I wasn't sure how good this would be beforehand. I'm still not quite sure after watching it. It certainly wasn't run of the mill. You don't often see a mix of comedy and blood. The first two falls were really fun rather than technical quality. They had the Bolshoi Kid tied mask to the rope spot, a heel ref and some awesome fan involvement. First a woman came up and berated the ref for his poor performance. Then you had this amazing stunt granny who started kicking the rudo! I can't confirm whether she was winking or not. They kept going back to her, how could they not? Despite this it also had an intense rivalry with mask ripping and both men bleeding. They ended up going for 30m of action with plenty of drama. Whilst always enjoyable there are times I wonder whether Octagon has a clue. He certainly needs a good rudo to guide him. He was either on the receiving end or attacking in 100mph bursts. He never slowed down because he was hurt, it was always hyper speed. You can see why he was popular as he had a cool image and brought a lot of energy. Despite being a temperamental and flawed worker he brought positive attributes that could be harnessed.
  22. Zenjo
    The early stages were technical before both men bled later on. At the time they were two of WCW's hottest young stars and you could see the potential. Dustin's inexperience really shone through in the latter stages however. Oh well. He benefitted a lot from being teamed with a veteran like Steamboat over the next year. Unlike in Japan the framework wasn't geared towards helping young wrestlers develop, so potential was often not realised. As the decade progressed Rhodes lost his passion and his early years ended up being his best.
  23. Zenjo
    I found this disappointing, mainly because of Misawa. It was going along okay before green tights had his shoulder hurt. He spent ages having it carefully bandaged up on the outside whilst ignoring his partner getting beaten up in the ring. To be fair Misawa not giving a shit about his teammates was in character. But when he comes in it was elbow mania and he tore the bandages off! Horrible. Jumbo did his best to get it back on track but the damage was done. Incredibly the legend tapped out to the crossface. You midcarder!
  24. Zenjo
    September of 1991 was a really poor month. You could hear a pin drop for most of this. Picked up in the final couple of minutes.
  25. Zenjo
    Much of the work was quite dry and hard to get excited over. Not bad, just uninspiring. What good stuff there was was down to Hase. 90's Fujinami is a bit of a bore.
×
×
  • Create New...