WingedEagle

What are the must-see matches here? Loved him against Baba, Jumbo, Martel and liked what I saw against Kerry and Iceman Parsons. Do I need to sit through the 60 minute lawler match? This guy bumped too well and was so outrageous for someone his size to not rank.

So for the longest stretch I knew that Jumbo would slot in somewhere behind Misawa, Kobashi & Kawada. Well I've been rewatching a lot of early 90s All Japan as well as some 80s Jumbo and don't see him behind them quite so clearly at all. Older, grumpy heel Jumbo is so much better in the role than even Tenryu and an absolute joy who didn't really lose any of his athleticism until the Hepatitis brought him down. If anything, he was even more of the total package near the end. Arguably one of the older primes you'll find and never looked out of place with the kids. No clue now he'll end up faring against Baba's best, but that is a big question for me in the weeks ahead. Could easily talk myself into ranking him ahead or behind any of them.

Takayama should be right up Parv's alley.

Given the copious notes the announcers have, why not prompt them to clear the monitors off-camera before the spot?

Never was before I watched all of this over. The guy comes off as such a selfish, uncooperative shit throughout. Not trolling, but that sounds like...a heel? I feel awful for everything Bret had to go through between Owen, the concussions, stroke & recovery and undoubtedly a ton of family issues. But grown up me just isn't bothered by someone in wrestling acting like a heel, whether work, shoot or a mix, nor by someone with a multi-million dollar contract being forced to accept that money a couple doors down the road because his boss fucked him with on the job. We watched it happen on PPV, but don't people who make both more or less money sometimes find the locks changed or desk cleared when they go to work? This was nearly unprecedented in wrestling, but it still amazes me how a creative decision & office politics generate such strong feelings from people who weren't involved this far down the road.

On first impression this is well ahead of War Games. Love the Rumble but no clue how you'd rank it, although I tend to view that a singular Flair performance rather than any kind of multi-man outing.

So the '84 Gauntlet match. I also watched it for the first time this weekend and went in knowing it finished #1 on the New Japan poll and was touted as a GOAT match candidate by many. It still somehow managed to exceed expectations. Thoughts on a few of my favorite segments. Fujinami vs. Kobayashi -- Maybe the best Kobayashi has looked thus far, working a killer pace before going down and kicking off the highlight story of the match by beginning to work on Fujinami's arm and hand. Not to mention an incredibly hot finish to this opening. Fujinami vs. Teranishi -- This is no worse than a 4.5 star affair and MOTYC on its own. I've seen nothing of Teranishi outside of his singles match with Fujinami earlier on the set and this, but to hell with reason -- this man belongs on a list of the 100 greatest ever. Just some of the most vicious, focused limb work I've seen. I was blown away at just how incredibly this piece was. Fujinami has had a few flash pins on the set that didn't seem proper for him from a booking perspective, but this one made sense and was a key piece of storytelling in a damn near perfect match. This whole thing is too long to go back and watch all that often, but I could watch this part every day. I loved it that much. Fujinami vs. Yatsu -- Speaking of top notch booking, not to mention execution, we have the finish here. Not to mention more great heeling on the hand. This gauntlet is one of the strongest heel performances I've ever seen in Japan. Athleticism and sport take a backseat to hate. The collective brilliance throughout this match cannot be understated. Takada's brief appearance was fiery and let him shine before being disposed of, while Yatsu got to again look like an absolutely devestating enforcer. Kimura's turn with Yatsu felt a little brief and was probably the weakest part of the match. Higo Fucking Hamaguchi. Incredible stalling. Incredible chickenshit heel refusing to engage. Throw a slap and bail outside. Kicking out of a piledriver at a 1 count. Killer headbutts. He meets his match with Fujiwara who isn't about to put up with those antics and eliminates both of them as he refuses to let Higo escape. Is he always such a phenomenal heel? If it continues at all along these lines he's someone who's stock will go see a marked increase with me. Inoki vs. Choshu wasn't the all out war that you want based on the match up to this point, but I get why it was laid out in this fashion and with that finish. Just an absolutely remarkable match that flew by and had a ridiculous number of high points. What I'm unclear on is just how high to rank something like this. It feels odd and a bit unfair to compare these 10 wrestlers doing their thing in individual segments Flair/Steamboat or the best of the All Japan crew in a singles or tag outing. Absolutely no idea how to weigh them side by side, but regardless, this is some of the best wrestling you will find anywhere. Highest possible recommendation for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Parv, other than the Finlay brawl, what other Regal matches do you have rated 4.5+?

Why does the name have to change?

I'd include some modern action from time to time. Generally not your cup of tea but if you can stomach a random modern WWE or NJ match it could be fun.

The great matches rating isn't a rating for number of good matches, it's a composite rating out of ten for how many great matches they have had at the 4.5+ level. What are the Waltman 5-star matches I'm blanking on? Does anyone rate the early Jerry Lynn stuff that highly? I believe some folks were high on his stuff with Wellington in 1990 but I haven't seen that yet. I've always found him a consistently above average worker who can rip off three and a half stars in his sleep, but never reached that 4.5 level.

Jerry, why not mix it up? Dabble in some Joshi, NOAH, other stuff. I'd listen to a podcast reviewing random matches.

Its not something that ever troubles me, but rewatching this over the weekend I was shocked how blatantly and frequently Austin was calling certain spots. I thought that's something he's repeatedly knocked others for on his podcast.

Some might point to the SMW appearances to extend it but that that would seem to credit anything solid as peak.

The worst thing I can say about Liger is that I'm not sure what he's done to rank above Flair, the All Japan elites or Bryan. That's really as low as I can see him going.

Thanks for posting all of this. Great reference.

Not every match can be Monday Night Raw. On Hulu.

Many thanks. On queue for tomorrow!

Will have more thoughts later that likely echo Parv's as I'm at the same point as him in the NJ set. Its a minor point, but there is no wrestler in history who runs the ropes better and with more fury than Tatsumi Fujinami. I could watch him do that without an opponent anywhere near the ring and it would be glorious.

Can't be better than the vegetarian picnic burger at Fresh in Toronto. Haha its all coming together now.

Is the Brisco Florida match online?

A random late 80s date for New Japan sounds right. If we're being loose with defining the NWA, that's also a strong contender in the 85-86 period as you could use some non-GAAP accounting to rope in Crockett, Midsouth and perhaps other. Heh, even All Japan if you want to get tricky right?

He's not holding back in the singles matches; he's wrestling incredibly hard. He's just building the match in a different way. Matwork is not a shackle for chrissakes. It is a major shackle when its not compelling or interesting and leads nowhere. I'm not looking for an amateur exchange out there. In most of the Fujinami series it felt like a crutch to pass time. Admittedly much of that time they'd look to put over the Scorpion, but there was nothing unique in how he built towards it, worked to soften up Fujinami or otherwise do much more than tease it. I say most of the series because there were some exceptions, notably the 8/4/83 match where the exchanges were much more active and there felt like a real struggle with every attempt rather than standing or lying around with a grip on your opponent.

As much as I love Yatsu, it almost feels like something about a singles match holds Choshu back. Does he lack the cardio? Odd sense of pacing? I'm right about where Jerry is on the NJ set with the '84 Gauntlet up next (hopefully later today), and as was the case on the All Japan set, I absolutely always prefer Chosu in tags as opposed to singles. Its as though the shackles come off and he's no longer married to the mat. Just night & day in his approach and performance.

Playlist created. Should get to it by 2018.