Jmare007

They sold out Korakuen Hall. But that's not a big building.

Loved him as a "young lion" in 09', he had great showings in the NOAH feud. Loved him in 2012 and last year. But It's way too soon for me to consider him for a list like this one.

Set to be back in December for the TLC PPV. Bryan and Reigns should be back at the exact same time. There's thought of delaying either of their returns until the Royal Rumble. Barrett will back at that same time frame too. RR would be a better idea, if just to give them more time to heal. So is he 100% now? I really thought, from what I was reading, that he might be finished. I never really got why people were thinking that. There were complications in his recovery but I never sensed a "he might be done" vibe in any of his interviews after the injury or any of the reports about him during that time.

Haven't seen the match since it happened but I remember his match against Michaels at Mania 23 as a case of him not being that good at selling. Normally, I'm not bothered by his Super Cena comeback but I was pissed at how he structured the Summerslam match against Nexus. Dude was DDT'd on concrete, then got up FU'd people and won That said. The more I think about Cena, the more stupid I find my initial statement of him being a "60-50" kinda guy. He's gonna end up being high on my list.

I agree with dawho, he's one of the most entertaining New Japan guys in the last decade. I'm not enamored with his work like Joe or Meltzer but I'm also not down on him like other people. I think he's a very good wrestler that can be great at times and almost always shows up for big matches. As far as current "Aces", I think Cena is better in almost every way. As far as current puro guys, I'll probably have Sekimoto ahead of him, but they are gonna be close.

This is gonna be an interesting one to rank. Just like with Dusy, I don't think I'll be able to separate his character work in promos and segments from the stuff he did in the ring. Even though I'm a big fan of his matches in wCw and WWE, I don't think he has enough to make a top 25-30. It's gonna be fun revisiting him and see were he really ends up.

Well it's not like he actually saw the segment. He read the spoilers and jumped to conclusions too early. It was a good segment too.

I wouldn't call Cena great at selling. He can be great but he's very spotty with it.

What's funny is that Reigns doesn't have a lot of merchandise. At least I don't think he does, I've seen like 1 shirt of his on tv. Good sign if he's doing numbers though.

The usually annoying German crowd adores Hero and despises Danielson, who does everything in the book to piss them off as much as possible. First 10-15 minutes is a mix of mat work - were Hero usually gets the upperhand, working Dragon's left arm - and Danielson stalling as much as he can so he can gain an advantage. Match starts to really get going once Hero makes Danielson's elbow "snap", from then on it's these two really going at it. I liked how this didn't turn into your typical bombfest and nearfall trading. It went from mat work, to more violent mat work to just plain violence without any overkill. Loved what Hero did to destroy Danielson's left elbow and how he couldn't use it anymore - the one time he had to, he couldn't take advantage of a superplex because of the pain the caused - I felt the ending was awesome considering what they did in the match. This was great.

Ehh, I thought Sekimoto was having very good matches as early as 01' against Ohtani (were Ohtani wasn't the sole reason why the matches ruled) in singles and tags. I remember a match against Kamikaze in Zero1, tags against Sasaki/Nakajima and Tanaka/random partners in 06' that were pretty damn good too. He certainly wasn't consistent but I think he was better that you are painting him out to be on those early years. I became a fan of his after watching his matches against Tanaka in 07' and 08', but I'm not sure those are gonna held up when I rewatch them. I did enjoy the times they faced each other in the Fire Festival in the last couple of years, something about those two dudes colliding against each other entertains me. But they did seem way too long for what they were going for and just "fine" with some fun moments.

Holy shit, I've never seen that one. It was very different from their previous encounters and totally worked. Now I can't wait till they meet for the 5th time once Okabayashi returns from injury.

He does has some flaws. I definitely agree he is hit or miss when facing other heavyweights. As I said in my previous post, he is guilty of a lot of the things that modern puro guys have that make matches feel either too long or with too much overkill. Sometimes it seems he tries to force an "epic" match when it's not needed. Specially when he is working in Zero-One. But to me, his misses aren't THAT bad. I'm still entertained with the stuff he does in matches. To be honest, I'm just a sucker for his schtick. All that said, I don't see a case of him being a top 20 dude ever at all. Can you remember some of the matches you watched? It might be easier giving you a list if we know what you've already seen. But the short answer would be what Joe said, he's just a beefy guy who can play the role of a "big dude" very well. FWIW. Not that anyone is saying this but the matches I posted are far from a definitive Sekimoto list. Even though I love all those matches, I just did a quick search from another forum I post on and c/p the reviews I had so I could make a thread in the Microscope and nominate him.

I've seen three Daisuke vs Yuji matches. The first one is from 6/29/09 right before Sekimoto took him under his wing and they started tagging, I recall it being quite entertaining considering Okabayashi was barely starting and was facing an established guy like Daisuke. The other one is from January 2nd of 2011, this one I don't remember much, all I have is my rating for it (***1/2) and having the feeling it wasn't as good as their first encounter. And the last one is the one I posted here (2/26/12) which is the best of the trilogy.

This is gonna be a tough one to rank for me. I'm a big fan of Cena matches but his character burnout has made me lose interest in a lot of stuff he's been involved with in the last 4-5 years. But his 06'-07' run is one of the most underrated in WWE history and he is probably the best "big match" performer in the last decade. Right now I could see him as a top 60-50 kinda guy but he could end up way higher if I think it through. I'm pretty sure he'll be pretty damn high if this is done again in 2026.

Parv, why do you keep bringing Ivan to the conversation? I haven't seen anyone on this thread say that Koloff is not a hall of famer. Does Murdoch has to have a better case than Ivan for you to consider him worthy of the HOF? Is Koloff your measuring stick? Just curious.

As I said in the Microscope, my favorite wrestler to watch from Japan in the last 7 years. Even though he can be guilty of the same flaws current puro guys have (overkill, too much fighting spirit, repetitiveness) he also has too many standout performances and great matches to not be considered. I think you can make a legit case for him being a top 3-5 worker in 09',10',11' and 12'. He can play the Ace very well, he's at his best as the invading beast in smaller dudes promotions (DDT, Chikara) and can held his own in an "epic" style matches (though I think those are his biggest flaw). He probably wont make it higher than 50-60, but he will be on my list. Some recomendations taken from the Microscope thread:

I already nominated him, here's his thread http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/29530-daisuke-sekimoto/ . His 2010 Chikara run should be mentioned too. He was awesome smashing little dudes and his encounters with Claudio were really fun. Please add any reviews you have of his matches

I remember the 06' match between them being way better but can't recall if Misawa worked it any differently (aside from not being that broken down).

Yeah. I haven't seen much from Puerto Rico but from what I've seen it's been pretty surreal watch him do exactly what he said he did when he was commentating for the WWE. I always thought he was kayfabing to make it seem he was a big deal but he actually was one. I'd love to see him on the ballot.

Dylan, does Hugo's time as a color commentator for the WWF/E work on his favor for a HOF mention? Even though his last 3-4 years were very mediocre (he was more interested in talking about Jesus and how we could be saved by god than the matches he was calling) he was very much the voice of WWE for a huge portion of the latin audience. He was like Bobby Heenan for us.

Daisuke Sekimoto http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/29523-daisuke-sekimoto/&do=findComment&comment=5631081

One of my favorite japanese guys of the last 7 years. He's far from perfect and I get why a lot of people aren't into his matches sometimes but I don't know, there's something about Daisuke smashing little dudes or going all Hulk on people that grabs my attention every time. Hopefully Alan4L can come here and help make his case too. Random quick reviews I've done of some of his matches. Maximum Tag League - Semi Final: Masato Tanaka & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Yuko Miyamoto & Takashi Sasaki (BJW 4/28/09) Another great tag match in Korakuen Hall. Miyamoto gets distroyed at the begining by Daisuke and Dangan, so it's up to Takashi to level things up. Still, that's not enough as Tanaka/Sekimoto always find a way to get the upperhand but Miyamoto refuses to die every single time he's in the reciving end of a German Suplex. The finishing strech is awesome Daisuke Sekimoto vs Masa Takahashi - KO-D Openweight Title Match 4/4/10 DDT Daisuke smash puny Masa! But Takahashi has a plan and lots of fighting spirit to counter that, he may go a little overboard with his facial expressions and fighting spirit spots but I was so into the match that didn't really care, loved everything this match.The crowd eats up this incredible underdog story that has a big chance of being my puro MOTY for 2010. Daisuke Sekimoto vs Kota Ibushi - KO-D Openweight Title Match DDT 5/3/10 First minutes are kinda slow but the match starts building in intensity until Daisuke decides to slap Kota...from then on these 2 went BATSHIT CRAZY, from elbows to stomps to the absolutely brutal headbutts. Man, I wish this had one last Ibushi comeback before getting killed by the champ, but given that Sekimoto had to wrestle a few hours earlier for Big Japan, I was more than pleased with this. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs Seiya Sanada & Manabu Soya - AJPW 3/21/11 Although it didn't have the atmosphere of their first match at Korakuen, they made it up with a better version of what they did in February. It's amazing how great this was considering it went longer than 30 minutes - it seems that in today's puro, everything has to be shorter than 25 to be really great - and that the February match suffered from them going so long. This didn't have the same amount of overkill than their first encounter and it benefited from it. The Sekimoto/Soya exchanges are brilliant and Oka/Sanada aren't far behind. A legit MOTYC. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs Manabu Soya & Ryota Hama - BJW 4/28/11 Fucking awesome match, exactly what I expect from an interpromotional encounter. A hot crowd, hate and clear faces and heels. Korakuen is firmly behind the BJ guys and Hama uses this to deliver THE performance of his career. It's worked refreshingly smart considering who is in the ring and the fact that it's a title match. Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi & Ryuichi Kawakami vs Yoshihito Sasaki, Shinya Ishikawa & Masashi Otani - BJW 2/12/11 Even better than the usually great Strong BJ tag. It has even more hate and stiffness than normal, and you have the story of the rookie Otani trying to survive the attacks of Oka, Kawakami and specially Daisuke. Everyone looked great in this, just a brutal (in a super fun kinda way) match. Daisuke Sekimoto, Shinobu & Yugi Okabayashi vs. Yoshihito Sasaki, Shinya Ishikawa & Ryuichi Kawakami - BJW 6/27/11 Strong BJ for the motherfucking win! Holy crap this was all kinds of awesome. Shinobu and Yoshihito bring the HATE, Daisuke & Okabayashi the muscle and Ishikawa & Kawakami the resilience. Action packed 6 man tag with a couple of GREAT nearfalls. And all of this in just 11 minutes. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs SUWAMA & Takumi Soya - REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE, Day 1 Very good tag match, it builds very slowly but I was happy with the payoff in the end. The first 3/4 of the match are mostly about Daisuke and Yuji beating the leaving hell out of Soya, who does a good job at being the FIP (specially in his hope spots). Then SUWAMA gets in and we get a great finishing stretch. LOVED Daisuke not being able to deadlift SUWAMA and asking Okabayashi for help, but Oka is too tired and gives the young Soya enough time to interfere, save his partner and lead us to the ending. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs Suwama & Takumi Soya - Death Vegas Man was this fun or what. I was gladly surprised that the Yokohama crowd (which had been dead for most of the show) decided to participate in this, of course it wasn't even close to a Korakuen crowd but at least it was something. Completely different from the RWTL match as Soya/Suwama are clearly the bad guys. They did a great job heeling it up all things considered. It ran a little too long with Takumi being a little too resilient for my taste but overall this was very good. I loved how the crowd started to get anxious about Oka and Daisuke not being able to win, even booing the referee's pin fall counts. Also, I hate to say it but I'm HYPED for Suwama vs Sekimoto at Korakuen Hall on 1/2, I tried not to get my expectations up but after this I wanna see this 2 bring the hate and stiffness to Korakuen in a singles match. Daisuke Sekimoto vs Suwama - AJPW 1/2/12 So yeah, this was great and oddly enough met my high expectations. Heated as a interpromotional matches between two aces should be. Suwama, aware of Sekimoto's freaky strength, takes out his back and leaves him helpless. Locking in a crab, whipping him in to the barricade, just making him his bitch basically. This is all fuel to Sekimoto's comeback. He sells the back well and leaves you on the edge of your seat whenever he attempts a big power move. Daisuke Sekimoto vs Yuji Okabayashi - BJW 02/26/12 Definitely the best match of their trilogy. It's so fun watching how Yuji has grown as a performer and as a threat to Daisuke, from Korakuen believing more in him every year to going head to head in the bombs department against Sekimoto. The headbutts were brutal but I've kinda become numb to them ever since Daisuke and Ibushi tried to kill each other in 2010. A great heavyweight battle, can't wait till they meet again in 2013. Daisuke Sekimoto vs Yoshihito Sazaki- Strong Climb Tournament Final BJW 3/26/12 Brilliant, just brilliant. I was disappointed with Daisuke's work in the Bad Bones match (specially his control section) but man did the guy stepped up in the final. And Yoshihiko....oh man, his work as the underdog was fucking beautiful. Sekimoto gains control in the first minute and proceeds to work over Sasaki's neck, from then on it's all about Yoshihito working from behind trying to overcome Daisuke's brilliant work over that body part. Both men executed their roles to perfection and Korakuen understood what this was all about. The final minutes are outstanding and if you are not rooting for Yoshihito then you don't have a fucking soul.

For the next week I'd recommend: -U.S Indies: Takeshi Morishima vs Bryan Danielson - Manhattan Mayhem II (Not sure if I can post this link as it's not from youtube/dailymotion...I can upload it on one of those 2 sites if it's necessary) http://videos.sapo.pt/EgyNzlKkBZGrI9h1SM4Y http://videos.sapo.pt/aC9Blu987OzpuVkZnOe9 -00's Japan Shinya Hashimoto & Yugi Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - 3/2/01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vZoqX4aRzs