Jmare007

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

The more I re-watch from Kobashi, the more he falls of my list of puro guys. Dude is still in the elite but 7 years ago he would've been in my top 10, now it's more of 20-30 kinda guy.

There's no reason to play devil's advocate though. It's like he's already is preparing for a "he's not seen as the top guy" rant when he comes backs, is the most over guy on the roster and starts headlining house shows This I completely agree. There's something about Bryan that makes him go "don't get too exited" every time.

That was a pretty damn good match it's from "We must eat Michigan's brain". There's also a nice match against Regal when they were training in Memphis And man, I can't stress enough the 16 Carat Gold stuff.

might also have something to due with the time of the year. Fall is usually a pattern holding period for the company. Mania season is where people get all analytical and stuff Oh come on. Last year it was all about over analyzing every segment Bryan was in (booking and ratings wise) after Summerslam. It's been nice to not have that kind of overreaction to everything with Rollins and Ambrose, I hope we never go back to the days of Punk's reign as champion or Bryan's weird ass push last year. But I find it interesting that only 1 year after people went full retard (myself included a couple of times) with D-Bry's rise, there's not near the panic with Seth/Dean.

I thought it was funny and it did ended up with a serious beatdown to end the show. It's not like they are building to HIAC with only comedy segments. So far it's been a nice mix. I think one thing that has been unnoticed is how little the product gets over analyzed when you don't have Punk or Bryan involved in big storylines. It's refreshing not to hear or read constant complaints about how Seth looks "too weak" every show because he always needs the help from the authority or how they are sabotaging Ambrose because they are pairing him up with Cena. Or having to look at quarterly ratings to see how well Rollins/Ambrose are doing and if the company have faith in them. I don't know if it's because Seth/Dean don't have a fanbase as pessimistic as Bryan/Punk or because fans are beginning to trust more in the company when it comes to pushes for indy guys. Regardless, I hope this trend continues.

And that sets up the return Hall of Pain Mark

Claudio Castagnoli and Dave Taylor.

Not gonna attempt to do a big list as I'm sure stomperspc is gonna deliver a good one. But if I could add a couple of suggestions that may not be the most heralded heralded matches but they are entertaining as hell. -Indy run after becoming ROH Champ: vs Necro Butcher - Giant Size Annual #4 2007 (PWG) vs El Generico - Giant Size Annual #4 with Roderick Strong vs Motor City Machine Guns - DDT4 2009 (PWG) with Roderick Strong vs The Young Bucks - DDT4 2009 (if someone wants to see people beating the fuck out of the Bucks, watch this match) vs Chris Hero - Guerre Sans Frontieres 2009 Team Uppercut vs Masters of 1000 holds - King Of Trios 2009 (Chikara) Team Uppercut vs Team F.I.S.T. - King Of Trios 2009 with Claudio Castagnoli vs Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw - Hiding in Plain Sight 2009 vs Silas Young - Defining Moment 2009 (AAW) vs Claudio Castagnoli - Northern Navigation 2008 (ROH) vs El Generico - Proving Ground 2009 vs Munenori Sawa - EVOLVE 5 International matches: vs Mike Quackenbush - 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008 (wXw) vs Chris Hero - 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008 vs Bad Bones - 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008 vs Atsushi Aoki - 5/15/2008 (NOAH) The 16 Carat Gold tournament from 08' is a must watch for this project imo. When he was at his peak of his "indy god" persona, Bryan went full heel and delivered amazing performances in front of the obnoxious german crowd.

This was a great listen. And man, if you guys want to hear Akira Fukuzawa (IIRC he was the one doing commentary in the early 90's) going batshit insane watch the Misawa vs Terry Gordy 6/1/91 match, aka the FACELOCK match and the best I've seen from Gordy in singles.

This is the 4th Dandy match I've ever seen (the other 3 being the apuestas/title matches against Pirata Morgan and Emilio Charles Jr) and finally I'm starting to "get" what's so great about him. Dude is crisp as fuck and the way he generated heat here was awesome, I really want to see an Atlantis/Dandy match now. I was kinda annoyed how the announcer kept talking about Gran Davis shaving his mustache. Shit was like Michael Cole talking about stuff that have nothing to do with the match and detracting from the action in the ring. I've only seen like 10 Lucha matches since the project started but my god, Lucha commentary sucks ass I thought this was before the Azteca match and wanted to watch it as a set up but oh well.

I agree with Matt, I think it would be easier if you repost your priorities and most importantly, point out what you have seen so we don't end up suggesting stuff you've already watched. It's gonna be hard as hell to find links for U.S Indies too. Too bad megaupload and fileserve went down because 2-3 years ago almost everything worthwhile was at least downloadable. I always thought the 77' RWTL match was their most talked about encounter. With Terry having one hell of a performance. Not sure if I've watched the 78' match. Good look.