Superstar Sleeze

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Hiroshi Tanahashi- NJPW 4/24/05 New Japan Cup Semifinals Winner faces Nakanishi in the finals. These two has a stone cold classic the year prior in the G-1 Climax they don’t quite hit those levels but this is still very good. Tenzan just brings a certain energy to his matches and sets that tone early that his opponent will be in a fight. Tanahashi is no asskicker like Kawada but he can stick and move (reverse crossbody) and grab holds (headlocks and armbar). Tenzan is in all his clubbering glory in this match. Tanahashi gets caught going up top with a super plex and now it really all Tenzan. TENZAN FALLING HEADBUTT TO THE BALLS! My wife is asleep next to me while I watched this and it took all it had in me not to pop for that. What an awesome high spot. The best part is he argues to the ref it was to the inner thigh brilliant. Top Rope Headbutt. Tenzan looks to be cruising to an easy win when he MISSES the moonsault which is classic Tenzan. Tanahashi is off to the races. Hurling his body at Tenzan. German Suplex! Dragon Sleeper! Tanahahsi goes for a running small package but Tenzan quashes this comeback with a Tenzan Driver then a moonsault. Anaconda Vice and it looks like it is all she wrote. I love how he throws Tanahashi down with the standing Anaconda Vice. I forgot to mention I loved how Tanahashi popped free when Tenzan originally put it on. It touches like that make pro wrestling just so much more intriguing. Tanahashi is able to stand and as Tenzan goes to throw him down Tanahashi reverses into a small package for the win! What an upset! Tenzan was the most recent IWGP Champion and would go onto regain it from Kojima in less than a months time. Basically until he drops it to Fujita I would say Tenzan was the biggest star in New Japan from December 2004-July 2005 as Nagata was barely used in 2005. So this was a big win for Tanahashi! I thought they did a good job telling the story of the plucky underdog versus the bully heel plus that falling Headbutt to the balls was epic! *** 3/4

Toshiaki Kawada vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan- NJPW 8/4/05 Tenzan really brought the fire out of Kawada in this match. I have seen this piss & vinegar out of Kawada in quite some time. What Tenzan does so well is he always threatening to eat Kawada alive which is not a sensation you get in today’s sanitized overly choreographed version of pro wrestling. Kawada is fighting for his life in there against the one of best bully wrestlers. They set the tone early with some lively chain wrestling. A lot of New Japan chaining can feel perfunctory but there was energy in this. Tenzan bowls Kawada over with a shoulder tackle. Now Kawada is a bit wary of Tenzan. They go into a strike battle. Kawada throws a mean elbow. All Japan boys really let it fly. Tenzan Mongolian Chop bun Kawada Spin Heel Kick wins the battle. Tenzan does some great bully wrestling crowding Kawada in the corner hitting some big back elbows. Then it is classic Tenzan with the clubbering headbutts and stomps. He misses a top rope headbutt. Kawada drops him on his head with two Dangerous Backdrop Drivers and when Tenzan powders Kawada adds wicked big boot to prove he is King of the Mountain. What really kicks this match into the next gear is this next segment. Kawada goes for his usual Single Leg Crab with a the foot on the head. Tenzan is having nothing of it. Kawada POUNCES on Tenzan with a side headlock. Tenzan goes for the eyes. This becomes a terrific scrap. Tenzan is struggling with everything he has to break free. Kawada is suffocating Tenzan with different looks on the holds. This is my type of pro wrestling. Tenzan throws a Mongolian Chop and Kawada unleashes a fury of kicks not seen from him since 20th Century. Tenzan like the Creature of the Black Lagoon just keeps rising. He keeps back dropping Kawada out of the powerbomb. At one point he grabs a Kawada kick unleashes hell on the knee and punches to the midsection. Tenzan comes roaring back. Top Rope Headbutt and when that doesn’t get it done. Anaconda Vice. He is really wrenching. He misses the Moonsault. Kawada POWERBOMB! He really had to work for it. He is going for the Brainbuster but Tenzan fights through it. TENZAN DRIVER! Ugly But Effective Moonsault. Tenzan Right Knee Crushed Kawada’s Chest! Nasty! ANACONDA VICE! They really milk this! This feels like the finish. Kawada makes the ropes. This one part I didn’t like in an otherwise great match Kawada just gets up and starts throwing ‘bows. They are great strikes. It takes a shit ton of jumping head kicks and a PK to win it but goddamn Kawada gets it done. Fabulous performance by Tenzan to really bring the asskicker back out of Kawada! Really dug this. ****

Genichiro Tenryu vs Mitsuharu Misawa - NOAH 11/5/05 Talk about a dream match ten years too late. I hate to use the word to describe this, but when Tenryu fell backwards on his ass on the Powerbomb attempt I chocked it up to bad luck, but then the next suplex you could just tell something was wrong. The old gunslinger had fired his last rounds. Misawa honestly did not look much better. Matches like this with big names on a high-profile show that no one talk about can lead to hidden treasure or great disappointments. This was definitely the latter. Tenryu gets a cheeky back heel trip to embarrass Misawa on the first rope break. Misawa spooks Tenryu with an elbow. We are all even on the humiliation scale. Tenryu goads Misawa into a left-handed handshake. Tenryu hits a very soft, gentle Kappou Kick which Misawa sells like Kobashi had just chopped him in the neck. Tenryu attacks the neck. Suplex on the ramp. General neck attacks. Tenryu wakes me, the crowd and Misawa up with a PUNT to the face and you can see the imprint of Tenryu's bootlaces on Misawa's face! Nasty! Best part of the match. Misawa ROCKS him with Elbows and Elbow Suicida. Misawa gets his receipt with a wicked kick to Tenryu's face. It becomes Misawa's elbows versus Tenryu's chops and punches. Tenryu is totally fine when he throws the Superplex and his trademark reverse top rope elbow. Something weird happens on his powerbomb and suplex/brainbuster. Misawa ends up taking us home with his trademark Elbows, a Tiger Driver and a Blow Away Elbow. I wonder if he took us home early. There are some good individual spots, there are times when it drags and times when it is sad. It is borderline ***, but I dont think I can give it that.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoshinari Ogawa - NOAH 7/18/05 Tenryu beating the ever loving shit out of Rat Boy sounds like a recipe for success at the Dome but this doesn’t get to Tenryu commuting legalized murder of KENTA or the satisfaction of Kobashi destroying Ogawa. It perfectly fine good little match but you’re not missing much by not watching this. Ogawa tries to go blow for blow with grumpy, lumpy Tenryu but that doesn’t go well. He does a pretty bad Stampeded style escape from a wrist lock. Then does so Rat Boy thing with the quick dropkick to the knee and zeroing in on the knee including a figure-4 around the post. Tenryu fires back! Rat Boy goes to the eyes and uses a head scissors takeover to bring him to the outside. He tries to use a table but Tenryu bashes Ogawa’s skull into it. He is just TRUCKING him with lariats. They throw in a couple Dangerous Back Drop Drivers to give Ogawa a couple near falls. Tenryu keeps clobbering with Lariats and a Brainbuster to win. It is not incredible but still a good match. ***

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima vs Kensuke Sasaki – AJPW 11/19/05 TAKE THAT DREAM! Always gets me pumped up! I cant believe in 2005 Stan Hansen cant correctly pronounce “Kensuke”. Kojima is over like rover with this crowd. The All Japan crowds are basically cut in half from the 2003-2004 era, but man these 5000-6000 people fucking love Kojima. I have to admit I have really grown fond of the hip soccer mom about to do the Numa Numa dance mutafucka. However that being said… This is an incredible Sasaki offensive performance and it is Kojima that brings this match down a peg. Kojima does not bring anything different to the table. He comes across as a poor man’s Sasaki. This is not Kobashi vs Sasaki at the Dome where two equals, two big burly meat heads were just laying into each other. Every time Kojima was going that route he didn’t look nearly as good as Sasaki. It was glaring on every chop exchange or lariat that Sasaki was hitting harder and his shit was just better looking. I still enjoyed the match and just like the crowd they whipped me into a frenzy BUT I have to go back to my biggest issue with Kojima he just doesn’t have his own identity. He was trying too hard to be a little bit of every big star from 90s rather than finding what worked for him. I think the plucky underdog that everyone loves was a place to start, but it is too late now. He is capable of great things and I really enjoyed his matches with Tenryu and Hashimoto. I liked this as well, but it falls short of great for that reason. I really enjoyed the shoulder tackle battle to start. Sasaki really bowls him over and that sets the tone that Sasaki has come to play. I thought Sasaki’s chops looked great and probably felt terrible. When Kojima came back with those dinky elbows it just paled in comparison with what I just saw from Sasaki. I think there was a way to get Kojima on offense but I wish he didn’t try to go toe to toe with Sasaki but rather used a different strategy to gain the advantage. That being said Kojima was WAY MORE OVER than Sasaki. Big Kojima at the opening bell and when he did a Finger Gun before an elbow drop the whole crowd shouted something in unison. I thought Sasaki’s work on the outside was awesome. The big top rope crossbody which is a staple of his wiped out Kojima. The powerslam followed by the Northern Lights Bomb was sick! It was an electric moment. This is an area where Kojima excelled in really milking this moment and getting the crowd behind. They really let Northern Lights Bomb on the Floor feel like a turning point in the match. Big Kojima chants ring out. Sasaki Bulldozes him with a lariat to show he is King of the Mountain. When Kojima does get back in, Sasaki just manhandles him and puts on a great offensive display of throws, slams (Tejana Bomb!) and Lariat Sandwich. Again it is the transition back to Kojima’s offense that fails them as they running the ropes Kojima who has just taken all this badass high impact offense, just grabs a couple Ace Crushers to transition. Funnily enough, it is Sasaki who throws either a Dragon or German Suplex to do the levelling playing field spot as if he was the one who was coming from behind. The crowd loudly chants for Kojima. Kojima is pretty much in control in the home stretch. He wins the battle of next big high impact move Emerald Flowsion versus the Northern Lights Bomb. I really appreciated how stiff his knees were to the top of Sasaki’s head to counter the Northern Lights Bomb. You felt the desperation and urgency. Then it becomes a Lariat battle. I liked each man lariating the other’s Lariat. It is Kojima with Hansen in attendance BLASTING away at Sasaki to win with a barrage of Lariats. Sasaki hands down has the better lariat, BUT when it came crunch time, those two Kojima lariats at the end delivered the goods. Sasaki’s offensive performance and like the crowd I was whipped into frenzy is enough to put this in great territory, BUT Kojima’s transitions to offense keep this at ****.

@ohtani's jacket, I am not too surprised about the post-2001 Muto work holding up. It is rooted in the things we tend to like and value. A consistent offensive strategy, body part psychology and pays off into logical, climatic finish run. It may not always be ***** classic, but I know prefer 21st Century Muto to 20th Century but Muto no matter the century is very mercurial. He can have classics in matches you have never heard of and then have stinkers in big time, high profile main events. Keiji Muto vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 7/13/03 - #1 Contender's Match After a string of various combinations of Muto/Kawada/Tenryu, All Japan is forced to bring the last big time freelancer, Shinya Hashimoto to be champion. Hashimoto won the Triple Crown off the Great Muta earlier in the year and had a kickass title defense against Kojima the month prior. Unfortunately, it seems he got injured as Hashimoto vacated the title shortly after this and Kawada won the Triple Crown in a match against Ohtani (AJPW vs Zero-One was the big feud at the time). Interesting, they never had Kawada defend against Muto or Muta during his 1+ year title reign. We do eventually get the Hashimoto match in February 2004 in Budokan to what I think was All Japan last impressive attendance showing of 10k+ in attendance. Muto and Kawada have a low-key intriguing rivalry with the 2001 Classic in Champions Carnival, the polarizing 2002 Budokan Sellout and then this in 2003. I dont think this reached the heights of the 2001 classic, but I liked it more than the 2002 match. I am thinking I should watch the 2002 match back at some point. The chain wrestling is a bit tepid to start, BUT something interesting does come out of it. Muto grabs a pretty deep toehold, BUT Kawada converts into a cross-armbreaker. This sets up the first hook of the match. Kawada really zeros-in on the arm. Muto being Muto means the selling isnt the best and I wish the Kawada offense had a little more zing, but it is consistent. Muto still works in his trademark Powerdriver Elbow and Kawada his trademark Heel Kick. My favorite part of the match was when Muto went for the first Dragon Leg Screw and Kawada pancaked him. Kawada really struggled not to let it happen and that really sold that moment huge. For someone who has watched a ton of post-2001 Muto it was nice to see an opponent sell how much they didnt want the Dragon Leg Screw to happen. I thought they let Muto get the Dragon Leg Screw too easily and too shortly thereafter. I would have loved to see him really earn it. Kawada sells it like death. Kawada besides maybe Savage is the best knee seller of all time. So these two go together like peanut butter and jelly. Here come the dropkicks. I liked how Kawada tried to continue to mount a comeback using head rocking kicks and head drop suplexes, but Muto was a pitbull dog on the knee. The Dangerous Backdrop Driver into the Shining Wizard was a good way to show the desperation and urgency on both men's parts. Mutoh then goes for the kill with the Figure-4. Kawada makes the ropes and again tries to Kick his way out of trouble, but Mutoh drop toeholds and into STF. Then we get TWO MORE FIGURE-4s. The heat for the 3rd one is off the charts as Fuchi is threatening to the throw in the towel for Kawada and as the ref is looking at Fuchi, Mutoh pulls Kawada away from the ropes as he is holding the rope. The heat was crazy. Muto gets frustrated that he cant put Kawada away with Figure-4. He clocks him with a Shining Wizard in the corner and the finish looks academic as Muto goes for his patented backbreaker-Moonsault combo, BUT he lands awkward on his knees and this gives Kawada the opening he needs to mount his comeback. Kawada's use of elbows to Muto's head to open up the comeback sequence was appreciated as well as the jumping high kicks in how he sold that. The way he did the Brainbuster and Powerbombs that polished Muto off you got the feeling he was doing it on one leg. From a layout perspective, I thought this was awesome. I just felt like there was something missing from the performance. They just didnt grab me by the balls. The match really kicked into gear with the barrage of Figure-4s and I was hooked from there. I just thought there were a lot of tepid stretches in the front half. A match I would say is safely great, but not a classic in my eyes. I want to rewatch the February 2002 match again now. ****

Toshiaki Kawada vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW 8/11/05 A pretty intriguing match on paper as Kawada is a part of the 2005 G-1 Climax. Kawada was still capable of great stuff in 2005 see the January Sasaki match, the February Kojima match and the July Misawa match. I run pretty hot and cold with the mercurial Minoru Suzuki so he is not a shoe-in for a great match but I really enjoyed the Kobashi match from January. Overall I thought this was good not great and the home stretch really didn’t land for me. They do a symmetrical beginning which each wrestler slapping and beating down the other until the other is forced from the Ring. Kawada was on offense second so transitions into his control segment which is pedestrian. He does his single leg crab and general clubbering. Suzuki does not really do any interesting selling or struggle. Suzuki gets a flash Arm bar to transition out which I liked. He does some round kicks to the arm which Kawada sells well. I really liked the battle of knee lifts in the corner which I was hoping would fulfill our strike exchange quota for the match. There was a real sense of desperation and urgency to the knee lifts. The match comes Suzuki’s choke versus Kawada’s head rocking offense. Suzuki keeps going for the choke bur Kawada dumps him on his head with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver. It takes a couple of those, a kick to the head and a Brainbuster to really make in-roads and Suzuki is determined to get the choke. Suzuki gets a great flash knee bar counter to a Kawada kick that is sold really well. Unfortunately the match devolves into a powerslap pissing contest. They try to start throwing potatoes but Suzuki’s are really glaringly pulled. Kawada who throws a good potato takes a while to really connect. Then goes full Misawa with the elbows and Suzuki gets KO’d and Kawada sits on him for the win. There was a great match in here of Minoru Suzuki the counter wrestling getting flash submission on the All Japan classical pro wrestler and then finding out is that the high impact of Kawada or the superior counter wrestling of Suzuki that wins the day but there is too much downtime and random shit to call this anymore than good. ***

Keiji Mutoh vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - AJPW 2/16/05 In his quest to be just like his hero, Tanahashi completed the final mission by having no knees. But this 2005 and he still has knees! I think these two have a more famous match at the Dome in 2008-ish which I have seen but not sure I reviewed. This match is on the undercard of the Kawada vs Kojima which in a lot of ways was the last heralded All Japan Main Event. Business wise I found it interesting that even with this 1-2 punch they only drew 6000, one year prior Kawada vs Hashimoto drew 10+ and Mutoh’s 20th Anniversary with Misawa, Hase and Sasaki also 10k. They are at about 50% on what is probably the most stacked card they could do. I guess they could have had Sasaki in a not prominent position. Tanahashi was fresh of main eventing the 1/4 Dome show and inter promotional usually does well. Post-split All Japan was always destined to flame out but 2004 is where the cracks start to show and 2005 it is when it was officially distant 3rd promotion. As for the match there is really not much to see here. As most know Mutoh is a very bimodal wrestler and this was far from his most inspired performance. He was content to be a rag doll for Tanahashi and really didn’t sell much. You know how kids wrestle Teddy bears (well I did at least) you know big ones the size of a kid that’s what this match was. I thought I was watching my younger brother wrestle his teddy bear. First five minutes is the Perfunctory New Japan chain wrestling. Mutoh hears the 5 minute time call. Wakes up power driver elbow. Dropkick to the knee which Tanahashi oversells but it is hero and it is Mutoh’s schtick. Tanahashi slaps him on a Dragon Leg Screw hits his own. Then hits a Dragon Suplex on the outside. I thought they were going to cruise to a 3.5-4 star match but man it was just Tanahashi hitting duplexes and Dragon Sleepers on Mutoh’s lifeless body. Mutoh says it is time to go home. Flips out of a German barrage of Shining Wizards from different angles when that doesn’t get it done. Backbreaker moonsault. Very disappointing as I think their Dome match is much better. Both wrestlers incorporate a lot of attacks on the knee I was interested to see how that story would play out but what we got was a totally lifeless performance from Mutoh. Depends what day you get him on as he was much more energetic against Kojima in July. Tanahashi looked good. Recommendation to skip.

Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki - AJPW Champions Carnival 4/20/05 Surprised this match gets more hype than January Triple Crown which I thought was decidedly better. They work a couple strength holds to start and a short chop fest that is a proto version of the one to come in a couple months against Kobashi. Kawada classic heel kick. Unlike January he does not lose control on the outside but consolidates his advantage working the arm. It is solid Arm work nothing crazy. Sasaki ends up with quite bruise on his left bicep it seems. Sasaki says fuck this and trucks Kawada with a lariat. He grabs a sleeper to quell the rally. Sasaki gets really into the Coconut Crusher it sounds like it is as his main offense here. Creams him with another lariat works a hold. Kawada hits an Enziguiri which is the levelling the playing field time to go home spot. They do. A cool exchange where they Lariat through or Kick through each others strikes. Sasaki hits a Great Mack Truck Lariat. I wonder if this match is liked because of reserved the finish stretch is. There is very little in the way of near falls. Kawada hits one Dangerous Back Drop Driver and no Powerbombs. Sasaki hirs 4 or 5 Lariats and the a Northern Lights Bomb to win and he would go onto win the Carnival. Very good match but skippable the January match is the one to watch. *** 1/2

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Josh Barnett - U-Style 11/23/05 Man this is the best I have ever seen Barnett look in a pro wrestling ring. Tamura looked like it was 1995, shredded and a million bucks. This match is definitely a match that rewards the viewer for going on the entire journey with them. The opening matwork was solid. They played into Barnett having the size advantage and because he is technically well rounded posed a real threat to Tamura. The selling on the wrist lock and then how Tamura fought like hell to maintain the clasp on the cross arm breaker attempt was awesome. Tamura burns a rope break there. It looks like Tamura is outgunned but in a standing scrum while Barnett was looking for a takedown…Tamura knees him in the head and the whole complexion of the match changes. All of sudden this accelerates into a classic territory. Barnetts response to suplex shit out of him was great. The second throw which was a German needs to be seen to be believed. Great selling and struggling from Tamura. This half of the match is all about Barnett either throwing Tamura and stuffing him with sick double leg takedowns. Tamura did a great job finding ways to grab a double wrist lock coming out of waist locks. Barnett was not just about throws too, he was using the takedowns to set up holds like toeholds and chokes. There were some great round kick battles as well. Barnett dumps Tamura on his head with Human Capture Suplex. It looks like Barnett’s size and technique would win but Tamura’s guile and quickness comes back and he gets the flash cross arm breaker for win. Terrific match! Instant classic! It was style that was almost dead at this point but this was killer. Really loved everything after the Tamura knee to the head! I love shoot-style **** 1/2

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 7/26/05 After a brief inter promotional interlude feuding with IWGP Champion Tenzan, Kojima is back in All Japan. This is pretty much the biggest match All Japan can offer at this point and they couldn’t get over 10k. They were getting 10k + a couple times in 2004 including a sellout at the Budokan with Kawada vs Hashimoto on top. Sasaki is seemingly the replacement for Tenryu and Hashimoto. Kojima going through Kawada, Mutoh (2x because of Great Muta) and Sasaki is a great row of challengers to give him credibility but it was too late. I remember Kojima being more over at the beginning of the year. All Japan overperformed both business wise and quality wise from the split through 2004 but the 2005 Kojima reign is when the descent to a distant third became inescapable. I don’t think it is really his fault. I have a soft spot for Kojima he looks like a cool soccer mom ready to break out into the Numa Numa dance and basically wrestles as a Greatest Hits of 90s Puroresu wrestler. I have a love-hate relationship with Mutoh but I usually give him the benefit of the doubt. Mutoh starts off explosive with a dropkick and the back handspring elbow. Kojima powders. The story I imagine is the old timer wants to end the match early as the longer it goes the more it benefits the youthful Kojima. But they end up grinding the match into the normal New Japan opening matwork. It takes a wild for the match to get going. Kojima is nominally in control after Shining Wizard causes Mutoh to powder but Mutoh does come back with his Power Driver Elbow. Overall Kojima gets more offense in this stretch. The match really kicks into high gear in a big way on the apron which is a good call back to all those All Japan matches where the apron spot was the turning point. Kojima goes for his Ace Crusher off the apron but instead Mutoh BLASTS him with a Shining Wizard. Then Mutoh BLASTS him with another one against the railing which Mutoh lunges so hard that he ends up busting himself open. He is bleeding from the back of the head. I am a sucker for post-2001 Mutoh and when he hits the Dragon Leg Screws in teh ropes and off the apron, I was lapping it up. Kojima was selling his ass off. Loved the STF and the Figure-4. I thought they were heading to 4+ territory but the wheels fell off. Mutoh goes for the backbreaker + moonsault combo BUT Kojima gets up and lariats him. I wish Mutoh missed his moonsault to set up the comeback instead Kojima blows off the knee work and starts doing his finish stretch. Of course the Ace Crusher and a Brainbuster. I do love Kojima’s commit to the Lariat and he throws a good one. It becomes a battle of the Latin versus Shining Wizard. Mutoh does throw in a Moonsault for good measure. The last minute of Lariat vs Shining Wizard is pretty fun. I dug this. Falls short of **** but still an entertaining main event style match. *** 3/4

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki - AJPW 1/16/05 The last title defense for Kawada before he dropped it to Kojima. Sasaki has gone freelance which would make him a bigger star. The Kobashi Dome match later this year would cement his status. As a fan of these two and this style in general, this is a really fun match. The 2000 match is the classic but this is a nice of change of pace you can just rock to. I enjoyed the opening wrestling it was tight and they seemed they were really grappling for position. Sasaki seemingly suckers Kawada into a knuckle lock but Kawada comes out the better with his patented spin heel kick. Kawada is in control until they go outside when Sasaki bucks him off on a powerbomb attempt. Sasaki hits a crossbody from the top to the floor which always looks sick because he is such a truck. The Northern Lights Bomb on the exposed concrete took the match from very good to great. Not only was the spot was great, but we finally had our hook. Sasaki was working the neck hard and Kawada sold it like a million bucks. Kawada kept trying to elbow his way out of trouble and Sasaki would just chop the neck and make him crumple. The Sasaki piledriver was sick. Once Kawada moved away from the elbows to kicks to the head he started to make in-roads I really enjoyed how Kawada had to EARN that Dangerous Backdrop Driver and once he hit it…it really felt like a turning point. I enjoyed the finishing stretch as big dumb meat head wrestling. I think the thing that separates this from modern day wrestling is these two establish from the outset they want to stand & bang and hit hard. They don’t do the stand I let you hit me and you let me hit you bullshit. They are swinging for the fences and really trying to win. I thought Sasaki was the better worker down the stretch. Some of Kawada’s transitions were weak like the Brainbuster out of nowhere. While Sasaki was setting up his moves either Big Lariats and countering Kawada with those Mack Truck Lariats. Sasaki looks like he has the match won with a Tejana Bomb or his Northern Lights Bomb but Kawada powders. Kawada crushes Sasaki with some Dangerous Backdrop Driver Drop Drivers and a head kick. Either Sasaki or the ref blows the fall as Sasaki does not kick out and ref pulls up. Kawada smokes him with a head kick to win. It is big dumb and fun. It is a mid tempo rocker that everyone can vibe to. ****

Sting vs Dean Malenko - WCW Nitro 11/13/95 Strange match-up on paper. This exists as a backdrop to the bombshell announcement the Hulkster has challenged the Stinger to a match on Nitro the next week. This is the biggest match on Nitro since the Hogan vs Luger match. It is pretty crazy they would be putting this on Nitro with only a week of hype, but it feels hot. Hogan has been suspicious of Sting for weeks and apparently Luger being able to talk some sense into Sting last week was the straw that broke the camel back. I just wish Phantom of the Opera Hulk Hogan could have explained this better during his bizarre promo. The size difference is pretty obvious but Malenko goes full pitbull. He tries a waistlock, a shouldertackle, but gains a measure of success targeting the leg with dropkick. Sting for his part sells really well for Malenko and really lets him shine. We see during the break that Sting almost gets the Scorpion Deathlock on Malenko, but Malenko wriggles to the ropes. The big Malenko spot is a German suplex with a bridge. Sting avoids a dropkick. I expect this to be over soon. However, Sting MISSES a Stinger Splash! Missile dropkick. Malenko goes for the Cloverleaf, but Sting counters with a cradle for the win! WOW! Sting even sells the knee post-match. That is some serious protection for Malenko. They clearly liked Benoit, Malenko and Eddie a lot as each one gets a match tonight and has been featured for about a month. The fact Sting didnt demolish Malenko at the end with a barrage of his signature spots is pretty shocking. Enjoyed this short match. *** Sting says he doesnt know where Hogan is coming from. However he takes exception to Hogan calling him a little dog. So if we need to settle in the ring so be it. Looks like the Stinger is going to show his true colors next week. Not the most impactful Nitro but Hogan/Sting announcement is a bombshell and Eddie/Badd was a good enough match to anchor the show.

WCW World TV Champion Johnny B. Badd vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW Nitro 11/13/95 There was a Benoit vs Sasaki match that was short. Weird dynamic Benoit started hot, but then Sasaki stuffed him. Benoit hit the German Suplexes and Dragon Suplex for the win. Weird because Sasaki was about to win the US Title from Sting as a part of the Heenan/NJPW storyline. I guess this gives a reason for Benoit vs Sasaki to exist on the WWIII PPV. Really enjoyed this match and easy match of the night. An under the radar match on Nitro. This starts off babyface vs babyface. Very technical. Badd was hitting more highspots like the slingshot legdrop and the somersault plancha. Eddie is using a lot of hurricanaranas and leverage takedowns to counter Badd. I really liked the headscissors takedown to counter a second tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. They worked a lot of various pinning combinations. Badd is tired of this technical shit and finally lets his hands fly. He connects with a right instead of left. Eddie is pissed off that Badd would ruin the sporting nature of the nature and take a cheapshot. So Eddie fired up takes Badd down and starts letting the fists fly. I LOVE WHEN TEMPERS FLARE IN A BABYFACE VS BABYFACE MATCH! They settle back down a bit but the high spots are now all high impact. They do the classic WCW Tombstone Reversal that always gets a pop. Badd 1-2-NO! Eddie Tornado DDT! 1-2-NO! They collide on a crossbody block. It is a draw! This is a classic draw they do kind of telegraph with how they are wrestling in the beginning, but the tempers flaring really paid off all the technical work at the beginning and the home stretch had two good nearfalls. I dont think they ever really follow up on this, but this was a fun match. Makes you wonder what would have happened if Badd just stayed in WCW. *** 1/4

Randy Savage vs Meng - WCW Nitro 11/13/95 Oh The Hulkster! Nitro begins with him in the "Dungeon of Doom" in a black Phantom of the Opera mask and hood/cape. It is pretty incredible in less than a year he would be Hollywood Hogan and totally revitalized. As much as I have a soft spot for the Dungeon of Doom shit like this pre-tape is why everyone thinks this storyline is the shits. Macho Man is supposed to being finding out who is "friend or foe" but does a terrible job as we already knew Meng, Sullivan, Shark and Luger were foe. However, Hulkster did ask that Meng will be the first to fall so at least Macho Man finished one task on his to do list. Decent Babyface Savage match. At least Savage got a little bit of a babyface shine and showed some energy at the start. I liked the high knee to the back to the start. He kicks some Meng ass, but a Sullivan distraction goes a long way as Meng catches Savage coming off the top. Meng is a wrestler I want to like, but I find him very dry. This did nothing to change my mind. Pretty tepid heat segment. Classic Savage formula as Meng missed the diving headbutt and the Big Elbow wins the match. Shark and Sullivan "break" Savage's arm and Luger follows up with more arm attack to set up the angle for World War III. Luger looked fucking killer. There was a Dungeon of Doom (Giant, Sullivan, Hart) promo later pretty standard stuff about killing Hulkamania and Giant being a shoe-in to win the Battle Royale and the World Title in process. Sullivan is pretty funny acting like the Hulkster have a seizure but cupping his ear. Average match nothing to see here.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair - WCW Clash of the Champions August 1994 I watched this about 2-3 years ago and loved it. But I didnt have time to review after I watched it. I watched it back today and boy oh boy did I love it. I actually think this is a Top 10-20 Hulk Hogan match of all time and does not get nearly enough love. The Tonya Harding angle gets a lot of shit, but I think it was brilliant on two levels. The most obvious was giving Flair the knee to work on and Hogan to sell. This was the hook of the match when would Flair get to the knee. It was looming the entire match. The less obvious but more important it was the reason for Hogan's rage. Hogan just beat Flair at the Bash at the Beach. What reason did he have to do anything different than Bash? Flair trying not just to take his title away but his career away with a nefarious, dastardly attack that will piss him off. Way too much is made of Hogan not selling enough to begin with. That's hogwash. Hogan was full of piss & vinegar because he was enraged. He saw red, brutha. This is was the appropriate reaction to such an attack. This is a perfect "How" match. It is a very simple layout, but it is all about Hogan's charisma and Flair's charisma that take this simple layout makes it so engrossing and thrilling. The simple layout is the babyface shine of Hogan exacting his revenge on Flair and just kicking all sorts of ass. Flair eventually gets a hold of the knee and then we get the finish. Each of these three segments come off pitch perfect. Hogan's babyface shine is one of the all-time great babyface shines. He really lets it fly. He is pissed off and aint afraid to show it. He is throwing everything at Flair. Punches, pulling the robe over his head, stuffing his bandana in his mouth, kicking his ass on the outside. It is just a thrilling beating. Flair is a master of selling this for Hogan and making him look like a million bucks. This is one of the most enraged Hogan performances youll see and the way he does it is so entertaining. I love the two Flair hope spots: eyerake that leads to the Press Slam and then delayed vertical suplex into the Hogan no-sell was such a fist-pumping, chest-pounding highspot. Man when it came time for Flair to get his heat, he absolutely ripped into the knee. He worked it like a champ. Every stomp, crashing down with all his weight. It looked awesome. Just as Flair sold his ass off for Hogan, Hogan returned in kind for Flair. I loved the struggle over the first figure-4, but it was just a matter of time. The Hulk-Up out of the first Figure-4 is just money. This is Kobashi fighting Takayama with one arm in the year 2000 levels of awesomeness. The Hobbling Hulk-Up is one of the most badass Hulk-Ups of all time. He is fighting through the pain and just barely gets the leg up for the Big Boot as it buckles on him after impact. The Leg Drop is nuclear! It felt like he overcame all the pain in the world to jump as high as he ever did, crushed Flair, but is totally spent. Then Flair puts the Figure-4 back on! HIGH DRAMA! God Almighty this is so fucking awesome! I get the finish you cant really put the belt back on Flair and Hogan winning doesnt make sense. I like a countout more than DQ so Hogan getting attacked by Sherri and crumpling to the floor for the ten count was a serviceable finish. The Mystery Man who is clearly Arn Anderson, but it seems like they might be trying to sell it as Curt Hennig, comes out to help Flair beatdown Hulkster, but because Savage is not in the territory yet, we get the Stinger making the save. I dont like Beefcake but this was a perfect angle to retrocon him in as the mystery assailant. This match felt like a Hogan Street Fight match on order of his other classic brawls with Kamala, Harley Race and Sgt. Slaughter. First I am a sucker for a street fight, but especially like when a "normal" match breaks down into a brawl and the ref just lets it all fly. This felt hot and like Hogan was out for blood. Hogan selling the knee through the comeback was a chef's kiss. Flair is the GOAT and just knocked it out the park. LOVE This Match! **** 1/4

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs The Alliance to End Hulkamania (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Kevin Sullivan, Lex Luger, Meng, Barbarian, Ze Gangsta & Final Solution) - WCW Uncensored 1996 Scott Keith always had a funny line that The Alliance to End Hulkamania was Heat spelled backwards. This is one match that lives up to the hype. One of the worst matches of all time. I’ll review the match and then get into the booking. The first part is the Megapowers against the Horsemen in upper level of the cage but the floor is chain-lines so they can’t fucking move. It is just awkward clubbering while they move around gingerly. Horsemen do double Figure-4s but the Megapowers reverse them and throw powder into their faces. Onto the Dungeon of Doom chamber which Luger, Sullivan, Meng and Barbarian. Meng & Barbarian have the easiest pay day of their lives as they do barely anything and Hogan locks them in their own compartment and unlike the Horsemen they don’t comeback in the end. Thankfully someone has the bright idea to get out of this godforsaken cage where no one can see shit whether it is the audience or those at home and the wrestlers Cant move. Hogan/Savage vs Sullivan/Luger is a decent brawl and they get good heat because Tupelo can see the action and it is spirited. Unfortunately Ultimate Solution & Ze Gangsta show up and drag the MegaPowers back the cage but thankfully the bottom level has a ring. With a name like Jeep Swenson I was hoping he would look cooler but Ultimate Solution is pretty lame. I have never seen the Zeus matches but he also sucks. Standard bad clubbering. Horsemen join in and the beat down is on. The Booty Man fka The Zodiac, Hogan’s mole, hands the Megapowers incredibly cheap frying pans to beat back TEAH but Luger comes in. He slugs Flair with a loaded glove. It looked pretty intentional. Classic pre-NWO Bischoff/Sullivan booking. Hogan wants Savage to hightail it but he goes back and pins Flair to win. Megapowers skaddle. From action, match quality this is one of the worst matches of all time. It is brutally boring. The only redeemable part is the Hogan/Savage vs Sullivan/Luger outside the cage. From a booking perspective this match is overly criticized. Hogan/Savage didnt run Though all 8 men. It was not a squash match. Meng & Barbarian dont really count. Who cares about Zeus and Swenson. They needed frying pans and Luger clobbering Flair to win. If you want to see Hogan absolutely bury people then watch the post-match to the SuperBrawl VI match where he runs through the entire Dungeon with a steel chair. Now that’s a bury job brutha. Where I do take umbrage is this match seems to be set up as the blowoff to Hogan vs Dungeon feud. Since Hogan has debuted in WCW he has had three arch rivals: Flair, Sullivan and Vader. Vader is not here. So this is the Unholy Alliance of Horsemen and the Dungeon. Instead of Hogan triumphantly pinning Sullivan, they opt for Savage pinning Flair after Luger’s punch. Savage vs Flair doesn’t happen again until June and Luger vs Flair doesn’t go anywhere. So why didnt Hogan just win the blowoff. Honestly I would have done Hogan & Savage vs Giant/Luger/Sullivan in a handicap street fight and put this baby to bed. Then you can do Flair vs Sting for the World Title as the co-main event. The lighting and the inability to move well in the Cage kills the first half. Then the ending sucked with Swenson & Zeus sucking and the flimsy frying pans. One of the worst matches of all time.

Hulk Hogan vs The Giant - WCW SuperBrawl VI Steel Cage I enjoyed their Halloween Havoc match and I remember watching this one before. I was disappointed in this one after Havoc. The Havoc match was marred by the Yet-TAY and the Monster Truck Battle. I like the idea of Jimmy Hart turn, but even that was overly convoluted because he had to hit the ref first for the DQ clause storyline to work. So while I did the Halloween Havoc match was good. This match dragged and really did not get me excited. There is a loud Hogan sucks chant to start, but once that dies down, the crowd eventually turns into a pro-Hogan crowd by the end of the match. Hogan has a bad eye, which I think it due a spike heel, which was a common injury in the first half of 1996. Hogan launches a full-court press at the beginning of the match. It was very Hogan with the eye rakes, choking the Giant with the throat and throwing heel offense back at the heel and throwing the Big Man into the steel cage. Hogan goes for the Bear Hug, but hurts his back. Giant throws one of those swinging Double Axe Handles that stood out to me at Halloween Havoc, but he doesnt stick with that. Besides a couple flurries of Hogan offense, this heat segment drags in a way that Havoc match does not. The Knucklelock and the Bearhug can be effective spots in a match like but they just feel heatless in this context. It takes a while for Giant to start to work the eye much to the chagrin of The Brain who was championing their strategy, but that does add a little something to match and choking Hogan with the shirt...the more heel work the better. The one good hope spot is the Giant crashing and burning on an elbow drop. You feel like the bodyslam is coming, BUT nothing doing. Giant shifts his weight and Hogan collapses. Giant continues the heat segment but it missing that Oomph. Chokeslam. Classic Hogan No-Sell going into Hulk-Up. I figure this would piss off a lot of smart fans, BUT Giant does No-Sell, NOT One, Not Two, BUT THREE LEG DROPS! The Three Leg Drops did pop me! The finale sees Hogan throw Giant off top rope for the win. Honestly I thought the Three Leg Drops was enough. The match was mediocre, but was even worse than the match was the post-match. Sullivan whacks Hogan with a steel chair, nothing doing. Hogan grabs the chair and he beats not just Sullivan and Giant, but the whole Dungeon (Meng, Barbarian, Hugh Morrus, Zodiac, Shark and One Man Gang). I am all for babyfaces looking strong, but that was a little much even for me. Just like the NWO would become, the Dungeon had become really bloated as well. Seeing Hogan destroy the whole faction in the steel cage just really hurt the Dungeon. I assume this is to set up the Uncensored match that I have never seen, but I am planning to watch next week. At the very end, it looked like they were building towards Hogan vs Loch Ness who while heavy had nowhere near the size or presence of the Giant. I am really glad that never materialized and the Hogan went the way of the NWO.

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs Ric Flair & The Giant - WCW Clash of the Champions 1/23/96 First Hulkster match since he passed away yesterday. Marquee main event as this is 4/6ths of the Nitro 6. Megapowers teaming is always a big deal as well Horsemen & Dungeon aligning. Flair & Savage had been raging since May 95, their GAB 95 match is a stone cold classic and they had very good matches in Dec 95. Savage just won the title back the previous night on Nitro. Hogan & Giant had a fun match at Havoc marred by Jimmy Hart turn, liked the turn just iffy on execution. Hogan and Flair always have pretty good chemistry. Megapowers have Kevin Greene who was playing in Super Bowl the next week, Woman (which was weird) and a returning Miss Elizabeth! Surprisingly based on the four wrestlers, this is pretty pedestrian and heat-less. Flair & Savage start. They really just go through the motions and do their basic stuff. There is some jaw jacking between Flair and Greene but nothing to write home about. Flair tags in Giant so here’s come Hogan. They do a hyper compressed version of the Havoc match against that doesn’t feel heated. Giant establishes his size and strength but misses an elbow which allows Hogan to slam Giant. In the Havoc match, they build to that match so much more effectively. Giant tags out. Hogan is selling the back after such a heavy slam. Thankfully a Ric Flair delayed vertical suplex puts his back in alignment as he pops up and starts throwing bombs. Very disjointed match. Savage who still has elbow banadaged really doesn’t do much. Hogan/Flair do their usual deal. Savage hits a couple punches. Things break down between Hogan and Giant. Jimmy Hart distracts but Flair uses a pair of knuckledusters to blow Savage away for the win to put some heat on Superbrawl. Hogan & Greene send Pillman and Zodiac packing. A surprisingly tepid, mediocre bout which three of the most charismatic wrestlers ever. It was too disjointed and too compressed to get going.

Surprised I didnt watch a full review of this back in the day. I know I did a big Nitro rewatch in college of all the 95 Nitros stitching together a bunch of these via a youtube playlist. I think this 2015 post came from a Nitro rewatch that went from the beginning to WWIII (I remember thats where I stopped last time). I havent decided if I am going to stop this watch at the end of 1995 or at Uncensored WCW United States Champion Sting vs Ric Flair - WCW Nitro 11/6/95 I thought this was even better than their match from the first Nitro. Surprisingly, Flair works really strong in this match. Flair tends to work small against Sting and 90s Flair is more oriented to cheating and bumping. Even though this is from 1995 and against Sting, Flair works really strong. Flair has definitely been the in-ring MVP of these Nitros. He always comes in and lights it up. Ton of energy, outworking the whole roster and just bringing the fun. Coming out of Halloween Havoc, not surprisingly, Sting came out hot manhandling Flair beating him from pillar to the post. As you can expect in this match there were Press Slams early and often throughout the match. I really liked the transition from this fast-break start from Sting with Flair not only getting suplex on the floor but consolidating that advantage by moving out of the way Sting who crashes and burns on the railing on a Stinger Splash. Awesome transition! Really enjoyed the Flair heat segment. Although we missed a low blow during the ad break, which is a bummer. Flair is just hammering Sting and working the knee. Figure-4 was a good mid-match climax. Sting reverses and Mongo has never seen that before. The Sting no-sell after the Figure-4 was INCREDIBLE! I love a well-timed No-Sell. It was incredible. The classic stare as Flair was throwing heavy hands and having no effect. Inject that shit into my veins, brutha. Guess what! A press slam! Flair eye poke which gets back on top, which I liked as a transition. They do some 80s spots with Flair's foot on the ropes, the bridge into a backslide. Flair is feeling it tonight! Press slam off the top. Sting is walloping Flair in the corner, but the ref is forced to break the action. Flair clocks Sting with knuckledusters. 1-2-NO! I bit on that. I figure he wins here by nefarious means to set up the WWIII match. ANOTHER STING HULK-UP! Love it! Final Press slam! Scorpion Deathlock! He doesnt let go. It takes Luger whispering something in Sting's ear to let it go. Great shades of grey booking here as Sting & Luger walk out. It plays on Sting & Luger's real-life friendship but Luger is DOD 4 Life. Is he friend or foe? Looks like Macho Man needs to find out. I love all this shades of grey booking in the Nitro 6 main event scene. Great, high energy match. Really enjoyed this. *** 3/4

Yes I think the better comp is Hogan/Andre than Hogan/Taker. Here is my review of the finish of Halloween Havoc: GIANT CHOKESLAM~! HELL YEAH! 1-2-NO! HULK-UP~! DROPS THE LEG! JIMMY HART NAILS THE REF WITH THE BIG GOLD BELT! Hogan does not see that it is Jimmy Hart who does it. So Jimmy Hart is able to nail him too! Here comes Randy Savage and Lex Luger, but whose side is he on? Luger attacks Savage. Here is the YEH-TAY~! YEH-TAY humps Hogan in the ass and then Savage. Luger RACKS them both. Michael Buffer says twice the title cant change hands on a DQ. Giant is declared the winner by DQ. I assume it is because Jimmy Hart was aligned with Hogan and when he hit the ref that counted as being in favor for Hogan, but that is dumb. It turns out the Nov 6th Nitro that Jimmy Hart put a clause in the contract that Giant could win the title on DQ. I dont mind the shady contract fine print. I think thats good heel shit, but I think declaring Giant winner by DQ is a stretch. I think it would have been better if Jimmy Hart clearly hit Giant with the title and then it is revealed on Nitro the next night or the 6th of November that it was a double cross. It is strange they waited a whole week for the big Jimmy Hart reveal. During The Giant’s squash of Cobra (Morse code as entrance theme was bizarre who green lit that. Chokeslam 1-2-3), Bischoff kept saying he is not the real champion and he stole it. But why not beat us over the heads with the DQ finish. Which would only amp up the juice when Jimmy Hart reveals he put the “title can change hands on a DQ” clause in the contract. Furthermore I see the reason why they has Jimmy Hart hit the ref and call it a DQ victory for Giant it was because lawyer could strip The Giant due to “dubious nature” of DQ. Again why not come out and say it, we believe Jimmy Hart intentionally hit the ref to screw Hogan out of the title and ensure his new charge would be champion. It is also this weird implied shit. Just say it. Jimmy Hart is great here and it is his last run on top before being condemned to First Family WCW Thunder purgatory. He was awesome. Dont feel like making a match review but I really thought the Taskmaster’s squash of Renegade was really effective. Renegade came out hor and then Sullivan took over on the floor thanks to Jimmy’s distraction. Good clubbing blows. The Tree of Woe and Double Stomp finishes it. What I really loved was all the character work. Jimmy taunting Renegade you could have been the next Hulk Hogan. Renegade was Hogan’s big surprised at Uncensored just 8 months prior with Jimmy Hart guiding him to WCW TV Title victory. Now Jimmy is taunting him. The cherry on top is after Sullivan beats the shit out of him he wipes off the makeup and Jimmy taunts him saying “You’re just Rick now. You’re just Rick” that should be remembered as an all time angle. But they just move along so fast. I wish they actually started the promo gloating about how they humiliated the Renegade. That should have been a bigger deal. It is not always about execution it is also about promotion. Excellent execution but promotional follow through was not there for the Renegade angle.

Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 11/6/95 Interesting that they just trotted this back out there two weeks later without much fanfare. They didnt bring up the first match or the tag match from a couple weeks ago (remember when Wright tripped Malenko). Bizarre. I agree with the consensus that the October match is the classic, but this is still very good. I know there's a Saturday Night match from around this time that is also really good. The reason this is not as good they dont have the same touchstone of Eddie's arm injury to keep going back to and connecting segment to segment. Benoit came out firing. All high intensity, high impact moves that looked excellent per usual, suplexes, clotheslines, spinebuster, Liontamer. It was a little too move list-y. Eddie started armdragging his way out of trouble which I liked as a transition but he could so much impact to the head would have liked a little more selling. I LOVE Eddie's Superman Puffed Out Splash to the floor he does. Someone should crib that Just by puffing your chest out it makes the move look a million times cooler. Eddie hits a brainbuster. Benoit just blows off all selling and hits a superplex. See what I mean. It is well-executed match, but is missing that connective tissue and that psychology that takes it to the next level. THIS EXCEEDED THE POWERBOMB FROM 10/16 HOLY FUCKING SHIT! HE THREW HIM DOWN! DAMN! Again the German Suplex and Northern Light Suplex from Benoit looked great, but still too move list-y. They go with the Marty Sleeze finish. Whenever I would wrestle my brother who is 7 years younger than me when we were kids, the most often used finish is I would attempt a belly to back suplex, but my brother would shift his weight and land on top for the three. In the few times, I won it was usually due to tap out from the Butterfly Lock (imagine hooking someone for a Butterfly Suplex, but instead as a submission hold). Anyways, Eddie shifts his weight on a Benoit suplex and wins even though Benoit's feet are under the ropes. Eddie stole a win against Pittman last week and here wins another with technique. They clearly like both Benoit and Eddie. They protected Benoit and Eddie is winning matches. The series is tied 1-1, and the tiebreaker is on Saturday Night, I believe which is a great match. ***1/2

Watched this again and I vaguely remembered Hogan & Savage in all black and cutting a promo on the beach, but I dont forgot about the psychedelic guitarist and the wicked bizarre homeless guy. So bizarre. How did Bischoff & Sullivan green light this to be shown on Nitro. Savage looked cool as fuck. Look shaving the Fu-Manchu is a big a deal, but we are at about a month since it happened. He could grow it back, it is conscious choice at this point to stay shaven. It would be cool to make it a point that it would stay shaven until he got his revenge and rid the world of the Dungeon, but classic Hogan that never comes up. I do love the whole Nitro 6 Friend or Foe booking. Savage is going to find out if Sting can be trusted.