Superstar Sleeze

PARV, you rule!

Fucking love it, PARV! Oh and sorry for all the swearing. Got fired up at some points last night!

My favorite part of last night was marking out for Kelly's number 8! Kelly's list just wins BABY!

I'll be honest, I was blowed up after that. I don't think anything afterwards comes as close. By far my favorite of my rants, glad you loved it!

First, how the hell did people talk about 100 wrestlers! Just 25 was insane. This was so much fun. I am still wired from this podcast. Really got me going! Probably my favorite podcast that I have ever done besides the BrainBuster with Parv, which was hilarious. Thanks, Woof! Happy not to be the high vote on HBK. Glad you like it too, WIngedEagle. I was afraid that people would be intimidated by the long times, but I guess people have been conditioned here by other wicked long podcast so happy people are listening. Loved the Savage/Liger picture goes well with Kelly's War Against Japan. Just kidding, Kelly, I know you like Japan especially All Star Early 80s All Japan.

NWA World Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - NWA Pro 10/3/87 Welp, looks like we never got out classic from these two teams as this is an angle to transition the titles to the Horsemen and move RnRs into a feud with MX. The Midnights jumped RNRs before the match injuring Morton. Gibson gives a "gutty performance" (Johnny Weaver) and honestly it is the best I have seen Gibson looked. I thought he was great during the shine, just a ball of energy overwhelming the Horsemen, but also being cautious given the circumstances. I liked how he went for the standard RNR moves and then was like oh fuck, Ricky aint there. Horsemen beatdown on him was fantastic. Great spinbuster and piledriver. Of course, Morton comes out bandaged the crowd goes apeshit, but the Horsemen zero in on the bad arm. Morton has too much pride to give it up so Gibson gives up for him. A good angle, but kinda feels cheap with the give up from Gibson when then Horsemen could have just gone over plus this was not the start of RNRs getting revenge on Horsemen, but the MX, which is lame that Horsemen get to reap the rewards. Pretty good, but weirdly not remembered or talked about. ***

NWA World Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - NWA World Championship Wrestling 9/19/87 I cant believe I am about to say this and it is almost sacrilege, but this match is way too long and did not need to be this long. They could have shaved 10-15 minutes off this and had a way tighter match. Almost it looked hotter than hell in there. They were sweating profusely within five minutes. The finish did no favors to this match. You invest that much time into the match and no one goes over is pretty lame. Should have just put the RnRs over clean . The babyface shine in this match shows why even a solid, basic one like this goes a long way. It establishes that RNRs are the better team so the fans know they are cheering for champs not chumps and shows why Anderson & Blanchard have to cheat because they are not as good. I like the heel hope spots that fool you into thinking the heat segment is coming like when Morton has sweat in his eyes and Blanchard hits him or Blanchard throws him over the top or when Anderson suckerpunches him in the corner. However each time the Morton has a comeback whether it is grabbing a chair or going for AA's leg. Then we get to Gibson's heat segment and the first one was great. They set up great with two throws over the top rope. Anderson choking with a rope and all the double teaming was great. They were kicking Gibson's ass who was selling well. Then during a break Morton gets the hot tag so we miss that and then he tags right back out and we are right back where we started with a Gibson taking heat. It just felt like the match was moving backwards. The hope spots were fine and the selling was great, but it felt like something we had seen. Morton's hot tag was kinda lukewarm and there was a double dropkick, but he had shoved the ref down. Blanchard blasts with the shoe. You think Horsemen had just won the tag titles, but Earl Hebner calls it off. There is a double DQ. It is a really fundamental Southern Tag, which is great because these four are excellent. However, it is too long and they stuck with the Gibson in heat too long. I think going to Morton in heat would have switched things up or they could have just wrapped up after the first Morton hot tag. I think the heat in the building sapped their energy as they just weren't as energetic as usual. The finished sucked. Very good match, but at that length, probably something I wont watch again. ***1/2

Fun interview! Parv & Kal watching modern wrestling would be something I paid to listen to.

High vote for Fujita Jr. Hayato! Did Alan not vote? That's sad. I based that on about half a dozen matches, but I need to see more, he was so incredible in each of those matches. I am so sad that Abdullah Kobayashi finished ahead of him.

Finished right before Mania last night!

Chad spoke of personal failure. I cant help but commiserate. I am actually most disappointed in myself for not finding time to take part in the threads where such great discussion was being generated. I set forth that I wanted to go really depth in American and Japanese male pro wrestling rather than try to be too broad and found that I still didn't have time to complete those tasks (New Japan 80s was the casualty). It will be down to the wire, but I should have a ballot in on Saturday night.

I was going to come in here and write a full review of this match, but reading the comments above have made me think otherwise. The body of this match may be the greatest body of any match I have ever seen. Kobashi was on fire in the first ten minutes. He wrestled one of the best cautious, but effective opening segments ever. He may have been the champ, but until he can beat Misawa, he won't be the Man and that's he worked. He was confident, but did not want to make any mistakes. He wanted to smother Misawa and slowly build to a victory. Anytime, he was even in remote danger he pounced on Misawa. It was one of the best full court presses I have ever seen. I thought the transitions in and out of control segments were fantastic. Within control segments, everything progressed beautifully. Misawa wrestled in his groove perfectly. He was 3-0 against Kobashi and did not seem to sweat his early disadvantage sticking to his game plan of elbows and facelocks to set up his bigger bombs. The head drops were reasonable at first and made sense given the match flow. Now we come to the reason, I will not be doing a full review. The finish stretch was way, way overkill in my estimation. Nobody should have kicked out of that Tiger Driver '91. He dropped Kobashi right on his friggin' head. However, since a lot of people have argued for context in regards to this match and I have never watch their 10/97 match and have not watched the 10/95 match in forever, 1/20/97 is something I am very familiar and regard in the upper echelon of AJPW matches. I will table a full review until I can watch all four matches properly as deserved. Still, before the finish stretch, WOW! is all I can say. Really well-executed body.

Now for a haiku about Stan "The Lariat" Hansen: Western Lariat Fate was sealed before the bell A Mercy Killing

Interesting, if there was someone I thought was popping up a little too quickly it is Tenryu. Watch Hansen's energy level decrease over time, he is a raging bull, but after the Kawada knee injury, he starts to slow down because of the amount of offense he has executed. It is during these slow down periods Tenryu has a chance and Gordy needs to make the save. It is the rope-a-dope story. As for the exact moment you reference, Tenryu hits the powerbomb, Gordy saves hits the powerbomb, the ref has to break up the pinfall attempt by Gordy because he is not the legal man after all this time, Hansen finally gets to one knee to signal for the Lariat. Then he hits a last gasp Lariat to win. I think that was perfectly fine selling.

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW Real World Tag League 12/16/88 JBL would cream himself over how many MONSTER LARIATS are in this match. The last half of this match is basically legalized murder of Tenryu by Hansen & Gordy. This match embodies "Think shoot, but work" and is Hansen's definitive statement on pro wrestling. Every single thing is a struggle. If he can throw a wild kick, he will throw a wild kick. He is not going to wait on the apron, he is going to come in and smack the shit out of you to save his partner. Gordy took his cue from Hansen was great as Hansen Jr., but the difference was Hansen was just absolutely wild and merciless. There is a point towards the beginning where Tenryu is just tagged in and Hansen yanks out a prone Gordy to save him from Tenryu gaining an advantage. You truly felt that this match mean the world to all four men. Hansen was so worried about going down an advantage that he pulled out his tag partner. That's Japanese tag wrestling in a nutshell. It is really hard to make comebacks because each tag is essentially trying to make this a handicap match. In the Southern tag formula, there is a face in peril and a hot tag, but there is always that sense of hope. Once a tag team falters in Japan, there is just a sense of impending doom. Young cheetah-print Kawada was massively over and utterly fearless in this match against these bullies. I thought this would be your standard vet/young lion against dick heels, but Kawada more than held his own. Hell, he took it to these tough SOBs. Kawada was throwing massive spinkicks and monster lariats with the best of them. Tenryu trusted Kawada and against these two, he had to! Tenryu is definitely the equal of the gaijin, but suffers from the fact that he constantly has to face them two on one. He can handle them individually, but as soon as Hansen or Gordy feels the other is trouble they will rush to the other's aid. The brutality of this match was something else. The lariats, chops and kicks need to be heard to be appreciated. The yell of agony from Tenryu when Hansen clobbered him in the back was something I have never heard in a Tenryu match or men's wrestling. It was a fucking war out there. There is clothesline from Gordy that hit Tenryu so hard I don't think he even had to sell, it hurt that much. Kawada's big moment is that he goes wild on Hansen and he actually stomps Hansen down and crowd goes wild. Gordy saves, but Hansen is actually hurt and has to tag out. Kawada Germans Gordy and Hansen kicks Kawada's leg out from underneath the bridge. Then in the spot that maybe my favorite spot of all time, Hansen steps on Kawada's foot and rifles his knee with kicks. That is sadism. Hansen lets Kawada go only to push him out of the ring and NAIL Tenryu with a LARIAT! The match goes on, but at this point is when the impending doom sinks in. Kawada's is pretty much finished and for the rest of the match the gaijin takes turns beating shit out of him at ringside. Tenryu blasted by the Lariat so hard that he fell over the railing is in pretty piss poor shape to take on these two bullies two on one. The rest of the match you just get angrier and angrier at how unfair it is that Tenryu is basically being murdered by these two men. The spot where Kawada explodes in a frenzy from the outside to save Tenryu from Gordy powerbomb is great. You do get the sense that Hansen has blown himself up in a worked sense and Tenryu's last gasp is chop the shit out of Hansen. He gets his licks in and perhaps if the match is one on one he could pull it off, but anytime he gets anywhere Gordy interferes, Until Gordy misses wildly with a clothesline and Tenryu POWERBOMBS Hansen! Gordy recovers and powerbombs Tenryu. HANSEN LARIAT!!! Mercy killing. Even though, the last half of the match was full of impending doom, they did a great job working in hope spots. I thought Hansen sold exhaustion fabulously. Gordy was a great dick heel sidekick. Hansen's individual performance in this match is a candidate for greatest performance in a single match. Kawada was great as the fearless rookie and selling the knee is Kawada's bread and butter. Tenryu was perfect in his role as veteran asskicker that's outgunned, but is going to down in a hail of bullets. The best non-90sAJPW tag match in history in my book! *****

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Dory & Terry Funk - AJPW 8/31/83 Terry Funk Retirement Match Terry Funk kills any chance of running for public office in America by proclaiming that "Japan is Number 1 forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever". Guess America is just playing for second place. The crowd loves the Funks like this has to be one of the most over babyface acts of all time. The dichotomy between the brothers is on display here as Dory gives one of the more uninspired face in peril segments in the way of selling compared to Terry basically giving the performance of a lifetime. In Dory's defense, I loved how much he was struggling to get out every armbar and how much fire he had, but could have used some more selling. Stan Hansen is a Terry Funk seeking missile to start and wants to re-open a cut above his eye. Dory is fucking useless trying to save his brother. Love the chaos in the midst of all the streamers. Terry tags out to big brother and they look to double team Hansen, who is wiser than he looks. Hansen grabs Dory by the arm and bullies him over to his corner. This is one of the best Gordy appearances I have ever seen. He was in lockstep with Hansen in terms of strategy, but presented a more vulnerable side. Dory may have not sold well, but he was firing those forearms off with all he had. Loved the heels always grabbing that arm and pulling him back to their corner to prevent the tag. This crowd is going apeshit for Dory Fucking Funk! Terry starts to get pissed about the constant double teaming and says two can play at that game. I love Dory forearming through a Hansen kick. That's what makes pro wrestling look great. This has been nothing, but balls to the wall action. Hot tag to Terry, who is bleeding, but he does not give a fuck as he FINALLY levels Hansen with a series of punches to a huge pop. Unfortunately Gordy cheapshots him and Terry cant press his advantage. This leads to Hansen kicking Terry's leg really fucking hard like really fucking hard. The leg work that ensues is amazing. The heels are vicious and dicks about it. Gordy was constantly holding Terry from the outside by the foot while Hansen would stomp and drop his weight on the knee. You just felt like poor Terry was helpless against these animals and his face showed all the pain. Gordy even went as far to use the Spinning Toehold against him! Terry blasts him in the head and then headbutt. Hot tag to Junior! Melee ensues leaving Terry and Terry in the ring. Gordy belly flops and Funk sunset flips from the middle rope to win his retirement match! Hansen ever the sore loser attacks Terry's leg and murders a young boy with a lariat before being restrained by a school of young boys. I have always loved this match and again it was a total energetic tour de force. The heels dominate the match and beat the shit out of the Funks, but the Funks are not going down without a fight. I wish Terry got the win over Stan, but Hansen was staying not Terry. At least Terry finally got to knock him off his feet. Still it is a great feel-good moment and balls to the wall action. One of the best tag team matches ever! *****

Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 4/14/83 Insane violent spectacle! Funk's selling of this brutal beatdown is transcendent. You first realize that Funk is deeply lacerated, not from looking at his face, but rather from his blood pooling on Hansen's stomach. Then when he was being back into the ring by the crazed sadist, he looked like a bloody dog tangled in streamers beaten to a pulp. The look on his face as he was being hung, with the rope in his mouth, bleeding profusely was unsettling and horrifying. Dory, who apparently is the world's toughest nerd, is able to save his baby brother. As he was being tended to by his brother, he was a sickly bloody mess. It was gruesome and maybe the nastiest wrestling has ever looked. Funk tried to stay away from Hansen early avoiding being corner with speed and his jab. Hansen slapped him and when Funk went for a bodyslam it was all over. Hansen threw him down and began to unload. Bullying him at every turn and just using his elbows, knees and fists as weapons. I loved Funk just wailing away on Hansen knee out of desperation or throwing a dropkick outside. The struggle over the spinning toehold is one of the most poignant moments in wrestling. You just hope against hope that Funk can cause enough to pain make Hansen submit. Hansen like a ferocious, wounded animal keeps kicking him off and punching him hard in the face until he is bleeding. It was titanic. At every stage, Funk would dive for the leg and attempt to submit him knowing full well he was going to be blasted in the head and his cut be further opened up. I think Hansen not selling the leg is a curious choice. It adds to his monster dynamic that he can't be harmed and that Terry Funk will eventually be a tragic hero left for dead by the ultimate bully. Hansen drops Funk on his balls on the top rope and thus commences the gruesome scene above. It is hard to say this is even a match. It feels like something so much more. I would say at the very least one of the top 5 most violent matches in a way that is really unsettling from the sense you really feel for Terry Funk. It is definitely something everybody should watch at some point. ****3/4

Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 9/11/82 If I had to choose between fighting the bear in the Revenant and Stan Hansen, I may just choose the bear. Hansen is a force of nature and is relentless beating down Funk. There is a point where Hansen grabs a double leg and just wont let go and Funk has to claw and wrench his nose to break free. Funk gives as good as he gets, but everytime Hansen has an answer. Normally, I would be disappointed in a babyface that powders and backs away from a heel, but when you are facing Hansen it is justified. It adds weight to the challenge that you really have to weigh you options when you are facing that crazy sadist. There is a point where Funk throws a chair into the ring and for a second Hansen is going to hurl it back, but he actually takes a step back and makes sure to nails Funk with it. OW! Funk is able to bash his head off the table and then side step the lariat and send him into the ref wiping him out. Hansen blasts the second ref with a LARIAT to a pop. A wrestler I don't recognize holds Funk who takes a brutal Lariat that looks like it could have broke his neck. Insane brawl. Funk looked great just trying to survive. He sold the match so well in how he was going up against monster, but was not going to back down. Hansen is every bit that bully heel. Huge punches from both guys. Just nasty. Really entertaining brawl. ****1/4

Harley Race is another one to a lesser degree (in the sense he is still somewhat well-regarded). We see Harley as the tough, grizzled sadist. What you get is a bomb-throwing, ass-showing, big bumping heel. I think that disconnect causes problems for people.

Couldn't disagree more about Jumbo's performance as he was totally fired up for this bout against his new rival, Tenryu. He was intense throughout and wanted to defend his turf. The way he reacted to Tenryu stealing his high knee. He came to play and he was going to fight through any pain to win this match and prove why he is the ace. The first enziguiri made sense because Tenryu was holding his bad leg and he used that counter into an enziguiri. From there, he was selling through the back drop drivers. I had no problem with it. If anything, Tenryu's selling during Jumbo's shine was lackluster. NWA International Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs NWA United National Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 8/31/87 It is the story as old as time. The sidekick wants to step out of the shadow of the hero so Tenryu begins his revolution. Off the heels of the native vs native success of Jumbo's Army vs Choshu's army and with gaijin talent drying up, Baba shifted his entire booking paradigm by pitting Jumbo against Tenryu in a feud for the ages. Jumbo was fired up for this match to prove why he was/is the Ace. Tenryu is at his dickish best early on slapping Jumbo and stealing his high knee. Jumbo responds by slapping the shit out of him in an absolute fury and destroying him with a high knee. The whole match felt like a total war and they set that tone right from the outset. This was not a friendly rivalry. These two plain did not like each other. Jumbo stole Tenryu's enziguiri to be a dick to him. I loved the Jumbo crashing into Tenryu recklessly with a high knee in the corner and driving hime through with the bulldog. Jumbo started off the hotter of the two pouring the offense on climaxing with a piledriver and a HIGH KNEE OFF THE TOP ROPE, but when he went for the back drop driver to polish him off, Tenryu quickly salvaged the match for himself with a German Suplex. That is Jumbo's modus operandi when facing challengers to his throne. To start off hot and try to embarrass them by beating them as quickly as possible, but Tenryu managed to stave off defeat with the German following up with a powerbomb. Jumbo backdropped Tenryu over the top rope. Jumbo came off the middle rope onto the floor just hurling his body at Tenryu. JUMBO IS FEELING IT!!! You truly believe this match is the most important thing in the world to Jumbo because of the chances he is taking. Jumbo goes for the high knee in the corner again, but Tenryu side steps and yanks down the turnbuckle cover sending Jumbo's knee into the exposed steel. Good knee work by Tenryu as this looks like his big opening as he applies a single leg crab, but Jumbo makes the ropes. Tenryu goes for a kneecrusher, but as he is holding the bad leg, Jumbo uses the good leg to enziguiri him. Brilliant! Jumbo fights through the pain and hits two back drop drivers, but he is too close to the ropes. Jumbo is clearly worse for wear as his bodyslam does not have its usual oomph. They end up outside on a botched crossbody that should take them over the top rope. Tenryu hits a kneecrusher on the table outside. They trade enziguiris on the apron where Jumbo gets his knee caught in the ropes for the countout finish. Jumbo's identity as the Ace was being questioned and he responded with fury exactly as he should. In that fury, he had the bad break of ramming his knee into the exposed steel. He looked on pace to recover, but once outside it became anyone's game and Tenryu was able to get the last laugh. It was smart booking as Tenryu definitely needed the win more, but they were able to protect Jumbo's position as the Ace of All Japan. The first 3/4s of this was pitch perfect. Tenryu was the dick and Jumbo was pissed. After the big turning point (the knee into turnbuckle), I thought they did lack something, maybe some more Tenryu violence. I think Jumbo took a little too much of this match when all was said and done. A really awesome Jumbo performance and you can see Tenryu coming into his own as Jumbo's archnemesis. ****1/2

NWA International Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs NWA United National Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 10/11/87 Jumbo Tsuruta came to fight in this match! He was full of piss and vinegar in this match and it was glorious to watch. The whole match was very chippy, which is a place that Tenryu excels. Jumbo was pissed. That high knee almost took Tenryu's head off. Tenryu was smart to go to the headlock to try slow Jumbo down and sap some of that energy, but to no avail. As Jumbo came storming out with a flying armbar takedown and wrenched the arm. Tenryu then tried to slap Jumbo. Bad idea, brutha! Jumbo lit his ass up. He even hit a piledriver. It got so bad, Jumbo actually had to pick Tenryu up at two to deliver more punishment. Now pride comes before the fall and he rammed his shoulder into the post. Tenryu tries to go after it only for Jumbo to come back in the ring like a man possessed. It was totally engrossing to watch him fire up. Thank God, he missed with that lariat because I think he would have decapitated Tenryu right then there. In his craze, Jumbo of course falls to the hotshot! Since this is a double title match, I pretty much bit on every double countout like finish after this, which made the match very dramatic. There were a couple spots where I thought Tenryu had really blasted him that he just was not going to get back up to beat the count. Tenryu really gets a chance to pour it on with his big offense: huge lariat, reverse elbow and German suplex. Jumbo counters with his back drop driver! I thought the high knee into a lariat was a great spot for a countout spot. Then he was the time that Tenryu took the Big E bump to the floor because Jumbo side stepped him and that looked sick. Or the backdrop driver where Tenryu pushed off the post, I thought would be a neat double counout finish. This was just a crazy out of control brawl. There were some moments that took me out of the match like the fucked up backslide, but especially the botched pilderiver/powerbomb by Tenryu twice. It was just so awkward and slow that kinda killed that nasty brawl vibe they had. Then there was this weird stretch where I thought they were calling off the match and Tenryu was parading around. Maybe, if I spoke Japanese it would have helped, but one of the few times I have been confused during a puroresu match. Jumbo ends up busting Tenryu wide open and just loses his mind wailing away on Tenryu and eventually gives the ref the death bodyslam to trigger the DQ. Brusier Brody saves Tenryu and Jumbo and Brody have a pretty fun brawl. The first half of this is insanely good and I actually liked the finish a lot too to set up more matches. There were periods down the stretch that brought the match down for me. As far as heated, wild brawls go there really are not that much better. This was an all-time great Jumbo performance as he was totally incensed throughout this match. Definitely watch this one. ****

Terry Funk vs Rick Martel - WWC 9/20/86 Funk worked one of the best possible schitck matches here. Totally front loaded this with a lot of comedy, which was entertaining. I marked out when he hurled the chairs into the stands only to realize there was a net. It was definitely the Terry Funk show, which is a little disappointing because Martel is such a great worker. Funk using the old trick knee into a ballshot was a great transition and loved the piledriver on the baseball field. Martel got to show his fire late into the match with the highlight being piledriving Funk on baseball field with a chair horse collared around him. Martel ate mat on his finish and Funk won by sitting down on Martel and holding the ropes to advance in the tournament to crown WWC Universal Champion. Very entertaining comedy match and Terry Funk at his schiticky best. ***1/2

WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio - The Bash 2009 Title Vs Mask Even in 2009, Jim Ross occasionally had a good phrase, here he says "Has the nine lives of Rey Mysterio run out?". I think that is a perfect summation of the identity of Rey Mysterio, who as the smaller man in every match has to use high risk offense to stay competitive. When you are wrestling on the edge of a razor you have to be resilient because the high risk offense will be used against or you will crash and burn. I think there is no better wrestler in history at peppering in hope spots than Rey Mysterio. What separates Rey Rey from the spot monkeys is that he allows himself to fail. Some of these high risk moves are going to turned into tilt-a-whirl backbreakers, Codebreakers (what a spot) or the Walls of Jericho. He needs to be resilient enough to withstand that in a kayfabe sense. But in a working sense, he is secure enough in his ability and connection with the crowd that he does not always have to hit his offense and that his moves not always being successful makes for a more compelling match. I will say Rey Rey's selling and bumping is his bread and butter, but I don't think he gets enough credit for his offense and move selection. Jericho was on fire early on, I thought he lost a bit steam towards the end as he was more focused on hitting big spots, but early he was a great dick heel. I loved how he adapted to wrestling Mysterio by playing a big heavyweight. You really felt the weight of Jericho, which you don't usually see. They skipped the shine when Jericho hurled Mysterio into the barricade in a nasty spot. Mysterio always took a nasty fall from the apron on a baseball slide. The way Mysterio sets up his hope spots by creating that separation and then banging a couple off were great and another thing that separates him from the spot monkeys that shoehorn their spots into a match. That is the best split-legged moonsault I have ever seen and I hate the split-legged moonsault. The story of the end of the match was Rey going to live or die by the sword. He would hit a spectacular move only to be caught in a precarious predicament the next moment. It was a great roller coaster ride. It was here I thought Jericho's stellar character work disappeared and Mysterio was generating all the energy. The finish as a great play off their match from the previous month where Jericho swipes Mysterio's mask, but this time Mysterio is wearing another mask and is unphased. He is able to hit 619 and drop the dime. Fantastic match! Jericho hit out of the park early and when he sort of came down (Jericho was very clean throughout the match, that was in reference to his character work), Mysterio picked up the slack. This is a perfect example of Mysterio's impeccable psychology and breath-taking moves. The finish was roller coaster of drama with Rey Rey looking like he was doomed on several occasions only to prove he can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. ****1/2

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 6/12/98 Post got eaten, doing this in bullet form -I always stop at 1/20/97 when watching AJPW so this is the first time watching this match -Kawada is the ultimate choke artist. It is a great character dynamic -Story of the match: Kawada opens a can of whoop ass, but again comes up short -Early: opening matwork is more perfunctory to me than NJPW heavies. Past two matches were a one hour draw, I think this was to get fans thinking this would be a one hour draw -Kawada's selling early was phenomenal. Loved how he crumbled on chop to neck and then knee to ab -Kobashi looked like he was going to run away with the match early but some well timed kicks to the head and LARIATO by Kawada puts Kawada in the lead. -Kawada is so vicious and such a dick in control. Kobashi selling and fighting from underneath is his bread and butter. -Kobashi looks to turn the tide using a bomb. -Why do people try to German Kawada? You are just asking for a kick to the head. -Kobashi hits a half nelson suplex first headdrop and it is 17 minutes into the match. -Kobashi looks for the moonsault. When he pumps the fist before the moonsault always makes me mark out. -Kawada kicks him in the head as he is jumping off. Kawada really opens up a big lead. -I love how everything is earned. Kobashi fight back less and less as Kawada is kicking more and more ass. Initially Kawada still needs to kick him in the head to cement his lead. -Back Drop Driver - Kawada looks to have this in the bag. Powerbombs ensue and more kicks and now the Stretch Plum. Credit to them to getting a Kobashi chant started in the Stretch Plum, which has been killed off since like 93/94. -It is about this point where you are like is Kawada actually going to be able to put Kobashi away? -Kobashi is such an emotional babyface. Him crawling to the ropes while Kawada kicks him in the back of the head is gripping. - The struggle over this Kawada power bomb is pro wrestling! -Kawada drills Kobashi in the face with his that running high kick and Kobashi's glassy eye sell is incredible -Kawada is running out of steam. Rope a dope? Kobashi catches foot -> dragon leg screw->LARIAT. Not the best Kobashi's lariat -Big Kobashi chants! Kobashi trying to hulk up. If I was a Kawada fan, I would be like not again at this moment. -MOONSAULT! KICK OUT! Kawada's selling is fantastic. -Kobashi has been using that Lariat to control the match on his comeback so Kawada is attacking like he would Misawa's arm. Kobashi blocks high kick and hits a Lariat, but cant block second high kick to head. Levels playing field. -Kawada drops into an arm scissors in to a cross-armbreaker, big reaction. This would be a huge coup for Kawada to stave off Kobashi and his onslaught. -Kawada is kicking him, but you can feel that he has run out of ideas and steam. Kobashi dives at him with a lariat, but it is bad arm and he is left writhing in pain. Kawada has hope, but not much left in the way of offense. He has his high kicks, but he needs Kobashi to make a mistake. KOBASHI LARIAT AGAIN! -Kawada cant even stand as Kobashi holds him up by the hair and BURNING LARIAT~! Count to three! This match reminds me of the Federer vs Roddick Wimbledon final that went on forever with Roddick in the Kawada role and Federer in the Kobashi role. Roddick only had his serve and he was just delaying the inevitable. He would win his serve, but he was so tired, he was barley putting a dent into Fed's service games. Federer is the superior all around player and eventually won. Kawada was delaying the inevitable. By 1995, Baba had positioned Kobashi as Kawada's equal with the one hour draw and subsequently in 1996. Misawa was the best, but these two were 2a and 2b. Here Kobashi finally begins to turn the tide. Kawada was just outgunned in this match. He had his chances and opened up a big lead, but he didn't have the firepower to put away the best offensive wrestler in history. You could go as far as to say that Kawada was so hyped for the Dome match with Misawa where he came out guns blazing that he was going to have a let down and the fact he was facing Kobashi means he couldn't afford that. Kobashi was amazing in this match from selling to offense. This did not feel quite up there with the tippy top best of All Japan, but definitely an awesome match. ****1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - NWA Chi-Town Rumble '89 What a crowd! There have been hotter crowds, but this crowd really lent a real sports feel to this match by how they were reacting. They cheered a Steamboat headlock takeover. The Steamboat double chop early was an electric moment and the following nearfall was treated like a big deal by the crowd. Every nearfall was getting big reactions and they were all on their feet for the finish. Of course, the reason why the crowd was so damn invested was because it was two of the greatest wrestlers of all time going toe-to-toe for the World's Heavyweight Championship. Ric Flair gave an absolutely masterful performance. It is incredible how well he sells in the early part of the match to shine that babyface up, but it also sets up his desperation heat segment. This was a great example of the three-pronged Flair strategy: breaking momentum on the outside, crowding in the corner and creating movement to cause mistakes. As Jim Ross said, "The Dragon was breathing fire tonight!". Steamboat was always one step ahead of the Nature Boy. Flair would BLAST him with a chop and he would fire two right back. In a battle of quickness, he was always getting the upper hand. What really sent Flair to the hills were all those pinfall attempts he was racking up early. In the shine segment, Steamboat was great, but I thought Flair took it to the next level. The transition was Flair dragging Steamboat outside into his domain and ramming him head first into the railing, clawing the eyes and hitting such a tremendous chop it had the Chicago Bears sitting ringside marking the fuck out. Flair is so good at turning the violent streak on in his heat segment. Loved the Steamboat hope spot on the roll through that got a great pop again a crowd totally 100% invested in the match. Flair, who has been freaking out about these nearfalls, pouncing on Steamboat and immediately putting him in the figure-4. EXCELLENT PSYCHOLOGY! I don't like to complain in these reviews, but anyone who says Flair does not have psychology can suck it. Steamboat is money during the heat segment as he rallies the crowd behind him. If Flair is the better seller during a babyface shine, it is Steamboat's selling that takes the heat segment to the next level. Amazing, how the wrestler underneath is dictating the energy of the match! In the post-modern world where offense rules the roost, that never happens anymore and that's why crowds are not 100% invested like this amazing Chicago crowd. Steamboat tries to make his last stand firing back with chops but Flair looks to have an insurmountable lead as they take a big tumble over the top rope onto the floor. Flair is throwing suplexes and is in command. He just cant put the Dragon away and Flair gets frustrated pushing the ref around and jawing with the crowd. Then we see the rays of hope as Steamboat starts building momentum with a string of nearfalls. Steamboat comes roaring out with a flying karate chop. All of sudden, Flair is on the defensive and it looks like Steamboat will hit the flying bodypress that got him the pinfall victory on Flair in January and the visual pin at the Clash. Except, he wipes out the ref! OH NO! Flair with the trunks, but no ref! STEAMBOAT CRASHES AND BURNS ON THE FLYING BODYPRESS Flair goes for the Figure-4, inside cradle and Steamboat wins the World Championship! Given Crockett's past, the finish has you believe something screwy is going to happen, but Steamboat does win the championship to a huge pop. It was almost like swerving on the swerve, so that finish is put this decisively behind Clash VI for me, but I have this above Wrestlerwar. Spectacular match! Both wrestlers hit it out of the park! Those chops exchanges, HOT DAMN! Flair knocked this one out of the park, he did all the right things every single time. Steamboat's selling carried the day set himself up for a hot comeback. My knock against Steamer will always be offense on the comeback, but they did such a great job building up the flying cross body and his cradles that it felt super hot and you were totally invested through his selling. Incredible pace! Easy, easy top 50 match of all time if not higher. *****