Superstar Sleeze

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Suwama - Pro Wrestling Love 8 08/30/09 My main main, Takayama has risen to the ranks of All Japan Triple Crown Champion as AJPW continues their run of veterans as champions while they continue to build their only viable Ace, Suwama before they switched to their current penchant for sumo wrestlers. Mutoh is not Inoki weird, but definitely cut from the same cloth. All Japan for their troubles actually was not in that horrible shape when compared to Pro Wrestling NOAH. NOAH has a wider collection of young talent, but Suwama is definitely at the same level as all their heavies and is more consistent. I will say I need to see more Shiozaki and have not seen Suguiria. Morishima has been able to hit higher highs than Suwama, but Suwama is the more even wrestler. The problem is AJPW just has no one to pair him with at all. Suwama is pretty good straight ahead power wrestler that hits his spots and lays it in. He could use a little more fire at times, but as a meat and potatoes wrestler I have seen none better in his generation in NJPW, AJPW or NOAH. Much like Sasaki versus Takayama, this is a fucking war! What I love about Takayama is that he has no obvious weaknesses. He is a giant shooter that can kick your ass with strikes, throws and on the ground. It means his opponent has weather an onslaught and take advantage of any mistake. Give Suwama credit, he does try to take it Takayama first with grappling, but caught in cravat and then a test of strength does not go his way. From what I read of Suwama is that he is country boy strong, the sort of Japanese equivalent of the cornfed farmboys of the Midwest so when his strength is not working then it is not looking too hot for the young stud. Suwama gets an early break when he throws Takayama out on the floor. I dig Suwama's double chops they make a great sound and look painful. Takayama is the King of Clubbering Offense. He makes knees and forearms look badass and interesting. Again, Suwama takes advantage by catching an errant Takayama kick and turning it into a throw. Suwama cant keep the advantage and they end up exchanging chops and throws. I just love two big dudes throwing each other around. SUWAMA BIG DIVE~! HOLY SHIT! Somewhere along the line Takayama's eye is swollen shut! The belly to belly throw off the top rope almost kills Takayama, which probably was not a terribly safe spot given Takayama's age and condition. Suwama steals Takayama's Everest Suplex to only get two, which takes to an All Japan video package is how Suwama beat Takayama in a tag match earlier in the summer. Takayama drills him with a nasty Dragon Suplex. Suwama puts up some resistance so Takayama nails him with a closed fist, a headbutt that busts Takayama open and Everest Suplex for win. The two strikes against this match was that 2009 Takayama just isnt 2002 Takayama. He is a lot slower and not as healthy. He does excel at these gritty contests and his roughhouse style ages well. Suwama is a like a 90s Kensuke Sasaki before he adopted Kobashi-ism. He is a brick powerhouse, but he is has the added advantage of being taller than Sasaki so looking even more imposing. If you watch the video package, you will also see that Suwama has probably best looking powerbomb ever, but we don't get to see it in this match. The other strike is that it is a little two back and forth. At first, the transitions were Suwama catching Takayama, but not being able to sustain offense, but after a while it just became throw shit out at each other. This is one of the few matches where I felt the finish stretch actually helped the match rating because of how nasty Takayama was on offense and Suwama put up a strong resistance, but it was NOT too ZOMG FIGHTING SPIRIT~! Much like Takayama/Sasaki, I really enjoyed this match, but it is not really a MOTYC, but still very entertaining. ****

I love Takayama, but didnt know I loved Ogawa until after watching a couple matches. Will watch this down the line.

Sold. Made a note to go back and watch it.

One of my all-time favorite Shawn Michaels segments and incredibly quotable. Swallow the Leader always gets a laugh with my friends. Of course, is there any better response to "Did you sleep with her" then "Sleep with her? I WAS UP ALL NIGHT!" You know one good thing about having no real life friends that watch wrestling, they sure think I am wicked creative and original. Late '97 through his first retirement is just Shawn Michaels at his dickish best on the mic. Just so much gold.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 07/01/07 I wonder how Minoru Suzuki feels about Miley Cryus stealing his gimmick. How bitchin would it be if she stole his hairstyle too? I would become a Miley fan over night. I would say what I am most surprised about is the lack of love for Minoru Suzuki in this Best of the 00s poll. He has been having a kickass 10s so I just presumed we would see more of him in this decade. Mutoh is a polarizing figure no matter what decade he is competing in. I definitely lean towards the pro-Mutoh side in the 2000s with his barrage of dragon leg screws, basement dropkicks, figure-4s and Shining Wizards. It is really effective work, but it requires the opponent to add something. The maniacal Suzuki does a great job selling and coming off like a total lunatic at the same time. The opening matwork is a little boring, but it is well-worked. The one thing the New Japan boys had over the All Japan boys was they were more well-versed in matwork so Mutoh does not seem out of place going up against a legitimate shooter even if his double wristlock is shit. Suzuki gets a deep double wristlock and applies the cross armbreaker and we have our first major turning point of the match. Mutoh bails and Suzuki is right on him attacking the arm using railings and the ropes at will. He does get a little cocky and while he is stepping through the ropes Mutoh catches the foot and everybody say it with me: DRAGON LEG SCREW!!! My favorite spot variation on the usual Mutoh work is the dropkick from the timekeeper's table to Suzuki's knee. I dig Mutoh's leg work and Suzuki was great at selling it. What really got my goat in this match was Suzuki worked a short cutoff getting a cross armbreaker and Mutoh totally no sold it by lying there and then just popping out into a figure-4. That really pissed me off because it really ruined what could have been interesting dual psychology and I hate when the cross armbreaker is disrespected. Suzuki gets an ab stretch while Mutoh is on top and that is the trigger to Suzuki taking over. Suzuki does a great job showing how he is fighting through the pain to kick Mutoh's arm not that Mutoh is really selling it well. Suzuki hits his piledriver and goes back to the abdominal stretch. Suzuki goes to his bread and butter the sleeper. Mutoh is a bit taller than Suzuki so he has a leverage advantage in being able to whip him off and also not feel the full effect, but once Suzuki is able to get him on his back that all disappears and so when Mutoh tried to roll through a second time it almost cost him the match. After a pinfall attempt, Mutoh rattles off 4 Shining Wizards and no pin! Backbreaker, Moonsault, but Mutoh comes down hard on the knee and cant make the pinfall right away. Kick out! Oh so you will sell when your own move hurts you, but not your opponent's moves. I see you, Keiji. He hits a Shining Wizard but uses the hurt knee and again hesitates to make the cover. He looks to hit the backbreaker, but Suzuki rolls into a heel hook. Mutoh makes the ropes. Suzuki mocks Mutoh and gives him a taste of his won medicine with a Dragon Leg Screw, but goes to the well once too many and Mutoh hits a Shining Wizard. Suzuki is rocked and Mutoh goes for the Shining Wizard and Suzuki catches it into a heel hook to retain the Triple Crown. I was really bothered by Mutoh's selling. He dropped the arm selling even though Suzuki kept going back to it and Mutoh slightly sold for the sleepers, but once he hit his knee on his own move then he starts selling that smacks of egotism. Suzuki was phenomenal in this. He is dangerous and he knows it, but is not afraid to sell. He had a near one year reign as Triple Crown Champion and I think I will go back and watch some of his matches after I finish up everything here. The finish stretch here is one of the better ones of the 00s and really liked the Shining Wizard counter to a dragon leg screw only to have the Shining Wizard countered into a heel hook. It is a not match of year contender, but still a great match. ****1/4

AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs. Kaz Hayashi - Sumo Hall 8/27/06 The one constant of All Japan from the 70s through now is their disregard for the junior heavyweight division. Even NOAH as a spiritual successor to All Japan cultivated a strong juniors division led by KENTA and Marufuji. Even though Mutoh took over AJPW in the 00s coming from NJPW with a strong junior's division did not seem to change AJPW's stance on juniors wrestling. With that being said the token All Japan match of 2006 is a junior heavyweight encounter between two of Ultimo Dragon's students, Hayashi and Kondo. Before, I get to the match a very skinny Stan Hansen gets into the ring to do the duties of reading from the scroll before a championship match and it was just such a cool touch to see Hansen again. He was wicked over. This is one of the prettiest matches I have ever seen. It was like you strip Dragon Gate matches of any comedy and just have them play it totally straight, which makes sense since they are both Dragon's students. I can appreciate beautiful execution and from a technical level this is nearly perfect. Hayashi has the best looking hurricanarana I have ever seen and Kondo is one of the best at taking it. Hayashi really looks likes he is grabbing with his legs and forcing his opponent over. Kondo really throws himself into the bump. Hayashi's middle rope senton was fan-fuckin-tastic. He was going a million miles an hour. On the slow motion replay, he still looked like he was going fast. Kondo is a great powerhouse junior like a smaller version of Sasaki. He was really able to work on Hayashi's knee and some very impressive powerslams and one great spear. Of course if you are a powerhouse in Japan, you best have a nasty lariat and his destroys Kojima's and looks badass. Hayashi is a big fan of Emerald Flowsion, but when that can't secure him a victory he does what every wrestler does he tries the move from the top rope. In a move, I never EVER thought I would see. Kondo hits a Flip DDT. When we were growing up, my younger brother always said his finishing move was going to be the Flip DDT. I don't know if he is going to be crushed or excited that someone finally pulled off that move. A moonsault and lariat polish off Hayashi and Kondo retains the belt. So now the other shoe drops, this match is great eyecandy, but there is not substance to any move. Kondo moves over Hayashi's knee really effectively. I love when he caught a Hayashi rana attempt and put him in a Boston Crab. What does Hayashi hit as his comeback move a wicked fast back handspring elbow. O BUT HE REMEMBERED TO SELL AFTER THE MOVE! He would do this for his 3 next big spots that required the knee, hit the move and sell the knee, before abandoning it altogether. I am happy he did put some effort in, but c'mon man! Look, I don't think just because someone attacks your knee you have to be crippled, but maybe you could hit your spots at half-speed or at least show you are struggling. The end of the match is a total bombfest with very little selling. To me this is the perfect match to show fans or up and coming wrestlers look you are not going to get a better executed match, but see how they just rattle off moves and without that framework it is all inconsequential. Hayashi and Kondo are amazing to watch and I am sure if you put them in there with a Liger, 90s Sasuke, 90s Otani that they would have had some phenomenal matches. You pair this execution with a great layout, I am seriously saying five star classic without it you are just left wondering what might have been. ***3/4

I am curious what you would think would make for a better finish. My main issue with the match was that Kawada took way, way too much of the beginning of the match. This was the wrestling version of blow out. Kojima looked like the Denver Broncos just totally overwhelmed and overmatched by Kawada. Kojima just does not have enough to make me believe he has enough to come back from that sort of deficit. I was supposed to buy his Ace Crusher and Lariats as his knockout punch. I just don't see Kojima having a puncher's chance so the match was too disjointed. Kawada looks like a huge choke artist. Kojima was hugely over with the crowd. If All Japan had anyone worth a damn at this point, Kojima probably would have done fine as champ. He should have won and I liked the way he won, but I didn't think front half supported the back half appropriately. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 02/16/05 Choke: Toshiaki Kawada's Soft Drink of choice. How the fuck did Kawada lose this match? He absolutely dominated the first 20 minutes of this match. Kojima looked like the Denver Broncos just overwhelmed and outmatched by Kawada on the biggest stage All Japan could offer at this point. Kojima could not get anything started without Kawada taking over seemingly at will. I did enjoy the throwback to old school All Japan with the surfboard. The only thing stopped me from losing interest in this blowout was that crowd never gave up on Kojima. He was over at the start of the match, when he was getting his ass royally kicked and at the end of the match. Say what you will about Kojima and his modified Ace Crushers, but dude was over and if All Japan had anybody worth a damn at this point he could have been an effective Ace in terms of pleasing their core fanbase. He still cheering for him through the powerbombs, the half crabs and stretch plums. Now for me, the layout challenged my interest because I didn't believe that Kojima had a puncher's chance. This style of match is pretty tricky because you either make Kojima look like a jabroni if he loses or Kawada look like the biggest choke if he loses. The drama in this type of match usually comes from the guy working underneath having one big home run shot that he can hit that can change the complexion of the match. The problem is Kojima has no such move. His Ace Crusher, which could be his home run (DDP and Orton have utilized it that way) has not been protected. So you have this jarring discontinuity in the match where Kawada kicks his ass for 20 minutes and Kojima does an extended comeback (At one point, Kojima hits a roaring elbow and Tiger Driver and could help think to myself is this a bad Misawa parody. ) rather than a flash comeback. Based on Kawada's selling, I don't think you can make a case for rope-a-dope because he didn't seem to punch himself out rather Kojima just sort of went from getting his ass kicked, to getting his ass less kicked until eventually he won. Kawada was still hitting Back Drop Drivers and drilling brainbusters. It was making him look more ineffective than Kojima strong. You got to love Kawada though because when it is time to sell he is totally committed as he sells this weird top wristlock/arm figure-4 like death even though Kojima shoulders should be counted down. Kawada hits another back drop driver and powerbomb. From a kayfabe perspective, how the hell did he lose. The Kojima lariat barrage was really well done because of the escalation of the lariats and Kawada's selling. I enjoy Kawada kicking people's asses, dont get me wrong. I think they tried to shoehorn Kojima into a role that he did not fit. As much as I mocked Kojima for his Ace Crusher variations, he is not a horrible wrestler. They could have worked a momentous title change to mark the passing of the guard from Kawada to Kojima. I just thought the match was far too disjointed from the opening 20 minute ass whupping and a standard extended comeback when Kojima needed some bigger spots. I know was awfully harsh on this match, but I think it demonstrates a really strong point of how a certain guy is not right for a given layout. That being said Kawada was really fucking good in this match. He escalated his offense throughout and was making Kojima earn his comeback. I just wish there was a stronger spot that said this is where the match went off the rails for Kawada and he really started to have to scramble. It never felt that Kawada was in trouble until he taking lariats and it was over. ***1/2

WWE Champion CM Punk vs Interim WWE Champion John Cena - Summerslam 2011 Triple H as Special Guest Ref The finish presumably is why this match is not talked about more as an all-time great match. I remember people thinking I was crazy for thinking this match was not that far off of the Money In The Bank match. The Money In The Bank match had all the extracurriculars that lend itself to bolstering the match, but pound for pound it is closer than I think most people would say. That might just be me because I really like this style that has become the Cena signature formula with his extended comebacks. Also, I felt the actual work had a little more heat to it. Both men were more aggressive from the get go. Cena's chain wrestling this time had a real snap to it and I loved the single leg/back heel trip followed by "You cant wrestler". Dont ever change, douches. The barrage of one counts hammer home the eveness, how much both want to win and how much they don't want to leave it up to chance with an inexperienced ref in there. I love, love a match that spends the beginning establishing a stipulation by doing something unique like that. Again, Punk is the first to have sustained offense working over the ribs really well with knees. At some point, Lawler declares it is impossible to wear down Cena. You can beat Cena, but you can't wear him down. Shut the fuck up, dude. Cena powers out of an abdominal stretch. As much as I liked the novelty of the MITB, this is right down Cena's alley. Punk puts him at an disadvantage and he works hard to crawl out. The flying high knee by Punk on the shoulderblock was glorious. Punk's bulldog countered into the Protobomb and Cena countering Punk's kick to apply STFU was so badass. The sequences were smart and organic and as good as if not better than most of the MITB. Watching it back, still shocked how little play this match gets. They depart from the Cena comeback story to have Punk hit a suicide dive that takes out both men, but once again reinforcing that HHH has declared one champion he corrals them both and sends them back in the ring. Great use of HHH. Cena busts out an explosive dropkick (Brunzell level power) from his bag of tricks. Punk knows him too well, he needed something safe, but unexpected to take advantage. They do the Flair/Steamboat bridge and get a WOAH from the crowd. Some things are truly timeless. Booker T's commentary is not one of them. Punk's cutoffs using his knees are so fuckin awesome. They do lose me for a second with Cena catching Punk off the top into STFU and then Cena hits FU only for two. After Cena misses the legdrop, Punk hits G2S only for two, good symmetry. Punk busts out the Macho Man Elbow for the first time, but only for two, but sends crowd into a tizzy. I loved, loved the red hot finish with Cena hitting huge strikes only for Punk to catch him with step up knee and into G2S. HHH counts the three, but whats that Cena's foot is on the ropes. We all know the rest. I feel this match is unfairly tarnished by the post-match shenanigans than content of the work. The match is much more similar to their rocking 2013 match, with Cena earning his extended comeback. They did lose their flow a little bit after the dropkick and before the first FU. It became a little too back and forth. Cena throwing those big bombs at the end looking to win only for Punk to hit that knee was just too sweet. It does not have the same feel as Money In The Bank to really push it over the top, but Cena and Punk really have amazing chemistry. It is sad they never did a street fight or a more violent brawl version of their match. ****1/2

WWE Champion John Cena vs CM Punk - Money In The Bank 2011 For one month, wrestling was cool again. Much like WWE right before this time period, I had been going through the motions. Sure I watched every single week since Wrestlemania XIX, but I was in funk. Just like that CM Punk woke me and the WWE the fuck up and I have never really looked back having gone to two Wrestlemanias since then. It was because of the Punk angle that I started investing more time watching older footage and now even when the product gets depressing or mundane there is always Piper/Snuka, Islanders/Striker Force, Flair/Luger, All Japan and 8 million other things to be watched. So as I try to remember the 21st century haze that I lived through, I figure what better match to start with then the match that rekindled my love for pro wrestling. As much as I love WCW, it is like when WWF bought WCW they inherited all their stupidity when it came to booking: random burials, discontinuities, lack of clear direction, last minute booking, and bad finishes but without any of that panache that WCW brought to stupidity. There was usually something charming about WCW's idiocy whereas WWE is just mundane and depressing at times. Well for one night, they got everything right. I loved the dichotomy between the crowd and the announce team. The announce team openly cheering for Cena, Mr. WWE with Lawler openly questioning why the crowd would be loyal to Punk. Cole did an amazing job putting over how colossal this match is. By the time the opening bell rings, even three years removed from the match, this match feels like the biggest match since Rock/Austin at Wrestlemania X-7. The term "big match" feel gets thrown around but it is amazing how colossal the whole event feels. Cena is just so solemn. He is portraying so well from the get go how much pressure he is under and how big the match is. Not to be outdone, Punk's cool swagger reminds you the most dangerous man is the man who does not give one fuck. I do not think this match would work in front of any other 21st century crowd except this one. They were able to take advantage of the natural molten crowd heat deliver a slow-build championship match, which has never ever been the forte of the WWF, except for a smattering of them during Bret Hart's heyday. Both men are very cautious at the outset, which proves under his cool exterior CM Punk does care very deeply about this and his bravado may carry him so far. I like how the pepper in big bomb teases like a Punk roundhouse, Anaconda Vice (EDIT: didnt come off that great in my re-watch), FU early to keep everyone on their toes in between well-worked chain wrestling. It is not the best chain wrestling in the world, but it is better than what usually passes for chain wrestling in the WWE. I actually liked how back and forth it was because it really established them as equals. (EDIT: I liked how they worked in and out of headlock because it made the sequences breathe. I liked how in the first movement sequence that Punk won gave the crowd their victory. The second movement sequence gives the crowd a pop for Punk doing You Cant See Me and the double finish tease. Things feel more calculated and mechanical this watch, you can see Punk calling long sequences in the headlock.The crowd heat is still tremendous and spot selection is smart. Cena got more offense than I remembered at the beginning, Sting-style Bulldog, Big Clothesline and fisherman suplex, which I think is smart to establish Punk as the underdog and keep the crowd hot for Punk. I am kinda surprised action marks like Meltzer rated this so highly because there is a lot work in and out of holds.) The first transition is brilliant as Cena gets caught going for a home run early and pays via a Punk DDT (EDIT: Punk hit a back suplex out of a chinlock and there was no DDT, Cena gets dumped outside and then kneedrop happens. A stronger transition would have be much better) and then a knee drop from middle rope on to neck. Punk looks to hit a cross-body but it is a bit low and it looks like it could have jammed Cena's leg. Cena kicks out and immediately retreats to the apron to tend to his knee. Planned spot or not, it is brilliant work by Cena. (EDIT: Thought the same thing all these years later. It looks like really smart improv on Cena's part. The suplex by Cena from the ring to the floor is such a huge spot.) It is time I bring up my quibble of the match. I really liked the layout, but the execution was sometimes suspect (Punk not landing on his feet on the FU and seeming to be a bit off in general on spots) and the lack of struggle (transitions in & out of submissions) was very noticeable. There was token resistance by Punk before he was suplexed over the top rope all the way to the floor by Cena. The selling and bump by Punk were incredible and were the main focal points of the spot. However, all the details count and maybe it is because I have watched so much NOAH at this point, but you got to sell you don't want to go over the top rope too. Where was the struggle and tease to really build that spot to the next level. The match was almost too neat at some points is all. (EDIT: Yes that what I meant by mechanical is that it is too neat. I liked overarrching layout of Punk working from underneath, but I think it is inefficient. There are some superfluous spots. ) Even though struggle within a move was not always there. The struggle over the course the match is what drove this. Punk really had to earn his offense to keep Cena down. (EDIT: I do think this is the strong suit of the match is that Punk has to prove himself to Cena in contrast to the Summerslam 2013 D-Bry match where Bryan felt like Cena's equal from jump.) It really felt like you were watching a star being born because Punk was not backing down. He was never discouraged every time Cena had an answer (Edit: Like Cena using his raw power to counter the G2S with a gutwrench suplex) but Punk kept pressing. I love when Cena knows he is about to get a big heel reaction for something and he just plays it up as it's just Johnny being Johnny. Nothing is a better example of this then when he goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the crowd boos furiously only for Punk to kick him in the head and hit a suicide. What an ingenious crowd pleasing spot! Cena had answers, but Punk kept coming. Then Punk hitting those stiff, stiff knees to the jaw to Cena when he was leaning on the ropes were probably my favorite moment (EDIT: Great context as this was after Cena had gone for the FU). Neither Cena nor Punk is particularly stiff and that made those knees really stand out. (EDIT: Punk springboard clothesline was a great nearfall surprised I didnt mention it) Finally, finally Punk seems to have Cena on the ropes, but again Cena has an answer this in the form of the STFU (EDIT: Cena ducking the kick and picking the ankle was awesome). I loved Cole cheering for a Cena tap out victory added so much to the atmosphere (EDIT: There were 2 STFS actually and each one was awesome. This one was created by a finish switcherroo into an STF and then leads to Anaconda Vice, which I mentioned as poor submission struggle, which it was.) Cena hits the first FU, (Edit: which was a flash FU) but Punk kicks out, which triggers a big pop. I have to say it, but fuck, I hate the catch you midair powerbomb, it has never looked good (EDIT: Not only is that always a bad spot, it was particularly bad version of the spot). (EDIT: The back half of this match is far superior to the front half. I was surprised how almost pedestrian the front half was with the crowd, commentary and story bailing them out of a pretty much tepid start). The follow-up to second FU with a super FU had a pretty lame set-up. I take it back the best spot of the match is Punk finally hitting Go 2 Sleep only for Cena to roll out of the ring. His expression said it all. The championship may have eluded his grasp. Vinny Mac and Johnny Ace worried that Punk is edging closer to victory come out as an insurance policy. Given the storyline, you got to do the Montreal Screwjob tease while Punk is in the STFU, but Cena DECKS Johnny Ace. (EDIT: GREAT SPOT!) Cena says NOT THIS WAY! Punk says YES THIS WAY when he hits him with a Go 2 Sleep to win the title. Love the Del Rio tease and the blowing a kiss to Vince! (EDIT: What a great finish!) In retrospect, this match is the inverse of the 2013 RAW match (EDIT: Another match I need to rewatch). Punk had Cena's number and it was Cena's last hurdle before going to Wrestlemania to face Rock to exorcise his demons. In the 2013 match, Cena had to prove to Punk that he was on his level as Punk had an answer for each of his moves, but eventually Cena would "unlock" his moves and go on to finally vanquish CM Punk. In this match, Cena was the King and Punk needed to prove he was on the level of the champion. Punk with dogged determination withstood all of Cena's best shots and finally hit the Go 2 Sleep only for Cena to roll out of the ring. You get the fun chaos at the end and when the fracas ended it was Punk blowing a kiss to Vince hightailing it through his hometown crowd. I would need to watch the 2013 match again, but Im pretty sure I liked the work in that match more. However, this match just has so many extracurriculars to deny it the highest praise. (EDIT: Disagree, the front half is just not high enough quality to still call this *****) They worked a very novel match in front of a molten crowd with great commentary. (EDIT: I dont think it is that novel) It all culminated in a fantastic finish. (EDIT: Yep it did) I know I bitched about a couple things above, but this perfect confluence of match, opponents, crowd and finish overwhelm any minor complaints. (EDIT: I agree the wrestlers, story, crowd, and commentary bolster what would be otherwise just a great match into a classic, but this is not a ***** match like I thought. Both men were so stolid early on. I understood they were selling caution, but it felt very mechanical artificial. Once Punk kicked Cena in the head for five-knuckle shuffle the match kicked into high gear, but before that it felt bereft of emotion. The finish run was electric. Punk felt like he was letting it all hang out and Cena became his Everest. The extracurriculars with Vince and Johnny Ace were done perfectly. Still a classic, just not the greatest of all time) ****3/4

I don't know if I would go back to re-watch the match or anything. There actually were not any real transitions. The entire match was Wyatt on top with Jericho occasionally getting some offense, but never stringing together a comeback. I thought Wyatt did a good job building his offense to escalate to Sister Abigail that never materialized. It was a pretty awesome beatdown. Jericho's offense is just not very suited for this match besides a nice back elbow. What I didn't like was it felt like they were putting over Jericho's resiliency more than Wyatt is playing with his food. Wyatt would be shocked Jericho kicked out. You would think that Jericho is the up and coming star and Wyatt was the established monster based off the structure of the match.

Bray Wyatt not winning WWE World Title at MITB was their one shot to revitalize the character. I have no great love for the Wyatt character, but if you were going to salvage the investment then he should have won the title. It would have been perfect coming off the loss in the Cena feud to immediately reestablish him as a top flight act. Instead, he was the most un-noticeable wrestler in the match. Wyatt/Usos matches have had diminishing returns. I was live at MITB and I thought that was their peak and each match has lost its luster. Mostly because they follow the same template and have not really tried to differentiate them. Still definitely one of the feuds of the year so far. Bray losing to Jericho was so weird. I would have never predicted that in a million years. Jericho can get violent and insane see the HBK 2008 feud but that is a heel. You would think Jericho would be better suited in a role against a Cesaro where they can have a "workrate" (for lack of a better term) match as opposed to a Wyatt match that feeds off of hate. It was a solid match that was built around Wyatt bullying Jericho. Jericho peppered in some good hope spots and Wyatt would cut him off. Wyatt kept him hanging around too long before Jericho was able to hit his home run. It had a pretty good build and followed a pretty basic formula. I would call it good, but not great and probably second best match on a lackluster card. I don't really know where you go with the Wyatts from here besides adding more members or a face ugh turn.

Three blogs two days!!!! So much bang for your buck! Wait you don't pay for this content?!?!?! I am no gigolo. I am one man gangbanging your brains out because I love doing it! You know who has been blowing my mind: Akira Taue! Old muthafucka just don't how to quit. After winning 2005 Japan Match of the Year, he says Father Time FUCK YOU! I aint done yet. I am going to toss another MOTYC with Jun Akiyama! While those two vets kicked old school, the Youth tried to rise to the top. The results of this "ascension" is best described in my favorite title yet, "Youth Gone Mild". Click it, stud muffins and foxy ladies. Riding Space Mountain has it all and then we throw in a Pope Leo X quote. Because what is a ONE MAN GANGBANG without some Papal lovin'! Aint much of one in my book, BABY~! 18. GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06 - ****1/2 (Throwback match as they two rip it up. Akiyama looks like it is 2000 in there. Badass) 70. Kenta Kobashi/Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Katsuhiko Nakajima (Is the beating on Nakajima still going on? I am surprised they didn't finance a film where Godzilla jobs to the Sasaki & Kobashi mega-team, very masturbatory) 53. Akira Taue vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 3/6/04 ***3/4 (Marufuji blocking the Nodowa was a mark out moment. Taue does it again, the king of efficiency) 57. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima - Budokan 3/5/06 ***3/4 (Misawa plugged Morishima into the formula, but Morishima did not bring much) 44. Kenta Kobashi vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 4/23/06 **** (Last Kobashi Budokan match until 2007. Marufuji's big singles coming out party) 46. KENTAFuji vs Wild II (Morishima & Rikio) - Budokan 7/16/06 **** (The Big Four of the New Generation square off and Mori-Fuckin-Shima comes to play!) 92. GHC Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufuji vs KENTA - Budokan 10/29/06 (Holy Clusterfuck Batman! Marufuji suplexes himself at one point. Embarassing) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/07/2006-noah.html

KENTAFuji are definitely a polarizing tandem. Their adherents see them as the bastion of workrate masters with their innovative moves and break neck pace. Their detractors cite no structure and glue to give these spots any weight or consequence. The truth of course lies somewhere in between. Left to their own devices, Marufuji and KENTA indulge their worst inclinations and deliver unmemorable clusterfucks. However, when they are in their with wise veterans like Liger, Misawa or Takayama the results can be truly spectacular. They are very carryable wrestlers and when their opponents provide the structure their matches can be classics. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 9. GHC Tag Team Champions Misawa & Ogawa vs KENTAFuji Budokan 04/25/04 ****1/2 (Misawa and Ogawa kick ass for the first half and in 15 seconds the game changes and a monster finish run unfolds) 21. KENTAFuji vs Jushin Liger & Murahama - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03 ****1/4 (Balls to the wall action with Liger providing structure) 43. Low Ki vs AJ Styles - Z1 01/05/03 (Cocky douche AJ vs ultra-serious Low-Ki is always a great match) 58. Naomichi Marufuji vs KENTA - NOAH 11/13/04 61. Takaiwa & Hoshikawa vs Dick Togo & Hidaka - Z-1 12/26/03 (Hoshikawa is great and Takaiwa seems content just to hit spots. Match of two halves) 80. GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Champs KENTAFuji vs Kanemaru & Hashi Budokan 9/12/03 (Watch this and Liger&Murahama to see the difference between great and mediocre KENTAFuji) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/07/kentafuji-best-of-junior-heavyweights.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With that post, we can finally put 2003-2004 to rest. Pretty much single-handlely thanks to Kobashi the quality level was able to match 2000-2001 and rise from the nadir of 2002. Kobashi was in the five of the top six matches including match of the decade contenders against Misawa and Takayama. The Misawa match is particularly astounding as it is Misawa's Last Stand as the Undisputed Man of Japan. It is not so much a passing of the torch, but Kobashi seizing it in an incredible match that jumpstarts and incredible title reign. Even though, he did not have the output of Kobashi (he did not have quite the same list of opponents), Toshiaki Kawada managed to have two best non-NOAH heavyweight matches of the year against Ogawa and Hashimoto as he embarked on his own 1.5 year title reign as Triple Crown Champion. Kawada had a sneaky good front half of the decade with six matches in the top thirty and legitimate match of the decade contender with Fuchi against Nagata & Iizuka. Kobashi is leading the field in terms of quality matches with 13 matches in the Top Thirty. Misawa who has the top two matches at this time has four matches in the top thirty. Akiyama who is the other person in top ranking has a total of 6 in the Top Thirty. The fifth pillar of heaven, Taue has three matches in Top Thirty and one in the Top Ten. Takayama who has two 5 star matches (#s 3 &4) has no other matches in top thirty. The Grumpy, Old Man of Puroresu, Genichiro Tenryu has four matches in the Top Thirty and Two in the Top Ten. Here are all the matches from Japan in 2003-2004 that gave four stars or more to: 1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04 3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 4. GHC Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs KENTAFuji - Budokan 4/25/04 5. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 6. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04 7. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03 8. Toryumon Trios Four-Way - Toryumon 08/30/03 9. KENTAFuji vs Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03 10. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03 11. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03 12. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04 13. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03 14. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 9/12/03 15. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 16. KENTA vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 6/27/04 17. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04 18. AJ Styles vs Low-Ki - Z1 1/05/03 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/07/best-of-japan-2003-2004.html

Jun Akiyama vs Katsuyori Shibata - WRESTLE-1 08/04/05 To my understanding, WRESTLE-1 was just another strange manifestation of Keiji Mutoh's Pro-Wrestling Love Campaign, which involved more outsiders and some shoot fighters. Hey at least it brought us this badass match. What is with 00s Japanese starting off absolutely great and then just going off the rails. These had a really nasty street fight brawl goign and then they do a pretty standard finish run. They had something really special going for about 10 minutes there. Shibata jumps Akiyama early and stuns him with a back drop driver. He nails him in the head twice with a pair of wicked kicks that busts Akiyama open hardway. Akiyama pissed off absolutely tears into Shibata and goes bezerk with non-foldable chairs. The way he was throwing those chairs just seemed vicious and dangerous. Akiyama loses control when Shibata holds onto a Back Drop Driver into a choke. Shibata works his ribs with kicks and knees sending him to the floor. I love how the ref really contested Shibatat going after him gave it that really uncontrol feel and that Akiyama was hurt. Shibata ends up kicking the post full on. Akiyama throws him onto the announce table where of course Takayama is announcing. Besides his own matches are there any matches in the 2000s he did not commentate on? Akiyama piledrives him on exposed concrete and hits pretty full on in the back of the head with a chair. Just a vicious street fight. When Shibata makes it into the ring, Akiyama is right on him with a knee and hits a back drop driver and applies his guillotine choke. I am absolutely loving this match. Shibata ina desperation bid for self-preservation just starts throwing his body parts (fists, elbows, knees and kicks)and is able to daze Akiyama in the corner for a pretty flush dropkick to the head. Shibata whiffs on a kick to the head and here comes the suplex->pop-up barrage that ends with a Shibata kick and both men are out. It really felt like at that moment it departed from that crazy street fight brawl into a standard 00s puro match. Akiyama hits an exploder and locks in a Crippler Crossface, which I have never seen him use. Shibata shows the usual fighting spirit at the end in midst of a barrage of knees before succumbing to a head-drop wrist-clutch exploder. They had something really special in the first 10 minutes before they settled into a standard finishing pattern with pop-ups and young lion fighting spirit. I don't mind that fomrula, but did not think it fit the street fight they had in the beginning. Could have had something really special, but still a very strong match. ***3/4

I disagree with the finish ruining the match. After the big dive, Danielson sells the knee, but KENTA had taken more punishment up until that point. So Danielson started back on offense with the missile dropkick. The knee messes him up a bit and KENTA hits a guillotine DDT, which he usually does not expect his opponent to sell (ala the Harley Race piledriver) so he looks to follow that up with a springboard move, but Danielson catches him with a German and then goes to lock on the Chickenwing Crossface (having had worked on the arm). There is a great struggle and here at his first real chance to pick the knee KENTA does. He applies the Texas Cloverleaf and when Danielson does put on Cattle Mutilation he cant hold it because his bad knee. The next time KENTA gets on offense he goes back to Texas Cloverleaf, but gets countered into a pinnning predicament. After that Danielson is relentless with Cattle Mutilation. KENTA is able to bridge one into a pinfall. At this point, KENTA has solidly got his ass whipped. He gets an Ace Crusher and quite naturally starts bust out his big guns which are the his knee, kicks and G2S. I don't take meticulous notes, but I don't think he ever hit a suplex in the post-dive portion of the match. He was working the Cloverleaf, but almost got bit. If I am KENTA and I got my arm fucked and I don't really work the leg and I am getting my ass kicked, if I have an opening I am hitting my home run shots. My cross-court forehand in tennis is a lot better than my down the line. If I want to access to a righty's backhand, I need to hit a cross-court backhand or create a inside out forehand. There is a lot of time I want to work over someone's backhand, but it is a limitation in my game to work it over. When I start to get down, you best believe, I am hitting the big cross court forehand even if their forehand is pretty decent. I don't fault KENTA for relying on what brought him to dance. He gave it a try to work over the knee, but it almost bit him when Danielson got a two count on a small package. KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - NOAH 12/02/06 This may shock a lot of people but the amount of matches I have seen Bryan Danielson wrestle as Bryan Danielson is probably only a handful and the vast majority are live. I was just never one to really ask my parents for money to buy wrestling or any item for me. Of course, my Dad would take me to the matches when they came to town and usually one 1-2 PPVs a year, but other than that not much. This mentality would continue into college. I always saw live events as special exceptions and would go to ROH whenever they were in town, but never felt that my limited college money should be spent on indy wrestling. I am hoping to change this in the near future and really hunker down and watch some golden age ROH. This match gives me hope that really is all that it is cracked up to be because Danielson was amazing in this match. As I said in the SUWA review, the one constant in great KENTA matches is make KENTA work for it. Don't let him work his million mile an hour match, but make him sell and build up to that frenzy. What is interesting is I really feel like 2013 Daniel Bryan and mid-00s KENTA are really similar in working style. Bryan is better at building a match and slowing it down on his own accord. However, he has been prone to blowing off selling to get his shit in and his real selling point in the ring is his million miles an hour pace. Having not seen a lot of Daniel Bryan as Bryan Danielson, I was interested if they were going to try break the moves/minute record or something. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well this turned out. The one odd thing to get out of the way is that the crowd is dead throughout the majority of the match. Was this one of Danielson's first tours in Japan? Were they just unfamiliar with him? The feeling out process is slower than I expected and very mat based where Danielson seems to have the advantage. KENTA looks to pick up the pace, but Danielson gets a hiptoss and converts that into a cross armbreaker. Excellent wrestling as KENTA is more as home with an uptempo pace so Danielson wisely slows it down and at the same time damages the arm. KENTA freaked out that Danielson almost got a submission victory actually slows down the match with a chinlock in a way to reset the match because he has been outclassed thus far. Once Danielson get back on top he is just working that arm relentlessly with all sorts of crazy submission moves. KENTA hits a snap powerslam and is still selling. Danielson's answer to KENTA is a Robinson backbreaker and a diving headbutt. I get a little worried here because they move quickly into a roll-up barrage when the diving headbutt was such a big spot. Danielson continues to go for home runs as he hits a huge splash to the outside over the guardrail on KENTA, but in the process hurts his knee. After the big dive, Danielson sells the knee kipping up on one knee after a missile dropkick, but KENTA had taken more punishment up until that point. So Danielson started back on offense with the missile dropkick. The knee messes him up a bit and KENTA hits a guillotine DDT, which he usually does not expect his opponent to sell (ala the Harley Race piledriver) so he looks to follow that up with a springboard move, but Danielson catches him with a German and then goes to lock on the Chickenwing Crossface (having had worked on the arm). There is a great struggle over this hold and here at his first real chance to pick the knee KENTA does. He applies the Texas Cloverleaf, but Danielson makes the ropes and when Danielson does put on Cattle Mutilation he cant hold it because his bad knee. There is an excellent headbutt vs kick war and Danielson was throwing some Garvin like nasty headbutts. Danielson goes for the Crossface Chickenwing again, which would avoid bridging on the bad knee and almost assuredly secure the victory, but KENTA fights like mad to get out of it. The next time KENTA gets on offense he goes back to Texas Cloverleaf, but gets countered into a pinning predicament. After that Danielson is relentless with a barrage of Cattle Mutilation. He attempts to hit a Tiger Suplex/Cattle Mutilation combination, but KENTA is able to bridge one into a pinfall. Awesome spot! At this point, KENTA has solidly got his ass whipped. He gets an Ace Crusher and quite naturally starts bust out his big guns: Exploding Knee and Kicks. Danielson's last stand is a roll-up barrage, but KENTA is stringing together too many kicks at this point. He hits the Go 2 Sleep to secure the victory. I love this match as a game of strategies. Looking at this from a kayfabe perspective, Danielson is a better all-around wrestler. KENTA thrives in the uptempo game and with his kicks. Danielson stymies him early and never really lets him get going. Danielson is working the arm effectively, but does not have the knock out blows like KENTA so he goes for big gambles like the diving headbutt and the big splash, but this costs him his knee, which messes with one of his best submissions: Cattle Mutilation, which requires bridging. KENTA goes after the knee, but he is not very adept at working over body parts and nearly gets burnt with a cradle counter to a Cloverleaf. So KENTA has a fucked arm, has been getting his ass beaten and cant really take advantage of the knee, but has an opening with an Ace Crusher. So he goes to what brought him to the dance, big fuckin home run swings right at Danielson's head. KENTA always has the puncher's chance and he landed some big ones late. Danielson should have stuck to the arm game plan, but got lured away with big gambles then ended up ruining his chances to apply Cattle Mutilation. If only he was able to get that Crossface Chickenwing. Larry Z would have been proud at this exhibition of the human game of chess. My match of 2006 so far! ****1/2

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs SUWA - Budokan 09/18/05 Some things transcend language and cultural barriers, one of those things is old men ready to put a snot-nosed punk in their place as the Budokan roared when Joe Higuchi almost came to blows with the ultra-prick, SUWA. SUWA just owns this match and gives a career performance as a total unlikeable dick. You know that boring proceeding before every NOAH title match where the old dude (Joe Higuchi) reads off a scroll. SUWA spices that up and rips the scroll out of his hands and tears it up. My hero! KENTA gives him a kick in retaliation and is ready to kick some ass. The Japanese announcer lets us know that the Champ Is Here!!! So not only did CM Punk and Daniel Bryan rip off KENTA, but Cena too! The backpeddling SUWA grabs the ring bell and blasts KENTA with it. SUWA uses a briefcase to batter KENTA in plain view of the ref, who has no choice but to disqualify him to a chorus of boos. SUWA revels in his DQ loss knowing he beat up the champ. Some dude at ringside just decides to restart the match and KENTA runs the down the ramp to go attack that asshole, SUWA. SUWA proves too much for him and he is just getting everyone hot. Joe Higuchi is ready to take off suit and trade hands with him. He takes off the turnbuckle pad and hits the ref with it. The ring crew and young boys are hot at him. SUWA just openly punts KENTA in the nuts and then rams him testicles first into the post. A man with no cares is a dangerous man and SUWA is a dangerous man. KENTA is struggling and trying to fight back, but SUWA always seems to have a closed fist waiting for him. Finally, KENTA hits a springboard clothesline to turn the tide. SUWA's answer for this a big suicide dive through ropes and KENTA whacks his back on the railing. This is the big countout tease of the match. I am not usually one for an elaborate sequence, but once we are back in the ring they do a nice sequence that looks they actually to hit each other only for SUWA to hit his big blowaway dropkick which KENTA takes the Dragon Kid bump for. SUWA goes for he Pedigree, but KENTA counters into a Go 2 Sleep. I love how they have a closed fist exchange instead of a chop or elbow. It really sells the intensity and hatred. You know the kicks to the head that Daniel Bryan always whiffs on well KENTA actually hits those here. He hits three and they look nasty as fuck. An exploding knee later and he retains his title over that jerkface SUWA! KENTA when not moving a million miles an hour and being forced into working underneath is one of the best workers in the world. Takayama, SUWA and Danielson all had KENTA's best matches by forcing KENTA to work underneath, hit hope spots and make a compelling finishing run. They reign him in and don't let him fall prey to his worst habits. KENTA is no Kenta Kobashi, but stops this from becoming a Kobashi/Ogawa or Kobashi/Takayama classic is that KENTA is too stoic on his comeback. Yes he hits him hard and yes he has urgency, but does not seem all that much different than he is wrestling Marufuji. Kobashi is more expressive and I would have loved to seen more anger from KENTA. SUWA just ripped it up in there with a total master's class in heeling. KENTA is not as easy opponent, you have to suffocate him or he will get away from you and make you wrestle his match. If KENTA found that extra gear in the finish stretch, I would say this is the 2005 MOTY, but it falls just short. ****1/2

NOAH (Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki) vs. Z-1 (Shinjiro Otani & Tatushito Takaiwa) - NOAH 3/5/05 Ohtani & Takaiwa versus Kanemoto & Minoru this was not. It is a rock solid match, but really only Otani gives an inspired performance. The other three gave the type of performances you would expect on a weekly RAW. Dont get me wrong, this match would win match of the night on most RAWs. It is just the usual lazy transitions and hit my spots type wrestling with a bigger finish run than you would expect Stateside. What was the point of this match? Was it to lead into a Suzuki/Takaiwa Junior Heavyweight feud? Was Misawa just in there to lock up with Ohtani? Ohtani is heeling it up early mockingly giving the crowd a pair of thumbs down. Thats right crowd, you suck! Suzuki gets the jump on Otani and hits a big splash to the outside and tags out to Misawa. This is the whole point of the tag match from my perspective. Misawa vs Ohtani, baby! What makes Ohtani better than most Japanese wrestlers in the 00s is that he actually sells the elbows like they hurt before winding up and delivering a chop. It is much more entertaining than the interminable Kobashi/Sasaki CHOP WAR~! After destroying both Otani and Takaiwa with elbows, Misawa tags out to the kid, thinking he cant possibly get into trouble. Of course, two seconds later Suzuki is in a half crab. Ohtani during this heat segment is the whole point to watch this match. Otani busts out some great heel gold here, Not just the basics like eyerakes and fishhooks, but also an awesome punt to the nutsack when Suzuki was looking to fire up and mocklingly leading a Kotaro chant before dropping him on his head and pinning with one foot. In what became a sad precedent we get a lame transition to a Misawa tag. Misawa ends up in peril and this leads to an Otani facewash, which is a highlight. Misawa then decides lets go home and hits a Tiger Driver and tags in Suzuki. The finish run like the rest of non-Otani parts of this match was mediocre. You know its 2005 because Suzuki dials up a 619! Misawa and Suzuki hit a couple double teams and his big false finish is a Gory Special. After this Takaiwa kills him dead with a double powerbomb and a DVD. Misawa does not even bother to act like he cares to save him and basically gives up. Three wrestlers were just going through the motions and Ohtani's actions were not enough to make this into a great match. The transitions in this were some of the laziest I have seen. ***

I missed the Ishikawa cardio hook that would have probably made this match more interesting to me. Yuki Ishikawa vs Carl Greco - BattlArts 06/01/08 A mat grappling lovers dream match as this features no strikesand just one throw. It is all takedowns and grappling, BABY~! I love matwork a lot and think wrestling should always have a little wrestling in it, but too much of a good thing ain't always good. Story is really want drives my interest in wrestling. It is why I prefer it to real sports because you can create an interesting narrative and it is worth watching over and over again. This featured some of the best matwork I have ever seen. I just did not get a sense of a story. Carl Greco was trained by the Malenkos in Florida and Ishikawa is the owner and Ace of BattlArts. Opening jockeying was won by Greco with a front chancery/back heel trip. The opening work on the amr was excellent. Each men was moving and looking for an advantage. It never felt like an exhibition. They were always struggling with each other. Ishikawa may catch Greco in a crossface or Greco may catch Ishikawa's leg. Greco was the first to use the ropes. Greco was really adept at figure-fouring with the legs. He figure-4'd Ishikawa body forcing a rope break. Ishikawa was able to pancake him on a takedown, but instead of taking his back, he shot the half (it always amuses me that of all things is in Michael Cole's lexicon) and went for a top wristlock or armbreaker (cant remember) forcing the rope break. Ishikawa up 2-1 on points in my head, but there is no scoring. Greco pancakes Ishikawa and forces a break with a figure-4 on the arm/crossface combo. Ishikawa throws Greco in a desperation attempt, but this flashy move has no effect on the All-Man Carl Greco. You, young whippersnappers and your confabbed suplexes! Greco vines a figure-4 on the arm and bars Ishikawa's arm, but still can't wrangle a submission. Ishikawa is able to get a heel hook evening it up 3-3 going into the home stretch. The time calls were getting closer in frequency I thought. Was this nearing a draw? As the two stand up from a tussle on the mat that goes nowhere it looks like Greco grabs a cravat or 3/4 facelock and Ishikawa submits. The work in this match is all struggle. It is gritty and nasty. I'd be curious if you could get this by an MMA expert's smell test. I mean if Volk Han/Tamura RINGS matches are still listed as shoots these workers can still hoodwink some people. Of all the shoot-style matches, I thought this one was the most realistic, but also the least dramatic. I like mat wrestling more than most, but still does not do enough for me to warrant a high ranking. ****

Nothing like a sharp departure from Dragon Gate with some Shoot-Style. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05 A Japanese Shoot-Style promotion that allows closed fists, my prayers have been answered! As soon as the ref breaks them, Ikeda punches Ishikawa right in the face to get an early knock down. Ikeda never really looks back earning 4 knockdowns and forcing 2 rope breaks to Ishikawa's one knockdown and 2 rope break forces. These punches are incredible how they are laying them in. I was watching Ishikawa punch Ikeda right in the face on the ground and could not believe the force. Ikeda seems better at take downs, striking and submissions. Ishikawa just has crazy resilience and even crazier hair. They work their double wirstlocks from odd angles sometimes. They are definitely better off standing up. I love that Ikeda would not break his leg lace, but once Ishikawa reversed it, he was desperately grabbing the ropes. Ikeda absolutely ripped up Ishikawa fact with boot lace kicks. Is Randy Orton secretly a huge Daisuke Ikeda mark? Ishikawa makes his big comeback with a pair of back drop drivers. Ikeda is definitely the better "pro wrestler" of the two based on how he sells and feeds Ishikawa. I love him climbing up the ropes trying to escape it. Ishikawa ends up closing the gap earning 5 knockdowns and forcing 3 rope breaks against Ikeda's six knockdowns and 3 rope break forces. FUTEN does not use a point system, but it is interesting way to keep tabs on the flow of the match. Ishikawa finally forces a submission with a crossface chickenwing. I preferred the drama of Tamura's U-Style matches with the point system, but this had the way better striking. I am going to put this somewhere around the Tamura/Ito match given it is hard for me to place shoot-style match still at this point even though I really enjoy them. ****

UWA World Trios Champions Do Fixer ( Maasaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid, Kenichiro Arai) vs M2K (Genki Horiguchi, Magnum Tokyo, Susumu Yokosuka) vs Crazy Max (CIMA, SUWA, Don Fuji) vs Italian Connection (Milano Collection AT, Condotti Suji, YOSSINO) - Toryumon 08/30/03 This is the Three Stooges if the the Three Stooges were twelve wicked athletic Japanese guys, three of which think they are Italian. The first half of this match is some of the best comedy wrestling you will ever watch. I loved the thread that was woven throughout this whole match was gang up on M2K. When Dragon Kid and Arai turned on Horiguchi and worked over his scalp that was hilarious. I thought the testicular psychology of Liger/Minoru vs Kanemaru/Kikuchi was bitchin, but the SCALP PSYCHOLOGY~! of Horiguchi matches has been so funny. I am not going to ruin this match with some recap of the spots. Go and watch these dudes rip it up in the ring. Also a midget in a Gorilla costume gets involved. This match has everything. What is great when it comes to time to hit the finish, they get more serious, but still keep it fun. Everybody has a chance to shine. I had always heard of the Italian Connection and on paper is sounded tremendous and they did not disappoint. I highly recommend watching the other Toryumon matches first even though they are not as good because it gives you a feel for the style and an appreciation for how bitchin this is when it all comes together. ****1/4

This may be a groan-inducing post because I am sure it is has been discussed, but what are the 16 recognized Ric Flair reigns. I am under the understanding that he had 10 NWA World Title Reigns, 8 WCW World Title Reigns, 2 WWF World Title Reigns and 2 WCW International World Titles. I imagine the International World Titles and four of the NWA World Title Reigns are discounted. Flair and Cena both had plenty of long title reigns. Modern booking definitely helped both, but only Flair was really helped by Russo-esque booking towards the end of WCW. To answer the question, I think he will break Flair's record. I hope they do a big chase out of both the 16th and 17th title reign. He needs a 1000 more days to catch Hogan so nothing doing there. They should have made it a bigger deal when he either past 1000 days as champion or when he past Pedro for fourth all time.

Damnit, that was supposed to be a babyface shine segment on Parv not a heat segment. Damnit, I don't know if we heeled ourselves or if Parv is too damn likeable. I cant believe there is clamor for a Parv babyface comeback on my hero and yours, Bob Backlund. Great episode. Yeah, I don't have much of a Boston accent. Comes out on certain words and at certain times. Never heard the Tim Kurkjian one before. As long as I don't sound like Bob Ryan that's a great thing in my book! Always happy to do these specials and can't wait for the next time I am called upon.

UWA World Trios Champion M2K (Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka) vs DO Fixer (Maasaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid, Kenichiro Arai) - Toryumon 6/29/03 A year later and once again the complexion of the Toryumon landscape has greatly changed. Plucky upstart Ryo Saito has been seduced by the Dark Side and now rides with M2K. Genki Horiguchi has parlayed his LeBron-esque hairline into a huge heel gimmick as he is quite annoyed the Japanese fans keep heckling him with "Hage" (Bald). In addition, he has developed a new weapon that all have fallen prey to: The Backslide From Heaven. Even though I have not seen Susumu Yokosuka yet, he is quite important as he is a original founder of M2K. In fact, his original last name was Mochizuki, no relation I believe. When Mochizuki turned face, they feuded over the surname ala Booker T and Big T with Mochizuki winning the name and forcing Yokosuka to change his name. Kenichiro Arai is just a longstanding Toryumon babyface. Do Fixer is a babyface stable that was born out of the conclusion of the Dragon Kid/Darkness Dragon feud with Dragon Kid winning Darkness Dragon mask and his respect. The three formed Do Fixer the first permanent babyface faction to my knowledge in Toryumon. Sometimes less is actually more because these six guys rocked it in a way that past nine have not achieved. It was not just telling a more coherent story that helped because it did break down into a spotfest, but there was more rhythm to the spots. It is hard to explain but everything seemed more natural. The beginning was actually some pretty good fundamental wrestling. It did get boring at times, but there was plenty of quality. I really liked them playing up Horiguchi's receding hairline by him selling them yanking his hair so well and begging off. The Arai hand heat segment was really well done. It actually did play a part in the rest of the match. I liked that a simple elbow kicked it off, but if your hand was taped and elbow you would be hurting too. Lots of stomping, taunting, biting and chair slamming always equals great work. Then they ratcheted everything up. I love Mochizuki's axe kick. They did some great work eliminating by attacking his knee. Dragon Kid was really good in this with a spring hurricarana to the floor and his spike one with a nice break up by dropkicking him in the head. Horiguchi was so great at being a heel, violent on offense (especially attacking Arai's hand) and a chump on defense. BACKSLIDE FROM HEAVEN~! Kick out at 2!!!! WHAT!?!??!! Arai is getting his ass kicked. Arai able to get the Double Chickenwing but all focus on the blue briefcase and dropkick by Horiguchi. Mochizuki blasts Horiguchi with blue briefcase and a Arai Tiger Suplex wins the titles! I loved that the whipping boy of the match was able to get the big win over the main heel. Dragon Kid was great as a spot monkey. Arai was awesome as the face in peril. Mochizuki has a strong leadership quality to him. Ryo Saito was awfully quiet and thought he would deliver more. Susumu did not show much either. Horiguchi was definitely the star of this match and I look forward to more of his matches. ***3/4

THE GUESS WHO, WHY OF COURSE!