Superstar Sleeze

WWE World Tag Team Champions Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs Real Americans vs Ryback & Curtis Axel - WWE TLC Fatal 4-Way Much like Gaul, this match was divided into three neat parts: Rybaxel Phase, Real American Phase, Show&Mysterio Phase. The middle segment starring Goldust is really what carried the drama of the match with the other segments being serviceable, but not nearly as entertaining. As much as I love Ryback, his work in this was pretty blase and by the numbers. The only real highlight of the first segment was how over Big Show was. The crowd was going bonkers for his Shhhhh! Chop!. I think he was genuinely surprised and happy at how over he was. Goldust pins Ryback after floating over on a suplex attempt and rolling up The Big Guy. The Big Guy aint happy and blasts Goldust with a clothesline as a parting gift. Swagger is right on Goldust to start. As much as I love Cesaro (and I like Swagger too actually), this segment was not about him. It was all about Goldust and his tremendous face in peril performance. He totally focused on making the hot tag to Cody. Every move he made was with the intention of getting to Cody. Honestly, the heel offense was pretty mundane, but Goldust's commitment to the tag made it one of the more compelling face in peril peril segments in recent history. It was just great high drama. Credit where credit is due, Cesaro did have some cool spots like when Goldust tried to dive between his legs to get to Cody he wrangled him into the gutwrench suplex. I also loved the Giant Swing cutoff which turned into a catapult into a Swagger slam. Also, I have always dug the Swaggerbomb -> Double Stomp combo. Goldust was timing his hope spots beautifully with moves like his sunset flip powerbomb and a hurricanrana. Also of note is how much better cheerleader Big Show is than Cody. C'mon Cody you are still working when on the apron. Endgame sees Swagger pull Cody off the apron, but Show tosses Swagger into barricade. Cesaro hits a Yakuza Kick on Rey Rey, but walks into a snap powerslam. Finally, Goldust makes the tag into extremely over Big Show, who levels Swagger and knocks Cesaro out in mid-air to eliminate the Real Americans. If the match ended right there, I would say it is a definite MOTYC with a great build to the hot tag and Show just cleaning house. The next segment is not bad. It is good and fun, but it is not as satisfying once we get down to the two babyface teams. Goldust is clearly sapped of strength, but Big Show helps him up. Cole claims sportsmanship. JBL claims it is so Cody does not start the fall. JBL can be pretty good. Big Show shoulderblocks Goldust who tumbles to the outside and Cody checks on Goldust. Show palms Goldust's head and pulls him up to apron. Rey is friggin's amazed. His face made that spot. Goldust downs the Giant with a DDT and tags Cody. They double suplex Show for two. Show swats Cody out of the air and tags Rey. Rey runs through his standard offense and they tease hitting their finishes. Goldust takes 619. Cody is able to ram Show into the steel post to take him out. Cody looking for a springboard dropkick, but takes a powerbomb from little Rey. Cody catches Rey in 619 and goes for the Alabama Slamma, but nothing doing. Finally he wrangles Rey and hits the Cross-Rhodes. There is a lot of moves from Cody and Rey, but all the drama was with Goldust and Show so it just felt there. The middle portion of the match is a perfect showcase for why Goldust is a top 5 WWE worker right now. It is a tremendous face in peril performance that is dramatic because of his selling and his determination to get to Cody. The Big Show hot tag is such a satisfying payoff. The rest of the match is middling RAW level stuff. ***1/2 Having since seen the three tag at Hell In A Cell, I can see why this match gets a bit more praise because the middle segment hits a high that is higher than any point in the triple threat match, but I thought triple threat was more consistent in how great it was.

I lived in Ann Arbor and now live in the college suburbs outside of Boston so while I would say a beard is more en vogue (I know, I know the WWE is actually with it. I am shocked too.). The more "extreme" hipsters are rocking the mustache. If you are not living in Collegetown, USA then perhaps this does not affect you and consider yourself fortunate! Cody just needs some panache. He is bland as all hell in terms of his aesthetics. Even if he got a faded hair cut (Cena is finally back in style!) that would help rather than his short all around haircut. Cody definitely had a slight frame early on, but you only really grow into your body at around 25. He was just debuted so friggin early. I would say he has filled out, but still his body is just not that big. As a pretty boy babyface that takes a lickin, but keeps on tickin' he has some value. If they could find him a long-term tag team prospect as a babyface for 3-4 years it would probably be best, but what tag team even lasts more than a year or two nowadays. To the moonsault point, I just don't like the moonsault onto a standing opponent. It looks pretty as all hell, but I rather it be down to an opponent on the mat.

Cody Rhodes is from the generation of inoffensive wrestlers. You know when everyone kinda just looked and wrestled like Randy Orton. I never hated Cody and never liked him. He always just elicited apathy from me. The "Dashing" Cody Rhodes bit and subsequent mask stuff at least gave him a hook, but in the ring I always found him overly mechanical and just someone who thinks too much in the ring about what he is doing. Even on first pass when he united with his brother, I was totally focused on the rejuvenation of Goldust. I thought Cody was his usual adequate self. Goldust was just overshadowing him. Watching the matches back (and watching the PPV matches for the first time), my eyes were opened to how good Cody had gotten in the ring. He was showing way more fire. He seemed more natural. He was engaging the crowd. I was really impressed. Hopefully, they utilize the revitalization to build future stars like they did with Daniel Bryan to give them time to shine in the hot tag. The hot tag is such a great way to take a young, energetic babyface and get him over with crowd because it is all offense. Cody is not even saddled with the load that is Kane. He has his brother to actually build drama as a great face in peril. Now, I know the Brothers Rhodes push has cooled significantly, but does anyone else think that if they had let it continue they could have used the Cody hot tag to parlay it into a bigger singles run ala Daniel Bryan? There is one quibble I still have with Cody that I think is a big hindrance. He looks so freaking normal. He looks like all my friends. He looks like everyone I work with. He is a man with brown hair (not too dark, not too light, not too short, not too long) with no unique visual features. One of the biggest lines of bullshit, they love to feed to us is that Austin got over despite not having a look. Bullshit. Austin had the shaven head and goatee. The black trunks, black vest fit the badass character We called our Elementary School janitor Stone Cold because that was the Stone Cold look. You need a look. Looking like every nine to fiver, aint gonna cut it. Even though, I am not crazy about the mustache craze sweeping the nation, it was at least something. Am I alone in thinking Cody looks too damn boring to be a true main event player?

WWE World Tag Champs Brothers Rhodes vs The Shield vs. The Usos - Hell In A Cell 2013 Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! That's all I have to say after the Cody/Rollins superplex to the floor through the other participants. Outside one other instance (I feel like it involved Sasuke or Ohtani), I have never seen a superplex to the floor and that just a BATSHIT insane spot. I am surprised it was not talked about a lot more. I know this match was liked, but I actually think it was a bit underrated. I would not say a WWE MOTYC, but just below that level. Every segment was really well done and highlighted everyone really well. I really dug the Rhodeses vs Usos opening segment. Face vs face is never easy, but these guys were just rocking it. They kept real up tempo with lots of pinfall attempts and high energy spots. Goldust looks 25 in there. The make-up works out so well for him besides the old man catcalls from Reigns and Rollins you would never know he is 45. Reigns blinds tags in and trips up Goldust from the outside and goes to work. The Shield slowed things down, but Goldust is so good at selling and timing his hope spots that it was never boring. Plus the Reigns/Rollins smack talk is always a welcomed occurrence. In terms of hope spots, I am a mark for the crawl through the legs spot, but Reigns was able to hold onto his foot. I also loved that Shield wiped out all three possible tag options just to keep Goldie in there. However, a snap Goldust powerslam, finally brings Cody in. I have been underrating Cody as a hot tag. He has really been bringing it in these matches. Goldies working the FIP to highlight Cody on offense may have been a way to elevate Cody like they did with Daniel Bryan's hot tag sequences. Working with his brother, Cody does not seem to think as much and is feeling the action. I will say I will never like the moonsault on a standing opponent (except for the Kid/Razor match). It looks too much like the opponent is catching him. Cody does have a pretty moonsault, just saying I would like it better on a horizontal opponent. When Cody goes for the Disaster Kick, Usos blind tag and you know bodies are going to start flying. The huge top rope cross body was a great false finish that crowd bit on big. Reigns and Goldust over the top and an Uso goes flying out after them. Huge Samoan Drop for another great nearfall. Cody tags back in and this when that badass superplex to floor spot happens. Could have milked it a little more, my only compliant. USO dives onto Cody pinning Rollins. SPEAR TO USO! Superkick to Reigns! They tease Rollins corner powerbomb, but instead walks into a Goldust right and ricochets into a CROSSRHODES~! Badass finish stretch to a great, great match. This was one of the better popcorn matches WWE has produced in a while. Rollins was in his element bumping like a madman for the faces. Reigns came off as a star during the heat segment. Usos are so much fun. Goldust rocked the FIP and actually had even better FIP in December. Rewatching this, if they kept the Brothers Rhodes on pace they could have used the hot tag portion to really cement Cody as an upper midcard threat. It is just a high-octane, fun opener. ****1/4

Austin's "Demise of the Rake" promo at the beginning of Heyman Pt. 2 is his best promo on this show and I think would rank in top 5 Austin promos of all time. My brother and I were laughing so hard. The "PED-Addled Rats" went a little long, but it was also pretty amusing. Forget Colbert, Austin should replace Letterman!

Ogawa reminds me of early Shield. There is such a chaotic feel when he wrestles He is such a unique beast in pro wrestling. It is almost like he was not totally trained thus he gives these really raw performances. I have been tough (but fair) on my favorite Japanese worker of all time, Kawada and he really delivered the goods in this match. The double KO finish much like the time limit draw in the NJPW '00 tag match was a great finish for such a war.

I agree this crowd really loves them some Tenzan and based on that and their options pushing Tenzan to win this G-1 Climax was a no-brainer. I don't understand his IWGP Title situation. Did they get cold feet? Why did he have so many short reigns? Was the idea to make him more like Chono as someone who wins the G-1, but not the championship? Tenzan just does not do a whole lot for me. He did seem more fired up in the Tenryu match, I will give him that. I am glad you noticed Akiyama's selling, just totally badass.

The Shield vs Team GOAT - RAW 09/23/13 Given how common the acronym GOAT is, I cant believe WWE does not use it as Daniel Bryan's nickname. The Authority in an effort to prove they are fair and balanced and in reaction to the previous week's locker room clearing brawl between the midcard babyfaces and the Shield, booked an inverse handicap match where the heels were at a disadvantage 11 on 3. When I first saw this live, I was in awe of how well booked and entertaining this was. It seems so opposite of what makes wrestling work, but this was really good. Upon rewatch, I think holds up as one of the best matches of 2013 and one of the most unique of all time. WWE has gotten a lot better in the past year of using the beginning of matches to establish the context and story of the match and build from there. The babyfaces have the numbers game, but if the Shield can keep everything in their corner they have effectively created a 3-on-1 handicap match. That is why this match works so well it is actually a normal wrestling match disguised as a something contrary to wrestling logic. The Shield works this beautifully conscientiously working to always keep their body in between their opponent and the corner. From there, The Shield just picks off the babyfaces one by one. Earlier in the night, RVD was injured by Del Rio and Kingston by a temper tantrum throwing Randy Orton (could be the other way around) and were easy pickins for the Shield. The US Champion Ambrose gets the pin on both with his finish. "Big Deal" Titus O'Neil and his badass bark are in to staredown Reigns. You heard it here first, future Wrestlemania Main Event. This is the match that got Reigns and the Spear over. He was having kickass performances before this, but this is when people took notice. He went on a tear and eliminated Titus, Gabriel and Ryder with the spear. Until young Daniel enters the ring and is a house a fire. With a little help from the Usos, Reigns is eliminated by an Uso splash. The Shield, which was riding high, has been taken down a couple notches. This was perfect timing get rid of some deadweight, get Reigns over and then BOOM you are reminded of the disadvantage the Shield faces. Darren Young gets a nice little sequence before a flying Rollins knee to the head takes him out. The Shield start to get cocky again as Rollins drops Ziggler headfirst into the middle turnbuckle only for Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag on Ambrose (they really should have ran that as a program). Rollins is fucking fantastic here taking time to isolate Ziggler and then count that he is 5 on 1 and give that "O fuck" face. Even Rollins gets some love here, as he curb stomps Truth to eliminate him. At this point, D-Bry directs traffic to have Ziggler and the Usos surround the ring and pounce ala the Shield. Reigns and Ambrose come in to save, but the Usos superkick Reigns off the apron. The Usos take out the rest of the Shield. Daniel Bryan hits the diving headbutt and running knee for the emphatic victory. I dare say the best laid out match of the last year. The Shield got theirs by running through the fodder and looked smart and tough in the match. The babyfaces all got a bit of shine before being eliminated. Each Shield elimination was well done to bring the audience up and down. The final home stretch was such a feel good moment with the Usos flying all over the place and Daniel Bryan standing tall. It was a unique format that was successful because of old school principles. ****

Given how common the acronym "GOAT" is, I am still surprised they have not played this up as Daniel Bryan's nickname.

I did hear that and enjoyed the booking of the Japanese contingent. The Moondogs/Martel&Garea series has skyrocketed up the list of things I need to see especially for Vince's most human moment. I also want to thank this show (I listened to #23-25 and they all ran together) for finally getting me to plop down and watch the first two Godfathers. I am a cinemaphobe. I could watch wrestling for 2-3 hours easy, but the prospect of giving up that much time to one movie is daunting. I figured Johnny quoted it enough due to Bruno that might as well see what all the fuss is about. The first one maybe the best damn movie I have ever seen. The second one could have been a lot tighter (but what do I know).

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 With the emergence of MMA in Japan, it spelled the end for shoot-style promotions, which were not as differentiated as their pro wrestling brethren. Shoot-style lives in this weird no man's land. It is essentially the worked version of MMA. I have never seen pro wrestling as the worked version of MMA. In fact, I think a lot of non-fan's hangups with pro wrestling come from the fact they are viewing it through the wrong prism. Wrestling is a carnival attraction and it adapts itself to the times. Shoot-style is the sub-genre of pro wrestling that is the closest replication of actual MMA. I have enjoyed what I have seen of the style (Takada's UWFi), but I am no expert. For instance, this is the first Tamura match I have seen even though I know the ballyhooed Volk Han series in RINGS (I have never seen a RINGS match) is very heavily promoted by the shoot-style proponents. Thus it is hard for me to rate this match in the context of this project. I liked this match a lot, but even though all the matches are worked it still feels like comparing apples and oranges. Tamura is the ace of promotion and a well-known talent in the shoot style community and a reasonably successful MMA fighter in Pride and such (sporting a record of 32-13-3). Ito is someone I do not know and I suspect was a heavy underdog. Ito definitely prescribed to the adage "a good defense is a great offense" as he came out swinging on every occasion. In fact, for the first half the match he dominated Tamura forcing him to take two rope breaks utilizing palm strikes, knees to the head, triangle chokes and cross armbreakers. Even though, he was put into an early hole, Tamura never lost his cool and wrangled a leg lace, but Ito was able to get a leg lace of his own, but eventually Ito had to use the ropes to escape. After Tamura caught a kick and applied a heel hook, Ito lost his second point. With the match leveled, Ito concentrated keeping the fight off the ground and tried to win by knockout. They trade knockdowns, but Ito definitely is the more offensive fighter. Tamura presses an advantage and Ito sells his high kicks really well, but Ito is able to sneak in a palm strike to the face to knock him down. One more knock down and Ito wins. Tamura wakes the fuck up and takes Ito to town. He catches Ito's kick and turns it into a half-crab for the win. I loved Ito taking it to the strong favorite, Tamura at every chance. His performance was so urgent and there was a real sense of struggle on the stand-up. No one would confuse this ground game for an MMA match, but they kept it moving. Besides the dueling leg laces, every submission was sold like it could end it. The real highlight of the match is the very dramatic stand-up sequence with both fatigued and just going for broke. It was very well laid out to have Tamura back up against the wall throwing bombs only to finally catch Ito's leg and finish via submission. I would not say a match of the decade contender, but a very good match. ****

GET KAL RUDMAN ON THE SHOW!!!!!!!

I cant believe no one mentioned Misawa dying in the ring. Giving the Dog a Bone as the musical transition out of the Moondogs segment was pitch perfect.

I am afraid I have got some bad news. Honestly, Ditch, the match was not that bad. I really don't like Saito and if that Inoue's career performance than that is just depressing. I was just tired of doing the same straight-laced reviews and this one had plenty of material to have a little fun with it. GHC Tag Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Atikoshi Saito & Masa Inoue - NOAH 9/10/04 Yoshinari Ogawa is my hero the hair, the sunglasses, the matching zebra vest (sleeves are for zeroes, brutha) & tights, and the attitude. Atikoshi Saito is the polar opposite. He found out a way to be even more destestable. He got himself a femullet and added bangs. What a friggin tool. Now he has some jaybrone partner named Masa Inoue. Misawa take care of this light work. As much I love Ogawa, this really feels like Misawa is slumming it in this match. With Kobashi ruling the roost and Akiyama being his main challenger, it was only logical that Misawa rock the tag division and maintain the prestige of the division, but there just was not that much depth in the talent pool. Saito at best is an inoffensive worker, but when he does stick out in an Akiyama tag match because he was usually sucking at something like striking or moving. Masa Inoue is some jabroni, who throws lariats like am awkward Randy Orton and does a torture rack like a 12 year old version of Lex Luger (who I am kidding 12 year old Lexy Flexy probably would have been a better worker than this dude). Of course, the best part of this match is knowing that there was no way Misawa was going to job to these losers. So you knew they were going to eat a ton of elbows and Ogawa was going to mock them relentlessly. The match starts off so bad with a really badly, awkwardly choreographed bit where Misawa/Ogawa try to jump them, but the Shit Jabronis hit the lamest clothesline to send them out. When Saito goes for a dropkick, Ogawa holds onto the ropes and points to his head because he is clearly smarter than this tool. However, when he goes for a drop toehold he cant get the big man down and Saito gives him the finger wag. Oh my God, Ogawa has done the impossible he has made Saito entertaining. Misawa lights Inoue the fuck up with elbows. Oh how I missed you, Misawa. Misawa stands on this chump and drops a senton on him! Misawa rules the school! After a series of sleepers, Saito tries to the Randy Savage strategy of reviving your partner by hitting them. The only problem is that his partner aint Hulk Hogan. Somehow, Inoue actually avoids Misawa's dopkick and Ogawa's enziguiri. They double torture rack Misawa and then Inoue starts the rake Ogawa's face across the rope. O just you wait, big shot, when Misawa gets in and elbows your face. Ogawa uses his tights to send him to outside when Misawa throws him into the railings. Once back in, Ogawa holds out Inoue's hand to have Saito tag him. Rat Boy wins at life! All good things must come to an end and Inoue hits a DDT on Misawa and Ogawa at the same time. Here comes Saito with an axe kick for Ogawa and an urnage for Misawa. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! They do this friggin weird delayed vertical suplex spot on the ramp, which Saito must have fucked up because clearly he supposed to be closer to the ring so Misawa could pull Ogawa down. Someone should have called an audible instead everyone looked like a moron. Of course, when you are in the ring with Atikoshi Saito it is hard not look like an idiot. Saito & Inoue try to prove to me that they are kinda cool by spike piledriving my man, Rat Boy on the floor. Fine, that was kinda cool. Saito & Inoue realize they have no personalities of their own so they copy Misawa & Ogawa and use a series of sleepers. Rat Boy dropkicks both and dragon leg screw on Saito. Hot and I mean double hot tag to Misawa. If you had a face you got elbowed. If you had stupid bangs, you get a diving elbow through the ropes. All Hail Misawa! Saito misses the Mist spray. What a jaybrone! Damnit, he got the second time. Misawa takes two wicked Germans, which makes me uncomfortable. Ogawa saves Misawa from the ultimate shame of being pinned by Saito. HOLY SHIT! Saito powerbombed Misawa! Where was the Misawa-rana!?!?!? What the Fuck?!?! I am still in shocked Saito actually powerbombed Misawa. Inoue busts out the Billy Robinson backbreaker to try to earn brownie points. Randomly, some dude holds Misawa while Inoue hits a lame clothesline. This leads to Inoue running into the turnbuckles and Misawa calmly tagging out. What the fuck? Inoue and Saito hit the Jabroni Doomsday Device from the middle rope. Disorderly Conduct was a more menacing team than these two clowns. Inoue has the audacity to no sell Ogawa's DDTs, but knocks himself out on his own headbutts. Talk about putting yourself over. It is time for Misawa to put end to this nonsense. The finish run is Misawa hitting Inoue in the face with his elbow and Ogawa back drop driving him. This happened about 4 times and it was glorious. Just to add how this match was weirdly laid out Inoue takes all sort of crazy variations of this and a double team version of the Tiger Driver, but gets pinned by a normal back drop driver. In all seriousness, I am going a bit over board in my criticism of this match. I really don't like Saito and Inoue was just lame. He added nothing to the match and was a warm body for Misawa and Ogawa to attack. I actually liked Misawa & Ogawa a lot in this match and they did their best to make it an entertaining match. Hell, they sure gave a lot more offense to these guys than I would have. I thought the Inoue FIP and the finish stretch were well-done. Even though, the Ogawa FIP was too long, he sold really well for them, I wished Ogawa had more time to Rat Boy it up. I will probably never watch this match again. I would say Misawa & Ogawa dragged a pretty good match out of these two, but nothing worth going out of your way to say. ***1/4

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - Budokan 02/22/04 If there is one thing the 00s provided in spades, it is dream matches come to life. It is fuckin Kawada vs Hashimoto in the Budokan for the Triple Crown. I threw out all my misgivings about Hashimoto from this decade because I knew this was going to badass. I had seen this before and it did not quite live up to my memory, but it is still a very good match. I will say as much as I hate to admit it the match felt oddly heatless. All Japan was clearly in a rough place because even with this as the main event they only drew 10,500. Just a year previous, Hashimoto/Muta drew a sell out at the Budokan and Hashimoto drew a sell out against friggin' Arashi. So it was not because the Hashimoto was an unknown commodity. I will have to do some research on this, but the match just did not feel as big as it should. Kawada wins the first exchange with a spin kick, but Hashimoto draws first blood from Kawada's ear. Kawada goes for the head stomp/half-crab too early and Hashimoto gets to his knees and makes the ropes. The exchange kicks to each other's knee and Kawada hyperextends his right knee on a kick and Hashimoto pounces. I liked that unique wrinkle. Kawada uses the closed fist to keep him at bay, but Hashimoto sweeps the leg. Hashimoto attacks the knee hard with seat drops, double stomps and leg laces. Just like the Tenryu match, Kawada drops the leg selling. He goes full bore with the big boot and uses the right knee to knee drop Hashimoto's taped up shoulder. I was not happy with the King of Knee Selling pulling this uncharacteristic bullshit. Kawada goes for the cross armbreaker, but is able to get the stretch plum and really focus on the arm. Hashimoto does some great verbal selling here and for the rest of the match. He sounds like a large wounded animal fighting for his life. Hash catches the right leg and punches it. Kick floors Kawada. BRAINBUSTER! However, Hashimoto is in tremendous pain and cant capitalize. He is able to throw some awesome kicks, but he is in too much pain to brainbuster Kawada again. The story becomes can Kawada put Hashimoto away. Remember, he had fellow Z1 cohort, Ogawa on the run, but could not finish him. Again, he has an opponent severely injured, but he just cant seemed to get him off his feet. He is rocking him, but Hashimoto wont fall down. Finally, after a barrage of enziguiris, TIMMMMMMBBBBAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Kawada slaps on the Stretch Plum, but Hashimoto has too much pride to submit so a Z1 suit throws in the towel to save their ace from permanent injury. The finish is an interpromotional bullshit finish and sucks. Regardless of that, I thought Kawada's performance was pretty lifeless and mechanical. He was just going through the motions. Add that he dropped knee selling, it was a pretty disappointing performance especially at this was right in the middle of his big All Japan Triple Crown run that he had a deserved for so long but booking and injuries had denied him. Hashimoto was in peak 90s form here. He was that rockstar badass that just exudes charisma. From destroying Kawada's knee to selling the arm to fighting back to weeble wobble selling before succumbing to the Stretch Plum, he gave an inspired performance to tell the story of a wounded warrior. Unfortunately, this would be Hashimoto last great match (I could be wrong) as he would pass away in September of 2005. It was an uneven, but overall a very good blowoff to the AJ/Z1 feud. ****

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03 Non-Title Ogawa is 2 for 2 in terms of badass matches in my book. It has been a limited sample size, but I don't think he is a particularly adept worker, but he is incredibly effective in portraying his character (legitimate judoka/shooter badass) and fostering a big match atmosphere. Just like the Dome tag match, the chaotic flow of the match and the awesome heat made this stand out as something special. Of course, why Kawada is an all-timer is that he did not force Ogawa into the King's Road style, but wrestled the match in a way where Kawada responded to Ogawa in a characteristic manner. It was an interesting clash of King's Road and shoot-style without sacrificing each other's strong suits in a heated bout. What I love about this video is there is a 7 minute recap of the angles at the beginning to clarify why there is an interpromotional match. There was apparently an AJPW vs. Zero-One feud which featured a tag match between Hashimoto/Ogawa vs Mutoh/Kojima. The Z-1 boys were roughing up the AJ boys after the bell was ringing only for Kawada to rush the ring and send the Z-1 crew packing to awesome heat. After that, there were white masked ninjas in service of Ogawa attacking Kawada and tag matches leading up to the big one on one showdown. I read another review that said Kawada played the a great heel in this match. Well, I thought he was a badass babyface even if this was at a Z1 show. He got a shit ton of streamers and there was definitely a Kawada chant at the beginning. Ogawa is such a natural heel. He is a giant especially compared to Kawada and his cocky shooter swagger makes him nearly impossible to like. At the outset, Kawada was selling his apprehension of getting entangled with this badass while Ogawa was egging him on with sarcastic cheers. Kawada was the first one to take it to him even though Ogawa got a nice punch combo out of the corner that sent Kawada reeling in classic Dangerous K fashion. What I really loved about this match was how much struggle there was. If Kawada had a chance to stomp of Ogawa's head on a break he took it. Ogawa seemed like he took Kawada over on a monkey flip whether he wanted to or not. The hook of the match was when Ogawa went to put Kawada away with the STO and Kawada relentlessly kneed his inner leg so that even when he hit it he could not capitalize. When he went for the STO again, he buckled and Kawada pounced. This led to the great exchange where Kawada chases Ogawa around kicking his bad leg and Ogawa is throwing wild double back fists to keep him away. At one point, the back fist catches Kawada in the head so he starts to kick Ogawa's leg from the mat that's dedication. Kawada eventually got the half crab, but not before he stomped on Ogawa's head. Ogawa is so long that it is hard to keep him from the ropes. Kawada gets tired of the double back fists so he cleans his clock with a sweet closed fist. In an effort to survive, Ogawa just tries for the STO and Kawada hits him with a back drop driver. Kawada looks to knock Ogawa out with enziguiris, but Ogawa hits the STO OUTTA NOWHERE! Kawada staggers and falls ass first through the bottom rope onto the floor. Ogawa's leg is fucked, but is able to STO Kawada on the floor. However, neither man can make it back to the ring by the ten count. Hot damn! Wait there is more! They restart the match. Kawada slides right into Ogawa's leg and does not let up. Kawada goes for the leg lace and double stomps on the bad knee. However, Kawada leaves himself open for the STO again. Everyone is out again. Kawada tries to go for the enziguiri for the knockout, but STO AGAIN! Neither man can answer the ten count and it is ruled a double knock out. Kawada had the strategy: find a weakness and exploit. Ogawa had the puncher's chance: STO. At the beginning, it seemed like Kawada was going to be outgunned by the bigger Ogawa, but he is able to block the STO and inflict serious damage to the leg. However, once he got on offense, he was so focused on pressing his advantage he would leave himself opened to the STO. Kawada just did not have a bomb on the same level as the STO to put Ogawa away. I loved a lot of the exchanges in this match especially the leg kicks versus double back fists. Ogawa delivers another great big match and Kawada gives his best performance since the 2001 Champion's Carnival with Mutoh. ****1/4

Yet they have outlasted WCW already. It's amazing. (that also says something about the ultra-slow evolution, or should I say the status-quo in the pro-wrestling scene since 2001) Holy shit. I had not realized that TNA has existed longer than WCW (dating WCW from 1991 not from the '88 Turner Buyout). That is just fuckin depressing.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05 In the Taue review, I said that the Kobashi reign had all but run its course. They did squeeze one more good match out of it before they had him drop the title to Rikio, which is this match against the mercurial Minoru Suzuki. The cackling, invading shoot fighter looked to wrest the time from NOAH's ace using his unique brand of head games and submissions. A lot of people would say this match screams styles clash, but styles make bouts interesting. Suzuki took Kobashi out of his comfort zone and together they had a more dynamic effort than say with Yuji Nagata. However, it just felt like it came to late in the reign. The Nagata match was a Clash of the Titans. The Kobashi reign was running on fumes at this point. Right off the bat, we get Suzuki's head games that frustrate Kobashi and establish why Suzuki is such a lethal opponent. He is like Rat Boy with skills. You think a test of strength would be a bad idea on Suzuki's part, but he turns that into a crazy pinning predicament and triangle choke then into a cross armbreaker. When Kobashi gets out of it, he is laughing and having himself a grand 'ol time at the expense of Kobashi. Kobashi gets pegged as a meat head sometimes, but he aint no dummy. He knows he has the strength advantage and if Suzuki is quicker and shrewder well why not bring back to the basics and Kobashi works a headlock the majority of the opening. He does not let go. He puts a headlock on him outside and brings him with one. You can control the head; you control the body. Two can play that game, Suzuki. Prematurely, Kobashi thinks it is time to unload the chops and Suzuki grabs his arm, sticks out his tongue and puts him in a triangle choke dangling over the ropes. Suzuki is such a badass heel, the perfect blend of cocky and dangerous. Even busting out the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. You can sense Kobashi frustration over both his arm injury and Suzuki's behavior. Kobashi is able to get a sleeper and hit the sleeper suplex to turn the tide. Tease the half-nelson suplex on apron, but Suzuki slaps on a sleeper and Kobashi collapses off the ramp onto the floor. Nasty bump that puts over how messed up Kobashi is. When Kobashi gets back in, Suzuki lays it in with a cradle piledriver, a wicked back drop driver and an octopus stretch. However, a desperation BURNING LARIAT~! levels the playing field. Kobashi jacknifes off a weak powerbomb and Suzuki grabs a cross armbreaker out of it. Too sweet! Wild left handed lariat saves Kobashi. Axe bombah in the corner and Kobashi accelerates through the hole with a barrage of lariats and back drop drivers to win the match. The story of the match is the story that has continued since Akiyama. Attrition is taking Kobashi down and it is inevitable that soon he will drop the title. Suzuki also accomplished the feat with a sound strategy of taking out the arm and avoiding Kobashi's bombs (like the half-nelson on the ramp). Suzuki just being Suzuki forced him to wrestle very conservatively from the outset with the headlock and once he tried to transition into a Kobashi match Suzuki pounced. The thing with Kobashi is that he always has a puncher's chance so when he hits off-handed lariat he is able to follow up with all those bombs that Suzuki just could not escape. It is an interesting match, but in terms of the reign it is just not at the high end (which speaks volumes about how bitchin this reign was) ****

Navigation Over The Date Line is a close second to Navigation With Breeze as a hilarious wrestling tour/show name. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04 "TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE!" Besides the one asshole twerp that screams "Kobashi" every 5 fuckin seconds (seriously it could kill your enjoyment of this match), this crowd is 100% behind Taue to lift the title off Kobashi. After 18 months, it is just the nature of the beast that the crowds start to get restless with Kobashi as a champion. Yes, they still had this match with a fellow Four Corner of Heaven, an invader match with Minoru Suzuki and the final title loss to rookie bust, Takeshi Rikio. However, after the Akiyama match there is a definite feel that Kobashi reign has climax. When you get that sense of climax, audiences tend to want to rush to the final resolution. Remembering back to high school English, they broke a story into 5 fundamental parts and the shortest one usually was the falling action (between climax and resolution). There is a reason it is short people just had their minds blown by the climax and now want the satisfaction of the resolution. Well, Kobashi's reign had a long falling action. It provided us this excellent match against Taue and a very good match against Minoru Suzuki, but I feel this explains the crowd behavior, which was dead in this match unless Taue was doing something awesome. Normally, Kobashi does a little shine in the beginning because he is a macho badass champion well Taue aint having none of that. He boots him off the apron and goes diving through the ropes onto him. Whenever Taue dives outside, it is just so unexpected and ungraceful that looks awesome. Taue loves picking people up and dropping them neck first on unforgiving objects and that is why he is the Man. Kobashi starts firing off some chops and hits a plancha to the outside. Taue like most Kobashi opponents has raw meat for a chest now. Kobashi busts everyone's favorite move the 3-Handled Moss-Covered Gredunza and controls with various holds. Taue steals a move from his Holy Demon Army partner with a spinkick to turn the tide. He goes after Kobashi's knees as so many have tried using the half-crab, kneecrusher and a weird figure-4. Taue's chest is just gross at this point as it already starting to bruise. NODOWA ON RAMP~! Taue going to take no countout win and goes out gets Kobashi. Taue just runs off a huge string of offense. When Kobashi tries to no-sell a German, he just kicks him in the head. NODOWA OFF APRON~! Kobashi keeps falling down, but nothing can stop the DYNAMIC BOMB~! At this point, the crowd relents and starts to cheer for Kobashi. Kobashi chops Taue's hand to stop the Nodowa and gets a Burning Lariat to create space (Vintage Cole). It truly is 2004 because Kobashi steals the Nodowa to no reaction, but hits on of his best powerbombs, but cant keep him down. Kobashi crashes and burns on the moonsault. Can Taue do it? Can he pull it off? The crowd has woken up! Taue busts out a backdrop Nodowa! Taue goes for the Super Nodowa, but Kobashi looks to powerbomb him and it is a Taue-rana!!! HUGE POP! Brainbuster only gets two. The crowd wanted Taue to win so badly there that you had to feel bad for Taue and them. Taue hits a flying friggin bodypress. Giants dont fly, but Taue does! Taue chants echo throughout the Budokan. One Kobashi lariat silences the crowd. He runs through some standard offense while the crowd chants for Taue before he finishes him with the Mutha of all FInishes: Wrist-Clutch Burning Hammer! The fun of this match is undoubtedly seeing Taue get a crack at the title in his waning days and having the crowd fully behind him. He really puts it all on the line here flying through the air, ruthlessly attacking knee and Nodowas galore. The Nodowa is the opposite of the Kojima's Ace Crusher it is bitchin in all its variation. Kobashi sold like a million bucks to make you believe the Impossible Dream could come true. This was the least Kobashi-oriented match of the reign. It makes sense that after Akiyama pushed him into the limit that he was really out of gas. He was just hanging on my a thread in this match taking less offense than usual and being on the defensive early. He also needed to bust out his super-duper finisher to polish this one off. Bot in kayfabe and reality with Kobashi and crowds fatigued, the end was nigh for this historic title reign.

Thanks, brutha. I have rewatched a good chunk of the Shield matches and they never really use the full court press/havoc defense as much they do in this match. They still come off as unique and badass. Granted, if they wrestled every match like that it could lose some its luster and they have done well to settle into six-man action, but still get over the idea of the unit. I will say they definitely still revolutionized how the WWE has presented the six-man and how an audience views a six-man tag. What is really cool about this match in addition to the Shield strategy is how they shine up the babyfaces. Ryback gets over early, but then put through a table. Kane actually fires through his offense and chokeslams Ambrose through a chair, but then speared through the barricade and covered in rubble. Daniel Bryan puts the YESLOCK on everyone before having his head stomped through the chair by Rollins. Ryback fires up again and gets the Shell Shock, but the Shield saves. Ryback is able to take one member but too little too late. However, you never feel like you are watching neat, little segments even though it is actually segmented really well because how organic it is (so organic that I claimed there were no segments because I didnt notice them until I re-read my own post). I am a transition freak. Everybody has their thing that they can get hung up. For me it is transitions. This match has awesome transitions.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 The pinnacle of Pro Wrestling NOAH pits the red-hot Kenta Kobashi defending his title against NOAH's second best, Jun Akiyama in a suitably epic encounter. It is a testament to NOAH that they were able to draw 50,000 to the Egg Dome with a main event of two NOAH talents as the big matches of 00s tended to feature a company vs. company rivalry. Yes, All Japan and New Japan were represented on the show, but without a doubt the drawing card was the payoff to the collision course that Kobashi and Akiyama has been on since Kobashi returned from injury in 2002. With a victory, Kobashi cements himself as one of the greatest champions of all time with one of the best reigns ever. If Akiyama wins, it could be a similar torch seizure that took a place just a year earlier when Kobashi finally got the Misawa monkey off his back and took his place in the sun. It has the Clash of the Titans feel you want at a Dome show. It is always a little weird to see the All Japan/NOAH boys at the Dome, but if there were ever two of them meant for the Dome it is these two. Kobashi wins an early exchange with a shoulderblock and Akiyama powders. Kobashi tells him he wants to get this done in the ring. Akiyama has Kobashi scouted grabbing a leg lace out of a Russian Legsweep attempt (that usually follows his short knee lifts). Akiyama looks for the guillotine choke (how he won the August 2000 match), but Kobashi urgently chops Akiyama's neck to stymie him. Kobashi turns Akiyama's neck/chest a nasty purple-red with some of the most brutal chops ever. He misses a spinning back chop and Akiyama capitalizes with a high knee. It is business as usual for Akiyama targeting the neck with knee-based offense and a wicked DDT onto the apron. Akiyama wrangles the choke, but Kobashi pops out so Akiyama goes right back to the neck with a double-arm DDT and a forearm to back of head. Akiyama grabs the choke and Kobashi goes limp, but summons the strength to make the ropes. In a bitchin transition, Kobashi actually clamps on a headlock after being hit with a back suplex. It is such a good headlock that it is a credible pinning predicament. Then in a HOLY SHIT bump, Kobashi suplexes him off the apron, which sounds nasty, but not that nasty. However, when you actually see the landing they fucking bounce off the floor. They milk this for a double countout, but both get in at 15. Kobashi collapses in the ring and when he finally covers Akiyama he barley gets a shoulder up. Kobashi runs off his usual offense, half-nelson suplex and Burning Lariat He knows it is time for Burning Hammer, but Akiyama elbows out and a running knee levels the playing field. They tease finishers off the apron and Akiyama hits his Exploder off the middle rope to the floor. They tease a countout loss by Kobashi, who gets in at 19. Kobashi is able to get his foot on the ropes during the consequent pinfall attempt. More Exploders (top-rope version) are not doing the trick, so he tries choking him out and still only can get two. Wrist-clutch exploder gets two. Kobashi is not human. Akiyama must be like I am fucked at this point. Kobashi brainbuster out of some crazy Exploder variation and trade half-nelson suplexes and exploders. Burning Lariat and finally Akiyama collapses. It is academic at this point and a moonsault and Burning Hammer polish off Kobashi's biggest challenge yet. There is something about the Kobashi/Akiyama that just does not do it completely for me. I like wrinkles and dynamics that add to forumla. I feel like Kobashi and Akiyama are the most proficient practitioners of the epic NOAH style so it is just formula executed as well as possible, but without the wrinkles that other opponents can add to the match. This had everything you would expect from Kobashi/AKiyama: chops, knees, suplexes, huge bumps, big bombs and a badass finish run. It felt like Akiyama pushed Kobashi to his limit moreso than any other opponent yet with his chokeout and Exploder off the middle-rope, but just did not have enough in the arsenal to polish off Kobashi. I can see why people feel like this match is the nail in the Akiyama as an Ace coffin. It was a very decisive Kobashi victory as he take literally every Akiyama bomb and then beat him clean with his two biggest bombs. I don't think this was the point of no return. Akiyama could have worked on a new super head drop finisher or if Kobashi dropped the title on the next defense he could take credit for Kobashi being so fatigued that he was easy pickings for the next challenger. There were options for Akiyama and I don't think this was a must-win for him. It was a great performance that put him right on Kobashi's level, but much like Kawada the resistance to pull the trigger ultimately fucked him. It is hard to explain, but I thought it was missing that little hook that other MOTDCs have had to give this the full monty. I felt Kobashi's desperation, but I just didnt think Akiyama was at the same level of urgency. For comparison, I thought Akiyama's performance in the Misawa '00 match really had the extra sense of urgency that takes the match to next level. I have said it before and will say it again when you are picking the best match of the decade you have to pick nits. ****3/4

With all eyes focused on NOAH in 2003-2004, what the hell was going on New Japan? Shoot fights on pro wrestling cards, 10 champions and 2 vacancies in two years, Chono vs Chyna and then Hogan and Bob Sapp as champion. BOM-BA-YE! That is dying days of WCW levels of batshit insanity, but still there a handful of good matches. I enjoyed the change of pace from the NOAH epics with all but one match (that match featuring a NOAH wrestler) clocking in at a tidy 15 minutes. The matches featured hard-hitting strike exchanges that led to payoff of one or two bombs and were a great representation of Strong Style. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/inoki-bom-ba-ye-new-japan-2003-2004.html Rankings getting out of control, I will post top ten and new additions from now on. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 3. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 5. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 6. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 7. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 8. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title 9. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01 10. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01 23. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04 26. Genichiro Tenryu vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Vacant IWGP Championship 02/15/04 30. U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuyuki Fujita - Vacant IWGP Championship 6/5/04 33. All Japan Triple Crown Champ Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04 Non-Title 36. Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Finals 08/17/03

The key to this match is right from the outset Mutoh rocked Tenryu with the knee and everything follows in place. It is probably slowest worked of the MOTDC I have seen, but it is so well-executed both from a layout and action perspective that it is hard to deny. It is definitely one of my favorite matches.

I agree wholeheartedly the beginning of the match was really, really good. There is this strange dynamic with Kojima that first 5 minutes are worked really well and then it is just all down hill especially when it is time for him to make his comeback. Kojima doing the leg stretches was boss, best thing I think he has ever done.

While I personally did not rate their 2004 encounter as a MOTYC, I could see someone making the case that was MOTYC (of course in a year when Kobashi was killing it that is a tall task). Sasaki and Takayama do have tremendous chemistry.