Superstar Sleeze

KENTA vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 06/27/04 I hope KENTA is still sending Takayama Christmas presents because Takayama made him look like a million bucks. This is a better version of the Tanahashi/Fujita and Takayama is downright Vader-like in how well he shined up KENTA throughout the match. Now granted KENTA is whole lot tinier than Sting or Mutoh, but Takayama was so selfless and really put the kid over as a scrappy, never say die babyface. KENTA did all the right things, but he was just missing that extra something when he was selling to really take it to the next level. This remains one of my all-time favorite NOAH match as it accomplishes what it sets out to do in a tidy 12 minutes and leaves you thinking KENTA is one tough little bugger. Right from the outset, he sets the tone kicking away Takayama's outstretched hand and bringing the fight right to him. Takayama weathers the storm before swatting him away like a gnat. There some huge kneelifts and kicks in this match from Takayama. I loved the spot where he just threw KENTA down to the floor it seemed like a deadlift. Takayama like all bullies gets a little cocky and covers KENTA with one foot. KENTA ain't taking that lying down. Takayama lays him out with a closed fist. KENTA just won't go away a tornado DDT and springboard dropkick get him back in it. He even covers Takayama with one foot, which Takayama promptly swats away. I loved the cutoff spots with huge kicks and knees from Takayama. KENTA was the little train that could and even got to slam and German Suplex Takayama. I have to say that Takayama did this spot a lot better than Vader, who made it too clear that he was helping his opponent. KENTA gets a really shitty looking cross armbreaker before Takayama slams out. He goes for the Everest German, but instead throws him face first onto the mat in a nasty spot and then demolishes him with a knee. This was everything you would want out this match. Takayama is one man wrecking ball and KENTA just won't stop coming. It is one of the easiest stories to tell, but they knocked it out of the park. ****

I am still working my way through KENTAFuji (I find myself enjoying KENTA, but fuck Marufuji is awful), but I am already finished with the second installment of the Dangerous Alliance Chronicles. It is just so much breezy than constant 25-30 minute matches for KENTAFuji. This one just looks at January of 1992, which includes the awesome Arn Anderson/Dustin Rhodes Saturday Night, which I know a lot of people on here have raved about and pointed to show that Dustin deserved his spot on the card. I have watched it three times myself and it has only gotten better. It is a fantastic outing from both men. A match that I think is a little underplayed is the six-man tag team at Clash 18 that featured Barry Windham return after having his hand crushed by Larry Z. I thought that was a really fun, energetic match that whetted your appetite, but left you looking forward to Windham really getting a hold of Larry Legend and exacting revenge at SuperBrawl II. Match Listing: Match Listing Arn Anderson w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Dustin Rhodes - WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92 **** (Arn & Dustin own it in a fantastic match) Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton) vs Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Marcus Bagwell) ***1/4 (Sting is over like rover. Definitely peak overness until the Crow Era Sting. Love the build to Sting/Rude confrontation) Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) vs. Dont Step To Sweetwater (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons) - Clash of the Champions XVIII ***3/4 (Barry Windham is back and he is out for revenge, Yep it is as fantastic as that sounds) Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude & Steve Austin) vs. Dragon's Sting (Sting & Ricky Steamboat) Clash of the Champions XVIII *** (Bit disappointing given the talent, but Rude's selling and the post-match make up for it.) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/05/alabama-jam-history-of-dangerous.html

Pete, I don't actually find fault with WCW's booking of Pillman until 1991. The Luger series was a great way to be introduced as plucky, upstart underdog that can hang with the big boys, but not there yet. The Zenk tag team was a good idea on paper to have gain some experience work with the Birds and MX, but the start-stop push hindered that team. Dusty did a great job positioning as a rising star at Wargames '91 and against Windham. I think the Yellow Dog angle was genius. It was a great mid-card angle and the bounty made every match mean something. Yellow Dog vs Windham or Arn would have been a great blowoff, but instead they drop the angle and he is pushed as the star of the DOA Light Heavyweight Division. Talk of being fucked. He had to be turned heel as a Blond to resuscitate his career. I think when they decided to split the Blonds is when he needed to win a singles title. Austin seemingly was going to be pushed so I don't fault them for keeping the title on him. As good as Regal is, I think if someone wanted to point to a time when Pillman should have won a singles title that was the only time that made sense. WCW US Champion Rick Rude w/Paul E. vs WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman - WCW Pro 2/15/92 Rick Rude was untouchable in this timeframe as a main event heel. His in-ring work finally caught up to his commanding presence and great character work. Much like the Arn match with Dustin, Rude makes everyone out to be winner by selling his knee like a million bucks. By making Pillman look that good, it made the victory mean that much more and made the match one of the best of this angle. I am a mark for a good drop toe hold especially when it is chained into a hold so Pillman gave me the double whammy and then Rude sold his ass off to make it the hook of the match. Little things like Rude hitting a kneelift with the wrong leg preventing him from capitalizing so he ends up getting that knee wrapped around the post. Or as Rude is working over Pillman's back with slams and a bearhug how Pillman will try to throw shots at the knee. This does not reach the level of Pillman's famous TV matches with Flair because Pillman just does not seem as fiesty and violent as he did in those matches. His comeback featured only two overhand chops, we need more violence. Rude kicks out Air Pillman surprisingly and escapes to the outside, but Pillman wont let him breathe and dives onto him. When Pillman looks to leap off top again, Rude catches him with the Stun Gun and a Rude Awakening is all she wrote. Rude looked like the next main event WCW cash cow in this match. He is different from Flair enough, but still fills the void Flair left in having great TV bouts with babyfaces. If he stayed healthy, the sky was the limit (well with WCW's promotional capabilities who knows, but still). Pillman did not look like the cant miss star like he did in early '91 facing Flair and Windham. I would need to watch more, but it looks like the Light Heavyweight Champion "promotion" may have sapped his zeal. This is a great showcase for how good Rick Rude was at this point. ***1/2

You cant say no to more Larry Z, BABY! In a matchup that if it were have had happened in 1980 WWF would have made the Titans of Wrestling crew cream their pants in 2014, I present The Living Legend vs The Dragon, but unfortunately from 1992. Larry Zbyszko w/Paul E. & Mad USA vs Ricky Steamboat - Worldwide 01/25/92 Madusa, what the fuck? Her fashion sense is truly abysmal. It actually would have been funny if Paul E. appointed Missy as the Director of Covert Operations only she is the biggest blabbermouth and keeps ruining his plans. It had potential to deliver some decent comedy segments. The added benefit of Madusa was clearly physicality, but God from pant suits to being dressed like a 12 year old from the early 90s (in her defense it was the early 90s, but she still she was a grown woman). Enough of all this stalling (see what I did there), lets get to the action. Actually Larry Z gets right to business and takes a page out of Steamboat book with two quick nearfalls early and gloats to the Steamer. The fans sure do love telling Paul E. he sucks and even better when they stop he starts his own Paul E.Sucks chant, but pounding the mat in rhythm. Well played, Mr. Dangerously! Steamboat says two can play that game and gets two quick nearfalls of his own, but instead of gloating he chops him. Larry Z powders claiming to have been chopped in the throat. Returning to the ring, The Living Legend actually strings together some offense catching Steamboat in a criss cross with an atomic drop and then a spin kick, that was pretty neat. Steamboat's comeback was a little tepid and he takes a spill when Madusa pulls down the middle rope. Zbyszko looks to bring him in the hard way, but Steamboat chops him away and propels himself on top of him to garner the victory. After the match in a show of unity, the Dangerous Alliance come out to lay the boots to Steamboat, The crowd calls for Sting as Rude threatens to belt him and Sting & Co. (Dustin, Windham, Simmons) make the save. That was the most Four Horsemen the Dangerous Alliance has looked. Still the Four Horsemen always talked about partying together and it really felt like a close-knit group. This still feels more like five wrestlers that happen to have the same manager, which there is nothing wrong with that business model. I just don't think it is a totally apples to apples comparison. These two had a great match in them, but unfortunately did not have the time to deliver it.

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude & Steve Austin) vs. Dragon's Sting (Sting & Ricky Steamboat) - Clash of the Champions XVIII The Rick Rude waddle after the two atomic drops was the highlight of the match. He must have really been in a bad way if he could not have extended his career as a tag team stooge for a couple years. Also I liked Steamboat switching it up and putting his nearfall barrage at the beginning against Austin. Austin did a good job selling exasperation. The crowd went nuts for Sting hip swivel and Im a mark for when the babyfaces illegally switch, the heel hem and haw, the ref asks the crowd and they all say NO! Thats good fun! The FIPs were fine for what they were, but not as good as the shine. Sting leaps onto Steamboat and Austin so that Sting and The Dragon pin Austin, which really works Jesse up into a lather. So that when Rude & Austin beat the living hell out of Steamboat he loves this justified revenge. Two Rude Awakenings has the Steamer paralyzed. Rude starts to whip with a belt. Dangerously with his phone and Austin hold off security. This was a great post-match angle to put some heat on the Rude/Steamboat match at SuperBrawl. It was a fun match, but nothing to write home about. ***

KENTAFuji vs New Japan (Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama) - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03 After their awful performance in the 8-man Burning vs Sterness tag, I was fearing for the worst from KENTAFuji and I expected that these matches would confirm the worst of what their detractors say about their spot-fu, bereft of selling style. However, I love polarizing figures in wrestling because they challenge me to evaluate the match on its merits not on the reputation. You cant let someone else dictate your opinions. You have to go to the primary source to develop your own. I have seen other KENTA and Marufuji matches, but for the purposes of this project, this is only the second match I have reviewed. I thought they belted this one out of the park. I would call this second best junior heavyweight match I have seen so far and the best of the New Japan vs NOAH junior tags. Funny how Murahama is two of top three best junior heavyweight matches and I had never heard of him until this project. Much like when I watched the New Japan/Osaka trios match, as soon as I saw Murahama hook it up with KENTA I wanted that singles match hell sign me up for a KENTA/Minoru Tanaka singles bout. Another feather in Liger's cap proving that he is the greatest Japanese junior heavyweight and globally I would say Rey Mysterio is the only one who is in the same league as him. KENTA/Murahama kick off the bout with some really neat shoot-style standup and KENTA hits a running big boot on Liger on the apron. This ain't going to be no exhibition there is some bad blood here, baby. I love how Liger swatted the gymnast, Marufuji out of the sky early with a palm strike. Marufuji to his credit went toe to toe with Murahama in headbutts showing that he was not all bad aerials and light offense. After the little shoot-style intro, they hit their dives. KENTA comes up a little short on his, but Marufuji does hit a sweet spingboard moonsault onto Liger to the outside. Then there is a weird heel in peril segment where KENTAFuji works over Murahama and Marufuji hits his first shitty move and it just drags. Murahama wakes us up with a sweet flip dive onto KENTA and here comes THE BOOM! Liger destroys KENTA: frogsplash, wicked Ligerbomb, surfboard, camel clutch (complete with Murahama kicks). Murahama transitions to KENTA's legs and applies a figure-4. KENTA does a pretty good garnering sympathy from the crowd as the New Japan invaders are really laying it on. KENTA/Murahama hit mirror strikes on each other, but Murahama tags Liger in and he knocks Fuji off apron with the palm strike and wallops KENTA with one in the corner. KENTA is finally able to tag Marufuji after a tornado DDT onto the top rope and springboard dropkick. It is not much a hot tag as Liger smokes with a palm strike after a short sequence and then catches him off the top with a wicked powerbomb and then the Ligerbomb looks to finish it. Two more brainbusters cant get the job done as KENTA saves. Marufuji hits a superkick and Liger a palm strike to knock each other out. I am loving the KENTA/Murahama interactions as they just rock it again with the kick combos. Murahama is able to get a brainbuster, German suplex and finally a double wristlock, which is treated as a finish. Murahama kicks KENTA's bad arm so he catches that leg and elbows it. Muraham switches to other leg and KENTA catches that and dragon leg screw. Well done! Tag to Fuji and we hit the finish run. Melee ensues. Murahama actually gets a nearfall on Marufuji after a couple kicks to head. KENTA owns Liger with a wicked strike combo. KENTAFuji hot their version of Doomsaday Device with a knee instead of lariat. Liger saves. The finish is a nice Marufuji shooting star press as they become the inaugural GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. This was one helluva a balls to the wall affair. Besides the weird heel in peril segment (like 2-3 minutes of a 26 minute match), these four brought all the action to deliver a great fireworks spectacle. KENTA/Murahama stood out as a great pairing and I hope there is a singles match between the two of them out there. Liger was the MVP of this for me. He proved that not only could he could keep up with the young guns that his offense was truly timeless. Plus Liger dismantling Marufuji should bring a smile to everyone's face. Nothing has changed in terms of me thinking that KENTA is light years ahead of Marufuji. If someone could slow KENTA down a bit and force him to sell he has some great matches in him. KENTA was great in his FIPs, just long-term selling is what I mean. Marufuji was definitely more reigned in here, but his superkick is weak and his offense is too light. He toned down the dumb shit and was working better, but I don't think he is salvageable. In 2003, the juniors are 2 for 2 in terms of big action blockbusters in my book. ****1/4

Low Ki vs AJ Styles - Z1 01/05/03 AJ Styles as the cocky, douchey show-off heel was one of my favorite things about wrestling in the 00s. He is perfectly contrasted against the ultra-serious, no-nonsense Low-Ki in this match. I have seen this match before and thought it was pretty good, but this time around I was actually blown away how well this came off. The spots were well-executed at a pace that kills, but in addition there were actual transitions and it felt like an actual contest with two combatants struggling for victory. The early matwork was really well done and felt super organic. Each wrestler was looking for a hold, but could never really wrangle one. I dug Ki's kick to AJ's head during a Stampede roll-around on the armbar. Everytime, AJ went to bask in his own glory it usually led to a swift kick to his head (second time he jumps over the railing to avoid contact only for Ki to wipe him and a bunch of fans out was friggin awesome). Or AJ liked to do a kip up hurricanrana at the time and I just watched the ROH 2002 match against Ki where he does it out of nowhere and it looked pretty stupid. Here, Ki has been on offense for the majority of the match, but during a criss cross AJ hits a dropkick to a leapfrogging Ki to hit his kip up rana and it looks so much better since Ki is bending over. AJ was not just some Scotty Steiner doing a spot and then popping for himself. When he nailed Ki with one of his semi-finishers (one of them indy-riffic suplexes), he was pissed off that he did not win and started to unload with a bunch of closed fists. He cared about winning in a wrestling match what a novel concept! Of course, his overzealousness costed him as Ki caught him in a powerbomb. Ki showed the crowd that Styles was not the only one who cared about winning as he unleashed some devastating Kawada kicks. There were a lot of great spots in this one, but spot of the match had to be AJ catching Ki off some crazy flip and seamlessly turning it into Style Clash. AJ, brash as ever, signals he has a three only for a kick out and his face says it all. Now if Ki hit the Ki Krusher and won right there. I think I would have an argument to call this an elite match, but AJ kicks out and the finish sequence goes two minutes longer than it should. AJ counters Kawada kicks with a suplex combination that is indy-riffic in his no-selling and its presentation. He does grab his neck (Ki Krusher) and show some hesitancy to go for Super Styles Clash so I will give him that. Ki is able to take advantage of this to hit his Ki Krusher and roll into a wicked looking Dragon Sleeper for win. There are definite issues in terms of long-term selling and the finish sequence going into spot overdrive, but in terms of a fireworks display with struggle and well-done transitions this hard to beat. ****

Taking a break from Japan going back to where I belong Dubbya-See-Dubbya baby! This is Volume 1 of the Dangerous Alliance Chronicles. Starts off with two matches that technically predate the storyline but set the table with Steamboat coming back and winning the tag titles from The Enforcers in a well-known, badass match and Rude taking the US Title from Sting under nefarious circumstances. A great, great way to book two hotting returning stars and set the promotion afire after the GAB '91 debacle. In addition, standout TV match is a singles affair from Eaton and Steamboat that mixes brawling and technique to build to a hot, hot finish. As a big Eaton mark very happy to find such a good Eaton singles performance. Match Listing: WCW World Tag Team Champions The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) vs. Dustin Rhodes & Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Clash of the Champions XVII ****1/2 WCW US Champion Sting vs "Ravishing" Rick Rude w/Paul E. Dangerously - Clash of the Champions XVII (Not a great match per se, but a great angle) Dustin Rhodes & Bobby Eaton vs Arn Anderson & Steve Austin - WCW Worldwide 11/23/91 (Wonder what happens in this match?) Larry Zbyszko vs Barry Windham - WCW Main Event 11/24/91 (Larryland is the most magical place on Earth. Great heel performance) Bobby Eaton w/Mad USA vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 12/14/91 (Chairshots, Barrage of pinning sequences and an awful Madusa suit) ***3/4 WCW TV Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Big Josh WCW Pro 12/21/91 (Poor Matt Bourne) Dangerous Alliance (Bobby Eaton & The Enforcers) vs All Gold Everything (Brian Pillman, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes) - WCW Pro 12/21/91 (First of many fun, solid six-man tags) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/05/rude-awakening-history-of-dangerous.html

My favorite thing on Twitter right now is how much an Adam Rose mark Missy Hyatt is.

I am a little shocked this did not make the '92 yearbook. Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) vs. Dont Step To Sweetwater (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons) - Clash of the Champions XVIII Barry Windham is BACK, BABY! He is coming for you Larry Z! Paul E. cuts a promo before the match saying one of the heroes of WCW will be going to the Magnum TA retirement home, but aint nobody gonna deny Barry. I loved the opening with Eaton rattling off a neckbreaker, big right and a superplex and Barry just no selling it. Crowd and I lost out shit for that. Windham hits a superplex of his own and then we get the triple figure-fours. Ron Simmons does the Ricky Morton/Shawn Michaels flip out of the double top wristlock and double shoulderblock, which is impressive given his size. He then catches Eaton mid-air into bearhug. The more I watch early WCW the more I understand the Simmons push. Then Dustin/Eaton tango and Dustin is awesome. He throws out Eaton onto the ramp and just hurls himself over the top rope onto Eaton. The babyfaces were fired up for this and I love it. Windham and Zbyszko the Reckoning! Big Barry chants. Where was the payoff singles match??? Larry Z sidesteps the lariat and Barry crashes and burns and when Barry tags Dustin he does the same thing. Jeez, Dustin you are supposed to learn from your mentor's mistakes not play Monkey See, Monkey Do. Paul E. get his brick cell phone shot in Dustin, which means we get a Dustin FIP. O yes! Arn runs through his offense: spinebuser and wicked DDT, but cant keep the kid down. Eaton now hits his flying elbow, but Dustin's heart dont pump kool-aid. Eaton crotches himself on the middle turnbuckle -> HOT TAG TO BARRY!!! Melee ensues, but this time there ain't no Alabama Jam opportunity. Instead, Windham swats Eaton right out of the air with a right to pick up the win. What a great, high-energy six-man tag, definitely my favorite six-man tag. I am a big Windham fan, glad to see him back and kicking ass. The match was super tight and efficient no dead spots and everything served a purpose. The heat segment even included some cool heel moves, which is a nice treat. This was a perfect first match back for Windham. He wins, but does not exact full revenge from Larry "The Cruncher" Zbyszko setting up the bitchin SuperBrawl tag match. ***3/4

Since Larry Legend is a hot subject might as well tack this one here. I am a little shocked this did not make the '92 yearbook. Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) vs. Dont Step To Sweetwater (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons) - Clash of the Champions XVIII Barry Windham is BACK, BABY! He is coming for you Larry Z! Paul E. cuts a promo before the match saying one of the heroes of WCW will be going to the Magnum TA retirement home, but aint nobody gonna deny Barry. I loved the opening with Eaton rattling off a neckbreaker, big right and a superplex and Barry just no selling it. Crowd and I lost out shit for that. Windham hits a superplex of his own and then we get the triple figure-fours. Ron Simmons does the Ricky Morton/Shawn Michaels flip out of the double top wristlock and double shoulderblock, which is impressive given his size. He then catches Eaton mid-air into bearhug. The more I watch early WCW the more I understand the Simmons push. Then Dustin/Eaton tango and Dustin is awesome. He throws out Eaton onto the ramp and just hurls himself over the top rope onto Eaton. The babyfaces were fired up for this and I love it. Windham and Zbyszko the Reckoning! Big Barry chants. Where was the payoff singles match??? Larry Z sidesteps the lariat and Barry crashes and burns and when Barry tags Dustin he does the same thing. Jeez, Dustin you are supposed to learn from your mentor's mistakes not play Monkey See, Monkey Do. Paul E. get his brick cell phone shot in Dustin, which means we get a Dustin FIP. O yes! Arn runs through his offense: spinebuser and wicked DDT, but cant keep the kid down. Eaton now hits his flying elbow, but Dustin's heart dont pump kool-aid. Eaton crotches himself on the middle turnbuckle -> HOT TAG TO BARRY!!! Melee ensues, but this time there ain't no Alabama Jam opportunity. Instead, Windham swats Eaton right out of the air with a right to pick up the win. What a great, high-energy six-man tag, definitely my favorite six-man tag. I am a big Windham fan, glad to see him back and kicking ass. The match was super tight and efficient no dead spots and everything served a purpose. The heat segment even included some cool heel moves, which is a nice treat. This was a perfect first match back for Windham. He wins, but does not exact full revenge from Larry "The Cruncher" Zbyszko setting up the bitchin SuperBrawl tag match. ***3/4

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton) vs Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Marcus Bagwell) - WCW Pro 01/18/92 Sting is over like rover and the crowd is molten for the Sting/Rude confrontation. Rude is the God King of Stooging and is the total highlight of the shine selling the Steamboat wristlock and atomic drop like only he can. Bagwell is inoffensive in his section. I was not digging Sting clearing the ring seemed lackluster, but the crowd loved it. Eaton and Dangerously hold Rude back on the apron while Sting stands alone and the crowd is losing its shit at the prospective clash. However, it is not to be as Austin/Sting resumes. To my surprise, the story is not the rookie, Bagwell being in over his head, but rather Steamboat takes the heat. Overall, this is much better for my enjoyment, but I don't know if it is logical. The crowd let us know "We Want Sting" while Eaton hits two nice Billy Robinson backbreakers on Steamboat.Rude comes in hits a move and that hip swivels in front of Sting when Sting goes for the swipe he takes a step back and keeps swiveling. Thats dedication to the craft! Steamboat gets the hot tag to Bagwell!?!?!?!? The crowd goes mild to say the least. Melee ensues and Sting/Rude hook it up and the crowd goes nuclear. Bagwell powerslams Austin, but the ref loses control. Everybody all together now, Bobby Eaton flies through the air with the Alabama Jam to take out Bagwell and puts Austin on top for the Dangerous Alliance victory. It is a fun, popcorn type match that showcases where this angle helped the most and that is delivering good to great matches on a weekly basis. However, there has been a lack of progression, but hopefully with a Clash and Superbrawl coming up we will start to see a change in that front. ***1/4

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ricky Martel blows Ricky Steamboat out of the water in terms of looking like a fineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee muthafucka. smh. French Tickler >>> Hawaiian Punch.

Arn Anderson w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Dustin Rhodes - WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92 I'll never ever get tired of Beautiful Bobby flying randomly into the screen to drop the leg on an unsuspecting babyface covering an opponent. I have actually seen this match twice before and I loved it. I remember the double bodypart psychology and each men's selling being the hooks of the match. For the life of me, I couldnt remember the finish and then JR says we will show the finish tomorrow I was like "Fuck, the reason I dont remember it is because I never saw it". Then fuckin Eaton flies out of nowhere to nail Dustin with the Alabama Jam. I love pro wrestling. The fundamentals and selling really carry this match into instant classic status. There are really few highspots in the match, but the entirety of the match is absolutely riveting because how each men is struggling to gain the edge on the other, the organic transitions and their selling made every little thing mean so much more. Early on, Dustin seems to be outwrestling Anderson slightly establishing a hammerlock/armbar base, but Anderson never really lets the match get away from him. When Dustin hits a flying lariat (the only early highspot), Anderson rolls out and kills Dustin's momentum. He goes to throw Dustin to the outside, his domain, but Dustin turns the tables on him by scooping his leg and wrapping it around the post. Thus the awesomeness begins. It is not because how well Dustin worked the leg. It is because Arn never stopped struggling. He did not let the moves happen to him. He was still eye-raking, but Dustin was persistence with the back heel trip into the figure-4. "Break his leg" the crowd chants, we need crowds like this now! Everytime Arn is trying to cutoff he continues to sell the knee and how hard it is just to stand. He fights through it and nails a spinebuster, but cant capitalize immediately. He throws him outside to buy himself some time and Paul E. is able to inflict some damage with his brick cell phone. In an arm for a leg moment, Arn rams Dustin shoulder into the post thus begins Dustin's awesome selling of the arm. An Anderson dissecting an arm and a Rhodes selling it for all its worth is pro wrestling. Dustin making one arm comebacks was friggin bitchin. Paul E. gets another cell phone shot and the kid kicks out and a woman nearly throws her baby into the ring throwing a fit. WE NEED CROWDS LIKE THIS! Dustin fights through the pain to let it flip, flop and FLY! JR says TV time is running out. BULLDOG! Paul E on the apron! Cover! All the way from Huntsville, Alabama, Bobby Eaton flies in and nails Dustin with the leg drop. Steamboat is in to rectify the situation with the ref and we go off the air. This is meat and potatoes wrestling but if only all wrestling could be this good. When you sell like this everything is better. Your opponent looks better. The moves mean more. The match means more. Your heat skyrockets. Vulnerability sells. The transitions were all hard-fought and logical. No one every stopped fighting. Dustin and Arn were always struggling. Sometimes, I will see wrestlers content just to let the person on offense do moves to him and sure they will sell, but where's the struggle! Dustin proved to be wise beyond his years. Arn is the master of the fundamentals. Overall a great showcase of why I love pro wrestling. ****

I actually really liked the Ultimate Warrior/Road Warriors vs Demolition matches. I thought SNME match was pretty tight. The Smash & Crush vs LOD match from November I thought was pretty decent. They could have gotten another two years out of Smash & Crush as a decent heel team in my opinion. I guess yeah it was underwhelming if you went in with the expectations "MY FACE IS GOING TO BE MELTED BY THE SHEER BITCHINESS OF DEMOLITION/LOD", but if you went in with none I thought it was a solid feud.

Bobby Eaton w/Mad USA vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 12/14/91 Seeing Madusa in her father's suit, makes me want more Missy Hyatt on my screen. O wait, I always want more prime Missy on the screen (I feel like one of the few who does not mind her commentating/interviewing). Enough about Missy because this match totally rules the school. From the outset, Beautiful Bobby establishes himself he is one mean sumbitch. He chokes Steamboat with his own bandanna and is relentless on top of him. This match is a perfect example of how you can mix things up. They brawl into crowd and Eaton hits a chair shot on Steamboat. It is not a hardcore match. It is just a match between two dudes that just don't like each other. WWE seems content in having everything in their nice, neat little boxes and this match showcases how you can blend genres. On the outside, Steamboat is able to send Eaton into the post and here comes a barrage of armdrags and armwork, which affords the Dragon the opportunity to tell the "Witch" at ringside to shut up. After the aforementioned chairshot, Eaton sends The Dragon's shoulder into the ringpost, nice tit for tat. He gets a nearfall on a suplex attempt and busts out a short arm scissors (a favorite of mine). Eaton and Steamboat's selling has really been top notch. In a moment that made me laugh out loud, Eaton goes to hit a move off the top and JR exclaims he is from Huntsville! I guess most natives of Huntsville, AL are landlubbers. Eaton eats feet and Steamboat unloads his onslaught of pinning predicaments. Eaton counters the skin the cat with a belly to back suplex and busts out a Billy Robinson style backbreaker. I like how Steamboat gets his nearfalls on flash pins and Eaton is using suplexes. It makes for good complements. Steamboat catches Eaton in a crucifix pin for the win. Austin crashes the party, but not before Barry Windham cast and all is back to make the save. Great way to build towards Steamboat/Austin next week and a badass match overall. Eaton really showed off his mean streak in this match while still putting over Steamboat's challenge. They really used everything to their advantage. All the outside work was used to set up what was to happen in the ring before they hit the frenetic finish. ***3/4

Dangerous Alliance (Bobby Eaton & The Enforcers) vs All Gold Everything (Brian Pillman, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes) - WCW Pro 12/21/91 The first of many Dangerous Alliance six mans is a solid match, but I did not think it was exceptional. Cool that everyone on the babyface team is a champion, Steamboat & Rhodes lifted the titles from the Enforcers and Pillman is the Champion of the ill-fated Light Heavyweight division. The shine lacked panache felt like the faces were going through the motions. The heels were excellent especially Arn in selling how smart he was for stopping short of the turnbuckles only get rammed into them by Dustin. Things picked up for once Dustin crashed and burned to outside. He is such a great face in peril and the heels were just kicking ass in being assholes and taking it to Dustin. I wished Pillman got more of an opportunity to work with DA, but he was stuck being the cornerstone of the DOA Light Heavyweight Division. Pillman was a good hot tag, but the finish stretch was a little rushed. Pillman has the pin after a cross body, but the ref is distracted by all the surrounding chaos and Eaton hits a perfect Alabama Jam from the heavens to break it up. Arn gets the duke and I just love that finish. More of a harbinger of the great things to come then a great match in its own right. Post-match is the best part as Barry Windham is back to exact revenge from the Dangerous Alliance and cleans house on the three members with his cast.

"Stunning" Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Big Josh - WCW Pro 12/21/91 Poor Matt Bourne getting saddled with Big Josh and Doink The Clown. While Doink was far superior to Big Josh (just terrible), it did have a ceiling. What is remarkable is that he wrestled in two totally different styles. Doink was presented in the ring and by Vince as a technical wrestling wizard whereas Big Josh was an untrained lumberjack brute (because all people from Oregon are lumberjacks, duh). He did a great job given the limitations of each character. The match is pretty standard, but Josh had two nice spots: airplane spin and standing on top of Austin and stepping him, which was pretty cool. Austin looked like a pretty generic heel in this one and just survived using some Paul E distraction and feet on the ropes. Big Josh was also wearing denim floodwaters. Yep, he was going nowhere.

Zbyszko is a great pure heel. He is detestable, loathsome, and obnoxious. We need more like him. He was not afraid to bump and show ass and great at verbal selling. More Larry Legend is needed in this world. Where in the world was he from 1981-1985? Larry Zbyszko vs Barry Windham - WCW Main Event 11/24/91 The wacky WCW TV taping/airing schedule strikes again as this was taped prior to Larry earning the "Cruncher" moniker by crushing Big Barry hand in a car door at Halloween Havoc. We never really did a get a blowoff for that, for shame. Larry is just excellent in this short match. As good as Barry is, Zbyszko could have been in there with anybody and this would have been great. I enjoyed his infamous stalling tactics this go around especially when he went over to the chicks with the "I LOVE BARRY" sign and tears it up. What a saucy boss! Zbyszko does every stalling tactic in the book and once gets trapped, he is not afraid to let the audience know his frustration ad they are loving it. On the flip side, when he gets his opening he is right on Windham on the outside and in the ring. You get the real sense of his desperation to control the bigger and better Windham. Thats what a heel should be hiding behind his bravado but actually wicked insecure in high pressure situations like this. Windham ends up scoring the victory with a flash pin. The Enforcers looks to put the boots to him, but Ron Simmons was in to make the save. Great Larry performance and worth seeing for a classic heel performance.

Dustin Rhodes & Bobby Eaton vs Arn Anderson & Steve Austin - WCW Worldwide 11/23/91 Again WCW impresses by pulling off a match that is the WWF's bread and butter using a match as a backdrop for an angle. Dustin really stood out in this match as really strong performer. Calls of nepotism be damned, he earned his position and this is just further proof. Just little things like coming in hot and chest bumping Arn just reminds the audience "Yeah he fucking hates this dude because he crushed Windham's hand". The beginning of the match he just stays the course and keeps wriggling free from all the cheating/head games tactics and going back to arm, but Eaton wont stay in the ring for more than 10 seconds so it is effectively a handicap match as Tony points out. Bobby had already been unveiled as the second member of the Dangerous Alliance on TV thus Tony focused on Bobby's odd behavior. Dustin did such a fantastic job selling fatigue. He was not hitting things at crisply and that leads to him getting hotshotted. Anderson and Austin are just great old school heels always taking shortcuts before hitting their moves. Bobby is great at distracting the ref and missing tags, Bobby actually does fire off some punches when he is tagged and that can be explained away as AA and Austin are not yet in the Dangerous Alliance. The Enforcer rammed Dustin's arm into the post thus he missed a tag so Beautiful Bobby gets pissed and gives him a shoulderbreaker costing them the match. It was a tight, efficient match that got everyone over in their role and moved Eaton into the burgeoning Dangerous Alliance. Even though I dug it, the crowd was dead, but on paper it does like a lethal lottery style tag match, but does a great job laying the foundation.

This blog looks at the miscellaneous hyped heavyweight matches from 2003-2004 that did not involve Kobashi or happen in New Japan. The result was my first reviews of shoot-style (I have watched UWFi before), which I found hard to rate/breakdown even though I enjoyed both matches. In addition, looked at other two big heavyweight NOAH matches in a really efficient and enjoyable Taue/Nagata match, definitely my favorite Nagata match so far. I did not like the Misawa/Ogawa tag match as much as most, but it was a solidly good match, but I am not seeing why anybody would say that overwrought match constitutes Match of the Decade consideration. The meat of the review focuses on the AJ/Z1 feud which produced a badass, chaotic slobberknocker between Kawada/Ogawa and the Kawada/Hashimoto dream match. Kawada may not have been producing on a night in/night out basis anymore, but he proved he can still go. Also as a bonus I posted my review of the amazingly energetic workout/spiritual guru hypeman that The Knife had open their show in Boston. It was tres bitchin as the French would say. New additions have their star ratings 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 6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 9. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 10. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 14. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03 ****1/4 20. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03 **** 21. Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04 **** 30. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 **** 41. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04 ***3/4 58. GHC Tag Champs Misawa & Ogawa vs Saito & Inoue - NOAH 9/10/04 ***1/4 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/space-tornado-ogawa-vs-dangerous-kawada.html

What a terribly laid out battle royale. Could have been a star making performance for Ambrose trying to outlast the others instead he was an afterthought until the final fiver where the obvious story kicked in. Why waste time on other people's spots when battle royale was constructed to get him over. Alas. Sheamus winning was awesome. I tend to fantasy book in order to help me fall asleep and the idea I have just wanted to happen is Sheamus joining the Authority. I think he would be a perfect fit as the Enforcer of the group. Hopefully this is the first step in making that come to fruition.

These are a couple oldies that I never threw up here because I kept forgetting that chronicle ten matches from Kobashi's most excellent reign. Really there is not much to add as an intro. It is Kobashi's reign. It is fuckin awesome. The only match that took me by surprise was the Ogawa match. It was such a great dynamic. Sleazy dick heel way over his head cheats and claws at Kobashi. Then Kobashi finally EXPLODES~! It is not the best match of the decade, but it is my favorite. Four new additions to the top ten and seven new additions to top twenty. Not a bad title reign at all. 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 6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 *************** 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 ********* 9. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 10. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 13. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04 16. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03 19. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03 21. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 9/12/03 27. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05 47. Sterness vs. Burning 8-Man Tag - NOAH 08/03 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-burning-champion-vol-1-kenta.html http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/burning-champion-vol-2-kenta-kobashi.html

Wow that St. Louis crowd absolutely sucked. It was like pulling teeth to get a reaction out of the, Daniel Bryan was over, but even his reaction was more tepid than most weeks. I hate to judge anything based on that shit crowd, but RVD the second most over babyface??? Time has really caught up with him as he is just so slow and his spots look even worse in slow-mo. Still he was over enough to get Cesaro booed. Did you hear that for the first time in history, Swagger got a pop!!! It was because he was saving RVD. Holy shit, Swagger got a positive reaction. That RVD/Colter segement was brutally bad. This whole triple threat thing is a clusterfuck, but it is in New York so they will be hot for Cesaro & RVD. I have always loved Barrett in the ring. Outside the catchphrase, I think he is a boring promo, but guess what I don't care because other people love it, which means PUSH CITY BABY! So as glad as he keeps delivering in the ring. What the fuck Cena? You are going to get Bray Wyatt a donkey just so you can put your foot in it. What the fuck was going on with the donkey there was no conclusion to the story. It was like tonight, the writing team threw its hands up in the air and said everyone write your own promo because usually the backstage segments are boring as fuck, but they are at least coherent. I love Cena in the ring and think he has a dynamic character, but he can blow chunks on the mic sometimes. The children in lamb masks was pretty badass. They sure are bringing out all the bells and whistles. Also can someone explain to me the booking of last week. Why the fuck did Cena hit the FU on Bray? This was supposed to be the big "Hey Cena, the crowd really does hate you moment", but instead we get Cena overcoming the odds again. It is not that big of a deal that we was put in on a 3-on-1 handicap match when it is not even that much of a disadvantage. If he got mauled, then he can be like what the fuck dude. Instead, it is just like your boss giving you a little extra work before the weekend. It is like well that kinda sucks, but Ill get it done. Before I forget, Del Rio was fuckin on! My God, why does he not wrestle with the sense of urgency all the time. Great performance by him. He is totally fucked and heatless, but awesome performance. Maybe they can rebrand him. I hate to sound so negative because I think the talent and characters are all there, but the angles just have not caught up to the talent level at all.

Shit, I have been slacking again and updating this. Since I did puroresu last time on here, here's a plug for the second half of the Shield in 2013. Nothing got to the heights of the TLC 2012 debut, but the feud with Goldust/Cody delivered three badass matches, bionic elbows on Ambrose and a superplex to teh floor. I loved the layout of the handicap match. Then at the end of the year, Ambrose and Rollins proved their mettle against the top two babyfaces (Punk and Cena) in singles matches not filled with spots, but smartly worked, fundamentals-based matches. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-shield-part-two.html