Superstar Sleeze

When I first started watching puro back in 2006-ish, I, much like most, was all about Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi. I have grown to love Taue and how focused he is. Everything builds to Nodowa and he may be the greatest apron worker of all time with the great teases. His 1995 is one of the best calendar years in wrestling history. However, Akiyama was just someone who never stood out from the other four. He was good, but in a serviceable type way. In watching his matches for Ditch's poll, I have grown to like his in-ring work more from a lay-out and execution perspective. He is not as focused as Taue, but he tends to be more focused than Kobashi and less get all my shit in like Misawa. His attack on Misawa's neck on 02/27/00 and Kobashi's arm on 12/23/00 were some of the best parts of those matches. He was more willing to tie it up on the mat noted by his New Japan Dome tag against Mutoh and Hase. His submissions were actual finishers in All Japan as he polished off Kobashi on 08/00 with his guillotine choke. I think my major hang-up with Akiyama is I don't think he ever found his personality in the ring the same way the others did. We all know Misawa as the stoic Ace with the amazing extended comebacks, Kawada as the persistent "I think I can, I think I can" Number two with some of the greatest selling in wrestling history, Kobashi as the fiery bastion of machismo with flair for the dramatic, and Taue as the heelish fucker that is willing to claw someone's eye out for the win. Who is Akiyama? It sounds like a dickish question, but in Japanese wrestling without promos (for us at least) everything needs to be conveyed in the ring. The Four Corners of Heaven knew exactly who they were and what role they played. That is what made them so transcendent as opposed to the interchangeable wrestlers presented today. Maybe someone can flesh out who Akiyama is for me. Maybe it will come in time with watching more footage. Now, Akiyama's 2000-01 is so intriguing to me because from a booking perspective he strikes me as the absolute hottest wrestler in puroresu. Feb '00 - Pins Misawa Aug '00 - First NOAH show, chokes out Misawa, pins Taue and drops tag partner Kobashi with a back drop driver. That is a huge friggin' angle. The next night he chokes out Kobashi to win. Dec '00 - Kobashi gets his win back, but needs to use the Burning Hammer July '01 - Pins Misawa to win the GHC Title Oct '01 - Headline NJPW Dome show against Mutoh & Hase with Nagata Jan '02 - Pin Nagata headlining 01/04 Dome show Feb '02 - He pins Kobashi in a tag match against Kobashi & Misawa with Nagata April '02 - Drops title to Yoshinari Ogawa, WHAT THE FUCK!?!? Just like that Akiyama stops being the hottest commodity in puroresu. I know that he made his debut in 1992, but given where he was in the late 90s (solidly as Kobashi's tag partner against No Fear and a smattering of Triple Crown title shots) he had a rocket strapped to his ass and he was pushed to the puroresu moon. I think he made a lot of this opportunity. The Feburary 2000 Misawa is on my list for Match of Decade Contender. The 12/00 Kobashi and '01 Misawa matches are MOTYCs for their year. He had a super hot angle with Kobashi and worked outside shots for NJPW in a headlining capacity. This is where everything intersects. I don't think Akiyama was a very good heel in the ring and it caused a disconnect with the angle. The finish for 08/00 Kobashi match clearly casts him as one. He chokes out Kobashi, they are giving Kobashi CPR and Akiyama gets into a scuffle with the young boys and he kicks their ass. However during the ring action it just felt like another good to great NOAH match. Akiyama is a great wrestler there is no doubt about it. The booking launched him and he wrestled well enough to do the bare minimum. Most wrestlers could never even do the bare minimum. He take it that next step in my view to be in that next level. I have seen the '04 Kobashi match, but not in context. I look forward to seeing Akiyama more and trying to garner a better understanding of how he is. I think the "heel" turn hurt him because it is not who he is like Taue or Takayama being a natural heel and it felt foisted onto him. Also, why the hell did he drop the belt to Ogawa? I get setting up Misawa/Kobashi, but why not Takayama directly?

I may be misinterpreting Dyaln's question. I don't think he was asking why Warrior was profiled. I think Warrior is an essential person to profile in the history of the WWF post-1984. It is why Warrior got his own Interregnum Era? Usually Bret & Shawn get the sort of bridge era between Hogan & Attitude Era with Warrior being a failed experiment in the Hulkamania era. However, he recasts history as Hogan -> Warrior->Modern (New Generation, Attitude, and Now). Thus it does seem weird to me. That maybe another great formatting question. How did he break down the eras? Why is the modern era not further parceled into the New Generation, Attitude and Modern era? Why is Warrior treated as an interregnum era?

I wanted to ask a question about he chose to format the book and how that ties into the objective of the book, but first could someone confirm this is the actual table of contents (got this off the Amazon Sample Page): Goldern Era Hackenschmidt Territorial Era Gorgeous George Fabulous Moolah Von Erichs Terry Gordy Bruiser Brody Wahoo McDaniel & Chief Jay Strongbow The Spoiler Wrestlemania Era (Awfully termed) S.D. Jones JYD Andre Capt. Lou Savage Liz Road Warriors, Fabulous Kangaroos Rude Bulldog Perfect ULTIMATE WARRIOR (LOL, he gets his own era. Suck it Bret & Shawn!) Modern Era Attitude Era Crush (WTF) Bossman Owen Yoko Borga Pillman Kanyon Benoit & Guerrero Is that really the table of contents? If so, why did he exclude JCP/WCW wrestlers? (Arguments can be made for Roadies and McDaniel, but overall they were clearly neglected) What was he trying to achieve with this book? Is it supposed to be a survey of the colorful characters of pro wrestling or something more? How did he decide which wrestlers to include? What is the take home message of this book? What specific assertions about the tenets of pro wrestling did he try to convey in this book? Since the book reaches back to nascent carny period of wrestling at the turn of the 20th century, how does he feel the fundamentals of wrestling have changed? Obviously, the presentation has changed, but if you strip away the big arenas, all the production values has pro wrestling really changed from Gotch vs Jenkins or Gotch vs Hackenschimdt? Asshole question: When WWF gloriously rescued pro wrestling from the smoke-filled recreational halls, dingy bars and sweaty bingo halls in 1984, did all other pro wrestling promotions cease to exist? Based on the table of contents, I feel like this is supposed to be a series of vignettes aimed at childhood 80s WWF fans as they garner a little more insight of their favorites whilst feeling intellectually stimulated as the author masquerades as deep by connecting these vignettes to larger social issues. I gleaned that just from the table of contents. I could be totally off base so I would really like to hear his answer for the the intent of the book. The evolution question, he could easily side-step or miss the point and does not interest me as much as why he chose to do this book as a series of profiles.

Watching a lot of Misawa recently, any time he takes a head drop makes me cringe worse than just about anything else in wrestling right now.

Well this is as good a place as for someone to drop the 411 on me, why Akiyama dropped the belt to Ogawa of all people in 2002. He begins 2000 by beating Misawa in what kind of feels like the Misawa/Jumbo of 2000. Then at the first NOAH show they run the angle of him dropping Kobashi like a bad habit. Then Kobashi/Akiyama basically runs on top throughout the rest of 2000. Then he beats Misawa again in 2001 for the GHC title. Watching all the matches for Ditch's poll, Akiyama seems like the biggest deal in puroresu from the beginning of 2000 right up until his title victory. Why did it fizzle? Why does he drop to Ogawa? The beauty of Misawa's rise against Jumbo was he had Kawada and Kobashi to back him up. Maybe there was not enough depth to have the same six-man style war? If anyone can help explain that because given Akiyama trajectory in 2000-01 he should have been puro's biggest star that decade and a stone cold lock for the HOF.

El Torito >>> Rosa

Finally watched the past two RAWs, Cena/Sandow stood out as an excellent match, the Six-Man had one of the best home stretches in forever, and Punk/Harper and Orton/Langston were both good. I usually only do match reviews, but when I was younger I loved to do booking analysis. Here we go with some booking analysis of Current WWE: It is funny if I was not going to Survivor Series, I would have said Big Show/Orton is logical and applauded them for sound booking. Given the pop, the Big Show/Triple H confrontation got on the 10/28 they have clearly done an excellent job with the Big Show. HOWEVER, I am going to the event and am not excited about that main event in the least. I have actually enjoyed Orton since Wrestlemania and especially since the heel turn. His headbutts and his cutoffs are usually really well-timed. His Langston match was a really good champion vs rising mid-carder. He gave a lot to Langston, but everything was earned and it felt like a real struggle (the one exception was the pop up backbreaker after the splash, but the rest was really sound). He was powdering, headbutting and clawing, but Langston was always overpowering him until he crashed and burned on a cross-body. There have been other Orton matches this year like the No DQ match with Bryan when he was still face and the Miz beatdown that I enjoyed. Big Show, I know he does well in these parts, just has never done much for me. He is actually my Dad's favorite wrestler and my Dad is pumped about this news. So at least there is that. Bryan/Punk just makes sense. During the stretch without Cena, it felt like they were caving to the hardcores just like in 2004 with Benoit & Eddie as the top two faces now Bryan and Punk were positioned as the top two faces. It makes sense they needed to return on their Wyatt investment. The Wyatts came in at a horrible time and clearly after Summerslam they had nothing for them. I really see this as Bryan/Punk moving into the number two storyline and one where they can give the fans what they want without Punk & Bryan being overshadowed by Cena. Do we really live in a world where Cena is the number four babyface? When you are feuding with Sandow and Del Rio, that sure as hell what feels like. Two weeks in a row he was in the match of the night on RAW and two weeks in a row he has not cut a shitty promo. I am a reformed Cena hater on ring work. I truly think he is best worker of his generation in the WWE. I still he think he fuckin blows on the mic more often than not, but past two weeks he has been fine. His JBL impression may have been his best impression ever and was actually relevant. Sandow's promo where he is divorcing himself from the Intellectual Savior to a real person that wants the title that happens to be really smart is a good direction. Sandow has potential I think, but I have never said to myself that Sandow fella needs to be pushed. Del Rio's character work sucks. He was openly mocked on commentary by everyone and he did nothing about it. He is enjoyable in the ring now that he has ratcheted up the aggression, but Mexican Million Dollar Man he is not. Glory be, in 2013, WWE has a real tag team division. Goldust is so fucking awesome. He owned that match from an offensive perspective. Cody just reeks of midcarder to me. He is a solid mechanic, but I don't see main event. I like Jack Swagger. I always felt like he should be better. I remember being impressed by his ECW run. Cesaro rules. I don't watch the B-shows. Has Cesaro vs Goldust one on one happened yet? I like the Usos more than Matadores, but I really enjoy El Torito so it is a push. Then again Titus' bark is one of the best things about the WWE. 3MB needs to drop Mahal and add somebody worth a damn. McIntrye and Slater are perhaps the greatest JTTS in history. Slater is the best bumper on the roster and Drew has enough high-end offense for heat segments. They need to get the title off of Curtis Axel and put it on Langston pronto. He is dead in the water and he needs to be repackaged in a tag team to even up the sides between faces and heels. Langston has a shitty finisher, but he tries and the Orton match was pretty good. Ryback and Ziggler, who I both like, seem fucked. They are both above the midcard titles. Ryback has feuded with Punk and Cena already. Ziggler wrestles a good Randy Savage formula match, but I don't see any where he can break through the main event. Maybe they will feud against each other. I would like that a good deal. The Shield also seems directionless. Roman Reigns has been my favorite member of the Shield since the outset and I am excited at the prospect of his push. but I agree it is too early. Ambrose has had a real lackluster US Title reign due to lack of opposition. I dont see that changing anytime soon. WWE is so babyface-laden on top that I can see why Daniel Bryan feuding with Wyatts would be considered a "de-push", but I think the way the story is structured he is just being down cycled. It is just like Austin feuding with Undertaker in late '98 while Rock/Mankind feuded for the title. Bryan is still very much at the top of the card and I would argue ahead of Cena. I truly believe they think they are appealing to smart marks by teaming Bryan with fellow internet darling CM Punk against the Wyatts. From my scanning of other forums, the Wyatts are heel internet favorites with their cryptic, esoteric gimmick. Personally, I think Bray Wyatt's promos suck, but Harper friggin's rules so you got to take the lumps with the sugar. Here's my projected Survivor Series Card: Orton/Show Punk/Bryan/Ziggler/Miz vs Ryback/Wyatts (Im a Ryback mark, FEED ME MORE!) Cena vs Del Rio vs Sandow Rhodes Family vs Real Americans Axel vs Langston Ambrose vs Kofi? Shield vs Usos Womens Match So when does Sheamus come back turn heel and feud with Cena in a bunch of **** matches. I can dream right?

Maybe he's talking about this match from the 80s DVDVR Texas set: 22. Abdullah the Butcher vs. Bruiser Brody (8/4/86) 4,953. Beat me to it. I liked that match. "Superstar" Graham is shockingly (to me at least) the longest reigning heel champion they have ever had. He did not institutionalize the dominant heel champion, which besides Yoko and HHH was never really attempted. However, to say he was just a transitional champion seems to be an understatement. The exchange between him and Simmons about no one every writing "this" way about wrestling was revolting. Normally, I just brush this stuff aside, but to just act like not only he is the standard bearer, but the innovator of wrestling critique is insulting and infuriating.

LOL. Before I was on these boards, I wrote pieces called 2 Out Of 3 Falls where I would take three wrestlers and rate their matches against each other. Ditch's Best Of 00's Japan poll is perfect for this. My first installment of this poll looks Kawada, Tenryu and newly inducted WON HOF member Kensuke Sasaki in their 2000 contests against each other. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...aki-kawada.html

I remember back in the late 2000s, I think circa 2008. Kane innovated this new resthold that my brother and I dubbed the Kane Snuggle. Where Kane would apply a reverse waistlock to his opponent then fall to the mat with him and spoon him for about 2-5 minutes. We still bring it up from time to time. I miss the Kane Snuggle. Kane is definitely a front-runner for most boring wrestler ever.

I like to do triplet comparisions in relatively the same timeframe of three wrestlers. A vs B, B vs C and A vs C. The current triplet that will be in this post will be Misawa, Kobashi, and Akiyama in 2000. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Champions Carnival 4/11/00 The point of interest in this bout is how Misawa works on top for most of the match. For a wrestler with as much offense as Misawa, you would expect him to work on top more often, but I have seen mostly work from underneath. Though I have found the wrestler who works underneath in Japan most likely wins thus since he won a lot it may have necessitated him working underneath. Reinforcing that conjecture is of course, Kobashi did win over arch-nemesis, Misawa in this bout. I thought Misawa was going through the motions in this match, which let's be honest is better than 95% wrestlers ever, but at the same time a pity. He has so much offense that the match is never boring, but he just is not wrestling with a panache. It is harder to discern with stoic Misawa if he is trying, but I feel like he was just there. He opened the match with a great array of aerial attacks that found their mark on Kobashi. In a HOLY SHIT~! transition spot, Kobashi hotshots Misawa off the apron onto the railing. He just lays in a beating on the outside to Misawa. Kobashi was definitely the more fired up of the two for this match, but that makes sense as he is younger and still hungry. Misawa starts coming back with a flying head scissors to counter the Kobashi powerbomb. It was nice to see struggle over a suplex on the apron as some of the match felt like they would use a facelock reset to move onto the next spot. Kobashi's selling and histrionics are the highlight in this match as he begin to take Misawa's best offense. Misawa may be peaking too soon and could the Emerald of All Japan be peaking too early in this match? I like the sequence of Kobashi hitting the 3/4 nelson suplex to level the playing field as he does not just pop up and do it, but rather earns it. I am a total mark for powerbombs onto the top turnbuckle and Misawa takes a wicked one. Misawa counters the Burning Hammer and begins to use his elbows to set up his finish stretch. Kobashi blocks Emerald Flowsion and only the ropes can hold him up. Kobashi hits a sleeper suplex for two and immediately follows up with an Axe Bomber and a Burning Lariat to get the duke. It is 2000 All Japan. You get a ton of high-end offense with a couple head drops with some Kobashi Fighting Spirit. It is good, but there is really nothing here to separate it from the pack. Misawa seemed uninspired even though it was refreshing to see him work on top. The only spot that really stood out to me was the Hotshot onto the Railing, which needs to be cribbed. It should have been a late transition spot for more impact in the match. This is a match that blends into All Japan portfolio, but still an entertaining watch. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 12/23/00 NOAH sure is different than All Japan. They actually ran a fucking angle on their first show where Akiyama pinned Misawa & Taue clean in a two out of three falls match and then dropped his partner, Kenta Kobashi. I watched the last two minutes of that and never before have I seen Akiyama as such a big star. It felt red-hot in a way All Japan could often feel like a flood of molasses. I believe this was supposed to be the big blowoff match from the first show angle. It does not quite hit the level of visceral hatred that Kawada/Taue '91 or a Hansen match could achieve. It was a very good tit for tat match with Akiyama showing Kobashi anything he could do, he could do better. As in most puro matches those with upper hand in the beginning falter down the stretch. I thought the early part with Kobashi taking offense to an early slap and chopping the shit out of Akiyama was good. However, they got on the ramp and match went into "epic" mode with Akiyama challening Muto hitting running forearm down the ramp. They tease the Explodere off the ramp, but settle for a nasty DDT onto the ramp. Kobashi may have the best facelock ever the way clasps his hands on teh bridge of the nose that looked nasty. I fuckin love how Akiyama sold off Kobashi pushing him off during his knee to the corner. The way he sold his neck made it seem like such a big spot and then Kobashi zeroed in on the neck further enhancing the storyline. Akiyama was looking to turn the tide -> Kobashi desperately swats him -> huge boon for Kobashi. It feels like an organic struggle as opposed to the ramp bs. I like the tit for tat sequence with each catching the other in their signature strike with their signature suplex. Akiyama finds his own weak point by going after Kobashi arm with a particular fury. Between this and the neck work in the Misawa match, Akiyama is like a more athletic Taue in how he has such a focused attack in his matches. Akiyama's arm work is by far and away the best part of this match. It such good arm work as he using every part of his body and the surrounding area to knot up that arm it sucks that it does not play into the finish. Kobashi hits the out of nowhere sleeper suplex to level the playing field. While it is great he is still selling, I wanted some more struggle. Kobashi hits a 3/4 nelson suplex on ramp and Akiyama does a tremendous dead weight sell. At this point, the match has entered Kobashi mode and there is disconnect with the previous angle hurts the match. Akiyama hits his exploder on concrete and Kobashi is dead weight to mirror the preceding ramp spot. Akiyama climaxes with the wrist-cluthc exploder for 2 and he is fucked. Akiyama takes a nasty spill off the top which is a blown spot that enhances the match because it looks a wicked transition. Kobashi cannot negotiate the pin with Burning Lariats. We get a close up of his face and his left-eye is swollen shut. When the hell did that happen. So he busts out his WMD: Burning Hammer~! Hand shake. After reading about and seeing the angle that set this up, I wanted to see an 80s style All Japan grudge match. I would be remiss to say that this is a bad match. It is a very good spectacle match worked to a great cresencendo Kobashi neded the Burning Hammer to put away Akiyama. With the ending hand shake, both men respect each other as warriors. I hate to judge a match based on what I think it should be, but if there is a disconnect between an angle and a match than I am calling it out. The match drifts in out of Kobashi Mode where he feels compelled to get his shit in. I mean the suplex Ace Crusher was cool, but I don't know how it really fit into the match. There was some good psychology in the middle before Kobashi just sort of decided it was his turn. Transitions are really important to me and this is a match that lacked in transitions. There was some good mirror spots sprinkled in especially the mirror dead weight sells off the signature suplexes. It was just too disjointed for me to rate this as an all-time great match. I watched Misawa/Akiyama 02/00 a while ago so I need to rewatch to do a proper write up. I will say that so far I have it as my number one match of what I have seen. That was fuckin' classic. I wanted to end on a more positive note. I will edit in the review hopefully tonight.

I said this as a person who has not watched the Bruno/Larry footage and I don't doubt for one bit that it is as bitchin' as you all say it is. I will say that you don't give WWE enough credit for slow-burn feuds especially given brother vs. brother. Bret vs Owen and Taker vs Kane both had reluctant brothers unwilling to fight their brothers not because they knew they would beat them because they did not want to inflict physical and emotional damage to them. It is why the klitschko brothers have not and will never fight. It is why the Williams Sisters tennis matches are some of the greatest psychological moments in sports. You have to look across the net to see the person you grew up with that you love as much or more than any other and know that you have to rob them on happiness. In none of the four major sports, will you see this is kind of tense individual interaction. The Mannings never take the field at the same time. So when you add the physical element of wrestling, not only do you have to beat your brother, but you have to beat either into submission or negotiate a pinfall for three seconds on a National stage. Have I fought my brother? Fuck yeah, I have. Could I actually FIGHT my brother? Hell no. I know the intention of wrestling is not to maim to your opponent, but to win a fall. However, in the process, you still have to deny your brother. In that ring, he is just another victim. I could never do that. That's what makes these angles so riveting and some of the best of all-time. So I see why Larry Z felt the need to declare himself his own man by challenging Bruno, but I agree with Bruno. Individual competition against someone you love especially in a combat sport sounds cruel, but it sure is fucking great TV. Other slow-burn feuds off the top of my head where you could see the heel side of things: Hogan/Orndorff and Hogan/Savage. I am really having trouble coming up with some NWA/WCW counterparts, which is weird because I prefer their angles.

Here's my baseline list given where I am at. I am a huge Jim Crockett/WCW and All Japan fan I think it shine through in this list. I am definitely more familiar with the 90s and the 00s. I am working really hard to catch up on the 80s. I followed a similar line of logic as Dylan as I rated based on only actual viewing. So that means no Lucha or Shoot-Style. 1. Ric Flair - The Man, sheer volume 2. Stan Hansen - Inching closer and closer 3. Mtsuharu Misawa - Best comeback 4. Toshiaki Kawada - Best knee selling 5. Rey Misterio Jr. - Perfect Integration of Lucha & American wrestling 6. Jumbo Tsuruta - Mr. All Japan 7. Eddie Guerrero - Most Entertaining Wrestler 8. Jushin Liger - Best Japanese Junior 9. Vader - Best big man ever 10. Kenta Kobashi - Amazing facial expressions and histronics 11. Terry Funk - Ultimate Main Event Utility Player 12. Randy Savage - Intensity, credibility, ruthless 13. Barry Windham - Best ring movement 14. Bobby Eaton - Best punch 15. Ricky Morton - FIP 16. Genichiro Tenryu - King Prick 17. Arn Anderson - Best midcarder ever? 18. Greg Valentine - Best WWF Bellhop (Could carry anyone). 19. Shawn Michaels - Rockers run & 90s singles >>>>>>>> 00s comeback 20. Akira Taue - 1995 21. Nick Bockwinkel - Thinking man's wrestler 22. John Cena - Best wrestler of 00s 23. Shinya Hashimoto - Best Strong Style 24. Bret Hart - Best offensive moveset of North America 25. Dr. Death - 1994 26. Steve Austin - Best Attitude Era Worker 27. Bob Backlund - God of Headlocks 28. Daniel Bryan - Sky is the limit...well you know... 29. Chris Benoit - Separation of art and the man 30. Dustin Rhodes/Goldust - Saga continues... 31. Tito Santana - Blood feud worker 32. Rick Martel - Most consistent wrestler 33. Lex Luger - Best bodybuilder wrestler 34. Hulk Hogan - Most underrated 35. Brian Pillman - What could have been? 36. Ricky Steamboat - Incredible matches 37. Mick Foley - Method to the madness 38. William Regal - Ring General 39. Ronnie Garvin - OW! 40. Rick Rude - Needs a broader peak 41. Owen Hart - Best Younger Brother Brat 42. Curt Hennig - AWA salvages Mr. Perfect 43. Kerry Von Erich - Flair/Jumbo, need to see more 44. Buddy Rose - Like what I have seen 45. Jerry Lawler - Need to see more 46. Tully Blanchard - Need to see more 47. Marty Jannetty - Rockers 48. Sean Waltman - Best Underdog Story...until now? 49. Psicosis - Clowning 50. CM Punk - Cena matches

The Wrestling With Past inspired to go watch the 4/18/91 show because I was excited to see so much depth and diversity on an All Japan show. The Stan Hansen performance in that tag team both as playing Ricky Morton and that gripping dramatic stretch run just keeps inching him closer to usurping Flair's spot as my choice for GOAT. I have them ranked a bit different than Loss. They would all be around 4 stars for me, so I was making choices on the margins. I thought the Misawa/Jumbo beginning dragged it down a bit in comparison to the other matches. I liked the Taue/Kawada war, but preferred the brawl from 01/15/91 (my review of that is included) where Kawada fought from underneath. I thought the Hansen&Spivey/MVC tag was just as well worked as the other matches, but I felt really delivered something a lot more different in terms of a Hansen FIP segment and that awesome finish run. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...-of-heaven.html

Taue immediately bullrushes Kawada knocks him off the apron hard onto the railing. That spot sets the tone for the rest of match: Total War. I loved how relentless Taue was in this match forcing Kawada to work the entire match from underneath and put on one of his gritty, scrappy performances to best the larger, ferocious Taue. Also, the fact the crowd was right top of the action added to that claustrophobic feel. Taue was suffocating Kawada as he right on top of him never letting up on offense. Kawada in desperation was able to grab his leg at one point and ram his head into the railing busting him open. However, Taue catches one of Kawada's kick and in one fluid motion whips that leg into the guardrail. Taue zeroes on that knee with fierce tenacity: wicked kneecrusher onto table, wrapping it around the post, chairshots to it. I love that Taue sort of realizes in a leg lace or a toehold Kawada is able to kick him in the head really hard so he tries the figure-4, which will tie up that free leg. One of my favorite moments, is when the camera zooms in on Taue trying to pick up Kawada and all of sudden you just see a flash of yellow connect with Taue's heads. Kawada is just fucking tremendous from underneath with all these kicks. I love how they work in Taue's size as he is able to reverse a press slam off the top and a powerbomb by just landing on top of Kawada. I actually bit on the powerbomb reversal finish as Taue really crashes down on top of him. If Kawada has kicks, Misawa elbows and Kobashi chops, then Taue should have kept the headbutts as they look way better than any of his punches or forearms. Kawada's out of nowhere Axe Bomber for the finish was the perfect end to this war. Taue unleashed his entire arsenal and Kawada had to hit that sudden bomb to secure the victory. I will echo all the other comments; All Japan could have added a lot of variety by sprinkling some short 10-15 minute brawls with the 30+ epics. Kawada and Taue brought the hate in this match and this is one of the all-time best blood feud brawls.

I feel like I am more on the same page with these comments. Austin has all the raw goods, but have not refined them into a polished product yet. Dustin Rhodes is definitely ahead of Austin on the wrestling curve at this point. If you asked me by watching this match, who came out as the big star I would have said Dustin, but we all know how history truly goes. That is not a knock on Austin I think his 1997 and 2001 are incredible years in the ring. I just am not seeing this future greatness in these early performances, but how can you really project who is going to be transcendental pop culture phenomenon. Regardless, this match is really good and illustrates that in the post-Flair era WCW was going to be fine from an in-ring product standpoint. I don't think WCW gets enough credit actually how fast they rebuilt from the GAB '91 debacle into an entertaining product in 3-4 months. These two young stars were a big part of this transformation as they would go on to be focal points in the upcoming Dangerous Alliance angle. The technical wrestling was very high-end for American wrestling. Someone needs to crib that half-crab transition out of a toehold that was too fuckin bitchin to have only been used once. Dustin also kept things moving in this early portion with a lots of nearfalls off really hot criss-cross sequences. Of course, Lady Blossom was there to bail the cameraman out of any headlock sequences. Dustin crashes and burn on a cross body attempt. He literally bounces on the mat to the outside in a wicked looking bump. This is a match where blood really added to the storytelling. Dustin had been getting the better of Austin on nearly every chain wrestling or criss-cross exchange. Now Austin literally pounces on this opportunity and busts Dustin open with punches to the head. I don't know if Austin had the presence at this point to get over how the match had escalated to this level of violence so the blood did the work for him. It is wrestling 101 babyface is better at pure wrestling so the heel resorts to roughhousing or cheating. Austin goes after that cut initially, but he could have done more to it. Lady Blossom gets some slaps in while Dustin hangs out on the ropes, but of course Austin misses his straddle. Dustin rams Austin pretty damn hard into the post and Austin is now a bloody mess. I always love the babyface racing against the clock to secure the victory over the champion. Dustin is not one who is short of offense with powerslam, punches, the bionic elbow and a flying lariat, but he runs out of time. He was never able to negotiate the bulldog, which Austin blocked early on, great way to protect a finish and you get the feeling if he could have hit his home run that he would have taken it. Austin was a solid hand in the ring, but I do not think he contributed as much as Dustin, who feels like he was ahead in offense, bumping, selling and ring presence at this point. However, as a TV title defense that escalated from a technical wrestling clinic to a bloody match to a race against the clock finish this is pretty superb and one of the best matches I have seen from the WCW midcard at this point.

Too bad they saved Lady Blossom for the finish, she could have helped out on the headlock sequences. Austin has only been in the company for a month or so and already wins his first championship. I do not want to say this should be hard and fast rule, but I think if you plan on pushing a new star they really should win a title within a year of being in the company. It shows the company has faith in the wrestler, which helps the fans invest the wrestler as a winner. It is interesting that people say they can see Austin's big star potential this early. In this match, outside of his missed ropes straddle (a great heel spot), he did not show me any of his stock heel spots that would separate from the pack. The raw athleticism was there as noted by a really nice leapfrog and a good understanding of heel psychology especially asking for timeout after the first Bobby Eaton punch that comes all the way from Sweet Home Alabama. Eaton seemed content to just use his beautiful punch and headlock to wrestle this match. He did take the wicked Brian Pillman railing bump from the apron when Austin chucked him, which was the spot of the match. Too bad, they were rushed for time because we never get an Austin heat segment instead Eaton just shakes that off hits a swinging neckbreaker and Alabama Jam. I disliked the finish quite a bit. I would not have minded if Lady Blossom was on the apron (dont get me wrong Lady Blossom on my TV screen aint the problem) and raked Eaton's eyes. It was the fact she was just randomly in the ring and Eaton tossed the official all just came off as too constructed. Then for Austin to not even hit the Stun Gun off of it, but just the tights roll-up was wicked lame. Color me unimpressed. We also know that Austin is all about those buxom blondes with sharp facial features as Lady Blossom is shockingly similar looking Debra. If it came down to it, I would take Lady Blossom, but that is just picking nits as obviously both are very good-looking women.

This a million times. This was the more succinct version I was getting at. Steamboat is the better big match worker. Martel is the most consistent. Santana is the best blood feud worker. I love a good blood feud and I think playing a babyface is a really delicate balancing act in a blood feud and Tito did it perfectly. He fucking learned the figure-4 so he could break Valentine's leg the same way Valentine broke his. How badass is that! Steamboat has way higher peaks, but out of three, I think he is the guy who will phone it in from time to time. Honestly, I did not know we had that much pre-83 Steamboat so maybe that will bolster his case. I will say for the most part I am ranking these guys between '83-'89 in my head and why I thought Tito was the better babyface, but more data can only help.

Hardly the guy to do this, but didnt want to leave you hanging: for mat based, Angel Azteca 6/90 and for blood feud, Satanico 12/90. I was in Dave's teens when he hit us with Pat O'Connor and stated O'Connor/Rogers was good enough to get O'Connor in his Top 50 alone. I am curious as to why the same does not hold true for Rogers. I like that match a lot too and I gravitated more towards Rogers performance and the post-match statement: "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!" is the all-time great prick moments in wrestling. So why no love for the Nature Boy in your Top 50? Follow-up, it seems we have a lot more O'Connor on youtube than I thought, but I remember searching for Buddy Rogers a year ago and it was slim pickings. Does anybody know of some Buddy Rogers matches out there? The stories I hear about him make me think him would be instantaneously one of my favorite wrestlers.

So I am watching the Freebirds vs Pillman & Zenk from this and wouldn't you know Jim Ross says Brian Pillman's favorite wrestler was other than Fred Curry and Terry Funk name-drops Bull Curry. My jaw dropped further than when I saw Katherine Webb's Hardee's commercial. Man, this match is going pretty long. I check the match time. 25 FUCKIN MINUTES!!! Who gave the Freebirds 25 minutes! Here I am, thinking I was going to defend the Freebirds because I think their preening and strutting is awesome. But 25 minutes, holy shit. Fuck it, I am going to bed.

I have heard this threesome get lumped together for months on end here at PWO and it is time we settle in a good 'ol fashioned triple threat match (stop groaning, Stone Cold!). You have Will and Dylan every chance they get hyping the hell out of Santana vs Valentine, every chance they get. Also, Santana has the hot series of the IC title with the beloved Randy Savage in '86. The AWA set has propelled Martel to the point where he not only in this discussion, but may take the victory. On top of that, they both have the great Islanders feud and their work against each other. What is terra incognita for me and what could push either man over the top would be Martel's Portland & '81 WWF run and Tito Santana's Georgia run. Then you have that pesky Ricky Steamboat with his damn classics against Savage and Flair among others. Selling - I'd give the nod to Steamboat for being able to evoke sympathy better than the other three. He was always the one that if the heel offense sucked or was tedious that would keep me in the match. I think his matches with Don Muraco are a good example as the Tito match bored me, but Steamboat kept me more engrossed. Steamboat's selling during the Savage matches was always among the best work during a feud for me. Hope spots - Rick Martel. Martel was always one to make the heel earn it during the heat segment. That is how he kept me engaged during the heat segment is you knew he was going to keep everything moving and constantly pepper the heel with strikes and a couple nearfalls. Bumping - None of the three's bumping stood out for me and it is something that heels are usually better at. Blood Feuds - Tito Santana. I don't think it is really that close. Comeback - Slight edge to Tito. Steamboat has lacked fire one too many times on comebacks for me to give it to him. Martel is a better pure babyface comeback. It is exciting without feeling violent. Tito's always feels like someone stole something from him or fucked his girlfriend and he was out for blood. All-time classics - Ricky Steamboat. I would obviously listen to arguments, but Steamboat/Flair is hard to argue you against. Tag Work - Rick Martel. All three guys are obviously singles wrestlers. I have found the Steamboat/Youngblood tags (Final Conflict and Starrcade '83) to be a bit overrated. I think Martel was slightly better than Tito in Strike Force Draw - I would love for someone to do draw analysis for me. My gut says Tito would win this given his Valentine feud being on top of the popular B-show loop, but Martel's AWA run could have be better than I realize. Versatility - Rick Martel. I have made this comment before but Tito works a vast majority of his matches like blood feud whether or not he is in a blood feud thus a lot of his matches while violent and intense come off feeling the same. Steamboat's classic cannon is worked in the sort of 80s workrate style with lots of spots and movement. I am not bemoaning this style as I think his matches with Flair and Savage deserve their reputation. I think Martel is one who works well in different styles against the heat-seeking Jimmy Garvin, the wily veteran Nick Bockwinkel, the nasty Islanders, the bomb-throwing Japanese Jumbo Tsuruta. Guy I find most entertaining - Rick Martel. Steamboat does not resonate with me as much as he used to. I do not see that energy in his eyes like I do with the others.Tito does have his occasional clunker. Martel from bell-to-bell always does everything with energy and urgency. Promo ability - No one wins. Martel at least had an excuse. "Better" is an ambiguous term. If I was a booker, I would want Tito in my blood feud, Steamboat in my world title feud and Martel as my lead babyface tag wrestler (I cant believe people did not exploit this). So which one is better? I don't know, you need someone to fill each role and each role is crucial to crafting a complete card. Steamboat is hurt by a lackluster '87-'88 and a lack of footage pre-1983. I would place him third as I don't think he has as much meat on his resume even though he had the most high-profile matches and what I believe are the most high-end matches. Between the two members of Strike Force, I would give Tito the nod over Martel because of his feuds. I think the Valentine and Savage feuds are better feuds than anything Martel has ever has in terms of feuds. Yes, Martel's AWA Title run couple with his run in Japan just had so much more breadth in his work. Martel is hurt in my eyes by not having that one definitive match or feud. Originally, I was set to place Martel over the other two, but I talked myself out of it because of Tito's feud work. I bet if I watched the Steamboat/Flair series right now you have me singing a different tune. I think you have to split hairs to rank these three and there is no clear-cut winner. So let's have at it!

It is too bad WCW was in constant flux in the early 90s as it was hard for wrestlers like Pillman to build momentum and gain traction on the card. Case in point, Pillman in the beginning of the year is with Tom Zenk, which is a perfectly serviceable placement for him as it avoids him doing the jobs in singles matches and garner more heat against teams like Freebirds and Midnight Express. In the summer, they abandon this tag team and throw him against Landell. Then they are back to together in the fall of '90 squashing jobbers with a couple matches with MX and the Horsemen. Then he is back to singles to beat the Black Scorpion around the horn. What the fuck was WCW thinking? Black Scorpion is this mysterious embodiment of evil jobbing to Brian Pillman on the house show loop was just so WCW. Still, by the end of 1990, you get the feeling WCW was building Pillman to January Clash against Flair before they shoehorned Scotty Steiner into the match. Anyways, here is the one singles PPV match from the year for Brian Pillman. Brian Pillman vs Buddy Landell - Great American Bash 1990 Hot opener from these two that displays Brian Pillman already had the offensive intensity he showed in the Windham series. I have seen about one Buddy Landell match besides this one (Shawn Michaels one from SMW) and he is such a great heat-seeking prick. He is constantly trying to get under the skin from Pillman. At first, Pillman is having none of it and he slaps the shit out of him and lets loose on him. This does not stop Buddy from show-boating on the outside and cowering behind the ropes to break Pillman's concentration and momentum. That is the crux of Landell's plan to get Pillman so flustered that he can take advantage. Pillman is smart knowing this is a opener he keeps his all his hope spots big like missing cross-bodies and big dropkicks to get the crowd into it. Landell does kind of grind things to a halt with a chinlock. I love that Pillman's offense consists either of big high-flying spots or vicious strikes, which are perfect for a hot opener. Landell rolls through the cross-body to extend the comeback. The finish fits the match perfectly as Buddy lifts Pillman over the top rope. He thinks he is the smartest wrestler in history only to turn around and eat a flying cross-body and lose. I liked this a lot as a PPV opener you have the heat-seeking heel losing due to hubris and the young, rookie-ish upstart showing great fire through strikes and aerial tactics. --------------------------------------------------- Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk vs Fabulous Freebirds - NWA 2/90 Vacant US Tag Team Titles Brian Pilllman is not a miracle worker. In fact, I would say this is his poorest performance yet. I actually enjoyed the Freebirds' heat-seeking tactics more than I did the generic babyface offense from Pillman & Zemen. The most entertaining part of this match was by far the generic face announcer calling out Terry Funk pronunciation of Tom Zenk's nickname "Z-Man" and Funk responding that he is Ze Man and Zenk is just Zemen. Now I expect bland offense from Zenk, but from Pillman this seemed like a big step back in terms of ring work. In terms of booking, I thought this was a perfect place for him. He comes off the hot Luger series and joins Zenk in a good babyface tag team and wins the US Tag Titles is perfect for where he was in the company. However, from an in-ring perspective he brought none of his trademark aggression with those violent strikes. He did not come off as tenacious. Hell, he did not even bust out some of his big high-flying moves settling fro sunset flips and cross- body blocks. He did bust out the most memorable bump when he took a Garvin knee from the apron and did his chin-first bump. Pillman played a decent Ricky Morton as the Freebirds played King of the Mountain, but that's not Pillman's forte as showcased by his singles matches with Flair, Windham and Luger. He is a chippy, tenacious offensive wrestler. Outside of that trademark Pillman bump, Pillman came off as just another interchageable babyface, which in every other match so far would sound ludicrous. Now, I felt that if you watched this match in a vacuum, the Freebirds came off as the way bigger stars. The match runs through them and their bullshit. Their bumps, their antics and their offense is what is getting the heat. The babyfaces are reacting against them and the crowd is more anti-Freebird than pro-Pillman. There are two "Freebirds Suck!" chants. The Freebirds are pretty useless on offense (Hayes still has some good punches), but they have heel psyhcology 101 down with the stalling, strutting, walking out and all that good stuff. I liked the finish a good deal with Zenk about to get DDT's by Hayes only for Pillman to hit Air Pillman and Zenk cover for the win. I liked the booking and think this was a perfect spot on the card for Pillman, but his in-ring work left a lot to be desired.

Now I am just churning them out at (white) lightning speed, as we take a look at a worker who has become one of my all-time favorites and one that to me is a mortal lock in Top 5 WWF Workers in 80s. His work with Backlund and Santana are the most obvious elements of his career that stand out to highlight for great he was. However his work with Beefcake and afterwards is also really good. Outside the Islanders/Strike Force, Dream Team/British Bulldogs is the runaway feud of the 80s WWF Tag wrestling scene with great matches all around. In addition, Dream Team had great matches against Santana & Steamboat and US Express. After this Valentine, help transform Beefcake into one of the most over babyfaces in WWF in the late 80s and having great matches with Santana, Blue Blazer and Ronnie Garvin. He was the Hammer, no frills, tough as nails he was going to land stiff shots, sell and bump and work a heated style. Yes, they eventually changed him in Rhythm N Blues, but when he was working there from 1979-89 he was The Hammer. It is akin to Tito being El Matdor at the tail end of his career. He never compromised his style in the ring, but forced others out of their comfort zone into more heated, intense matches that featured wrestler struggling towards a victory. The Hammer did it his way and in the WWF that is truly special. If you have read the blogs, you will notice I often watch singles matches of the tag wrestlers so even though a lot of the following single matches did not take place when the participants were in tag teams per se. I still wanted to acknowledge how good they were. So here are the best of the best of the singles matches I watched. Best Singles Matches Involving Tag Wrestlers: 1. Bret Hart vs Randy Savage - SNME 11/87 2. Rick Martel vs Tama - MSG 9/87 3. Greg Valentine vs Blue Blazer - Boston 4/89 4. Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - MLG 10/89 5. Greg Valentine vs Tito Santana - MSG 11/88 6. Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - Royal Rumble '90 7. Rick Martel vs Bret Hart - Primetime 10/89 8. Rick Martel vs Tito Santana - SNME 11/89 9.WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect vs Tito Santana - SNME 7/90 10. Bret Hart vs Ted DiBiase - Odessa 3/89 11. Bret Hart vs Ricky Steamboat - Boston 3/86 12 Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect - MSG 4/89 13. Rick Martel vs Tito Santana - Main Event 11/90 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...mer-swings.html

I was saving this for my last blog, but since I have watched all the matches (save for Demolition/Colossal Connection) I will just unveil the teams portion now: 1. The Rockers - It is not even close. 2. The Islanders - Good matches with everyone. Incredible feud with Strike Force. Killer matches with Demolition, Hart Foundation, Dream Team & Bulldogs. Best team no one pays attention to. 3. British Bulldogs - I slagged them, but that was me being a harsh grader. Great Dream Team feud. Good work against Demolition. Offensive Dynamos. 4. Dream Team - Loved the Bulldogs stuff. Thought they had great matches against Steamboat & Tito and US Express. New Dream Team had a good match with Rockers. 5. Demolition - Loved heel Demolition, even Smash & Crush were pretty good (see Rockers 90 match). Babyface Demolition was pretty dreadful. Matt, I will watch the Colossal Connection this week and revise if fitting. 6. Strike Force - This may seem low given how much I gush over their feud with the Islanders, but outside of that feud they did not do much. 7. BrainBusters - Great run with Rocker, but not much else. 8. Hart Foundation - Mechanically sound often left me feeling cold. 9. Fabulous Rougueas - Bland as faces and ineffective as heels. They are saved from cellar by the Rockers. 10. Killer Bees - Bland Bret Hart as a singles wrestler is really dynamic and I prefer him as a babyface that is not above roughhousing or even taking a shortcut. As a tag team, I think they had a far stronger run as heels and they really felt like a tag team with Jimmy Hart. They had better matches as babyfaces with Demolition and The Rockers, but outside of that they either did not exist as a tag team or had a lackluster run. The heel run showcased them as a tag team even if the matches were not as good. Again, the Bulldogs matches are tough because they were heralded as great so if you like them then the heel run is a slam dunk case. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Pre-Russo (an to certain extent still to this day), title reigns mattered. Since very few wrestling fans are going to go back and watch all the primary source material. They will see two tag title reigns for the Hart Foundation, wow they must have been good to have two reigns. I mean total smart marks with have this impression because they will believe that them winning the Tag Titles is indicative of their success as a draw, in workrate, and company confidence. Vince was not just dolling out victories so they will see this as affirmation of the Hart Foundation's success. Since the Rockers did not win the tag titles, they are seen as a mid-card act, which besides the Hart Foundation feud they were. There are a lot of people that hold mid-card status against workers. I usually don't so it is easy for me to say the Rockers are the greatest WWF Tag Team of all time, but for others I think they conflate wrestling hierarchy and workrate together. The reason I give Vince all this credit is because there are plenty of instances of mid-carders in the WWF (it is may more prevalent now) getting lost in the mid-card mire. Vince just does not have anything for them and they wander the mid-card aimlessly. Bret always seemed to have a purpose. In 1985-87, he was a crown jewel for Jimmy Hart as the top heel tag team and worked the big angle with Savage and Honky Tonk. He was turned face in 1988 in a a memorable angle with Bad News, who was on his way ti upper midcard with a couple title shots in '88 against Savage. He finished out '88 in the second tier tag team feud before Vince really committed him to singles in a lot of draws and/or protected finishes against Perfect, DiBiase, Valentine, Martel and others. In '90, we see him shift back to tag team ranks against Rockers and then Demolition before finish out as a tag champ. Bret as a baby face was very well protected and hardly ever jobbed. He lost to Perfect by chicanery on TV before Perfect was going to feud with Hogan. They still felt the need to protect Bret. Not only that Bret was one of the few tag wrestlers that consistently got single experience against heavy hitters all the way back to Steamboat in '86 and Savage '87. Shawn and Marty were typecasted as "Tag Team Specialists" by Gorilla and how they were booked, but you never got that feeling with Bret. I definitely got teh feeling from the booking that the plan was always to make Bret a big singles star they just needed to find the right time to pull the trigger.

I will answer your questions when I have more time as they will require me to really sit down and flesh out what I want to say. I don't want to skim due to time constraints. I still wanted to post my latest blog on the BrainBusters. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard are one of the best tag teams of all-time with an incredible run in the NWA. When they went up North, they immediately started a great program with the Rockers that put both tag teams on the map. It established the Rockers as the best pure babyface tag team on the roster and the Busters as the next heel challengers for Demolition. While I think the Demolition feud fell flat due to Ax indulging his worst habits of guzzling his opponents. It was nonetheless a successful one year run that bolsters both the legacies fro Arn & Tully as they proved that they were not just NWA workers, but workers that could get over anywhere. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/20...n-wwf-1989.html