Superstar Sleeze

" The problem here was his [Harley Race] lack of personality and lack of expression" - OJ nailed it. This has become a major hangup I have with Harley in a lot of his matches. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race vs Terry Funk - Houston 7/1/77 Holy Grail is an understatement as anything from Terry Funk in the 1970s especially a long traditional NWA Championship bout is a huge prize. Race defeated Terry Funk in Toronto for the World's Championship in Februrary of '77 and now five months later Funk is challenging for the belt. First Fall: If you watch closely, Funk is reviewing the rules with the ref and makes a specific point about how chopping to throat is illegal but below is not. First move of the match, a chop by Terry Funk! The first 15 minutes focused on matwork. Terry Funk looked great working the arm. The best part was definitely how he set up the arm stretcher by stepping on Harley's face. I dont mean he placed his boot on Harley's face. He put both his feet right on the face of the champion. It was some nasty work. Harley made sure to add some movement. Funk hit not one, but two press slams on Harley. I dont think I have ever seen Funk do that. The first one was a beauty and an emphatic way to regain control. There is 4 minutes of clipping and we come back to Harley working a tight headlock. Very similar to a tight Backlund style one with plenty of wringing. Great struggle from Funk. Funk is able to earn an armbar but quickly loses control to a headscissors. Race is working his holds very well, very tight. Great pressure on the headscissors. Funk stands up with Race draped over his back, but Race maintains the hold and Funk falls forward. Funk hits a couple lefts while in the headscissors and stands up with it and this time gets out. I like how this does not start the Funk immediately instead Funk is still selling so it is Race landing the blows. Race goes for an arm wringers, but Funk starts throwing right-handed chops and eventually Funk breaks Race's clasp and starts to mount a comeback. I really enjoyed Race totally whiffing on a straight left closed fist only for Funk to punch him in the face. I love Funk's reaction to the ref to throw his hands up like he is innocent. Stuff like that makes closed fists feel so much more important. Funk wants the spinning toehold, but cant apply it. Then it is Race with a figure-4 attempt but he cant get it. Funk takes a nasty spill to the floor when Race side-steps him on a criss-cross. Race bring back in the hardway with a vertical suplex. Funk does an excellent job selling the back. Abdominal Stretch gives Race the fall. I have watched thousands of pro wrestling matches and never seen the abdominal stretch earn a fall and now I have seen it twice. Great first fall. It really puts Funk on display. He is so innovative and unpredictable. If that is something you value, then he is your man. Even little things, like how he falls through the ropes on his apron and re-enters the ring feels different. This is the best possible Race as he is toned down not throwing out too much. He is sticking to the fundamentals. He is still a blackhole of charisma but everything looks tight. Race 1-0. Second Fall: Even though Harley won the first fall. It was not definitive. Funk came back strong in the opening of the second fall. Backing Harley into a corner and slapping him around. This drew the ire of Race. Who charged into a bodyslam. Funk came over, but Race butted him in the abdomen. Great transition. Race went back to work on the back as that is how he won the first fall. Funk eventually wrestled a headlock on Race. They break free and Race wants an abdominal stretch, but Funk gets a backslide for two. Funk urgently pounces and hits a piledriver for three. This has been the Terry Funk show. Great individual performance. Characteristically short second fall. Tied 1-1. Third Fall: Excellent fall, ***** stuff here. Harley decides that he wants to make this match a battle of fisticuffs. He is hitting harder than in the Wahoo match. Funk blasts him back! Atomic Drop! 1-2-NO! Both feet over the ropes. Dont leave anything to chance. Funk lays a clever trap. He takes a knee over by the ropes. Baiting Race to come over and Funk picks the ankle. SPINNING TOEHOLD! Race starts punching him in the face. He keeps punching until he busts Funk wide open. Great bladejob. This was great drama. It was Funk's Spinning Toehold vs. Race working the cut. I loved the spot where Race hits a kneedrop on the cut, but comes up clutching his bad knee. Funk has one last gasp in the Spinning Toehold, but Harley grabs him by the hair Funk tries to block the left hand, but Harley breaks free and starts taking wicked shots to the cut. Funk gradually loses his strength each punch taking more of him until he finally succumbs to collapse, bloody and convulsing he takes a wild swing at the ref who calls for a blood stoppage because he knows Funk has lost it. Wow! Damn great finish to set up a big time rematch. Race starts headbutting Funk in the cut while announcer calls for a doctor. Wild! Little bit of overhype calling this the greatest NWA Championship of all time aside, this match is fantastic and a terrific Terry Funk performance. So many little touches that are unique to Funk and so many innovative spots that I dont think have been seen since 1977 and were seen before. The third fall was high drama and you always want to peak at the finish and these two did just that. ****3/4

NWA United States Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat- MACW 12/10/78 This is the first time I am checking out any of the Cornette Garbage Tape footage. My God, Ric Flair is good. After watching two Harley Race matches, holy shit is Flair good. Flair is much more entertaining. The jaw jacking, bravado, the urgency, the excitement. Another thing is that a lot of Race's strikes look light as feathers. We dont say it enough Flair hits fucking hard. He is a stiff dude. Everything looks so snug and tight. The crowd is in frenzy for all ten minutes we get. Steamboat sells like a million bucks, but HOLY SHIT THAT COMEBACK! Steamboat was built more like Snuka at this point like a body builder. Seeing all those muscles flex at once. He looked so badass. Chop galore! Flair is bumping and hollering. Torture Rack by Steamboat I love it. The Dragon has the champion reeling, but Flair hits an uppercut to the throat to force the DQ. Steamboat tackles Flair after the match as Flair scurries away with the belt. Not enough footage to rate, but this is tremendous fun. Stuff like this makes me think the Greatest Match Ever was watched by a couple thousand people in North Carolina at a random house show.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race vs Wahoo McDaniel - Houston 2/10/78 2 Out of 3 falls First Fall: Harley by the numbers. Working in and out of holds. Lots of spots and movement. Not as soulless as that Backlund match performance as there is some stooging here, but still there is just not a lot of character work. Wahoo is great in this. Asskicking babyface. The crossbody block was a good nearfall. I really liked his chops and the butterfly suplex was a great throw. They were working in and out of headlocks. Harley would butt his head or throw a southpaw punch and Wahoo would roar back. I really, really liked Harley nasty headbutts up against the ropes towards the end of the first fall. Wahoo comes firing back. Harley is able to hit an Atomic Drop that sends Wahoo into the buckles. Harley finishes him off with a series of kneedrops to the head (looked great) and a vertical suplex?!? Man I have seen an abdominal stretch and a vertical suplex decide a fall today. The Late 70s were a strange time indeed! The finish felt anti-climatic even if it was logical. Harley 1-0. Second Fall: Harley looks to press the advantage, Wahoo tries to comeback, but Harley butts him in the stomach. Harley gets a couple kneedrops into the abdomen. I really wished this went somewhere as Wahoo was doing some great selling. Harley gets two on a piledriver. Then he settles into a front facelock. Sensible he got two nearfalls but wanted to sap more of Wahoo's energy. Wahoo's comeback began with a knee to the head to break the hold and then some vicious chops! He was lighting Harley up! Harley goes over the top and Wahoo sends him into the post. Wahoo is killing. Harley takes a couple big bumps off the chops and Wahoo takes the second fall. I know this is 1978 but these falls are not exciting. It is not the moves. There is a good way to a simple, logical finish and make it exciting. These feel very logical, but not exciting. Tied 1-1 Third Fall: The best fall! A fire fight breaks out. Excellent chops, punches and lots of shots to the midsection. There are a lot of momentum shifts but they are all earned. It is two men that are battling for the richest prize in the sport and they are scrapping. The action spills to the outside. Harley slams Wahoo's head into the post. Again, NO, block...Wahoo slams the Champion's head into the post drawing blood. There is an incident in the stands and the police swarm a fan. In the ring, Harley is wearing the proverbial crimson mask. Wahoo is pouring it on. Chops galore and another beautiful Butterfly Suplex. I love Harley puts both feet over the bottom rope he wants to make sure the ref sees it. Leave nothing up to chance! Wahoo his thunderous chop similar to the one that won him the second fall, BUT as he leaps for the cover he eats the knees of Race. Harlye tries to mount a comeback...O'Connor Roll by Wahoo...Harley grabs the trunks and 1-2-3! That finish is always a great heel finish. Definitely one of the better Harley outings, some good offense. Wahoo roared in this match. I wish we had so much more prime Wahoo. The finishes in the first two falls were a bit anti-climatic. Solid NWA Championship title defense. ****

AWA World Heavyweight Nick Bockwinkel vs Jumbo Tsuruta - Hawaii 2/14/79 I watched this years ago and have totally forgotten it. My only memory is that I liked it a whole lot. I loved the ceremony before the match complete with laying. It makes it feel Big Time! First Fall: We lose about 5 minutes due to a clip. Bock and Jumbo are jostling for position and Bock pops him with an elbow in the ropes. Bock makes a big show that is legal because it was an elbow, but that's not the point. It was not a clean break so Jumbo is pissed and his fist ball. Bock is backpedalling and asking the ref to make Jumbo open up the fist. The next time in the ropes, Bock pops him again, but he lingers and Jumbo fires back to a huge pop. Yeah this match is pretty badass. Jumbo works the arm for the majority of the match using holds such as armbar, hammerlock and double wristlock. Bock is the one creating the movement in the match but Jumbo is being tenacious. Solid work. In the double wristlock, Bock starts working over the midsection with punches and eventually he makes in-roads and Jumbo goes down. From there, it is just a textbook clinic from both men. Bock is using big kneelifts and stomps to keep the challenger at bay while Jumbo writhes in pain. He drives his face hard into the top buckle. Jumbo bounces back with a big punch. Here comes Jumbo, no more holds, it is all about blows to the face and European Uppercuts. He wants the Buttefly Suplex to end it, but he hoists the champion up twice but cannot get him all the way over. That must have been painful for Bock. Bock rakes the eyes. Lots of good heel offense by Bock here throwing him into the buckles and the ropes and choking. He throws him out. You are going to get some classic King of the Mountain. Jumbo comes roaring back! The crowd goes crazy for Jumbo as he kicks ass. He goes for the Big High Knee in the corner, but crashes and burns, knee-first into the buckles. Bockwinkel is brimming with confidence now. He works over the knee to set up the figure-4. I love how they go back and forth on the reversals. It is not just one reversal and done. It is a struggle. A struggle that Jumbo ends up losing. Excellent first fall. Bock 1-0! Second Fall: Rocks just as hard as the first fall. I love that Jumbo is selling the leg the whole time even if Bock has abandoned the strategy mid-way through this fall. Bock picks right up where her left trying to apply the figure-4. This would have spelled the end for Jumbo but he chops his way out of trouble from his back. Bock settles for an Indian Deathlock, but Jumbo flips to his back and chops to break the toehold. Jumbo starts to mount his comeback. I like that the control segment begins with the Boston Crab (a Jumbo favorite) and that leads to more attacks to the back rather than the Boston Crab being the final hold. This is when the selling gets really good. You have Jumbo collapsing after every move and Bock staggered. I loved the Atomic Drop and then the abdominal stretch and they collapse into the ropes. Bock has been a great heel in this match. He really sells Jumbo's offense well but like a heel. It is a way that does not elicit sympathy but rather makes you want to see more. Bock abandons the knee, but Jumbo keeps selling. Bock decides to go to his favorite spot: King of the Mountain and it is a good one. Bockwinkel really knows how to ratchet up the heat and be a nasty heel. Not a lot of spots/moves in this match, he is out to inflict pain to the head. Eventually, Jumbo turns the tables from the low ground and drapes Bock over the apron and starts dishing out some punishment. The crowd is pumped. Irish Whip! Is he going to go for the High Knee again? Nope, he has learned and is too injured. He settles for smashing Bock's head into the buckles so much that he comes up bleeding! Jumbo is pouring it on. Butterfly Suplex! 1-2-NO! C'mon ref that was three! Slow count and you were out of position! Abdominal stretch and Bock passes out from the pain! Wow I think that is the first time I have seen the ab stretch get a fall in anything. They built on the strong foundation of the first fall and delivered a second fall. Bockwinkel is giving such a great fundamental heel performance. Flair is a speedball, but here Bock is relying on selling and character work rather than bumping to convey that Jumbo is kicking ass. Bock is not trying to show he is a great wrestler in this match. The majority of his offense is driving Jumbo's head into the turnbuckle. He is not trying to be the hero or the cool wrestler. He is a heel's heel. Jumbo got everything you want from a babyface fire and selling. Really strong stuff! Tied 1-1 Third Fall: This reminds me so much of Flair vs Kerry. Bock is beaten, battered and bloody slumped by the ropes. The difference is Flair is so loud and Bock is understated, but the point is the same the heel champion is in serious trouble. I like Bockwinkel's strategy of staying by the ropes at all costs. Any time he is free to move, he is moving towards the sanctuary of the ropes. Jumbo wants his Butterfly Suplex, but settles for a piledriver! His knee gives out and he struggles to cover. 1-2-NO! Huge nearfall and the Hawaii crowd bites on it hard! I dont know why Jumbo convulses right there bit over the top. Atomic drop, but on the bad knee. Abdominal Stretch! This is how he won the second fall. Bock clubs the ref! BOOOOOOOOOOO! It is 1979 so the shitty finish was expected, but regardless this is tremendous. Great understated performance by Bock where he was not trying to be cool just trying to survive. Heel selling is a lost art and more heels should watch this match and Bock in general to see how you can sell in such a way that you invite the fans to want to see more. It is a classic championship style match that takes you on a great roller coaster ride. ****1/2

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race - MSG 9/22/80 I have been dreading this match for quite some time due to its rep, length and participants. However, I felt like it was such an important match I needed to watch it. It is far, far better than the Backlund vs Muraco one hour snoozefest. Surprisingly, it actually turned into a pretty good, dramatic match down the stretch. The first 25 minutes or so are boring as piss, but the last ten are pretty good. Backlund vs a bumper can be an awesome match see anything with Sgt. Slaughter. What this match is missing is energy and charisma. Race is just letting himself be bodyslammed and be countered, but he is not being entertaining. He is just going through the motions. Even Bob who I think had quirky charisma is pretty subdued, but he is the more charismatic of the two. They work the side headlock a lot and the crowd gets restless around the 12 minute mark. There was a spot they they did twice which was really good where Race would grab the chin of Backlund in the headlock pull Backlund down into a bridge and Backlund would bridge out and slam Race back to the mat in the headlock. It really showed off the strength of Backlund. Like I said the crowd was getting restless, they popped huge when Backlund hit a textbook vertical suplex. This crowd is a lot nicer than today's. If you like suplexes this match is for you, Backlund hit them all: gutwrench, vertical, German and a tremendous Butterfly that actually had some struggle. Race never got a real heat segment. He usually hit one move and then get countered. He did have on stretch of kneedrops and headbutts. Like I said the individual spots were fine. It was the connective tissue and character work that was missing. This was actually a pretty classic Bob layout. Anything you can do, Bob can do better! That worked with Hogan, Valentine and Patera to great results, but a great layout is meaningless without entertaining execution. This was a soulless performance. I loved Backlund's piledriver (as a counter to Race's attempt) and his big atomic drop to the floor. Classic Backlund! The other weird thing is Bob kept selling like he had been through this war. Just that epic exhaustion selling, but Race really did not do a number on him so it felt weird and forced. Just bad overselling. Down the stretch when Bob was hitting these bombs it was more exciting. They double juice. Good slugfest, I love Backlund's punches. They slip into a sleeper and Race punches the ref in the sleeper to draw the DQ. You knew in an unification match it would have a shit finish. Like I said the last ten minutes are pretty good. The action is there, but needed a lot more character work. It is not a good match per se, but it is not that bad either.

Yeah I dont know why I lowballed the rating. I didnt read my review before watching. Came away thinking it was awesome. Then read my review and agreed with myself.I guess I didnt like the finish, but I gave high marks to the lead-in matches to the Patera & Slaughter gimmick matches. Weird. Yes, this is ****1/2

I like that newspaper clipping a lot. WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Buddy Rose - MSG 8/30/82 Buddy Rose checks the most important box to be an enjoyable Bob Backlund challenger and that is to be a great bumper. Now you do NOT have to be a great bumper to be a great Backlund challenger (see Valentine, Greg and Hogan, Hulk), but if you are, then it is almost a guarantee that the match will be great. Bob Backlund is over like rover! Before the bell, he leads the crowd in a thunderous proto-yes chant! Buddy Rose is playing his Playboy character to the hilt. He has his ladies in Vegas show girl tuxedos preening him while each gives a kiss and then "one for the Grand Wizard" - Vince McMahon adds slyly. Early on Backlund has the Playboy betwixt & between. He does not know if he is coming or going. On a couple amateur sequences, Backlund is like the Tasmanian Devil on the mat rendering Buddy Rose discombobulated on the outside wondering what just happened. Buddy Rose tries charging but a series of single leg pickups result in him on his ass repeatedly. He tries a Full Nelson, but Backlund thrusts his ass backwards and Buddy Rose ends up going through the ropes and taking a seat on the cold, concrete. Rose avoids the O'Connor Roll only to eat a dropkick goes back sailing over the top rope. He might as well take residence on the outside given how much time he is spending out there. No that was not a Vince McMahon line, but that does sound like a funny old-timey thing to say. The transition is a little weak (we do miss it the very beginning because we are watching the replay of the dropkick). Rose slams Backlund's head into the turnbuckle and gives him a chop for good measure before taking him over with a side headlock. They do some great work in and out of the Rose headlock. They do this spirited headlock and headscissors counter sequence. Eventually, Backlund grabs his own headlock. Then it is on! Backlund cranks Buddy's neck to the point where you think he is going to screw it off. The crowd counts with him on four separate occasions and at one point counts all the way to 14! I like that anytime Buddy showed any signs of life, he would crank on that neck to bring him to heel. At one point, he just lets go of the headlock and Rose falls face first to the mat lifeless. Perfect! Buddy mounts his comeback by atomic dropping Backlund on the top turnbuckle. Ow! Rose gets vicious. He starts stomping Backlund mercilessly until Backlund is forced off the apron to fall onto the apron. Rose bounces his head off the apron and then two closed fists to the head. That's the other thing you need as a Backlund challenger is a mean streak because Backlund will gobble you up. Backlund whips him into the buckles after a chop and monkey flip! He goes to the well one too many times and Rose hooks the ropes. Rose with a jackknife pin for two. Buddy misses the elbow drop. Backlund starts uppercutting the arm which can only mean one thing, but Rose senses it and drives Backlund back into the turnbuckles. Buddy goes up top, but Backlund moves Rose lands on his feet. Dropkick! 1-2-NO! Robinson Backbreaker? No! CROSSFACE CHICKENWING! THE PLAYBOY GIVES IT UP! I liked the submission finish. I think what keeps this from other upper tier Backlund matches is that Backlund never feels in trouble. Slaughter has the Cobra Clutch, Valentine has the figure-4, Hogan & Patera have size & strength. This is a very fun match, but it lacks drama down the stretch. I didn't like the Adonis match from '82 that everyone loves (I am tempted to rewatch it), but I thought this was still the 1982 WWF Match of the Year. Backlund's offense in this match is wicked fun from the beginning to the headlock crank and Rose bumps and sells so well. ****1/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Masked Superstar - MSG 10/17/83 The angle coming in is that Masked Superstar injured Bob Backlund's protege, a young Eddie Gilbert, with his Swinging Neckbreaker on the concrete. This match is more of a continuation of that match than it is a match in its own right. They were getting ready to finally take the belt off Backlund after six years. They wanted to protect him as much as possible. So they had Superstar give him the Swinging Neckbreaker both in the ring and then out of the ring on the concrete. Backlund is counted out. He gets his heat back by running Superstar off, but then collapses in the ring holding the back of his neck so you know something is up. This is what Sheiky Baby would target with his Camel Clutch. The match itself is pretty fine. Superstar is a good chain wrestler. They do a good job working in and out of a headscissors. This is a classic Bob headscissors. Really cranking it. Then Bob does some nice arm work to soften him up for the Crossface Chickenwing. Backlund takes a spill to the outside. Superstar gets a high knee and flying headbutt as nearfalls. Backlund makes some really good fiery comebacks. I love when Backlund is throwing 'bows or big fists. Superstars misses his second flying headbutt and Backlund pounces. He starts winding up the arm and really going to town on it, but Superstar is just too damn big and cant he cant negotiate the hold. Backlund is too overzealous and he runs into clothesline. Superstar is able to hit his deadly Swinging Neckbreaker. Solid match with a hot angle at the end. I bet my friend Pete aka SHoe would call this a good piece of business because that's exactly what it is. ***

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Don Muraco - MSG 3/20/83 Texas Death Match I think this is going to be the last Don Muraco Texas Death Match I watch in my life. I always say that, but this dude is such a bore. This match is a result of Backlund losing his temper and getting DQ'd the previous month so this is Texas Death Match, which is New York's version of No DQ. It is wrestled very tame. Their Texas Death Match in 1981 is much better. Backlund tries to jumpstart the match with some head cranks and hard elbows but Muraco retreats to the corner as if to say "Brudda, chill". Backlund just works a head crank sequence that lets the crowd count along. At one he takes Muraco over the ropes so he can pull him back in. Note to Muraco: that spot works a lot better if you actually are scrambling to escape. The best spot of the first half was Muraco uses Bcaklund's hair to pitch him off and hit a dropkick. He goes up top and Backlund rips him down with a headlock. The match does pick up once Muraco hits a low blow. I mean it is a Texas Death Match after all! Muraco drops Backlund throat-first on the railing. A pretty tepid King of the Mountain ensues. The best part of the match by far is the home stretch. Backlund slams Muraco's head into the post busting him open. He then gets his receipt dropping Muraco throat first on the railing. Backlund pounds the cut and even steps on it. Nasty. Muraco gets a desperation powerslam but slides off on the cover. Backlund press slams him off the top. Then Backlund just shows off... get this he does an Argentine Backbreaker and then bridges out of a cover. The crowd popped huge. Backlund was crazy strong! I liked the Crossface Chickenwing, but Muraco scurries for the ropes and Backlund counters with a German suplex bridge. Muraco may be a dreadful bore, but that finish run with the blood and Backlund kicking ass was hot. Too little too late though. ***1/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Sgt. Slaughter - MSG 5/23/83 The year 1983 is a year of transition for the WWF as it is the first full year under Vince Jr. It is not considered one of the great years in WWF history as Vince is trying to get his building blocks in place for his national expansion thus he keeps the belt on Bob Backlund for the year and uses a retreads as his challengers (Muraco & Slaughter) with Masked Superstar being the one new challenger. Slaughter, being such a great bumper, is one of Backlund's best opponent. While this is not as good as their '81 Philly series, this is still a great Backlund title defense. Apparently, Slaughter attacked and bruised Backlund on TV with his Swagger Stick. Backlund starts the match red hot. You wouldn't know for Gorilla's commentary because he keeps telling us how he cant believe Bob is keeping his cool! Jesus, Gorilla you are terrible. Backlund is kicking ass and you say he is keeping his cool. He is throwing Slaughter around at will. Slaughter is bumping like a madman and is really selling discombobulation. Backlund is pointing at his bruises and punching the shit out of Sarge. This is great! Backlund starts hurling his body at Slaughter with these massive forearms. Slaughter is able to hit a desperation Slaughter Canon. The heat segment that follows is really good. I will have to check and see if 1983 Backlund has longer heat segments to see if that correlates with Vince Jr. Slaughter works over the mid-section and ribs along with good heel work. The best combination is the double stomp, which is always over with me. Backlund sells well. I really love the suplex struggle they have. It is a real test of wills and they really milk it. It is feels like such a huge victory when Backlund wins it and hits his suplex. This enables him to hit a piledriver, but Sarge does an interesting thing he places forearms behind Backlund's knees it looks like blocks some of the blow, but really if Backlund wanted to that seemed like a good way to have your forearms broken. I love that Slaughter hooks the ropes on a neckbreaker attempt and Backlund goes flying taking the full brunt on his own head. Slaughter busts out a dropkick, which surprises me and Gorilla. My favorite spot of this match is when Backlund deadweights Slaughter on a suplex attempt and Slaughter still is able to pick him up and hang him to dry on the top rope. It was an excellent struggle spot. Having softened the mid-section, Sarge goes for the kill with a shoulder tackle into the corner only to eat the ringpost (excellent transition). Slaughter looks poised to take advantage and win the match. I think if he went for the Cobra Clutch here it really would have taken the match to the next level. Instead he goes flying into the post. Backlund starts working on the arm and the crowd pops! Backlund lights up like a Christmas Tree. At this point in his career, Backlund had begun using the Crossface Chickenwing! He applies it. I love how he is ripping Sarge away from the ropes. Eventually, Grand Wizard gives him the Swagger Stick and he cracks Backlund with it for the DQ, but Backlund wrests control of it. MSG goes really crazy for the first time in the match. Backlund gets his licks in as Slaughter runs to the back. You could definitely tell Backlund's popularity has waned but his in-ring acumen had not. This is a great Backlund defense! ****

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Sgt. Slaughter - MSG 10/20/80 I need to go back and listen to the Titans of Wrestling episode on this show because I want to hear their take on heel Bob Backlund. Normally, I would not get on the case of a babyface blindsiding the heel, attacking the heel with the heel's gimmick (swagger stick) and then causing the heel to take a nutty bump (Sarge's classic out of control over the top turnbuckle bump) thus whipping the crowd into the frenzy. However, when you add this to the fact that Sarge had the Cobra Clutch on Bob and Arnie hits Sarge with a chair to trigger a DQ saving the title then Backlund hits a pilerdriver and an atomic drop. I got to call a spade a spade that's downright being a no-good, egg-sucking heel! I gotta say in between the red hot start and the awesome finish run this match was pretty damn good. First ten minute was standard Bob Backlund kicks ass. Man, he has a great bodyslam. Sarge is such a great opponent for him because he can bump like a pinball. The armbars did get long in the tooth and go nowhere. Once Sarge took over by throwing Bob out and playing the King of the Mountain the match got reinvigorated. I thought it was an excellent King of the Mountain with some great selling from Backlund. I liked the bodyslam on the floor. I loved the transition with Backlund desperately shoving Slaughter into the the post to knock him loopy. Then Bob shows off his crazy strength by suplexing Sarge back into the ring and he held him up and then threw him. They fight in the corner and Sarge ends up getting busted open by the exposed part of the turnbuckle. Backlund is just working that cut, you can see how bloody his fist becomes. What I thought was really interesting about this match is how close Sarge gets to winning. Backlund is very rarely shown as vulnerable. Late in the match, Sarge is running Backlund into the post, not once but twice. Then he hits the Slaughter Canon. I had this weird feeling come over me and I was like is Bob in trouble? Then he applies the Cobra Clutch! I was like Holy Shit! How is Bob getting out of this predicament. It is pretty lame that his manager interferes at this point. This is a pretty cool Backlund match because it actually feels like he could and was going to lose. Great start, pretty good shine, the heat segment was awesome and the finish run from the bladejob on was red hot. The ending is a bit of a turn off, but a really interesting Backlund match. ***3/4

WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid - WWF MSG 8/30/82 Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid take their NJPW rivalry on the road. It is a very short match under ten minutes and I recommend seeking out their New Japan matches. Tiger Mask looks like a breakout star here. So quick and agile. Plenty of good high spots. His 619 psych-out pops the MSG faithful. I liked his legsweep a lot. Surprisingly I thought Dynamite bumped and stooged for him well. Typically Dynamite is this ultra-serious badass so for him to show himself vulnerable and overwhelmed by Tiger Mask was cool. Dynamite's offense could have used better transitions but it was tight. He misses a diving headbutt. Tiger Mask hits a top rope sidesault (Im hard pressed to call that moonsault). This is semi-famous as workrate match in New York before workrate matches were thing. It is a bit overhyped, but it is fun bit of novelty. ***

Thanks brutha, I appreciate it! I will keep spreading the Pro Wrestling Love! I first watched AJ Styles in 2003 when my Dad got a de-scrambler so I could watch TNA on PPV and I was immediately hooked on AJ. At the time it was the death-defying moves and bumps. Now as I have matured as a fan, I see AJ as an all-time great because his great psychology and selling and that overhand right is one of the best in the business. AJ Styles is in my eyes a serious contender for the greatest American wrestler of all time because he really is the total package. My very, very first pro wrestling match reviews happened in 2013 and were dedicated to going back and watching all TNA AJ Styles PPV matches I had missed. This was a full year before the rest of the wrestling world became AJ Styles marks in 2014. Yep, I am pulling that fact that I am AJ Styles hipster mark. These reviews have since been updated since 2013 as re-watched a lot of his matches in the past month to make sure they held and they got even better with these more mature eyes. AJ Styles is the real deal and I know that TNA stench is hard for a lot of people to get over, but if you sit down with an open mind you will find that AJ Styles truly is Phenomenal! He did not do this alone and of course Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels played a big part in putting on these classics and also you will find that America's Most Wanted did pretty well for themselves in Pro Wrestling Love vol. 35: Best TNA Wrestling Matches of 2002-2009! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2019/02/pro-wrestling-love-vol-35-greatest-tna.html

Kenta Kobashi vs Samoa Joe - ROH 10/1/05 I wish you could bottle the electricity and emotion in the building for this match. Samoa Joe at his peak wrestling his idol. Kenta Kobashi just after his tremendous, historic heavyweight championship reign wrestling in America for the first time. Ring Of Honor, which was basically a puroresu promotion in America, achieving its pinnacle by having the biggest Puroresu star in American's eyes against their biggest star. Then what I believe could be the greatest crowd of all time just marking out each every and every second. What a tremendous package! They could have gone out and read the fucking phone book and we would have all marked out! What a dream match! The match I wish the most that I got to see live. I have never watched this match until right now and I was marking out just like everybody else. I don't think this is *****. I am not trying to be a Debbie-Downer, but it is a Greatest Hits of All Japan done in America. That's exactly what it was supposed to be! I am grinning like a Cheshire Cat throughout the whole thing. Watching Samoa Joe do Kawada Kicks and Kobashi's response was just magic. The look on Kobashi's face throughout the match as he scanned the arena. I don't think he could believe he was so fucking over. I wonder if he was thinking "Baba should have had touring over here!". Kobashi was at his Kobashi The Destroyer asskicking best turning Samoa Joe's chest purple. The main criticism I hear of this match is that it is Chopbashi. It is definitely Chopbashi. He was coming off the big Dome match with Sasaki and it is wrestled very much in that vein. It works in this setting because the match truly is a dream match. When you are watching it, you actually feel like you are dreaming. Like Kobashi in a ring that says ROH and surrounded by a bunch of Northeast Maniacs! That surrealness plays into the larger than life effect. Chopbashi is larger than life. Another reviewer said this match is half about Joe eating Kobashi's spots. We were all marking out of the Half Nelson and Sleeper Suplexes! That was incredible! I think Joe definitely looked credible against Kobashi. Another reviewer said Joe is basically a midcarder in NOAH, which was true but in America he was top dog and Kobashi let him do top dog things. The dive elbow through ropes ala Misawa gave Joe the advantage at the beginning. I loved the running facewash and how Kobashi countered it. That was a great bump by Joe into crowd off the chop! It was a very selfless performance by Joe. Joe's powerbomb into an array of submissions came off really great because of how well Kobashi was struggling. That was probably the best version I have seen of that sequence because Joe was properly reacting to Kobashi getting close to the ropes. When it came time, Kobashi DESTROYED Joe and I am sure Joe was marking out like the rest of us as Kobashi was chopping his chest purple! BURNING LARIAT! They did not overstay their welcome. The match was just one extended Mark Out Sequence and it was glorious! ****1/2

Amen brutha! Rewatching a lot of this, I honestly believe Low-Ki is a better wrestler than Daniel Bryan Danielson. It is just Bryan Danielson had a better career. Also, I dont think there is any way that Low-Ki fell off the map in 2005. I think his booking was so shitty that no one has gone back watched his stuff. I bet if we did we would find gems. I will say the one place Low-Ki falters is his charm. Ki is a badass and an asskicker. Bryan has the loveable, nerdy, relatable charm. I don't think Low-Ki could have an inspired the Movement that Bryan did. Low-Ki vs Bryan Danielson - JAPW 6/7/2002 Submission Match Everyone focuses on Danielson (who was great), but I thought it was Low-Ki who made this match work. I have seen a lot of reviews focus on how great Dragon is in this match, but I think they are conflating how Danielson was on offense for most of the match with him being better. Low-Ki was great in this match because he made Danielson earn all his offense. Low-Ki looks just as proficient at catch-as-catch-can grappling as Danielson, but it is on defense where he is excelling. Watch where he puts his knees to keep Danielson at bay. Danielson looks like a wizard on the mat also the way he works into the Dragon Clutch. My point is not Low-Ki was better than Danielson in this match, but they were every bit equals. Also, I don't agree with the point that this falters in the face of high-end RINGS or BattlArts. I think in comparison to BattlArts the narrative is a lot stronger than many of the Ishikawa vs Ikeda matches. There are few matches as brutal as Ishikawa vs Ikeda so forgive them for not stiffing each other in the face. There are RINGS matches better than this, but to claim this would not even make Tamura's Top Twenty smacks me as silly. Even Tamura & RINGS has it deficiencies. I think what this match does better than a lot of RINGS matches is in the struggle in the grappling in the mat not leading to a submission and using the ground & pound effectively. Also, this match abandons the RINGS formula of standup->takedown->grapple->rope break->repeat. I like this because it gets you in a unique groove for RINGS, but it breaks the rhythm of the match. If instead on a rope break, you pounce on your opponent and are doing a full court press that can be just as interesting. I am just saying a different look at shoot-style is interesting here. It does not rely on the scoring system to tell its story. I am a proponent of the scoring system, but it can be a crutch. These two had a classic just a couple months prior in Ring Of Honor which was a brutal stiff-fest and a big bomb throwing match down the stretch. This match could NOT be more different. The vast majority is ground work with the strikes being used in ground & pound or to set up submissions. There were all sorts of great takedowns and wrestling. I loved how Low-Ki was focused on the cross-armbreaker early and then how Danielson slid into the STF. It was a deep STF. This was what Danielson was the best in this match organically applying submissions. Another great example later on in the match of Danielson's organic nature in this match was how he worked his way into the Rocking Horse. I didnt get the Volk Han comparison at first from other reviews but now I see it watching the match back a second time. What Volk Han does so well is organically find himself in exciting submission holds. Danielson was doing the same here. Ki gets the ropes and Danielson pounces on him with the knees. Danielson was suffocating Low-Ki with his full court press. I really enjoyed them each stealing the other's submission in the first ten minutes of the match. What I thought was so amazing about Low-Ki in this match was his ability to hit strikes from the most ridiculous angles. He was hitting short range chops and kicks from short gaps where he should not have had the leverage to hit fully only absolutely crack Danielson. A good example of this is that Danielson has a sort of inverted figure-4 and Ki contorts his body to hit a stiff chop to Danielson's leg. Nasty. Another one is Low-Ki is using his feet as a guard from his back and somehow manages to hit kicks to the midsection that sound like gunshots. Another feather in the cap is how everything flowed organically in this match. That is a testament to both men's chemistry with each other. Danielson's second STF was incredible in how Low-Ki was desperately countering and then Danielson's countered his counter by clawing at the nose! WOW! I love the grit and urgency. Danielson gets a rear full mount and rains down the clubbing forearms. Some people have called this Danielson's best performance, I still think the Morishima match is a better example, but he is vicious in this. I love how Ki lifting Danielson from the mat and driving him in the turnbuckles is a HIGHSPOT. Ki does a great job selling his exhaustion and then rallying to hit a bunch of brutal strikes. Cattle Mutilation is my least favorite part of Danielson's matches. It does not look great. The bridge is the only cool part but it leaves you in a precarious position. Danielson is trying to balance but his opponent is wriggling and thus causing Danielson to lose his balance. People's arms are always floppy. It is hard to sell in that particular position. It is almost as the Anklelock and how easy it is to free yourself from the hold. To put it quite simply, I HATE CATTLE MUTILATION! :p I thought Ki released himself from the hold way too easily. I liked them changing it up and going to the outside. Low-Ki wanted a change of pace. He had been on the losing end of the mat battle but Low-Ki felt he could win the stand up game and that's exactly what see as Low-Ki is able to use his striking proficiency to gain the advantage then use a legsweep to gain control on the mat and get a variety of chokes. Down the stretch, we see more highspots as they build to the finish. Dragon gets his big hurrah with two German Suplexes, a Dragon Suplex and then Cattle Mutilation. Low-Ki fights the hold and Dragon cracks him with a chop on stand-up. We finally see an Irish Whip, for shame! Ki hits a couple of this big running Kawada big boots in the corner. Ki wanted the Ki-Krusher. Danielson struggles and shoots him off into the ropes. KI WRAPS HIMSELF AROUND DRAGON AND FLYING ARMBAR! FLASH SUBMISSION! INSANELY GOOD FINISH! This match has everything I want struggle, urgency, and organic, High IQ wrestling. Amazing finish! ****3/4

It is rare that I am ever higher than SmartMark15 and ShittyLilBoots on an ROH match, but here it is. I mean this was fucking phenomenal. I know Daniel Bryan Danielson has had the better career, but I think Low-Ki is the better wrestler. I already think AJ has been, is and will always be better than Danielson, but I think Low-Ki also has a much stronger grasp on psychology and escalation than Danielson. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Low-Ki - ROH Final Battle 2017 "Low-Ki just fucked you up!" - Greatest ROH Fan Ever I am going to state the obvious right up front, Low-Ki is really fucking good at pro wrestling. He may be the greatest offensive wrestler in history. He is so damn smart. I HATE the double stomp in the corner. I knew he was setting up for it. I was already to roll my eyes and be pissed. Then Low-Ki stepped on KENTA's knee and he ground his foot in the knee. KENTA instinctively had to sit up to alleviate the pain and BAM! LOW-KI DOUBLE STOMPS INTO OBVILION! LOW-KI IS THE MAN! Who am I to doubt Low-Ki? To me this is the Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin of the 2000s all supped up. They just kick the ever loving shit out of each other. This is so engrossing. You can take your eyes off of it. It is just absolute brutality. Low-Ki vs Daisuke Ikeda or Low-Ki vs Yuki Ishikawa is my new dream match. Ki just has this credibility. Look how he switches fighting stances early. He looks like a dude that knows how to fight. This is the best possible KENTA match. It is not a million miles per hour. It is just asskicking. It is wrestled BattlArts style so registering is more important than selling early on so nobody is blowing shit off. I love the escalation and pacing. Ki is so offensive-minded as the challenger. He is challenging for the THE Japanese Title, but he is in America, his home turf so he wants to take advantage of this. He comes out hot. You see why KENTA is the champion because he is able to overwhelm KI after Ki's initial onslaught. I liked the symmetry of each getting a quick transition and then hitting a high flying bomb to cement their advantage. Low-Ki's spontaneous Kappo Kick was eye-popping and such a great transition. I loved him doing the Benoit hanging KENTA out to dry on the top rope spot and then hitting a big dive to the floor. Then Ki just started working the midsection, but it was subtle how he was building to this. It made sense because at this point in Ki's career he loved the double stomp. The double stomp counter to KENTA's sunset flip attempt popped me huge. Another one of my favorite moment of the match (I wish it was a bigger deal) was how when Low-Ki hit this monster double stomp from the top rope he got caught on the ropes and he looked to hit his nuts on the rope. He sold it really well and wished a bigger deal was made of it. It explained why he didnt follow up the stomp immediately with a cover and also KENTA was able to hit a powerslam shortly thereafter. The best part of this is Low-Ki is able to get up first, but he does a great job selling his midsection and thats when KENTA truly cements his advantage with a ton of well-placed, stiff kicks. Another one of my favorite spots was Low-Ki is getting his ass kicked and throws a high chop to the throat and KENTA CATCHES IT and turns it into a Butterfly Suplex and converts into a cross-armbar. Beautiful pro wrestling! Turning defense into offense. Great job by Ki immediately clasping the arm, but still selling the arm. You know that double stomp I was raving about in the beginning of this review I forget to mention how well it was set up. KENTA was going for a superplex and Ki blocked it with stiff elbows to the thigh that caused KENTA to collapse into the tree of woe. Genius! The finish stretch is just crazy awesome brutality. They just slap the fucking shit out of each other at one point at rapid speed. There is a lot of no selling down the stretch and I would have liked better transition, but fuck it this was ridiculous. It was two badasses being badass. I loved Low-Ki just spontaneously hitting the Tidal Wave or KENTA just leaping from the mat to the top rope to hit a Super Falcon Arrow. I feel like this match deserved that spot. It is just two wrestlers letting it all hang out. I was marking out when KENTA called for the Go 2 Sleep but Low Ki hit the Ki Krusher. KENTA blitzes with an INSANE strike combo that I am going crazy for and then Low-Ki blows him away with a dropkick! TOP ROPE DOUBLE STOMP! Finn Balor take notes brutha thats how you do it. I love the escalation of the final three moves...missed Phoenix Splash...GO 2 SLEEP...KI stumbles, bumbles and crumples...KENTA RUNNING KNEE...1-2-3! It was not 8 million nearfalls. Ki got two strong nearfalls (Ki Krusher and Double Stomp) and KENTA got the Super Falcon Arrow then they went into the FINAL Sequence that guess what was actually the FINAL Sequence. If you love hard-hitting, explosive asskicking pro wrestling this for you. It is done smartly with great attention to detail and escalation. There was some nitpicky shit that they could have had better transitions late, but fuck that noise thats just because I am doing Greatest Match Ever so I need to nitpick. This ruled fucking hard! Best singles KENTA match ever! I really like the Low Ki vs Danielson match from ROH Show #2 so I am hesitant to call this the best Low-Ki match ever. I couldnt take my eyes off this one, bell to bell ass kicking that never let up! I have been cheap with my ratings recently, lets call this what it is a ***** classic!

Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - TNA Genesis 2009 No DQ As a big Jeff Jarrett fan, I have been waiting to watch this for years. I have been putting it off to watch other matches and am excited to see how this turns out. The video packages fills us in that since Jarrett's win at Bound for Glory (October with some help from Mick Foley) Kurt Angle has formed the Main Event Mafia and needed to beat Rhino (I have no recollection of this) to get his rematch with Double J. Al Snow of all people is the one who helped Angle win. Ok, well that was erased from my memory. Jarrett is so much better when he sticks to his Memphis roots and just throws punches. He starts off red hot. Angle tries to wrap him up in a sleeper to slow him down, but Jarrett hits him with a low blow. No DQ, baby! Jarrett kicks some ass on the floor and throws a beer at Kurt. I am loving this Double J. He gets knocked off the apron into the railing and then sent face first onto the stairs. Strong start thus far! Kurt Angle's heat segment is pretty tame. The match picks up again when Angle takes a nutty bump over the top rope crashing onto the floor. Double J tries a suicide dive over the top rope in a scary spot as his foot catches the ropes and he almost spikes his head into the floor. A for effort, brutha. Angle throws him into the announce table and Angle busts him wide open with ring bell. Five alarm bladejob by Jarrett. Ok, here we go! Angle works the cut. Jarrett hits a desperation DDT on the ramp. He throws Angle into the steel staging and busts him open. Jarrett hitting some nice Memphis style rights. It is too bad that Jarrett did not stick to his Mempho roots throughout the 90s/00s. Angle hits an Olympic Slam off the stage onto the floor! Jarrett was supposed to go through a table but overshot and damn I think he just fell five feet onto concrete. OW! They really milk it and struggle back to the ring. I like the slugfest that develops then it becomes bomb-trading. It is pretty good bomb trading because they at least set up each transition. Angle gets the stupid Anglelock and Olympic Slam when he thwarts a Superplex. Jarrett gets a Pedigree after the slugfest (clearly using the Pedigree mid-match was a potshot at HHH) and then the Stroke after he dropkicks a chair into Angle's face (that felt like a big deal). After the Stroke did not work thats when he went for the Superplex. Angle charges into the post. Jarrett is thinking guitar. Angle punts him in the balls when he takes too long. Decent finisher-trading. The finish of the match is pretty lame. Angle blasts Jarrett with a chairshot to the head to get a two count. Jarrett misses an enziguiri and Angle puts him back in the Anglelock and of course Double J reverses. Jarrett hits a DDT to get out of the Olympic Slam. He wants to use the guitar but it is busted. He hits a steel chair shot. 1-2-Angle Reverses into a side slide for 1-2-3! A technical wrestling finish and then Jarrett is the one that cant move. Lol! It was Angle that was slammed in the head. Jarrett was selling the ankle injury. Angle then attacks Jarrett's bad ankle and takes the chair puts on the ankle and stomps on it. This is a good match and definitely better than Bound for Glory, but this is not the best match of Jarrett's career as the Shawn Michaels match is still better. I was hoping for more brawling and less finish trading. ***1/2

TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong - TNA Final Resolution 2008 No DQ If you believe the WWE, good women's wrestling did not happen before 2014, but Awesome Kong and Gail Kim prove WWE wrong. I was a big mark for Awesome Kong as a teenager. For some reason, I thought she was around when I was in high school, but I guess I was watching her in college. Every Kong match on Impact was a must see for me and my brother. It was great going back and watching these two PPV matches against Gail Kim. I think I liked the first slightly more, but this was still excellent. In both cases, I thought the finish was the worst part of the match which is a shame. Just like the first match, Kong shoves Kim right off the apron, but this time it seems Kim is more prepared as he is fighting back. I think what makes these matches great is how much Gail Kim fights back. She is constantly peppering her with shots even if they have limited effect. Kong hits a massive chop and then clothesline on the floor. Kong is such a great force. One of the best spots of the match is when Kong wants the powerbomb on the floor and Kim from a bent over position kicks her with the flat of the foot in the head. What agility is right Don West. Kong bullies her hard into the apron. As much as I like Nia Jax, Awesome Kong is still the best big woman's wrestler I have ever seen, the closest thing to Vader I have seen (I need to watch Joshi, but bear with me). Kong puts her foot on Gail's throat and it is just a perfect statement of dominance. Kim is so good at selling the beating, but always fighting back. Gail Kim never lets herself die. Kong swings Kim around in a choke hold, but Kim just keeps trying to elbow out of trouble but Kong just SWATS her with a Spinning Back Fist. HOLY SHIT! Again on the outside, Kim is trying to fight for her life but Kong swats her down. I love that swinging move that Kong does to drive her into the railing. That was always one of my favorite Kong spots. Strong arena brawling. Kim beating her with an empty soda bottle was funny because I know it doesnt really hurt but it makes a great sound. I like the desperation. Kong throws her down the stairs, which always freaks me out. The only rule in my house growing up was no fighting on the steps. Kong rams herself into the board when Kim moves. This is the first time of the match that Kong has missed and this is a perfect opportunity for Kim. Great Job by Kim to kick the arm, hit a springboard using the railing to hit a double axehandle on the bad arm and then hammerlock the bad arm into the post, but it is short lived as Kong just drills Kim with big clubbing blows. I like that hope spot. Kong grabs the chair but she missed and Kim kicks the chair into Kong's face another great hope spot. Gail Kim tries to hurl her body into Awesome Kong, but she just catches her and drives her into the apron. It looks like all hope is loss for our fearless hero. She tries in vain to hit elbows and Kong just hits a series of back fists. Powerbomb, no, Sunset Flip, Kong sits down and Kim moves! Kim tries to keep moving but Kong is just so strong and Kong slams her down. Kong is besides herself so she POWERBOMBS the ref! I love ref abuse! Kong starts slamming the ref with chair shots until Kim grabs the chair and Kim wrestles the chair away. Kim creams her with the chair in the head not once, but twice! Holy shit! Top Rope Splash! But there's no ref! Here he comes...1-2-NO! Kong Chokeslams Kim! Kong is gonna kill this ref! She goes for the powerbomb, but Kim rolls her up and the ref falls on top and then counts the 1-2-3! I didnt like the finish because it didnt feel like Gail Kim did it on her own. Still this was an excellent David vs Goliath match. Kong is an awesome force of nature. The usual good psychology of Kim selling, but always fighting back but really her only chance is when Kong hurts herself or when Kim can use a weapon. I think I liked the first match slightly more because I thought Kong's offense was cooler and Kim's offense more clever, but both matches are definitely worth watching. ****1/4

Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - TNA Bound For Glory 2008 Jeff Jarrett is returning after a two year absence due to his wife losing her battle with cancer. They made this match very personal with Angle bringing up Jarrett's three daughters and Jarrett saying his daughters are his source of strength when he thought he would have none. Pretty heavy stuff. Basic opening to the match. Angle dominates early showing Jarrett's ring rust. They give Jarrett a little bit of shine with a dropkick and knocking Angle over the top rope. Jarrett eats steel off the apron, but that does not really go anywhere as Jarrett is hits signature stradle and then Fargo Strut. They are giving him some stuff to get the crowd invested in them. He is definitely over they are popping for him. On the strut, Angle clotheslines Jarrett out of his boots and cinches in a chinlock. Thus far basic, fundamentals match a little bit of Jarrett shine with Angle cutting him off. Basically this becomes a Best Hits of Jeff Jarrett with Kurt Angle throwing his stuff in there too. Things Like Angle charging and hitting the post hard only to charge back and eat DDT just undercut the legitimacy of the match and the spots. Jarrett and Angle trade some bombs. The superplex and figure-4 was a nice 1-2 combo for Jarrett. Then Angle makes the ropes and hits three Germans. Pretty typical Angle match. Here comes the Anklelock. Ugh. Olympic Slam. Like that will win the match. Ref bump. Mick Foley is the enforcer so you knew that was happening. Jarrett actually hits some pretty good kneelifts to set up the Stroke. 1-2-NO! Good nearfall. Angle low blows Jarrett. Nice! Angle creams Foley and Jarrett with chairshots. Ok, this match is picking up. Foley drags out the ref at 2. Mr. Socko and Jarrett smashes the Guitar over head for the feel-good ending. Sue me, I liked the finish. Everything before was pretty blase and typical Angle just hits spots for the hell of it. I wanted to watch this before the more heralded Genesis 2009 match, but this is totally skippable. ***

ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson vs KENTA - ROH 9/16/06 I really like their match from NOAH from the same year lets see how this one holds up. KENTA does not give Danielson any clean breaks. First time missing with a roundhouse kick and then second time bitch slapping him. Danielson starts slapping himself to fire himself up. Danielson does not give him a clean break the next time but KENTA unleashes a furious kick to the injured arm of the Champion. Danielson is nursing a right shoulder injury from his last defense against Colt Cabana. KENTA mercilessly decimates the arm with wicked kick after wicked kick. This is definitely one of those great asskicking matches. KENTA is just pulverizing him with great kicks. I like Danielson's mini-comebacks using left hand slaps and punctuating with a headbutt but more often than not KENTA is able to get back to the arm. I liked KENTA heeling it up a bit in America as Danielson was trying to draw on some sympathy. Danielson tackles him when he turns his back to him. I love that type of fire and pride. Ultimately, KENTA is able to get back to working the arm, but Danielson showed that he had some life left. I know Danielson was doing a subtle heel champion gimmick at this time, but I thought the choking, taunting the fans on a surfboard and not breaking on the figure-4 were not warranted, made more sense to go full babyface. I did like Danielson targetting the left leg of KENTA. After all it is that leg that had been kicking his bad arm all this time so it made sense he wanted to rip it off. Too little thus far as KENTA is able to regain control with his big time kicks and hits a springboard dropkick his first big highspot. I loved the Butterfly Suplex ->Cross-Armbreaker by KENTA it feels like the match is really kicking into gear now. Danielson does a beautiful single leg takedown. Diving feet first through KENTA's legs and then picking the left leg and rolling through into a single leg crab. Great transition and works on the most offensively active part of KENTA's body. KENTA makes the ropes and hits an enziguiri. This is classic KENTA The Destroyer in the style of Hashimoto or Kobashi as their asskicking best. He is moving forward, but he is not moving too fast. He has targetted a body part. Danielson has shown fighting spirit cominh back with the left hand and submission work to try to neutralize KENTA's greatest asset: his left kick. I knew once the Go2Sleep was attempted this where the match would be make or break for me because they were going into the finish stretch with about 15 minutes left of video. That's a long time. They did falter at many spots. The most egregious being Danielson taking a nutty bump where he eats KENTA's feet on a top rope headbutt. He really took that shot hard. He was the one that hit the next move when he hit a dropkick to the midsection of a sprinboarding KENTA. I love each of those spots as a transition or counter, but space them out. Hard for me to respect the match if they are not respecting the moves. Each individual move looked great and it was exciting, but they were losing their impact because the moves were not having consequence. They do a fighting spirit sequence that was great. I loved Danielson's headbutts and KENTA's kicks, but I dont remember who won they both just went down. It just felt pointless after it was done. I thought the match did get back on track after Danielson's big dive. The crowd really got behind Danielson and he goes for a roaring elbow with his bad arm and KENTA wrestled him to the ground with a Fujiwara armbar. Great counter! Danielson's comeback is red hot, reverse cradle suplex and a super back suplex and Cattle Mutilation. I like that it is sustained offense. Danielson wants the top rope headbutt but KENTA meets him there (not my favorite way to do this, but whatever). KENTA gets knocked off and Danielson jumps on KENTA's shoulders. It was impressive that KENTA is that strong. GO TO SLEEP! 1-2-FOOT ON ROPES! Great nearfall and big pop. KENTA wants his big knee, but cant get it. Tries for Go 2 Sleep in the middle of the ring, but Danielson gets crucifix pin. I like how sustained the run up to the finish is. Danielson does the barrage of elbows, Tiger Suplex, more elbows then Cattle Mutilation for the win. There was a lot of struggle there. Awesome, awesome match. Some miscues here and there arent enough to ruin the match. It does feel a little disjointed they went from an asskicker with Danielson trying to survive into a bomb throwing finish run. The front half was truly excellent. The second half was mostly a hit with some misses. The last five minutes or so was absolute gold. The Fujiwara Armbar and Go 2 Sleep were great nearfalls for KENTA and Danielson really earned that finish by struggling through to dominate KENTA. I like the Morishima match more and the Low-Ki match from Round Robin Challenge too, but this is another classic Danielson/ROH match. ****1/2

X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels - TNA Against All Odds 2005 Ironman Match There is no doubt in my mind that AJ Styles was Wrestler of the Year in 2005. He had three match of the year contenders including this one and was really good in every role he was called upon in TNA. First Fall: They did a great job building to the first fall in the opening 15 minutes of this classic. I really liked how Daniels made AJ earn his dropkick. Leapfrog->nope Daniels Rollup. Dropkick -> nope Daniels holds the ropes. Then AJ just nails one when Daniels is unaware. Shows they really know each other. Good chain wrestling early and strong quick covers. AJ Gets a couple big highspots. AJ's balance on the ropes is so good! When Daniels pulls in the ref, AJ is able to pause on the rope and come back down. Daniels uses the momentary hesitation to knock AJ off the apron onto the railing. Daniels works a clinic on AJ's ribs. AJ sells so well sucking for air and bumping in such a way that he lands on his ribs. The Split Leg Moonsault was a good nearfall. AJ gets a mini-comeback where he hits a lot of his low-grade signature spots. However, when AJ goes for 450 splash he eats knees. "Where?" Mike Tenay asks, "RIGHT ON THE RRRRRIBBBBBSSSSS" - Don West exclaims! I loved it. AJ did a full layout on this because he is All Man and he takes the Angels Wings full layout too. Great stuff. Daniels goes up 1-0 in a super tight 15 minutes. Second Fall: Daniels continue his work on the ribs. I like how he has added taunting and trash talking to each move now that he is up 1-0. Lots of great gutbusters and selling by AJ. I loved the abdominal stretch as a cutoff against one of AJ's comebacks. It was sudden and tight. AJ never died and kept fighting. The Phenomenal Forearm was a good nearfall. I love the Pele Kick. It is just a great transition. It comes from out of nowhere and it is a head kick so it stuns the opponent and really feels like a momentum change. They throw out a little too much stuff here. The takeaway is AJ hits the Angel Wings to get two. AJ wants the Styles Clash, but thats reversed and he reverses into a rollup for three to tie it up. Third Fall: I love Daniels reaction to Styles' pin. He very forcefully shoves AJ out of the ring. He has snapped and wants the title. He drives AJ's head hard into the ringpost busting him wide open. Daniels works the cut great lots of punches and headbutts. That one headbutt was a great nearfall. AJ shows some fire under a minute, but Daniels plants him into the Koji Klutch. Great visual with clock winding down and the blood pouring from AJ's head like a faucet. The match goes to a draw or does it...Daniels feels like he would have won the match if he just had one more minute. He calls for Sudden Death and Dusty Rhodes agrees! Daniel beats AJ down and crosses himself with AJ's blood. Cool visual but the follow up move was pretty lame. He should have hit Angel Wings or the Best Moonsault Ever. AJ throws him off the top rope and then hits a rana to set up the Styles Clash and win. Awesome match from an awesome year from AJ Styles! Not quite as good as his matches with Abyss and Samoa Joe, but this still ruled. Great ribs work that was sold well and Daniels did a great job working on top. I thought the third fall was awesome in its urgency and a great comeback for AJ. ****1/2

America's Most Wanted vs XXX (Daniels & Skipper) - Turning Point 2004 Six Sides of Steel There have been a lot of crazy spots in the history of pro wrestling, but I still think this one is the craziest. Skipper really could have died in the spot that made this match iconic and I think everyone knows the spot I am talking about: the tight rope walk across a top of the cage into a hurricanarana. I mean that was a narrow pipe we was walking across. I dont blame TNA one bit for constantly replaying that for the next five years. That was truly incredible and insanely dangerous. If he lost his balance, it was over man. They were chanting "Please Dont Die" and you know what it was earned. Probably the single most iconic spot from TNA. It is funny the match is so known for that spot that you forget there is a great match going on before and after the spot. I thought this was a great combination of spotfest and bloodbath. Daniels gets busted open early during the shine. AMW take him to task. Skipper ends up saving him and they work over Harris. Nice little mini-comeback for AMW where they go for the Death Sentence (badass name for the move)n but settle for the high crossbody. The match goes to the next level when they use AMW's handcuffs to cuff Harris to the turnbuckle. I have seen this match before and my recollection was that this kinda drags, but it was shorter than I remember. I really love Daniels jabbing the key into Storm's head. AMW are both bleeding at this point. Good heel miscommunication and then spear by Storm to get the key. Then it is a lot of great double team moves and cage spots. XXX hits both the crossbody/suplex spot and the Death Sentence. When that does not work, Daniels wants Skipper to go all the way up and this leads to the iconic spot. After that, Daniels hits a top of the cage elbow drop which would be insane if it was not for what just happened. Nice barrage of highspots and nearfalls ensue. They cuff Daniels in retribution and then XXX's finish to pin Skipper, win the match and XXX can never team again. One of the best non-AJ Styles TNA Matches of all times and a great confluence of blood & guts with highspots and of course it will never be forgotten due to that insane Skipper spot. ****1/4

American Dragon vs Low-Ki - ROH 3/30/02 The more I watch really early independents (focused on Danielson, AJ, Joe and Ki) the more you do NOT see the All Japan or New Japan Juniors influence instead the influence truly is strong style (the style of Inoki & Karl Gotch) that being New Japan Heavyweights and BattlArts. That is not something I was expecting. So often you hear "Strong Style" confused with "King's Road" or any wrestling that is stiff. Strong style to me is way more mat-based and strike-oriented. It is one shade away from shoot-style. This has been an excellent strong style match. Note the physical contact time in this match. There is flesh on flesh and body on body for the vast majority of he first fifteen minutes as opposed to rope running and Irish Whips, none of that bullshit. Ken Shamrock is the Special Guest Ref to add cred to this match, his mutton chops are out of control. The chain wrestling is good in this match. I cant do it justice so I will just give snippets here and there. I really liked Danielson doing the ankle cross to avoid a Low-Ki choke. Low-Ki was an excellent ground-pound dude. He was using headbutts, elbows, knees and kicks while on the ground to constantly add a different look. Danielson turned that ankle cross into a rocking horse, which was insane. Like I said it was so hard-hitting and the submissions were so tight. Everything looked like a struggle. The complexion of the match changes around the ten minute mark. Each man had wrestled the Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels earlier in the night as a part of a Round Robin Challenge. Ki won and Dragon lost. In Dragon's match, he got a cut on his eye. Ki blasted him with a kick to the bad eye that sent Dragon to the outside. What I loved about this was each time Ki got a shot to Dragon's bad eye he would powder and come back even more furious. Dragon applied two wicked submissions on Ki in response to this first salvo to his eye. Ki wriggled free and blasted Danielson in the eye with Kawada Kicks (so there is some All Japan influence :P) Again, Danielson comes back more furious. Great lock up and Ki tries to knee him in the eye, but Danielson wrestles him down into the mat. I love how Dragon is going for Cattle Mutilation and then a Dragon Suplex but settles for a back suplex. Why did I like this because there was no break in physical contact. It was all struggle. Ki was blocking and Danielson was responding by switching holds. Danielson is working a hold and Ki is throwing these nasty knees from a seated position to Danielson's bad eye. Ki gets up high enough to hit that insane Kawada flip kick (the one Kawada usually uses to block a German Suplex) from a crazy spot and Danielson is down again due to his eye. First half of the match has been so insanely good just dripping with urgency and struggle. From here the match turns more into an All Japan style bomb throwing match, but there is still plenty of submission nearfalls and work that is rooted in the front half. Ki pulverizes Danielson with chops and kicks. There is one kick to the back that I thought was so hard that Danielson were going to pop out of his head. Ki is able to use his Dragon Clutch and a rear naked choke to drain the life out of Danielson out on the floor. There is an insane spot here Ki hits a double stomp, stands on Danielson, Danielson bridges and then Ki hits a double stomp. MARK OUT CITY! Ki looks to finish him with the Ki Krusher, but Danielson hits a roaring elbow. Danielson hits a top rope diving headbutt stupidly I may add and I love that it is Ki that actually gets the cover on that move. Serves Dragon right. Ki hits his back handspring jumping kick that looks phenomenal. Ki applies Cattle Mutiliation, but Danielson wriggles free into a Dragon Clutch. I think that was the best finisher stealing spot I have ever seen. I was pumping my fist. Danielson starts throwing Ki around with some big suplexes and for the first time it looks like Danielson is in charge. Low-Ki wants his Tidal Wave which is his big transition move. Danielson hits a picture-perfect dropkick to the midsection to block. Oooooo I didnt love Low Ki hitting a brainbuster there. I didnt feel like he earned it. Up until that point, the transitions were perfect. Ki has a handful of hair and just destroys Danielson's face with a barrage of Kawada kicks. Brutal to the max, brutha! KI KRUSHER! 1-2-NO! Low-Ki & I cant believe it. Ki decides he knows to go one louder and is going for the Phoenix Splash. Low Ki may be the most complete wrestler ever from an offensive standpoint. The Phoenix Splash is off target and eats knees. DRAGON SUPLEX! But American Dragon cant hold the bridge and only gets two. The match does go a little NOAH in the sense they go overboard with the highspots...Dragon hits a Super Back Suplex and then Ki hits a Super Ki Krusher...which is not the finish. This has been an amazing cardio exhibition they are going hard and there has been almost zero downtime in this match. Dragon catches Ki in the back handspring...Dragon Suplex...No...Reverse Cradle Suplex wicked snap to that. Dragon needs two Cattle Mutilation but Low-Ki taps out! Wow! What a match! I am exhausted just watching this. Incredible work from these two. You had it all: amazing chain wrestling, stiff strikes, big time bombs and a hot finish stretch. Do they go a little overboard yes, but goddamn this is intense wrestling. Everything felt urgent like both men wanted to win this match so badly and they were struggling for every move. I have really enjoyed going back and watching early 2000s Indy Wrestling. ****3/4

Genichiro Tenryu & Orihara vs Great Kabuki & Kitahara - WAR 7/14/92 I just watched my friends unleash an 11-1 drubbing in Rocket League and I don't think that was as bad as how Kabuki & Kitahara massacred him. Tenryu and Kabuki have a great exchange early each leaving the other gasping for breathe after thrusts to the throat. Once I saw how young & skinny Orihara was I knew exactly what this match was going to be like. This is one of my favorite genres of puroresu: Ace & young lion vs two dick heels. Kitahara tries to kick Orihars's head off and then Kabuki comes in and just stiffs the fuck out of him. Kabuki' powerbomb draws Tenryu on the save. Orihara makes a comeback with kicks to the head. Tenryu gets hot tag but it is attacked at the pass. The heels do a number of Tenryu but he makes a comeback and I'm surprised tags Orihara back in. Orihara hits a moonsault from the top to the floor! His big spot! Tenryu whacks somebody with a chair. Tenryu was really into bootlace kicks. He was just stiffing the hell out of the opposing team and he busts up Kitahara's nose. This is brutal. ORIHARA GETS GANSO BOMBED! Tenryu tries to save with kicks but I feel like he just gives up and realizes it is a lost cause. Kabuki hits a bunch of powebombs to win. Brutal, stiff asskicking and a welcomed addition to a great genre of tag wrestling. ***3/4