Superstar Sleeze

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada - UWF II 10/25/90 I love Fujiwara! I love Takada! Does it live up to the hype? First Half: Fujiwara is a genius. Best defense is a good offense. Takada definitely relies on his stand up game and especially his kicks to establish his offense. Fujiwara takes that away by being so damn pugnacious. From the opening bell, he is lunging at him headlong with headbutts and attacking the body. Takada is covering up as best he can and just trying to weather the storm. Takada is going for holds more out of defense and trying to break Fujiwara's momentum more than anything else. The double wristlock out of the German and the heel hook was to save himself from the barrage of headbutts. It was almost like Takada was trying to get his wits about him. The leg work which i usually find boring as hell in Takada matches was great here because of how much struggle there was. Fujiwara's snarl and labored breathing added so much as did Takada's facial expressions. My favorite moment of the match thus far was when Fujiwara had one hand on Takada's throat and then started throwing headbutts to break the submission. Great selling from Takada. I brought this up in October 25, 1989 match is how well the drama was built in the application of the holds. In the next ground grappling session, once Fujiwara locks in a kneebar Takada is scrambling for the ropes and selling it upon standing up. That puts over the move and invests everyone in the match. Also, I really loved how Takada was not completely overwhelmed. An important point in the match was when Fujiwara had him in a wicked toehold. Takada's first instinct was rope break, but he stands up and blasts Fujiwara in the ear to earn a knock down. Thats a huge swing from losing a rope break to knocking your opponent down especially a head shot. Takada came to fight. That really sold me. Fujiwara roared back. He got a knockdown in the corner with a series of WICKED palm strikes, I mean brutal. Then he got on top of Takada on the ground not to apply a hold, but rather just butt him with his head hard many times. Until the ref called him off and started his count. Thats when the match really changed. Takada had his bell rung, but so did Fujiwara it looked like to me at least. You can only deliver so many nauseating headbutts before the damage takes a toll on you. Fujiwara could no longer follow up and here came Takada with the same strategy from last October lay in those wicked kicks to the left hamstring. Fujiwara is trying to block and go on offense but as we go into the second half, Takada has built a lot of momentum targetting that leg with his patented kicks. Can Takada complete the comeback or will Fujiwara hit that miracle headbutt for the win? Second Half: Has Takada ever looked better on top? He was a stone cold killer in this. The kicks always look phenomenal, but in addition his palm strikes and kneelifts were brutal. Fujiwara really withstood quite the barrage before going down. Takada was just blitzing him. When Fujiwara did finally go down that look of dejection was just sad. He popped back up, but you knew Takada was rolling. I thought Takada's big mistake was going back to the ground. I get changing it up and using the the stand up game to set up a submission, but he kept getting countered. He got caught twice taking Fujiwara to the ground both times it ended a rope break. Guess what Fujiwara was up 3-2 when it felt like Takada had all the momentum. Takada only had himself to blame. The ultimate sequence when in the leglocks Takada just starts mercilessly kicking Fujiwara in the face until the ref is forced to call a down. I actually felt bad for Fujiwara. Even though earlier in the match he pulled the same shit in the match where he headbutted Takada into a submission, I felt bad for Fujiwara. Then all of sudden in the corner, Fujiwara came alive body blow after body blow forcing Takada to protect CRACK! Wicked headutt fells Takada...fuck this prick Fujiwara and fuck him for making him feel sympathy. I was hook, line and sinker at that point. Takada looked like a world beater but is down 4-3. I loved the selling after this. Fujiwara had his shit-eating grin and Takada is doing a great knocked loopy sell. Takada just keeps kicking, just keep kicking. Kidney kick has Fujiwara reeling and a kick to the bad leg AND IT IS 4-4! NEXT KNOCKDOWN WINS! Can I stop to stay how much I LOVE THIS POINT SYSTEM! It makes the matches so dramatic and it really creates drama down the stretch. Fujiwara has this MASSIVE GRIN on his face as he is luring Takada into the corner. Takada takes the bait...Fujiwara reverses position...he is working...fuck I cant believe Takada is going to lose...Takada kneelifts...Fujiwara body shots...BIG LEFT KNEELIFT TO THE HEAD ROCKS FUJIWARA...HUGE RIGHT KNEELIFT...DOWN GOES FUJIWARA! DOWN GOES FUJIWARA! Takada beats Fujiwara at his own game and much more definitive finish than their October 1989 classic makes this an easy ***** and one of the best shoot-style matches of all time.

Wow, I guess I am way off base here, thought this was great, but nothing super special. Definitely preferred Fujiwara vs Takada. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda - UWF II 8/13/89 To me this is always the most interesting matchup because it is the intriguing and personable Fujiwara vs the ice cold load, Maeda. I love to see what Fujiwara can pull out of him. I thought the beginning was the best part, it petered out and then picked back up. Fujiwara just RAMS his head into Maeda's three times hard right in the corner. I was expecting a real humdinger of a match after that raucous start. He was lunging and leading with the head brutal. That ended up being his only knockdown. Maeda came back with a kick to the leg and head to score his first knockdown in brutal fashion. After that, it was a pretty strong shoot-style match but nothing special. It was weird seeing Fujiwara dominated like this after watching him dominate Yamazaki. Maeda was the one winning on the ground, forcing rope breaks and getting another knockdown. Fujiwara is trying to lure Maeda into the corner but he ends getting taken down at will. Nice German from Maeda and then a nice double underhook bridge. On the mat, everything is struggled for. The match picks back up when Fujiwara is able to get an ankle cross on a sloppy Maeda rear naked choke. Volk Han fans will know he often used this as an escape from chokes in his matches. Maeda sells this well and here comes the Fujiwara barrage. Body shots and he butts Maeda out of the ring. They dont count this as a knockdown. It is too little too late as Maeda is able to recover without penalty as the ref backs off Fujiwara. Maeda is able to use a series of stiff kicks to put Fujiwara down three times in a row in the corner. Fujiwara was definitely the best part, but I have seen better individual performances. This is the type of match that I enjoy, but it doesnt feel sticky like I am going to forget most of it. Still one of the better Maeda matches. ****

Hmmmm, I guess I am breaking from the crowd, thought this was great but not elite level UWF II stuff. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF II 4/15/90 Fujiwara tools on Yamazaki hard for the first sixteen minutes of this match. Fujiwara forces six rope breaks and one knockdown on Yamazaki. It was not that Fujiwara was taking him down at will and then applying the submission. Yamazaki more often than not was taking Fujiwara down and applying submissions. Fujiwara was countering every single submission and it was Yamazaki was the one needing the ropes. That is just depressing as hell. There was one point when the crowd "Ooooooohs" a Yamazaki deep toehold, but Fujiwara kinda just smiles and stands up and counters. That was just a microcosm of the match. This was a major league ass whuppin. With each rope break, Fujiwara had more bounce in his step and Yamazaki looked more dejected. Then it changes around the 15 minute mark. Yamazaki counters out of a Fujiwara armbar and then in another mat sequence he actually gets the better of Fujiwara when Fujiwara surprisingly rolls to his stomach in a toehold leading to a single leg crab and the first Fujiwara rope break. Fujiwara pulls his socks up as if to say "You aint nuthin, kid". The finish is great. Fujiwara clearly shaken by the single leg crab unleashes that signature Fujiwara barrage of strikes to the body and head. Yamazaki is on jelly legs, but Fujiwara does not have that killer instinct. When he goes back to finish the job, GERMAN SUPLEX! Yamazaki with a swift kick to the back of the neck. Yamazaki taking a page of out of Sayama's playbook and the ref admonishes him for hitting the neck. Fujiwara get back up and BANG! Beautiful head kick sends him down for the ten count. Basically a pretty good 15 minute squash match with 3 minutes of insanity at the end. Pretty unique layout, I dug it, not as good as the one man Fujiwara show from 1989, but this is interesting. ****

Thanks brutha, I totally agree. Business may have been in the toilet, but the product was awesome! This has to go down as the most controversial Pro Wrestling Love Volume yet! Not because what made the list, BUT what did NOT make the list! It is the best of WCW 1991-1994, the Top Six! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/10/pro-wrestling-love-vol-17-best-of-wcw.html

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, and Bobby Eaton) vs Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes) - WrestleWar '92 WARGAMES We all have those opinions. That just dont jive with the rest of the crowd. That one movie, that one song, that one TV show that everyone else loves, but you think yeah it is great but there's a hundred or so movies or sings or TV shows that are better. It is not that you think it sucks. It is just you think it is great, but it is not the best thing ever. Everybody kinda looks at you like you got three heads when you say it. Wrestlewar '92 Wargames is that match for me. It is a great match, 100%. But match of the decade in the US. Nope. Match of the decade for WCW. Nope. Match of the Year for WCW. Nope. I am not ever sure it is my Match of Night, I really like that Steiners vs Fujinami&Iizuka match. What makes this so weird for me is that I am usually the dude with the opinions in the opposite direction. Like this match totally rocks, why does no one talk about it. I am not the guy who cries about things being overrated. What is also weird is this is like the least polarizing match of all time. Like everyone loves it. So there is one big thing I inherently don't like about WARGAMES is that you miss a lot of stuff. I don't like missing stuff. This is why I dont like three ring circuses. I want all my attention invested so I can understand the plot and action/reaction. I will say this WARGAMES does better with plot than most stuff. You have Larry Z as the only wrestler who did not turn the tide in the favor of his team and ultimately screw the pooch at the end. Also, they have the Sting/Koloff hug which got a big reaction. WARGAMES are more about action than plot. Another thing is the universe of gimmick matches, I prefer street fights to cage matches. Dont get me wrong there are many great cage matches that I will vote for my GME but overall I think it is a restrictive, claustrophobic atmosphere that wrestler has to overcome compared to the freedom of a street fight. Now add ten men instead of 2-4 and you have only increased the claustrophobic nature and thankfully someone was smart to add a second ring or they really would have been fucked. WARGAMES follows a great formula. It is basically a string of hot tags. People love hot tags. I thought Steamboat, Dustin and Arn really stood out. I find that there is always a 30-60 second lull before the next entrant though. I remember watching Larry Z was in a figure-4 towards the end of the match and I just was not moved at all. Like why should I care? I feel like in a single or tag match they would have built so much ground work for me to care. I have given WARGAMES '91 and '94 high ratings. '94 was really carried by the Rhodes family reunion. '91 I thought Brian Pillman and Barry Windham gave outstanding performances. Here a lot of people bled when did the cuts happen. I am pretty observant person I cant even tell you when half bladed. In a way that match almost feels incomplete. There are things I loved I remember really liking Rude tearing at Steamboat's nose. I really liked those hot tags. I think I know what it is. There is a lack of connectivity. It feels like a collection of exciting one minute spurts rather than a great match as a whole. I am sticking with that. ****1/4

YES! YES! YES! For the Greatest Match Ever Project, I am about to jump back into WWE 2000s. I just need to watch three more UWF II matches. This is perfect for me as a couple of these I have never heard pimped before (a good Cena vs Big Show match?!?!). Your Masters vs McIntyre is a very Stacey pick.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada - UWF II 10/25/89 I have preached this so much and I think this a perfect example of the mantra "The drama should be in applying the hold not escaping the hold". This front half of the match just drips with struggle. It has a huge fight feel. Two equals taking each other very seriously. There are so many quick, sudden movements on the mat as they each are trying to gain the most advantageous position for a finishing submission. Takada ends up in a legbar and he is immediately selling and lunging for the ropes and gets the break. Thats great psychology. There were so many holds exchange that were half-applied, but once one was fully applied the mood changed. It became very serious. You can see how Takada's game plan changed immediately. He started throwing kick after kick to the left leg of Fujiwara. Takada's forte is stand-up. There is another great moment on the ground. Takada has his hands clasped and Fujiwara is just on top of him. To the untrained this looks boring, but God is it tense. As soon as Takada breaks his clasp, Fujiwara will pounce. Takada has to break his clasp because Fujiwara is in control. In a shoot fight, Takada is fucked. Since this is shoot-style, we can suspend our disbelief and believe Takada knew that Fujiwara would try for a double wristlock and thus could counter into the cross armbreaker. Takada's move was fully applied and Fujiwara's was not and thus it is Fujiwara scrambling for the ropes. Again the tension and the drama is in who can apply the hold, once the hold is applied it is a mad dash for the ropes. That is how you respect the hold. Takada goes back to work on the legs. Fujiwara tries to throw his own kicks, which was never his forte. If he is going to throw a strike, it is a headbutt BANG! Thats what we get, it is a delayed register, but Takada goes down in a heap for the first knockdown. The symmetry in this match is incredible. Takada responds by finally chopping down the old cherry tree with his kicks as Fujiwara is forced to take a knee from a flurry of kicks for his first knockdown. Fujiwara tries to scissors the legs but Takada sits outs and now Fujiwara has no leverage. Single leg crab, great labored breathing from Fujiwara he struggles to ropes. Amazing selling from Fujiwara and he is easy pickins for Takada who cracks him in the leg again for a second knockdown. Takada opens a big lead as a wild roundhouse kick to the midsection and then one to face sends Fujiwara reeling into the corner. Takada overwhelms him with kicks to the head for the third knockdown. Takada falls prey to another headbutt in a knucklelock. Why would you ever knucklelock with Fujiwara? Especially this has been his most successful strategy. Takada goes for a knucklelock, but then thinks the better of it crosses over such that his right hand will be linked with Fujiwara's right hand which should take some of the power away from a headbutt. Takada gets another wild roundhouse kick, but this time cant follow up in the corner. He cups Fujiwara in the ear on a lock up which is a receipt for the headbutts in the lock up. It is now 4-2 Takada! Do or die time for Fujiwara! You know what that means! Kidney punches and body shots! 4-3! Takada tries to use the ref as a shield as he knows Fujiwara is lying in wait, but to no avail. Takada weathers the storm and almost has Fujiwara off his feet...only the ropes are holding Fujiwara up when...Fujiwara lunges forward and butts him with his head! IT IS 4-4! Next knockdown wins! Takada kicks out Fujiwara's leg for the close victory. The ref seems uncertain to call it a knockdown, but to be consistent has to and Takada wins via TKO. The crowd is a bit confused because it was a judgment call. Based on the calls earlier in the match it was definitely a knockdown, but it was NOT a definitive knockout blow. Clearly that was on purpose these are two of your three biggest stars and you want rematches so there has to be some protection. The opening matwork was engaging and compelling for the reasons I outlined above. The stand up portion of the match was intensely dramatic. Great selling from Fujiwara, awesome strategy from Takada and then Fujiwara mounting a massive comeback using basically just headbutts and kidney punches was crazy. Definitely one of the best shoot-style matches ever that had pro-style elements (Fujiwara's leg selling and Takada targetting a body part) and I think it was those pro-style elements that made me like this so much. Maybe Takada's best match ever ****3/4

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF II 7/24/89 I was kinda dreading this because it is 30 minutes and I dont think shoot-style should go more than 15. I know, I know who am I to doubt Fujiwara? First Half: Really fun front half. When we discuss shoot-style we dont use the word "fun" that much but this was fun. The best spot was Fujiwara feigning a knockdown as if to say "You really think you had me down for a nine count from what little kick to the midsection?". Fujiwara was such a jackass. After being a dick about faking a knockdown, he lures Yamazaki into the corner and headbutts him instead of giving him a clean break. Then he just unloads a barrage of stiff body shots that puts Yamazaki down. Yamazaki gets back up and only takes a couple more body shots before he is down again. I know that was just the last 3 minutes or so of the first half, but what an incredible three minutes. I enjoyed the work prior to that. Fujiwara delivered a nasty headbutt in the opening lockup. Destroyed Yamazaki in the kick game. There was a great moment when Yamazaki had a kneebar and Fujiwara thinks about a rope break. He thinks better of it. He puts his forearm on the throat of Yamazaki and cracks him with a palm strike. What an asshole. Guess what, he counters into his own leg lace and Yamazaki has to use his rope break. Delivered a badass Fisherman's suplex. So was this a squash? No. Yamazaki was able to counter a Fujiwara armbar and attempt his own. His best moment came when Fujiwara hit the a Fisherman Suplex and didnt know what to do next. Yamazaki was able to get a double wristlock then choke, Again, Fujiwara proved to be better as he was able to get a really deep toehold. When Yamazaki tried to use his free leg to free himself, Fujiwara grabbed that and put Yamazaki in a really deep toehold. I hate, hate the term carryjob. But man reflecting on what I watched and writing this, it does feel like a Fujiwara carryjob, but damn if it hasnt been fun as fuck so far. Second Half: Yamazaki looks like such a tool in this match. He is throwing spinwheel kicks that barely connect and Fujiwara just looks down on him like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Fujiwara is able to get back to back leg submissions that force rope breaks and so he scores another down. I literally say out loud, "Yamazaki you suck, do something" at this point. I finally realize he is throwing the axe kick as feint to set up a roundhouse kick. He finally connects with one to mush but Fujiwara is back up at nine quickly to say that one didnt phase me that bad. Yamazaki kinda spooks Fujiwara with a couple kicks and you can tell these actually affect Fujiwara because he roars back and a couple swift body shots for the fourth knockdown. Fujiwara is such a cocky prick. He announces he only needs one more knockdown and holds out one finger. Yamazaki has such body language at this point. He looks like a man that is defeated and has no fight left in him. At one point, a firefight breaks out and he catches Fujiwara with a kneelift that stuns Fujiwara and scores a knockdown. I am rooting hard for Fujiwara at this point and would hate to see him choke. Yamazaki delivers a brutal headbutt and pops Fujiwara in the mouth so hard he bloodies him. OH SHIT! It is on! Fujiwara just starts leading with his head. He is a fucking Yamazaki-seeking missile. He cracks Yamazaki hard under the eye, I think drawing blood and a TKO victory. Wild finish! If someone says Yoshiaki Fujiwara is the greatest pro wrestler, I wouldnt bat an eye. This is the Fujiwara show and just enjoy it. What knocks this down from the tippy toppy and thought Yamazaki was just a load in this match and didnt contribute much. Fujiwara was glorious in this match. Watch him work! ****1/2

Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki - UWF II 10/25/90 Been loving the Funaki I have been watching, now is a real test can he drag a great match out of the load, Akira Maeda. The answer is yes he can! Great story it is the frenetic energy of Funaki vs. the grind of Maeda. Funaki is always trying to jumpstart the match and get Maeda off his rhythm in the stand up. Maeda is looking to catch a leg and drag this down to the mat. Funaki acquits himself well on the mat is able to counter most of Maeda's submissions on his own. I love that Maeda does not give Funaki a clean break at one point because in his mind Funaki was being a prick. So Funaki did not give Maeda a clean break on a rope break and just rifled him. Then held up one finger each to say we are even. I think UWF II changed their rules as there is a German suplex with a bridge which gets a one count and Funaki gets an absurd number of rope breaks and should have lost the match based on how many rope breaks he gets based on the rules from 1989. Funaki's kicks keep getting countered into submissions and while Funaki is countering he cant really make in-roads on the larger Maeda. Maeda knocks the wind out of Funaki with a massive kick and then a knee totally knocks him loopy. Funaki is using all these extra rope breaks to basically try to restart the match on the feet. Theres a great flurry from Funaki after one of his rope breaks where he tries to overwhelm Maeda with a barrage of strikes and Maeda just spikes him on his head with a wicked capture suplex. Funaki keeps coming and when he goes for a throw Maeda just squashes him. That was a great sequence. Funaki goes a for a single leg and the larger Maeda is able to wrap his arm around his throat to get a quick choke submission. I actually thought this was pretty squash-y. Funaki wanted to use his energy and stand up game to win the match, but Maeda was thwarting him at every turn and never really looked in trouble. Funaki was not bad on the ground but with the extra rope breaks would just use them to restart the match. It was on a takedown attempt he got owned. It was interesting to watch but not a Funaki classic. ****

"When you are a follower, the view never changes" - Dusty Rhodes There was nobody like The American Dream, if you will BABY! I absolutely love this era and it may be my favorite era of pro wrestling period. I have watched hundreds of matches from this era and have written reviews for over a hundred. I had NINETEEN honorable mentions and even that was excoriating for me as I was leaving off favorites. It is just amazing Southern-fried wrestling and wrestling I love to promote. Cactus Jack & Jushin Liger innovate two completely different styles that are commonplace now! WARGAMES! "He's just a man! He's just a man!", Ricky Steamboat returns! Of course, in on of the most emotionally moving moments in pro wrestling history, Ric Flair wrestles for the World Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina against the Mastodon, Vader! WOOOOOOOOOO! This volume puts the LOVE in Pro Wrestling Love! WCW 1991-1994 https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/10/pro-wrestling-love-vol-16-best-of-wcw.html

Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano - UWF II 7/24/89 Funaki should have been a massive star in puroresu in the 90s. Funaki vs Tenryu, Funaki vs Takada, and Funaki vs Hashimoto should have been huge draws. Holy shit! What a match, I thought the Anjoh match was great, but this was superb. Balls to the wall for ten insane minutes. It is just a wild shoot style brawl. Nakano is a huge favorite. The crowd is red hot and they are chanting for Nakano throughout. The first three minutes are brutal and electric. Funaki explodes Nakano's face with palm strikes. Funaki gets cut right under the eye by a vicious knee and it looks like he is crying blood. It is unconformable. Funaki gets spiked on his head because he refuses to go over a take down at one point. The trainer has to tend to Nakano. Nakano is the first one to score a knockdown as he escapes a leg lace and blasts Funaki in the head with a kick. Funaki is one of the best shoot-style sellers I have ever seen. He comes up woozy. Who knows if he was selling? Funaki's matches always incorporate really cool organic throws. I love him not letting Nakano complete a Dragon Leg Screw and just stomping on his head. Yes! Yes! Yes! Pro wrestling needs more of this. Pro wrestling should not be easy. Funaki gets a wild spinkick that pops me and then a back drop driver for his first knockdown. That spinkick would make Kawada jealous. He nailed it. Nakano is a bloody mess in the single leg crab. Nakano is kind of a humpty-dumpty looking muthafucka. Trainer is back in. Nakano says he is ready for more punishment. This has been a war. I could see Inoki absolutely loving this. This is Inokiism at its finest. Funaki attacks the knees once the trainer leaves. Nakano thrust kick creates separation and then a roundhouse kick to the head downs Funaki. Wicked suplex/DDT from Nakano. Funaki EXPLODES~! Palm strikes, headbutts and in his furious flurry he leaves himself open for Nakano counterattack who pops him with a knee. This is an insane ending just a wild brawl. Nakano throws a snap German Suplex into a Single Leg Crab and Funaki writhes out. Funaki picks Nakano up and just does a wicked Somersault Alabama Slam! WOW! DEEP BOSTON CRAB! Liontamer-esque and Nakano has to tap out. WOW! I am speechless. A shoot-style brawl that just delivers in spades. ****3/4

Masakatsu Funaki vs Yoji Anjoh - UWF II 6/14/89 Cool to finally get a feel for some of the UWF II midcard after much pretty much nothing but combinations of Maeda, Yamazaki and Takada. The energy of this match is off the charts. Funaki bitchslaps Anjoh at the bell and IT IS ON! Amazing stand up fight brawl ensues. Anjoh hits some crazy kicks in this. There is a mule/spinkick that catches Funaki flush at one point that looked just nasty. There were some wicked headbutts too. It really should have been scored as a knockdown. This was some really great catch wrestling as you can see how they are taking down one another and positioning them for submissions. Everything is fought for and earned. I loved how many strikes there were in the mounts and the holds. They were constantly whacking each other in the face on the mat or kicking out the legs during standup takedowns. There was plenty of good pro wrestling too. Like Anjoh doing a half crab but standing on the other knee. I forget which one I think it was Anjoh kicked out of a deep heel hook by using his free leg to kick Funaki in the face. Thats how more people should have gotten out of the Anglelock. At one point Anjoh was going back for the single crab and Funaki's free foot just flies up and catches him flush in the face for a knockdown. I loved how Anjoh on a rope break for Funaki forced the ref to count Funaki down even though Funaki had already run out of rope breaks and it was going to be scored as such. It was a psychological thing. Funaki comes roaring back. Gets a Butterfly suplex and I mark out for the Butterfly Lock as that was my finisher growing up. It is actually a legitimately painful hold if you dont believe me my younger brother will attest to it. I would put my younger brother over like 90% of the time, but the couple times I would go over, it was with the Butterfly Lock so it was cool to see Funaki apply it here. We even get a Samoan Drop! The finish is insanely quick. Funaki gets a wicked legsweep. I am a mark for legsweeps, but as they go to the mat, Anjoh is able to apply a hammerlock or chickenwing it is unclear to garner the submission victory. As much as I like shoot style and now that I have watched a good amount, I still find myself having trouble rating it. Conventional pro wrestling, I am rating on narrative, character development, energy and emotion. Here I still dont have much in the way of a criteria. I find these matches are not as sticky. Conventional pro wrestling is easier to remember because it is a story. So point A causes point B causes point C so it becomes easier to remember because there is a logic. I dont want to say this devoid of logic, it is just clear to me. That being said I really enjoyed this because of the energy, struggle and ferocity. I am giving it a monster rating of ****1/2

Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF II 5/21/89 I was dreading this because I found their '88 match so dull, but this was phenomenal. Best Akira Maeda match ever even better than the November '88 match with Takada and I hate Maeda. I think he is boring as piss, but this was great. Tons of great stand up exchanges and throws. Very little time on the mat which suits these guys well. I knew this was going to be great when Yamazaki caught a head kick and just threw Maeda down and starting kicking the shit out of him. The throws were organic and felt like each was earned. The string of four knockdowns in a row were amazing and compelling. Yamazaki was working that leg and blistered it with kicks. Maeda roars back with head kicks. Yamazaki hits that spinwheel kick and then as Maeda gets back up kicks out the plant leg for another knockdown. Maeda spikes Yamazaki on his head at one point with a capture suplex. This was insane. The holds down the stretch were tight and well worked. Yamazaki forced another rope break so Maeda down to his last knockdown. He pulled it out by the skin of his teeth with a tight triangle choke. For a lack of better term, this was an amazing shoot-style spotfest but unlike a conventional spotfest it felt like everything was earned. For me, this is a contender for best UWF II match of all time. ****1/2

Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF II 5/4/89 First Half: Well this is not the most exciting 15 minutes of wrestling ever. I found myself zoning in and out. The match picked up at the first rope break when Takada needed to escape a kneebar. Good selling from him. Interesting that Yamazaki went back after that leg not always a strategy in shoot-style. Bundle of legs where both guys are working leg laces is my least favorite hold. My favorite part of the match thus far is when Takada catches a kick and headbutts Yamazaki and then powerslams him. So pro wrestling, but great. Takada cant capitalize and Yamazaki armdrags and applies a sleeper. There is an escape and Yamazaki tags Takada good with a kick and scores a knockdown. Takada comes roaring back and gets a knockdown of his own with well-placed kicks. This match would be a lot better if it was all stand up. Takada works a single crab and then a kneebar that Yamazaki sells really well forcing a rope break. It is all even now. Second Half: Takada loses the momentum and needs a rope break to escape a single leg crab after Yamazaki kicked out his plant leg. The match gets a lot better as they do some really nice stand up with both men earning knock downs. More interesting and they are just better at it. Takada goes for a cross armbreaker and Yamazaki needs the ropes to escape. Takada goes for a Fujiwara armbar but Yamazaki escapes. Yamazaki hits three massive kicks to the head to score a knockdown. Takada responds with a choke attempt that Yamazaki ferociously struggles against. Here we go! Picking up now. Yamazaki makes this rope and this is scored as a knockdown. Maybe he ran out of rope breaks. Yamazaki applies a Boston Crab and Takada is down to his last knockdown. There is a lot more throws in this than I expected as Takada starts throwing Yamazaki all around. Takada picks Yamazaki back up to knock him down with kicks. I would consider that lame in a normal pro wrestling match never mind a shoot-style match. It is down to whoever knocks down the other first wins. Takada has the momentum, but it turns into one big last knockdown drag out stand up slugfest which Yamazaki wins with a big kick. Too many long stretches of dullness to call this great, but there is enough material to check out. It feels oddly pro-style at times. ***1/2

Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko) vs Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff - WCW Saturday Night 5/23/92 A bittersweet match for me is this the last hyped WCW match from the 90s I have never seen. First Fall: You wanna see a wicked fun babyface shine check this match out. Eaton, Zbyszko and Anderson are stooging for the babyfaces big time. Eaton eats Steamboat's offense like a champ. Zbyszko is hollering in pain. Anderson is the King Stooge. He makes Dustin's punches look like a million bucks. They build really well to Nikita's entry. The no sell of Eaton's suplex is great. I loved the finish so much. Nikita tags out. He does a drop down on a criss cross that forces Larry Z to focus on that only to have Steamboat fly into the screen and wipe him out for three. Red hot start to this one. Second Fall: The babyface team is a runaway freight train. This feels like one of those super fun blowouts where the home team is just demolishing their archrivals. Larry Z cant do anything right. He lost them the match at Wargames one week prior. Here he loses the first fall and then the knucklelock battle with Steamboat. Arn does not fare much better against Steamboat and Dustin. I love how they are limiting Koloff. Triple figure-4 spot. A melee ensues and Dustin wraps his arm around the post. This is the first sign of life for the Dangerous Alliance. Hammerlock slam and Arn is in his wheelhouse. A PERFECT TOP ROPE ELBOW DROP FROM EATON! O how I missed Bobby Eaton! I loved Dustin's comeback with punches and Eaton bouncing off the ropes to eat more punches. This is a great match on how heels should feed a babyface. When a babyface eats, the crowd goes home full! Eaton wants the phone and Zbyszko that fucks up the phone transfer. Eaton gets clipped. Dustin smashes the phone into Larry Z triggering the DQ. Even in victory it feels like the Dangerous Alliance come out like losers. Zbyszko cant catch a break. Third Fall: Ok, believe the hype! This match is amazing! The babyfaces look to continue their fast break. Dustin punishing Eaton. I love how pissed Arn is when Koloff escapes a possible triple team. He knows that was his chance. Steamboat shakes the ropes causing Arn to crotch. This is so much fun. Then it happens...DDT by Arn. Changes the complexion of the match. Steamboat's nose had been busted. He is wearing tape. Arn drives Steamboat's nose into the knee of Eaton. Wow! The selling from Steamboat! This is A+ selling of the nose by Steamboat. Eaton is punching the nose and driving the face into the turnbuckle pad. This is incredible. Eaton reluctantly tags in Zbyszko lets see if he screws this up. Not really actually as it is Eaton when he gets back in that allows Steamboat to make the hot tag to Koloff. Great finish. Anderson holds Nikita, but Larry Z blasts Double A. Then as they are talking, Koloff is revving up for the Russian Sickle and Larry Z who was screening Anderson, ducks and Nikita nails the sickle for the win. I love how the finish of every single fall saw Larry Z fucking it up for his team. They drive it home in the post-match that Larry Z is pretty much gone from the Dangerous Alliance. I love how the work combined to advance the angle thats great pro wrestling. Insanely fun match with the babyfaces looking like champs and the Steamboat FIP is one of the ages. Check this one out! ****1/2

Rewatching this because I always thought I might have underrated. Just finished the first half and I have to say this is very well-worked. Lots of struggle and gritty matwork. Arn builds his arm work very nicely. Regal responds by working a tough cravat. I think this is good textbook matwork with lots of struggle, but is missing the big picture narrative. It just does not have a hook. It is very solid thus far. I stand by my original **** rating. This match didnt move me. I think thats why my malfunction with it. It is logically great. Lots of struggle. All the little things are done right. Regal's facial expressions, his stiff palm strikes in the holds, Dundee's interference and Arn's attack on the leg (which gets the biggest pop of the match). They sum of all these little things just did not manifest itself into emotion for me. It felt like great BattlArts. The more I watch Regal more I really would love to see Regal vs Ishikawa or Regal vs Ikeda. A lot of BattlArts I enjoy logically but just does not move me and this was similar. That being said there has been plenty BattlArts that is truly extraordinary. I did find Arn's last two minutes exciting with the cradles and the spinebuster. I also liked instead of letting time expire we get the cheap Regal pin to end it. It very much is a great match, but just one that does amount to something I think evokes great emotion from the viewer.

WCW World TV Champion Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson - WCW Saturday Night 6/6/92 The match made famous by the most hilarious gaffe in podcast history when Parv reviewed the wrong Windham vs Anderson. I am still laughing all these years later. First Fall: I love, love Anderson vs Dustin from earlier in the year and I thought this was very reminiscent of that, but I did think this is a notch above. As I stated in my previous review (five years ago now!), I love how much a closed fist means in traditional, Southern pro wrestling. That very first exchange where Windham armdrags Arn and Arn pops up only to sit his ass back down when he sees Barry's fist cocked is terrific pro wrestling. Add a layer remember Windham's fist is taped because Arn & Larry Z crushed in the car door in October of '91. So Arn really does not want to get punched. JR does a good job pointing this out notice how Arn is always looking to break Windham's rhythm early on by powdering. That is great heel work. Puts over the babyface offense and the heel's cowardice. I love that when Windham gets that first sweet, sweet closed fist how Arn sells it and powders. It is tremendous. The meat of the first fall is also great featuring double limb psychology. Arn gets a little bit of an advantage and looks to strike BW up against the post, but instead his left arm wraps the post. The heel is foiled and is forced to meet the steel. It also gives Barry an opening without forcing him to do anything heelish. Barry does a great job working the arm. These two put on a clinic of how to work holds and create movement in and out of holds. The lynchpin here is Arn. He takes to struggle and fight back. He does this forces them out of the hold. Once out of the hold due to his weakened arm, he cannot capitalize. In process, this creates movement which generates excitement and Barry will use an armdrag to re-establish the hold. It creating loud-soft dynamics with an pro wrestling match using struggling, earning and movement. What allows Arn to finally get on offense in an appreciable way is a jawbreaker out of sleeper. This is a headshot and this rocks BW. Arn decides to yank Barry over and wrap his leg around the post. Arn gets a modicum of revenge for what happened early and debilitating Windham. I love when Arn had Barry in a leg lace that Barry hitting strong forearms to Arn's bad left shoulder. Really smart wrestling. They battle on top and BW shoves him off and hits a flying lariat for a very satisfying conclusion to a tremendous fall. Lets see what they have in store for us in the next two falls. Second Fall: Wow, ok so I know the finish of this match is shitty, but I cant remember what it was. Based off this work in the first two falls, this is one of the greatest matches of all time. Arn misses an elbow drop out of the gate and we are right back to working over the bad left arm of the southpaw Arn Anderson. Love it. They pick up the thread from the first fall and escalate as now BW is hitting suplexes and slams (a hammerlock slam out of the Anderson family playbook). Then the match completely shifts gears when Windham takes a massive tumble over the top rope to the floor. Windham hits his back on the apron. Barry Windham is one of the greatest bumpers of all time. It is impressive given how tall he is. The back work here is awesome. Good action outside the ring with Dangerously getting the brick phone shot to the back to a chorus of boos. In the ring a nice assortment of holds with Windham peppering in hope spots. Arn has always been great at selling punches, but this maybe his greatest performance ever. I can remember three distinct times I was popping because of Arn's staggered, drunk selling. Barry Windham has one of the sweetest rights in history. This is like peanut butter & jelly. SPINEBUSTER! 1-2-3! This is why I love 2 out of 3 Falls matches. You can work the body part to its logical conclusion. In a conventional one fall match in order to have the full story arc you have to have the babyface comeback. In 2 out of 3 falls, you can have mini-climaxes that crescendo to the finale. 2 out of 3 Falls are infinitely preferable to One Fall matches in my mind as they make for more versatile and interesting storytelling. Really tremendous thus far and Parv is looking like a genius. Third Fall: This is more spotty than the previous two falls. It is more of the bomb throwing portion of the match. WIndham starts with the ten punches in corner, but Arn interrupts looking for atomic drop but Windham counters and nails him with a final right. Arn is money right now. Arn goes back to the leg and applies a figure-4. It feels like they are just doing all the big Southern wrestling spots rather than building on the groundwork they laid. They are building to a Windham comeback with the climax being a Superplex, but Austin interferes to setup their rematch and triggering the DQ. What I liked about this match so much was that it was all about payoffs. In the first two falls, all the work was paid off. The third fall was a pretty big letdown because they did not lay that much groundwork and the work they did was not paid off. The first two falls is MOTYC level stuff, but the third fall does drag it down. Always a hard position for rating. Lets go ****1/4, but dont let the rating fool you, watching the first two falls is must-see for any dyed in the wool wrestling fan.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Vader - WCW Great American Bash '92 What I love about this trilogy is that any order of the matches is the correct order they are all so awesome in their own way. For me, when I first watch these as a teenager, it was Starrcade '92 that stuck out to me. Then in college it was the brutality of the Strap match, but for the past couple years it is this one that is my favorite. In my mind, this is the perfect David vs Goliath match. You always believed Sting, but in the end he does himself in. These matches are always so selfless. Vader gives as much as he gets. Sting puts over the new monster heel huge. Early on when Sting is getting rocked, that does so much for Vader's credibility and makes him a mountain for Sting to climb. When Vader misses the charge and Sting explodes with the suplex and then big clothesline, the place comes unglued. Because he earned it. They made Vader an unstoppable force and here was Sting overcoming that challenge. I loved Sting's response to Vader's knucklelock challenge to stomp the foot. It made so much sense for Vader to reset and force Sting into his game, but Sting outfoxed him. It leads to another great flurry. Also, I love how much struggle. Vader just doesn't take it. He still hits that Vader body attack. He is giving a lot to Sting and making Sting look like a superstar, but also getting his. Then comes the massive sitdown splash. You can hear the air not just evacuate Sting's lungs, but the building. How about that for an emphatic transition to a heat segment? You all know I am a mark for transitions and that has to go down as one of the best. Vader's posing was always one of my favorite things. FEEL NO PAIN! Vader is so great working on top and bruising. He makes clobbering an art. Stealing the Scorpion Deathlock was a great spot especially letting Sting muscle out. Sting's fiery comeback coming out of the corner with fists of fury when all hope looked lost was rousing. KAPPO KICK! That always gets me. What a great fucking move! DDT! I love that Sting is going for headshots to rock the Big Man. He has taken a lot of punishment he needs home runs. The Fireman's Carry is just damn impressive. German Suplex with Bridge looked fantastic. Your blood is really pumping during all this. You really believe Sting has a chance to slay the monster. Stinger Splash. I love how kicks Vader into the back to set up the next. He is so keyed up he overshoots his target and busts himself open on the turnbuckle. Wow! What a finish! Vader throws him down with a powerbomb to seal the deal. It is funny that Vader was just a one month transitional champion for Ron Simmons, but in the short term that's all this was. The match is so great and Sting/Vader trilogy has become the stuff of legend that this match seems so much more important than it actually intended to be. That is a true testament to the workers in this match who gave an A+ effort bell to bell. Sting was the consummate babyface looking the monster in the eye, marching forward and never backing down. Vader is the stuff of nightmares that Wooly Mammoth that can KO you in one shot. I loved how smartly the shine was built with Sting overcoming Vader early in raucous fashion. Then that transition to the heat segment where the sitdown splash was a metaphor for how every fan in that building felt. Then that absolutely tremendous finish so much excitement and drama. When pro wrestling is done this well, it is hard to beat. *****

Miracle Violence Connection vs The Steiner Brothers - WCW Clash of Champions XIX Four big uglies tossing each other around, sign me up. I am such a mark for Watts style power wrestling that I ate this up with a spoon. Amateur wrestling is something I enjoy watching (I had a lot of friends on the wrestling team in high school) and something I like incorporated into my pro wrestling. When Doc is hooking it up with the Steiners, it is electric. You really feel like you are watching some great NCAA action. I love the subtle heeling of MVC. First it is the Steiners are getting the best of them. It was mostly stalemates, but Rick pops off a big throw and then does his Dogface Gremlin taunt. It is not so much the throw physically hurt, but how much did it hurt Doc's pride. We see that with him slapping Rick in the corner. This leads to the big explosion of the match. Where Rick double-legs him and then grounds & pounds. See how Doc gains control it is forearm to the back of the head. It was a cheapshot. Good heat segment on Rick. Scotty was a great hot tag, loved the Buttefly powerbomb. The transition to the Gordy STF could have been better, but the STF was great really cinched in. I thought the leg work was great and set up the finish nicely. The whole ref missing the Rick hot tag was bullshit and pretty egregious in how we were expected to suspend out disbelief for that. Rick vs Gordy teeing off on each other was red hot. All the knee clipping of Scotty was great stuff leading up to the heel finish with Gordy clipping Scotty leg as he was about to pop off a suplex. Great confluence of amateur wrestling and power wrestling which plays perfectly into the wheelhouse of these four. ****1/4

WCW US Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat - Beach Blast 1992 Ironman Match You know what always surprises me about this match is how it is never touted as the first Ironman match ever. It is, right? Like I cant think of anything before. That's a big deal and no one talks about that. This really shows the difference between WCW and WWF. WWF would be putting this new gimmick over huge. You listen to Jim Ross call this match you would think Ironman matches are a weekly occurrence. There is no discussion about how the strategy of this match differs from a routine one fall match. Honestly, I am starting to believe even Michael Cole is better than Jim Ross. First Fall: Tremendous textbook execution of elementary pro wrestling. I don't think doing the obvious things right is lauded enough. It could have been so easy for Steamboat to lose focus or Rude to blow off selling. This match is exemplary it is commitment to body part psychology. Rude tries to jump Steamboat at the bell and pays for it with a gutbuster. The way Rude sells his ribs you know this is not a register, but that he is seriously hurt. Steamboat zeroes in on them. We do not think of Steamboat as a great on top worker, but he was phenomenal here. Great creative moves that incorporate movement, charging shoulder, throwing Rude into a belly flop and holds like bearhug and Boston Crab. I loved the splash after the Boston Crab. It was a team effort as Rude was really giving one of the best sell jobs ever. It was never sympathetic either. You wanted to see Steamboat pour it on. That's tough for a heel. I loved the finish with the flash knee. You ram your head into someone's hard ass knee that sure as heel can knock you out for three. Great finish. Steamboat gets his shine, we have a thread to weave the falls together, but somehow by luck the heel gets a quick pin and the babyface is in an early hole. That's great pro wrestling. Second Fall: Jesse has a tremendous hockey analogy. Steamboat is like the team that has had ten shots on goal, but nothing to show for it. While Rude's first shot when in. I loved the balance between urgency and pain from Rude. Rude Awakening as he fights through the pain for the second fall. This is a lot better than I remembered and I already remembered it as a classic. Third Fall: Rude hits a backbreaker. Jesse says Rude should tie up Steamboat and run the clock out. Rude does the exact opposite and hits a flying knee drop. Perfect. He gets DQ'd but Jesse & JR knows what he is doing. Fourth Fall: Rude gets his fall back with an inside cradle. JR & Jesse think after that Bombs Away Knee Drop that the Dragon is toast. Fifth Fall: This match is a competition of who can sell the ribs better. This match should be shown to every aspiring wrestler because it really shows the nuanced differences between how a babyface and heel should sell a body part injury. It is hard to articulate, but watch how Steamboat sells the ribs how much more sympathy garners in you as a viewer and how much more you want him to make that comeback. We see some flickers of fire from the Dragon as he tries to attack the ribs of Rude, he hits some wicked chops and even gets the Electric Chair Drop (a Rude bump favorite), but at each turn Rude snuffs out the comeback whether with his favorite camel clutch or knees to the midsection on a splash. The finish to this fall is riveting. Rude gets a wicked piledriver, but only two. He goes for the tombstone, but they do that trademark WCW tombstone reversal spot and it is Steamboat who nails it to get his second decision. It is a nailbiter with 12 minutes to go! Sixth Fall: A superplex and a double clothesline are great spots to put over the grueling contest and the eveness around the ten minute mark. Steamboat gets a backslide for a three count. It is all knotted up with ten minutes to go. You gotta believe next fall wins! Seventh Fall: Steamboat goes for pinning combination barrage. It is hot and heavy! Rude slows him down with a jawbreaker. Taunting and posing with one arm because his left side hurts so bad. Rude is thinking Rude Awakening, but Steamboat steals his finish, foot on the ropes! Great nearfall. Steamboat builds momentum only for Rude grabs a sleeper. They milk this bad boy. Great selling by Steamboat and great job by Randy Pee Wee Anderson checking Steamboat's eyes. Steamboat hulks up and kicks off the buckles to get a pin! Eighth Fall: Rude is besides himself. Electric 30 seconds as Rude keeps bowling Steamboat over four times and each time Steamboat kicks out. No decision rendered as time expires. Steamboat wins 4-3! Small detail is I would have Rude get three of those nearfalls, but with about 10 seconds left have Steamboat get the last offensive move a chop and send Rude on his back as the bell rings. You want your babyface victor to be standing tall at the end of the match. Not on his back. It is a small detail, but I think the match a lost a little something because of that. I have seen this a bunch and already had my star rating in my head of ****3/4, but they really impressed me and I am going the full monty *****. I think it was a combination of tremendous selling from both men, great pacing throughout, and a ton of well-built drama. It is easy to lose your attention in 30 minutes but they had me the whole time. At worst, a top five WCW match of the 1990s. It could be the best, Sting vs Vader and Eddie vs Mysterio are the other contenders. I will have to mull this over.

This turned into an editing nightmare, but it is finally done! The best of the Orginial UWF aka how fucking awesome is the Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger series! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2018/10/pro-wrestling-love-vol-15-best-of.html

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - UWF 9/11/85 The final match of the final show of the Original UWF features its greatest rivalry: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Sayama is without his mask, which he stopped wearing in February of 1985. I agree with the general consensus that this match is more reminiscent of the first match in that it is more pro-style. Still there are no Irish Whips, moonsaults or Tombstones, but does not feel as shoot-y as the previous matches. It is more of a Greatest Hits sendoff match. Lots of great callbacks. Fujiwara catching Sayama's kicks into a kneebar which was the finish of the May or June match. Then there was Sayama catching Fujiwara with a lightning roundhouse to the midsection and then Sayama following up with a ton of jumping enziguiris. Those head rocking kicks were reminiscent of the December 1984 match. Sayama had more success on the mat here, but it was Fujiwara working his usual magic going for armbars, wristlocks and chokes. There was a very pro style sequence worked around headbutts. Sayama would get another riveting flurry of kicks before the match kicked into the finish run. Fujiwara is trying to wrestle him to the ground for his signature armbar when Sayama hits a mule kick to the head that rocks Fujiwara. Sayama looks for the German to finish but Fujiwara grabs the arm and applies his Fujiwara armbar for the submission victory. I was expecting Sayama to go over in the last show, but great flash submission finish. These two couldnt have a bad match against each other if they tried. ****1/4

So I fucked up. "Five match series" came from the fact that DVDVR Men's Other Japan had five Fujiwara vs Super Tiger matches. I should have done my due diligence to see if there were only matches or not. The date "6/24/85" actually comes from indeedwrestling.com which hosts the results for the DVDVR series. I will do my best right now to figure out the correct date. My apologies. From a Phil Schneider review on Segunda Caida, I can confirm this is NOT 1/16/85. The finish I saw was a leglock and the finish he saw was an armlock. He describes it as a handheld and the finish as "The finishing submission is awesome, we get to see Fujiwara work through every step of the hold, before finally snapping the elbow which causes Tiger to very quickly tap, the submission was a great combo of fast and slow, much like the whole match" Segunda Caida lists the match as 6/24/85 in this review: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2011/06/top-30-thursday-other-japan-30-super.html Prowrestlinghistory.com notes that Sayama stopped wearing the Tiger Mask in February of 1985. They list a loss to Fujiwara on May 31, 1985 in Korakuen Hall. If I had to guess thats the match I watched. But now I cant find the video anywhere to corroborate.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger - UWF 12/05/84 Perhaps the greatest and most influential match of all time. First Half: Fujiwara throws his flowers into the crowd. He is pissed he lost in September and came to play. They establish the story early. Tiger is going for knockout head shots and Fujiwara is looking to counterpunch with takedowns and grappling. The key for Tiger is not to overrotate on his kicks. The very first kick he does and misses. Fujiwara gobbles him up and applies a double wristlock. Tiger safely makes the ropes. You see Tiger rifle some kicks but he is much more control of his body does not leave himself as open to the counterattack. He goes for a headshot and clips the head. The crowd "Oooohs and Aaaaahs", but it was a glancing blow and Tiger overrotated and Fujiwara pounces. Sayama digs in his heels to block and actually gets a double wristlock of his own. This morphs into the second story of the match whenever Sayama starts with control on the mat he ends up losing control. After a couple instances of this, you believe he has to win by KO, Fujiwara is just too good on the mat. Tiger makes his first major in roads when a check kick to the leg crumples Fujiwara. He got him just right. Fujiwara goes into traditional pro wrestling selling as Tiger pounces on the leg with wicked kicks. After needing the ropes on several occasions to force a break, this is Tiger's first big break, but he cant capitalize on the mat. Fujiwara retaliates with a flurry of wicked body shots in the corner. Sayama desperate starts throwing knees and one catches Fujiwara pretty good in the head. Tiger unleashes one wicked kick to the head and then drops down with a knee drop. Wow what a sequence! Again, Sayama loses control on the mat. He just does not have the ground acumen of the crafty Fujiwara. Then comes my favorite sequence of the whole match. Fujiwara grabs a rear naked choke and YANKS Tiger into the middle of the ring. Tiger is coughing and struggling to breathe. It really builds the drama and tension. You can hear the coughing subtly at the beginning of the match, but he goes full bore here. I also love that when Fujiwara goes for the armbar how desperately Tiger scrambles for the ropes. It really puts over the danger of the hold. Then Sayama keeps selling the choke with more coughing! Fantastic! There needs to be more coughing in wrestling. Fujiwara wants to apply a Crossface Chickenwing the same hold he submitted to in September, but Tiger makes the ropes and as the first half closes Tiger is trying for the same hold on Fujiwara. Sayama settles for a side mount triangle choke, which Fujiwara alleviates the pressure by bearhugging his own knee. God Bless Fujiwara, he is a boss. Absolutely thrilling first half where they established the key offensive strategies of both wrestlers and completely hooked you into the fight. Second Half: In typical Tiger fashion, he loses control of the Triangle Choke and falls prey to a Triangle Choke, but gets to the ropes. Fujiwara is pissed and tries to keep attacking, but the ref points out Sayama is still under the rope. Fujiwara throws him with a butterfly suplex to restart the submission game. Tiger makes the ropes on a double wristlock and then throws a German suplex. He goes for a cross armbreaker, but again loses control on the ground. Then it happens when they stand back up. The roundhouse kick to the solarplexus that changes the match. Fujiwara has the wind knocked out of him by the lightning kick. From then it is a relentless barrage of kicks by Sayama to the head of the fallen Fujiwara. Fujiwara desperately tries to cling to the kicks of Super Tiger to create offense, but he is too weak. When he does stand, Tiger nearly kicks Fujiwara's head off to the great excitement of the crowd. Sayama then drops brutal knees using the top rope for added leverage on the prone head of Fujiwara. I love that one camera angle where it is on Fujiwara standing reeling and all of sudden Sayama with just flash onto the screen whacking Fujiwara. Fujiwara has one last flurry punctuated by a big headbutt, but knocks himself loopy. He is easy pickins' for Super Tiger that continues his brutal onslaught with furious kicks to the head. Eventually, Fujiwara is left in a heap knocked out by Super Tiger. No Irish Whips. No Moonsaults. No Tombstone Piledrivers. Just close contact grappling and swift kicks. On this day, Mixed Martial Arts was born to a man in a tiger mask. *****

WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin - Wrestlemania XVII I watched this match last night not expecting it hold up even though I have watched many times of the year. I thought I had just got caught up in all the hoopla and the spectacle, but nope this is a badass match and definitely one of the greatest matches to take place in pro wrestling history. The year 2001 was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's reaffirmation that he was one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live. He burned out in a short amount of time, but by God did he burn bright. I am surprised in my previous reviews (I watched a lot of these matches two years ago) that I did use the term "Perpetual motion" because that to me sums up Stone Cold's 2001. He was perpetual motion. But it was not wasted motion or excessive motion. It was always motion with purpose and with urgency. The difference between urgency and desperation is a fine line and this match Stone Cold Steve Austin crossed the line into desperation. That in my mind is the difference between a babyface and a heel. To me, Austin's real value was always turning himself up to eleven. In 2001, I think this was something he was struggling with personally. Was he as good as he once was? Would he be as over? Did he take what he had to be The Man? Especially given how hot The Rock was. He was not coming back to a company that was hurtin'. He was not coming back to a company that desperately needed a top babyface they had The Rock. You bet your ass, Steve Austin the person had some doubts about himself. I think it was genius to turn this into a storyline because it was so believable. But do it in a way that is so pro wrestling. Take something thats a seven and dial it to an eleven by getting Mr. McMahon involved and that heinous attack at the end with a steel chair to really sell it. To me it was not just smart booking, it was smart in-ring storytelling. Thats what puts this match over the top. Every plot point in this match fuels Steve Austin's insecurities and self-doubt until it explodes into that fiery rage of the heinous steel chair attack on The Rock's prone, limp body. Honestly, no matter who is opponent was on this night would have taken a backseat to the drama of Stone Cold character, but I thought this was The Rock's best performance as a babyface and as a wrestler. I really enjoy the Rock. I dont think he is a great wrestler and I dont he is a bad wrestler. He is kind of strange because he feels so different and has become so successful at not being a wrestler, which is so odd. Here, Rock really shows that babyface fire. I love his reactions to Stone Cold's jaw jacking and flipping him off. He was matching Stone Cold's energy and thats what this match needed. I loved the jumpstart to the match. Austin jumps The Rock it is a borderline sneak attack because the Rock has barely taken off the championship belt. It is gamemanship. It is an unwritten rule that you sort of look your opponent in the eye and lock up. Austin is a desperate man and desperate men do desperate things. Austin proves that by picking up that championship belt and trying to nail The Rock. Austin is not a confident man. Also, I love the drama swirling around this match being changed to a No DQ match at the last second. Austin is perpetual motion in this match both on offense and bumping & selling. He wrestles this match huge remember this is at the Astrodome. The culmination of all his hard work. Taking WWF from almost going bankrupt to their first Dome show since 1992. Watch him go for that patented FU elbow. He is out of control but everyone wait at the top can see him throw his body around. I love those big Arena Rock motions. There is a part where he is taking Rock's offense and he is doing the best discombobulated selling you will ever see. Just flailing all over the place. Another moment that just dawned on me was he took a suplex he pops up to keep fighting because that's his nature, but then all the pain stuns him up against the ropes. I love that delayed register. More people need to use that. It makes sense when you first get hit, it is kinda rush and you wanna fight back. Then like a wave it crashes over you. Also, the transitions in this match are just money. They all happen because the wrestler in control takes their eye off the prize. Austin is fiddlefucking trying to get the turnbuckle pad off and Rock knocks his ass down. The Rock is jawjacking with the ref and Austin blasts him with the ring bell. They pull out all the stops here too. Double juice, lots of great throwbacks to Austin/Bret. I love the Sharpshooter sequence because they are both bleeding, but notice the little things. Austin needs to use the ropes to break the hold. Rock can break the hold with his strength. Thats the difference between a heel and babyface. People forget often that one of the main reasons a heel becomes a heel is becomes he realizes he is not good enough to best the babyface. Thats what is happening in this match. Austin was worried that he was not good enough but as the match progresses it is becoming more and more evident that this is not just a cause for concern, but actually the truth. Thus he has to resort low down, cheap tactics to win. Thats how you become a heel. The Rock hits the Stunner and this draws out Vince McMahon. It is clear that Austin at least wanted to try to win this fight on his own, but now the situation is getting too dire. McMahon who has a lot invested in Austin is out to insure that he wins. Austin is not too proud to beg. There are so many great moments in the finish stretch of this. McMahon's face after he pulled the Rock off Austin after Rock had Austin pinned from the People's Elbow and that famous McMahon gulp that leads to the chase scene that ends in a Austin steal of a Rock Bottom. The slow realization that Austin and McMahon have joined forces. Jim Ross was so crucial here because he is Steve's best friend. You can actually listen to him go through through five stages of grief as he is witnessing what is happening. You can see Austin become more and more unhinged with each kickout. The Stunner and kickout was especially good. The Rock is valiant here and comes close with a Rock Bottom, but the odds were too stacked against him. I think what makes this finish so good. It is one extra Stunner that does the Rock in or one extra chair shot. Austin goes ballistic in a way that you never see a wrestler go. Wrestlers usually one chair shot. If it is multiple, there is a pause in between swings. They need to line up make sure they hit the right spot, the opponent has to brace himself. There was none of that here. Austin was in a frenzy. He saw red. It is not singular climax we are so used to seeing wrestling. It is about the journey of the character, Stone Cold Steve Austin, as you can watch him lose all grip on his own sanity. So powerful. Then of course the moment none of us believe we would see, the anti-establishment asskicker shaking the hand of Corporate Satan. Desperate men do desperate things. *****