Superstar Sleeze

WWE US Champion John Cena vs NXT Champion Kevin Owens - WWE Money In The Bank 2015 The John Cena learned how to wrestling match because he hit a Code Red and a Springboard. Give me a fucking break! John Cena sold out. You could copy and paste my review from Elimination Chamber and just post it here. I re-read it and feeling far more eloquent and vitriolic then. Now I have resigned myself to depression. When all the wrestlers lose their individuality and are able to do everything what is the point? Styles make fights. There was no strategy, no sense of progression, no problem solving. It just hitting random moves. They didn’t even use John Cena’s extended finish sequence to its full advantage because they used it in the match two weeks ago. He goes into it early. Owens cuts him off and the goes through sequence himself. But Cant hit the FU. I will say I thought the missed moves leading to the high spots were better than I remembered and also they were not doing the whole perpetual motion bullshit where no one stops and takes a beat so that was nice. Nothing fucking mattered. They built a little to the first AA and Popup Powerbomb but you knew that wouldn’t be enough. A lot of “modified” / “innovative” maneuvers. Yuck! The finish was Cena hit a Code Red but almost fucks it up which actually made it look cooler than when hits clean. Owens hits the Popup Powerbomb which is how he won last time but they were busy showing the replay. lol. Springboard Stunner and 3rd AA wins it. Maybe a touch better than the first but still a soul-sucking experience.

Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan - WWE Fastlane 2015 I forgot this was a Number One contenders match. I always hate these type of lopsided matches. Why should Roman put his Rumble win on the line against Bryan? Imagine if Bryan put his hair or beard on the line. The heat would have been so much higher. Of course you would have heeled Roman but also you kinda had to do this match after Rumble 2015 which I was at. I watched this live with my good buddy Nick and my gut back then was very good but not great and I thought the match was pretty overrated. Let’s see what I think ten years later. So when I watch these live I am usually with someone so I am not paying rapt attention. I freely admit I missed the story last time. I would put some of the onus on them as this is a very choppy, noisy match. I am inclined to like 1-3 major momentum shifts in a match with lengthy control segments. I think this match was specifically designed to avoid long control segments because of fear of heeling Roman. If there is so much action, you Cant achieve a steady state and the fans Cant grow restless and boo Roman. Now there are plenty of choppy matches I like there’s many different ways to skin a cat I am just pointing out the structure and why someone who is casually watching with his buddies might have missed the narrative. On this rewatch, I dug the narrative and the commentators really put it over. It was the technique and speed of Bryan against the power of Roman. Bryan does a side headlock Roman powers out and get his own. Bryan tries a surfboard. Power out. Bryan tries his finish sequence you know the one backflip off the turnbuckles and fly around. Nope Roman cuts it off. Bryan tries to knot up the knees and a leg lock. You guessed it power out. I’ll pause there. Great story but to borrow a phrase from Matt D I was missing the negative space work. Again I think they were so petrified of Roman getting booed, that he did no character work. He could have done dumb jock shit like Luger and Sting. Badass shit like Kobashi or Hashimoto. He just did nothing. I love a wrestler who changes strategies one of the major reasons Flair is my #2. Danielson never sold these strategies were not working. It was a very muted performance by both. The Liver Kick. I got pretty excited at this point. Something for us to sink our teeth into. We didn’t go with a traditional shine. We opted for an interesting narrative that was a bit dry but here we go. Roman sold this and the leg work pretty well. His selling was much better than character work on offense. Danielson picks up the pace with dropkicks in the corner. Then Roman Powerbombs him off the top as a counter to a Frakensteiner. Ugh. Heavy sigh. I try to stay in it. Calm myself down. Yes a little early for a hope spot of this magnitude but surely they will get back on the liver. Danielson counters a Roman top rope move. Suicide dives by Danielson. So much for the liver kick. Again it is a lot of noise down the stretch. Not in a Late State All Japan or NOAH way. It is not a fireworks display. It’s a lot of counters. No one can really get momentum. The characters are NOT selling urgency or desperation. That’s what is missing!!! This is why we write these bad boys. I needed to work through that. That’s what is missing URGENCY AND DESPERATION! They are NOT working fast from a tempo standpoint. This is a mid-tempo rocker. This is not like today where they wrestle like the motion smoothing is left on or we watching the stage blocking routine. It is not overtly cooperative. The spots are well-executed. They were working fast from a sense of not letting the crowd in. Not showing vulnerability. Roman sets up for the Spear. Danielson quashes that with a small package. Running Knee. 1-2-No! Good near fall they aren’t going overboard with bombs or near falls which I dig. Danielson does his Yes Kicks. ROMAN CATCHES THE FOOT GRABS BY THE THROAT AND DEATH STARES HIM! Thats the moment. That’s what I am talking about. Roman didnt do that shit at all during the match. If he did that all match we are talking a totally different experience. But if you do that, you have to pause and let the crowd in and let them react. That’s scary what if they boo or do nothing. But you got to do it anyways even if it is scary or uncomfortable. We get the Yes Lock for one last Danielson near fall. Roman bludgeons Danielson which kind of undoes all the hard work of not trying to heel him. Danielson goes for the knee but eats a Spear! They were in a tough spot, babyface vs babyface and where the babyface they wanted to be the Ace was not over as a babyface. There’s countless examples of how to make this dynamic work such as Bret vs Diesel at Rumble 95. I think the easiest solution would have been Danielson to play the subtle heel. If he didn’t go that route, sell the desperation and exasperation of trying everything but this powerhouse keeps overwhelming you. For Roman let us in, brutha, give me some dumb jock shit or Terminator Destroyer shit. It is interesting narrative, but the character work leaves it is at very good but not great. *** 1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Osamu Nishimura - NJPW 2/2/03 Nishimura is a cult favorite and have seen a couple of his matches. I would say I like him but don’t love him. Cool that he got a title shot against Nagata who in the middle of a lengthy title reign. Unfortunately I am This one started off very promising with Nagata beating Nishimura like he owed him money. Nagata’s strikes looked real good. The boyish Nishimura finally lights him up with his Hoss Funk Uppercuts. I was kinda excited we were going to get this tempers flared out of control Inokiist style of brawl. Instead we eventually ground back down. Lots of really cool bridging from Nishimura. That’s what we need more in wrestling…bridging. It is the wrestler’s wrestler move. You have me in a predicament…BRIDGE~! Nagata controls most of the ground game attacking the arm. Nishimura eventually gets a Double Wristlock takedown and begins to frustrate Nagata as he is taking control. Nagata gets frustrated and punts him out the Ring. Nishimura is able to dragon leg screw and gets a Bombs Away Knee Drop across the shin and then the Funk Spinning Toehold. A very very nice 70s sequence. Nagata tries to mount a comeback but Nishimura clamps on an Abdominal Stretch then gets the Octopus Stretch to a big pop. He releases to hit a Bombs Away Knee Drop which was a cool near fall. Nishimura loses control when he commits the cardinal sin of 70s wrestling by whipping Nagata into the corner. By creating the space willfully, Nagata took advantage with a spinning heel kick. Nagata proceeds to demolish Nishimura first with a Knee then the Disarmor followed by a Wrist Clutch Exploder. Finally wins with the Crossface. A very tight 20 minute title defense. Efficient and great progression. I thought it was a bit dry which I find both these guys to be. It is a match that checks all the boxes but lacks soul so I have it just under “great”. *** 3/4

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Manabu Nakanishi – NJPW 6/2/00 Someone I believe in this match is nicknamed “Mr. Unbelievable” based on the commentators but based on Google didn’t think it was either. Unfortunately, I am doing this review about 4 hours after I watched it, but I thought this was a particularly boring match so I am not too worried about getting every detail right. I have been enjoying these Sasaki title defenses against these upper midcarders (Frye, Kojima and Iizuka), but this one has been one I have been kinda dreading because I find Nakanishi so miserably boring. He didn’t disappoint. Each title defense has established Sasaki as the better overall wrestler, but for the challenger to pick a body part work over it and then Sasaki gets so desperate and he hauls off and clocks the opponent. This has been a great formula but this match was just nowhere near as interesting. Nakanishi is the bigger much more boring version of Sasaki. Unlike the other Sasaki defenses, Sasaki is giving the power advantage away to Nakanishi. They collide right off the bat like two bulls. Then have a pretty standard chop battle that wouldn’t look out of place in 2025. They slow things down and start to work the mat. Sasaki telegraphed his usual spot of ricocheting off the ropes while his opponent ricochets off the buckles, Nakanishi stops short and nails a spear. Nakanishi worked the spear a lot. Nakanishi had no juice in his control segment. It was all Spears and Torture Racks. Sasaki’s offensive strategy was interesting because he at least varied his strategy. Realizing he didn’t have his normal power advantage, he was able to get a guillotine choke out of a spear attempt and that laid his first in-roads. We see eventually Nakanishi get another spear and then throw a Terry Bam Bam Gordy like fit and apply a Torture Rack and throw a couple big suplexes. I believe this is the point where Sasaki CLOCKS Nakanishi with the closed fist which his signature when he gets very far behind in a match. I now want to go back and watch the Kawada knowing this has been his 2000 signature and see when he finally hauls off punches Kawada. I think this was a perfect time for the punch. I thought the combination of Spear/Torture Rack felt like a good time for Sasaki to show desperation. My issue is that the spot ends up NOT being the turning point of the match. He ends up getting steamrolled again by a Barrage of Spears think if Bron Breaker’s only offense was spears. He did attempt one last Torture Rack, but Sasaki survived and he whipped him down. I get that Torture Rack is not an easy hold to keep applied for a long period of time but it still seemed kinda lame to just give it up and also transition back to Sasaki is so lame. Besides going to back to the Guillotine Choke which was cool, Sasaki just finished him with Lariat, Super Northern Lights Bomb which is special and a Northern Lights Bomb. I am not really sure Nakanishi deserved the Super Northern Lights Bomb. Nakanishi is such a chore to watch and I saw he made the G1 Climax Finals in 2000 against Sasaki so dreading that match. I am not surprised that Inoki went with the shooters, once the Musketeers left, his talent pool just wasn’t going to draw 50k+ to Dome if it was some combination of Sasaki, Nagata, Kojima, Tenzan and Nakanishi. Besides Nakanishi, I like all four of those guys, I don’t think you can tell me any combination of those four are going to be drawing huge numbers. I thought this was a great Sasaki performance, he put Nakanishi over as a beast. He let Nakanishi outpower him which is his game. He came up with the Guillotine Choke to neutralize Nakanishi and set up his usual finishing stretch. It takes two to tango and unfortunately Nakanishi is fucking boring. ***

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Satoshi Kojima - NJPW 3//19/00 The full version is up on New Japan World if people want to see it. Sasaki‘s second straight title defense against Team 2000 having vanquished Don Frye the previous month. Im surprised we never got a Chono challenge in the year 2000 perhaps if All Japan stays together and there’s no Kawada match in October that would have headlined there??? A very 21st century match as there are some great parts and some iffy parts. All in all it is still very good, but isn’t quite great. It is a good resume padder for Kensuke who will always be in my Top 100 but matches like this keep him with an upward momentum. This is the earliest Kojima match I have ever seen not quite as fun as he would become. The element of the beginning I liked was how every sequence ended with the Champion coming out on top. With Hashimoto and Mutoh winding down in New Japan, you had to go all in on Sasaki. When Kojima started off hot, Sasaki pie faces. When Kojima wants to go submissions, Sasaki almost wraps him in an STF (the leader of Team 2000, Chono took umbrage to that, protesting on the apron). When Kojima slows it down with tests of strength, Sasaki suplexes him. Sasaki runs through a quick big bomb offense like his Special Armdrag and Tejana Bomb. While I loved the beats and story, transitions and connective tissue were lackluster. I had the match in the good category but they did elevate it with a nice, timely chop block by Kojima. Chono was up on the apron offering to throw in the towel for Sasaki. Great performance by Chono as Kojima’s second. Leg work here was so good. Kojima employed a great varied leg based attack and Sasaki sold it well. This is pre-Mutoh but we still get a healthy dose of dragon leg screw and the Figure-4. The chop block replaced the dropkick to the knee which we don’t see. It was nice to see a knee crusher have not seen that in a while. In addition to his knee work, Kojima loved an Ace Crusher so we got three variations on that. I was just enjoying the mix of leg work and bombs. Then the best part of the match happens when the Champ looks like he is on the verge of losing the title…he hauls off and CLOCKS KOJIMA WITH A CLOSED FIST! We almost get a bench clearing brawl! Chono & Team 2000 are protesting on the apron and Sasaki’S boys follow suit but there no blows. Sasaki fires off two more awesome punches. The leg work through punches was fucking awesome. The finish stretch gets a little too bomb happy and feels more All Japan. Sasaki does sell the leg pretty well on the comeback with a Scorpion Deathlock on Kojima and lariat to Kojima’s leg on the apron. Then it becomes an All Japan match. Trading Lariats and German suplexes for one-counts. Kojima wriggles out of a Northern Lights Bomb into a weird armbar that I have never seen him use. It was a very odd place for the finish stretch and he just relinquished the hold. Weird. Kojima tries Northern Light Bomb but collapses. Sasaki polished him off with Northern Lights Bomb and Burning Lariat. A very All Japan finish. I wonder what Inoki thought. Sasaki was always the most All Japan-y of the New Japan boys. Probably the reason I like him so much is that he is a Kobashi, just a little smaller, less emotional but replaces that emotion/heart with Choshu Rock & Roll edge. From the Kojima chop block to Sasaki punch, this is fucking awesome. On either side it is a little rocky but this still good. Cant quite go 4 stars, but another very good Sasaki title defense in his signature run. *** 3/4

Toshiaki Kawada vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - AJPW 6/8/01 Kawada takes on TenCozy in two singles matches two days apart. On 6/6/01 in New Japan, Kawada fought Kojima in a heralded match that is considered one of the best of the year in Japan, which I probably need to rewatch because I think low on it. Now he takes on Tenzan here in All Japan. I think I figured something out with Tenzan who have grown fond of over the years is that I think he is a great defensive wrestler. When his opponent is generating offense, he establishes himself as a mountain to summit through his no-selling and constant cutoffs. It creates a real tension in the match and I love it. However I think I find him kind of boring when he is working the match on top and his opponent is working hope spots. I have come to the conclusion based on this match where Tenzan works on top and I found it boring. As I watch more Tenzan we will see if it holds. These two do the stand & bang macho pissing contest. I liked Tenzan no-selling and roaring through Kawada’s trademark spin heel kick. Kawada tries to up the ante with Headbutt but immediately takes a seat as soon as Tenzan Headbutts him. I am not fond of too many headbutts because they very rarely look as devastating as a punch or kick and yet are so much more devastating to the wrestler. If it doesn’t look good and it hurts, I would rather you not do it. Tenzan nominally works the arm but nothing significant or very interesting. It is Arm work and Tenzan clubbering. Tenzan goes for his diving Headbutt but Kawada catches him with a kick. Massive running Yakuza Kick by Kawada. Stretch Plum. Powerbomb gets reversed. Tenzan Driver -> Tenzansault is Tenzan big nearfall. I like that as a Tenzan nearfall but I thought transition out was weak. Kawada hits a barrage of Jumping High Kicks and Dangerous Back Drop Drivers! And I do mean DANGEROUS~! He was really dumping on his head. I loved Tenzan’s no-sell roar on each one and until he finally out away. He really came off like the Creature of the Black Lagoon rising again and again. I wish they came up with a more interesting bridge between the Tezansault and the Kawada finish stretch. Also I think in getting a little burnout on the style. I think might be time switch soon. Still a good match. *** 1/4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojim vs Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai - NJPW 9/16/01 Last legs of New Japan vs All Japan feud which started a year prior. Kawada dumped Fuchi for Nagai as his partner in 2001 which would lead to the unreal RWTL finals. This is neither the 12/11/00 classic or the 2001 RWTL Finals. This is surprisingly boring and I say surprisingly as I like 3/4ths guys a lot and just havent seen much of Nagai. TenCozy who is on their last legs as a tag team jump the All Japan boys before the bell but that doesn’t really lead to much. The first seven or so minutes not much happens honestly. Tenzan misses a top rope diving Headbutt and sells like he has been KO’d by Stan Hansen’s lariat. It was really 0 to 60 oversell that didn’t even realize was happening when all of sudden Nagai doing one foot covers and Tenzan was collapsing on whips like he was Kawada. I was like lol what? Kojima screams “TENZAN~!” At the top of his lungs for like ten minutes. Seems like a little much. Kawada/Nagai’s heat segment wasn’t all that interesting outside one Dangerous Backdrop Driver. Kawada goes for the Powerbomb Tenzan counters and we get a decent hot tag from Kojima. Finger gun elbow. Powerbomb. They trade attacking each others Lariat Arm and Kawada gets the better with a Stretch Plum. Kojima gets the better of Nagai with an Ace Crusher. Tenzan gets his hot tag. The Kawada/Nagai near fall is a big boot into a German. After Kojima blasts Kawada with a lariat, Tenzan hits a Tenzan Driver and a Tenzansault to win. It was a pretty dull match and not something I will remember next week.

Keiji Mutoh vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 4/10/02 I am so annoyed with this match. I love formula because once it has been established any deviation generates thrill im the viewer. I have watched damn near every major Mutoh match from 2001-2002 so finding a match where he uses his dropkicks to the knee & a dragon leg screw to se up ARM work makes me go from 6 to midnight. When Kojima went down to one knee, I was like a bit early for the Shining Wizard. He dropkicked the Arm and stayed on the arm with dropkicks. Oh he dragon leg screw, back to Figure-4, NOPE Top Wristlock in the Side Mount and sold like a submission. It was so awesome but every other aspect of this match he did the lamest thing possible. I want to like Kojima so bad but he is just so mediocre. The only thing I thought this match did better than their 2001 bout was teasing the finishers early with a blocked Shining Wizard and blocked lariat. The New Japan chain wrestling to open was fine. Kojima’s control segment was pedestrian. He kinda sorta went after the knee. He kinda sorta also just chopped Mutoh. He ran through some of his customary early offense the somersault and finger gun Elbow drop. The 2001 he was really throwing Mutoh tactics back in his face. He hits a Powerbomb. Mutoh just gets up and dropkicks his knee. Lame. Your turn is over. Now it is my turn. Lame. Lame. Lame. That turns into the most interesting portion of the match as I covered above. The only thing I want to add to Mutoh control segment that I thought was cool was how Kojima blocked Shining Wizard attempt which hurt his arm and then on the Lariat attempt Mutoh easily repelled it and it hurt Kojima’s Arm more. That was sick. Mutoh works a cross Armbreaker as his capper out of his top rope Frankensteiner. It was tasteful; appropriate Selling be close enough to the ropes that it didn’t feel cheap. What did feel cheap was Kojima just hitting an Ace Crusher. Your turn is over. Now it is my turn. Lame. Lame. Lame. Lariat! Shining Wizard! A tribute to 90s All Japan. What puts the match in my good graces enough to call it good is that Mutoh uses a Flying Armbar to finish Kojima with a cross Armbreaker to pay off the arm work. So I’ll go *** 1/4 but it could have been so much more!

Thanks to @Ma Stump Puller for the hook-up! Mark Kerr vs Dick Vrij - Zero-One 10/25/01 Is Vrij pronounced "Fly" or "Frye"? This is at Budokan and reportedly only drew 2000 people, rough, 1/8th full that is bad. Headliners were Naoya Ogawa vs Josh Dempsey and Hashimoto vs Gerard Gordeau. I have seen some 90s Vrij from RINGS and this match completes my Complete & Accurate on Mark Kerr. Both men have pretty thick fingerless MMA gloves on and wrestling shoes. Some check kicks thrown. Great explosivity shown by Kerr on the Double Leg and works to transition to the cross-armbreaker. Another great throw by Kerr but cant get anything to stick on the mat. Vrij is known as a Dutch Kickboxer which Aleister Black keeps that tradition alive even though I wish he would ditch the lame gimmick and just be a badass Dutch Kickboxer. Vrij scores two knockdowns on Kerr with a knee and then a kick. I didnt think either one was particularly electric. I thought the finish was superb. Kerr catches a spinning heel kick into a massive slam and a cross-armbreaker for the win. Vrij and his team attack Kerr after the bell. Kerr retreats but gets on the mic and says "This one is for America and he challenges someone named Hans". This about a month after 9/11 so understandable comments on saying this is for America. Based on a quick Google search, I believe the Hans in question is Hans Nijman who apparently was a figure in the Dutch world and was murdered in 2014. Maybe not the best guy to be challenging, but Kerr is still alive. Anyways, enjoyable shoot-style match. ***

Keiji Mutoh vs Satoshi Kojima - NJPW 6/4/01 A big week for Mutoh who has this match, a 40 minute match with Hase and a 5 star classic with Tenryu for the Triple Crown. Kojima has a heralded match with Kawada two days later. Both Mutoh & Kojima have not yet defected to All Japan yet but this has an All Japan feel because who is involved. I can see how many of Mutoh’s detractors might point to this match as a point against the 2001 Shining Wizard Renaissance. I liked this instead of loving it which as many know I am a big proponent of 2001 Mutoh. This one lacked the urgency and energy of the truly sublime 2001 Mutoh matches but I still really enjoyed the psychology and logic of the match. It is that mid-tempo rocker you can vibe to. I would say this is still safely very good just not as good as his other stuff in 2001 but that is a very high bar. Customary New Japan chain wrestling to start. I enjoy it as a way to ease into a match but nothing to write home about. Kojima hits a somersault splash. Mutoh dropkicks high instead of low interesting. Kojima finger gun elbow drop not yet super over. I really love how hard Kojima struggled against Mutoh’s Dragon Leg Screw. It really put over how dangerous it is. Then I loved how it was Kojima who targeted the knee first with the same tactics Mutoh would have used. I love when Mutoh’s opponents throw the dropkicks to the knee and Dragon Leg Screw back in his face. Kojima worked a toehold rather than a figure-4. Mutoh of course is able to mount a comeback using his tried and true 2001 strategy of dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screw and the Figure-4. I love the dueling psychology. Kojima chop blocks Mutoh to get back on top. Very heelish. Kojima is still Team 2000 4 Life I believe. Kojima now uses the Figure-4. Loved how Mutoh used the Kappou Kick to rock Kojima to set up more knee based attacks. Loved it! Mutoh feels like he has enough opening to finish him off with a Moonsault Bur Kojima Powerbombs him off the top. Lariat. Top Rope Ace Crusher. Mutoh blocks another with a sleeper. Another Lariat and Michinoku Driver and it looks like Kojima is out of gas. Frankensteiner… SHINING WIZARD! 1-2-3 Like I said this is a mid-tempo rocker you can vibe too. I wish the knee-based work played more into the finish. I liked the body of the match and the finish as well. Another feather in Mutoh’s cap. *** 3/4

Mark Coleman & Mark Kerr vs Yuji Nagata & Takahashi Iizuka - Inoki Bom Bae Ye 12/31/00 I am 3/4ths done with my Mark Kerr Complete & Accurate just need to find his singles match against Dick Vrij in Zero-One. From a strictly Mark Kerr perspective, I enjoyed his work in Zero-1 more than here where he was Double Leg machine in Z-1. I feel like Mark Coleman who wore a Goldberg shirt to the ring was the real star of the team. Nagata & Iizuka are coming off their 5 star classic against Kawada & Fuchi but they don’t really stand much of a chance against the Marks. Coleman rips a couple great suplexes on Iizuka the junior partner of the Japanese team. The gut wrench looked great. Kerr immediately throws a kick which I thought was bizarre but it served as an opening for Iizuka to catch and drag him to Nagata. Nagata worked hard to get a cross arm breaker. I love the wrestler in Kerr to counter that by bridging. Even though Kerr is able to get a couple takedowns, he is treated as the Junior partner of the Marks with Japanese able to get offense on him. The pro wrestling starts to kick in with Kerr in the ropes and Iizuka stomping him. Coleman gets the tag. HE VAULTS OVER THE ROPES AND RIPS IIZUKA DOWN WITH A THROW! Great throw into the ground & pound. Iizuka gets him to the corner and Nagata uses Headbutts in the ropes again pro wrestling. He uses that to get a leg lock on Coleman who sells it really well. Coleman counters and into strikes to tag in Kerr. Kerr great knees and throw on Nagata and goes for the Cross Armbreaker. Again Kerr uses a kick as a way to feed the Japanese. Nagata excellent Northern Lights. He goes for a Cross Armbreaker But can’t get it on. Great Kerr knee but Nagata throws him. Iizuka throws Kerr and gets a leg lock. Kerr is the one they get offense on. Kerr articles out and tags to Coleman who vaults over and had a real star aura to him. Iizuka crowds in the corner with forearms. Again three times now the pro wrestlers are using the ropes & corner to smother the more proficient Marks to gain an advantage. They hold Coleman in replace while one dropkicks him. Again Pro Wrestling tactics. NAGATA HIGH KICK KNOCKS COLEMAN DOWN! We get a seven count. Coleman Big Alabama Slam style Double Leg into Ground & Pound and Anaconda Vice as surprisingly it is Nagata that taps out. The Marks were heavy favorites but didn’t think Nagata would take the fall. This felt like a really good wrestling-oriented MMA exhibition. The two things I really liked were Coleman’s aura and pro wrestlers using pro wrestling tactics to gain advantages. I think Kerr would have also been a fun pro wrestler but it is a really shame Coleman didnt go for a Shamrock or Frye style run. *** 1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Takahashi Iizuka - NJPW 7/20/00 Sasaki is in the middle of his peak run as New Japan Ace. Iizuka is famous for three matches against the Steiners, the 1/4/00 tag with Hashimoto against the UFO Shooters and the 12/11/00 tag with Nagata against the All Japan Invaders. Pretty safe to say the year 2000 was his peak. I did f even remember what he looked like never mind his style. I was pretty interested in this match because Champion versus unknown commodity is the best way to understand how a Champion envisions his reign. Sasaki versus Kawada was a match of equals. This is not. So how do you work that? Call me crazy but I loved this. This is a real feather in Sasaki’s cap. It shows his versatility, Ring generalship and ingenuity, Even though it was a competitive squash for most of the match, I was engaged, the work was compelling and Sasaki delineated a clear sense of hierarchy. Sasaki established not only his superiority in the power game: bowling over Iizuka, taking him down at will, countering a hold with Bob Backlund lift, but also the ground game he does a great monkey lift into an armbreaker attempt, he works in and out of guard well and generally is able to counter submissions well. Iizuka’s first strategy seems to be piss off Sasaki as he realizes he is not the better wrestler. He smacks Sasaki around but Sasaki flips him into a mount but Sasaki’s overzealousness presents the opportunity for Iizuka to target the legs which was smart psychology. When Sasaki escapes that, that ends the opening New Japan chain wrestling but that is some of the best opening chaining you’ll see it is not perfunctory they really establish the story in that. Sasaki is ready to turn this into a pro style big bomb match which Iizuka is totally outgunned for. Iizuka’s next strategy is to target a body part which I figured would be his best strategy as when someone has a clear advantage in multiple aspects of the game injuring a body part closes the gap. Since Sasaki was smoking him with lariats Iizuka dropkicks the arm as if to say fuck You stop that shit. Iizuka works some great arm holds and Sasaki sells well. The peak of this is when stubborn Sasaki goes for the Tejana Bomb but leaves himself open for the cross armbreaker. While this is Iizuka’s best opening of the match I would hardly say Sasaki is in trouble bur he hauls off and PUNCHES HIM! Iizuka sells it like death. I thought that reeked of too much desperation by Sasaki we weren’t there yet in my opinion. Sasaki powerslam gets two. Sasaki goes for a lariat armbar takedown into a choke. Now here comes the real Iizuka finish stretch. It is a barrage of Exploders and Chokes. They really milk the Chokes. I think the Punch would have worked better here because now desperation has set in. However I loved the use of Sasaki’s special arm drag to counter the standing choke. Two more of those a couple clubbing lariats and a Northern Lights Bomb and Sasaki gets a definitive win even though he almost blew it. Perfect champion versus have no chance midcarder. Champion clearly demonstrates why he is the champion. Challenger tries a couple different strategies one eventually sticks. Champion gets desperate. Things get a little dicey for the Champion but they find an opening, accelerate through the hole and finish strong. Great pro wrestling ****

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Scott Norton - NJPW 3/17/01 Man if you were Kensuke in January you must have thought you were sitting pretty you just won IWGP Title back at the Biggest Show of the Year against inter promotional rival Kawada, Hashimoto is leaving to form Zero-One, Mutoh had one foot out the door to All Japan. You were poised to be the Ace of the biggest promotion in Japan leading it into 21st century. Two months later your dropping the belt to fucking Scott Norton so he could transition it to Inoki’s shiny new toy, Kazuyuki Fujita. What a roller coaster. Weird match. Liked some of it but strange finish. They do a bunch of good Clash of Titans shit. Tight lock ups, test of strength, chops and shoulder block battles. Two alpha rams type shit. Sasaki hits a sick cross body block through ropes onto the floor. Exposes the floor and bodyslams Norton on it. Great suplex struggle on the apron that Sasaki win. This I all love. Sasaki throws one too many lariats so Norton’s catches him in a slam and then A shoulder breaker. Even when I was a little kid I always thought Norton should follow up the shoulder breaker with an armbar or something it looks weird as a finisher. Scott Hall is here. Norton’s still has NWO gear even though Final Nitro is around now. Norton gets a long chinlock. Sasaki transition is lame he just takes over. Loved the Lariat to the knee along the apron. Great chop block. Sasaki struggles with an inverted figure-4. This is where the match gets weird as they had a good thing going with the battle of the bulls and now leg psychology but instead they just start throwing bombs. They fuck up a pump handle slam. Norton throws in a flash roll up which I bite on because it would protect Kensuke. Powerbomb but nope. Sasaki just roars back with that Arn drag thing he does such a strange transition. Tejana Bomb. 1-2No! Clobbers him with a Lariat. Nope, winds up again but Norton ducks and flattens him with his own for the shock win, This must have been very surprising at the time. Finish stretch was weird but the body of the match was entertaining. Sasaki as Ace we hardly knew ya. ***

IWGP Heavyweight Kensuke Sasaki vs Don Frye - NJPW 2/5/00 Sasaki’s first title defense after defeating Tenryu for the title in a great match at the 1/4 Dome show. Frye is getting a pretty decent push as a top gaijin and a prominent member of the top heel stable, Team 2000, an NWO spinoff group. I need to watch more Shamrock but Frye looks to be every bit as good as Shamrock but in a company that understands how to use him better. Frye doesn’t give other worldly shooter vibes like Ogawa or Fujita but rather a classical pro wrestler who uses a lot of submissions. Rheingans his trainer is with him. Frye bows up to Sasaki and manhandles him with three suplexes. It was a bit too easy for my liking and I was worried for a second but all my worries were allayed this turned into a great match not as great the Kawada Triple Crown match but every fun. Sasaki clearly worked a different style match and really showed his range. He toned down his typical high spots and worked the mat more and just stuck to throwing lariats. I am appreciated the submission work of both men. For instance Sasaki was always thinking submission he did a leg, cross armbreaker and a choke. Frye has a nice organic counter to the ankle lock which he transitioned into a ground and pound while in Sasaki’s guard. Fete’s headbutts looked wicked. Sasaki rearing back and throwing lariats looked good. Loved Frye working a lot of wristlocks and a great Fujiwara armbar takedown. Really liked Sasaki muscling up Frye out of the double wrist lock and hitting a Fireman’s Carry going right into the cross armbreaker. I liked how the slams, throws and takedowns were set ups for a submission finish rather than the finish themselves. I thought Frye’s punches looked good and also something as simple as jumping off the apron and elbowing Sasaki showed he has classical pro wrestling training. I loved Sasaki grabbing the knee bar after some big lariats and Frye selling he was Curt Hennig who was his trainer it seems. Sasaki even does the kick to the back of the knee and Frye does the perfect sell. The Sasaki lariat to the bad knee on the apron was awesome, I think I would have liked the Scorpion Deathlock finish more than the barrage of lariats that finished it but I get that you had to keep legit shooter badass Don Frye strong and tapping out doesn’t achieve that. A really fun Inokiist match where there’s just enough shoot style to make it feel different without it getting weird. This really shows Sasaki’s range. *** 3/4 .

Surprised there is no talk of Rick Steiner. Love his powerslam and love a good Steinerline. He is not someone who I seriously considered last time, but I could see my fellow Wolverine sneaking in my bottom ten. Go Blue!

Thanks Paul! I will try to watch & review next week.

All Japan World Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Yoji Anjoh vs Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea - AJPW 10/22/01 The rematch from the Main Event of the September Budokan. October Budokan would feature Mutoh vs Chono and Tenryu vs Kea so no Tag Team Title match. The Tag Team Championship situation does way downhill after this and never recovers We get about 7 minutes of a 20 minutes match. It is interesting in both this and the Budokan match Mutoh really takes a backseat to Kea. I think until Kojima 2002 push started they really saw Kea as their only future hope. Anjoh hits his piledriver into a cross arm breaker again on Kea helluva way to enter a match. Kea makes his comeback against Tenryu. Mutoh comes in does 2001 Mutoh things on Tenryu. But Anjoh breaks up the Figure-4. Anjoh dropkicks Mutoh’s knee which I love and puts a sick inverted Figure-4. Tenryu loses the advantage to a Mutoh Frankensteiner. Kea looked good in the finish run. His kick combo looked awesome and he has a great top rope splash. Tenryu throws him off on a swinging DDT attempt. But he nails it on Anjoh. Mutoh does an ugly Shining Wizard off of Anjoh’s back to Tenryu. Mutoh Shining Wizard to Anjoh. Kea hits a TKO to win the All Japan World Tag Team titles. What we saw wasn’t as good as the September in my opinion. Around *** would be my guess.

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Yoji Anjoh vs Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea - AJPW 9/8/01 I have not seen Anjoh in forever! How the hell are you brutha? Dude is good craic, I should see him more often. Tenryu & Anjoh won the tag team titles from Kea & Johnny Smith. Kea has upgraded his partner to the reigning Triple Crown champion Keiji Mutoh. This headlined the September Budokan show with 12,800 in attendance not a bad figure and the only undercard support of note was Kawada & Nagai taking on Chono & Barton. Surprisingly for a Budokan main event, this is clipped we get 11 minutes of a 20 minute match. What we saw is very entertaining but without seeing the first 9 minutes I don’t feel comfortable rating it. We open with Kea on control of Tenryu but he tags out to Anjoh. Oh there’s a funny bit before the match begins where Tenryu big times All Japan President Stan Hansen when handing over the belts but Anjoh very quickly relinquishes them and bows to Hansen, I immediately love Anjoh again. So Kea is in control and takes exception to some Tenryu interference. Tenryu throws a tantrum over Kea whacking him, trying to grab the announce table but Hansen stops Tenryu. Tenryu gets his revenge by pulling down the top rope on Kea and then whipping him hard chest first into the railing. Anjoh hits a piledriver into a cross-armbreaker. Be still my beating shoot style heart. Anjoh drops a knee on bicep. This whole stretch was awesome. I really enjoyed the heat segment on Kea. Kea gets an enziguiri on Tenryu and Mutoh comes in and it is 2001 so you know the drill dropkicks to the knee, dragon leg screw and figure-4. Anjoh breaks it up and starts throwing Mutoh around with Saito Suplexes. Mutoh is able to wrest control and it is stereo Figure-4s! Doesn’t matter if it is Greensboro or Tokyo that shit is over. It is funny Mutoh is clearly feeding his chin to Anjoh on the second Figure-4 attempt but there’s a pregnant pause before Anjoh realizes he is supposed to clock Mutoh to stop the Figure-4. Mutoh gets his frankensteiner on the incoming Tenryu. Tag out to Kea. Kea gets the big near fall run with a Powerbomb and his patented kick combination. Funny moment Kea gets Tenryu in a Triangle and Anjoh wraps Mutoh into submission but realizes if he doesn’t relinquish and save Tenryu the titles are lost. His face tells a perfect story. Anjoh with kicks and elbows sets Tenryu up to polish Kea off with a Powerbomb and Brainbuster. I like 2001 Mutoh a lot but he played a very small role in this. I really enjoyed the Tenryu & Anjoh team. Great chemistry, they really complement each other well. Kea took a lickin and kept on tickin. This felt 3.5 +/- 0.25 star. Very entertaining would watch the whole thing.

I believe I read somewhere that if someone does not comment in this thread or elsewhere for a candidate since 2016 that the candidate might have the nomination rescinded well I CANNOT let that stand as Fujita Jr Hayato's biggest fan (I was the high voter for him last time) and he is on my bubble for this go around but he is in consideration. I was thinking about him the other day. He is like the best possible Hook. This punk kid that does not give a fuck when he enters the ring and then he just tears into opponents once in the ring. I am very much pro-Hook, but I wish he could channel more of Fujita Jr Hayato. Might have to go down a Hayato cagematch rabbit hole between now and the voting.

Satoshi Kojima vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 4/13/02 There a couple instances of young lions coming up together and rising to the main event, but I think more often than not it usually hurts one. I think a young lion overcoming a veteran main eventer is the better route to getting someone over. Anyways this is the semi-main of the second 2002 Budokan show. With Kawada injured, the logical main event was to go back to Tenryu vs Mutoh for the vacant Triple Crown. This leaves an opening for the two brightest stars of the next generation to have the semi-main event slot. Unfortunately, if this is All Japan best and brightest of the next generation, Mrs. Baba & Mutoh should be worried. I am about as fond of Kojima as I have ever been and watching a shit ton of Kea I think he is serviceable. They are fine as upper midcarders but they arent main eventers that can draw sellout Budokans. Mrs. Baba, Mutoh, Tenryu or Kawada needed to sit down with these and say yes your execution is great, but youre missing those intangibles that takes someone from a solid pro wrestler to main event. Unfortunately either that talk didnt happen or it fell on deaf ears. I think this is a very good match, but very good wont cut it when Tenryu, Mutoh and Kawada eventually run out of gas that ends up happening in 2005. These two have no problem hitting their high spots, everything looks good, but this was missing that je ne sais quoi that you can feel from a burgeoning main eventer. New Japan style chain wrestling to start. Kea lands the first highspot with a jumping DDT on a leapfrog, which was nice. Kojima powders, but he is able to take cover by whipping Kea into the railing. Kojima has a solid control segment nothing crazy. I was disappointed by Kea's transition. He basically mashes "Square" on his PS2 controller as if he is playing Here Comes The Pain to take over. He runs through a couple of his highspots such as a Vaderbomb. With both being Mutoh disciples, Kojima hits a Dragon Leg Screw. I would be remiss to mention that Cagematch rates this match as Kea's best match of all time. I think the famous tags he is in smokes this and his best singles matches are against Tenryu. I thought the leg psychology might lead to why this match got a high rating, but doesnt really go anywhere. Kojima hits his crowd participation elbow drop. Kea hits a couple kicks again a weak transition. Kea hits a sick splash from like 3/4ths across the ring. The finish run starts about here. Kea goes for his TKO. Kojima counters and he hits an Ace Crusher. Kojima starts to ramp up his offense with a Michinoku Driver. We go full 90s All Japan, which is an interesting contrast to Tenryu/Mutoh/Kawada who have really shifted away from that style. Kea responds with a Shining Wizard then a Frankensteiner for 2. Kea needs something big. He applies a Cobra Clutch and as Kojima is struggling through it. HE DROPS HIM ON HIS HEAD! It has been a while since I seen a head drop suplex, which popped me. Kojima in true All Japan fashion responds with a Lariat. Except Kea is up first and he hits a TKO for 2. Kea is done for. Kojima hits a Lariat! Kea tries a Frankensteiner. POWERBOMB! Love it! KOJIMA LARIAT FTW! Finish stretch had some fun fireworks, but this is far from the matches Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi were having in the early 90s where they showed they were ready for the main event. *** 1/2

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Satoshi Kojima & Taiyo Kea - AJPW 10/12/02 The a very fitting match as Tenryu takes on two of his biggest up and coming rivals of 2001 and 2002. The idea of the rising lions team of Kojima & Kea is a good one and they would go on to win the Real World Tag League in December over the Zero-One team of Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Ohtani. Unfortunately for Kea, he gets injured which derails his push. At this point, Tenryu is still Triple Crown Champion and had a successful defense against Kojima in July and in a stone cold classic. I believe the title Kojima has with him is the original MLW title. This match just missed the cut to be nominated for the Best of Japan 2000s voting as it finished in T-#33 in the voting for the best matches of Japan in 2002. One thing that I found interesting was that Kojima was the one to always take heat and it was Kea who came in and cleaned up his messes. I thought by this point where Kojima gets two high profile matches against Tenryu this year while Kea's major matches are more focused in the tag ranks, I though Kojima had surpassed on the totem, but that does not seem to be the case. This match thrives on Tenryu's grumpy, lumpy old bastard charisma, because otherwise this is a pretty routine match. I loved Tenryu's reaction to the first stiff shot by Kea was to bail and grab the ring bell. I have seen a couple Araya matches and he has had great matches with Tenryu in WAR in 1998 and in All Japan 2001 in a tag against Kawada. Here besides a few moments, he just comes across as another stiff Japanese wrestler. Kojima and Kea work a solid, but forgettable heat segment on Araya. I loved the transition. Kojima runs the ropes too close to Tenryu and he nails him with an enziguiri, but Kojima does not sell it like a KO blow, but rather he is pissed off and he attacks Tenryu. That's how that spot should be treated as a way for the heel to goad the babyface into being distracted. This allows Araya to attack from behind and whip Kojima into the railings while Tenryu rips the cover off the turnbuckle pad. Unlike in American wrestling, Tenryu wastes no time in using this newfound advantage bashing Kojima's head into the turnbuckle. Tenryu & Araya work a spirited heat segment on Kojima. Great punches. Araya hits a powerbomb which is the punctuation mark on this control segment, but does not feel like an exclamation point. Because we are in Mutoh's All Japan, a Dragon Leg Screw is enough for Kojima to tag out to Kea. I wish it was a bit more elaborate transition. Kea runs through his standard high spots, but he eats knees on the Vader Bomb thus starts the finish stretch. Tenryu comes in a house of fire beating Kea pillar to post like only he can. Kea hits his classic kick combination with his characteristically great back kick to the standing Tenryu's head (think Swerve's House Call but to a standing opponent). Kojima comes in and he does his best to kick ass, but honestly not his best effort. Tenryu blocks Kojima's lariat but Kojima blocks Tenryu's brainbuster. Tenryu blocks Ace Crusher. TENRYU CLOBBERS KOJIMA WITH A LARIAT! That was a great. Tenryu Brainbuster! Kea breaks it up and Tenryu tagged out. Araya SMOKES Kojima with a lariat! Araya brainbuster. Two Lariat/Brainbuster combos love it. Tenryu grabs the announce table and HURLS it at Kea! I LOVE IT! Tenryu rules! Araya sets up the table and just like America he who sets it, gets it. Kojima whips Araya into it. Araya is still up first and hits a moonsault! Kojima catches the Araya lariat with an Ace Crusher. Tag out to Kea. Kea tees off on Araya. Kojima gets the honor of taking out Tenryu with a lariat and really TRUCKS Araya. TKO for the win! Big win for the young lions who never picked up a singles win over the Old Man, but they get a win here through team work. Even though Kea got the hot tag in both instances, Kojima still played a big role in the finish with Ace Crusher on Araya and the Lariat that takes out Tenryu. Tenryu is who elevates this to very good though with his grumpy, lumpy charisma. The other three are technically great, but could use some more charisma. *** 1/2

Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 10/27/01 Mrs. Baba is out for the third match in this trilogy. Tenryu defeated Kea twice this year in a Triple Crown defense and a Champions Carnival match. This is on the undercard of the Anniversary Show Budokan match which Mutoh/Chono headlined. Kea also lost tag belts with Johnny Smith to Tenryu & Anjoh. BUT Kea upgraded his partner to Keiji Mutoh and on their second try defeated Tenryu & Anjoh for the tag belts 5 days prior so Kea has a little momentum going into this match. Also interesting is that Tenryu is still billed as representing WAR and with Mutoh still representing New Japan, 2/3rds of All Japan’s main eventers are not All Japan. Just like the other Tenryu/Kea 2001 matches this is clipped but this one is only missing the first 3 minutes of an 11 minute match. These two have great chemistry together and I thought this was another great match. I still prefer Kojima and Tenzan to Kea but it is not due to technical proficiency but rather a lack of charisma. We JIP to Tenryu’s trick knee acting up causing him to ballshot Kea! Helluva way to start the match! Tenryu lays a pretty good beat down on Kea with a Brainbuster and a great whip into the railing. I like how the announcers stop him from using their table. The usual combination of meaty punches and lariats from Tenryu. Transition to Kea is he gets his feet up on a charging Tenryu and then a top rope dropkick. Strike exchanges between Tenryu and Kea are sick! This is how you do it folks! The punches by both are absolutely sick. We all know Tenryu throws a great potato but I was really impressed by Kea’s. Kea finally throws some of his characteristically great kicks. That back heel kick to the head of a standing Tenryu is sick! He has Tenryu reeling. Tenryu tries to get a water bottle to throw like a grenade but Kea blasts him with a kick and then Kea beats up the Young Boy who gave it to Tenryu! Fuck Yeah! This is the shit that elevates a match. Kea tees off on Tenryu with three perfectly placed kicks to the head. How this match has differed from the last two is there no Mutoh-style knee-based offense. It is all head rocking strikes. He goes up top which fucked him over at the Champions Carnival and that happens here as well but in epic fashion. TENRYU RED MIST~! On the Flying Kea! NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB! Fuck yeah! Id love to see the first three minutes because this rocked. Like I said different than the first two. There is a lot more urgency here. Tenryu knows Kea is getting close and really tries to pour it on. Kea abandons the Mutoh’s approach and just goes for caving Tenryu’s head in. Kea looked like he was on the brink of victory before Tenryu pulled out a crazy trick from his playbook. Loved this! ****

Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 4/11/01 Champions Carnival Finals First Champions Carnival since the split. Tenryu has been the Triple Crown Champion since October 2001, but came up short in the RWTL in December. He successfully defended his Triple Crown against Kea in March. So this a pretty high profile rematch. Kea is currently Tag Team Champion with Johnny Smith. Mutoh and Kojima are NOT yet All Japan 4 Life so Kea is getting pushed pretty hard as the rising star to complement Tenryu and Kawada. I think Kojima's official signing and Kea's injury ultimately derail his push. Like the Triple Crown match, this match is also clipped. We get about the last 7-8 minutes of a 17 minute match so I will not rate this match. I will say I really enjoyed their 2002 Budokan main event match and I do think they have good chemistry. This is Tenryu's wheelhouse grumpy old vet takes on rising young lion. I really enjoyed Kea's offense here. We JIP to them in a stand up exchange and Kea hits a big enziguiri that really rocks Tenryu's. The best part of Kea's offense is his kicks. Tenryu's really sells it like he has had his bell rung. Kea piledrives him. So I am immediately loving this. Like how is the old grumpy bastard going to respond. Interestingly, Kea's switches to a more Mutoh-based offensive strategy dropkicking the knee and locking on a Figure-4. I LOVED Tenryu's response to a second figure-4 attempt by PUNCHING HIM RIGHT IN THE FACE! HE CLOCKED HIM! Kea looks staggered but he goes head-hunting too with a sick kick to the back of the head. I am digging it. Kea misses a top rope splash. This leaves him open to couple lariats. Tenryu PULVERIZES him with a stiff punch and Northern Lights Bomb which should have been the finish, but a third and final lariat finishes him off. I thought Tenryu's comeback was a bit too quick and unearned. Kea had really strung together an impressive offensive combination so I would have liked more out of Tenryu to dig himself out of that hole. That punch-Northern Lights Bomb combo was pretty sick. I'd like to see the whole version of this. I thought this was better than the March 2001 Triple Crown match based on what we saw of each.

Keiji Mutoh vs Mike Barton - AJPW 4/10/02 Champions Carnival Final MUTHAFUCKA~! Pro Wrestling Love Pose! SHINING WIZARD! God Bless Mutoh! Mutoh took two big L’s to start the year he dropped the Triple Crown titles to Kawada in February at the Budokan and lost to Tenryu on 4/1 in the Carnival. Thankfully for him Mike Barton of all people beat Tenryu in the Semis while Mutoh beat Kojima in the other semis. This match is a bit odd. It has the pacing of a 20-30 minute match but it is sub-10mins but somehow it all works. They do a New Japan chain sequence to start nothing to write home about. Mutoh dropkicks the knee. Dragon Leg Screw. Figure-4. You know the drill. 2001 Mutoh cruise control. SHINING WIZARD BUT WAIT BARTON BLOCKS! What really makes this match work is how much Barton commits to the sell and how much much Mutoh also commits to sell. It feels like we are at 15-20 minute mark instead of the 5 minute mark. The rest of the match really becomes can Mutoh hit the Shining Wizard. Barton has two high spots one is a top rope elbow drop. I love when he struggles to get up and his one knee you can see how excited Mutoh gets but BLOCKED~! Again. Great selling by both Barton knee gives out on a suplex and I audibly said to myself “is this match good?”. Ace Crusher by Barton his only other high spot no left hand today. Mutoh goes back to the knee. Shining Wizard followed by a MUTHAFUCKA Pro Wrestling Love Shining Wizard! 1-2-No! Backbreaker -> Moonsault. Mutoh after taking a couple big losses wins the Carnival bur will lose to Tenryu at the Budokan to crown a new Triple Crown Champion because of Kawada’s injury. Rocky start to Mutoh’s 2002. Selling wins the day and the Muthafucka popped me enough. Good craic *** 1/4