Superstar Sleeze

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair - Halloween Havoc 1994 Steel Cage, Career vs Career Match You can never accuse Hulk Hogan of being lazy or boring. His matches might be overly simplistic, but he always bring a ton of energy to his matches. I loved this up until the finish. They were just going full bore the entire time. They probably could have taken some time to let some things to breathe, but this was fun. Hogan was flying around, throwing punches, raking eyes and throwing Flair into the cage. Hogan had every right to be pissed at Flair because Flair Tonya Harding'd him. Flair got plenty of offense in to attacking the knee (which was injured by a Masked Man attack in August of '94), vertical suplex and chops. Hogan was always quick to come back and attack Flair with punches and slam him in cage. It actually gave the match a lot of excitement because it was so nip & tuck. I liked Flair crotching himself. The ending leg work was really damn good and the figure-4 was dramatic. Then overbooking kicked in with Mr. T ref bump. Sherri climbing the cage, mystery man nails Jimmy Hart & Sting with a pipe, Sherri loses her clothes. Sherri leaps off the cage onto the back of Hogan! Insane! Sherri taking all those bumps was crazy and amusing. She took the big boot. Great Hulk Up! Legdrop and 1-2-3! Flair is retired and WCW briskly moves into the future with Brutus Beefcake being revealed as Mystery Man and Kevin Sullivan & Earthquake (now Avalanche) attacking Hogan kicking off the ill-fated Dungeon of Doom storyline. The ending was some serious overbooking, but it was a really fun match. ***1/2

Dustin Rhodes vs Arn Anderson - Halloween Havoc 1994 Coming off the feel-good Wargames the previous month the Rhodes' family got their revenge on Parker's Studd Stable. I figured this would be the singles blowoff so that Dustin could get a big win over AA, but then I remembered Dustin was still feuding Parker & the Blacktop Bully when he left in early 1995. This was wrestled more like a fun TV match than a heated grudge match built over Double A turning on Dustin at Bash at the Beach in July. I liked the heel in peril at the beginning. Dustin had a counter for everything Arn threw at him. Arn suckerpunches him, he clobbers him. Arn tries to smash him into the post, Dustin moves and Arn hits his arm. It was a fun way for Dustin to earn his shine. Dustin takes an insane bump over the top rope clears the steel stairs and lands in the aisleway. That was wild. He really launched himself. Heat segment is wicked short. Dustin fires up after Arn rakes his face across the ropes. Good Southern slugfest, but just as it is heating up they go him. Dustin lariat gets two. Dustin hooks the ropes to avoid the DDT, which is in line with Dustin being prepared for Arn. Arn holds the ropes on a sunset flip, ref kicks off the arms, Dustin rolls him up for three. Arn lays him out after the match. Definite TV match feel, short, fun, babyface gets a solid win but heel lays him out. Which is weird because it should have been a blowoff. Not nearly as good as the '92 match, but still fun. ***

Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji vs Kaientai DX - Michinoku Pro 12/16/96 Yakushiji is back! They sure saved the best for last. It is every awesome Michinoku Pro sequence done to perfection. I liked the addition of hate here. Taka and Hamada have a chippy exchange at the outset. Then Sasuke and Taka Michinoku just go at it. Sasuke ends up throwing Taka into the crowd and wiping out a bunch of chairs. Speaking of the crowd, they were electric popping for everything! I love things where earned this bout. Like Naniwa does his crabwalk and Taka dropkicks him out of the sky so Sasuke comes in and puts that Taka prick down and Naniwa hits his crabwalk. They earned that. The first half is just nothing fast-paced, full throttle action that does not let up. If you are going to do a spotfest then go balls to the wall like these guys! To me the match kicks into overdrive during the Sasuke heat segment. It is like all the other great Sasuke heat segment but they add in a CHAIRSHOT TO THE SKULL! It was bonkers! Spike Piledriver & Shieldbomb don't do it. Togo hits a massive German suplex on Yakushiji. Yakushiji tags out to Super Delphin who is a house of fire! Sasuke quebrada on Kaientai. It is breaking loose in Tulsa, BABY! They do that excellent chair throwing sequence from Inoki Festival. This time Yakushiji does not eat the pin but instead hits a dive to the outside. Crazy finish sees Gran Hamada winning the match with hurricanarana on Shiryu! MASSIVE POP! This crowd was raucous the whole time but they popped HUGE for the finish. It is the Greatest Hits of Michinoku Pro plus more hatred plus an insane crowd plus the babyfaces win = best Michinoku Pro match ever! ****3/4

Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs Kaientai DX - Michinoku Pro 12/9/96 Elimination Rules The wrinkle in this match is elimination rules. I am going to miss Yakushiji. I want to echo what others have said about this feeling like all the great Dangerous Alliance six-mans of '92 as they are all fun but there is not sense of progression from match to match and they all seem to end with Dick Togo falling from the sky and hitting a Senton similar to Bobby Eaton's Alabama Jam ending many Dangerous Alliance contests. First elimination: My version has three minutes cut from the first ten minutes. I really enjoyed the opening lots of babyface shine. Usually these openings are much more even here we get TM IV overcoming the 5-on-1 hitting a suicide dive. Sasuke with an Asai moonsault, Hamada and Togo rolling to the outside in a stiff exchange, Naniwa and Taka teasing elimination. Really hot opening. I like the babyfaces giving Kaientai a taste of their own medicine by everyone grabbing a Funaki limb and cranking. Funaki submits to a Hamada single leg crab. Awesome opening fall! M-Pro Sekigun 5-4. Second Elimination: Shiryu gets trapped in a single leg crab by Sasuke. You think Kaientai would save since this is how Funaki just got eliminated. They tease throwing Shiryu over the top rope which would count for an elimination. Kaientai saves. Mens Teioh teases throwing TM IV out. TM IV wants an reverse crossbody but hesitates on the ropes and gets shoves out on his ass to be eliminated. Quick & dirty I like it. Tied 4-4. Third Elimination: They are flying now. Togo saves Shiryu from a Hamada cross armbreaker, but Hamada gets a pin off a hurricanarana on Shiryu. Kaientai is down to its Big Three. Hamada is killing it for his team. The heavy hitters Sasuke & Delphin have not had to do much yet. MPro Sekigun 4-3 Fourth Elimination: This is a biggie for Kaientai. Hamada had both eliminations for his team. Teioh is able to throw Hamada into Taka kneedrop. Taka hits not one but TWO Michinoku Drivers. Teioh & Togo run coverage as Taka pins Hamada. Big victory for Kaientai to even the odds. Tied 3-3. Fifth Elimination: Great 5-6 minute stretch of pro wrestling here. I loved Taka catching that back kick Sasuke uses to set up his Asai Moonsault and yank him down onto the apron. Then Taka hits an insane inside out springboard top rope Asai Moonsault to the floor, which does not count as an elimination. Glorious heat segment on Sasuke follows with everything targeting the head. Just beautiful heel work from Kaientai. Piledrivers, DDTs, brainbusters, the Kaientai pose and dropkick to the head. I bit on the Spike Piledriver hard especially since Kaientai knocked Delphin & Nainwa off the apron, but Sasuke kicked. Shieldbomb, but babyfaces save. Sasuke mounts a comeback! Quebrada on Taka! He has Kaientai reeling. Instead of tagging out, he goes for his back handspring crossbody, Dick Togo catches and uses the momentum to throw him over the top rope!!!! Love, love, love that! Kaientai goes up for the first time in the match and they take out the Ace of the Babyface Team. Kaientai 3-2. Sixth Elimination: Kaientai executes another great heat segment this time on Naniwa. Teioh plays Funaki in the Taka/Funaki double team sequence. Togo hits a massive German on Naniwa. Taka hits a Michinoku Driver and everytime Delfin saves. Delfin's hot tag is electric. He is definitely the best of the babyfaces at igniting a crowd. He eliminates Taka Michinoku with a Tiger Suplex! Huge! All knotted up. Delphin & Naniwa vs Dick Togo & MENS Teioh. Tied 2-2. Seventh Elimination: Babyfaces start off hot with dives to the outside. MENS Teioh almost catches Delphin by rolling through a top rope crossbody. Naniwa saves Delphin from certain doom by attacking Togo before he could hit the senton. Delphin looks ready to put away Teioh when Teioh hits with a low blow. Chokeslam 1-2-3! I think this seals the win for Kaientai as Naniwa is down 2-1. Kaientai 2-1. Eighth Elimination: DOOMSDAY DEVICE~! ON Naniwa! Wow! Togo picks up. Cardinal sin. Teioh hits Togo by accident. Blue Thunder Bomb by Naniwa on Teioh 1-2-3! Oh shit! Dick Togo vs Gran Naniwa. Tied 1-1. Ninth, Final Elimination: Naniwa gets a nearfall off the Blue Thunder Bomb, but this ends as you would expect Dick Togo Powerbomb, Dick Togo SENTON! 1-2-3! Kaientai Rules! I loved the elimination format helped give this match structure and sense of progression. ****1/4

Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs Kaientai DX - Inoki Festival 12/1/96 A showcase for Michinoku Pro at Festival promoted by Antonio Inoki. I thought this was definitively better than These Days (10/10, Sumo Hall). The biggest reason is this is about half as long as These Days making this much leaner & meaner. Second is Sasuke being in the match. Sasuke has great spots and is always willing to take helluva beating. But the real big thing is that Sasuke's star power. Everything is bigger with Sasuke & the stakes are so much higher. Sasuke is the baby face that takes most of the heat and all the trademark Kaientai spots. He really gave those guys the rub. Add in that he is only four months removed from his skull fracture and Kaientai focuses on his head. I really thought the leg drops on the bottom rope were nasty. He takes two piledrivers! I loved the Shieldbomb as the climax to this heat segment with the babyfaces saving Sasuke. Really great stuff, everything focused on the head. I thought the other traditional highspots were well-worked and mixed together well. The finish run was insane! Tons of dives and just great heated action. I love Sasuke attacking from doing his Senton and then jumps out the way when Teioh throws a chair which hits Togo. Sasuke hits an Asai Moonsault on Teioh. Yakushiji hits a great hurricanarana from top rope to a standing Togo and gets an awesome near fall. Togo crushes him with a powerbomb to win, but faces save. Powerbomb/Senton combo does him. Fun, lean spotfest with great psychology on Sasuke's head and lots of drama down the stretch highly recommended. Best M-Pro match I have seen yet. ****1/2

Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Tiger Mask IV, Masato Yakushiji vs Kaientai DX (Dick Togo, Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki, MENS Teioh & Shiryu) - Michinoku Pro 10/10/096 Here it is the most famous Michinoku Pro match. It takes place on their 3rd Anniversary Show at the Sumo Hall which did 7000, awesome for a Northeastern independent. Notable by his absence is Great Sasuke, who was not out due to his skull fracture at J-Crown, but rather he put himself in the legend's six-man tag. The main event was a "dream" match as Michinoku Pro's Jinsei Shinzaki (Hakushi) took on FMW's Hayabusa. First ten minutes: As customary in M-Pro, everyone pairs off. My favorite pairing was Gran Hamada vs Sho Funaki. Michinoku saves Funaki and they do this great bit where Hamada successfully fends off both and Taka hits Funaki. Good stuff. Also fun was Delphin doing the Rick Rude sell of an atomic drop and taking a huge bump into the second row. In the second round of match-ups, I thought Yakushiji really shined with some slick arm drags and ranas. TM IV vs Taka Michinoku is always great juniors shoot-style. Hamada vs Togo is great hard hitting action. The first ten minutes ends with Dick Togo hitting whisper in the wind on Naniwa. So far it has been very good. Waiting for them to kick it up a notch. Second ten minutes: It is interesting that Shiryu (who I feel is a lower tier member of Kaientai) is the one who swings things in Kaientai's favor. He gets a double leg takedown on Naniwa and it is off to the races with all the Kaientai staples. It is interesting that there is clearly a divide between Togo, Teioh, and Shiryu vs Taka & Funaki. Each group has their own double teams. I really liked how Funaki & Taka dropkicked Naniwa in the face before the Kaientai flex. I also thought it was interesting they burned through a lot of their spots early in the first heat segment. Naniwa tags out to Yakushiji who has looked the best for the babyfaces, really slick. Shiryu again takes over but this time Hamada saves. Hamada eats a spike piledriver so that's a Kaientai spot they saved. Hamada gets out and Naniwa stomps the balls of Funaki. TM IV gets trapped in the corner. The mask ripping didn't do much for me. Not enough struggle and where is the help. Still good but waiting for them to really go into overdrive. Final Minutes: I'll admit they lost me. Just a ton of spots. No real connective tissue. Things that I remember, row your boat lead to Delphin doing a rana pin in the middle. Triple stereo rana by Kaientai leading to triple stereo dives. Taka Michinoku's insane inside-out, springboard Asai moonsault. They do a bunch of pair offs for the finish run. It is a barrage of suplexes and flips that don't stick. I thought the finish was good with Delphin coming up short and Dick Togo powerbombing him & senton for the win. This would not be out of place at all in 2018. I think it would heralded as a classic. The more Michinoku Pro I watch the more I think this was the breeding ground of what workrate was to become by hybridizing the Stampede style, NJ Juniors and lucha into one insane style. I have seen better M-Pro and I hate to be a killjoy, but this just did not stick with me at all. I recognize there is a type of fan that would really like this and I did not hate it, but it did not wow me either. Also it was very long and I feel they could have made this a lot leaner. ***3/4

I have no idea how neoliberalism (I am a proud neoliberal) is being conflated with libertarianism. Neoliberalism believes in free market capitalism but also recognizes there are market failures. Market failures can take the form of, but are not limited to asymmetric information, moral hazard, and externalities. Neoliberal economists have every right to believe that free markets free of market failures are the most efficient. Free trade and de-regulation of electricity markets have shown that. However, in the case of market failures, neoliberal economists will cite the need for regulation. This is why neo-liberal economists will promote a carbon tax or a price floor for carbonaceous fuels because the negative externality of pollution is not captured in the price of burning carbon-based fuels. Furthermore, in response to the credit crunch of the late 2000s, regulation was passed to better regulate investment/commercial and the rating agencies (Moody's, Standard's & Poor's) which rate the assets. Libertarians, which tend to follow wacky Austrian School of Economics, believe in no regulation. Neocons believe in classical economics bullshit like the Laffer Curve. I love you all as pro wrestling fans, but jeez. Also I absolutely love that the fake Japanese guy on this board is championing the story of the fake Japanese wrestler as a tribute to Japan somehow being an open, tolerant culture. Give me a break, Rikidozan had to pretend to be Japanese because of how damn racist the Japanese were. It was the greatest work of all time, but lets not give Japan credit here for being an open, tolerant society when they were not. I am told things are better towards Koreans and Chinese now, but they were not then.

Re-reading my review, I agree a lot with what I said but I liked the match better this time having watched a lot more M-Pro. bWo Japan (Taka Michinoku, MENS Teioh, Dick Togo) vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Masato Yakushiji - ECW Barely Legal 1997 Very good touring match that I assumed help greatly in getting them a partnership with the WWF in the summer of 1997, which also ended up killing the promotion well that and Sasuke basically retiring. Sasuke has not looked his best in these American outings. He was willing to take a beating, but something felt off. He was not being his daredevil self. I thought Gran Hamada was good. There are times when he can be a mini-Tenryu and be all ornery and pissed off and other times he fades into the background, more of the latter here. The young Yakushiji actually carried the babyface side he was both the best face in peril and the best flier in the match. The crowd really popped for his highspots especially his great armdrags. Kaientai is badass as always. Taka Michinoku has so much charisma. Flipping off the crowd was great. bWo Japan just made so much sense I am glad they did it. So many good Kaientai double & triple teams and the ECW faithful was popping for all of them. The Mutants could be sick fucks, but they were mostly respectful of international styles so kudos to them. The classic Kaientai poses were great. Shieldbomb on Yakushiji. I really like this idea of the Shield watching old Kaientai matches and aspiring to be like them. They fuck up Shieldbomb with Sasuke. Sasuke hits his classic Asai Moonsault. Taka gets his CRAZY springboard splash. The finish stretch is good. Nothing too big until then end when Taka hits a springboard dropkick that even Ohtani would be jealous of on Sasuke and nails a Michinku Driver. 1-2-NO! Now we run through Sasuke's stuff, quebrada, HUGE Crucifix Powerbomb and finally Tiger Suplex. Lets be honest it was a total spotfest, it lacked a lot of structure that the other M-Pro matches had, but they were trying to get over with a new crowd and they did so by throwing out a ton of spots and they were great. Even it is not the best of M-Pro, you can appreciate by watching other M-Pro. ***1/2

Sub in Jeff Hardy for Orton & im there

I will happily eat crow. Tonight was a helluva Smackdown. We got three Smackdowns last year in New England, this one destroyed those by a country mile. Amazing show! Smackdown is so loaded. Watching the GOATs team up live was incredible. Seeing AJ wrestle live is always a treat but my God a Daniel Bryan hot tag! Samoa Joe is such a great promo, Benjamin vs Jeff Hardy was better than it should be. Did "This is Awful" chants during the Charlotte make TV? They finally found a worse chant than "This is awesome". Charlottes chops have improved leaps & bounds. Great heeling from Peyton. They could have not gone back to the armbar so much. It was a mediocre match calling it awful is a gross overstatement.

The Riott Squad was terrible. Looked like low-rent Mickey Mouse jobbers.

Been saying that since last Mania! Hope we get one

They moved NINETEEN wrestlers to RAW?!? What the fuck is the point? I somehow get stuck going to these awful shows all the time. I went to first Samckdown Live in Worcester where they had the draft in 2016. Then went to the Smackdown portion of last year's draft in Boston. Now going to Smackdown in Providence. These shows are so lame to attend live.

Great Sasuke vs Taka Michinoku - RAW 7/7/97 The PPV match is paced way better than this. If they landed all their highspots clean maybe this would contend but lots of misses. Sasuke's swandive looked great. Taka nearly kills himself on his flip springboard top rope moonsault. He does a top rope Asai Moonsault but in a rare WWF camera fuck up we miss it. Brian Christopher is on commentary and is insufferable with his Jimmy Hart laughing and terrible racist humor. Sasuke busts on the Flying Space Tiger Drop, but it is not his best. I liked that Taka went for the moonsault after the Michinoku Driver because it didn't kill off the move like at the PPV. Sasuke hits a monster Crucifix Powerbomb to win. It seems like Sasuke got the message that stiffness gets pops. Watch the PPV match too many misfires here.

Great Sasuke vs Taka Michinoku - WWF Canadian Stampede 1997 After a year, the WWF finally tries to respond to WCW's Cruiserweight division by striking up a partnership with Michinoku Pro. Great Sasuke as the founder/owner/biggest star of M-Pro he is a no brainer. I think Taka is the best of the M-Pro talent to bring over with him charisma, breath-taking highspots and good psychology. This a showcase/touring match like you would see out of Rey vs Psicosis. I enjoyed this one a lot and they won over a dead Calgary crowd. I will say at least Calgary was open to liking the match. They popped for the stiff spots. Sasuke NAILED Taka twice with two wicked kicks. Taka got Sasuke good with an open hand slap. Sasuke busted out his missile dropkick to the floor and Asai Moonsault while Taka had an insane running, top rope, springboard cross body. Wicked air. Michinoku Driver got a good reaction and Lawler marked out. Should have been the finish. Sasuke hit his usual finish sequence: quebrada, Crucifix Powerbomb and adds a Tiger Suplex. WWF was led to believe Sasuke was the star but it was clear Taka Michinoku had the charisma. He had a great smile that can be heart-warming and dickish. I enjoyed this a lot even if it was a no-selling, spotfest. ***1/2

I am surprised you guys didn't like this more. I have this as the best of the ones that are not the big three. Kaientai (Dick Togo, MENS Teioh, Shiryu) vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Super Delfin - Michinoku Pro 11/12/96 The World Famous Sportatorium is rocking for another rendition of Freebirds vs Von Erichs excuse me sorry, it is Michinoku Pro and this crowd is on fire for Kaientai vs The All Star Team of Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Super Delfin. Before the match, Hamada is honored. Ditch does not know why. I don't know why. This Japanese is absolutely electric. It reminds me of Freebirds vs Von Erichs. They actually BOO Kaientai. It is crazy. Any time someone takes a head shot at Sasuke they boo. Huge cheers for all three babyfaces as they are super over. Delfin is great at playing to the crowd. Lots of charisma. Hamada is in total asskicking mode, lots of hard chops and lariats. Sasuke is Sasuke, a sloppy nut. Kaientai is on point. Big FIP on Delfin working over his midsection after a MENs Teioh double stomp and gutbuster. Delfin makes it to the corner. They end up kicking Sasuke in the head. Crowd boos and Sasuke goes down in a heap. Just classic Kaientai here. All over Sasuke. Spike Piledriver was great. Shieldbomb from the top! They Shieldbomb Gran Hamada when he saves. Delphin makes a HOT AND I MEAN DOUBLE HOT TAG! Delphin was on fire here. Super over. He gets knocked out after trying for his special pin combo. Gran Hamada is on fire next. Sasuke helps out a little by crotching Togo on the top rope and hitting an Asai Moonsault on Shiryu to a huge pop. Gran Hamada's Tornado DDT and Top Rope Frankensteiner are super over! Hamada gets a huge pop for the rana out of the pop-up powerbomb. Sasuke & Delphin hit double missile dropkicks on Shiryu. Delphin wipes out Teioh, Hamada takes out Togo with a tornado DDT. Sasuke is left alone with Shiryu. Ballgame! Sasuke quebrada and then Crucifix Powerbomb 1-2-3 to a MASSIVE POP! I am a sucker for really over babyfaces with badass offense. The crowd ate this up with a spoon. The babyfaces delivered in spades with big offense down the stretch. Kaientai are just superb heels. The first 2/3rds of the match is all about making you want to see Kaientai get their asses beat. Sasuke's head injury got big time heat and he had some really great verbal selling. Delphin, Hamada and Sasuke all shined big time down the stretch. Awesome match! ****1/4

Kaientai (Dick Togo, Mens Teioh, Shiryu) vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Masato Yakaushiji - Michinoku Pro 10/19/96 A week after their big These Days show, the M-Pro boys are back in Northeast Japan in a small gymnasium tearing it up like only they do. I have never heard of Yakaushiji he is a young, skinny dude dressed up like the Red Power Ranger. This is original Kaientai. Very solid M-Pro match as I am beginning to learn the trademarks of the style and I finally think I am ready to watch the These Days match. I liked Kaientai coming in and triple teaming early and then all flexing. Good crowd brawling. From the handicap match against Sasuke & Delphin, it seems Kaientai was into eliminating Sasuke and letting his partners fend for themselves. Here Dick Togo throws Sasuke through a door and Sasuke never really recovers. Yakaushiji is a total tackling dummy but he has his moments. Hamada gets spike piledrivered trying to save him. Sasuke tries his best but is never really able to sustain offense. I really liked the second heat segment on the Red Power Ranger. They do some false tags. The Kaientai Pose. Some great offense. I am annoyed that Hamada just came into the match and took over. I know it is Lucha rules, but Yakaushiji never left the ring. Again Sasuke looks to build momentum but gets cut off. Sasuke & Dick Togo do the worst monkey flip known to man in this match. I don't know who is more at fault. Men's Teioh is a damn good wrestler. Good heel and great execution. Dick Togo throws a great German on the Red Power Ranger, who is a great tackling dummy. Red Power Ranger gets a suicide dive and Sasuke gets his swanton bomb to the outside. Hamada gets a top rope Frankensteiner inside but Mens Teioh saves. Teioh drops Sasuke on his injured head a couple times to good heat. Sasuke armdrags out of a chokeslam and quebrada gets two. Crucifix powerbomb! 1-2-no! Shiryu saves. Shiryu gets his Fisherman Buster. Mens Teioh punches Shiryu and Sasuke hits a back handspring elbow. YAKAUSHIJI HITS A MISSILE DROPKICK! TOP ROPE HURRICANARANA! CAN THE KID DO IT? 1-2-NO! Pop-up Powerbomb. The Kid is dead. LOOK OUT BELOW! SENTON! 1-2-3! Kaientia wins again! Really liked the ending with Yakaushiji & Dick Togo. The rest there were moment of greatness but they did not connect them, still an entertaining match. ***1/4

J-Crown Champion The Great Sasuke vs Ultimo Dragon - WAR 10/11/96 The rematch from the J-Crown Tournament finale where Sasuke cracked open his skull literally. I always think because of the injury Sasuke loses that match, but nope he is the inaugural J-Crown champion. I liked this better than their first match. The opening chain wrestling is so 90s, but so good. I think growing up in the 90s there is a certain comfort to watching this style of ground work focused on single leg pick-ups and fancy reversals. They do the 'ol Ultimo Dragon headstand in the corner and a great tumbling sequence where both miss spinwheel kicks. These are two of the best at 90s workrate, so fluid. Dragon focuses on the arm. Short arm scissors! Love it! Sasuke powders. Dragon does a quebrada just to show off. That's great! Sasuke goes for the leg and gets a deep single leg crab. Dragon makes the ropes and says play time is over. Drop Sasuke on his injured head with a brainbuster and then with a DDT! Crowd is pissed. Crowd is wicked pro-Sasuke probably due to him making his return. Dragon goes for another brainbuster and Sasuke gets an armbar takedown. After this the match gets a little spotty. Dragon does his usual ropes routine. Sasuke dropkicks him into the post. Sasuke hits a missile dropkick, which I guess is safer than the dive he did where he fractured his skull. Quebrada for Sasuke gets two. Dragon hits a dropkick as Sasuke comes off the top. Top Rope Frankensteiner & Running Ligerbomb win it for Dragon. Did not overstay its welcome. I thought Sasuke could have gotten a bigger nearfall to really put it over. The beginning was excellent and the flying was damn good too. ***3/4

I have begun watching Michinoku Pro from the 90s which is a blind spot for me. I know the general players, Great Sasuke, Super Delfin, Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, but I still have no clue about the storylines. What I am most interested in is how Super Delphin turned babyface and linked up with Great Sasuke against the evil Kaientai? How did Kaientai form? How did Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki join to create Kaientai DX? Basically any key angles or storyline developments from the beginning of the promotion in 1993 to Super Delphin & Co. leaving in 1999 would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Surprised this did not make the set. Kaientai (Dick Togo, MENS Teioh, Shiryu) vs Great Sasuke & Super Delphin - Michinoku Pro 6/23/96 Somehow Super Delphin has turned babyface and created a super team with the ace, Great Sasuke. Together they are taking out the hot heel act of Kaientai. This is original Kaientai of Dick Togo (formerly SATO), MENS Teioh (formerly Terry Boy) & Shiryu (Kaz Hayashi in a mask). Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki have not yet joined. Kaientai tries to jump them early, but Sasuke & Delphin fight back. Sasuke gets a quebrada wiping out two members of Kaientai. Sasuke & Delphin isolate Shiryu and go to town of him with a barrage of suplexes and aerial offense. Kaientai eventually use the numbers game to overwhelm their two opponents. They really work over Sasuke with some great triple teams. Lots of crowd brawling. Sasuke takes some wicked chair shots. They just start dropping on Sasuke from the top rope. Sasuke being Sasuke his hope spots involving a lot of no selling, but they are fun. Sasuke hits a somersault off the apron on Togo. Here comes Delphin now! Sasuke & Delphin are rolling. Missile dropkick from Sasuke. Crucifix Powerbomb. Sasuke & Delphin have Teioh & Shiryu in a pinning predicament, but Dick Togo is still loose and breaks it all up. Dick Togo misses a big senton. He bounces off the mat. Delphin & Sasuke dive train ensues. Delphin is holding Togo as Sasuke ascends the top to finish him off, MENS Teioh throws a chair at him knocking him off the top. Togo ballshots Delphin. This is when the match goes from a good M-Pro match to a great M-Pro match. We get a split screen of Dick Togo ripping Delphin's mask and Teioh throwing Sasuke off the stage knee-first through a table. WOW! Now that's a heel beatdown. They give Delphin a little bit of hope with a rana out of the Shield Bomb. Before Kaientai hits the Shield Bomb and then each hits a dive on Delphin from the top rope finishing with Dick Togo's awesome Senton to win the match definitively. Eerily reminiscent of the Shield matches with lots of chaotic brawling, the heel team isolating one opponent by demolishing his partner (in this case Sasuke's knee through the table) then followed by a three-on-one mugging of the last opponent complete with a Shield-Bomb. Enjoyed the match a lot, the finish really puts it over the top. Kaientai is a force to be reckoned with! ****

Jushin Thunder Liger, Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa vs Kaientai DX (Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, Sho Funaki) - Michinoku Pro 8/16/96 I need to read more about Michinoku Pro's history, but it looks like Kaientai is officially in full swing now. Liger was tremendous in this! Charisma was just oozing out. This was right before his surgery to have his brain tumor removed. He did not look like a guy who was staring a major surgery in the face. He was loose as a goose. Having tons of fun: Hulk Hogan ear cup, Hogan posedown, Mr. Wrestling II booty shaking! He had it all! He was having a ball out there. Taka Michinoku is awesome. It is too bad he went to the WWF and then never recovered. He is special. Not just as an aerial artist, I love the he bows up to Naniwa and puffs out his chest. He hits hard and is good on the mat. It is interesting how pretty much everyone does dives now, but still few are as pretty and visually stunning as Taka's Springboard, Top Rope, Flip Asai Moonsault. Absolutely breath-taking. This is how a spotfest should be. Just tons of fun and with big, big spots. I liked the shine a lot. My favorite sequence was Kaientai does a sequence of charges into Hamada in the corner. Then babyfaces respond by doing the same thing to Taka Michinoku in their corner. I would have liked a ballshot there. Also, I liked how Kaientai had to use the numbers game to get one up on Liger or Hamada to get heat. Big Dive train that's where the aforementioned Taka Springboard Top Rope Asai Moonsault takes place. Dick Togo hits a powerbomb then a Senton on Liger for two! Naniwa breaks it up. Unfortunately, Naniwa vs Taka Michinoku is sloppy down the stretch. Naniwa pinning Michinoku with a Michinoku Driver then Blue Thunder Bomb did not feel that climatic. Disappointing finish aside this was super fun. ***1/2

Great Sasuke, Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs Super Delphin, Taka Michinoku, Gran Naniwa - M-Pro 3/16/96 I have seen a couple M-Pro here and there but this is my first time in the past five years really sitting down & watching it. This seems like a good introductory match to the style & the key players. I thought Tiger Mask IV & Taka Michinoku looked the best out of the bunch. Great execution, good spots and great pacing, Tiger Mask IV is a good Sayama tribute and I like Sayama more than most. There were some great legsweeps from TM IV and he was positioned very strongly in this match. He cleared the ring the first times in there and hit a dive on Taka. I thought Taka had great zip on all his offense. I can see why the WWF wanted to make him their Rey Mysterio. I was surprised Sasuke took as much of a beating as he did. He did not "win" any of his segments. I always forget Delphin is a heel. He is so colorful. A great heel. He cheats. Good stooging especially off the atomic drop. I liked that sequence where he didn't do a dive because Taka was in the way. Very cheeky. M-Pro reminds me a lot of today's wrestling not much struggle and very exhibition-y but they make for it being cheeky, entertaining and having a touch of personality. Shiryu had some good dives but didn't much else. He ballshotted Naniwa which confused me until I read this was foreshadowing. Naniwa was cute not much else. I liked Sasuke's drop kick nailing Taka out of the sky. I really liked the heels had to double team TM IV to get him into the heat segment. TM IV was the offensive star of the faces so I liked it took two men to get the advantage on him. The classic M-Produce train was awesome. The Taka/TM IV segment at the end was awesome! Taka drop kicks Sasuke out. TM IV nails him with a kick wants the Tiger Suplex can't get it. TOMBSTONE/HEADBUTT combo! 1-2-No! TM up top Taka launches a ground to air missile drop kick that takes TM out of the sky. MICHINOKU DRIVER! 1-2-No! Shiryu saves. Taka hits his INSANE springboard top rope Asai Moonsault. Incredible sequence. I thought Delphin/Shiryu nearfall sequence at the end was too much and didn't have much struggle. The ending is pretty remarkable. Sasuke hits a Crucifix Powerbomb on Taka. Sasuke & Shiryu do two incredible dives. TM IV polishes Taka off with a Tiger Suplex. I came away wanting to see Taka Michinoku vs Tiger Mask IV in a singles match. I feel like they have classic them. I thought they were the all stars of this match and the match was clearly built around them. They hit it out of the park. I'm surprised how much of an ass kicking Sasuke took. The style overall is very fun. It is clearly influential on today's style but this had more character work and a lot more fun moments to it. Looking forward to more matches, Tiger Mask IV & Taka killed it! ****

Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - BattlArts 4/15/97 Clearly Stephanie watched a lot of Ishikawa vs Ikeda to learn her cross arm breaker defense. We don't talk about defense enough in pro wrestling. More often than not it is because pro wrestlers don't care about defense. Offense, selling, bumps & highspots are the band of the game and high level pro wrestlers understand transitions. But very few think in terms of defense. These two are superb defensive wrestlers & they put on a defense clinic. Just in case, you are new to the game Ikeda is the stand up striker & Ishikawa is the wrestler in this Tom & Jerry feud of pro wrestling. That is not to take away the capabilities of the other in other's domain. Ikeda applied many submissions and Ishikawa rocked Ikeda with some wicked palm strikes and punches. What makes this great is not how well-rounded in offense these two are but how good they are at defending. Ishikawa was taking Ikeda down at will but once on the mat he couldn't put Ikeda away. In fact many times Ikeda ended up in dominant position. I would say the first half Ikeda held the lead. He was landing the bigger blows. Getting a standing 8 count. Big open hand slaps and some wicked kicks. The roundhouse to throats was nasty. Ishikawa had some good throws back duplex & belly to belly suplex but on the mat he couldn't put Ikeda away. I thought Ikeda was setting up his submissions better by using strikes. In the middle of the match it looked like Ikeda had it with multiple submissions especially a single leg crab. But Ishikawa is a great defensive wrestler in his own right. He navigated out of the submissions but the key was his stand up defense. He was able to catch the big kicks and turn them into legbars. Deeper into the match the more lasting benefit this had. He had a great figure-4 but Ikeda made the ropes he transitioned into a headlock. Ikeda ended up on top it really goes to show you how good Ikeda is at defensive ground wrestling. I think it was Ishikawa that punched Ikeda in the face on the ground with a stiff right to set up a cross arm-breaker. That's what he needed more set up. I loved Ishikawa head butting Ikeda in the back to set up the German. I thought they picked up the urgency in the last five minutes. Ishikawa came flying in with a knee to the head. Ikeda was throwing huge strikes. Big time submissions in the ropes not letting go. Ikeda has a double wrist lock applied as time expires. I like Ikeda on top as rge match went to a draw because if I was scoring on points he won the match. Ishikawa came on really strong at the end but Ikeda mixed in big strikes and submission defense to put together a complete performance. He was letting Ishikawa take him down because he knew he could survive. Ishikawa needed to set up via submissions better as he was relying on his superior takedown ability. Ishikawa can really take a lick and also got better at defending the strikes of Ikeda. It was fitting that such an even, defensive struggle ended in a draw. ****1/2

As soon as I found out on Twitter, this match was happening, I immediately sat down and watched Smackdown live, which I never do. So that shows you how much of a draw this was. Great chain wrestling early and I loved Daniel Bryan's Dean Malenko-esque escape to injure the arm of Styles. Everything was snug good Euro Uppercut by Daniel Bryan, good dropkick by AJ. AJ gets the forearm plancha to the floor. AJ ends up targeting the leg. I thought they did a great job with dueling limb psychology without going to overboard. AJ was targeting the leg after Daniel jammed it and going for his Calf-Slicer. It was Daniel attacking the arm with armbreakers and the YesLock, AJ must have been watching a lot of Stephanie based on how well he blocked that cross-armbreaker. Daniel Bryan was still flying around and having AJ shift his weight and land on Bryan's head on a super back suplex was stupid. Nakamura interfering was the right call. I way more excited for a Nakamura heel run than a face run. Terrific TV wrestling. ***3/4

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns - WrestleMania XXXI "Think shoot, but work" - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin I have not spoken about that mantra much, but the first minute of this WAR epitomizes the essence of great pro wrestling: "Think shoot, but work." How many pro wrestling matches have we seen Brock Lesnar start by bullrushing his opponent, double legging him and then driving him hard into the corner. Roman looks to head him off at the pass. This looked like two rams colliding and locked in a heated clash for supremacy. It was chaotic. It was organic. It had me three years later pumping my fist. The way Brock ended up manhandling Roman in the corner was great. Brock comes out with a mouse under his eye that gets worse & worse as the match progressing and blood dribbling down from his cheek. Brock phases Roman and then chucks him out of the corner. F-5!!!! BOOM! Playing right off the Cena Summerslam 2014 match. The key to Lesnar's lopsided defeat of Cena was that early F-5. Cena had some hope spots but he never recovered and Brock ran away with it in a squash. Here it was the same thing. I will say Brock looked in phenomenal shape in this match. His throws looked amazing. There was great variety like the Fisherman Suplex throw and the overhead Belly to Belly from the apron to the ring. Just insane strength. He commanded that ring. I thought Roman's hope spots were incredible. Everything had zip on it. The back elbow and then those two HUGE punches to the mouse under Brock's eye. Brock had some great strikes as well some really great kneelifts. My favorite spot of the match which is the spot I remember the most from this match is when Roman catches Brock charging with a knee. Then Roman CRACKS Brock in the mouth hard with a knee drawing blood from Lesnar's mouth. This just serves to piss The Beast off. Brock catches Roman's leg on the apron and proceeds to OBLITERATE Roman with a lariat that would make Stan Hansen proud. I mean HOLY SHIT! What a LARIAT! He smoked Roman! What I love about this is that was a major turning point. There were no more hope spots after that. It was just pure decimation. I am going to bring my complaint now. So Brock having conquered Roman looks to put him away with the F-5 and Roman kicks out and defiantly smiles & laughs. There were a couple times before this where Roman was using the sarcastic smile/laugh to put over his defiance/resilience. I just don't like this as an artistic choice. I think it undercuts the match. If you are going to do defiance, do it like Hashimoto, BOW UP & BELLOW! I thought the transition to Roman's comeback was pitch perfect. Roman was too deep in a hole. He needed some luck, something extra. It came in form of a shove into the post. Brock gets lacerated. Brock is just a mess, bleeding from the mouse under the eye, from the mouth and now from the forehead. I have said it before and I will say it again and I will let ring from the mountaintops, Brock Lesnar is the BEST SELLER in the WWE right now. That's where he makes his money. The way he sells the Superman Punches are amazing. He sells discombobulation so well. The way he flays. It generates so much excitement. You cant help but get on your feet, pump your fist because it feels like something crazy is about to happen. The Spears & Superman Punches were great. Catching Roman in the Superman Punch & the DEFIANT F-5 COMPLETE WITH BEAST ROAR WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! BROCK LESNAR IS ALL MAN! At this point, Seth Rollins cashes-in Money In The Bank. I liked the finish a lot with Brock catching Rollins in the F-5, Reigns Spearing Brock while he had Rollins on his shoulders and then Rollins hitting the Curb Stomp on Reigns to win. I like the finish in the sense that if you are going to do the Money In The Bank Cash-in this was the best possible finish, but I would have much rather seen Brock vs Roman get a proper finish because it was an amazing, ultra-violent bout. The Rollins stuff & the Roman laughing brings this down a smidge, but this is an awesome match. It is the Cena Summerslam 2014 match with the violence turned to 11. These two beat the holy hell out of each other. Watching it back I didn't think the heat segment went too long which was my complaint when I watched it live. I thought the hope spots from Roman were great and well-timed. I thought Lariat on the Apron was a great turning point to Brock's Finish run and the Post shot was a great transition to Roman's finish run. From the post-shot to the F-5 of Defiance is some of the best pro wrestling ever. Brock Lesnar is The Man! ****1/2