Superstar Sleeze
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Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 10/19/90 First 15 minutes: Lots of heat segments early on. Each of the Four Corners take heat in the first 15 minutes. Two out of four were started by Jumbo ramming a huge kneelift to the gut. See 9/1/90 which how he started with Misawa then bouncing him off the ropes and punching them in the midsection. Notice how each heat segment ends when the New Generation army gets the best of Taue. Interesting Kawada goes to the floor pretty early with Taue. I was like when too early and rolled my eyes. Wouldn't you know Taue reverses it and bodyslams him on the floor! Awesome, I love Kawada being punished for being over eager. You need to earn that floor bump. He pays for it when the bigger Taue counters him. This sets up Kawada taking heat on the back. So Jumbo bounces him off the ropes and hits him in the back. All three of the New Generation guys are great sellers in three completely separate ways. I love how once Kawada gets out of the predicament against Taue that once Misawa softens him up that he takes him out to the floor to suplex him on the floor. Kawada is such a prick. Taue takes heat but manages to get a way from Kobashi. JUMBO DRILLS KOBASHI WITH A LARIAT! Then blasts him in the face with a punch that Kobashi sells like he is Ricky Morton in 1985. Glorious! Final minutes: Awesome finish stretch! The work on Kobashi's nose was brutal. Fuchi was just torturing him throwing his face into the steel and those nasty stomps. He got Koashi's nose nice and bloody. The only thing better than Misawa's elbow was Jumbo's Lariat in 1990. That shit looked he was hitting people like he was a Mack Truck! Kobashi's selling and hope spots par excellence. Notice how he overcame Taue to get the tag to Kawada. KAORI BAR THE DOOR THERE IS A PIER-SIX BRAWL A BREWIN'! I loved Kawada coming in like a whirlwind and Taue Sumo Slapping his ass back into the corner. Kawada vs Jumbo is great as Kawada ducks the Jumbo Mack Truck Lariat and hits his Spin Kick to get Misawa in. Misawa vs Jumbo was molten hot! The elbows and that High Knee from Jumbo. I love how Taue just flies out of the ring to wipe out Misawa when Misawa is going after Jumbo. Kobashi vs Taue is great, but Taue tags out to Fuchi thinking he has Kobashi under control. The rolling cradle->moonsault is the most Kobashi thing ever! I bit hard on those nearfalls where Jumbo was killing Kobashi. I really think the finish should have been Jumbo blasts Misawa in the head and powerbombs Kobashi into smithereens, but the kick out did get a big pop and Kobashi chant. I think that went a long way to making Kobashi credible. Kobashi actually looked poised to hit the moonsault on JUMBO! But Fuchi stalled him out long enough for Jumbo to hit two Back Drop Drivers to win the match. Lots of heat segments early on. Kawada/Taue is established. Misawa/Jumbo makes the match feel hot, but they don't over do either. They strike a healthy balance. Fuchi is a nasty bitch to Kobashi. Kobashi looks great as he takes the best heat segment, but gets a big nearfall on Fuchi and looks totally credible down the stretch against Jumbo. I think Kobashi is the big winner in this match. From Kobashi getting punched in the face on, this is just classic All Japan. ****1/4 -
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW 9/1/90 Have watched this match in the past and I know it is the REMATCH~! I am twenty minutes in and I am pretty underwhelmed. Transitions have been poor and the story has just been lets hit each other really hard. The beginning was great with each blocking the other's elbow, but Jumbo sneaking in a short elbow. Short heat sequence on Misawa's abdomen with a big Misawa reaction. I thought this was going somewhere good. Liked Misawa's quick reverse crossbody headbutt and chinlock to quell Jumbo's momentum. Then match lost me. Poor transition into the surfboard test of strength. A really lazy Misawa armbar. There was a long stretch where the match did not feel like anything was being accomplished. Misawa would elbow the hell out of Jumbo and then Jumbo would elbow the hell out of Misawa. But the energy was not there. It was more of each other just taking it. Jumbo was doing a lot of holds that ultimately did not mean anything. Misawa was also hold happy. Thing that really stuck out to me was Jumbo hitting a piledriver and a butterfly suplex and Misawa just popping up, it was not a no sell, but a not sell. No selling is a form of selling that can pop the crowd. This is a not sell. It was jarring. The match finally kicked into gear when Jumbo threw Misawa's head to the ground. The Thesz Press. Now it felt like things had consequence. When Misawa elbow, JUMBO WENT BEZERK~! HERE WE FUCKING GO! Loved the play off the 6/8 finish with Misawa shifting his weight on a back drop driver and then Jumbo floating over for two. Jumbo tossing him out repeatedly and whacking him with a chair was great. They were really hitting each other hard. This is the match that established the Misawa Elbow as The MISAWA ELBOW~! You can see how much he relies on it and never gives up on it. He was really bashing Jumbo and he eventually does make in roads with it. Jumbo resorts to primal counters like nasty headbutts. I loved Jumbo's dropkick with the explosive extension at the end. Misawa-rana out of the powerbomb is that debut or was he doing that as Tiger Mask II? Misawa is unrelenting with that HUGE elbows. This is classic Misawa. Loved the German. Jumbo gets him with a supeplex and then a Back Drop Driver. Kick out, damn I bit hard on that! Classic All Japan is here. Huge Misawa elbow to the side of the face. Loved the finish. It was who could pull the trigger first with Jumbo hitting the lariat before Misawa could hit the elbow and Jumbo wins with a back drop driver! JIP to Jumbo losing his mind and going to town on Misawa and this is ***** easy. What is interesting is that while this firmly confirms Jumbo as the Ace with the clean victory with his finish. Misawa did kick out of one Back Drop Driver and really had Jumbo reeling. This was not a dominating Jumbo victory. Jumbo had to be resilient. It was a great fight. The thought first half meandered a lot and drops this out of greatest match of all time discussion, but still a classic. I think I prefer 6/8 for the entirety of it and the cool finish. This had the better finish run. ****1/2
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I thought what confused me was how dead the Philly crowd. I know that they were having trouble selling tickets but it felt like they were out West with these reactions. New Day/USOS were great! I really liked the first AJ/Owens match in May but this one was tepid. What was up with the finish? Nattie winning was sad! Cenas first PPV match against Rusev was a waste should have been the main event of Independence Day SD! Orton vs Indian Midgets continues to be amazing. I thought Orton has been great in this feud. Mahal is a black hole of suck. Great Khali eye roll.
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I popped for this!
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It is weird to think Internet wrestling fans suck at understanding wrestling. There are plenty of people that get annoyed about excessive PDA or couples that are incredibly involved in themselves. This is an incredibly common trope in Sitcoms and common thing for people to BITCH about. Thus it is an easy way to get heat. This is NOT difficult to get
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Got interrupted re-watched the whole thing. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 12/7/90 First Ten Minutes: I feel like Misawa & Kawada always come off heelish in 1990, but are still wicked over. They are the original anti-heros. Japanese crowds tend to root for whoever is getting beaten up so there were plenty of Taue chants. Interesting to see Taue do well against Misawa until Kawada kicked him in the back early while running the ropes. Taue tagged out and Jumbo just steamrolled Kawada and elbowed Misawa off the apron. Crowd popped huge for that! This was pretty much who could beat up the junior member of the team more. At the end of the first ten minutes that was Taue who seemed to hurt his knee on a kneelift (which he may have hurt early running into the buckles). Kawada was just merciless with the leg holds on Taue. In a fracas, Misawa hit a massive diving elbow to Jumbo (great save by Misawa as Jumbo was out of position so he hit a baseball slide and re-established the setup it was noticeable but a logical save). So Jumbo is out holding his head, which was pretty much his 1990 and Taue's knee is fucked. How will they come back? Or will Misawa & Kawada cement their rise? Second Ten Minutes: Seven minutes of very good Taue heat segment. Lots of varied offense from leg holds to double teams to strikes. Suplex on the outside by Kawada was nice. Frogsplash by Misawa for a nearfall. Taue was really good at selling, which not something we talk about a lot. Most of the heat was around Jumbo and his injury. Taue gets an enziguiri early into heat segment, but finds out that he has no one to tag, which is a spot I always love. Then when Jumbo has recovered to finally get in and help, Kawada hits a barrage of knees to the injured head to draw boos. Taue finally gets a back suplex outta the corner. They do the WWE spot where both men fatigued and battered tag their partners. Who will win this oncoming clash of Misawa vs Jumbo? JUMBO! JUMBO! JUMBO! He throws Misawa DOWN on his head. THEN DECKS HIM WITH A LARIAT! He smacks Kawada off the apron for good measure. He annihilates Misawa, but Kawada keeps saving. Taue sumo slaps Misawa into Kawada. Kawada gets sumo slapped to the outside. AIR TAUE~! THIS IS FIYAH~! Jumbo is PUMPED! Rips off mats and Taue slams him on concrete. Superplex by Taue! Last three minutes were hot and I mean double hot! Last five minutes: Taue slows down due to constant Misawa interference. Last 90 seconds is insane. Misawa looks to destroy Taue with a Hart Attack Flying Forearm and then Jumbo but Jumbo obliterates him as he is coming with an elbow. Jumbo Backdrop Drivers Kawada to Hell. JUMBO IS A MONSTAH IN THIS! Taue only gets TWO! Taue runs into a Misawa elbow when Kawada ducks. Awesome spot! Kawada German -> 2! Misawa dropkicks Jumbo into corner. Kawada CLOBBERS Taue with a lariat. Kawada goes for powerbomb but Jumbo murders him with an elbow. Misawa takes out Jumbo with a wicked elbow to the back of the head! AWESOME KAWADA POWERBOMB 1-2-3! Barnburner of a match! The last ten minutes or so is insane. Hate, energy, urgency tons of stiff shots. Just such captivating energy. Jumbo is standout in this. Selling Misawa's elbow and how he is just out to murder Misawa & Kawada with each shot. Taue was so dynamic here best selling of the match, but also bringing the offense. Misawa & Kawada were an excellent team so much offense and so hungry to win. This feud just keeps on giving an giving. ****1/2
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Miracle Violence Connection vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada - All Japan 10/7/90 There are no world tag team champions in All Japan because Kabuki left AJPW for Tenryu's SWS. The tag champs would decided as a part of the Real World Tag League. This was a series that was the signature feud of the tag division in 1991 All Japan. There was a weird opening moment where Gordy takes Misawa out to the crowd and then does not do anything. The beginning was Misawa was pretty aimless. The Kawada stuff was great. Taking it right to Gordy with Gordy needing a dramatic fall off the top rope and Doc distracting Misawa to hit a powerbomb on the floor to gain the advantage. Kawada's selling and tight back psychology make for a solid FIP segment. Doc, who I have LOVED in 1990, had a tendency to sit in some pretty loose restholds. Best Gordy has looked outside of the RWTL Finals. He was moving with zip and hitting with vigor. Clothesline was vicious. Loved the hope spot where Doc hits the corner and Kawada gets a back drop driver. Doc & Gordy just keep pouring it on. There is way more standing around and breathing in this match than ultra sprint that was Hansen/Spivey vs MVC RWTL '90. The rifling kicks from Doc & Gordy were great. The hope spots with the crazy knees to Gordy's head was awesome. Tag frequency in All Japan is so well done. Doc called a great sequence. Missing clothesline and eating a crossbody, but kicking out at two. So he shoves Kawda in corner and goes for the big tackle and Kawada hits an explosive clothesline out of the corner. Awesome! Misawa and it is dropkicks for everyone. Stampede on Misawa? Misawa slips out and gets a Fisherman's Suplex? That's different! Doc big reverse elbow and powerslam. Kawada saves. Gordy takes a German suplex from each of the natives in the finish sequence. Gordy misses the same corner clothesline and it is a Kawada powerbomb on Gordy!!! Holy Shit! I love Doc just shouldertackling mutahfuckas. Kawada tries running at Gordy eats a boot to gut and it is a powerbomb for the finish. There is a brawl post match Misawa attacks MVC, but is overwhelmed and Kawada runs them off with a chair. It is JIP and first 11 minutes is basic, sold pro wrestling good transition to the heat with fall off the top and powerbomb on the fall. I thought the transition to the hot tag was great just when you think Kawada is dead meat he hits a massive clothesline The finish stretch was a good amount of fireworks, Kawada hitting a powerbomb was good comeuppance. Eventually he ran into the brick wall that was Gordy and got nailed with a powerbomb. Establishes Kawada as a force, but MVC are still the bigger, badder team. ***1/2
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Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace - AJPW 10/7/91 I should watch a Johnny Ace shoot and read an interview he did because I would be interested to know what the Four Corners like as people outside the ring. He is by far the most mediocre talent All Japan had but he still could hold his own with the best wrestlers of all time, which is saying something. The Ace Crusher looked more like a shitty Stunner than a Diamond Cutter in this match, but overall I thought Ace was pretty good in this match. Loved the beginning with Kobashi trying to dive on Jumbo but eats a knee as we JIP. Jumbo sells the knee, but then gives him repeated kneelifts. All of sudden, Taue loses control and Johnny Ace of all people is world beater. He is killing Taue with dropkicks. Taue plays face in peril so weird. He kinda just ragdolls. Kobashi just takes him up and powerbombs him at one point and then moonsault. Not a lot of hope spots or selling. I felt like Jumbo & Taue were phoning it in more than being giving. The one heated section was Jumbo finally starts to interfere after like 5-7 minutes and Kobashi blasts him off the apron with a Lariat. Jumbo gets the hot tag and Johnny Fucking Ace of all people overwhelms him with slaps. WHAAAAAAAT??? Ace Crusher and they do a finish run on Jumbo. Before Jumbo gets a Thesz Press and goes home pretty quickly pinning him with a back drop driver. Unexpected layout. Felt more like an offensive exhibition for Kobashi & Ace and Jumbo just showed up at the end to win the match. Taue had this one in cruise control also. Kobashi & Ace looked pro here.
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Ya'll are crazy! This match was badass. Insane pace these guys cut. Action-packed, never a dull moment and wicked physical. Great sense of urgency. I love shit like Gordy and Spivey are the legal men, but Doc comes in and just starts clashing with Hansen like two rams. Or the sequence where Hansen rams into the railing as Doc follows in Hansen moves and Doc slams into the railing. The whole finish sequence is insane and hot. Ill have to watch again because I was eating lunch, but I loved this!
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Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace - AJPW 9/29/90 Kawada in the Black & Yellow! All is right with the world. Fun Fact: Ive have never seen a Johnny Ace match before. I will give him an A+ for effort. It is like he knows what a pro wrestler should act like and does it, but he comes off corny and goofy. The crowd actually laughs at him for loud he is. I think he was going for Bruiser Brody with the hussing, but his croaking voice just sounds like he is breathing out sawdust. His reaction to getting the hot tag was hilarious. There is a fine line between him and Rick Martel. He just looked silly. The Doomsday Devices was bitchin! They all fucked up the finish so I wont blame him. He looked competent, but he in with three of the best. Oh my god, it is September of 1990 but mid-90s All Japan is already here. The urgency and the fire was off the charts. The way Kobashi was trying to prove himself and then the beating he took. I loved how he would slap Kawada and that would just fire him up. The intensity was off the charts. I loved the amount of physical contact. They were always pressing and suffocating each other. There was very little time not in contact. They were just attacking. Kobashi goes flying out to Kawada and then Kawada sends him to the railing and slams him hard into the floor. The back work on Kobashi was great! Misawa dishing it out like he was a heel was cool. Huge Kobashi chants. Yep it might as well be 1995. Kawada with those nasty kicks in the corner. TOSHIAKI MUTHAFUCKIN KAWADA IS HERE!!! Why love All Japan? Kawada goes for powerbomb, Kobashi blocks. Immediately goes for hot tag smart. He avoids the death knell needs to get out of there. Ace dropkicks Kawada but he goes into Misawa so Misawa tags in eats a dropkick. That is a great logical way to get the next dude to feed. Misawa overwhelms Ace with elbows. Misawa is still the man, but Ace is firing back. There is a struggle to the slugfest. So Ace tags out because Kobashi always bites off more than he can chew. Kawada buries the knee to the back. HUGE REACTION! It was such an awesome sequence. Kawada desperately trying to powerbomb Kobashi and failing all three times is All Japan Pro Wrestling. I liked Kobashi/Ace's finish stretch nearfalls. It felt like they could pull off the major upset. Misawa/Kawada were a well-oiled machine, but yeah everyone botched the finish. I thought it was a draw. Ace was horrible getting position. Misawa covers, but Kawada does not block Kobashi, so Kobashi breaks it up but Misawa/Kawada was supposed to go over there. Werid. Everything before that was gold. Loved it. Kawada vs Kobashi was amazing. ***3/4
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Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, Masa Fuchi vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Masa Fuchi - AJPW 8/18/90 These six-mans have so much action it is hard for me to remember it all so breaking this in two parts. Yes, to those who read my long reviews, I write those all from memory! I don't take one note. I find it is a good exercise in strengthening memory capabilities. First ten minutes: Taue MURDERS Kikuchi with a clothesline. I love Taue, but sometimes his strikes lacks the viciousness of his counterparts. That was awesome! Usually I get annoyed when size differences aren't respected. But I think in 1990 Japan, Kawada needed to mow down Taue and suplex him. He looks like a junior heavyweight so this establishes him as a big boy. Kawada/Jumbo is just gold. Kawada taking it to him as he getting through the ropes. Whiffing on the spin heel kick and Jumbo just assaulting him and that massive bodyslam. Kawada's sell off the slap is amazing. Pure Kawada! Misawa vs Jumbo is electric. Misawa with some MISAWA ELBOWS~! Jumbo blocks elbow in corner, great struggle, Kawada attacks Jumbo. I know the young guys are over, but they act quite heelish in all this. Jumbo vs Kawada again is awesome. Kawada gets the advantage on Taue, but that doesn't last long once Kikuchi gets in there. Kikuchi gets sent into railing by Taue and is in a single leg crab. im guess we are going into a long heat segment on Kikuchi. Second Ten Minutes: Not as long as I expected about five minutes. Working on Kikuchis back. Great selling and hope spots from Kikuchi. Jumbo just beats him down. Boston Crab. Deep! Jumbo being a dick so Misawa slaps him. Fuchi bodyslams Kikuchi out in the crowd on parquet floor. Nice hope spot from Kikuchi with the springboard clothesline on Taue. Taue with that huge dropkick. Taue looks amazing here. Taue keeps missing elbows here comes Misawa. Throws me off everytime he goes for the crossbody instead of the spinning lariat. Spin heel kick knocks Taue into Jumbo and now it is ON! ELBOWS ARE FLYING! Misawa gets Jumbo down and then DECKS everyone on the apron. Double dropkick by Kikuchi & Kawada to Jumbo. Misawa goes to ground & pound Jumbo and Kawada and Kikuchi dropkick Taue and Fuchi off apron. Awesome sequence! Jumbo and Misawa struggle. Sentons by Kawada and Misawa. Kikuchi tries to control Jumbo but gets decked by an elbow. Kikuchi does get a Boston Crab on Fuchi! Misawa beats up Fuchi. Misawa and Jumbo again but Jumbo gets the big boot. Kikuchi tries to save. Jumbo gets the big knee and sends in Fuchi. Final Minutes: Kawada sends Fuchi into Taue on a missile dropkick. Triple team Taue in the corner. Kawada takes it to Jumbo! Devolves into the little man vs the big man as Kikuchi tries to put Taue away with the fisherman's suplex and backslide, but eventually Taue gets a hold of him with the powerslam and then atomic drop/back suplex combo that looks straight out of 2017. Kikuchi's buddies cant get to him in time. Important match finalize the sides. Establish Kawada as Misawa's lieutenant taking it to Jumbo and Taue as Jumbo's looking awesome and getting the pinfall. Fuchi didn't do much. Kikuchi is pretty good in the Kobashi role. He is a bit more undersized so a bit more naturally sympathetic but also less likely to do damage. Jumbo and MIsawa was just hot. Jumbo vs Kawada was great stuff. I didn't think there was anything extraordinary about the match just solid pro wrestling that sets up for the future. ***3/4
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Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 8/31/90 One day before, the much anticipated rematch between Jumbo and Misawa, Jumbo takes on Misawa's young, plucky ally, Kenta Kobashi. Great young rookie vs cranky veteran as everyone would expect with two of the five best workers of all time. Kobashi slaps Jumbo's hand away on the opening handshake and people complain about Millennials. Jumbo immediately knees him in the face. This match is all about the poise of Kobashi. There are many wrestlers who would wilt under the violent offensive of Jumbo and pressure of facing the Ace. Kobashi regroups on the outside and gets a side headlock. After Jumbo gets out of that and rips his head off with lariat, big boot and piledriver and such. Kobashi still hangs in there and whips him in the railing. He starts just diving out to the outside repeatedly in an all out assault using his body. Jumbo hurts his knee on catching Kobashi. This gives Kobashi an opportunity and a chance to work some holds and really have a control segment against the Ace. It is doubly impressive because he took some serious offense just before this and showed great poise. Jumbo gets out of all the leg work with an enziguiri. He does not sell it well after that. He does much better at selling Kobashi's head shots. Here Jumbo gets a butterfly suplex, but loses control to a bulldog and then a MOONSAULT! 1-2-NO! Kickout! Kobashi gets another nearfall with a German suplex! Impressive! After that Jumbo beats the shit outta him but needs a knee, powerbomb and after that kick out just elbows the fuck outta Kobashi before the back drop driver puts him away. Great showing by Kobashi not just showing he could work holds and big spots (moonsault, German suplex), but that he could do it even after taking offense from Jumbo and showing the typical Kobashi fire. Jumbo was great on offense bringing that crankiness especially late with those elbows. Jumbo's selling makes this is the lesser of the two big Kobashi singles matech (the other being the one with Hansen). ***1/4
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[1990-07-17-AJPW-Summer Action Series] Stan Hansen vs Terry Gordy
Superstar Sleeze replied to Jetlag's topic in July 1990
You pointing out Doc acting like a real doctor was funny. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Stan Hansen vs Terry Gordy - AJPW 7/17/90 Ahhhhhh so this is why Hansen was not wearing the championship to the match with Misawa. Rematch from 6/8 where Hansen won the title. Hansen controls this match much more with lots of clobbering and holds. Then Gordy works the leg, but hurts his own elbow on a reverse elbow. Hansen is a shark smelling bloody and goes to town on the elbow. First ten minutes are very slow, but picks up here. I liked Doc coming out playing Doctor with bandage then Gordy fires up with the clobbering and a DDT. Then Doc is throwing in elbow pads, tripping up Gordy to avoid the lariat. This is some fun bullshit that you would never see in later All Japan. Gordy hits his own lariat for the win, but would then vacate very shortly after this. Leading to the decision match between Hansen and Misawa on 7/28. Whats the deal? Why did Baba put the championship on Gordy? Not just the drug problems, but he was not as good as he used to be. Hansen was clearly better as was Jumbo. He didn't need Gordy. Did he want to make Gordy the new Hansen like he was making Misawa the new Jumbo? Kinda makes sense, but Doc really was a better candidate at this point in my opinion. I might make a thread about this because I am interested what the direction was before Gordy vacated the titles. -
[1990-06-08-AJPW-Super Power Series] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta
Superstar Sleeze replied to Loss's topic in June 1990
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW 6/8/90 Battle of generations is one of the oldest stories but I don't know if it was ever told better than Jumbo vs Misawa. I think argument can be made for this as the most important match in history. Launched Misawa into superstardom in turn creating the Kings Road style which along with the NJPW Juniors is probably the strongest influence on today's wrestling worldwide. The match itself tells the great story of youthful resilience and elderly stubbornness. I love the beginning because Jumbo is not taking Misawa lightly he wants to beat as quickly as possible trying the high knee and back drop driver. A quick victory would be more damaging and embarrassing to Misawa than toying with him. Great psychology! The problem is Misawa is no chump so he can thwart these attempts and the take to air. He hits multiple dives and an elbow that rocks Jumbo. This is Misawa I'm here to play and I won't go quietly. They settle into more customary All Japan stuff the surfboard, ab stretch and slaps on rope breaks. It does meander. Jumbo runs through his offense and the idea is that the beginning established Misawa as a threat now can he take Jumbos best shot and keep on ticking. Such as butterfly duplex, which put away Jack Brisco. As the Match as settled down so has Jumbos intensity. He is taking his foot off the gas pedal and is content just throwing him up the air. The second time he gets caught with a dropkick. Surprising how aerial Misawa is but shouldn't be the announcers are calling him Tiger Mask still. By being so aerial it makes for more contrasting styles than mid 90s Misawa would. Misawa gets a frogsplash for two but then gets HOTSHOTTED! Funny seeing Jumbo do the move. Now Jumbo pours it on STIFF lariats, knees, powerbombs and piledrivers. Establishing the youthful resilience and the extended comeback which would be Misawas calling card. Culminating in that vicious high knee from the top and just when Misawa seems out it is his ELBOW that saves the day. I don't know when Misawas Elbow became MISAWAS ELBOW but it is funny how in both the Six-Man and here it is a game changer. Jumbo sells it like death and rolls out. Big dive to the floor. Misawa feels like he is ushering in a new era. Misawa goes for a German but settles for flooring him with a spin wheel kick. That kick was way better in 1990. Jumbo finally has some defense for the aerial moves when he gets his knees up in the frogsplash. Jumbo starts clobbering him with stiff lariats. No finesse trying to blast his way through. Back drop driver but Misawa kicks off ropes and Jumbos head hits first. Great selling! It is funny Misawa did all those fancy moves but what kept him in this match was those head rocking elbows. Fancy moves almost cost him the match. Gets that German but no on Tiger Driver. Jumbo gets high knee but hurts himself playing Misawas game of elbows and aerial dropkicking the ropes. Which was cool basically Misawa can play Jumbos game and add stuff but the Old Dog can't play the new kids game. The finish makes little sense other than they wanted Misawa to win in a clean finish but not too decisively. ****1/2 -
[1990-06-05-AJPW-Super Power Series] Jumbo Tsuruta vs Terry Gordy
Superstar Sleeze replied to Loss's topic in June 1990
All Japan Triple Crown Champ Jumbo Tsuruta vs Terry Gordy 6/5/90 Two all-time greats just sleepwalking their way through a match. There was some great moments, but there no hook or anything to sink your teeth into. The transitions especially Gordy's were very weak. Gordy does this wicked sell off of a high knee from Jumbo tumbling to outside, but then he just comes back in and shoots Jumbo off the ropes and hits a lariat. Pretty weak transition. Heat segment was pretty much hope spot->lariat cutoff->resthold. It was not all that interesting. Then it was the Jumbo finish run and he hit A THESZ PRESS! I POPPED! Great piledriver and powerbomb. Gordy lariat. Gordy does his finish stretch powerbomb and such. Gordy hotshots Jumbo. Jumbo sets way too early for the DDT and that's the finish. Just like this match very mediocre. -
[1990-06-08-AJPW-Super Power Series] Stan Hansen vs Terry Gordy
Superstar Sleeze replied to Loss's topic in June 1990
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Terry Gordy vs Stan Hansen -6/8/90 Masterful performance from Hansen here. JIP to Hansen hitting a Lariat to Gordy's face but Gordy has the presence of mind to roll out. From there, Gordy hits a DDT and Hansen calls a great match. He has Gordy cover him again. Then spends so much time clinging to the ropes to avoid demise and letting Gordy get that pinfall. There is a great failed hope spot where he goes to back drop Gordy out of a piledriver, but collapses so basically takes a Pedigree. Someone should steal that spot. The rollup out of the corner where he has entire body splayed over Gordy is a great hope spot. Gordy tries for against for a bomb for the win, but Hansen RIPS HIS HEAD OFF WITH A LARIAT!!! WOW! That was an awesome finish. Not a great match because Gordy was not up to the task, but Hansen was money in this. -
[1990-06-05-AJPW-Super Power Series] Stan Hansen vs Steve Williams
Superstar Sleeze replied to Loss's topic in June 1990
Stan Hansen vs Steve Williams 6/5/90 HAN-SEN! HAN-SEN! HAN-SEN! The old grizzly bear working underneath sympathetic as one of the greatest of all time shows his range. A bloody Hansen was putting on a selling clinic peppering in those hope spots like he was 200 lbs and good looking. I love the minimalistic, gritty nature of this. The first highspot was a fucking bodyslam about 12 minutes into the match thats what I am talking about! You see Doc was always one step ahead of Hansen early on. It was like Hansen was the old gunslinger and just a half step slower. I love how everything was earned. You get back into the ring and youre met with knees. Everything was hard joints bashing against your head and body. Hansen was giving as good as he got. There was one point where each had the other by the hair and they just bashing their skulls into one another like a couple rams. I would say the really turning point was the lariat Doc gives Hansen on the outside where Hansen sells it by tumbling over the railing. After this Doc just hits a barrages of knees in the corner and Hansen is bleeding. The crowd is totally behind Hansen. Doc is great selling the attrition of this match and the toll it is taking on his body just to stay in control. Him slapping Hansen in the corner saying Come on, tough guy followed by Hansen exploding out of the corner was just an awesome fist-pumping moment. The finish was insanely awesome with lariat teases and the Oklahoma Stampede teases. Hansen diving through the ropes on the missed Lariat was eye popping. Doc hitting the steel post on the Oklahoma Stampede was intense. Then LARIAT OUT OF THE OKLAHOMA STAMPEDE WAS AWESOME!!! Great finish! You want to know where the beef is? Right here baby! Big, beefy match between two dudes who were ALL MAN!!! Monster rating coming ****1/4 -
Jumbo Tsuruta/Great Kabuki/Masa Fuchi vs Mitsuharu Misawa/Akira Taue/Masa Fuchi - AJPW 5/26/90 The Elbow Heard Round The World! Love this match so much! Mid-match pull apart brawl and basically running an angle mid-match. Great feel and very chaotic. Jumbo takes a cheapshot at Misawa when he is on the apron. Stay in your lane, kid. Misawa gets tagged in and starts throwing knees (weird seeing Misawa throw knees instead of elbows). JUMBO LARIAT RIPS HIS HEAD OFF! Misawa get his receipt by BLASTING Jumbo with The Elbow Heard Round The World! Jumbo does a great job selling it outside. I love Kabuki tending to him. Fuchi who is getting his ass kicked has a great reaction with his "What the fuck happened to Jumbo?" face. Then Jumbo gets tagged in and makes a beeline for Misawa. It is an insane heated pull apart brawl between the two. I love the idea of running an angle mid-match. After that they settle into the match and it is killer. Jumbo is selling his head on the apron. Kobashi is getting the tar beaten out of him by everyone. First it is ripping the arm off of Kobashi and then Fuchi switches to the knee with a kneecrusher on the table. I did not like that the babyfaces were not that great at tag strategy. They kept tagging Kobashi in when he was not healed. They also did not do a great job cutting off the ring and at least giving Kobashi a fighting chance. That being said I really like the Kobashi & Misawa pairing. Misawa needed to be presented on Jumbo's level so they needed that guy to really build sympathy through selling that was Kobashi. Loved Taue in this! Dropkicks were amazing as were the Sumo slaps. He looked like a totally game changer. Everytime he was tagged in, the tide turned in the favor of the young generation. As opposed to Kobashi, who as soon as he got tagged just got wrecked. It was a nice juxtaposition. The weirdest part of this match by far was watching Taue and Jumbo go at it. It just seemed so wrong. Have always loved Jumbo's bodyslams, but those bodyslams on Kobashi were just death. Misawa & Taue doing their best RnR Express impression with the double dropkicks to everybody was just awesome. That spinning heel kick from Misawa was insane. Misawa was really good at kicks at one point. Of course, Kobashi misses his missile dropkick and gets clobbered with a lariat. Great sequence. ROLLING CRADLE! Kobashi getting some love. Finish sequence is just so hot and novel at the time. Total fireworks spectacle with frequent tags and a ton of offense. It felt incredible modern, but what makes this different is by doing it in a tag match it feels organic. Because the frequent tags means people are getting rest and therefore the pace can be kept up especially in a six man tag. The double dropkick to Jumbo at the end is great. Jumbo mowing down Misawa with a lariat on the Tiger Driver attempt was glorious. So chippy. TIGER SUPLEX!!! Gets it for the young guns! Three important things here are 1. Kobashi FIP which really establishes Kobashi's major role in the feud and really who Kenta Koashi is as some people argue he never progressed from this stage and even as a champion would have a tendency to slip back into this character. 2. The incredible pacing and offense at the end which was a hallmark of the AJPW tags throughout the 90s that led to so many of the best matches of all time. 3. Most importantly, the Elbow Heard Round The World angle, which was both chaotic and exciting and hot as hell, but established Misawa as someone Jumbo needs to take seriously. Then deal would be sealed on June 8, 1990. It all starts here! ****1/4
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[1990-07-27-AJPW-Summer Action Series] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen
Superstar Sleeze replied to Loss's topic in July 1990
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Stan Hansen vs Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW 7/28/90 Impressed that two months after the Jumbo upset that Misawa is already pretty over. The Misawa chants with his entrance happen not as loud or as long but they are there. Stylistically this is a bad match up. The long drawn out extended comeback vs the bull in China chaos. What makes this match work better than any other match I've seen between these two they just pick one style and stick with it. It is a Hansen template. 1990 was the year of Hansen selling his ass off: Doc, Gordy, Kobashi now Misawa. Watching 1990 Misawa is so fresh. The moves aren't in order (the senton is the last move he hits) and he can really surprise you. This is the start of the match: Hard lariat grabs cowbell Rams it into the left elbow then takes a chair from the crowd and slams it into elbow. Quick who did it? Misawa! Love that because it is so not mid 90s Misawa. There is so much urgency here. I thought the arm work was great from Misawa a couple points where it dragged. Hansen was a god here doing his wounded bear routine. Throwing wild bear paws and head butts. I loved the exchange where Hansen and Misawa slug it out and Hansen bashes the bad elbow in to turnbuckle. The other surprising thing is Misawa controls like 75% of the match. Heel in peril makes sense because people like an underdog but they don't like a loser. So giving Misawa the vast majority the match makes him a credible challenger and someone worth investing in. Once you have established yourself then you can take more heat and the crowd will hang with you. The back half of the match is great even if the armwork isn't paid off. Hansen finally grabs a chair and bounces it off Misawas head. Even that doesn't last long. Misawa hits a beautiful dropkicks. Never been a fan of Misawas kicks but they are great here. Besides that chairshor, the other eye popping moment was Misawa flying into abyss of the floor on a plancha insane. Misawa gets a frog splash after a bodyslam. I like how a big deal is NOT made because he is a heavyweight so he should be able to do that. Misawa doing the senton after frogsplash feels weird. Finish is kinda out of nowhere Hansen press slams off the top, shoulder tackle LARIAT!!! Liked the urgency of this a lot, layout with Misawa was the smart call and was fresh, Hansen working underneath rules, lots of hard hitting. ***3/4 -
Just a year and half later this match would have a totally different feel at Summerslam 98 even though it for the same belt. That is one of the 8 million issues with today's wrestling landscape. No one freshens up their character anymore. You don't even have to necessarily change your name. Just change your look and your gimmick like these two. They have a very basic, wrestling 101 match that HHH leads Rocky through. Rocky has a lot of raw athleticism, but those dropkicks such and he really does not have much going for him. HHH is a poor man's Flair with none of the energy or charisma, but at least it is a template to hold everything together. HHH does show some good heel moments: the Curtsey at the beginning, the bug punches in the corner, the slaps to Rocky. The superplex was a great spot. This was a very good cocky heel overestimating the rookie upstart. The ultimate finish to this is of course HH taking way too long to polish off Rocky and getting caught in the small package to lose the championship in quite the upset. The Lowell crowd and the PWO posters seem to love the finish, I felt it to be a little mild. Rocky's promo sucked, but he would get better at those.
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Just watched Goddwinns vs Mankind & Vader from a January 97 RAW. It was mostly as backdrop to show that Mankind & Vader were not getting along as Bearer just took Vader under his wing, but Mankind does not play well with others. Phineas Godwinn is just as terrible and shitty as I remember, but Henry Godwinn was not half bad in fact I thought he quite good. HOG and Vader had two really good slugfest exchanges. Are there any good HOG matches I need to check out? I think I have a new favorite wrestler.
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I didn't watch this, but they showed the highlight of the Tombstone on the escalator and I popped huge for that! Very cool! I am surprised that did not become a more iconic moment.
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[1997-01-20-WWF-Raw] Steve Austin vs The Undertaker
Superstar Sleeze replied to Loss's topic in January 1997
Lawler is incredibly annoying in this match incessantly screaming that Stone Cold work the ribs of the Undertaker (injured during a great, unheralded match with Vader at Royal Rumble). He even gets off the headset goes to ringside to get Austin's attention. It was very strange. I know Lawler hates Bret, but I don't understand his passion here. I guess he was a huge Stone Cold fan. I watched this yesterday, but I don't remember much besides Lawler. I thought it was good. Austin did eventually heed The King's advice. WWF is really in love with the guy back heel kicking someone in the balls. Undertaker had looked great in so much of this stuff. Very mobile and cuts a good pace. Austin is a wild sociopath. Good stuff. Crazy brawl with all four main eventers ends the show. Awesome RAW! Theres also a very good Owen/Bulldog vs Furnas/LaFon match on this RAW. -
Watched the whole thing. Rumbles are a great thing to watch live, but they tend to be boring in execution. It is nice though in a trip down memory lane. Watched this with both my parents who were entertained seeing all the old gimmicks. The whole Fake Razor and Diesel threw them for a loop. It is not uncommon at all for soap operas to replace an actor/actress with a new one if they want a character to survive. So it was not out of the realm of possibility but yeah it was flat. My Dad and Mom got a kick out of seeing Kane with hair. "is that fucking Kane dressed up as Big Sexy" - My dad, had me rolling. Latin Lover kicking someone in the ass had both my Dad and Vince laughing. Pretty flat up until Bret's entrance. Austin's reaction to Bret's entrance is fucking gold. The Lawler stuff both the quick elimination and the rest of it on commentary was great. That ending was MONEY! It has been 20 years they ought to do something like this again. Great, great idea! Huge heat! This is the type of thing that is interesting and makes you want to watch RAW. Bret's temper tantrum was excellent. Great way to draw out the story to Bret/Shawn II and put some heat on Stone Cold. Hot! I mean Double Hot!
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I feel sympathetic to Shawn. He is clearly a guy going through a lot and you can see him at least being conciliatory towards Bret. He takes his shots, but he is also at least trying to be nice during some parts. He is the kinda person that knows he is a pain the ass, cant really help it, but tries make up for it by acknowledging that he is one and saying nice things about people. Bret is just a total dick. Part of this that blurs the lines is are they positioning this as Bret being more heelish than Shawn so maybe that why Bret comes off as the world's biggest asshole. Like the man does not give an inch. Bret comes off as a condescending, know it all, myopic Moral Judge of the Universe. You can tell he lives in a world that is black and white. He cant admit his faults. Definitely not a fan of Bret the character. It is funny watching all the classic Bret matches back I really started to appreciate Bret as the heir to NWA World Champion, incredible offensive wrestler with a dynamic range, someone who can have a match unto himself and really take you on a ride. Watching these Bret promos is making me hate him all over again. I run so hot and cold with both him and Shawn because at the end of the day they are both shitheads and they make it incredibly difficult for anyone to like them. Austin is the star here and he is hilarious calling them "Three crybabies and little boy blue. " I rather hang out with Austin than these three crybabies anyways.