Bierschwale

Oh, and show writeup soon, spent the weekend feeling just completely sick.

Thanks. Undoubtedly the Red Lions are the Social Outcasts of this right now, but AKIRA & Nish are two all-time favorites. Plus, since you never know how things could shake out, like with the SGA being as stacked as they are... "stacked" isn't always a good thing if you're not getting yours. And they have the greatest solidarity as a pseudo-outsider group who all came out of the same dojo. Fuchi & Kikuchi will absolutely be teaming in the junior tag tourney. Won't have a TON of teams, but enough, and good diversity. And the All Asias being one of my favorite titles ever, and them being two of my favorite wrestlers ever... you can see where that's going. We all know that what Baba loved in the '70s were intense, bloody brawls, so he might have to swallow a gimmick match or two, but nothing for a title.

HE WAS AT THE INAUGURAL BALL OF A US PRESIDENT! "Influence" and "relevance" are used interchangeably in this crap, so that counts as influence.

Tazz was genuinely excellent in his original SmackDown run. He did a great job of the Jesse-style "I'm not playing favorites, it's just that the heels do what it takes to win." self-alignment and sticking with it so you felt his interest in both sides during a match. Great at calling moves and explaining why they're effective. I actually like Cole/Tazz & Tony/Jesse for a lot of the same reasons.

So the '95 SJC ended up going down in flames?

Final day-of-show card:

It's, per second of match time, the best match ever.

I always figured that they might have teamed them anyway (Hotta was Takako's primary partner for a while even into '93 and Kyoko floated around post-Bull in '91 I guess) because they were such a great contrast. But the shared surname had to be a perfect clincher.

AJPW signs Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

I agree with Gordi, but on the condition that with his second primary point the opposite is often true, which of course is the "death of the author" concept. But I only apply that to narratives that are provided to me that are clearly, CLEARLY stupid. If a wrestler or booker wants to tell me what "X" was, but it held no resemblance to reality, then I'll go with "Y" or "Z".

FACTION AND TEAM BREAKDOWN RED LIONS Takashi Iizuka. Osamu Nishimura. Akira Nogami. Tatsuhito Takaiwa. Kazuo Yamazaki. Black Cat (La Peste Negra). Black Tiger II (La Peste Negra). REVOLUTION Nobutaka Araya. Samson Fuyuki (Romantic Warriors). The Great Kabuki. Takashi Ishikawa. Koki Kitahara (Romantic Warriors). Yoshinari Ogawa. Masao Orihara. Genichiro Tenryu. Ultimo Dragon. Yuji Yasuraoka. Dos Caras. SUPER GENERATION ARMY Satoru Asako. Toshiaki Kawada. Kenta Kobashi. Mitsuharu Misawa (Dynastic Tigers). Takao Omori. Tiger Mask IV (Dynastic Tigers). Maunakea Mossman. UNSINKABLE VENGEANCE ARMY Masanobu Fuchi. Masao Inoue. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Akitoshi Saito. Akira Taue. Stan Hansen. ZEN SOLO FIGHTERS Jun Akiyama. Masashi Aoyagi. Tamon Honda. Jun Izumida. Kentaro Shiga. Katsumi Usuda. Frank Andersson. Robbie Brookside. Haku (Faces of Fear). Konga (Faces of Fear). Joe Malenko. Miguel Perez, Jr.. Steve Williams. Alex Wright. LOANED WRESTLERS Felino (La Peste Negra) Negro Casas (La Peste Negra). Ultimate Tiger.

Oh, I'm not going to reveal Ultimate Tiger's identity unless it became a WILDLY enticing option, which seems unlikely. He's a full-sized heavyweight, I'll say that. The Revolution lineup is sort of unclear to me, so I just want to pick up a solid number of Tenryu's young punks (Araya, Orihara) to supplement the group. Eventually develop a deep midcard (Baba will be AGHAST) and either re-introduce the All-Asia Heavyweight Championship from JWA or come up with something weirder and possibly better.

I'm very comfortable with Bryan-Cena as my own 2013 MOTY though I might as well be dead if I can't find ways to talk about Hechicero-Lucero for hours on end. I actually think that Lesnar-Punk falls short, too. I feel like that the finish makes me want the babyface in Punk to lose as punishment for being such a moron as to turn his back on Brock, so that could never be in my highest echelon. If I had a Most Outstanding Match of the Year and Most Loved Match of the Year, Rhodes Bros.-Shield would have to win the second. I think that dual winners are fairly rare for me. Casas-Santo is MOMTY for '97, but I don't LOVE it more than Guerrero-Mysterio or Tamura-Uematsu. '89's MOM is a Flair match (HAPPY, PARV?) but I couldn't possibly LOVE any of them more than Hash-Zangiev.

STAN HANSEN SPEAKS ON JOINING AKIRA TAUE: "I've fought all of these guys. Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi. And of course I've fought Taue, too. I've betrayed my fair share of partners, but I'm getting older, and I want to think that I'm getting wiser, too. I ain't getting softer, I'll call you out across three continents and two oceans if you even try to say that and you won't be the one getting up. But I have more respect for this sport than I did in my wildest of days. Word's bond. Kawada gave Taue his word years ago now. But things get tough with Tenryu back in town and that's this boy's excuse to stab his best friend in the back? Taue was made a fool, and I just don't have it in me to stand by and accept that kind of shit anymore. If you stick a knife in a man's back, I'm sticking a lariat in your neck." STAN HANSEN SPEAKS ON THE 'BATTLE OF THE TIGERS': "Well, it's simple. I won't say too much about Black Tiger but I know his roots, I know that he's a fighter, and hell, I just like his style. Something wrong with that? I wanted to bring him under my wing, teach him the finer points. And with the chaos going down over in this new 'Asahi deal', Misawa saw that a successor to his legacy needed a job. I get that. I don't think that Misawa's some kind of egg-sucking dog all of a sudden, but I don't think that this kid knows what Misawa's getting him into right now either, because I think that he's just cannon fodder in Misawa's battles. He's starstruck, I suppose. Well, this is All Japan Pro Wrestling. What we do is beat that out of you. I call up Baba, I ask for a favor. Yes, I ask for a favor from a man that I respect like I respect Shohei Baba. I know this young guy of my own, just like Il Tigre Negro, who's a fighter and needs some work. Ain't telling you snakes who he is, but he's a great athlete. Get him a mask, give him a cover name, and get ourselves another soldier in this war."

AJPW signs Richard Slinger.

CARD ANNOUNCEMENT FOR DAY FIVE OF THE OCTOBER GIANT SERIES TOUR IN SAITAMA (OCTOBER 6): HAKU, KONGA, & ULTIMO DRAGON vs. NORIO HONAGA, MASAO INOUE, & JUN IZUMIDA MASANOBU FUCHI & KATSUMI USUDA vs. OSAMU NISHIMURA & AKIRA NOGAMI NOBUTAKA ARAYA, KOKI KITAHARA, YOSHINARI OGAWA, & MASAO ORIHARA vs. SATORU ASAKO, TAMON HONDA, TAKASHI IIZUKA, & TAKAO OMORI BLACK TIGER II & ULTIMATE TIGER vs. MITSUHARU MISAWA & TIGER MASK IV JUN AKIYAMA, TOSHIAKI KAWADA, & KENTA KOBASHI vs. STAN HANSEN, TSUYOSHI KIKUCHI, & AKIRA TAUE

The two major SummerSlam matches?

AJPW signs Masao Orihara.

JUMBO TSURUTA OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT, FINAL MATCH TO BE ON OCTOBER 25: After years of injury and illness, the original holder of the All Japan Triple Crown, Tomomi "Jumbo" Tsuruta has announced that he will retire from wrestling in an in-ring capacity to focus on ambassadorship for the company. One of the sport's all-time greats, Tsuruta's ability to compete has been diminished severely and he does not want to leave a legacy of being a shell of his former self. He will receive a retirement ceremony and one final match in order to celebrate his outstanding 22-year tenure with the promotion.

AJPW signs Tiger Mask IV.

I'm really sad that they never wrangled together the Kabuki-Kojika match that they were self-building on Tenryu's retirement shows.

Kabuki still had some legs under him around this time.

I kinda want to just pasture my REALLY old guys which makes me feel like an ass, but they are so old. It's not like I can't sign dudes who are just as grumpy but younger and aren't completely shot physically.

The only wrestler you could ever call a combination of Lesnar and Onita.

GIANT BABA MAKES ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE SITUATION: On October 25, there will be a match pitting Toshiaki Kawada and a partner of his choosing AGAINST Akira Taue and a partner of his choosing. The winning team will be recognized as interim champions through the conclusion of the Real World Tag League, where by default, the winning team will become the OFFICIAL World Tag Team Champions. In addition, Baba announced the first ever Magic Dragon Cup, in honor of deceased AJPW star and trainer Kazuharu Sonoda, to begin on October 10 and end on October 25. Sonoda and his wife were killed in the crash of South African Airways Flight 295 in 1987. It will be a 16-man single elimination tournament for wrestlers 30 or younger. No word yet if Kenta Kobashi, presumed favorite and Sonoda trainee, will enter or not, but Yoshinari Ogawa, Ultimo Dragon, Black Tiger, and Jun Akiyama are all expected to compete.