Jetlag
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I'm on a quest to find the ultimate japanese indy sleaze match. This is part of a weird 3 vs. 3 match that starts with a singles match then a 2 vs. 2 tag and the a 6 man tag, but this match is good enough to watch on it's own. Hiroshi Watanabe is a guy who has been around since the early 90s and never really got a shot due to being undersized even by indy standards. Yamada is a guy who barely makes tape and doesn't really get to do anything working HEAT UP undercard matches and Gatoh Move. And here they are, working a really good MUGA match. Maybe these two have some kind of Z-level indy Solar/Negro Navarro feud going on. Anyways, Yamadas unorthodox attacks ruled and due to Watanabes selling his joint manipulations appeared really painful. Then both guys do this really elaborate section built around indian deathlocks, leg stretches and pin attempts that was some of the most fun pro style matwork in years. Watanabe decimating Yamada with backdrops was simple but worked and Yamada took some nice bumps. The finish was built around Yamada trying to hurt Watanabe with rough technical moves and Watanabe coming up with cool counters. Highlights include Yamada busting out a Curb Stomp of all things, some nasty legwork and a really well timed sequence of counters leading to a great Robinson backbreaker. Loved the fluke finish too. This was a great modern version of a 70s style match that never felt like a tribute.
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First half of this was pretty great as Danielson would torture Evans with ultra tight basic holds while Evans would use his freak athleticism and flexibility to escape and hit spin kicks. Danielson can play Fuchi extremely well as he did both subtle things like digging his elbow into the leg aswell as stuff that looks grossly painful such as twisting at the chin, almost making the back of Evans head touch the back of his thigh etc. Finishing stretch wasn't as great as Evans looked a little sloppy while both guys transitioned from offense a little too easily. All time great finish though. I'd wager Evans performance here was better than pretty much anything Manami Toyota has ever done as he showed greater flexibility, better timed comebacks, more spectacular offense etc. -
Insane fucking fight. No lighttubes or barbedwire, just 4 crazy guys wailing on eachother with punches, chairs and headbutts. Everyone was bumping madly here, just flying all over the place into chairs and walls, taking suplexes in the damn parking lot and generally having no regard for their own body whatsoever. The story here was that Gage & Pain have been terrorizing CZW for ages and now the 2 craziest guys from out of town come in to kick their ass which works just fine. Necro is a sneaker wearing wildman here throwing chairs and crowbar punches, Klein bleed huge and also looked good throwing punches, while Gage & Pain were perfectly willing to kill themselves here flying around. Crazy spectacle finish with a few dozen chairs being thrown in the ring and Pain unloading his throws on Necro, huge Necro punch combo etc. This was only 6 hours after the Necro/Joe match, what a resume Necro was building.
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Crazy crazy hot brawl which delivers all you can ask for. Big bumps and boots to the face a plenty at a great pace. They did a great job filming this with the dual cams so you get pretty much a great shot every other second. Briscoes are great in this flipping around the place while Necro & Pondo hurl furniture at them. Pondo may not be a great wrestler but he understands to play a heel outsider, giving fans the finger and shit talking while grimacing dementedly. Lots of 2,99999s towards the end (it's indy wrestling baby!!) which feel a little out of place but a cool finish with Necro & Pondo looking like psychos who will kick anyones ass.
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Only 24 hours after his war with the Briscoes in FIP, Necro has another brutal match featuring one of the biggest bumps of 2007. This was an IWA-MS joint show so Necro comes in to take on the toughest craziest dude in the fed. The first half of this is really good, it's a brawl with chairs and ladders etc. but it starts with solid body slams and both guys understood how to work their control segments (by punishing the other guy with awkwardly thrown ladders, chairs etc), tease spots etc. Masada is one of the better outcomes of tape watching indy wrestlers, he is a metalhead looking dude with a shirt and shorts who does exploders big boots and enzuigiris, which in combination with the garbage brawling I like better than hairless kickpadded dudes doing that. Plenty of fun, there is one truely savage punch exchange, suicide dive against the stone bar, aswell as a beer bottle coming into play and Necro defending himself by pulling guard and using a wrist snap etc. I thought they got a little too into the plunder spots in the 2nd half while neglecting the substance, altough both guys just take one massive nasty bump after another.
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Payoff to their FIP feud so that means lots of blood, huge bumps (even from the referee) and mean punches and stomps. I thought the brawling wasn't quite as great as in the first match, but it was still a standout match. Necro decking a Briscoe with a right hand the second he took his eyes away is an example of how to do brawling. Also love his use of the guardrail. AJPW-like finish where Necro is laid out while the Briscoes finish Pondo off. Huuuuuuge finish. This would be legendary if it happened in ECW, in later 2000s indy wrestling it's „only“ another really really fun match in these guys portfolio.
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Wonderful wonderful match. Based on small show matches like this that no one remembers I think it's safe to say Low Ki is an all time great. This was Bill Watts UWF meets Indy Wrestling, with Hernandez as One Man Gang and Low Ki chopping him down. The first 10 minutes or so Hernandez doesn't even take a bump, it's all Ki trying to chop the giant down and hit the body slam, and the crowd just loves this. Both Kis strikes and crazy ragdoll bumping were worldclass. Hernandez has some sprinkles of cool athleticism of his own, he also uses the canadian backbreaker which rules and even his shoves felt violent. I'm not sure how good Hernandez exactly is but he was really good in this role for sure. Kis athleticism and babyface selling was just off the charts, up there with the best of Rey Mysterio or Steamboat.
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The most baffling thing about "Sad Genius" Yukimasa Watanabe may be that he genuinely looks like a good wrestler in the spare footage we have of him. He kind of reminds me of Ohtani, a balding technician who will work the mat and kick you hard. Every kick he throws lands with a thud and the Lou Thesz inspired moveset is cool. He would've been a great addition to the roster of DDT or Michinoku Pro, hell throw him in there with Yuki Ishikawa to work an undercard ZERO1 feud. But if Sad Genius wasn't hidden in obscurity he wouldn't be so fascinating. This was a pretty good match up until the really dumb finish. Gran Hamada gets to work a serious main event in UNW of all places and it's cool to see old man Hamada work like a maestro and face someone with a ground based style. Hamada really gets to show of his mat skills here. However the ending is really dumb because Hamada taps out Genius with 4 or 5 armbars in a row. Since UNW rules means Texas Death there is a 10 count so Genius just keeps getting up. Hamada gets annoyed at this and just leaves. I almost want to think Hamadas reaction was a shoot because it's so dumb. Really disappointing because the match was just getting good with Genius selling in a big way.
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UNW (United Nations Wrestling) was a project run by a madman known as "Sad Genius" Yukimasa Watanabe. Mini-shows that drew less than a 100 people. This might be the absolute null point of japanese indy wrestling. This is filmed with one camera, in front of a crowd so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The match was weird meth lab shootstyle, so just what you expect on this kind of show. Tsunehito Naito is a guy who was rejected from the UWF dojo, I guess because he killed someone there, and afterwards was relegated to lurking Z-level indies. He wasn't untalented. This match was about the skill disparity between Naito and Sawada. Naito would pretty much dominate on the mat and all Sawada could do was go for eye clawing, choke holds and cheap shots. Sawada isn't exactly a polished shootstylist but Naitos grappling was solid enough and the creepy atmosphere really added to the match. Also, for some reason, every UNW match has Texas Deathmatch rules, so you get Naito tapping out Sawada multiple times, which added to the match feeling like some kind of sadistic training session. Highlights include a nasty GAEA Girls level dropkick and a neck crunching belly to belly suplex. The finish aswell as the build to it were grizzly as hell.
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WAR interpromotional tag that lags a little behind the standard for those due to Mutoh and Samurai not being quite up to the violent standards that these matches have. You watch these matches for some kind of violent showdown to happen and these two aren't the types to bring it. Kitahara was also unusually subdued. However I'd still recommend this for Tenryus amazing performance. He would really eat the fuck out of Mutohs flimsy offense and looked great flying around to put over the match. Add in the usual dose of signature Tenryu face kicking, throat chopping, powerbombing and lariating madness and have yourself something fun.
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Another round of beefy dudes clobbering eachother. This wasn't peak WAR interpromotional material, but I still probably liked the best out of all the matches on the show. Particularily because the whole match felt thoroughly violent, and Fuyuki and Koshinaka were really at each other's throat. They randomly broke out into this super violent exchange that lead to a poor sap getting punched repeatedly and all was right in the world. I continue to enjoy Goto in these Heisei Ishingun tags as old guy with 2 moves who comes in to lariat and backdrop fools and nothing else, altough there was some sloppiness on his part. Hara's career was winding down but he could still take some big bumps. These matches pretty much write themselves but they still work in some things you won't expect.
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Oddly enough, Norman Smiley fit perfectly into WAR. I've yet to check out his mexican work but this may be the best stuff he's ever done. He was allowed to work as this tough as nails shooter who would dominate on the ground and potatoe dudes with nasty shots. Basically an UWF version of Regal. His holds looked clinical and when it was time to kick Orihara like a dog he wasn't playing around. I imagine if Smiley had faced Hashimoto in a big match or something we'd all be Smiley superfans. Orihara works as a Smiley opponent because he is CRAZY and will bust out unexpected highspots. Worth checking out.
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[1989-10-26-Pioneer Senshi] Hiroshi Itakura vs Hideki Kawauchi
Jetlag posted a topic in October 1989
Damn great match, possibly the greatest black trunks rookie match of all time. The reason for that is that this isn't your regular black trunks rookie match, instead it's two very young guys basically working a high end 20 minute shootstyle match that resembled 1950s pro wrestling here and there. Itakura ended up some kind of unfairly shafted 90s indy undercard hero, and Kawauchi was never seen or heard from again, and the concept of this kind of experimental indy shootstyle pretty much fell off the radar until BattlARTS was created 7 years later. It feels earned that these two went all out on a random card that just happened to be filmed so we can watch it and declare it an awesome match 30 years later. Kawauchi is the smaller of the two but he doesn't look outmatched at all. The early parts of the match see Kawauchi pushing the pace with superior amateur skills. The cool thing about this is that they work in some basic pro wrestling moves, like a drop toe hold or headscissor, but they really work these as shootstyle moves. Kawauchi's ground moves were inspired and when Itakura caught him with an awesome flying armbar (a holy shit spot in 1989) it felt like an awesome moment. As soon as Itakura got the advantage he would throw his smaller opponent around like a ragdoll, altough Kawauchi fired back with some nasty stiff kicks and then awesome suplexes of his own. While the matwork wasn't super slick and flashy, there are some crafty reversals (especially dug Itakura wringing his way out of a legbar) and some of the deepest Fujiwara armbars you'll ever see. While the striking wasn't a huge focus in the match as both guys were hellbent on forcing a tap, anytime both guys threw strikes felt suitably epic. There are some awesome 1950s like dropkicks and spin kicks. I also got the say the suplexes in this match were just awesome and some of the best I've ever seen. Even the more pro style suplexes, like a gutwrench or double underhook suplex felt like the guy was brutally hammered into the mat. There was also a great Randleman-like side suplex. Kawauchi going for a flying armbar of his own and failing feels like something that should happen more often. So, a really intense match with awesome suplexes and striking and some of the tightest submission work you'll ever see, with Kawauchi giving a cool gutsy performance fighting of his bigger opponent... damn I wish all pro wrestling felt this real and intense. -
Pioneer Senshi feels like a fed unfairly lost to obscurity. After all, this is one of the founding blocks of japanese indy wrestling and a small but potent handful of wrestlers got their starts here, later cohabiting the cards of 90s indy feds. Most Pioneer cards are young workers filling up with a few guys who'd be undercard nobodies in NJPW and AJPW working main events. Go is the only one who's achieved significance through his battles with Fujinami in the late 70s, so he gets to play the ace role. This was a really fun cagey bout between two veteran workers who'd never get a chance like this in an established fed. Almost all on the mat, and it felt like quasi shootstyle as both guys constantly went for submissions with intent to force a tap. The real story here may have been Niikura, there's probably no other match where he gets to do his thing like he does here. He gets to look sharp blasting Go with mean kicks (including an enzuigiri that caught Go flush in the mouth), busts out his signature cool punch combo and hits some gnarly suplexes. This needed a bit more selling to be GREAT - as a +20 match of mostly matwork between two not super flashy, aging workers without a story can be a little rough. Still the action was good and if you are even reading this hell you are probably totally down for two obscure workers in the twilight of their careers stepping out to hit the mat hard and trade big suplexes for 20 minutes anways. Here's to you Fumihiro Niikura, you made the most of this night.
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I think a pro shot version of this is out there, but the handheld is good enough for me. Really simplistic, effective match. Pretty much two karate guys laying into eachother with punches and kicks. Aoyagi sells a shoulder injury and he is really compelling at doing that, really protecting his shoulder and barely getting in offense because he is hurting. Matsunaga – who was already Mr. W*ING and with the blonde hair at this point – doesn't do any garbage brawling, but he does pull Aoyagis jacket over his head at one point making him unable to defend himself. Aoyagi gets some pretty brutal brief offensive rushes, including one where he lands this nasty running punt before really stomping Matsunaga, and another where he hits these awesome low angle spin kicks. These short simple Aoyagi matches are pretty consistently a highlight on early 90s NJPW cards and this is another nifty one in the resume.
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Masashi Aoyagi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Kim Duk (NJPW 12/16/1991) Pretty much the definition of a fun houseshow match. Everyone gets to do their thing and look good, and they spice things up by doing things such as teasing spots and baiting and switching. All basic, but spicy enough to be a really enjoyable watch. Kurisu & Duk do some fun cheating, Kurisus only real game being throwing his opponent outside and going to town with a chair becomes a plot point as usual, Aoyagi hits all his cool offense and Koshinaka gets to look tough trading headbutts with Kurisu.
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Damn what a match! This is Hashimoto & Norton working as the Twin Towers. Just two big menacing dudes waltzing in and daring anyone to stop them. Norton going „So I'm a massive freak, what are you puny japs gonna do about it?“ is all kinds of fun and Hase looks really good trying to chop him down. Hase really lays clotheslines into Norton in such a way that Nortons shrugging him off genuinely looks impressive. Hashimoto was just laying epic beatings on everyone. At one point Hase got his throat worked over, and his hot tag is literally getting thrown into his own corner as a crumpled mess by a Hashimoto kick. There was some cute Muto stuff here, but both he and Hase take massive beatings and it actually looks like he has to dig deep and survive the onslaught. Some wonderful nearfalls down the stretch. This was just plain fun.
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Ludvig Borga: Formidable japanese big match worker is not something you hear about, but it's likely true. It helps he's facing Hashimoto. This is pro style so not as great as their different style fight, but Halme is a fun powerhouse who throws a lot of nice punches that Hashimoto sells in a big way. Hashimoto challenging Halme to a boxing fight and then headbutt him is classic Hashimoto. Really enjoyed Hashimoto destroying the big guy as usual and the finish was something Daisuke Ikeda would do.
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Okay this was just a blast. First of all Bigelow rules as a giant pinball and hitting swank flying kicks and powermoves. Then Hase looks just great here trying to take the big guys down. His interactions with Vader made me think a singles match would be up there with the Sting matches. He basically used a combination of technique and just rattling opponents with massive slaps and kicks and that totally works for me. Of course, Hase has a bandage which ends up coming off and he ends up taking a massive beating while bleeding and getting punched in the face. Of course nobody delivers a mauling like Vader who at one point was decking him with straight rights and Bigelow goes from giant doofus to blood sucking freak quite well. Gigantic, fun finishing run with everyone busting out crazy stuff, some big bumps, Vader just killing dudes etc. A working boots match that totally works in every way.
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Heated early 90s japanese wrestling is guaranteed quality and this is another goody. Fast pace, everyone runs in to beat the hell out of eachother, Heisei Ishingun are really fun as elderly japanese men in purple pants who will crack your ribs... the superstar charisma of Shinya Hashimoto stands out (as always) as anytime he steps in the ring things get a little more real, a little more intense. Surprisingly Tatsutoshi Goto makes a really effective main antagonist as he knocks people silly with stiff lariats and chucks chairs in Iizukas face. Iizuka & Nogami are fun in their goofy Rockers gear flying around and taking beatings. Match starts fun and it builds to some bigger and bigger moments and nearfalls and surprisingly well timed spots, we also get Aoyagi and Hashimoto facing off for a couple seconds. This is the kind of match that just leaves you wired by the end.
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It's nice to see Black Cat get to do something beyond prelim match duty. And damn this is a really really fun match. Koshinaka and Black Cat beating on eachother is really cool, Koshinakas calling really is vicious prick who will forearm you in the nose. God damn Cat looks great beating on dudes here, throwing these cool low thrust kicks and cross chops. There is some vicious arm work, Kabuki and Cat punch eachother in the face, Samurai is fine as energetic junior without unnecessary flashes... we also get a big Kabuki superkick and a fun finish with Koshinaka doing his really amusing cocky strut after the bell.
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The new Aoyagi singles matches may be the best thing about the flood of NJPW handhelds. This could've gone longer than 6 minutes but for that kind of match it was really fun puncher vs. Counter puncher type stuff. It's about Aoyagis kicks vs. Fujinamis sleeper holds, and both these guys do a really nice job selling kicks and sleeper holds. Fujinami shows more aggression than I expected pummeling Aoyagi and eventually catching him. Obviously Aoyagis kicks and knees ruled.
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The parts where the threw strikes were pretty great. Kimura has a nice punch combo, and Liger was just killing the old guy with fast kicks and palms. Unfortunately they decide to do a whole lot of dry juniors matwork. This is NJ vs. Heisei Ishingun, just brawl and work a fast pace. Finish was hot altough I disliked the 5 minute long Figure 4 spot. Fast forward through the holds and you get a fun match.
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This felt like a match worked for the magazines. Not much substance but the visuals were pretty big and amazing. You had big time blood and both guys threw huge, high angle suplexes. Hase has a bandaged leg and Koshinaka spends a good amount of time kicking the crap out of it. It doesn't amount to anything as Hase soon starts braining Koshinaka recklessly with chairs. The bloody beatdown on Koshinaka with him fighting back valiently was pretty damn gnarly. Soon Hase is DQ'd for excessive brutality. This had the makings of a potential classic but was dragged down by the pointless legwork and Hase making a comeback that looked way too easy. However, we get Hase & Hiro Saito beating on Koshinaka post match with Saito hitting his brutal crowbar senton on a bleeding Koshinaka and that's just badass. The photographers def. got their moneys worth here.
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Not a hidden gem like SSM/Hashimoto, but it had it's charms in similiar ways. Fujiwara is unusually grumpy and looking for a fight. SSM soon finds himself pushed and he responds with some gnarly shots of his own. I really liked how SSM tried to prevent Fujiwara's obligatory headbutt spot. Another neat finish.