Jetlag

Necro vs. Indy Star Who Can Kick Ass is a tried and true formula, and this may have been the craziest and most out of control of them all. Couple seconds into the match both guys are holding on to eachothers shirts and swinging huge punches, couple seconds later Dragon was knocked loopy to the outside. Necro then goes for his elaborate chair spots only to be elbowed in the face an angry Dragon who still had a chair around his neck. The match had a lot of spots which required some set up, but there were also constant eruptions in between where guys would smack eachother recklessly. Dragon would use all these puro tribute kicks and elbows while Necro just throws reckless bum fight punches and stomps. The blown spots added to the trainwrecky feel and Dragon hurling a chair at the back of Necros head when he looked away is a classic barfight move. Obviously Dragon is strong with the body language, looking pissed off, throwing chairs around while the audience is watching this real life Godzilla battle, while Necro is just a tremendous babface here, getting face pops not to mention the selling of his destroyed hand. The indy „Burning Hammer into a chair“ spots were obviously really brutal but the most violent moment of the match may have been them trying to kill eachother in the corner. This is a little long and slow here and there but I imagine it's tough to work a super stiff bumpfest for almost 25 minutes without slowing down and for „Clash of the Titans“ type matches (which this really is, toughest madman vs. Biggest asskicker on the continent) it doesn't get much better.

This was looking like it was building to be the junior match of the decade with both guys working a really good bayface shine segment with some clever spots and then a great heat section built around Chavo lathering Rey with nasty low kicks. Chavo looked like the best possible Dean Malenko here, handling Rey by the mask and taking Destroyer bumps which was pretty creative fora cruiserweight match. Reys selling initially was just great but I thought he ended up getting a little too cute with comeback spots that all required him leaping around and landing on his bad leg. The 619 clutching the knee also ended up looking goofy. Rey ain't no Hijo del Santo after all.

Uhh.. it's Inoki and Hogan working MUGA. And it rules!! The crowd is molten hot, and Hogan does all these awesome technical transitions, totally holding up his end. The hold for hold stuff is basic but effective, with Inoki carrying himself like he could escalate and snap Hogans arm any minute. The Figure 4/Indian Deathlock sequence was great and so was Hogan folding himself up when Inoki threatened to go for the Octopus Hold. No doubt Hogan fully understood how to work this kind of match. I loved Inoki eating the axe bomber and slowly getting up "well, let's get back to wrestling". Add in some really well timed suplexes and a cool finish and you have a great contest. This should've gone longer and you would have a stone cold classic.

James Mason & Chad Collyer vs. Kendo & Tsubo Genjin (Japan, 2000) James Mason & Chad Collyer vs. Tiger Mask & Hideki Nishida (Japan, 2000) James Mason & Chad Collyer vs. Pantera & Macho Pimp (Japan, 2000) These are from Michinoku Pro and very clipped. You get to see Collyer working as a Dean Malenko clone and Mason working as your explosive foreign athlete with unique sick spots. He had perfect form on everything and you could tell the Michinoku Pro fans enjoyed seeing him. James Mason vs. Hideki Nishida (Michinoku Pro, 2000) Mason faces the Spike Dudley worshipping Nishida in a European Rounds match. What a weird matchup, but Mason is a total pro and Nishida is very game, so it totally works. How curious that we have to go to japan to see Mason work straight technical stuff. Nishida was using some lucha submissions so for a moment this was like WoS vs. Lucha. Cool as hell altough a little on the short side. James Mason & Bret Como vs. Tiger Mask & Mens Teoh (Michinoku Pro, 2000) Hm, of all the japanese indy wrestlers, who do I want Mason to face? That's right, Mens Teioh. Their stuff together was just wonderful. Teioh is clearly stoked to work a freaky euro style worker. Thunderbird Bret Como was a canadian indy worker who has been working japan indies for years and does just fine, most notably hitting a nice Shooting Star Press. But you want to see maestro vs. maestro and all the Mason/Teioh stuff delivered. James Mason & Bret Como vs. Solar & Shiryu II (Michinoku Pro, 2000) Now look at this damn matchup!! Shiryu II is Fantastik, so... BOYS!! Michinoku Pro was a collection of cool wrestlers in 2000. And this was really a bunch of cool wrestlers rolling in and doing the stuff that makes them cool. Mason is less about matwork here and more about slick spots and supreme coordination, but that is just the beauty of it. He matches up extremely well with Fantastik. We also get the insane Fantastik tope to the floor and Solar looking sharp as hell.

James Mason vs. Shane Stevens (1998) „Psycho“ Shane Stevens was a thickly built wrestler. Nothing remarkable about him, just your bread and butter heel, but his look alone and Masons face work made this look like something that could've shown up on TV in the mid 80s. This was another decent contest marred by an annoying lady trying to do heel commentary, basically shouting „kill him!“ and „snap his hand!“ all the time and being dismayed whenever Mason made a comeback. James Mason vs. Flash Barker (9/17/1998) More typical face vs. Heel stuff, but they aimed for something bigger here, going over 20 minutes, and doing a good job at that. Flash Barker isn't a very remarkable heel, but he did some amusing hide the foreign object stuff here and had a violent outburst in the last round that was convincing. They kept the match moving, and Masons super athletic moves and comebacks kept this highly entertaining all the way. „Young wrestler with cool flips and flying“ isn't exactly a groundbreaking concept but together with the effective structure and genuine heat here it works really really well. James Mason & Karsten Kretschmer vs. Robbie Brookside & Black Navy Seal (Germany 1999) This was pro filmed. I wonder what this was from as this was the very end of the traditional german wrestling. There was nothing traditional about the match, as it was a 10 minute sprint. There may have been clipping, but who knows. I'm so used to german wrestling being drawn out and all about milking heat, so this was very different. Everyone looked good, even Kretschmer, and Mason already looks like a complete wrestler and fits very well here cycling through spots. Black Navy Seal is Rasta the Voodooman who you may know from GWF or BattlARTS, so he has quite the penchant for popping up in obscure corners of pro wrestling. He looked good here though.

James Mason vs. Corporal Punishment (1996) This was the opening round of a tournament to decide the Middleweight Champion. Mason was in full babyface mode and the match was basically a 5 minute squash with the Corporal (a in every way generic masked wrestler) bumping around for Masons athletic offense. No restholds, so has about all you want from this type of match. James Mason vs. Steve Grey (1996) 2nd round in the tournament. Interesting matchup since Grey is one of the all time great brits, but they only get to go for about 7 minutes here. Good sprint as they just exchange the typical british holds and counters at a fast pace, and Grey still has great form. Mason gets the upset win (who is the underdog in a match between a 16 year old and a 60 year old guy?). James Mason vs. Flash Barker (1996) The finals of the tournament. This was the typical heel tactics vs. Babyface retaliation that is typical of british wrestling, with a little more crisp punches added from both guys. Barker looked decent pinballing around and throwing body shots. It didn't have the kind of hold work you'd expect from a british match but I guess that kind of stuff was gone at this point. Most importantly the crowd absolutely loved Mason.

So one of the best decisions I've made in 2019 so far is getting a James Mason comp. Mason is the greatest wrestler to come out of europe in the last 25 years. Flashy graceful worker with enough substance to keep you entertained and has a long career of looking good on tape. So with that being said, let's get WATCHING!! James Mason, Johnny South & Ulf Hermann vs. Dale Preston, Dave Taylor & PN News (Caernarfon, taped 27/2/1995) RESLO TV WAS STILL AROUND IN 1995??? And WOW based on this I want to see all the 1995 Reslo TV. This was a blast in all the unexpected ways. You have Johnny South as a Fake Road Warrior, Ulf Hermann as a mix between Fake Ultimate Warrior and Fake Sting, and a young James Mason with a head full of blonde hair. That alone is very telling of what european wrestling was like in 1995. And the match was just really really fun full of crisp action and everyone doing something cool. Kind of Eric Rs WCW syndicated dream match except it's in welsh BABY!!! This has elimination rules and Mason is out first, but he still gets to look good: smooth babyface spots, really nice worked open hands, enthusiastic clapping, big back body drop bump... all the base ingredients of a really great wrestler were there. Next we get to see Ulf Hermann absolutely working his ass off, hitting big dives, flip spots that were pretty crazy from such a huge, possibly roided dude, while Dave Taylor works like Fit Finlay hitting snug clotheslines and nasty chinlocks. I've always had a soft spot for Cannonball Grizzly/PN News and he is a really fun big fat dude here aswell, hitting Vader-like clubbing blows and lots of fat man diving moves, including a crazy Cactus Jack elbow. It comes down to South vs. Taylor and that was very very different from how that would have been 10 years earlier but South still looked good. And we get to watch all this madness thanks to 1 dudes VCR. Crazy crazy times. James Mason vs. Jason Cross (1995) We move on from the bright colors of Reslo TV to what british wrestling looked like in 1995: a tiny ring in a small multi purpose community hall in front of about 30 grannies and kids. This was filmed with one camera at a fixed angle, and there are serious vibes emanating from the imagery. The curtain behind the ring alone is haunting. As for the match, it was James Mason doing a Fuerza Guerrera like heel routine and that is so weird and really really fun. Really lighting up his opponent with those open hand shots, working ballshots, taking nice corner bumps and throwing water at the audience. At one point he goes at it with a ~10 year old in the crowd and ends up taking a bump for the kid. At another a big woman with a cain looks to give Mason a run for his money and an elderly lady gets in the ring. Jason Cross didn't do much here, and it was pretty clear Mason was the more athletic, better coordinated guy, not that it mattered because Mason gave a show here typical of a 10 year veteran carrying a green guy. Outstanding in every way. Apparently, James Mason was 15 YEARS OLD in these matches. Holy FUCK.

Tubby old white dudes punch eachother in the face for 20 minutes and it rules. Jesus why are old fat dudes so much better at wrestling?? Just the sucker punch from Kox alone that opens this is greater than what any skinny young dude currently wrestling can do. Most of the match is Kox beating down and cheapshotting Murdoch, who in turn comes up with all these great wind up punch combos. Despite this being No DQ Kox makes it a point to HIDE THE OBJECT. I guess keeping it in your pants is handier than carrying it around all the time and risk losing it. This is really about two guys with a variety of ways to hurt eachother, and a variety of ways to in turn put over that hurt. Kox is just ridiculous here, bumping huge, whipping his head back anytime he gets punched (a very minor but important thing he does better than just about anyone today). The best moment is easily when he eats the Calf Branding, coming up with the blood from his brow and this „Where am I?“ look on his face, and then he gets fucking kicked in the face with the saliva flying out his mouth... aside from all the great punches there are also some vicious stomps and knees from Murdoch that really look like they land with a ton of weight right on Koxs face. The crowd is really into Murdoch as a babyface, and while the match isn't super heated as a whole they react to all the key moments perfectly. To utter some criticism, the pace of the match (at roughly 20 minutes length) is a little slow, but really... this is two masters in their prime working their craft. And you get plenty of old style Brainbusters to top it off. Million star classic, really.

Robinson is a lot like a slightly less southern Terry Funk in this. He largely carries the action through mannerisms and bumping all over the place for Baba. At one point he even leans against Baba and gives him this really uppity „Why don't you chop me yeah“ look. Needless to say Robinsons grappling and counters aswell as the little touches such as going for a suplex in the middle of trading holds were all great and kept the match fresh the whole time. Baba doesn't exactly suck, but it's really blatant how Robinson is doing all the interesting stuff while Baba just sticks to his spots. He doesn't put Robinsons legwork over strongly either. This was a little too brief to be some kind of classic but watching Robinson work is truely a joy.

This was one of the first puro matches I've ever seen at it really got me into the whole old school wrestling. I soon had to watch every Destroyer match I could find. And well this holds up extremely well. It is considered the „precursor to the classic“ in regards to their 1974 match, but this match by itself is better than a lot of „classics“ in other match series. The grappling rules as it's almost 70s shootstyle. I'm guessing Mascaras was so uncooperative Destroyer basically just stuck to shoot throws and holds he had no way of preventing. Just really stiff (as in high resistance, no obvious going along), tight hold for hold work. After some trading of semi-carny holds Destroyer is able to sneak in a blow to Mils mid section, which feels like Volk Han getting punched in the liver, and he immediately follows up with shoulder blocks to the mid section holding Mascaras tights, with Mil looking like he really wanted to avoid those shoulder blocks. The finish to the 1st fall is really good with moves being teased and missing before a combination decides it. The 2nd fall immediately grabs the crowds attention by continueing from the finish of the previous fall. Mil Mascaras has his critics, probably rightfully so, but his uncooperative nature and tendency to eat a match up made for compelling pro wrestling here as the Destroyer really had to work hard to get a fall on him and try all kinds of different things. There are several Figure 4 teases, things get chippy, an had when Destroyer finally gets the hold Mil is awesome trying to get out of the move like a shootstylist by contorting his body. In the 3rd fall Mils selling was money, no questions about it, as he was hobbling around, trying to create space, stretching his leg as if to fix it, and desperately trying to fend off the Destroyer, who was just as desperate to pounce on the legs and get that darn Figure 4 again. Actually great finish which again plays of the 1st fall. So here you had an extremely psychologically sound, smart match that draws you in while delivering plenty of really good grappling. The 2nd fall doesn't quite hold up the intensity, but no qualms about it. This is the best match outside England that year in a cakewalk.

The same night as the Mascaras/Destroyer classic. 70S AJPW was loaded. This starts with some fun grappling that has Brisco wrenching Babas leg for a bit before Baba, undeterred by this, drops his bombs and takes the 1st fall pretty easily. The 2nd fall goes in similiar fashion before Jack is able to catch Baba by surprise. The last fall has Baba finally selling some kind of peril as Jack is giving his leg the business now and teasing the Figure 4. Good match that was pretty lean at around 20 minutes total and nice to see Baba adding to a match for once.

Brisco goes one on one with young Jumbo in a 30 minute textbook title match just days after his broadway with Dory Funk, Jr. Really really solid 70s style match. I always enjoy watching these tubby guys going through textbook holds and cutoffs, which in some way oddly foreshadow the 90s Kings Road structure of working extended control segments. Just when Jumbo was really putting the squeeze on Brisco with a chickenwing crossface and Brisco sold his arm and shoulder I thought this was getting really good but then Brisco just stopped acknowledging it. Generally I feel Brisco looks less like a dangerous hooker in AJPW than he did in the Inoki match altough that may be me thinking by association. Still the technical work was solid enough not to get boring. Jumbos slams from armbar is something I'm baffled hasn't been widely stolen. The flash pins in this ruled. Brisco sold for Jumbo in a big way typical of a touring champion. The 3rd fall wasn't as hot as it could have been indicating from the previous two with the crowd buzzing for Jumbo but they delivered a good finish. This wasn't mindblowing by any means but I probably liked this a little more than Brisco/Dory simply because it's shorter and much livelier.

Love this match and the atmosphere in this, however I thought this was strikingly a Destroyer carry job. I like Baba, I consider him a fun worker, better than you'd expect from looking at him and often better than average, but the fact people consider him some kind of genius wrestler is mystifying to me. The opening of this was all Destroyer who is just a masterful worker. He would bend Babas giant mutant hand to the point it was gonna pop, mix up his takedowns and come up with unique counters; all while keeping up his heel act to perfection and coming up with different ways to get a Figure 4. Meanwhile at no point was Baba making an effort to pretend Destroyers assault on his hand or leg was slowing down. I like how he would really squeeze Destroyer working an indian deathlock, but some of his holds came across as rest spots and definitely slightly dragged the match. Still all the textbook counterholds and cutoffs were really fun to watch. Again Destroyers mannerisms and bumping were off the charts in keeping this entertaining. Once the match came to a close it ended up being the usual Baba deal – he made an easy comeback and began dropping his bombs. Still the teasing of the Figure 4 throughout this was a masterful effort and it paid off in a big way in both endings.

WOW!! Thank you for bringing that NMC channel up! Totally flew under my radar.

Acute Sae was a youngster who could grapple. This was a bit like something Virus would with a student on a small show, so it was right up my ally. Smooth grappling and fun submissions. If Bolshoi worked like this more often and had stuck to it she would be among the very top tier of female workers. Sae is good mixing flying armbars against Bolshois more lucha esque style and I really liked her brief armwork, just trampling Bolshois arm as soon as she found an opening. Wouldn't mind to see this have gone longer but what do you know, Acute Sae retired just the same year.

2002 JWP was weird. Super low budget production with 1 camera and no lighting, but they are wrestling in this giant ring. This is kind of a dream match for me, and it was a lot of fun. They stuck to their bread and butter, which means flash submissions and counters. I would've liked this to be a little more competitive with actual mat exchanges, but it's a near miracle we even got a no bullshit singles match between the two on tape. Bolshoi was pretty dominant here, I guess because after floating around Michinoku Pro undercards Yagi didn't have much standing left, counter most of Yagis offensive attempts. I've seen Yagi push Yoshida to the limit and she still looked really athletic here, doing the Jaguar Yokota handspring and beautiful rollups, wish she had gotten to push Bolshoi a little too. But what we got was match full of the unique and nifty spots these two are famous for and it made me immensely happy.

Classy lucha title match. Faraon is such a great but rarely seen grappler, and this was one of those matches where you just sit back and watch a master work his magic. Not only did he always know what to do, he was transitioning seamlessly between his holds like shootstyle grappler. Also check out the way he would create space and defend himself when Atlantis tried working over his arm. Atlantis held up his end and provided some nice dives so I wouldn't say he was luggage here, altough it's pretty clear who is leading the dance here.

Really unique match. I know Alan Kilby can be pretty great, while King Ben hasn't done anything for me, but they both went all out here in a contest that was basically worked greco roman mixed with some shootstyle holds and stiff strikes. Forget about the classy british grappling and reversals, most of this was built around really intense lockups, attempted and failed throws and struggling over pin attempts. At one point Ben breaks out a top wristlock, Kilby starts working an armbar on the ground... add in some stiff, awkwardly landing strikes (including a flying headbutt from Ben that almost KOd Kilby) and sheer wild eyed determination from Kilby and you've got yourself one hell of a match. This match felt like it belonged in the 1960s rather than 1981, but the folks sat there in awe and really appreciated this contest that just kept building and building. Great finish too.

Well shocker, this was good. I've been a wXw sceptic forever, but gotta give it up for them flying in an old japanese guy almost no one has heard of and let him completely outwork their boy and everyone else on the show. I've never been blown away by Thatchers grappling and he didn't do anything great here either, but that may have been the story of the match. Basically Ishikawa outclasses Thatcher the whole way through, making up great counters and doing cool shit I've never seen him do before. Thatcher has to resort to potatoeing Ishikawa and he doesn't hold back. Some BattlARTS worthy smacks here. This doesn't reach the higher pantheon of Ishikawa singles match but that is a pretty high bar and for Ishikawa taking on an unfamiliar guy who looks so much bigger that it's seemingly not the best matchup and have a match this good is really impressive.

NOAH vs. NJ part two. Everyone is on fire! Liger is a no selling douche! Kikuchi is a mad old bugger who will take a chunk out of you without blinking! Clever nutshot spots! Mask ripping! Submissions are important! This match did a great job milking and amplifying the heat of the feud. Lean and strong pace with an emphasis on masks ripped open and nasty elbows from mount, this is the direction japanese wrestling should've kept going. Watch the backstage footage too!

I love that Kurashima pops up once in a blue moon on tape and has a nifty undercard bout. This was from a MUGA branded card but worked UWFi style. Nakano still looks good – his holds look extra hurty in that Greg Valentine hard-to-break way, and he will still put the hurt on anyone with his kicks, hands and skull. The turning point of the match came when Nakano dropped Kurashima with a snap brainbuster that left Kurashima groggy with nothing left but a few desperation takedowns which earned him nothing but a couple brutal KO's. Ending really felt like it could have been the conclusion to a classic rather than a forgotten undercard bout, if Kurashima was more over with the crowds.

Low Ki defends the ROH Title Man, Low Ki was just killing everyone in 2002. He was just blasting Xavier left and right here. Xavier is someone who is pretty much forgotten. I am not sure if it's unfair or not, as he looked like a good solid pro wrestler, with a tendency to do cool moves and not much of a clue on match structure. Structurally this wasn't great and they started running out of interesting ideas about 15 minutes into it, but Ki walloping Xavier over and over kept this entertaining. Should add Kis subtle leg selling was quiet great. Run in was pretty bad and took way too long.

4 guys who can go doing their thing for 24 minutes in a garage. Obviously getting to see Ishikawa in a lengthy match in 2019 is great, but the main reason I liked this is that everyone was pretty vicious. Ishikawa clogged Thatcher in the jaw during their first exchange, no real friendy grappling, lots of punches are thrown on the ground, Ringkampf would work over their opponents with nasty stomps and knees etc. Walter seems to understand how to not get stale as he hitting these Tenryu punts and busted out an awesome uranage. I haven't seen Irie in a while but his matwork was fun and he had these cool swinging Vader Hammers. Ishikawa was pretty much the star of the show always doing something interesting and not only grappling it out but also acting really smart. For example, he would get mount and work over Walters kidneys with glee only to get raddled by that big bear paw like austrian hand. This didn't build to something great but the action was very good throughout and there were a few highlights and smooth Ishikawa submissions to keep you happy.