Jetlag
-
Posts
2334 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Everything posted by Jetlag
-
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.
-
La Gran Guerrera I: Carlos Colon, Invader I, Bruiser Brody, Dutch Mantell & TNT vs Abdullah the Butcher, Hercules Ayala, Chicky Starr, Kareem Muhammad & Grizzly Boone 12/12/87 WWC This is a match where the result is almost better than the match itself. The opening of this is a bit like a battle royal, guys lean against the ropes and punch eachother. Invader #1 is by far the most enthusiastic guy here, throwing hands and really punting Chicky in the balls with a vengeance, while Colon is the one who pops the crowd. The handcuffing stuff doesn't look great altough I dig that Abby has forearms too huge to be handcuffed easily. It comes down to Iron Sheikh vs. Colon and Sheikh is really hammering Colons forehead with his fist. The match feels almost tame for Puerto Rico standards but after the match Sheik tries mutilating Colon with the belt and all the heels beat on the handcuffed faces. I'll say that Rip Rogers is absolutely hilarious on commentary yelling about Domingo Robles.
-
Starr comes in in his pomp. The next thing that happens is Invader angrily beating on him with a stick and having to be restrained. About 10 seconds into the match Starr is a bloody mess and Invader proceeds to make minced meat off of him. Starr does pretty fun job hanging on by a thread and making narrow cheating comebacks. Very very minimalist pro wrestling though which depends on how much you like well executed face vs. Heel stuff.
-
[1975-07-25-AJPW] Giant Baba vs Fritz von Erich (Texas Death)
Jetlag replied to paul sosnowski's topic in July 1975
Fritz von Erich is one of the grittiest pro wrestlers of all time, and slotting him in a double juice last man standing from 1975 produces a suitably gritty result. Fritz may have the greatest grimace in wrestling, as when he is covered in blood he looks straight out of a horror move and when his claw of doom slowly descends on Babas face you can sense real terror. I enjoyed Baba stomping and chopping away at Fritzs arm and shoulder with his giant mutant hands and feet, altough the hand work didn't prevent him from getting CLAW'd. Baba gasping for air like a fish out of water after Erich put the stomach claw on him was an epic visual. Still I wish I could see Fritz having this match against someone a little more energetic than Baba and I thought Baba decimating Fritz with his trademark weak chops wasn't the greatest finish. -
I'm not the biggest Koshinaka fan, but put him in a heated brawl and he can deliver. This was similiar to Koshinaka/Tenryu, and for old sumo guy who will kick you in the face Ishikawa isn't much below Tenryu. Ishikawa kicks, stomps and lariats were obviously incredibly violent, he just circles his prey and drives his boots really hard into the eye sockets, also seconds start brawling at one point (Kitahara spits on rowdy NJPW fans), Koshinaka bleeds and has some crazy selling... the nearfall ladden finishing run is really fun, and at one point Ishikawa drops Koshinaka throat first on the ropes when he went for his goofy hip attack. In short, it was everything a WAR vs. NJPW main event needs to be.
-
I'm a Hiro Saito fan so him getting to work semi main event on a card full of nasty violent brawls is excitig. And this was another really fun nasty violent brawl. It needed some blood, but other than that this delivered. Just two dudes dropping each other with one nastier move after another. Some nasty as hell exposed turnbuckle bumps, and old man Kengo Kimura will still crack your ribs. Saito uses about 3 moves but all in about the stiffest possible variation. He does a nosebreaker which is like a jawbreaker except he breaks the other guys nose, he hits some stiff as hell thrust kicks and of course his senton is the greatest thing in the world. For a match that starts violent they continue to escalate the violence pretty well. Early Saito hits a standing senton – which looked like it absolutely sucked, then later a senton from the 2nd rope which almost knocks Kimura out, when he finally goes to the top rope for the big senton you think Kimura is going to die.
-
This was fun but didn't quite live up to the violent potential of the match, due to SS Machine not really living up to it. Mostly Machine works over Aoyagis bandaged arm while Aoyagi makes fun kick based comebacks. Machines rudo work okay but he really needed to bring a little more violence on a card that was full of violent braws, just don't buy his noodle arm lariats putting away Aoygi. Perfectly fine stuff and there was some good close quarter fighting at one point but feels like a waste of an Aoyagi singles in a heated feud.
-
Uuh what to you think happens in this match. Two thickly built japanese dudes have a tea party or something? No they beat the hell out of eachother. Hara starts this match working like Kurisu, trying to take the match to the outside and brain Saito with chairs. Meanwhile Saito just tries to cave Haras chest in with kicks. I've no idea why no japanese promotion (besides W*ING for a brief moment) has tried to do more with Saito in the 90s because he was a perfectly good b-side Hashimoto and the crowd loved him here. Lots of nasty kicks and lariats, Hara takes bigger bumps than you'd expect from a thick old dude, and they keep it short and sweet.
-
A nice reminder why the NJPW vs. WAR feud was one of the greatest things in history. A mix of great heat and messy out of control violence. This is really pro wrestling vale tudo, two guys trying to fuck eachother up, they would go to the ground, but there would be eye gouging there and as soon as they got up they would throw kicks and headbutts again. Kitahara was just killing Kobayashi here with brutal kicks to the eye and Kobayashi holds up his own just running into Kitahara with headbutts repeatedly. The rules in this were a little weird, there doesn't seem to be pinfalls and Tiger Hattori is watching from ringside like a super libre match. At the end one guy takes a series of brutal DDTs and is choked out and after lying motionlessly for what felt like an eternity they decide to stop the match. Pretty unique and stands out as one of the most brutal match endings in the feud which covers a loooooot of ground.
-
This post cannot be displayed because it is in a password protected forum. Enter Password
-
Double juice brawl with mask ripping. Some of this felt like typical joshi (lots of piledrivers and some slightly easy transitions) but the gritty fighting, brutal chairshots and some nice moments during the finishing run moved this into above average territory. There was a particularily nice dive from Cooga which felt out of a lucha bloodbath in terms of timing. Kimura was probably the most reliable worker in JD' and this was another good showing.
-
They show about 22 minutes of a 60 minute draw. Damn you to hell GAORA TV editors, because this looked damn great, potentially the greatest match Asuka has ever been in. Asuka was working different from her later 90s-early 2000s stuff, no cute stuff or table shenanigans, just straight no nonsense wrestling with little rope running. Most of the first 15 minutes was matwork and Asuka lacing up Bison with kicks. Bison get her in a Stretch Plum which she didn't like at all so she bloodied her mouth and demolished her with a series of brutal kicks. I'm not sure if Asuka was bloodied by Kimuras punches or simple by getting Bisons blood on her, but both of them struggling over a Scorpion Deathlock with the blood all over them was quite the epic visual. The middle portion of about 30 minutes is almost completely removed. The ending looked damn intense with Bison barely getting her shoulders up on a pinfall, Asuka countering Bisons Chop with a Fujiwara armbar and going mad with spinning wheel kicks etc. Really maddening to get robbed of a potential classic like this.
-
About 10 minutes of 15 shown. This starts out with a bang as Yokota misses a big dive to the floor and Cooga lands a Tombstone, then follows up with rabbit punches to the back of the head and Yokotas face, bloodying her. Cooga would continue to work over Yokotas neck, hitting another piledriver on a table and a big knee to the back of the head, while Yokota tried to make technical comebacks. This could've easily built to a classic but instead a wonky transition happens were Cooga apparently injures herself hitting a senton and Yokota just gives her the business hitting 2 kneeling piledrivers on the floor and then beating her with the double underhook kneeling piledriver. Maybe something essential was clipped out but yeah.