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Everything posted by Jetlag
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I actually thought the opening mat exchanges were the highlight of this match. Akiyama lost his calling as a shootstyle grappler, and it's really nice to see an All Japan match open with guys working leg rides and fighting over single legs and the crowd reacting to the small victories in all that. But after that... man, fuck this match. Anytime someone he gets hit he starts no selling while continueing to block incoming hits with his face. Some long and meaningless legwork ensues, three dozen suplexes are thrown... fuck that suplex exchange. With a VENGEANCE! Man, I hate wrestling.
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[1998-04-18-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in April 1998
This is a match that left me really dry. You can only watch so many AJ epics before it gets irritating. The "fast paced opening with surprise big moves" would be a lot more exciting if those big moves didn't get no sold constantly. Then a bunch of filler stuff ensues and Akiyama out of nowhere almost breaks Misawa's face with the reverse calf branding and drops him straight on his head with the GANZO PEDIGREE and you wonder what the hell the point of all this is. The one cool thing in the match was Misawa countering the attempted exploder outside the ring.- 10 replies
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- AJPW
- Championship Carnival
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(and 5 more)
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[1998-04-11-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in April 1998
Jun Akiyama has a mustache! „Maybe if I grow this beard, I will finally be taken seriously as a main eventer?“ Man, what the FUCK is going on in AJPW with every match going 30 minutes?? Make this a little more compact, and you would've ended up with a serious MOTYC. Peppering things up with some holds and teasing spots rather than hitting them adds a lot to the usual AJ formula. Akiyama going for Dragon Screws after getting punished with crossfaces and boston crabs was so much better than Akiyama hitting a bazillion exploidas and heinys. The same can be said for Kobashi who came back with a big chop that nearly broke Akiyama's face. They miscalculated the match pacing, so they were forced to do a bunch of laying around between nearfalls and the last 10 minutes of this were just really stretched paper thin and somewhat forced. Still, the struggling and teasing over big moves was world class (of course being 1998 they also throw out a little too many big moves. Man, it's weird when the Orange Crush is just another move to throw out for a nearfall). Kobashi had one of his better days, hitting an awesome STO and being on point with his leg selling.- 9 replies
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- AJPW
- Championship Carnival
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(and 5 more)
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[1998-02-03-BJW-Indy Hyper J Tournament] Yoshihiro Taijiri vs Gedo
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in February 1998
This was like a sleazy little version of Liger/Sano as Gedo immediately pounces on Tajiri's bad arm while every move Tajiri hits is either a kick to the face or some crazy highspots. Really great selling Tajiri performance with the consistent armselling and constantly working to draw the audience in. Gedo's arm work wasn't frantic but he hit some hard dropkicks and stomps and had a few cool holds to torture him. The explosive sequences towards looked great after they had suckered the audience in with a few double counts and I loved that the work on the shoulder would set up the Gedo Clutch as a dangerous move. Smart indy junior match and an early career highlight for Tajiri.- 8 replies
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- BJPW
- February 3
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(and 4 more)
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Where is the anywhere version of Bull Nakano? Moreover, can someone please create another Fujiwara in a petri dish?
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[1998-03-29-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in March 1998
Solid match with lots of neat exchanges throughout. However, it was reaaaal long and also felt really inconsequential. Kawada opens by hitting a big brainbuster, which allows him to work on Misawa's neck for a little, then Misawa nearly KOs him a couple times, then Kawada works his back some... and so forth. It doesn't feel like it's building anywhere, and there was very little urgency. Really one of the most obvious 30 minute draws I've watched. I enjoyed the finish, which saw them bust out things like a Chaos Theory, big knee drop or neckbreaker drop for nearfalls to keep things a little fresh. I also dug the double Tiger Driver spot, „yeah, it's 28 minutes into the match now, I could go for a pin... but I know you're way tougher than this, so have another you son of a bitch.“- 7 replies
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- AJPW
- Championship Carnival
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[1998-03-26-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in March 1998
Parts of this came across as an AJPW epic on autopilot, which is, however, still a really good match. Some really good strike exchanges, Akiyama trying his best to stay in control early on, only to eat a nasty Backdrop Suplex which lead to some gritty work on his neck. Akiyama fights back hitting a Dragon Screw which in turn sets up some good legwork (including a killer spot where they struggle over a Sharpshooter) and some excellent selling from Kawada. It's this kind of A leads to B match structure that is really simple and maybe predictable but still ends up producing an enjoyable match. Finish run had some badass strikes such as Kawada hitting an awesome Abisegiri and Akiyama desperately escaping a Powerbomb only to eat a lariat to the back of the head. Some of the obvious „prolonging the match“ stuff such as Kawada locking in another Stretch Plum only to release it and go for a pin (something that about never produces a finish) or Kawada suddenly deciding his leg was hurt again felt pretty dated. The one thing I actively disliked was how everytime Kawada hit a yakuza kick Akiyama would hulk up immediately. Stop hitting that strike then, will you?- 6 replies
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- AJPW
- Championship Carnival
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(and 5 more)
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Always good to see the UWFi crew kicking ass in AJPW. Akiyama grappling with Kakihara is so much more interesting than the usual opening. Takayama mauling everyone ruled. Unfortunately, I thought Kobashi was kind of lousy here aside from one awesome suplex on Kakihara. He didn't really sell a great deal to get the crowd invested and his choice of comebacks was poor. Akiyama looked excellent, he should have worked shootstylists on a regular basis. Crowd didn't seem to know what to make of Kakihara's submissions which led to some awkward silence despite the work being good.
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I'll be disappoitned if all this doesn't lead to PWO doing a HOAT project The individual discussions probably wouldn't be that different from how we evaluate workrate. "I thought Sunny was hot when I was 12, but her post prime material has put a real dent on her. I've grown to value longevity over peak attractiveness." "Sable is canonized as the hottest wrestler of all time, and anyone who thinks she shouldn't be #1 is a COMMIE HIPSTER" "You didn't have any mexican workers in your Top 70? Racist. Is it not obvious that western fans are more looking towards japanese workers because they are insecure about their own masculinity?" "Some may say Harley Race was boring and has aged badly, but I still prefer him over today's hairless skinny boys." "I think Mighty Inoue deserves more discussion." "How come no female workers made the Top 30? Sure an influx of outside voters has something to do with this." Shodate Rule: "but how do they compare too Volk han. his look wa for more realistic which i value more than any1 ehere it seems"
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Headcheese
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Wrestlers with largest timespan between 2 great matches
Jetlag replied to Jetlag's topic in Pro Wrestling
Finlay's last great match was the year he retired against Tajiri (2012). There may have been others that year but that's the Finlay Of the Year IMO. So that makes 30-29 years for him. Not bad. -
IWA Japan Battle Station 4/8/98 SPRING BREEZE Tour '98 taped 3/13/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Takeshi Sato & Turtuger vs. Cosmo * Soldier & The Great Takero Masao Orihara & Hidetomo Egawa vs. Perseus & Akinori Tsukioka Benkei Daikokubo & Katsumi Hirano vs. Nuruka & Shinigami Sumie Sakai vs. Emi Motokawa Keisuke Yamada & Keizo Matsuda & Shigeo Okumura vs. The Great Kabuki & Ryuma Go & Tarzan Goto Well I'll be damned, because this was a damn cool little card where every match delivered something worthwhile. Well, except that tag with Benkei and Shinigami maybe - aaaahhh let's not talk about it! The opener was a cool little junior's match which they totally should not have clipped. Cosmo Soldier always adds a sense of unpredictability even to standard opening exchanges. He will hit a stiff dropkick and then start working mount and then hit an insane tope con hilo, all in the span of 2 minutes. Same for the 2nd match, which had some nice hate filled exchanges and sleaziness. Never seen Hidetomo Egawa before, but he was working a kickpadded quasi-BattlARTS style, so that's great, and Tsukioka is looking like one of the best undercard workers around. The semi main event was like the perfect 90s match to put on a VHS comp - just one nifty move after another. Also, impeccable fashion sense that both girls displayed! Color combinations like this will never come back. The main event was great too and I wrote up a full review in the match discussion archive. So,this show was a breeze to watch and every match left me wanting to seek out more of the guys involved. Wrestling in 1998 was a blast.
- 92 replies
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- Wrestle Dream Factory
- W*ING
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(and 1 more)
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[1998-01-26-AJPW-New Year's Giant Series] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in January 1998
The opening of this match is great – unpredictable, and set the tone for the match. But after Akiyama hits the tombstone on the floor, the whole thing just falls off of a cliff. Akiyama is doing everything he can possibly do to keep control and put Misawa away, but it doesn't work. Misawa kicks out of his own move at 1 and no sells back to offense. By all logic Misawa should have lost this. As a result of the choppy put together structure they keep losing the crowd. In the end Akiyama looks like a wuss because none of his killer moves could get the job done, and Misawa ended up on top through the power of booking. A perfect example of how a match between two great wrestlers can screw itself over through bad layout.- 12 replies
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- AJPW
- New Years Giant Series
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(and 5 more)
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Johnny Ace – least talked about 90s AJ guy? He was a pretty good stand in for Misawa as Kobashi's tag partner here. His stuff is not as overexposed as the rest of the AJ crew and his games around hitting Ace Crushers and DDTs are neat. I really liked the parts where they beat the shit out of eachother. Lots of kicks and slaps to the face. The early going was around the Holy Demon Army trying to exploit weaknesses, and the Dynamic Dudes trying to, you know, prevent them from doing that. Eventually though Kawada almost decapitates Kobashi with a nasty headkick which allows Taue to set up some leg work. The leg work ended up being filler but was gritty enough and didn't go long. Quite the epic destruction of Kobashi towards the end with a great build to an apron spot. Some neat sequences around Kobashi & Ace trying to prevent the inevitable. The main thing I didn't like was the tendency to absorb a strike, and then hulk up and hit a strike of your own, which had crept into All Japan at this point. There's nothing dumber than making an angry face after you got kicked in the face. Other than that, good job crew.
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- Johnny Ace
- Toshiaki Kawada
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(and 5 more)
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Ayako Hamada vs. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai 4/19) was a really fun match between two thickly built wrestlers. I really liked the opening exchanges, nice matwork and shoulderblocks, with Hamada's snappy lucha armdrags looking credible against Hashimoto's amateur stuff. I loved how well they worked stuff like abdominal stretch reversals and with Hashimoto moves like a hip toss or senton look brutal because she's so thick. The match didn't have great direction but there was some sense of build (e.g. building to Hashimoto hitting the 2nd rope senton, building to the first german suplex, building to first big Hashimoto nearfall with the short arm clotheslines etc). Ayako Hamada has been one of the sharpest wrestlers in the world for years and her picking apart Hashimoto with kicks looked great.
- 1 reply
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- Ayako Hamada
- Chihiro Hashimoto
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(and 3 more)
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I also watched a fun Dradtion opening tag - Super Tiger & Sanshu Tsubakichi vs. Ryuta Hasumi & Nobuyuki Kurashima (4/20). Kurashima has been an opening match guy for 20 years and he is an underrated dude. He will always do something cool like bust out a nice judo throw or look in a nasty hold. He also has a mustache now so he looks like 60s-70s era JWA midcarder and he hit some nice european uppercuts and back elbows too. Some cool matwork, stiff shots especially from Tsubakichi, young guy Hasumi looking fine and Super Tiger 2 getting the most out of his miserable self hitting a nice kick combo and cool Octopus Hold variation for the finish.
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- Sanshu Tsubakichi
- Super Tiger II
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Wrestlers with largest timespan between 2 great matches
Jetlag replied to Jetlag's topic in Pro Wrestling
Aja Kong -- 27 years tag with Grizzly Iwamoto, Nakano and Bison Kimura in 1990 vs Chihiro Hashimoto (2017) Two others who are approaching that level: Meiko Satomura -- 22 years vs. Toshiyo Yamada (1996) vs. Io Shirai (2018) Ayako Hamada -- 20 years vs. Mariko Yoshida (1998) vs. Chihiro Hashimoto (2018) -
Wrestlers with largest timespan between 2 great matches
Jetlag replied to Jetlag's topic in Pro Wrestling
The Fargo match is just a clip though, right? And yeah I forgot about that tag with the exoticos. That was a riot indeed. -
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[1998-01-14-Michinoku Pro] Mens Teoh vs Shoichi Funaki
Jetlag replied to Loss's topic in January 1998
Yeah - technical wrestling! BORING! Honestly, I thought this was a terrific match. They whip out a bunch of cool western style matwork and it's awesome. Teioh lost his calling as a studio TV worker - he looked up THERE, working cobra clutches and dropping the elbow on the joint. I honestly think with better/more straightened out limb selling his would have a serious shot at junior MOTY. Souhern scientific matwork, shootstyle leglocks, funky lucha submissions, it's all here, and they worked it all really tight. They did a great job drawing the crowd into what was ultimately a long match between two guys who are not the biggest stars on the roster. I thought the Shawn Capture stuff was a little overdone, but hey, that stuff was HOT in 1998. I dug all the tricked out reversals - especially Teioh spinning out of the Sharpshooter attempt. The finisher reversal stuff worked too, as they basically had the best possible US indy match - 10 years ahead. Rollups looked ultra tight and actually ended up meaning something. Yeah so what, I enjoyed this.- 9 replies
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- Michinoku Pro
- January 14
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(and 3 more)
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Who has a claim to have had great matches in 2 years the furthest apart? Examples Terry Funk -- 35 years vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (1976) vs. Jerry Lawler (2011) Johnny Saint -- 35 years vs. Jim Breaks (1973) vs. Mike Quackenbush (2008) Yoshiaki Fujiwara -- 33 years vs. Super Tiger (1984) vs. Shinya Aoki (2017) Jerry Lawler -- 30 years vs. Terry Funk (1981) vs. The Miz (2011) Negro Casas -- 29 years vs. Fuerza Guerrera (1986) vs. Dragon Lee (2015) Antonio Inoki -- 27 years vs. Chris Markoff (1969) vs. Vader (1996) Hijo del Santo -- 26 years vs. Espanto Jr. (1986) w Villano IV vs. Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr (2012) Verne Gagne -- 24 years vs. Billy Goelz (1950) vs. Billy Robinson (1974)
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Baba's 60th birthday. This is all about Old Man Baba Does All Kinds of Improbable Things. Including: blocking chops with his matchstick arms! Technical wrestling! Test of strengths with Kobashi! The crowd is hot for all things involving Baba, while the rest of the match was somewhat dry. I guess there's no reason to bring the workrate when you are there to make your geriatric boss look good. Mossman got smacked and stretched good, and Misawa did almost KO Kawada with an elbow, but nothing ever amounted to much. There was also plenty of „take punishment, then no sell back to offense“. Fuchi hits the Greatest Fistdrop at one point, but it's all lost in a stream of things happening. It's kind of cool these guys can go 30 minutes with corpselike Baba and have a match that never drags, but I was hoping for something a little less mindless.
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- Giant Baba
- Toshiaki Kawada
- (and 9 more)
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Man, 1998 was truely the year of GOOD MATWORK. Felino is an ultra talented dude who gets overlooked because he is mainly in the ring with overshadowing all time greats, but once you stop ogling the Hijo del Santos and Negro Casases around him and focus on him you notice he is a top notch wrestler of his own. Felino was just a beast on the mat here. A CMLL title match is bound to be technical and have some matwork, but I didn't expect him to grind Karloff down like he did here. Working full mount and nasty half nelsons. I guess with a guy like Karloff Lagarde Jr. you can't really do the same complex and beautiful sequences you normally would, so Felino decided to just do a bunch of real grappling with minimum cooperation required. Karloff seemingly accidentally catches a cool leglock and does the neat thing where he steps on Felino's foot, so for a moment I thought the dude may be talented, but then he started goofing around and not knowing what to do when Felino went to par terre and expected him to work some amateur moves of his own. It almost seemed like a bit of a rib to expose the poor geek, and the finishes to the 2nd and 3rd fall weren't anything that gets the blood pumping. Still Felino was up there with the Mile Zrnos and Mariko Yoshidas as far as kickass matworkers of 1998 go. I wonder what was being said after the match.
- 1 reply
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- Felino
- Karloff Lagarde Jr.
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Yeah, I'm pimping a Hirota match now. What are you gonna do about it? This was a cool sprint that WORKED and told a STORY due to Hirota being Hirota. This was before she was a total clown act, so she actually tried to be competitive with Meiko by rushing her with hip attacks and rollups, and Meiko putting her in place with arm-snapping flash submissions and general viciousness. Hirota's Hip Attacks work because she has a variety of them – hip attack to the shoulder, hip attacke to the side of the head, avalanche hip attack etc. Match a few neat moments (including Hirota reversing the armbreaker in a great sequence) and Hirota's partial sloppiness actually added to the match. Also, badass finish where Hirota keeps blocking Satomura's finisher so Satomura does like a modified judo throw into her DVB. Never seen that anywhere.
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- Meiko Satomura
- Sakura Hirota
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(and 3 more)
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Uhh actually this thread was s'posed to be about his general take on pro wrestling and not a JBP & buzzwords general. Personally I know too little about him to judge how morally good or bad he is, but measuring someone by the worst of his fans is not very nice. You wouldn't like it if someone did that to pro wrestling either, let alone some of history's greatest thinkers. Nietzsche, Heidegger and so on, they've all had some jerks for a fanbase. (Not that I'm defending Heidegger. Fuck his incomprehensible hogwash). I actually found it interesting that he mentioned Bret Hart was maybe at some point the most famous canadian in the world. And a hero to 120 million people. How does that work, global babyface appeal, despite cultural difference and all? Let's not even begin with John Cena. Kids everywhere love that guy no matter where on the globe. Hell, we all find guys we like and root for all the time, no matter how far back in time or on the globe we go. Seems that he's just a mark for Stu.