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Jetlag

DVDVR 80s Project
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Everything posted by Jetlag

  1. Jetlag
    Man, where did all the great 6 man tags go? They don't seem terribly hard to do. Just throw a couple guys in who can go while keeping things logical, maybe one or two to give the match some backstory, and let them go at it. Kikuchi takes a big beating including getting manhandled and kicked in the face by Jumbo, Kawada and Taue have a standout interaction, and Misawa gets to look like a world beater whenever he's in. The Jumbo/Kikuchi interactions are especially compelling because Jumbo can believably finish Kikuchi off in 30 seconds. The white hot finish speaks for itself. These days people associate multiman tags with excessive spots and action, but they had the crowd flipping out over a powerslam or dropkick. Quality shit from the AJ crew.
  2. Jetlag
    Man, I forget what a great fight this was. Crazy UWF grappler Backlund was so cool to watch. Easily the best stuff he ever did. Basically Backlund irritates Cool Guy Funaki a bunch so Funaki tries to beat him to a pulp, including knife edge chopping him in the face. Supposedly the UWF people didn't like Backlund's pro style spots (altough Funaki starts working more pro stylish himself), and it almost felt like Backlund was being intentionally goofy to piss Funaki off. He even seemed to be smirking for a few moments. The best part is that Funaki can't seem to crack Backlund. I loved how Backlund would take a beating, but seemingly toy around and then fuck Funaki up with a single blow. Also dug how easily he threw Funaki off and reversed his holds. The non-finish is a bummer, but I can't really imagine a proper finish for a match this bizarre.
  3. Jetlag
    This was quite the clash of the titans style match. Picture it like the scene in a western where a big gunfight breaks out and lots of stuff breaks and lots of people get shot. Takada is kind of a slug, but Maeda carries him fine on the mat, and both guys go into standing exchanges as if ready to die. Not the most pure or artful fight, but brutal and dramatic to the max.
  4. Jetlag
    This was such a gruelling battle. Maeda maybe a more compelling matchup for Fujiwara than Sayama, because he can go on the mat, and is larger, so we get all this compelling matwork were Fujiwara has to control or defend against him with double concentration. This was slow, but dripping with intensity right from the start. Fujiwara teaching his opponent a lesson on the mat and coming back through barrages of kicks was so awesome. He came across as the toughest, most determined man on the planet. Both guys wincing while in the double leg lock was such an epic visual. The finish I didn't see coming at all, but this is why shootstyle rules: it fit the story of the match, and both guys came out looking like the baddest dudes alive.
  5. Jetlag
    This is less experimental and outlandish than their previous matches. At this point they knew how to use the nuances of the style they created to full effect. The wrestling wasn't anything mindblowing or inventive like in the match a little more than a year before this and there were a few parts on the mat that felt like window dressing to the more showy stuff in the match, but the tightness of the fight was great as usual. Sayama altough unmasked looked a little more lunatic than usual with how he was throwing himself at Fujiwara to kick him, and they used the new 10 counts to full effect. One thing that irks me is that the story wasn't as sharp as before. For example, in both the previous matches they tease Fujiwara getting a german suplex, which ST desprately avoids, in this match Fujiwara gets it really easily and Sayama just no sells it to sit on Fujiwara some more. That was something that really irked me along with the matwork being not quite as compelling as before. Still, a really good fight that lays out the blueprint for the style.
  6. Jetlag
    The previous match saw Fujiwara mangling Tiger for the entire match before getting caught in a whirlwind of kicks. If Fujiwara has learned that Tiger has the edge standing, he tries to even things out a little here by using Sayama as a punching bag. That corner punch combo is easily the greatest I've seen in a worked match. He also mangles Sayama even worse than in the last match. Sayama doesn't have quite the mat skill to really be a great matchup for Fujiwara on the mat besides a nice move here or there, it's pretty much irrelevant as Fujiwara is so great at working holds. Eventually though Fujiwara gets what's coming to him as Tiger discovers that he can just kick him in the head while he's down over and over. He dishes out such a savage beating that it's almost hard to see the two halves of the bout as one match as they are so distinct. It really gives out the vibe that the ruleset (and referee) that UWF was using at the time was not prepared for this kind of dangerous violence, and Fujiwara is very believable at selling that he's at a point human beings previously haven't been at and therefore close to getting killed on his not so easy mission. I did love the two Fujiwara comebacks though, one of which involves him stepping on Tiger's toes. So yeah, in a sense this the original BattlARTS match. Really good wrestling and savage street fighting.
  7. Jetlag
    This was such a beautiful bout. The great thing about shootstyle is that it is japanese wrestling with high end matwork. Gotch's vision was to bring back the focus on wrestling, and this gave Fujiwara the opportunity to go nuts. The grinding, super intense submission hold work here was fantastic as was the use of throws and strikes. So many great moves. This was total peak level performance from Fujiwara. One might have their issues with this kind of prehistoric shootstyle which naturally had some stylistic experimentation, but at no point did they get cute, and the heavyweight vs. junior story was executed in really compelling fashion. Sayama redeems himself for his years of being a spotty gymnast by delivering a strong selling performance. Still, this was all Fujiwara tricks and magic.
  8. Jetlag
    I don't mean to prod you further, but (according to wikipedia) Crosby is 180 cm and has 91 kg. Chris Hero is 196 cm and (supposedly) 120 kg, Owens is 183 cm and 121 kg. If someone wants to argue all 3 guys are overweight by some standard, they will have to consider that all 3 are overweight to a different degree. Besides that it's never a good idea to use an athlete like Crosby, an extreme outlier compared to the general public, as an example. It's also debatable whether the athlete is a great role model at all considering athletes often end up with shot bodies after their careers. The same also goes for extraordinary tall people let alone wrestlers. I'm sure Kevin Owens joints and body will eventually tell whether he lived at his ideal weight, altough he's a guy who got slammed into mats, dropped on his head and had ladders chucked at him for years of his life so it's probably ridiculous to argue about health risks anyways. Eitherways it's ridiculous to argue that people who call a dude that's 40 kgs above the average male weight fat are somehow feeding into other people's eating disorders.
  9. Jetlag
    If you think wrestling fans being mad at wrestlers for being fat is wrong you should seriously reconsider your worldview. RoH fans being mad at Morishima for squashing their kickpadded heros with his fat butt made his RoH run so much better. Don't even get me started about Buddy Rose trolling rubes with his weight etc. If a wrestler is being heckled for anything, and the guy has any brains at all he will use it for great effect. This is not exclusive to weight. Is fans booing a guy for being too old age shaming? Is booing wrestlers who are too queer homophobic? It sure is, but I'd still rather watch Rene Lasartesse than RJ Brewer.
  10. Jetlag
    Ha, this was pretty much a Volk Han blockbuster. The crowd reactions may have carried this match. Parts of this could be found the exact same in a Negro Navarro match. This was the typical native vs. foreigner match where the russian maestro freaks out the young native with his crazy submissions while the hopeless japanese guy tries to make a rally with strikes and some desperation submissions. Could have used a bit more extensive matwork, but they hit all the marks in that formula. I don't think Yamamoto is great like some people, but he did fine here and Han is Han. The best part was really the finish where Yamamoto almost gets his arm snapped, then makes this heroic comeback before getting squished like a bug again. Yoshihisa Yamamoto, this was not your night.
  11. Jetlag
    I like this fine, but probably wouldn't recommend it. It was pretty slow and didn't have a any great story to it to keep things together, but Race put a good beating on Jumbo, and there were a few funny bits and bumps. Also those deadlift suplexes. Jumbo seemed to have issues with his selling here. Somehow I get the feeling that they didn't clip anything too exciting from the match.
  12. Jetlag
    This took a loooong time to get going. Most of the early exchanges are built around your-turn my turn stuff and no selling, which was kind of tedious, and Misawa not doing much. The most interesting thing was Nagata going at it with the Kings Roadians, but Nagata is not the type of worker who can salvage a match. Finally we get a decent heat section on Kobashi leading into a big ol' ending run with all the big moves and cool counter work you want. Still it's hard not to look at this and point out things that went wrong with japanese wrestling in the 2000s. Big moves like Kobashi's sleeper suplex or orange crush are used as throwaway spots, and the story around Kobashi's leg is merely a side note.
  13. Jetlag
    NOAH vs. NJPW! Everyone acts like a heel! Liger is a disdainful prick! Kikuchi gives a top level performance! Tanaka and Kanemaru actually add to the match! I dunno, this was very enjoyable. Liger pummels the hell out of the NOAH guys and acts like a bastard, while Kikuchi is equally fired up and takes some murderous bumps and hits. The most amazing thing about the match is probably that it works while Minoru Tanaka and Kanemaru are in it. Those guy tend to be lousy, but they are effective here. Don't be fooled Kanemaru is still Kanemaru and has no presence whatsoever, while Tanaka falls into get-this-shit in territory at times, but Kanemaru hits his moves well and Tanaka heels it up nicely, so their stuff comes across as less dull than usual. The heel moves and chippiness aswell as some really fun, borderline Monterrey-like sequences keep it entertaining the whole way and they end the thing at the right time. I dunno if all that is merriting of all-time classic status but it's one of the better 2 vs. 2 junior tags I've seen in japanese wrestling that's for sure.
  14. Jetlag
    Chaparita ASARI vs. Hiromi Yagi (Sky High of ARSION Title, 12/11) Common ARSION, give Yagi something to do! But they clip this to shit. We get to see all the spectacular moves, and damn these two have spectacular moves. Flash submissions and highspots. There seemed to be some selling going on between all the killer moves, but we just didn't get to see it. Travesty. Michiko Ohmukai/Magnum TOKYO vs. Mikiko Futagami/Sumo Fuji (12/11) Toryumon invades. Match was mostly hick comedy with Futagami and Fuji perving on their opponents. Yes, they clipped the previous Yagi/ASARI match so we get to see Fuji teaching Futagami the Sumo Stance and Futagami and TOKYO kissing! How's that for you fangirls! The rest of the match was pretty much Toryumon style. A bunch of pretty moves pasted together. The highlight of the bout was the Ohmukai/Tokyo double entrance, with them wearing matching fescennine outfits.
  15. Jetlag
    I wish we had more Van Buyten in general. He was already in his mid 40s when the 80s came around. Also keep in mind he was paralyzed for a good chunk of the 70s, and looking at the way he flew over the top rope here kind of gives you an idea why.
  16. Jetlag
    So so fun. I have no clue where these chunky japanese middleweights learned to do these graceful, floating moves, but I will watch and enjoy. I want to call this state of the art, but for all we know this kind of match could have been done 20 years before in Peru. Whatever. These guys have really great execution and work almost like luchadores, with the swank rope climbing takeovers and spaceman armdrags and whatnot. They also slap the shit out of eachother! Animal takes a painful looking bump! Nearfall-ladden finishing stretch! For a workrate juniors match this was quite a joy to watch.
  17. Jetlag
    A trios from 1972! Easily one of the funnest matches ever. Whoever booked the near-midget Ali Bey on the same team as Andre had some serious saviness. We start off with some swank technical work between Van Buyten and Teranishi, but soon shenanigans from the apron involving Andre ensue. The interactions between Van Buyten and Andre are solid gold. The wrestling isn't much worse - Andre bumps big! Ali Bey has some hilarious selling, including constantly hitting his head against things! Sugiyama is another hilarious character, and only tagged in for about 3 minutes. Teranishi does the bulk of the work for his team (probably for the better) and gets to look really slick. But the dedication Andre and Franz have to miscommunication spots is something else here. Andre is just incomparable. At one point, Franz keeps getting flung over the top rope to the outside, onto Andre and then back inside. It leads to Franz taking a huge bump to the outside. I like how the foreign heels still remain dangerous despite being total knobheads, as Andre finishes opponents off in a matter of minutes. So yeah, great match that will have you in stitches if you have an ounce of humor in you. One of my favourites from Andre, good showcase for Teranishi, and so cool to see what Franz could do when he wasn't playing babyface. A must watch.
  18. Jetlag
    This was long, slow and had a lot of holds, so not for the faint of the heart. However, I enjoyed this. It delivered the kind of big guy clobbering you want from a Gordy/Hansen match and was the type of hard fought bout I like. Gordy injuring his arm by trying to a elbow a charging Hansen was a nifty spot and lead to some strong limb psychology. A deseperate Gordy hammering away at Hansen was really good. Eventually Steve Williams runs in to help fix Gordy's elbow. You see, he is a doctor after all! It leads to some amusing bits where Hansen and Gordy try to catch an elbow pad, and Williams plays into the finish in a unique way. Fun match.
  19. Jetlag
    Just the last 10 or so minute of what looked like a solid match. The highlight was easily Kawada and Kabuki waffling eachother. Also, Inoue gets the snot beaten out of him by the young punks but wins with flash rollup, which is one of my favourite things. Other than that this was mostly a flurry of moves.
  20. Jetlag
    This was a good match where they feed off eachother well. A little slow in parts, but some good aggressive flurries and Kikuchi trying to overcome that bastard Fuchi. Fuchi, when he was kicking Kikuchi in the face and then laying in stomps, felt more like Kawada than Actual Kawada at this point. The boston crabbing near the end was solid as was the junior style finishing stretch. Still, I feel like the opening of the match and Fuchi roughing up Kikuchi hinted at something greater, but of course this was just the beginning of their feud.
  21. Jetlag
    This was looooooooong and not exactly mindblowing. The feud and the New Generation was so hot at the time that these 4 hardly could do anything wrong, but the early going still left a lot to be desired. It seemed that what the youngsters had in mind for the body didn't quite mesh with the old guys. Kawada seemed especially disinterested in working with Yatsu. There are some blatant filler sections, until Kawada lands a series of stubborn stiff moves on Yatsu, whiffing half his kicks. Acceptable finishing run somewhat salvages the match. We get to see Misawa using his elbow combos and well timed interferences for maybe the first time.
  22. Jetlag
    I was looking through JD'/Yoshimoto Pro match lists, and there are def. a lot of interesting match ups featuring Sakai, Yabushita and (my new secret favourite) Hiromi Yagi. I am def. going to obtain more of this stuff. Of course, it would also help a lot if some old joshi superfan came out and uploaded a bulk of cult joshi to the Real Hero archive or something. Seems that JD' gets a bad rep for the "athress" thing.
  23. Jetlag
    This was quite the good trios match. In the first fall, everyone hits the mat and we get some nice lucha grappling. I especially enjoy Villano IV on the mat as he is such a beast. There were also some fun Pantera flying moves against both the Diluvios. The last two falls have some bad ol' brawling with Panther going after Villano III. It is that special kind of poetry you only get in lucha that years after being such a dick to VIII Panther would lose his mask to his brother. Panther rips III's forehead open with his bare fingers and then digs his fingers into his eyes, really grueling stuff. The third fall has awesome Villano punch combos and dives. Not a mindblowing classic, but they work really hard and deliver the goods considering this could've easily been mailed in.
  24. Jetlag
    This was a great match from two completely random names. I really like the Sumi Sakai from around this period that I've seen, as she was really using her judo and mostly dumping opponents on their heads with uncooperative throws before killing them off with nasty judo chokes, but the roles were kind of reversed here, Yabushita was a lunatic always fighting for armbars and constantly attempting to rip off Sakai's arm. Match was worked kind of like a juniorish BattlARTS match, with the junior stuff being cool, they had some cool ways around springboard moves, nice unpredictable flying armbars, also Sakai has this cool Yakushuji style headscissor to the floor. Match gets really great once the fatigue kicks in, as Sakai's arm starts to become dead weight, so she dumps Yabushita with some hard suplexes, which Yabushita sells suprisingly great (considering how suplexes are usually sold in joshi), and always going back to the arm, until Sakai catches one of her many attempts and kills her off Fuchi style. Pretty great stuff and something I'd easily rate ahead of many joshi "classics".
  25. Jetlag
    The rush of great Jaguar Yokota matches continues. This was frickin AWESOME. It was kind of a preliminary to the later, bigger Sato/Yokota title match and mainly served the purpose of building up Jaguar, but for a match that is essentially typical half baked young wrestler gets first taste against the star this is really outstanding. Jaguar was absolutely ferocious. Picture Hashimoto, except lighter, faster, girlier, and replace the brutal kicks with brutal matwork. The wrestling was as tight and on point, while still keeping a graceful note, but the struggle and fighting and wild-eyed determination from Jaguar is what pushes it over the top. People talk about Jaguar having ahead-of-her-time offense, but fuck that talking point. She didn't need any of it. The basic spots, such as boston crabs, body scissors or small package holds were made into holy shit spots here. I mean seriously the technique is flawless, but the timing and defensive use of the moves is stunning. Some might argue that structurally the match was messy and had the kind of meandering spots typical of young wrestlers in big matches, but the focus of the match was Jaguar Yokota sticking it to Jackie Sato with a vengeance and that was present at all times. Sato was somewhat reserved, but a great foil for Jaguar's fury and added a few slick moves to the match. Also, there is some arm work that gets paid off nicely, and the repeated leg attack stuff from Jaguar gets played up later in the match, building to an incredible last 5 minutes.
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