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Jetlag

DVDVR 80s Project
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  1. Jetlag
    I actually know a crazy guy who claims this match is the best that AJPW ran in the 70s. It is a pretty fun gory little spectacle. Ohki lands a series of headbutts on Abdullah, using his skull as a battering ram, including ramming Abby in the back and the side of the neck. Abdullah gets big bloody and has some crazy selling, but spills the match to the outside and chaos ensues. Unlike other japanese garbage brawls they actually fight while wandering in the crowd. JJ Dillon is narrating match and points out that while there is no winner, the match is a reminder that Abdullah brings chaos and madness wherever he goes.
  2. Jetlag
    We only get the last couple minutes of what looks like a really good match that plays off of previous matches, starting with two move that ended previous matches in a flash. Common, this is for the belts! How can you JIP this? Gordy really lays into Hansen with some shots. Hansen selling and working underneath here was really great. Loved his desperation rollup and the sick collapsing spot where he gets squished underneath Gordy. Plus, Hansen nearly takes Gordy's head off with the lariat.
  3. Jetlag
    The best part of this match was the opening where they get into eachothers face and slap eachother like a pair of angry schoolgirls. The rest of the match wasn't much. Kobashi gets in some surprising moves against Doc and Doc chucks him around a bit in return. I can't really get into early Kobashi with his pasted together random moveset, and Doc, while a wrestler who' built like a dishwasher with a good moveset and ability to get aggressive, can be pretty dull. Not much to see here unless you wanna familiarize yourself with the rankings in the company at the time.
  4. Jetlag
    This is such a neat match. Regal is right when he's telling young wrestlers to aim for the technical standard of Terry Rudge matches: the holds in this bout were simple, but executed in tight and clinical fashion, and the focus on competiveness is awesome. It's almost all holds above the waist so it's like a greco roman style pro wrestling match, which is double cool. Rudge was not the shaven headed asskicker yet but looked like the real deal, and this is the most impressive I've seen Thornton look. There were some great forearm smashes in this match too, and I loved how Rudge sold them yanking his head back as if he was about to get decapitated.
  5. Jetlag
    Misawa was so fascinating to watch here. Athletic and graceful like Super Astro, but equipped with razor sharp strikes. Jumbo was really great getting Misawa over here. He just ate one dive after another, sold his elbows like death and stooged for his spots like a seasoned rudo. However, Jumbo's eventual comeback was little lacking: Misawa had totally one-upped him in the opening and then to add insult to injury slapped him like a bitch, so he was in need of a real assbeating, but Jumbo just went his usual route. Maybe that was part of the story, that Jumbo didn't have the fire or inventiveness to put Misawa in his place that night, and in a way the somewhat dry routine middle portion adds to the match as it feels like a necessary testing for Misawa. When Jumbo went for the 2nd rope kneedrop the match started getting really good and gained a unique flair that was befitting for a build to a legendary moment. Some sequences here, such as the desperation elbow that knocks Jumbo outside or that fucking dropkick into the ropes felt really magic, and outlining Jumbo's defeat. The criticism for the match is deserved, but acknowledging all that there is still a strong match here.
  6. Jetlag
    Fairly generic bomb throwing contest. It is fun to watch these two big dudes clansh into eachother, but it was a fairly uneventful affair overall.
  7. Jetlag
    This was really fun big guys clobbering the hell out of eachother type match. Williams is solid but not super compelling when in control of a match here, but he had some nice moments of aggression and knew to go at Hansen with everything he had, leading to some really good telephone booth fighting. Hansen did his usual great selling performance and making these desperate comebacks. However, the match went about 5 minutes too long, considering the story was that Williams was this tough new badass who would push Hansen to the limit. In a way this feels right inbetween 80s and 90s AJPW. There's blood and it's just a big brawl, but the match is kind of clinical and there are no countouts anymore, and the feeling of wild and out of control isn't as present as it was before.
  8. Jetlag
    Semi Finals Michiko Ohmukai vs. Mikiko Futagami (8/22) This was a cool match. Ohmukai's always no-selling her way back on offense, so hard to call it more than that. There were still a lot of neat touches and these are two wrestlers with very good offense. They also did a bit of matwork which was nice to see again and played off previous tournament finishes. Mima Shimoda vs. Aja Kong (8/22) This was a bog standard Aja match with Shimoda adding nothing. Shimoda has to be one of the vocally most annoying wrestlers, as she does this constant wailing in her raspy voice. Finals of the Tournament (8/22) Michiko Ohmukai vs. Mima Shimoda (8/22) Battle of the beauty queens. This was horrible. Just mindless bombthrowing. Not even the punches to the face could salvage this mess. Mima at this point was wheezing like a throat cancer patient. This was by far the worst tournament ARSION has done so far.
  9. Jetlag
    This is (I believe) one of 3 Adrian Street singles matches from WoS that we have at the moment and a total super classic. Not only do you get that special sort of great british grappling, but also a great match story with a ton of aggression and pissed off-ness. Adrian Street was not as bizarre as later on, but already a surely, vivacious exotico. He starts the match prancing around and trying to get a rise out of Breaks. After Jim gets fed up with the antics he just tries to snap Adrian's wrist. Street gets a serious chip on his shoulder, drops the antics and goes after Breaks like a demon. Since they are both heels (getting mixed reactions in this match), there is nothing off limits for them and they just try to fuck eachother up the whole match. The grappling in the match was fucking great. It was not fancy or pretty (despite the nature of Street), just a brutal amateur style scrap. Both guys are really great at making simple moves look painful, and were utterly vicious. I especially loved all of Street's headlocks including an almost D'Arce choke like neck chancery, and how he would just yank at Breaks' chin or fishhook him when he tried a move. When Breaks goes for his trademark armlocks you can see his fingers clawing into Street's arm, and he shows some spectacular variations. Despite the rough nature of the bout, there were also a handful of swift go-behind or takedown wrestling moves, all done very neatly. Just great wrestling. Then you also get these great Street comebacks to get that weasel Breaks. Attacking his face by shoving his fist into it, bashing the nose with the forearm and just plain stomping on Breaks face aswell as his aggressive armwork were all great. Breaks was a total fucker including handing his irate opponent a towel in really condescending fashion and Street is almost like a 50% babyface with how he sells and he gets some nice reactions accordingly. By the end Street looks like a beaten dog, his pretty hair in a mess, and he just starts prancing again and that last desperation assault. Great great stuff, absolutely at the top of the list of great WoS matches and a serious MOTDC. The best exotico performance ever, technically brilliant and snug like a shootstyle match and heated and violent like a top flight US grudge match.The weirdest thing is that it goes 25 minutes and still feels like it ended early. Never slowed down and kept the tension up while still leaving plenty on the table for a rematch.
  10. Jetlag
    JIP into the 2nd round. This was one of those friendly WoS bouts where it's all holds and grappling and we get 6 rounds of tricked out matwork. For those of you who don't know, Ken Joyce was this british maestro who wrestled like a british Solar. He had all these awesome crazy holds. Also, Grey was the world champion of his weight class here, but taking on a larger man, which plays into the match. At one point, Joyce was whipping the smaller Grey across the ring like he weighted 20 points. Grey fought hard as he usually does and had some really impressive escapes where he contorted his body. Also, the match had one of the best surfboard spots I've ever seen. It was like something from a Negro Casas/Blue Panther match except better. Great bout.
  11. Jetlag
    Peter Szakacs is the brother of Tibor. He is not as charismatic, but on the mat he was fast and graceful like a panther. Baron is one of the more freaky WoS workers and this a terrific contest full of wonderful and outlandish matwork. Great moments include awesome body scissor work, Szakacs countering a roll up by just dropping on Baron's legs in really painful fashion, and some really dreamy luchaesque pin attempts. It almost resembled carny BJJ (which is how I fantasy booked brazilian wrestling in my mind to be). The bout also got a wee bit temperamental towards the end and then Peter busts out this nasty Volk Han-like choke hold. Great great match, may have the best matwork in a 70s WoS match I've seen.
  12. Jetlag
    This is for the vacant CWA Intercontinental title. A fancam from germany where the crowd is hot for Fujinami as the babyface. Really awesome savage massacre. Vader was just obliterating Fujinami, like only Vader can, just trying to bash his skull in for the entire duration of the match, but eventually Vader ends up with a bloody eye and Fujinami gives it back to him, punching and chopping the cut, including a big leaping forearm smash right to Vader's eye. Vader is great as a wounded monster who can come back and crush his opponent anytime, and they work a nice finishing run where Fujinami looks really great, landing a GAEA Girls missile dropkick on Vader and catching him in believable fashion while remaining an underdog. This went 20+ minutes with no rounds and really could have been worked the exact same anywhere else in the world and would have worked. Best 90s Fujinami match I've seen and maybe the best Vader has had in Germany, depending on how much you like Otto Wanz.
  13. Jetlag
    Formative match that does a great job setting up what's to come. Kobashi gets clobbered, Jumbo and pals are mean bastards who will make fools out of themselves, Taue shows off all his fun sumo spots, and Misawa gets to look like the coolest dude on the planet. Watching Misawa transform from a solid junior into this badass super athlete that just cleans house and sets everything on fire with his sheer ability is amazing. Jumbo can't be praised enough for his selflessness as he is constantly feeding and just taking every chance to get elbowed in the face. The intense Jumbo/Misawa scuffles were off the charts and the kind of stuff that is sorely missing from current wrestling.
  14. Jetlag
    You'll look at these names and wonder how the hell can this match be anything more than good? Here's how. Bruiser Brody does a sit in protest before the match, having just lost a match against Bockwinkel under fishy circumstances. I wouldn't have expected Brody to act like a leftist college student protester, but Harley comes in and kicks him like a dirty hippie, so Brodie kicks the shit out of Harley. Harley is rocked before the match and Halcon gives his all to win the title. A bleeding Harley hanging on by a thread while a voluntarily unmasked Halcon was really pushing himself and wrestling like it was the match of his life was highly entertaining. Halcon busts out all this cool stuff like a beautiful arm trap suplex or punching Race's cut, while Race does his stooging and over the top selling that somehow fits him very well. I also really liked how they kept the hierarchy in tact. Without Race being banged up Halcon probably wouldn't stand a chance against the champ, and they remind you of that by how easily Race fends off Halcon at times. Race would be rocked, but then devastate Halcon with a basic knee drop and remind you who he is. Then you have that 3rd fall which was worked like a lucha title match. This is a little clunky at times and obviously not as good as the previous Race title match, but at minimum a really good, smart match that makes the most of it's resources, considering these are two limited workers.
  15. Jetlag
    This is a historic match due to Misawa unmasking but fairly dull otherwise. The unmasking is great and there is some nice chippiness and stiff blows, but the rest is just a kind of plodding match. For some reason, after Yatsu is taken out, it takes them forever to beat Fuyuki 2 on 1.
  16. Jetlag
    The first 9 minutes or so of this are just Mil eating Gino alive. Gino (who is now Gorgeous Gino) stooges like a motherfucker and Mascaras does all this nice flying and wrestling. You can say about Mil what you want, but his grappling was legit. I also really dug his slipping around on the mat to avoid Gino unmasking him. Gino gets some brief offensive bits in on Mascaras and actually puts him in peril. Gran Markus gets involved for the finish, leading to Gino taking a really nice bump into the ropes. Jose Lothario comes in and a big fight breaks out after the match. Really fun match and a good way to fuel the feud.
  17. Jetlag
    This was good solid pro wrestling that the crowd was hugely into, marred by the fact that both guys are just not quite at the skill level to go this long. Al Madril is a pretty solid babyface and has nice punches, but will do something goofy once in a while. In this case outstretching his arms as if he was Christ on the cross while Krupp had him in his claw. Another moment he tried to land on his feet to counter a monkey flip, but just awkwardly landed on his ass and went back to his leg lock. There were also some pretty long dire parts. Krupp did precisely nothing of note beside being big and scary looking.
  18. Jetlag
    This is a great match up. Brody is a mythical King Kong like force of nature, but The Spoiler is this cold, unrelenting killer. The result is lots of angry bears fighting and mask ripping. Brody is solid and actually sells a good deal for his opponent, but The Spoiler was absolutely fantastic. I imagine him vs. Andre would be epic, because he worked a tremendously smart match around Brody. Really liked how he chopped the beast to pieces and just kept increasing the pressure without mercy. He also sold Brody's fairly basic clubs and kicks in spectacular ways and had great sense of ring positioning. Brody emerging back after taking a huge beating to strangle the Spoiler with the cable was actually a great comeback and Spoiler sold it perfectly. Nice finish and this was just a really good brawl between two big scary men.
  19. Jetlag
    Umanosuke Ueda maybe?
  20. Jetlag
    Really? The booking made this interesting. Hansen blitzes Tenryu, but Tenryu can still slap Jumbo like a bitch. Tenryu is blitzed and hanging by a thread while Jumbo puts a huge beating on him. All the desperation comebacks were great: Tenryu makes use of his athleticism! A basic leglock is actually of importance! Even a half-spent Tenryu can still kick the dogshit out of Jumbo! Fun match.
  21. Jetlag
    This was another fun as hell match. Young, lanky Taue gets in some fun nifty spots on Tenryu, and Tenryu just beats his ass. Even with this being a handheld you can tell how rough Tenryu's shots are. Ideal layout where Taue upsets Tenryu early, is made to pay by Tenryu and then keeps coming back with fun surprise moves. Short and to the point.
  22. Jetlag
    I think Race is merely good and can be kind of a slug, but there's no limits to what Terry Funk in the 70s could do. His aggressive, rough and yet innovative matwork in the first fall was just brilliant pro wrestling. Constantly stepping on and twisting Race's face, while still wringing the hell out of his arm. Funk both on offense and defense always kept the match focussed and building, and altough they kind of lost track in the last third of the 1st fall, they get back to it nicely when Funk takes a huge bump to the outside. This of course leads to a bunch of drama centered around Funk's back, which Race does a nice job going after. The work around the arm/back here is so nice that I'm almost a little sour that it ended up being an afterthought, but I'm not complaining about a match this good. Quick, heated 2nd fall leads to the blood drenched epic 3rd centered around Terry's Spinning Toe Hold. Terry came across like the most determined motherfucker on the planet and the punches were great. He also flat kicked Race in the face at one point. Race is mostly fine throughout this but the part I most dug was him repeatedly headbutting a blood Terry while laid out helplessly on his bad leg. This match had impossible hype behind it. I didn't think it was a GOAT contender or something that told anything new but still a great title match that had all the trademarks. Great matwork, drama, blood, build, anything you want. The best Race match I've ever seen and another to add to the Funk resume. He looked even better in the Jumbo match.
  23. Jetlag
    This was such a fun pro wrestling spectacle. Technical classics aside, you gotta have something like this once in a while to spice things up. Aside from the nonsensical rules they did very well. Boesch talks about Koloff having talked about burying the american wrestlers and bringing a red shovel to the ring which sounds fantastic. Dusty is so electric and Koloff is cool too. The early going with the standing exchanges built around Dusty's elbows and the falls for psychological effect was fun and the second half with the double blood was really good. You get Dusty throwing punch combos, and just when I wanted to complain that he wasn't in peril enough for the match to be dramatic Koloff bashed him in the face with the boot. Dusty's really good at selling blood and drama and Koloff bashing his head into the casket was great. Then there's that great finish. Extremely entertaining match.
  24. Jetlag
    This is such a funny match to watch considering what they'd do later. They wrestle like a bunch of X-Division chumps and people laugh at their blown spots. Kobashi does some legwork, to which Misawa of course comes back by landing some kicks and then a dive where he sprints across the ring. Pretty slow in parts and really just an average junior match, but I did get a kick out of Kobashi busting out the Calf Slicer.
  25. Jetlag
    This is an awesome, heated 6 minute eruption where they waffle the shit out of eachother nonstop. Continues from the previous tag - Isao hasn't forgotten, so he goes at Tenryu like crazy. Tenryu, accordingly, treats Takagi like a piece of shit again. Tenryu's selling was utterly brilliant here, as it was between being pained and annoyed by the little punk. Quite possibly the greatest Arashi has looked in a match.
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