Jetlag
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Man, how fucking cool was Billy Goelz? You can tell this would be good from the first minute on. So much cool wrestling. Goelz even did the sneaky dropkick off of the 2nd rope after the clean break (which I love) and they teased getting surely, but went right back to the wrestling. And damn what wrestling it was. Hernandez looked like a decent wrestler too, but Goelz just twisted him into pretzels. Some of the best use of indian deathlock/tied up legs I've seen, great use of monkey flips and twist and evade rope running, and Goelz's spinning armlock finisher is cool as hell.This was moving fast and really they didn't let up for one second.
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This was a seriously great match; naturally, these 1950s bouts have a high degree of intensity and struggle over basic holds, so it feels like you are watching a shootstyle match built around hammerlocks and headscissors. Then you also have Billy Goelz in the match, who looked like a master grappler in the vein of a Blue Panther or Ken Joyce, adding all these cool little touches. Such as turning himself into a turtle, constantly going for Verne's arm from any position, breaking Verne's arm over his own leg to keep control etc. The running and leapfrog spots where also fantastic, honestly. Verne is a former football guy, and Goelz would do these awesome bumps where it looks like Verne just ran right through him. At 20 minutes this also a pretty trim match, and they show a great sense for the subtleties of wrestling; Verne lands a big flying headscissor after being controlled by Goelz that gets a huge reaction, and the battle fiercely over the pinfall just as the time runs out. Excellent, pure wrestling match.
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This was a fascinating match. Yes, it's a 60 minute match from the 1950s, so prepare for long holds, but the intense struggling over the whole duration made it interesting all the way to the end. The wrestling moves, altough extremely basic, were incredible. Gagne looked like he would rip right through Thesz if given the chance. There were also some greatly timed spots, such as an abdominal stretch cradle that made me jump. Then you also have the story of Thesz acting like a dick and dealing out some serious punishment on Gagne: punching at the cheek, grinding on his head, hitting him in the back of the head, etc. When Thesz is throwing those knees to the head it's a total assault. The work around the sleeper hold is quality and you can see the NWA title match structure was already perfectly in place. Gets a little repetitive/primitive at times, with the constant repetition of the cheap shot in the ropes, and I felt it could've delivered a little "bigger" considering how amazing it was when Verne was hammering Thesz with punches or when they were struggling on the mat, but other than that this was a tremendous match regardless of all.
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[1981-10-15-Hannover, GER] Axel Dieter vs Bob Della Serra
Jetlag replied to Jetlag's topic in October 1981
Hey, thank you! That's great info. I see there's a few matches of Bob working as Karl Steiner in Portland on YouTube. Should be cool. Also, in germany, Bob was always announced as being a "strength sports trainer". That may have been true, but one of the weirdest tags I've heard given to a guy to make him seem tougher. -
This is a beautiful bout. Great rhythm and pace, maximum use made of simple spots, and a story is told. Also, the match looked like a WoS bout transcribed to US setting. Great first fall with Buddy fooling around and getting caught, then you get Hennig turning Rose into a vegetable with those fucking headlocks. Buddy morphing from cocky athletic dipshit to stumbling around not knowing where he was, selling his ears and making fun comebacks, including making use of the steel ringpost again and pouncing on Hennig's back out of thin air, was really great. Great back and forth wrestling exchanges, and the pinfall reversal is such a simple, cool spot. Hennig is damn great in his role, up to speed and spot on selling. The commentators point out Curt isn't a rookie anymore and in a way this feels like a starmaking performance. Great nearfall for a vertical suplex here. For how simple this match is, it def. deserves to be tagged as "flawless".
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This was a really fun fast paced match where Buddy pinballs like a motherfucker for Hennig. I mean, he was bumping for him while in an armbar! So many energetic spots and exchanges. And the usual clever spots from Buddy. Curt is a really good basic babyface here, awesome dropkicks, getting nice height on kneedrops, and totally going into those exchanges at full speed. The finish and angle with the deadly dropkick is great too including a sick cheer from the audience when it is declared Buddy may be paralyzed.
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This was a very good TV match, but left a little bit to be desired. The match from the previous week was bloody and violent, this didn't really feel like the right followup. Altough Buddy gave a nice babyface performance, he is such an athletic energetic wrestler and very compelling from below, and Dynamite Kid is a good opponent as Kid is such a psycho. Kid's flying and throwing you around actually feels like he is seriously out to hurt somebody - his flying kneedrop is great. Also loved Buddy clawing at his face and then just mauling him with a fucking running thumb to the eye and then that series of fist drops. They get the fans really excited for the last couple of moves and do the usual bait and switch routine from these US title matches where the face comes sooo close but gets screwed. You've seen it before, but this was a nice, quality, mostly clean wrestling match to add to the canon, just a hair below your all time classics due to some wonky transitions.
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This was a really good match; starts of with some really pretty 80s not-quite junior wrestling, and gets all bloody and grizzly. Rose adds a ton to the match, as his selling of his wounded back kept things very compelling and he always adds clever layout and smart spots to a match. to a match.The story where they kept breaking up pinfalls was cool and well done. At one point, Rose gave DK a low blow, and Kid sold it well, clutching his groin after hitting a legdrop, so it was believable that he was pissed off and wouldn't pin Rose and instead just keep stomping on him. The blood was tremendous, loved Buddy throwing punch and the finish to the 2nd fall was fucking great with Buddy bashing the back of DK's head into the steel before giving him the superplex as a fuck you. Damn that finish. They work a big nearfall or two for the finish going off the rails. with Rose getting spiked by a back suplex, DK even busting out a foreign object in the last 20 seconds, and I didn't mind the time limit draw as DK was a bloody mess and Rose was beaten up badly and they were just two beaten up men flopping around at that point. Pretty wrestling, intricate story, violence and pissed-offness and drama, this was fairly great overall.
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Vader makes his entrance with the badass elephant helmet that spits smoke. Then Vader proceeds to just kill Fujinami, throwing him around and demolishing him with his patented shots. Pretty good way to introduce how destructive Vader can be. He was just crushing Fujinami at points, including hitting a lariat with his tree trunk sized arm that sent his opponent into spasms. Fujinami gets some of his technical wrestler comebacks - kicking at the leg, body shots, surprise backslide and submission hold etc. - I think Fujinami got a few comebacks too many and it kind of took Vader's badass destroyer vibe away. I also disliked that Fujinami couldn't get proper height for his enzuigiri. Other than that this was a nice big vs. little title match where the slower paced parts added to the match.
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Finals of the SKY Tournament Mari Apache vs. Chaparrita ASARI (7/25) Another match that was enhanced by context. Mari has the skill and power advantage and the bombs to put anyone away, but Asari can win via flash pin. Could have been a little more grand, but what we got was fun and made me want to go back and check out more Mari as she has good execution, nice matwork, snug clotheslines, the whole deal. Another swank match. Seems that the title will be mostly used for these types of bouts, which is a nice change from the usual shoot submissions and suplex moves deal in ARSION, but I hope they do a little more with it than just Worldwide matches. Mariko Yoshida vs. Aja Kong (8/6) They only show 10 minutes of a 20 minute match. Weird considering it's a title match. What was shown was really good, though. Yoshida's submissions vs. Kong's hard hitting and power moves. Adds some new touches to their 1998 encounter. Great timing and they both do some quality selling to add to it. Feels like a MOTYC if we had the first half – still a great clip.
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These main events look awesome. Should send an email to Lynch maybe?
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Check out the Real Hero google drive.
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THE QUEST FOR THE CARL GRECO OF THE YEAR: 1999 Carl & Joe Malenko vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Daisuke Ikeda (6/9/99) This was Joe's sort-of-retirement match. I expected the focus to be on him, but instead Carl did the bulk of the work, so this was just right for this project. These retirement matches often tend to be greatest hits-type matches, but they stick their necks out and have a nice competitive fight that could've easily been the finals of a tournament or title bout. Joe work's a really cool Gotchhead style integrated into BattlARTS shootstyle. He looked a little rusty at times but like a total master at others. He could totally roll on the mat and turn guys inside out. Carl was the faster, flashier, all modern grappling contrast to him. Carl played FIP but was still dangerous throughout the segment, like he always is. This was mostly centered to matwork with occasional hard hits but laid out with typical tag psychology building to a stretch run. Carl and Joe were a great team - you'd wish they'd done more together because putting the two gaijin grapplers together was such a no brainer, but I guess Joe was really only around for this one match in BattlARTS. Well, thanks Joe! This was a rocking bout.
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This was fucking awesome. I love how in Mexico, the babyfaces can come to the ring wearing jolly traditional clothes with jolly traditional music playing and then jump the heels and beat them down in the most vile ways imaginable. Kind off one of those magic matches were everything just kinda falls into place and works, tons of nasty post shots, even the random shots of guys laying around crashed beneath the furniture looking dead work perfectly. Impossible not to love all of these guys, hell KONNAN looked awesome here. Aguyao is a such a gritty little bastard. Cien Caras is lovely in how miserable he looks and how awkwardly he tumbles around, he also has this nasty running high knee to the kidney which I dug. But the real star here is Chicana who looks otherworldly, like a real One in a Million kind of guy. You know it's Wrestling when a seedy hag-like dude is the highlight of it. Chicana on the floor, randomly grabbing audience members and pulling them into the fight. Chicana trying to rip Aguyao's face off even with Rayo and a referee on him. Chicana slipping and falling on his ass. Chicana adjusting his hair so Aguayo can see his face before he punches his lights out. Sangre Chicana is pretty awesome when you think about it.
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After watching this and knowing Ikeda went through a war with Ishikawa later the same night, I think he might have been the Wrestler of the Year in 1999. This continues from their interactions in the previous tags and it's really made by Ikeda's selling. Yone is demolishing Ikeda throughout most of the match, ripping him apart with kicks and repeatedly trying to decapitate him using kicks to the face and lariats. It's really made by Ikeda's selling as he looks like he's trying not to pass out from the beating. Yone looks like a world beater, and Ikeda looks like the toughest motherfucker on earth for withstanding the punishment.
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This is an awesome match; it's not very BattlARTS-alike as it's more pro-styled with no real matwork and not a lot of impact moves, but instead everyone in the match straight up dishes out the punishment left and right. Battle of shitheads pretty much sums it up as neither team is playing nice, Ikeda tries to claw Yone's face off a few times, while Orihara and Ono are at their sleazy best. You wouldn't think Orihara fits well into BattlARTS but he adjusts nicely, including an awesome one inch punch to Ono's face and a truely Usuda-styled breakup of a pinfall. I recall thinking Yone kind of sucked back then, but he was impressive as a tank just taking it to Ikeda, and his goofy leg drop was deadly looking. Ono was a little different then, less of a boxer more of a wrestler, but he was punching and kicking people in their faces as good as 11 years later, and his flying around and ballsily eating of an Orihara dropkick was cool. Ikeda was the Ikeda we all know and love. You will want to watch this.
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Holy shit, this was amazing. How this didn't make it to the Best of BattlARTS set but three dozen fucking Minoru Tanaka matches did is beyond me. Taira was this really talented dude who could put on awesome weird leglocks and also had devastating kicks in his arsenal. It's a shame he disappeared after BattlARTS closed. This was like a hybrid of those matches against Ikeda and Yujiro Yamamot we've seen from Otsuka. He tries to teach this newbie some manners and busts out a few pro style moves executed with complete lack of regard for his opponents safety, including dropping him square on his head from an armlock attempt, a neckbreaker that looked like it really would break your neck, and doing a freaky Cesaro deadlift spun into a backbreaker in mid-air. While Taira isn't goofing around and looks to finish the match with every attack, forcing Otsuka to do some really freaked out grappling leading to some great nearfalls. When Taira is throwing kicks he is wasting Otsuka, including charging at him and connecting a knee strike that looked like nobody would get up from it, and coming back later in the match with a pele kick that produced the sound of a rotten melon and had me verbally marking out. Both the finish and the build to it were great. I'll have to watch Ishikawa/Murakami again because this maybe the best BattlARTS match of 2000.
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From what I've gathered, Ono in these days was relegated to lower carder status whose single matches were either clipped, or against total scrubs, which is a shame. This is a rare chance to see a proper match, and it seems Ono at this point was not much less good than he was in 2010. They make the most out of an 8 minute match, Ishikawa is bigger and much higher ranked, but he takes a bit of a backseat and lets Ono go all out. Match has some pretty spectacular matwork, Ono is amazing at diving for submissions at lightning speed, which gives Ishikawa a good opportunity to show off his mat skills against a highly skilled opponent. To supplement the matwork Ono beats Ishikawa full force, including pounding on his head with fists and knees on the ground. The last couple minutes are especially off the charts, a proper main event between the two would've been amazing.
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A long all matwork trios with these guys, how can you go wrong? This was some sweet, sweet pro wrestling. You know it's awesome when they go back to hitting the mat in the 2nd and 3rd fall. One of those times Terry shows how good he can be on the mat, and Olimpico looked pretty good aswell, completely different from the worker he is these days, losing the mask really changes a wrestler I guess. The Navarro/Panther matchup was dynamite. They were like two spry young grapplers here, trying all kinds of freaked out twisting rolling leg locks and it was cool as hell. At one point, Navarro tried a cross armbar, which Panther defended for dear life, with all the other wrestlers coming into the ring to urge them on and a big Panther chant breaking out from the crowd. Only in lucha. I also really liked Villano's matwork as he is a chunky barrel chasted dude with mat athleticism and he steamrolled Panther in several cool ways. Ultimo was mostly fine but the least great guy in the match by far. He was integrated well, however. Boss match overall, the best trios of the 2010s for matwork maybe.
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This ruled, kickass lucha brawl. I keep forgetting how awesome Bestia Salvaje is. He was on a rampage here, just waffling guys in the face left and right. Then you also have reckless kicker Fiera and Super Astro flying around as a wrecking ball and that's totally enough to carry the mediocre dudes in the match. I mean, just when Santana landed an elbow drop and I was thinking "okay this isn't so brilliant now" Salvaje came in and beat Fiera into the hospital. Goodness gracious. I'm so used to seeing Astro as a fun old man flyer in maestro tags that seeing him in a fast paced, competitive, heated match like this blew me away. I also loved how that obnoxious interviewer stuck a mic in Bestia's face while he was dumped with his head into the chairs. Bestia lays out Fiera and keeps stomping on his head while the doctor tries to get between them and a dude with a toddler on his arm laughs at the carnage. Fiera makes his comeback launching Bestia into the 4th row and the interviewer is back sticking a mice in his face. If this were WWE Fiera would talk about his feelings and pose or something but instead he just growls something unintelligible and chucks a row of chairs at Salvaje. Could have used a bigger standoff between Salvaje and Fiera at the end (Especially given that the first two falls got quite a bit of time and false finishes) but whatever. This made me salivate at the mouth to see a Salvaje/Fiera singles match with them kicking the shit out of eachother.
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Legendary match, atleast in my book. Just one of those battles I can watch, lean back and enjoy again and again. No rocket science here, just about 25 minutes of brilliant matwork and exchanges. The highlight obviously being the Dandy/Angel stuff to set up the title match. These two were always dynamite together. Dandy was in his shootstyle kickpads and meant business. Also a masterclass on punctuation and competitiveness: Typical spotfest/workrate driven matches tend to blend together and just build to bigger spots. Here, something as simple as a corner bump were treated as special and got big reactions depending on the momentum swing. Also, there was no standing there and just glueing moves together, people would dodge, bock and counterattack all throughout the match in meaningful ways. There is working spectacular exchanges and then there is working spectacular, logical, meaningful exchanges like here. I love how educated the crowd is, booing Dandy for throwing a clothesline, and how the rudos tease double teams, theatratically decide against it but then do it anyways. Also hey look it's Chavo in a lucha match!!!
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Jaguar Yokota vs. Monster Ripper, 1982 Wicked great match. I have to say, at this point, I think Monster Ripper really ruled. Maybe she's the next woman after Kandori who needs a rediscovery. It may have to do with seeing her against the likes of Yokota or Jackie Sato. But whatever. She was absolutely perfect against Yokota here. I mean just look at this matchup! Yokota is a force that can't be contained. But Ripper is an immovable object. Yokota would launch herself at Ripper and Ripper would just stand there and let her hit a brick wall. Repeatedly. Yokota would go for a submission and then Ripper would throw her off but Yokota would bounce right back. It was the coolest shit ever. Yokota is a total cat with the amazing speed and agility, and the skill. I loved her takedowns. You could argue having her get Ripper off her feet this often wasn't good for the big /little dynamic, but it made perfect sense. Yokota looked like an intelligent wrestling machine getting believable takedowns to get in the match (something that works on a monster as Inoki/Great Antonio told us), and Ripper would crush her anyways. When it was time to go to town Ripper just demolished Jaguar, throwing her around like a doll and dropping her weight on her. Ripper even hit the mat and showed Jaguar the business with some armbar work and surfboard holds. Ripper pretty much gave zero fucks in this match. Also, her resistance to anything Jaguar tried and really effective, unpredictable bumping allowing Jaguar to make smart comebacks picking at her weak spots were immensely fun. And Jaguar just kept coming and coming back at her. That was easily the baddest match ever to feature someone that looks like Messiah Marcolin in Bewitched. Quite the showcase for how incredible Jaguar could be, and how boss Ripper was in this environment.
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This was in the same style as their February title match. Meaning Ikeshita had her wrestling boots on and took Kayama to the pay window on the mat. This was one of those 20 minute time limit draws that AJW liked to do a lot on TV. It was also slightly clipped, but I'm not complaining about getting wrestling of this quality. It wasn't as grand as the match for the title but more compact and some damn solid pro wrestling with great armlock work, awesome rough tactics from Ikeshita, great comeback from Kayama and flawless lucha title match style run of nearfalls in the last couple minutes. Ikeshita was spectacular once again, totally didn't need the gimmicks at all. I mean Jaguar and Jackie Sato are the legendary workers and all that, but it's so cool to see how good these lesser known/talked about wrestlers were at the wrestling.
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I always go with the Dandy/Chavo/Rocca/Azteca one from 1990. It's a pure instinct answer though.
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Utterly incredible match. I've seen it before, and my impression hasn't really changed much, but I'm still sitting here thinking what a sensational fight. The first outstanding thing is of course that this is like UWF meets a lucha match. For an apuestas match in Mexico between two guys who have been feuding for a decade this really turns the usual tropes of that kind of contest upside down. I guess starting the blowoff to a bloodfeud with matwork is a weird choice, but in a way it underlines how unique their rivalry is. Santo/Casas matwork always feels like watching bullriding, and it was a fitting start to the contest. The next thing is that this is one of the most violent matches in history. Seriously, not much less so than Misawa/Kawada or any WAR or BattlARTS match. Every other minute in this bout, somebody was getting stomped on his head or kicked in the teeth. It was a total streetfight integrated into a wrestling contest and they sold accordingly. The fact that it was otherwise a clean match just made the battling in the ropes etc. all the more intense. Next, you had flawless build and style. Both guys going through multiple waves of attacks & counter attacks with the pendulum swinging and swinging and the tension rising and some moments burning into your head like glowing thorns. Santo smashing Casas' head into the edge of the ring apron while Casas' body went limp, Casas throwing desperation headbutts on the ground & coming up with a bloody face, an almost depleted Casas stubbornly twisting Santo's wrist only to be met with punches to the face from below etc. etc. All great imagery. Then you also had the story of Casas pushing Santo to the limit with Santo working nearly heelish but then making a triumphant comeback. So you have a match with great wrestling & tremendous suspense and build and swinging back and forth & and boiling with hatred and brutality. Really a totally amazing match and a GOAT contender.