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Jetlag

DVDVR 80s Project
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  1. Jetlag
    Okay, the Fukuoka match makes a lot more sense now. She did get in her Moonsault Doublestomp, and also the Rider Kick. Another great move. ARS Tournament 99 Round 1 Hiromi Yagi vs. Rie Tamada (5/4) Tag team partners do battle! They even wore matching outfits to emphasize that. This was all cool as they did all these nifty standing exchanges, and Yagi wasn't playing nice at all and ruthlessly went for Tamada's bandaged leg, leading to some real drama in the last few minutes. Fine as hell 8 minute match. Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumi Fukawa (5/4) Yoshida just got taken to the limit by Yagi, now she faces Fukawa, who doesn't have the judo throws but uses a similiar armbar-centric moveset. And Yoshida still has a weakened arm, so Fukawa goes out of her way to try every armbar in the book on her. Pretty excellent match for what it is. Fukawa's crazy flying armbars always come across as desperate, and every choke Yoshida busts out looks like a potential match ender. I give them a ton of credit for keeping this kind of match so interesting: it wasn't your-turn-my-turn, they would use eachother's momentums against eachother, and Fukawa gets to look great in the process. I also have to say the booking in this company is pretty damn smart, keeping all the rollups and submissions over as potential finishers. I love a promotion that threats rollups and submissions as special. Mikiko Futagami vs. Michiko Ohmukai (5/4) Another fun match in the WCW syndicated way. Futagami continues to bring the personality and the nifty shooty offense to make things special, and Ohmukai has a bunch of fun ways to kick her in the head. Ungodly finishing sequence here. Not a flawless bout but a fun way to spend 6 minutes. Impressive how they could stuff so much into such a short match while making it never feel rushed. Candy Okutsu vs. Aja Kong (5/4) Candy beats Aja with a roll up in less than 6 minutes. Match was far inferior to the previous 6 minute match. On paper this looks like a fine monster vs. Flyer match, but it had zero drama due to Candy being at her most obnoxious. Really nothing to see here.
  2. Jetlag
    I didn't watch that Bull Buster match so can't comment on how it could have been better. To be honest, I think I've seen too little of Zrno, because the stuff I have is essentially cherry picked. I guess the no-selling/get your shit in may have been more apparent to someone like Rip who saw Mile wrestling ever day. I think what Rip sees as no-selling/getting your shirt in could be attributed to the general exhibition-y nature those technician vs. technician matches in germany and austria had. From what I've seen Mile's selling is good, as he will sell a test of strength etc. properly, but nothing grand. I know Franz Schuhmann once mentioned that Dave Taylor and Mile had problems in a match one time leading to Dave giving Mile a black eye backstage. But he didn't go into detail what that was about. A little funny because Dave Taylor wasn't big on selling either. Schuhmann didn't mention bad things about Mile otherwise
  3. Jetlag
    Bull and Aja were queen sized here. Hokuto has some nice bits, but from her team this is mostly the Bull Nakano show. Bull and Aja just tear into eachother. Bull throws awesome lariats, and I got a kick out of her refusing to budge for Kimura's stupid Baba Chop. That dive was killer too, as she flies at her opponents like a graceful couch. The only thing I didn't like about Bull is her annnoying habit to go for the nunchuks. Aja was working more generic here than later on, but clearly she was something special and already had the Uraken and puts it to use. Also, Aja did a lot of hard head spots, which I'm cool with given this is pretty much a monster battle. This was a fast, brutal, and fun 22 minutes that just flew by.
  4. Jetlag
    Igor Vovchanchyn. Otsuka had just battled him in PRIDE. How many times can you run a permutation of the same match and get something good? Well, I'd assume many many times, as long as you stick to what works for you, but that wasn't the case here. Yone took up a portion of the match, and that guy is so hit and miss. He can be pretty enjoyable when he sticks to reckless kicks and lariats, but his other signature moves kind of stink and he also likes to do irritating no selling. There was also barely any matwork, so Greco didn't really get to do what he does best. There was some stiffness and clubbering, but the match had that weird semi-comedic feel undercard BattlARTS matches sometimes have. Geco even did a Fargo Strut at one point. You had the stiffness and clubbering and neck-crushing suplex moves aswell as a particularily twisty submission to keep you entertained throughout, but I was hoping for a few more "pure" bits.
  5. Jetlag

    Carl Greco

    Jetlag replied to Jetlag's topic in The Microscope

    Carl Greco vs. Daisuke Ikeda (PWFG 8/26/1995) Early Greco is probably the most fascinating. With his kickpads and bleach blonde hair, he looked like any other 90s/early 2000s indy schmoe, but he was quite the top flight wrestler, and didn't rely on spots at this point. People tend to forget that Ikeda could go on the mat. He is an aggressive striker in this match and essentially a shootstyle heel, kicking Greco in the ropes and stomping on him when he's down, but he can gain the advantage on the mat. As a result this was a really good matchup. I like that Greco, while able to throw strikes, only resorts to them unwillingly and prefers hitting the mat and just tossing Ikeda around. Some really impressive wrestling here and Greco's explosiveness is something else. Whenever Ikeda gave an opening Greco would just hammer him into the mat, even when Ikeda was attacking. This was a short midcard match between two workers with not a ton of experience, so it doesn't progress into some kind of epic, but the finish was nifty enough. Hugely enjoyable wrestling match.
  6. Jetlag
    This has a time limit of just a few minutes, so they go all out. This had the kind of intensity and emotional weight these retirement matches tend to have - still, some of the wrestling was as if Yokota was to scream she is retiring at the height of her game. Damn that stupid "retire at 25" rule. Yokota had some real determination to win this thing. After the match, a heated altercation between Jaguar and a younger girl (Chigusa?) ensues. Then all the lights go dark and Yokota is left to reflect on herself while "Soledao" plays. Amazing imagery. I wish they'd let Jaguar go out with a real bang but the pageantry here was magnificient regardless.
  7. Jetlag
    That Skyler/Lee match really wasn't that brilliant. Props to them for going +30 and doing a fine job at it, but the match lacked urgency and the work wasn't anything extraordinary. Parv is pretty spot on about Skyler. Also, the fashion choices were horrible. 2 man buns + one guy wearing joshi trunks.
  8. Jetlag
    Two tag team partners collide in a sensational wrestling contest. Really, just look at that opening exchange! Aoyama is a lunatic, leaping to the tope rope with no hands on a 70s ring with really loose ropes. Aside from the state of the art offense, these two just engage in some tight, hard-fought wrestling, including a great lock up. A great LOCKUP! Absolutely loved Aoyama's comeback dropkicks – beautiful looking and fit her tall, lanky frame. Insane car crash finish where a blown spot actually adds to the match. Were it not for the commercial break and clip in the middle of the bout, this would be deserving of legendary status.
  9. Jetlag
    Some clipping in this match. The clips were pretty annoying as I felt they chopped up what could have been a great match. Some really fantastic wrestling here, great execution, with all these great throws and hold for hold wrestling. It's rare enough to see an old AJW match between two faces that goes to the mat, clean technical like they do here. Tomi goes hard to beat the untouchable Jackie Sato and busts out some moves far ahead of the time. They work me into believing this would go to a time limit draw, but then finish the match in smart and sneaky fashion. Really good stuff from what is shown.
  10. Jetlag
    This was a damn good matchup. Yokota was in tremendous shape here, especially next to skinny Mimi Hagiwara. Yokota puts in a real beating, working absolutely heelish by biting and pulling hair, but also doesn't forget to show off her holds and put Hagiwara in her place with that beautiful vertical tiger suplex. It was closer to Terry Rudge than Monster Ripper. Yokota really cranks in her holds and delivers some blowaway great legwork, while Hagiwara performed really nicely working underneath. Hagiwara's selling of the leg and graceful comeback attempts were awesome. Can't decide what I liked more, Hagiwara desperately going for a small package only for Yokota to roll through and once again punch the fuck out of her leg, or Yokota calmly briding out of a weak pin attempt from her worn out opponent and continueing the beating. Last cover was thing of beauty. Damn good TV bout here.
  11. Jetlag
    The first appearance of the HamAKINO pair. Also the first appearance of the impossibly perky Ai Fujita, another name that has fallen into obscurity. Candy is quickly starting to annoy me with her tendency to do every top rope move 3 times in a row. When this wasn't Candy hitting her 38th moonsault, it was quite good. The other 3 work this kind of quasi lucharesu style, and they kept it nice and interesting. All the flying, fancy submissions and rollups looked polished and served a purpose. Candy thankfully didn't do much making this match feel like a showcase for the 3 promising workers illustrating how far they've come. The finish further underlines this.
  12. Jetlag
    We get to see Fukuoka praying before the match while dressed like a cowboy. Uhm... wasn't Fukuoka a former JWP champ at this point? I guess she got to showcase her spots a bit in this match, but other than that didn't seem much special. She bit Candy in the foot at one point. This was a weird match, it wasn't boring or terrible or anything, but there was not much engrossing about the action. There were also a few blown spots. There was some hard hitting early on, and the sections with Aja and Futagami were solid, but, uh... it started to feel like a move exhibition at some point. It was slow, and there were transitions so not a hyperactive type move exhibit. Aja for some reason did a lot of stooging and gets played like a fool a bunch of times... yeah that was interesting. Futagami does a cool tilt a whirl gutbuster thing... hey Cesaro should steal that. And she ended the match with a nice backfist/shotai combo. Candy and Fukuoka each did about 40 top rope moves. Yeah.
  13. Jetlag
    Jesus CHRIST! The next match that really grows in my estimation through the power of context. So we saw Yoshida destroy all comers. Futagami has no chance, right? Unlike Yagi or Bennett Futagami really doesn't have any overwelming advantage. But Futagami is like this mad wrestling improvisation artist. Crafty and unpredictable! And she ends up giving Yoshida a run for her money. There was not a ton of matwork (who would want to go to the mat with Yoshida at this point), but every single exchange here felt unique and special. Yoshida just goes to kill Mikiko the whole time and Mikiko keeps making up exit doors from nothing like she is a cartoon mouse being chased by at cartoon lawn mower. Not only was the wrestling great, but the timing and selling was brilliantly tricked out. I mean, that is not an easy thing to do when you have these lengthy submission attempts, and the teases and nearfalls were among the best I've ever seen, including one of the hardest struggles for a rope break ever caught on film. They also told the story through their facial expressions, perhaps moreso than in any other match before. By the end Futagami looks mentally scarred, she has made up all this shit and nothing is working, while Yoshida just has a pissed off look on her face and goes for the Air Raid Crash in frustration. It even makes me want to forgive some of the no selling. Brilliant, swanky, unique match. ARSION is on fire.
  14. Jetlag
    Hikari Fukuoka/Mikiko Futagami vs. Aja Kong/Candy Okutsu (3/16) We get to see Fukuoka praying before the match while dressed like a cowboy. Uhm... wasn't Fukuoka a former JWP champ at this point? I guess she got to showcase her spots a bit in this match, but other than that didn't seem much special. She bit Candy in the foot at one point. This was a weird match, it wasn't boring or terrible or anything, but there was not much engrossing about the action. There were also a few blown spots. There was some hard hitting early on, and the sections with Aja and Futagami were solid, but, uh... it started to feel like a move exhibition at some point. It was slow, and there were transitions so not a hyperactive type move exhibit. Aja for some reason did a lot of stooging and gets played like a fool a bunch of times... yeah that was interesting. Futagami does a cool tilt a whirl gutbuster thing... hey Cesaro should steal that. And she ended the match with a nice backfist/shotai combo. Candy and Fukuoka each did about 40 top rope moves. Yeah. Candy Okutsu/Ai Fujita vs. Ayako Hamada/Mika Akino (4/14) The first appearance of the HamAKINO pair. Also the first appearance of the impossibly perky Ai Fujita, another name that has fallen into obscurity. Candy is quickly starting to annoy me with her tendency to do every top rope move 3 times in a row. When this wasn't Candy hitting her 38th moonsault, it was quite good. The other 3 work this kind of quasi lucharesu style, and they kept it nice and interesting. All the flying, fancy submissions and rollups looked polished and served a purpose. Candy thankfully didn't do much making this match feel like a showcase for the 3 promising workers illustrating how far they've come. The finish further underlines this. Mariko Yoshida vs. Mikiko Futagami (4/14) Jesus CHRIST! The next match that really grows in my estimation through the power of context. So we saw Yoshida destroy all comers. Futagami has no chance, right? Unlike Yagi or Bennett Futagami really doesn't have any overwelming advantage. But Futagami is like this mad wrestling improvisation artist. Crafty and unpredictable! And she ends up giving Yoshida a run for her money. There was not a ton of matwork (who would want to go to the mat with Yoshida at this point), but every single exchange here felt unique and special. Yoshida just goes to kill Mikiko the whole time and Mikiko keeps making up exit doors from nothing like she is a cartoon mouse being chased by at cartoon lawn mower. Not only was the wrestling great, but the timing and selling was brilliantly tricked out. I mean, that is not an easy thing to do when you have these lengthy submission attempts, and the teases and nearfalls were among the best I've ever seen, including one of the hardest struggles for a rope break ever caught on film. They also told the story through their facial expressions, perhaps moreso than in any other match before. By the end Futagami looks mentally scarred, she has made up all this shit and nothing is working, while Yoshida just has a pissed off look on her face and goes for the Air Raid Crash in frustration. It even makes me want to forgive some of the no selling. Brilliant, swanky, unique match. ARSION is on fire.
  15. Jetlag
    Continuation from the previous match! Even more great stumpy legged wrestling. Hamaguchi and Inoue have some of the most beautiful armdrags I've ever seen. References the previous match in wonderful ways. Then everything goes haywire! Animosity! Blood! Everyone's throwing punches! Big drama! HUGE Spike Piledriver! Beauitful finish! Yes, Ditch says the finish is bad, but I disagree. It was perfect. This match was fast paced and just flew by. How these guys never get dropped as among the best 70s workers is beyond me. Here you had a match with beautiful wrestling, cleverness, high end offense and bumps, hatred, blood and a hot finish. This whole thing pretty much ruled. I should get all the IWE out there.
  16. Jetlag
    Long junior tag from 1979! Hard not to love a match that has these stocky juniors doing all their awesome offense. Awesome takedowns, knee drops, punches, sumo slaps and flying headbutts a plenty. Match also had a really smart layout and clever use of double teams. Starts in a rush and then turns into a long uphill battle. The 2nd fall of this match alone as better than a lot of 1 fall singles matches. I guess the match peaked early when Inoue and Hoshino get into serious fight in the middle of the match, but that was an amazing moment and the rest of the match was still impossibly cool.
  17. Jetlag
    This was a pretty good match. Worked slow, no stupid shit, and quite a bit of selling. They did a nice job building to basic spots like a shoulderblock to make you give a shit. Yoshiko was kind of working like an underdog babyface here, which is weird as she is a natural menacing badass and once assaulted a 90 pound half blind girl, but she was pretty good in it. They kept things interesting all the way through and the finish was a hit. I think people would be buzzing about this if it were on a WWE PPV or something.
  18. Jetlag
    It is the weirdest thing that in 2016, the closest thing we have to a Tenryu/Hashimoto style battle of mythical asskickers match is between two tubby japanese girls in a vanity promotion with a ridiculous name. All the people I read who watched this show hated this match. Why do they hate it so much and I like it so much? Maybe I'm just an imbecile without knowing it. I guess they expected fat, old Aja to be little more athletic and Miss "I once shattered the face of a drama actress" Yoshiko to work a good clean no frills technical wrestling match or something. Anyways, I loved big chunks of this. Loved the entire opening section with Yoshiko going right into attempting to strangle Aja and Aja just slapping the equilibrium out of her. Yoshiko kind of works like 1990 Kawada, asskicker with a few flying moves, but because she is thick her sentons etc. look great. Yoshiko understood perfectly how to sell for Aja, as she was landing lots of little shots, but whenever Aja clocked her back her eyes would gaze into space as if she had been knocked completely out of the match. I didn't even hate the slow brawling on the outside because Aja just grabbed this huge piece of metal and chucked it right at Yoshiko like we played King Kong when we were kids, and somehow the slowness fed into Yoshiko's comeback. Didn't hate the endless lariat exchange, because it was done perfectly, and I can buy these two bears getting into a slugfest much easier than when it's two skinny jokers doing it. Yoshiko has a really hurty looking, Ikeda-like slightly modified short lariat where she hits Aja in the ear and the side of the neck. They both sell it very well, and the hits get slower but still land hard, until they are doing that old school "only held up by eachother" spot which I love, and then Yoshiko lariats Aja right in the face. Loved Yoshiko lifting Aja like it was Hogan/Andre, loved Aja doing a feint and clocking Yoshiko, loved both women selling during the finishing run. I'm not going to pretend this is a flawless match or something, but still. Those flaws are forgettable. Loved the match, really.
  19. Jetlag
    ARSION with a big title match to close out the year. Candy is back as Candy and debugs another ridiculous outfit. Her necklace even seemed to be giving her trouble. I don't wanna mock any further, because for a match that has a tasseled cowgirl in it this had some super matwork. Candy can handle herself with Yoshida, but it became fast apparent that Candy would want to take this match into a standing position while Yoshida always goes back to the mat no matter what. Candy did a bunch of popping up and got all her shit in while Yoshida tried 7,000 different submissions on her until she got the right one. I mean, it was all high end, innovative work, but a little bloated and felt a little too much like a showcase for both girls rather than a title match. Props to Yoshida however as she was utterly stellar once again.
  20. Jetlag
    Aja Kong: abuses children and gets paid for it. This goes pretty much like you expect it to go. Aja slaps Ayako around a bunch and steps on her bad arm while looking unimpressed by Ayako's feeble offensive attempts. Hamada uses her agility to survive and it builds to Ayako landing increasingly bigger spots on Aja. It develops into a quite good match, even if a little by the numbers and you've seen it a thousand times from Aja before. The thing that sets it apart is that Ayako hits some spots vastly beyond the ability of most wrestler. Ayako didn't have the sharp offense she would develop later to combat a monster like Aja, making the match feel even more one sided. She gave a spirited selling performance, that's for sure. By the end she looked as if pushed beyond her tolerance point but just wouldn't quit.
  21. Jetlag
    Uhm... I'm starting to think my brain isn't big enough to process this kind of match. I didn't like the offensive choices in the beginning of the match (X-Factors and Flying Clotheslines and so on). Then the match just kind of went into a spiral. Lots of unpredictable twists and turns, partner interferences and all that. There was one nifty Yagi/Fukawa exchange that I could sink my teeth into, and Ohmukai countered Tamada's Rolling Elbow by punching her in the face at one point. They play off the previous Tag Final match, and I liked some of the stuff near the end. The dead crowd didn't help either. I'll leave it to the joshi experts to judge this match.
  22. Jetlag
    I've seen this match before and felt it was great. But watching all this stuff now has changed my whole outlook on this bout. Proof that sometimes context is everything. We've seen Mariko demolish everybody else on the mat, and everyone tries to beat her standing. But here's Yagi. Hiromi Yagi, in this match, feels like the lost great female worker. Like we all fantasybook Tamon Honda to go to BattlARTS or Carl Greco in U-Style, here is Yagi, an unusual worker in her home promotion, going into an environment that fits her perfectly, and blooming. Nobody was able to do shit to Yoshida on the mat, until Hiromi Yagi came to town. Even the opening move makes sense now: Yoshida catches Yagi and drops her, and this match is business as usual right? Well not tonight, because Yagi goes back in and proceeds to put the fear of god into Yoshida. Yoshida would show weakness and Yagi would throw herself at her, Yoshida would try a move and Yagi would get her into trouble like no one before. Not only can Yagi hang on the mat, she can win. Suddenly all of Yoshida's sweeps and grounding aren't working. Yoshida would go to the mat, and suddenly she would be the one in trouble. The bandaged arm didn't even seem that important now. In a way, knowing that made the lulls/slow parts better as the bout had a type of tension building that I don't recall seeing in many other matches. Now I understand the crowd reaction when Yoshida escapes that armbar but doesn't engage further. For the first time, Yoshida doesn't want to be on the mat anymore. They do a tremendous job teasing the big throws, and Yagi ends up meeting her tragedy. No wonder she didn't want to shake hands after the match. Unbelievable, mindblowing, truely great contest. I've loved it before but now it's in my canon of untouchable superclassics. The swank moves, slick matwork were present as before, but the story that the match told has now been elevated in my mind. Hiromi Yagi, what an astounding young lady.
  23. Jetlag
    And here is AKINO in her first appearance on the set. Feels a little weird to watch this tiny young girl pop up in a title match less than a year after her debut, , but I ain't complaining! Pretty boss match for what it is. You can totally see the pet project thing with Akino. She wasn't a mat genius or anything, but she gets to survive Yoshida for a while and gets to impress with all these swank. Yoshida pretty much takes her apart twisting from one outlandish submission into another, while Akino goes for rope climbing spots and dives that a rookie really shouldn't be doing. A little robotic from Akino at times she couldn't hit everything cleanly, but her selling was solid enough and Yoshida is stellar just doing all this nifty stuff for 15 minutes. Y'know, I think if there's one thing missing from current junior weight wrestling it's this kind of SWANK. Yes yes I know they do all kinds of crazy spots and dives and 2.99999999999 counts and whatnot, but I can't name a single wrestler active in 2017 as swanky as Yoshida. Maybe Virus or Solar or some other luchador, but nobody elsewhere. I mean look at all these preposterous, twisty leg hooking holds! That fucking wristclutch throw she did just out of nowhere! People talk about DG being spectacular, but fuck that. A basic sweep from Yoshida is spectacular.
  24. Jetlag
    Mariko Yoshida vs. Mika Akino (1/17) And here is AKINO in her first appearance on the set. Feels a little weird to watch this tiny young girl pop up in a title match less than a year after her debut, , but I ain't complaining! Pretty boss match for what it is. You can totally see the pet project thing with Akino. She wasn't a mat genius or anything, but she gets to survive Yoshida for a while and gets to impress with all these swank. Yoshida pretty much takes her apart twisting from one outlandish submission into another, while Akino goes for rope climbing spots and dives that a rookie really shouldn't be doing. A little robotic from Akino at times she couldn't hit everything cleanly, but her selling was solid enough and Yoshida is stellar just doing all this nifty stuff for 15 minutes. Y'know, I think if there's one thing missing from current junior weight wrestling it's this kind of SWANK. Yes yes I know they do all kinds of crazy spots and dives and 2.99999999999 counts and whatnot, but I can't name a single wrestler active in 2017 as swanky as Yoshida. Maybe Virus or Solar or some other luchador, but nobody elsewhere. I mean look at all these preposterous, twisty leg hooking holds! That fucking wristclutch throw she did just out of nowhere! People talk about DG being spectacular, but fuck that. A basic sweep from Yoshida is spectacular. Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiromi Yagi (2/18) I've seen this match before and felt it was great. But watching all this stuff now has changed my whole outlook on this bout. Proof that sometimes context is everything. We've seen Mariko demolish everybody else on the mat, and everyone tries to beat her standing. But here's Yagi. Hiromi Yagi, in this match, feels like the lost great female worker. Like we all fantasybook Tamon Honda to go to BattlARTS or Carl Greco in U-Style, here is Yagi, an unusual worker in her home promotion, going into an environment that fits her perfectly, and blooming. Nobody was able to do shit to Yoshida on the mat, until Hiromi Yagi came to town. Even the opening move makes sense now: Yoshida catches Yagi and drops her, and this match is business as usual right? Well not tonight, because Yagi goes back in and proceeds to put the fear of god into Yoshida. Yoshida would show weakness and Yagi would throw herself at her, Yoshida would try a move and Yagi would get her into trouble like no one before. Not only can Yagi hang on the mat, she can win. Suddenly all of Yoshida's sweeps and grounding aren't working. Yoshida would go to the mat, and suddenly she would be the one in trouble. The bandaged arm didn't even seem that important now. In a way, knowing that made the lulls/slow parts better as the bout had a type of tension building that I don't recall seeing in many other matches. Now I understand the crowd reaction when Yoshida escapes that armbar but doesn't engage further. For the first time, Yoshida doesn't want to be on the mat anymore. They do a tremendous job teasing the big throws, and Yagi ends up meeting her tragedy. No wonder she didn't want to shake hands after the match. Unbelievable, mindblowing, truely great contest. I've loved it before but now it's in my canon of untouchable superclassics. The swank moves, slick matwork were present as before, but the story that the match told has now been elevated in my mind. Hiromi Yagi, what an astounding young lady.
  25. Jetlag
    Hashimoto vs. Naoya Ogawa, 10/11/99 Either that or something else with Hash.
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