Jordan

Just finished rewatching this and it's still incredible. I also forgot how sympathetic Necro really came off from this trying to survive Joe's onslaught. I think running this back to back to back with Joe/Balor II (mainly for the opening minutes) and LA Park/Rush made me a wrestling fan again after not really watching anything the last two years.

PeterF3 nailed it pointing out the importance of the dynamic switch in terms of Hash fully becoming the man and Choshu transitioning into the old vet trying to hold on. I think their best matches by far come when that finally takes place (This, '96 G1, '97 Dome Show). Watching this after just watching their match from 1991 is like night and day in terms of quality in my eyes. While the layout for the '91 match seemed kind of out of order and just momentum killing at times this one never let up and kept going and going towards its end goal. And I must say I really loved the diving elbow finish and how spontaneous it felt. Completely bought it (loved Choshu's refusal to be easily turned over for the pin in a last ditch effort to survive) and wish modern wrestling had more of those.

Well alright then.

This wasn't as incredible as the their match a week prior, but they go to war in the time they were given. Sheamus' body shots are always awesome (in fact the increase of guys doing body shots in matches for the WWE is something I definitely endorse) and him fall away slamming (throwing?) Cesaro into the barricade was wild. Plus Cesaro's uppercuts to the back and stomps are things you couldn't pay me to take. Also, I almost forgot for a while that Cesaro would spin his opponent around by the neck during his chinlocks. I miss that. Actually loved the "out of nowhere" nature of the Brogue kick to finish this as Cesaro just pushed Sheamus into a corner and he just finds a burst to put Cesaro away.

I've barely seen any of this RAW because of the Spurs/Thunder game. Has anything been as good as that Alicia Fox big boot?

Hansen vs. Kawada Feb. 1993. I honestly think it's become my favorite 1993 AJPW match. The brawling through the streamers to open, the unbelievable selling of the shots throughout by Kawada and Hansen, just so much to love. I just find something new to enjoy every time I watch it. And on the indie front, Homicide vs. Steve Corino from Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies in 2003 is really good. http://vimeo.com/54559163

Pretty certain on those supposed leaked scripts, Finlay was listed as the producer for the Divas matches. And I'll also co-sign Fox being awesome as well. Part of me hopes she starts throwing that axe kick again...

I'd definitely be interested in those.

It may just be me, but last season felt like it was full of enough unintentional comedy that part of me could watch the episodes and get some entertainment from them. However any episode for this season has just been a chore. I didn't even make it halfway in this one before I just permanently stayed on TNT and the start of the Rockets/Blazers game.

Incredible match, but what was the reason for it being one fall instead of the usual 2/3 falls? Was always curious about that.

John Cena in 2007 deserves some love. The Umaga matches, the Khali matches, the HBK matches, the Orton Summerslam match...and in everyone of those I feel like he was definitely the best guy. That really might be the strongest year an ace has ever had for WWE, in-ring wise.

Man this is going to get slaughtered.

Welp.

Man, I still love trophies. All that's missing is an oversized check.

Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto, 1/4/2001 Dome Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl-dpFxU_zI Man am I glad I clicked on this after listening to Choshu's theme on YouTube (which for some inexplicable reason has its best result show up only in Kanji and Katakana to actually hear the theme and not some random cover) because it fucking ruled up until the hilariously bad finish. Hash being a douchebag in the opening via stalling and not even wanting to enter the ring was awesome to see since I'm so used to Hash as this brave warrior who won't turn down a fight, but he makes it work. And when he finally does, he just starts laying in this brutal beating on Choshu that the ref has to repeatedly breakup. Finally Choshu finds an opening during one of the breakup sequences to fucking nail Hash with a punch that was so wonderfully brutal that I hit like as fast as I could. This follows with Hash getting outside to regain his bearings and remove his gloves as if to signal "it's time for a fight" or something like that and he then gets back in the ring and gets in one of those really gritty collar elbow tie ups that only these two can pull off. What follows afterwards was a mix of ridiculously stiff lariats, great selling, and just two guys beating the crap out of each other but not at the expense of putting over how grueling the affair really was. There's a Hash DDT in there that looks disgusting. And then...Fujinami just decides to end it. I ultimately don't think this was better than their '96 or '97 outings (even before the crap finish) but it was still cool to see "Invader Hash" I guess trying to kick Choshu's ass.

https://www.facebook.com/ScientificWrestling?ref=ts&fref=ts Sad to hear. R.I.P.

I've never really been too closeted with it, but I can honestly be a pretty shy person so at the same time I wasn't just going around and letting everyone know I was a fan. But if it came up I've never been embarrassed about it. I had wrestling friends in elementary and middle school, but don't really remember anyone bringing it up in high school, so I just carried on the interest on my own. Interestingly enough, so far in college I've met quite a few fellow wrestling fans. Freshman roommate was pretty big into it.

Jesus Christ.

This came on a stream I was in and I loved it as much as any other past viewings so I'll give some thoughts. The brawling early on is simple but incredible to see. Also love how it seems so spontaneous in any counters that do occur. Kawada stops some Hansen strikes and has a headlock on near a ringpost? Well, he'll just go ahead and ram Hansen's head right into it! And when the match does enter the ring the way they just seem to move around the ring and make something happen is great. Like Kawada will take some shots and go down and Hansen will just stroll over to the ropes and drop an elbow to him. Just feels really organic. Hashimoto/Tenryu '98, Regal/Finlay Uncensocred '96, and Hansen/Hennig have that same quality to their affairs that makes them great as well. Also, I love that everything is felt. Every chop, every back club, everything has a reaction. Oh and the facials, can't forget about those. That zoom in on Kawada's reaction to getting a Hansen kick in the face is awesome. Even when Kawada gets a burst of energy late and tries to mount an attack after taking a nasty shoulder block, Hansen just swats him back down like a fly and almost forces him back to selling. Things like that just seem to excite me when I watch these matches besides just the stiff strikes. And the finishing stretch is top work as well. It's like Kawada took notice of the crowd's momentary eruption when Hansen pulled up his elbow pad to signal the Western Lariat and he realized he had to mount an attack to survive. The flurries that follow had such a wild, desperate vibe to them and even looked like they were making some headway. He ducks one lariat attempt, and Gamengiri's Hansen when he comes for another attempt, but it's not enough as Hansen seems to just fling himself and that deadly lariat right through Kawada and even to the outside of the ring. And even that adds more drama to the affair. The final desperation back lariat that he hits a few minutes later really has a "last resort" vibe to it and feels like the only finish that could be had. "Finlay/Regal with a proper finish" really is a perfect description for it. A classic and really I think the only match that tops it from '93 AJPW is 12/3/93

Rozay!

Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal (ROH Midnight Express Reunion 2004) Watched this earlier today and I think it reminded me how much I really do prefer Gangsta Ki to Honorable Warrior Ki. I guess being heel lets him get out any of his Napoleon complex issues in a more brutal fashion, and it works well in getting his opponent sympathy, since the crowd was pretty behind Lethal for this (and after watching some other '04 and '05 ROH, that doesn't happen too often). Plus he bumped big for Lethal's stuff and the little exchange outside with Ki and Lethal's mom was pretty well done. Dragon Sleeper finish near the end looked really nasty.

Regal vs. Finlay from Uncensored '96 comes to mind. Oh yeah and Hashimoto vs. Tenryu from the '98 G-1.

Del Rio's music hitting literally the second Cena & Cesaro were about to lock up followed by a commercial break was pretty heartbreaking.

I think one of my favorite parts of the Misawa & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue feud in '96 is how the Akiyama and Kawada's interactions, past and present, play into it. All those years of Kawada kicking Akiyama's ass and trying to get him to "man up" finally push Akiyama enough to score a big breakthrough. And yeah Misawa's Big Brother tagwork here looking out for Akiyama and helping set up the moment (big German to Kawada and then tells him to finish the job, exactly like at the '93 RWTL and to Kobashi) was awesome. Scary that they have 3 superior tags later in the year.

Watched this last night at like 2 am when I should have been sleeping and enjoyed it. Too often it seems guys try to go for "epic" or the "big fight feel" and just over shoot the target but here it felt organic and well thought out for the most part. Hashimoto's selling of Choshu's lariat section was as brilliant as it was during the G-1 a year prior.