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drokk

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  1. drokk
    Kenta Kobashi Vs. Tamon Honda, GHC Heavyweight Championship, Pro Wrestling NOAH 4/13/2003
     
    Underdog matches are great and all, but I particularly like the "Every dog has his day" type of underdog match. This match pulled that idea off very well and Kobashi being so selfless to Honda was cool to see.
     
    The early mat work in this was killer. Honda goes for amateur throws and old-school submissions and Kobashi does a really good job of keeping up with him in terms of tricked-out mat wrestling. The headlock section around the 9:00 minute mark works so well after all the counters and submissions. Kobashi grinds Honda down a bit more before Honda manages to pull out THAT GERMAN SUPLEX on the ramp. That one suplex I felt was really important in setting the tone for the rest of the match. Kobashi was in control for much of the match, so every big suplex/throw/hold Honda was actually able to pull off carried a lot of weight. I don't know if that makes sense...
     
    Very smooth escalation throughout the match that was helped by the selling. Honda very much looked like an old man who had been dropped on his head (which I'm sure wasn't hard to pull off). Kobashi's facial expressions were awesome as always. The finishing stretch is all kinds of painful looking and features one of my favorite near falls ever when Honda counters a lariat with a shoulder throw in to a pin. That was so awesome to see. Kobashi of course finally puts down Honda with a lariat and all is well.
     
    All the important stuff about this match has already been written, so I'll just add myself to the people who dig it.
     
    Where I'll have it: Top 30.
  2. drokk
    Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka Vs. Dr. Wagner Jr and Silver King, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles, NJPW 2/3/2001
     
    Hey! More Kanemoto and Tanaka! Let's hope Kanemoto gets a bit more of the spotlight here.
     
    ...He didn't.
     
    This was all about Wagner and King. They got to show off a ton of cool offense and seemed to get over with the crowd. I wish I could write a bit more but nothing really stood out to me. Felt a lot like Kanemoto and Tanaka were content to let the luchadores get their stuff in and just wait for the finish. Not a bad match at all but if they would have taken three minutes of Wagner/King control and let Kanemoto and Tanaka get a little more in, it would have been better.
     
    I do like Wagner in New Japan though. He looks so much beefier than they NJ juniors and it serves a great double purpose: it gets over his strength advantage and it looks even crazier when he hooks an arm or leg, starts twisting around, and ends up in a pinning predicament.
     
    Still looking for some good Kanemoto...
     
    Where I'll have it: Off the list. There would have to be a lot of outright bad stuff (and there isn't going to be) for me to move this in to a top 100, let alone a top 50.
  3. drokk
    Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka Vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Togi Makabe, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles, NJPW 9/12/2000
     
    I think I'm just gonna go through all of Ditch's weekly pimped matches instead of revisiting "All heart, no knees" Kobashi like I want to.
     
    Could not possibly tell you anything I've seen from these guys except, of course, a ton of Liger. I've seen maybe 10 or so Makabe matches but they were all after he had already made the full transition to the heavyweight ranks.
     
    Right from the start Makabe is put to a real test with an early double team and Kanemoto really laying in the kicks and cranking on the holds. I dig the chemistry between Liger and Makabe. Looks a lot like Liger is content to let the young lion shine and only really steps in to help Makabe out of something or to set something up. Liger's piledriver at around 10:00 of the file is nasty looking and makes you wish it was more than a transition. Spot on observation by Ditch in noticing Makabe doesn't really have much in his arsenal. His offense really consists of taking advantage of opportunities with simple throws and strikes instead of taking a risk on a more complicated move.
     
    You have to love Kanemoto's dick move of coming in and stomping Liger and SIMULTANEOUSLY telling the ref to keep Makabe on the apron. The match as a whole would have worked perfectly fine with Makabe taking a king sized beating in order to feed a hot tag, but instead we see Liger getting worked over pretty good and Makabe having to make a few saves of his own. Thought that was really cool and makes me want to see more of Makabe from around this time. Tanaka hits a damned flying heel hook on the floor and I smile. Makabe gets a near fall off a German suplex on Kanemoto that starts the finishing sequence off with a bang. Liger playing cheerleader for the last few minutes is awesome and really gets over the idea that it's Makabe's match and if he gets the win it's not going to be because Liger served it to him on a platter.
     
    I dug this for what it was and feel I would probably be way more in to it if I saw a bit more of Makabe's 2000. Worth checking out.
     
    Where I'll have it - Near the bottom if all I watch is ~100 matches. Probably won't make it if I watch much more.
  4. drokk
    Hey guys. Long time lurker, decided to sign up because I watched this match. Don't know if I'll end up with a 50 match ballot but I'm gonna try to at least watch 100 matches and join in on the discussion.
     
    Kiyoshi Tamura Vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, U-Style 2/4/2004
     
    I remember having a DVD set of early UWF and being impressed by the pace at which Tamura worked the mat. Didn't know TK did worked matches. Before this I only knew him as a middling MMA fighter and the dude who gave Fedor Emelianenko his first loss.
     
    That said, this wasn't really a context heavy match. Shoot style is one of my favorite styles of wrestling to watch and this delivered a lot of what I look for. The opening matwork was awesome. Tamura and TK create really nice, fluid sequences that are made even better by their shoot wrestling skills. As an MMA fan, it's sometimes hard for me buy in to people's mat work and strikes when they don't look like there's any real struggle. That's not to say I don't love a good worked punch, but Tamura and TK's mat work looks like two guys who have spent years in the gym on the mat finding counters and holds from every position. The pace in the first few minutes was awesome and does a really good job of setting up the eventual break down from feeling out process to "Yeah I'm just gonna try to murder this dude."
     
    Around the 5:00 mark Tamura gets full mount and pulls out one of the swankest stand ups from mount I've seen. Made almost no sense as the mount is one of the most dominant positions on the mat... but whatever. TK gets a nasty headlock that looks all strength, no technique and forces a rope break. When Tamura gets up, he scores a knock down with a disgustingly sick high kick and I feel as if the stand up from mount is justified - no point in possibly giving up your back for an early arm bar when you can just drill TK in the temple. They keep building towards the end and every sequence feels more intense than the last. You can really see the difference in how holds are applied in the first few minutes and how they're just grinding each other in to dust near the end. Tamura's punches to the gut to escape a heel hook were awesome and were a good example of how simple stuff can convey a huge sense of urgency.
     
    Really liked this match. Everything about it felt organic, which to me is what makes matches good - particularly shoot style matches. Everything escalated very well from the opening feeling out process to Tamura having to rip TK's hands apart to get the armbar for the finish.
     
    Where I'll have it - In the 75 range.
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