drokk

I really, really hope this is true. I just watched this and I get the sense that watching it in a vaccuum is not the best course of action. It's not even that I don't like the match, I just find it very average, and this is coming from someone that loves themselves some grumpy Tenryu and Hansen. Where I'll have it - Bottom quarter, but this will definitely be at the top of the re-watch list.

Yes, thank you. How does it make sense that someone can take six elbows to the jaw and not even budge but two minutes later a single elbow lays them out? While we're at it, does anyone have an address where I can send my complaint about how people slap their legs every time they throw a head kick?

So it turns out I'm super slow at watching wrestling. Still, the 10 matches I've watched since I started on this project is more than I've watched in the last six months, so there's that. Now that I'm absolutely sure of what I plan to watch I can hopefully get a bit of momentum going. Also - write ups take forever when you're trying to make sense, so I think I'll just do quick snippets for a while, especially considering a 20 minute match takes me about an hour to watch and write a "quick" paragraph about. /excuses Hashimoto/Iizuka Vs. Ogawa/Murakami, 1/4/2000 -CRAZY brawl. Everything in this was awesome and the rear naked choke finish was the most painful hold in a worked match I've seen in a while. Absolutely worth going out of your way to see. Where I'll have it: I may just go nuts and have this near top 15. Everything up to the re-start was good enough to have it top 30 and everything else just gets better from then on. Tenryu Vs. Sasaki, 1/4/2000 -This is just kind of there. Tenryu and Sasaki beat each other up for 15 minutes, and aside from a few cool highspots (like the powerbomb from the second rope), nothing drew my attention. Where I'll have it: Way down low. Probably off the list. Misawa Vs. Akiyama, 2/27/2000 -I was so caught up in explaining my HATRED of the apron Exploder that I crossed the line from disliking it to liking it. It makes sense in the context of the match - Akiyama needs to bust up Misawa ASAP because he sure as hell isn't going to win any kind of wrestling exchange. From there on out it's all Akiyama wearing Misawa down and taking advantage of every opportunity he gets. Misawa gives Akiyama a lot without making it look like a total squash. This had a very simple but very hot finishing stretch that got the crowd really riled up. Where I'll have it: Bottom half of 100. Kobashi Vs. Omori, 4/15/2000 -This was way more fun than it was technically good, and that is in no way a bad thing. The only thing I really did not like was that Omori spends so much of the match shredding Kobashi's knee and by the finish the only sign of it is a subtle limp. Aside from that, this was pretty cool. Where I'll have it: Holding hands with Misawa/Akiyama from February. Kobashi Vs. Takayama, 5/26/2000 -Takayama is an awesome heel foil to Kobashi's charismatic babyface. The chops to the head are worked as being deadly but it's hard to buy them. Takayama's arm work does a good job of slowing things down, weakening Kobashi's chops and lariats, and laying the groundwork for the finishing stretch. Kobashi having to box Takayama with only his left hand was an awesome visual. I feel like if they had gone a minute or two longer the finish could have been more heated, but it's okay as is. Where I'll have it: Bottom half. Ohtani/Takaiwa Vs. Kanemoto/Tanaka, 6/25/2000 -Kanemoto trying to out-heel Ohtani and Takaiwa is awesome. Am I wrong in saying the match was just a constant escalation in a contest of who can be the bigger prick? It felt like that. I REALLY liked the sequence of suplexes that bridged everything in to the last third. A lot of the transitions and counters were really simple and effective, which I love compared to when guys do a backflip out of a powerbomb in to a DDT countered by a Northern Lights (or whatever). Really quick pace throughout and just enough MOVES~ to impress athletically but not be an overly contrived mess. Where I'll have it: In the 40-60 range. I did a write up for Kobashi/Honda too and put in my blog here on the forums. This was before I decided to focus on watching and not writing, heh. Rankings after watching TEN WHOLE MATCHES: Kobashi Vs. Honda 4/13/2003 Hashimoto/Iizuka Vs. Ogawa/Murakami, 1/4/2000 Tamura Vs. Kohsaka 2/4/2004 Kanemoto/Tanaka Vs. Liger/Makabe 9/12/2000 Kobashi Vs. Takayama, 5/26/2000 Misawa Vs. Akiyama, 2/27/2000 Ohtani/Takaiwa Vs. Kanemoto/Tanaka, 6/25/2000 Kobashi Vs. Omori, 4/15/2000 Tenryu Vs. Sasaki, 1/4/2000 Kanemoto/Tanaka Vs. Wagner Jr./Silver King 2/3/2001

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yeah the last few minutes were awesome. Makabe just killing dudes with spears and Korakuen losing its mind added to the atmosphere. 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.

Basically this. A by-the-numbers match in 1996 with these guys is still going to be pretty good but this could have definitely been much more. Mark Curtis is totally awesome in this by the way. Dude looks like he's having so much fun being in the ring with Rey and Liger. Really though, I re-watched this match just to cringe at the commentary again. Rey takes a suplex from the ring to the floor and a powerbomb on the floor back to back and the only reaction is Heenan groaning under Dusty and Tenay. "He got a commode lid!" Dusty can be awesome but Rey killing himself and being ignored has bugged me since I first watched this match. /vent

Thanks Alan. 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. Forgive my disjointed review style but I'm still trying to find my voice

Hey all- Been lurking for a while and finally wrote down my thoughts on a match. I found that I liked it better and remembered more about the match than when I just watch, so I created an account. I think I've read more about wrestling than I've watched. Between here, the old DVDVRs, and reading a bunch of old WONs, I've built a very anecdotal knowledge of wrestling that I've seen very little of. I hope to change this. I like pretty much all styles of wrestling and will try to snag either the lucha set or a yearbook in the next few weeks. Cheers.

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.