dawho5
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Everything posted by dawho5
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I loved this match. The early finisher reversal stuff was fine because it negated the need for doing it later. Paige destroying Emma was so great. I was almost disappointed at Emma again going into her finishing routine right off of being destroyed without any kind of vengeance. But she switches gears after it doesn't work and gets brutal right back in Paige's direction. I thought the character work here was good too, with Emma getting angry and letting it get the better of her with the ill-advised slaps that led to Paige turning it around. Paige's dismay over the Paige Turner not working was great too. Both women sold excellently throughout and the stiffness was just great. This was a complete and total war. Regal on commentary so far on this show has been great too.
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I thought that they put Zayn over as the never-say-die face really well. The counter spots based off the 2 out of 3 falls were really well done. Some of the later nearfalls were a bit much though. The one count was just bad. Overall a very good match, but too many nearfalls and a really badly placed one count kill any chance of it being great.
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Didn't hear it, just seemed like the only reason the finish would be worked the way it was. It doesn't make sense with the way the match built to wanting to see Fuchi vs. Kawada only to have Ogawa end up in there for the majority of the finish. If Fuchi was above Kawada in the pecking order it might, but Fuchi has already lost to Kawada in a singles match. Only way the finish makes any sense to me is that it was booked as a way to debut Kawada's new big submission (his third in under six months). Not much later he puts Kroffat and then Kobashi away with it before he starts using it on guys like Fuchi or Jumbo. It's not dissimilar to how the bodyscissors sleeper and it's odd camel clutch-looking cousin were built up. -
Recently picked up the Network and started watching NXT from where they have it starting (Feb. 2014 IIRC). So far I enjoy the presentation and the wrestling quite a bit more than a lot of the WWE stuff. I suppose we can hope that Vince leaves NXT as is as a training tool for HHH. It's not like the majority of the NXT guys are really Vince type guys anyways. Most are more the alternative, indy type guys that Vince seems to hate the idea of as big stars and will only push when he needs to keep the fans in line. The announcing isn't much better than the main show though, except for when Regal shows up.
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I have to agree with Johnny on the original purpose of the thread. It does give posters a chance to rant about people who piss them off though, which can be a good thing. I have a hard time with the idea of the fawning co-host of a show hosted by a former wrestling promoter being "associated with wrestling" though. I'm sure anyone who has talked wrestling with co-workers has had to deal with a few who buy into the WWE myths wholesale and can't imagine there are other wrestlers worth watching. I've run into that once or twice before I stopped talking wrestling much at work and I can say it didn't make me hate anybody, just made me not want to talk wrestling with them. Associated with the business would be something far more solid to me.
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This was booked as a match for Kawada to debut the abdominal stretch version of the stretch plum. Kawada and Fuchi make the body of the match awesome, but for me the finish fell flat because of how all the momentum Fuchi and Kawada had built up was wasted. The first 3/4 or so of the match I saw after the clip was great. Ogawa and Kikuchi had a nice, heated exchange during that time as well.
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I liked this match quite a bit, but a lot of the stuff in it seemed like it was a rehash of 91 stuff. The setup for Kawada's finish of Ogawa hurt me watching it. Ogawa was the best he's been so far here. He brought a lot more emotion to the table in this match than in a lot of the major matches he was in during 91.
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This was an awesome match. I knew who was winning before the match started. Didn't keep me from getting way into the ending and enjoying the big Kikuchi/Kobashi comebacks.
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Okay, that Hansen v Kikuchi match was awesome. Great hidden gem there. And you know how I know Baba was a genius? Because he booked Hansen against Kikuchi in Korakuen.
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I don't think I've seen any of the four matches you guys watched. Looking forward to them now though. You guys aren't wrong on the Misawa vs. Hansen match. Almost every Hansen vs. Misawa match I have watched is a disappointment when I look at how they worked against anybody else. The 8/92 match had the Misawa shoulder injury from earlier in the year, which played into the finish. Misawa, with an injured shoulder, won the triple crown from the big, badass gaijin Hansen. With an elbow. It takes the elbow that has been built up as big and just makes it bigger. Also the handshake afterwards is great. The match as a whole is not great, but it is necessary to the Misawa legend in more than one way. And if you watch the best Hansen vs. Misawa match in my opinion, the 93 match, it plays off of this one. It's one of those matches that is required viewing if you want a big part of the story, but not greta as a standalone match.
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I'd never seen this match before and it had me popping like crazy. Kawada finally putting the bodyscissors sleeper on Jumbo, basically anything Kawada and Jumbo related in this match is great. Doesn't hurt that Kobashi is all kinds of fired up and wants a piece of both Taue and Jumbo. Kobashi's run of offense near the end on Jumbo and the payoff is off the charts great. Kawada's lariat on Jumbo to start that offense is sublime. I can't believe this match didn't end up getting all kinds of pimped for how great it is.
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Actually, you should wait until I finish All Japan again and have time to go through it all first. Great stuff so far and I'm looking forward to the second half of 96.
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[1991-09-04-AJPW-Summer Action Series II] Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi
dawho5 replied to Loss's topic in September 1991
Some small things about this match because the big things have been covered. Kobashi hit an enzuigiri from the apron that Hansen banged his head into the top turnbuckle selling. On purpose or not that was fantastic. Hansen chopping Kobashi in the corner after the second vicious floor beating of Kobashi (body slam into the rail and Oklahoma stampede into the post) and turning to jaw with Higuchi only to eat a side kick from Kobashi was so fucking great. The sleeper sequence was mentioned, but the floor lariat that Kobashi sprints into afterwards and the desperate struggle to get off the floor afterwards are awesome. As is the fight to get back into the ring that ends with a Kobashi crossbody for his biggest nearfall of the match. I would put this behind the 7/29/93 match and ahead of the 4/93 fancam match and the 94 CC match. I'm not sure which of those two I have a 3 and 4, but I can say that any feud wth that kind of quality is something else. Also, at this point of 91 this is right behind 4/20 as my MOTY for All Japan. -
The sleeper was to build for Kawada vs. Jumbo. Kawada had beaten Fuchi and then Taue with his bodyscissors sleeper around a month or two earlier. So Jumbo using it to finish (obviously had to be Kikuchi) here seemed like a message to me.
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Those are great ideas, but I don't know that they'd be as good as the WWE list podcasts. The WWE lists seem pretty all over the place with enough goofiness, favoritism and attempts at representing a particular style or promotion with more than likely the wrong match to make for really good discussion material. Stuff like the DVDVR lists probably won't have near as much of that as the WWE lists.
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Great stuff on the tag team episode. I would agree with Parv on the pairing. I wonder, if either Kelly or Marty have watched much 80s AJPW and how the style was not as hard-hitting as one would assume based on the 90s, if Hansen in that environment was similar to Valentine in the 80s WWF?
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That Ladd promo was really great. Loved how he got excited then went back to the more subtle menacing tone. The Howlin' Wolf tune before the easter egg was sweet also. As for the easter egg I'm just glad I never went to college in Texas.
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I thought "fun" was about right as far as describing this match. Kawada vs. Hansen was the best part for sure. Spivey not killing the match could also be considered a highlight. About midway through 1991 I'm in complete agreement with Ditch. Hansen/Spivey are more consistently good and somehow far better at filling time in matches than Williams/Gordy. I guess we'd be looking at it differently if the MVC would have been booked in 15 minute and under matches more consistently.
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100% in the Loss/Pete/Chad camp. This match bored me after the good opening.
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Oh man, that match and the Kobashi match the night before are among my favorite Hansen matches. I would have to rewatch the Taue match to see if I thought it was in the same vein or not. I think the best comparison I can come up with off the top of my head is the 99 RWTL Final with Taue vs. Kobashi/Akiyama. The crowd so wanted the old school revival (Taue was almost like a fill-in for Baba as Hansen's partner) team to come through with the win against a heavily favored Burning team. Made for a completely different Stan Hansen match.
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Yeah, Hansen as the sympathetic babyface is so freaking great. But I still prefer Hansen the force of nature at the end that even Gordy couldn't keep under control. One thing about Hansen a lot of people miss is his selling and ability to switch gears when he needs to. He's always remembered as an all-time great for his offense, but he's the complete package.
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Just watched the 4/18/91 tag and I think it deserves a spot up there with some of Hansen's best for radically different reasons than most of the Stan Hansen matches I've seen that have already been mentioned. Hansen as the face-in-peril is incredible when it happens and it's really hard to believe that unless you've actually seen it.
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[1991-04-18-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta
dawho5 replied to Loss's topic in April 1991
Some things I found worth mentioning on my first watch ever of this match. The crowd is chanting for Misawa (as loud as the music when it hits ) before the music starts. Holy fuck is that awesome. I thought Jumbo doing small things really made the middle and the end. Like where he heard the chants for Misawa after a few nearfalls, pauses to react to the fans and gives Misawa the rana reversal for a nearfall. That's some genius shit for a much bigger pop than you'd think a rana would get in a heavyweight match. Then things like the twitch after the DDT make me love Jumbo so much. I thought this was better than the June match by a long way but shy of the September one. Jumbo's quest to stay on top makes that match transcendent to me, where this is as much Misawa's Kawada in 6/3/94 performance. The first match he got lucky with the timing of things when Jumbo crotched himself on the ropes after hurting his arm, which opened up the rollup being a possible finish for Misawa. The second match was where we saw that Misawa was still a clear number two with some work to do before he stood a chance at beating Jumbo. This match Misawa really threatens Jumbo late, even hitting an elbow (reminded me of the Williams match in 94 a lot) after the first backdrop driver that forced Jumbo to up the ante with two in order to put him away. Great match for sure, but not their best. I would say that was as much because of the focus of the match as anything. Misawa just was not as compelling as the guy trying to catch Jumbo compared to Jumbo as the veteran trying desperately to show he was still number one. If you look at it in terms of All Japan booking the matches all have a purpose which they serve really, really well. -
Yeah, I'd have a hard time putting Kobashi anywhere below 15 despite my absolute hatred of the excesses he indulged in. At his best he was an incredible worker with a great understanding of how to get a crowd behind him. And even on his worst days the guy was giving 110% for the entirety of every match.
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PWSS Top 6 Title Changes w/ Tim, Will & Kris
dawho5 replied to Grimmas's topic in Publications and Podcasts
This was a really good listen for me. It highlighted some things that I really don't think about a lot and I probably ought to. Gives me another way of looking at wrestling, which is a huge plus. Thanks to Tim, Will and KrisZ.