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dawho5

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Everything posted by dawho5

  1. dawho5
    Seeing the alternate CIMA and Fuji performances (completely different wrestling styles), I'm more than a little unhappy that CIMA chose the direction he did with his wrestling style. This was a mostly fun match with some WTF-inducing stuff in the middle. The Italian Connection triple corner stuff in the 6-sided ring was well done. Won't be getting a vote, but interesting to say the least.
  2. dawho5
    This match is all about KENTA vs. Suguira. Suguira is okay in this, but he still seems really, really limited. Marvin and Kanemaru are perfect opponents because they like to jump and flip and do all kinds of intricate shit. That's not saying it's anything good but they match anyway. And Misawa vs. Kobashi has gotten pretty damn tired, especially with Kobashi in 100% SPIRIT mode and lazy Misawa. There's some fun interaction between Misawa/Kobashi and the youngsters, but this won't be getting a vote.
  3. dawho5
    One of two things needed to happen for this to be more than good. Saito needed to not work over the legs or Mochizuki needed to act like somebody had worked over his legs. His offense is 90% kicks, so maybe the former. Saito impressed me again with his performance here. Mochizuki throws nice kicks for sure and hits a massive dive. Saito teasing the dragon suplex over and over works really well when it comes out. Finish is pretty well-worked, maybe a bit rushed. I'd put it in the 50 range.
  4. dawho5
    SUWA heels it from the pre-match, ripping up the paper that the old guy reads off of pre-match. That actually plays into the match, with KENTA getting the elderly (I'm assuming former pro wrestler himself) gentleman to the point where he gets up out of his chair and starts taking off his jacket like HE is gonna fight SUWA. KENTA can't get anything going because SUWA is such a dick heel he has a cheapshot answer to everything. So when he does it's freaking huge. Nearfall sequence is really intelligently worked. Somebody laid this out nice for them and it's pretty easily a top 20 match.
  5. dawho5
    Much more reserved than the Ikeda vs. Ishikawa match. Lots of good matwork and some sense of struggle. Lack of any kind of crowd hurts it. Sometimes it comes off almost as a matwork exhibition. I'll vote for it, but it won't be too high.
  6. dawho5
    Lots of good stuff early. Great strike exchange. Misawa being the aggressor is a fresh way to present this. Then somewhere along the way it derails and becomes a standard NOAH finishing run with Kawada and Misawa. They should have done something more off the norm of how NOAH worked for these two, but instead they seem to have just fallen back on formula.
  7. dawho5
    Kenta Kobashi is the king of overlong, overdone entrance sequences. Greta knucklelock sequence. Sasaki actually makes this match watchable during the opening part. He goes all junior on Kobashi, which is pretty fun even if it looks like Sasaki's gonna kill himself doing it. Maybe that's part of the fun. Then they go into a 5 minute chop sequence. Okay, maybe it's 3:30 to 4 minutes. But it feels like 10. Anyway, once they get back to the match it gets fun again. Kobashi does this amazing struggle against a tiger suplex that ultimately fails. Then they trade bombs until the 3. Some of this was fun and I'm glad I watched it. But it won't be getting a vote.
  8. dawho5
    This is the follow-up to the other Akiyama/Tenryu tag and it delivers on a lot of levels. Instead of Go Shiozaki as Kobashi's partner, this time we get Taue!! And he brings this great energy to the match. Really the only weak stuff here was Kobashi overdoing things a few times. Tenryu and Akiyama were pitch perfect with the heeling it up. Taue was 100% ready to avenge even the slightest wrong, begging to tag in several times and very clearly asking Kobashi at one point if he could stay in there and mess Tenryu up for him. The finish is off the charts good. This is a top 30 or 40 match for sure.
  9. dawho5
    Early heel stuff by Ohtani was gold. Early reactions and ass-kickery by Misawa also gold. The heat segment on Suzuki was well-done. Then Misawa comes in and the match loses me. There was enough good stuff to be a fun one time watch. The finishing run with them teasing a Misawa-assisted Suzuki upset (a la Kobashi/Akiyama) was not too bad.
  10. dawho5
    Fun 6 man, but not great. Shingo seems like "generic power-style heel" in both 2005 matches I've seen him in. Magnitude isn't great, but at least he has some spots that go outside of one-dimensional. Yokosuka is another DG guy I like a lot. Really well-rounded. Lots of double teams and triple teams throughout for those who like that kind of stuff. Yokosuka's leg getting worked over was a fun FIP.
  11. dawho5
    Some really fun Tenryu/Kobashi interaction here. Kobashi gets a bit overzealous at times but it's mostly really, really good. Akiyama bringing out Revolution 2005 shirts makes me mark out (and want one). Tenryu beating up on Shiozaki is loads of fun. Kobashi steals a lot of the spotlight meant for Shiozaki here, which makes me a little unhappy. Will probably make the bottom quarter or a little above.
  12. dawho5
    This was better than the other Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation for a few reasons. First is, the useless power guy was replaced by Don Fuji, who is passable. Second reason is Genki Horiguchi seemingly came in with a bad back, which BG works over pretty well. Horiguchi does a great job as FIP for that segment and puts in some excellent work during the finishing sequence as well. The more I see of Ryo Saito the more I like watching him. He's got his flashy stuff, but he's got a good base of Japanese style suplexes that make him more than just another Toryumon/DG high flier/fast rope-runner. Same goes for Nauruki Doi. He's really athletic, but seems more strike and power based on offense. I can do without the overdoing of CIMA-led triple teams. Especially the ones that inlvove wrestlers not in the match. The finishing sequence starts out with a bunch of triple teams by both sides, but actually coalesces into a well-wrestled, hot finishing run. Horiguchi looks to be getting his comeuppance on BG before he gets overrun and put away with a mad splash (which makes all kinds of sense given the way the match played out). I'd give it right around 50 or so.
  13. dawho5
    Yeah, that Kobashi/Ogawa match is pretty great. We even get to see the good Kobashi come out of hiding.
  14. dawho5
    Really fun brawl. Akiyama tossing chairs at Shibata several times is all kinds of great. Not sure if Akiyama was legit pissed or just acting it very, very well. Then again, I don't think Akiyama has the acting chops to pull it off, so he was pissed. Some of those running knees were just vicious. Finishing run wasn't exactly gold, but I have this sneaking suspicion that there was not 100% cooperation going on in this match. I'll give it points for being a chaotic brawl that you just have no idea what's coming next, and you have to wonder if the wrestlers in the ring might have felt the same way at times.
  15. dawho5
    This was great stuff by BOTH Kobashi and Ogawa. It's weird and fun to see flashes of the early to mid-90s Kobashi. He busts out staples like the rolling death cradle and the jackknife powerbomb. He works between nearfalls! Ogawa has this great sequence towards the middle where he slaps Kobashi in a taunting way as he's getting up. It's like he's lost the focus that got him this far and let his cockiness take over. Then Kobashi comes roaring back and Ogawa shoves him into the ref. Ogawa doesn't realize it at first, but once he does he takes full advantage with the ring bell. Ogawa's cutoff rollups are well-placed and the finishing run is really well-done. The match ends exactly when it should instead of going into pointless nearfalls. I'd say this is top 20 material.
  16. dawho5
    I tend to use "get over" or just "over" a lot more than I used to.
  17. dawho5
    I would agree on NWA World Title being the most prestigious. Being the All japan-ophile that I am I would put the Triple Crown right behind it.
  18. dawho5
    So at what point did puroresu entrances become longer and flashier than the WWE entrances that inspired them? Some of them are ridiculous to the point of disbelief.
  19. dawho5
    You know, the first 20-25 minutes of this were top 20 caliber. It looks pretty even, then Jado and Gedo start going to town on Inoue. They do just the right amount of heel tactics, beatdown and being cocky for it to be really, really entertaining. I loved when Jado smeared some of Inoue's blood (he bled a lot) on his chest and walked over towards Koji just to rub it in. Then, just as this part of the match is getting stale, Koji comes in, cleans house and drags Inoue most of the way back to the corner. Wouldn't you know it, though, Koji gets knocked off the apron just in time. Not big on the move Inoue uses to finally get the hot tag (CROWD!!!). Koji comes in and dishes out his offense while selling the earlier beating he took. Then we go to the finishing sequence and things really get bogged down. Jado doing his crossface thingy about 6 times really doesn't help matters. A lot of it is good, with the chaos and selling like they are dead that should be there. Finish is good given the story of the match, but I really wish they had built a little better to it instead of Jado doing a bunch of crossfaces. I can see this in between 50 and 75. Inoue was all kinds of incredible in this. I'd watch this again just for his heat segment and the parts of the finishing run he was involved in. Jado/gedo were awesome up until the ending sequence. Koji did a good job of staying out of the match and letting the other guys have the spotlight when he wasn't needed. I kinda wish he'd been a little more visible towards the end though.
  20. dawho5
    Well, it was. Didn't they get rid of those belts and replace them in the early 2000s? Or do they still call them by the same names, just with different visual belts?
  21. dawho5
    You know what this match had that most NOAH matches do not? Build between the big nearfalls. First big nearfall is the Dynamic Bomb after the apron backdrop nodowa. But Taue just doesn't get to go straight to the nodowa. For one, it puts over the idea that that nodowa could have won the match if he had gotten it. This is important in establishing somebody as a threat. Secondly, it lets the crowd build tension again. They go back and forth a bit, it looks like Kobashi may have something, but he tries the moonsault too early and misses. NODOWA! BACKDROP NODOWA! NEARFALL! Bigger than the first one because there was build in between. Because you thought, "Kobashi is coming back!" Then they go through more build with another Kobashi tease, but lesser as he just got killed. SUPLEX NODOWA!! HOW THE FUCK? HE KICKED OUT!! This is why Akira Taue is an amazing wrestler. Not because he has the best moves or the most athleticism. But because he knows how to build a match to get the most out of everything. The top rope splash out of pure desperation, just looking for ways to put Kobashi away, was great. Oh, this must be the Kobashi comeback. He's got that brainbuster he's been using hooke-wait, Taue rolled him up? No way, this could- NO! How often can Taue cut off Kobashi? Kobashi hits a big half nelson (used properly for maybe the 5th time ever) and gets a small reaction off the kickout because (5th time ever, but that's the past not this match). Big chops! BIG LARIAT 1!! 2!! NO!!! Taue just won't stay down. What's it going to take to put him away? He's got it hooked up....BURNING HAMMER! 1!! 2!! 3!!!!! And THAT is how matches are finished. That is the difference between the art of pro wrestling and spot fu. And that is why I love this match. This comes in just below Akiyama vs. Misawa 2/27/00, but being second to that is not bad at all.
  22. dawho5
    I love underdog matches. But this wasn't all that good. The best parts of this kind of match are the anticipation of the underdog's comeback while they are getting beta down and the actual comeback. The anticipation is there, because Akiyama lays it in good with some bad ECW leading by the head mixed in. Then Hashi gets his offense and...things fall apart. Eh, had to give it a try.
  23. dawho5
    Fun 6 man. By far not the best DG/Toryumon 6 man I've seen though. I'm glad I watched it, but it probably won't make my ballot.
  24. dawho5
    He was the "big man" for his promotion at the time among the natives. But I see your point, he wasn't overly large.
  25. dawho5
    Glad I'm not the only one who absolutely loved that match.
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