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dawho5

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Everything posted by dawho5

  1. dawho5
    I liked this match a lot. Tamura brings that ace sensibility to it, waiting for the fight to come to him. Ito obliges and takes it to him handily. The quick takedowns into submissions surprise Tamura for a couple of early rope breaks. Tamura battles his way back patiently, but Ito isn't letting up because he knows once he loses control of this it's over. Tamura starts zeroing in on Ito's ribs with kicks during stand-up, then mixing in head attacks as well. The late match stand up reminds me of Kawada vs. Ogawa. Tamura has been put in a hole by the underdog, so he pitbulls his way back into the lead by focusing on a weakness. Only problem is, he keeps running into open hands to the head (not STOs) while doing it. Once he starts settling down and playing defense a bit more, he catches a kick and turns it into a leg submission for the win. Good story, great performance by both, but I like the TK match better.
  2. dawho5
    There is so much that works here. The beating KENTA takes right off the bat is stellar. Ogawa cutting off Marufuji's hot tag is the only way to save this match from early disappointment, because Marufuji's offense makes him the world's shittiest hot tag. Which really makes him a terrible partner for great FIP KENTA. Marufuji flopping all over the place for his beating is great. As are the Misawa/Ogawa double teams. As is Ogawa's always simple counter to all of Marufuji's contrived shit. Love how Ogawa just waits for the right moment and...goes for the eyes. Simple > contrived, always. Then the big turnaround and the first part of the chaotic ending is really well done. Right up until Marufuji kicks out of the emerald frosion. So vecause it wasn't Misawa covering the move loses all of it's devastating impact? Come on. I mean, that last few minutes wastes a perfectly good first 25 which includes a great KENTA impression of Kawada. This may make the bottom 25, but the way they finished it made me really, really unhappy. Also, Marufuji matches should be kept short of 30 minutes...no, kept short of 25 minutes. Too much Marufuji can only be a bad thing.
  3. dawho5
    This was an incredible underdog match. I loved the Ogawa match, which was very similar structurally. Just KENTA's offense is a bit more strike-happy and it works a little better as a counter to Takayama's bullying. The post match with Takayama giving a show of respect to KENTA for the effort is pretty sweet too.
  4. dawho5
    Honestly, this completely random and crazy character stuff reads way more entertaining than anything I've ever seen from the WWE. Does Vince not realize that off the cuff nonsense can come across as great entertainment given the right people?
  5. dawho5
    I thought that this was a great performance by both. Kobashi showed vulnerability and fire. Takayama was incredibly badass, but ended up burning up too much energy trying to weaken Kobashi's limbs up instead of focusing on getting the finish. If he'd have spent that time he worked over both legs to no real effect on the ribs and back, things may have been different. I thought that the lack of focus costing Takayama his shot was well done. He still looks like a beast and more than strong enough to go toe to toe with Kobashi, and Kobashi looks good for getting a win over a strong opponent. The beating both guys took was really brutal. It'll probably be top 20.
  6. dawho5
    I thought this match was really, really right place, right time, right opponents. I don't parcticularly care for Tanahashi. But against Fujita he shines really brightly. As the never-say-die, sympathetic babyface who is in way over his head, Tanahashi is great. And Fujita as the evil bastard amateur wrestling style shooter badass making fun of his smaller opponent along the way only helps. The knee lifts were all sorts of awesome. Tanahashi's slaps needed to be removed. Tanahashi's late match comeback offense was actually really compelling. Then he gets squashed like a bug again, only to not stay down and need more squashing. This will be around the middle of my ballot. And if you think I believed that would be the case going in, you'd be so very wrong. Also, I think this match was the signal to Inoki that his shooter fetish should stay personal. You have a really good shootstyle guy (Fujita) against a more juniors pro wrestling guy (Tanahashi). The fans very clearly make their choice.
  7. dawho5
    This was good, but not above that for me. The early matwork was well-done. Liger and Hashi both work their holds and have a sense of struggle to getting out of them. It's just a problem of not a lot of it being very focused. Some of it was there just for the purpose of being there. Both throw their strikes like they mean it, so that helps the match out as well. Ending run was okay at best, more like a succession of big bombs until the finish. Probably won't make my ballot, but not a bad watch.
  8. dawho5
    From the Brutal Instances of Color thread, both Mayumi Ozaki vs. Mima Shimoda from 1999 and the Mad Dog Vachon blade job gone horribly wrong do not disappoint.
  9. dawho5
    The structure of this match is what really sold me on it. The opening matwork stuff did seem a little too fluid. But then it came to the point where it was very clear that Kohsaka had the advantage on the ground despite Tamura's jujigatame being the focus of the match. He gets a few close calls on tamura needing to hit the ropes and finally forces it. Tamura switches it up and goes to stand-up to take away the advantage, but Kohsaka shows that he's got weapons there too. So Tamura starts trying to do quick takedowns into holds off of stand-up, which Kohsaka also counters. As the match progresses, you can see Kohsaka becoming a bit more vulnerable to Tamura's grappling on the mat and finally the jujigatame that Kohsaka had been fighting off the whole match happens and we have a finish. This was really beautifully done from the standpoint of fighting strategy as well as using Tamura's jujigatame as a focus for the build. Really good match that should make my top 50 or higher.
  10. dawho5
    Tenryu working over Tenzan's cut - fucking great on all levels. Tenzan's tepid comeback - not so much. And really, Tenzan takes 10 minutes of offense, gets in a minute's worth of strikes, does 3 finishers and we're done? Apparently Tenryu falls over at the mention of a light breeze. I wish I could rate this match higher for the first ten minutes, but the finish drops it down to bottom 25 for me.
  11. dawho5
    I thought Kawada's "fighting through the pain" selling of the leg, then having to break to sell it was good at first, but tapered off too quickly. The modification of the stretch plum to attack Hash's injured shoulder was pretty sweet. Actually, most of the mat stuff they did was incredible. Kawada's kicks near the end were definitely not up to snuff. He did carry on the leg selling even after the match, but I thought there should have been more during. As dream matches go, this was overall pretty good. There were points where it was amazing, but others where it fell short by a ways. Should make my ballot, probably somewhere in the bottom 50. Still better than Kawada vs. Kojima.
  12. dawho5
    Isn't there a pretty violent Cena vs. Umaga Last Man Standing match out there?
  13. dawho5
    I can live with Takaiwa being Takaiwa in tag matches. It's when he's in longer singles matches that it gets bad. Here he is mostly okay, with just a little bit of the invincible lariat and powerbomb machine version showing up. Togo is great. Hidaka is great. The thing I loved about this match was Hoshikawa's performance. He never stopped selling the leg, just tapered it back as the leg work got farther behind him and sold in between kicks and by climbing to the top a little slower. Another aspect I liked was the Takaiwa/Hoshikawa tenson and how it may have cost them the match by giving Togo and Hidaka the early opening to take apart Hoshikawa's leg. If Hoshikawa isn't isolated like that early, he's more effective late and that could have swung things the other way. Takaiwa working over Togo's cut was all kidns of fun, as is most Takaiwa dickishness. And Takaiwa really screws up the bump on the second rope pedigree. It almost looks like a tigerdriver 91 , just brutal. One f those mistakes that actually helps the match.
  14. dawho5
    Some of Akiyama's offense was great. Most of Tenzan's was not. Unless it was a Mongolian chop or a big signature it seemed like he was mailing it in.
  15. dawho5
    I liked this match a lot. But I don't think it'll get into the top 30. Kawada adapting to other worker's styles is always awesome, and it makes for really singular matches against shootstyle guys. I thought they should have stopped at the double countout instead of restarting and going to a double KO though. Resetting from an anticlimactic finish into another anticlimactic finish seems kind of wrong.
  16. dawho5
    This was pretty damn good for a juniors trios tag. Arai getting his hand worked over was great. Horiguchi is one of my favorite of the second generation Toryumon guys. The backslide spot was very big. Arai fighting through the hand injury helps make this memorable finishing run even better. Dragon Kid is kept to a minimum as well. Some really nice dives in the middle too. It will probably make my ballot.
  17. dawho5
    That Piper v. Rip Rogers match was all kinds of fun. Portland may be something I get into one day after many, many other things have come to pass.
  18. dawho5
    My opinions on the match are very similar to SS's. I really, really liked KENTA & Hashi's strike exchanges. They moved into different strikes as they progressed and didn't go on forever. Also, what happened between All Japan and NOAH that the entrances got longer with more flashing lights and smoke than the WWE entrances? I know New Japan was doing that kind of stuff, but the level it's reached even by 2003 is ridiculous.
  19. dawho5
    This match was all sorts of crazy. The inclusion of some of the newer Toryumon guys (in 2003) makes it seem a little more fresh.There are a few spots I guarantee will be hard to find outside of this kind of match. As spotty, indy-style matches go, this has got to be the best I've ever seen. A few of the sequences are absolutely breathtaking. The 4-way dive with the rope running timing is so fucking good. I can see this making my top 50.
  20. dawho5
    Last 5 minutes were blow-me-away spectacular. I dozed off for the majority of the rest. Especially anytime Akiyama tagged in Saito or Honda tagged in Kobashi. Kobashi as asskicker supreme in a tag match is not something I ever care to see, so I may be in the minority there. I'd be surprised if this makes my ballot.
  21. dawho5
    Opening stuff was pretty good. had a sense of struggle to everything even if it didn't go anywhere as far as the actual match went. Then we got to the "my cool indy innovative spots vs. yours" stuff and it lost me.
  22. dawho5
    Okay, this is my working #2 match. One extra half nelson keeps it from being number 1. So much awesome here. Honda's takedowns all look absolutely spectacular. Honda's bumping for the big suplexes is ridiculously awesome. The headlock sequence they work about 8 minutes in is all kinds of incredible. This is the kind of match I LOVE out of Kenta Kobashi. He's so damn good at using great matwork to build to his big suplexes and strikes. It's just that he never does it. But against Honda, it only makes sense that Kobashi works that style of match. And damned if it doesn't work out amazingly well. So many small things too. Like the really awesome rolling Olympic hell that put Saito away gets put on Kobashi. He's actively pushing Honda's arms away from his neck and trying to get his arm over the top of Honda's head as he squirms to the ropes. THAT is the Kenta Kobashi I love watching. I've read that Kobashi 'got out of the way" for this match. If you watch enough early 90s Kobashi, you'll see that this sort of thing is right up his alley as far as his skillset goes. It's just something the style moved away from, which is a real shame given Kobashi's penchant for working this style of match.
  23. dawho5
    Lead-in to Kobashi vs. Honda, so it made sense for me to watch it. Honda tries his damnedest to make Saito look good. Doesn't help that Saito is a guy who took all the wrong lessons from All Japan in the 90s. Also, Honda's jumping enzuigiri is better than Saito's, who uses it as a finisher. Bleh.
  24. dawho5
    This was the best Nagata match I've seen so far. Really well-worked, I had this feeling the rings of Saturn Nagatalock would be the finish when Taue fought it off the first time. Nagata was looking pretty not beat up in his post-match reaction to winning, despite taking a massive beating at the hands of Taue. I did think the match put over Nagata's toughness and counter wrestling, which seems to be the purpose of it.
  25. dawho5
    I didn't love this. KENTA as face in peril was great. Murahama and Liger brought everything you could hope for. Marufuji really did not look good besides the headbutts and the massive dive. The KENTA vs. Murahama stuff was fun, but didn't take up enough of the match. Marufuji before the toning down of all the high flying/jumping stuff is not something I like to watch all that much. I get really tired of the leg slapping in place of actually hitting something with your kick.
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