AstroBoy

Finally reviewed the pick that Migs gave me last week. Write-up is below. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/41042-low-ki-vs-xavier-icw-06302001-ladder-match/ My pick for WingedEagle this week is the King of the Ring Qualifying Match between Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect from 1993. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wfktOHJxcc

This was wild. The ladder spots hold up big time even in the current landscape and Xavier especially just takes a hellacious beating here. Low Ki draping him upside down from the ladder and laying into him with kicks was brutal. The suplex onto the ladder between the guardrail and apron looked like it killed Xavier's shoulder and back. These guys were incredibly crisp with everything too and, though it's filled with great spots, it has enough to keep it held together. Xavier really looks like a total pro and provides a good counter to Ki early on, using cheap shots and different tricks to keep turning the tide. Later, though, as it escalates, he proves he can totally hang athletically hitting his crazy rope-assisted moonsault to the floor and powerbombing Ki over the ladder. It's just a crazy contest and Ki is clearly going to be undeniable even if they do work a cheap finish and restart into the outcome. A very dangerous Ki Crusher from the top of the ladder nearly ends in disaster and Ki grabs the belt to win an awesome match. ****1/4

These two are just such a fun pair and the opening is good house show fun with Tajiri kicking Psicosis low. Tajiri keeps getting the better of Psicosis, causing him to bail out and eventually take over leading into the brawl on the stage. There is something lethargic about this to me, a bit of a reserved performance from both. Psicosis comes across like such a solid foundation in a match like this and just the ultimate dance partner for somebody with offense to shine. Psicosis is the perfect instigator. They don't go crazy down the stretch but they fit a nice conclusion to what they built. ***

Corino's work in the dying days of ECW is a bright spot and he starts his face run in stride with a nice performance. The pre-match promo is okay and kind of pandering but he is in a good position against someone like Anton. Anton looks pretty bloated and comes across as more comedy than anything else, really. The work, though, is solid and doesn't veer far from what you would expect. It will be interesting to see Corino grow into this role. **1/2

Hey Migs, I'm gonna recommend you a mid-90's WWF tag team match that I have a soft spot for. It's Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid vs. Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow from the 1/22/95 Royal Rumble. Enjoy.

It's astonishing how much more Rhino brought to this match than RVD, unless we are just counting crowd aura. Rhino did a great job pushing the action and really working RVD over, staying in control, bullying him around. And so it's just disappointing when he is forced to stand there and let RVD slowly, gingerly work through a convoluted kick spot to take over on offense. From there, the offensive run by RVD is fine and the beats of the story ring true. RVD the athletic ace overcoming the inexperienced Rhino makes sense and I would have liked it more with some more selling from RVD and a little bit of urgency in his offense. *3/4

Sal was used perfectly here as they got to play off his size and make Tajiri look like a stone cold killer cutting him down. Psicosis was able to shine and stand out hitting his aerial offense and Mikey is great at getting sympathy of course. FBI as a unit is always going to be solid and they all cut a good pace, made things enjoyable, and the ending is a really nice little shade of grey build into the Tajiri vs. Psicosis match. **3/4

This really seemed like a breakneck pace and these guys clashed well here. I like these straight tags as a change of pace from the trios and I like the duo of Niebla/Charles. Infernales are always reliable and feel like real glue guys as they go through a fast-paced and to the point match. I really liked it. ***

This was a really sharp rudo beatdown to start followed by an equally satisfying and pleasing technico comeback to set up the final stages here. Love the interactions between Villano III and Dr. Wagner, really liked Silver King and Dandy's role in this. This was good stuff. ***

Yeah I would definitely be up to get involved and help. I don't have the greatest knowledge of that time period but I will do whatever to help set things up.

I got around to watching and reviewing the excellent Megumi Kudo vs. Combat Toyoda match that Laz assigned me. Link to MDA is below. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/11253-megumi-kudo-vs-combat-toyoda-fmw-7th-anniversary-show-050596-no-rope-explosive-barbed-wire-death-match/

A super super deathmatch with unbelievable drama. From Toyoda's real emotion walking to the ring to Onita's displays at ringside to the violence. The teases to the barb wire getting involved are brilliant, milked to the absolute maximum and both competitors manage to have an actual match stationed within this. So you get a feeling out process, plus a tease constantly going on, and just enough of a lull in between the near-rope spots that when the first one comes it is both inevitable and surprising. So of course the selling in between and the subsequent takeover on offense by Toyoda that eventually leads to her going into the wire herself, is excellent. The beautiful struggle between the two as they threaten to suplex each other into the ropes could not have ended in more of a catastrophic moment of desperate violence. The bombs down the stretch feel so earned and necessary, with both Toyoda and Kudo just giving their all to survive. Unbelievably sick suplex by Toyoda landing Kudo on her neck by the way, only to be outdone by Kudo's insane powerbomb. And then a fitting conclusion to cap the whole spectacle off. A great match utilizing pacing, selling, drama, and bombs when necessary to put the icing on the cake. ****1/4

The plan was just the Typhoon run, at least to start. But I do kinda want to see how he worked as Tugboat at some point.

Well I would definitely take part in Lucha, WOS, Puerto Rico, or the 1992 thing Dawho mentioned. So if I can help or if anyone wants to come together on any of that just let me know in here or PM. Should be cool.

I've been meaning to get into World of Sport at some point and a project like this seems like a nice entryway. Ditto for diving into Puerto Rico or Lucha. How intensive would you envision this kind of thing being? A few matches a week? Would the idea be to have these mini projects going simultaneously or one at a time? Just a few questions as I think the idea is really promising and solid.

Natural Disasters vs. Paul Perez and Phil Apollo (9/8/91) Typhoon and Earthquake use their over the shoulder backbreaker to bearhug combo in this. I'm finding, sadly, more and more cool Earthquake stuff in these while Typhoon throws these incredibly stationary back elbows. Earthquake has an awesome belly to belly and then does a double bicep taunt. He's the man. Earthquake really gets a bulk of the offense in the middle here. It's a shame that Typhoon has no real mean streak, at least at this point in the run. Natural Disasters vs. Joe Milano and Martin Roy (9/28/91) Hawk is giving an unintelligible promo as the match begins. Earthquake's red boots are snazzy and he viciously pounds on Milano's back. God bless Roy Martin trying to start up a clap on the apron, like the fans were going to go for that. Typhoon adds some oomph to his shoulder block and Milano pinball bumps for him. These squashes are starting to become just a bit more vicious and defined and you can buy them as a huge threat to the LOD coming up. Typhoon didn't see much time here but this had a definite edge to it. Typhoon steps on Milano's torso as they exit the ring.

Laz, I saw you speak highly of EYFBO (I like them a ton too). So I chose a match between two other indy teams I really enjoy in a good setting. It is the Ugly Ducklings vs OI4K. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt3GvaNo3vY

Haas brothers showed some nice stuff. The Dupps were not that inspiring when in control and there were some pretty rough moments of miscommunication in the end stretch. It is interesting to see a pretty empty arena not reacting much when these guys are busting their ass. These four got some time to let this breathe a little and it was a fine showcase, particularly for the Haas brothers. *1/2

Oh I was super high on this. Dragon Kid makes a good ragdoll and takes all kinds of team moves from Crazy Max and then the comeback is satisfying as a bunch of gang warfare moves go wrong for Crazy Max and allows the opportunity for a comeback. Genki and Dragon Kid mainly reel off a bunch of entertaining offense pushing closer to the finishing run but Genki gets powerbombed by Fuji to turn the tide once more. CIMA and Saito then go into an extended run of close nearfalls, giving Saito some really clever and credible near finishes without resorting to a bunch of moves to get there. CIMA brilliantly rolls through another rollup and hits the Iconoclasm for a good nearfall. They finally divide and conquer and get one more great false finish from Saito before Fuji puts him away for good. This was really really good. ****

This didn't disappoint at all following their awesome match earlier in the year. To get my small nitpick out of the way, I just don't appreciate the way that Murahama approaches selling in these matches. By and large I find myself wishing he would play up damage a bit more, pace himself a bit more, while still appreciating the pace he brings to these matches. I liked the way Hoshikawa sold damage and fatigue more than Murahama here. But that's just the nitpick I have. I'd rather focus on the fantastic pace, the great strike exchanges, the grappling control of Hoshikawa, and the sense of urgency from both guys. It really came across like a legit fight between two guys desperate to win. For any faults of his, Murahama is an electric force on offense and there are some breathtaking moments here including an exchange that ends with Hoshikawa dumping Murahama on his head with a german suplex. The end stretch of Hoshikawa landing fatigued desperation kicks worked so well and the final enziguiri from the top looked especially nasty. ****

Good action. I really like Tsubasa in this, he's a fun burst of energy and his early match acrobatics were pretty enjoyable. Togo and Delphin pair off well and I really like the increase in aggression leading to the control segment. Fun triple team work and Togo looks really sharp throughout. Agree that Sugamoto looks pretty good here, his twisting springboard was a nice spot and the run to the finish is good stuff. Solid outing from everyone. ***3/4

This was a shitty finish away from being a really great match. The opening half is kind of placeholder in most ways. Like a feeling out process in a legit fight that then gets real when they begin trading lariats. The lariat exchange is well done and shows Nakanishi overcoming Sasaki little by little. And that's the story that continues throughout the stretch run. Nakanishi gets bulled over by Sasaki for a brief comeback and then I am all in on a methodical annihilation that Nakanishi lays on Sasaki. The young bull is overtaking the established bull as Nakanishi crushes him with lariats, nails him with spear after spear. Sasaki counters one with a knee after Nakanishi slaps him around but Nakanishi rises and shakes it off and spears him again. Then locks on the torture rack and that felt so cumulative and "right" that I can't believe that wasn't the actual finish. Instead it's an anti-climactic spot where Nakanishi seemingly collapses from exhaustion and it just doesn't play very well. Suddenly Sasaki is up and running around hitting lariats. I know it's his opening and last chance but I didn't care for it. Nakanishi continues to kick out at one and refuse to lose but eventually taps out to a boston crab. The dismantling on Sasaki leading to the torture rack was so great that the ending could only diminish what they had already gotten to. Oh well. ***1/2

I didn't think this was much at all. Really kind of a lackadaisical and lethargic match. Nakanishi's charisma and Chono's status are enough to give the match some weight but not carry it entirely. Chono does an okay job of trying to stay ahead of the monster and go for his big kill to take the match but Nakanishi hits plenty of spears and ultimately puts him away with the torture rack. This was just kind of there, but there was no sense of urgency and it wasn't memorable or very interesting. **1/2

The story they told is fine and mostly well-executed but I don't love the story and Sasaki didn't sell the leg well enough for my liking. That's a taste thing, so no big deal. I also don't care much for the layout of Nagata working over the leg, controlling so much of the match, and it ultimately has no endgame. I get the point -- the legwork is a means of control and creates the opportunity to stay on offense, to avoid Sasaki's offense. I always just find myself wanting more consequence if this happens where Sasaki overcomes Nagata so swiftly and definitely. Sasaki is the man, so it makes a lot of sense in that way. I would have just preferred a bit more subtlety or ingenuity in how they got there. ***1/4

This was really awesome with both guys looking for specific holds and getting them over as huge threats, going back and forth countering each other, and trying to desperately stay on top and create openings with throws and suplexes. Iizuka throws some exploders and looks to have things in hand but Nagata seizes an opening and drops him on his head with a backdrop suplex and follows with a rear naked choke but Iizuka makes the ropes in a heated moment. Nagata drills him with a slap and they go through the intricate and red-hot struggle over the choke and the crossface, culminating with Nagata applying it tight and getting the tapout. A perfect escalation of holds that had been teased as death all match long and it ends at the highest point of the match. Great stuff. ***3/4