GOTNW

I have a functionalist perspective on this as I heavily adjust what I listen to to my needs. While I study or write seminars I listen to classical music (which is just random stuff on youtube as I'm at least a couple of years away from saying anything about the subject confidently). Otherwise when I listen to "western" music for hedonism it's mostly shoegaze, ambient, vaporwave, lo-fi and similar stuff. I'd say at least 80% of what I listen to now is just local folk or folk-inspired pop tho

I will echo Jetlag's point, it's hard to give a shit about peak if I have no desire to ever watch the vast majority of matches a company produces. For comparative purposes it's much easier for me to just rank Big Mouth Loud where basically almost every match is good than deal with the com plete legacy of All Japan.

It's a rolling *savate* kick

This seems like a little redundant discussion now considering how easily New Japan will pull it off

This match was fun. What I liked most about it was that it was short and had at least some competitive grappling. The striking looked silly, and there wasn't anything to sink your teeth in, but it's a perfectly fine three star match with at least an attempt to do something else other than the dreaded trendy rope jump prowres.

You can actually count on Stipe for a solid, stable PPV number, and that's a big thing for 2018 UFC.

I did not think this match was very good. Sabre's matwork was didn't have any legitimacy or urgency, nor did it have any special aesthetic appeal in its complexity. He was just putting on hold after hold and then releasing it and none of it mattered or led to anything, it wasn't even goofy enough to amuse me in that way. Okada is a worthless defensive wrestler, and Sabre didn't go the Minori Suzuki route of milking holds, so we got an ugly version of what it'd look like if prowres grappling was real and a one stripe white belt was desperately trying to tap someone coming in to the gym. Meanwhile Okada looked like a barely trained indy doofus with his stupid pants, inability to do a proper wristlock and even botching moves he usually hits clean like the Dropkick and the Rainmaker. The match was interesting for about one minute where they danced around in counters before the finish. Maybe if New Japan brought in Negro Navarro he could get a three star match out of Okada.

El-P please stick to throwing feces out the window and spare us outdated french philosophy arguments you aren't Barthes.

Most of what I said still stands, though the versatility line seems off. I had a really fun time watching him carry Kane to a good casket match, and he's certainly someone you could put on a pedestal if you have the stomach for watching wrestling all day as he consistently delivered in his style, but it's a style I've drifted away from and, unlike Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi, there isn't an early ZERO-1 tag or a Naoya Ogawa match or some random NOAH tag with millions chops that'll pique my interest now, and that I don't really care about volume for its own sake that much (well, I do to an extent, but certainly not to the absurd level of which it's available in terms of Danielson's matches on tape), eh.

No. In my opinion he's a gigantic failure when it comes to producing all time level wrestling, which is what you'd want from someone supposedly at that level. I don't think any of his matches would make my top 300.

I like this list because it's interesting, though it is a little weird it doesn't include Fujiwara and Maeda. Or, if you're strictly looking at skill, people like Geesink and Sakaguchi.

I did love Ki/Danielson and Justice/Garrini. I tend to enjoy pretty much all shoot style branches as well stuf that just uses its elements to create something unique like Porky/Escorpion or Lawler/Snowman, but including modern indy matches that happen to have some grappling with legit holds in it seems about as convincing as saying Lesnar vs Punk was a shoot style match because it had an Armbar spot or describing 2018 Minoru Suzuki matches as shoot style because he heavily relies on legit holds. I'm really big on traditional prowres matwork done right, but see whether it's great as a different issue than whether it's shoot style. You render the term pointless if it becomes too inclusive.

I watched some of his stuff like, 2 years ago when Evolve and grapplefuck in particular were emerging and remember him being an uninteresting grappler (who, like the rest of the guys there, worked more in the traditional pro wrestling matwork style with some legit holds mixed in than anything resembling shoot style) whose stand-up included thigh slapping headbutts, idk how much he's changed in the mean time, but it just left me with the impression that him having like, Yuki Ishikawa connections is like Kotaro Suzuki having a Misawa one. Even if they do all their spots it won't be nearly as cool.

The only thing close to actual shoot style I've seen or heard of happening was in tiny japanese indies. It's true there were/are guys like Thatcher doing more matwork-oriented work but my opinion of it is that it's artless and shit, and untill someone whom I'd trust on the matter makes a really strong argument for specific matches I'm not going to waste the I make for ~5 matches a month I watch for it when there's plenty of wrestling I know I'll earnestly like out there.

An interesting observation on how Funaki works this type of matches (which he’s relied on quite a lot structurally) is that it’s really not that different from his usualy pro-style-patiently, calm and collected, but ready to explode at any time. It’s laid out pretty simply-some classic title match dick measuring in the beginning wherein Funaki asserts his dominance by shoving Akiyama onto the ropes by pushing his forearm onto Akiyama’s face, their hands are tangled up in what looks like a one-handed precursor for a test of strength and as they’re about to enter it Funaki ducks, looking to avoid it but eats a big knee (which was an incredible set-up for a spot where you’ll usually see someone attempts a double leg they never do out of character on the basis of the spot just being so cool looking it’ll work) and the sprint finally starts, as we get a battle of knees and Exploders and kicks and flash submissions. and right when Funaki starts working over Akiyama’s leg and you get flashbacks to the 20-30 minute where legwork was a major focus Akiyama gets desperate and makes the mistake of entering a strike exchange with Funaki where he suffers the same fate Funaki did at the hands of Bas Rutten. ***1/2

It seems like a clear goal for any reviewer to find overarching themes, and that used to be a problem for me in shoot style, which was probably just a combination of me not knowing enough about grappling and how to write match reviews. But here we are, and albeit it didn’t resonate with me as the all time Tamura classics, I can safely categorize this as a great match. As in any Tamura match, a big theme is going to be his character-his arrogance, defiance, stubbornness or just strategy and how he positions himself versus his opponents. This is grappling heavy- the stand up does add a certain flair in that it makes feeding and entries into groundwork significantly easier as well as a true and tested way to pop the crowd, but the real action happens down under. One thing which I noted instantly is how fresh the work feels watching it in 2018-the knee on belly, reverse mount,playing bottom, a significant emphasis on guard play and positioning in general. Mishima’s work was interesting, in that you have a guy pulling out Saenchi Kicks but also a buch of wrestling picks ups and a Huizinga Roll Toe Hold. I also enjoyed his Toe Hold attempt from side mount and the Pancrase Minoru Suzuki esque Headscissors>Armbar. Tamura’s head kick use was unusually present, and that they’d tease a single leg and an ouchi gari and then just go for a waistlock and move into something completely unrelated in an essentially throwaway sequence really makes the workrate work, because it feels natural, these guys know a bunch of cool shit, they don’t have an obligation to hit everything they know nor is aesthetically pleasing stuff just reserved for the time when they’re doing nearfalls, realistically there’s probably a bigger chance the stuff they went through before the match included Mishima feinting a slap on the ground to get Tamura to open for a leglock. And the finish is lovely because the wrestling pick up is just a move Mishima, you don’t expect it to be incredibly consequential but suddenly Tamura grabs a Guillotine and before you know it there’s a transition to the Armbar and better luck next time kid. ****1/4

Chinese martial arts are as pro wrestling as pro wrestling gets.

I think Okada-Omega was better than this, it was at least a milestone for a style even if the way they got there wasn't particularly creative. Naito had some moments of greatness here like the Suimengeri and some of his usual mannerisms, but at the end of the day he is a modern New Japan wrestler and he shares many of Okada's worst tendencies and it showed here. Nothing in this match felt significant or novel-six years into his main event run Okada looks not nearly as cool as the gold/purple haired super rookie, he has enough confidence to cut a promo now but he still acts awkward and can't think of a submission he can execute properly. I understand that fans of the style really like the whirlly-doos with the finish countering and all that, but this clearly looked like a match in a style past its peak for me. Or maybe it's just that Okada and Naito never really had the chemistry to do it on the level they did against Omega.

Fujiwara is a Gotch-trained judo black belt and a total badass, but he’s totally outmatched as a 52 year old trying to fight a 193cm/6’3 115kg judo world champion in his prime. He blindisghts Ogawa-but it doesn’t really work, even in his second step of trying to take Ogawa down he already meets a barrier he can’t destroy in Ogawa’s guard. Fujiwara’s only real chance of winning this is by a flash submission, as his catch training gives him an edge over Ogawa in that regard. Ogawa smartly uses the size advantage he has to control Fujiwara on the mat, while Fujiwara in turn desperately tries to counter Ogawa’s guards or grab a knee once Ogawa presses it against his face or goes for a kick or a knee strike. Ogawa punches Fujiwara on the ground throughout the match which Fujiwara acknowledges by doing really great exhaustion selling, which somewhat makes up for the mild intensity of Ogawa’s punches, and they manage to produce a great nearfall on Fujiwara finally grabbing a killhold, but in the end you can’t beat father time and Ogawa smashes his head into the canvas repeteadly to remind you of how many zealous practitioners of the gentle way got concussed by Masahiko Kimura in similar fashion. ***1/2

Look-this is modern wrestling-things aren’t perfect. You’re going to get Edwards popping up and doing an enzuigiri at a time where the match would’ve benefited form some patience and a later transition. You’re going to see some predictable irish whip transitions, and counters (though only one really stood out in this match) where long-term selling is ignored for the immediate pop. But, all things considered, I think they did a very good job of building a match around classic NOAH tropes, sticking to their strengths in striking (Edwards’ chops really have improved significantly) and kicking and letting the match play out and gradually increasing the intensity, adding bigger spots and counters as well as managing to make them mean something by not cramming too much of them as well as creating an interesting narrative around Eddie trying to use Misawa’s big moves instead of just having him hit them all straight away on his first attempt. Nakajima’s current move-set doesn’t really lend itself to nearfall fests well, which is in a way a strength of his matches as they’re more built on him killing of his opponents (him grabbing Edwards’ wrist and proceeding to just mercielssly beat on him was a wonderful moment), and even for a big moment like this they didn’t go nearly overboard, along with smartly timing their kick-outs throghout the match. The big spots resonated, the crowd got into it, good stuff all around. ***3/4

That's now how the rules of pro wrestling work. The point of breaking pins and submissions on rope breaks is that once you're in the ropes (or just touch them as in modern wres) it's considered as if you're outside the ring and this was not a falls count anywhere match.

I had a good time and was pleasantly surprised by this match. It could have been much better if Omega actually knew how to throw anything resembling a good strike and they worked it more like a brawl with even more blood and less workrate nonsense (seriously, they go from trying to nearly kill each other on the outside to, uh, let's do an ahm, cross legged fisherman driver on the knee) but nonetheless it turned out a much better WWE style garbage match than anything actual WWE has put out in forever. 7/10.

Sure, I'm in. I hope at least the roll out will be on PWO due to the visibility and whatnot.

Two highly skilled judokas work a Battlarts match and it rules. I’m not usually a fan of 90s joshi pacing, but a five minute sprint is much more digestible than a half an hour one, especially when it serves as a showcase of legit techniques and not missile dropkicks and half nelson chickenwing suplexes. Kazunina makes me a fan by doing a beautiful O-goshi five seconds into a match, and not that I wouldn’t have liked this if this were just a million hip throws-but they really do a fantastic job of structuring things in such a way that always keeps you guessing by also utilizing hand techniques, sacrifice throws, Kosen/BJJ-like sweeps, creating neat grappling sequences around fighting for chokes and armbars by using legit counters as well as fluently entering into them from standing. Kandori hitting a Seoi Nage could be “just a thing that happened”, but after teasing it and having her be the one thrown a bunch in such a short time the contrast makes it a gigantic, momentum shifting turning point, even if the actuality of the match being a five minute sprint worked in the vein it was forces them to be exchanging maneuvers and not truly be one sided for a longer period of time, that it cons you into feeling like that regardless is a testament to the power of pro wrestling. ****1/4

The first ever Openweight Judo Olympic Champion faces off against Gorilla Monsoon in a special “judo jacket” rules match. In practice this essentially means they have to wear a judogi and pins last 20 seconds instead of 3, otherwise it’s the standard 2/3 falls formula of the times. I think this was well structured-Geesink carried the first half of the match which looked more like proper judo with him trying uchi mata, ouchi gari etc. but being stopped by Monsoon’s sheer size. Monsoon didn’t really do much there outside of his antics about his belt untying, but really took over in the second fall by going back to the pro-wres playbook and using chops and punches. There were some nice counters built around Monsoon going for the Fireman’s Carry and the irish whip Bearhug towards the end, with the finish being about what you’d expect for 1974. Nothing spectacular, but good fun for those interested in this particular niche of prowres. ***1/4