GOTNW

I couldn't find match enough match reviews to nominate UWF bubble guy Shigeo Miyato for the GWE project so I'll just create them myself. UWF II is my favourite promotion but also the one I find the hardest to write about because all that's popping up in my mind is how much everything rules. Maeda is a head taller than Miyato so you want him to stiff the shit ouf of Miyato, have the crowd get behind Miyato, maybe have our small boy get a couple of hope spots in and then get his dreams crushed and that's exactly what they did, of course Miyato wasn't going to go down without a fight and fired back at Maeda as much as he could with great looking offence (I mean, pretty much everyone had great looking offence in UWF but still, it needs to be said). Still this was almost and extended squash, Maeda just beat the shit out of him with vicious palm strikes, kicks and knee lifts and even threw in a couple of shoot headbutts that would've made Ishikawa shit himself, Miyato put on an amazing selling performance and got the most out of everything Maeda threw at him.

Should note Davey Richards left no significant impact on his scene, isn't remembered as an all time great at the style he worked and was easily replaced without much nostalgia for him.

His versatility and adaptability would have to have been a factor in that. But I'd absolutely agree with the Benoit matches being unimpressive.

Didn't care much for this, Sasuke jumping Liger at the bell was great but they quickly gave in to filler limbwork which accomplished nothing and completely lost me, Sasuke's big dives were great but I didn't care much for this once it turned into them doing a bunch of big moves and nearfalls (which didn't look convincing). Fine workrate much but nothing noteworthy.

I expected Sano would be the one I'd have to explain, looking strictly at guys that never moved up I'd probably have Kanemoto as the best junior wrestler ever. Last time he still wrestled in a promotion I paid attention to he was producing MOTYCs against Hayato and Kazuki Hashimoto and putting in great performances any time I'd watch him. Peak, consistency, longevity, performance quality-he ticks all the boxes.

I am going on a Liger binge right now but instinctively I'd rate Sano, Ohtani and Kanemoto over him.

Choshu-Fujinami matches were super exciting and smart and well built and better than the AJ tags. Parv hates fun and all that is good.

Can't believe I hadn't thought of it but Cro Cop vs Noguiera is very much a kickboxer-BJJ clash and it's amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIE-uZN07aA

Naoya Ogawa vs Kazuo Yamazaki-NJPW 6.7.1997. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG7_3p9rc5Q First Fujiwara-Frye, now this, today has been a good day. Ogawa is still in his gi-wearing phase and his offence is limited to judo stuff, it creates an interesting styles clash against a shoot wrestler like Yamazaki, there were a bunch of good looking slams and strikes in here but what really made it is how smartly they were built up, every offensive maneuver made here made sense from the persepctive of a wrestler trying to use his strenghts to gain advantage over the other, Yamazaki has the advantage in striking and kicking, Ogawa in throws and they overlap in submissions which is played up in a satisfying manner, I can't think of how this could've been any better, every transition is treated as a huge deal and there's a real sense of urgency in everything they do and the finish fits in perfectly with everything they'd had established.

Trish Stratus? http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/31119-trish-stratus/

I haven't seen anyone talk about it ever but Fujiwara vs Don Frye was awesome and featured a sublime Fujiwara performance, another example of Fujiwara taking a guy with a limited skillset and getting the most out of him.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Don Frye-NJPW 5.6.1998. I had no idea this happened so I watched it immediately as I stumbled upon it. It ruled. It had to. Don Frye isn't a great wrestler per se, so I tried to imagine a scenario in which this match would be disappointing, but I simply couldn't. There was no way the narrow skillset he possesses wouldn't translate well in this setting. Watching them battle on the mat was really fun, one of the first thing Fujiwara did in the match was a leglock hammerlock (it looked as insane as it sounds) from which he somehow transitioned into a full mount, obviously Frye would have the advantage of being stronger than him and that's how they played it up with Fujiwara reversing his stuff with cool holds and transitions, the finishing stretch was amazing, Frye had great punches and Fujiwara's awesome staggering selling made Frye punching him out look even better, great performance by Fujiwara and a really neat find.

A lock for my list. His character work is amazing, he's a great bumper, his punches look good and he's maybe the best ever at taking cheapshots. My favourite Fuerza Guerrera spot so far has been when he manically ran away from a tope and ended up ramming his head on the ringpost while doing so. He'll set up a high risk maneuver, almost slip, go "no fucking way am I doing this" and then readjust and it's goofy and neat and screams pro wrestling.

I don't think Jumbo's role of the ace was played up in the 80s tags nearly as much as Misawa's was in the 90s tags nor was it essential to the quality of those matches like it was in the 90s.

Another one of the millenial indy wrestlers I like and has plenty of good matches but doesn't really stand out at all. Only seemed to produce great stuff when matched up against superworkers like Joe and AJ. Won't even consider him.

I enjoy him as a poor man's Great Sasuke but among 100 best wrestlers ever he is not.

It looks incredibly foreign to me from today's standpoint.

Maybe. He was my favourite TV worker from the moment he returned until his retirement, has a couple of high end singles matches, regularly carried lesser workers and I even enjoyed a lot of the stuff that precedes his TNA run.

I'd differentiate between someone who happens to think Benoit is a good or even great worker and a Benoit "fan" in the sense they subscribe to the ideas that came with it (Dynamite Kid worship, emphasis on workrate etc.) And "hardcore wrestling fandom from 1995-2007" seems incredibly wacky to me.

Those are all valid points but he doesn't connect with me. Also "Benoit fans in the 90s and into the 00s" isn't a group whose opinions I'd trust much.

That's terrible. Hope you pull through.

Yeah and hindsight hardly makes that something to bring up as a positive.

There's a huge difference between showing emotion subtly and not showing any emotion at all.

I would agree with OJ, easily the best of the pre-93 Hansen vs. new generation singles bouts imo. This is a little unrelated but if he can stomach watching them I'd be very interested in Matt D's opinion on the two Misawa-Hansen matches from 93 since Hansen sold A LOT for him and they were worked vastly differently than Hansen's matches vs Kobashi and Kawada.