Parties

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn Watching Zayn’s entrance I couldn’t help but think: what does Scott Hall make of this? Starship Coyote wondering why the fans are now the bookers and whether good looking women still come to wrestling shows, or if it’s just pale Chris Hardwicks skanking their way down to ringside. I haven't always liked either of these guys as much as the Internet does, but this was a great effort from both. Highlight was the slugfest portion, not because it was a million forearms but for the selling and fatigue expressed from both guys. The blood out of Nakamura’s nose was a good touch. Really exciting in the final 2/3s: felt like a true live experience in that you knew who would win, but didn’t know when or how. Nakamura’s kicks alone would make this a great match. My feed was unfortunately pretty bad for the finish, but still awesome stuff and Nakamura was as charismatic as advertised, especially in his exit.

Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin Aries’ initial assault was good: he looked to be laying it in, weird slap on the back off the top to the floor notwithstanding. Part of why Corbin’s being praised as a heel is that he actually wrestles like a heel: Snake Eyes, cheap shots, scramblng to recover from his opponent’s offense, talking trash at the fans and ref, nerve holds. Crowd was dead at times here, but there was a lot to like: the Deep Six on the floor, Aries taking a 9.7 count before climbing back in. This actually felt like a grudge match, which I haven’t said about anything in wrestling in a while. Corbin as one of the six or so NXT workers that Vince wants to call up to the main roster this summer?

The Revival vs. American Alpha [NXT Tag Titles] The Revival’s heeling early was a lot of fun. Is Gable the pick of Meltzer to be the future of the company because he looks just like him? Chain transitions from Alpha were really good. I liked the variety in movesets here as you saw a Gori Special, strange off-center backdrops, a double DDT, a small package, and the Owen Hart pin. The failed Doomsday Device stood out, but only because the crowd was so on them for it. Hot Take: of late Jordan throwing dudes entertains me more than Brock throwing dudes. Best of all it felt like really smooth, fast tag work rather than a bunch of spots. The speed and fluidity of each duo working together was the highlight. JR and Beadle seated together in what I can only assume was the last stall in the Men’s Room was something, as was the Ibushi shot. Presentation and production here is so beyond RAW that it's absurd.

I'd like to see Bayley hold the title until Summerslam weekend. Tell the story of going the full year (or two days shy given the way the calendar falls between Summerslams '15/'16) with the same Barclays crowd that were there for her title win. It would give her the longest WWE title reign since... Punk? (Assuming New Day doesn't hold theirs past SS?)

That's actually a great point about what's made their feud fun to this point: they understand the showman theatrics needed to make Wile E. Coyote vs. Road Runner work. I've liked their other matches, I just thought this 8-man was a bit lackluster in all of the non-Kama heels were clunky and it felt like Lee-Dragon doing a short dog and pony show version of their stuff in the middle of a sloppy midcard tag. They went straight to the kitchen sink because they were a limited portion of what was happening in full. Not a terrible match, just kind of middle of the road. Really the highlight of the whole thing is the insane air that Mistico gets on his big leap.

6) Chris Hero vs. Matt Riddle (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) Huge reaction for Hero, who's looking... huge? "You're a fuccboi" chants for Riddle. What an amusing heel this guy is, in that it's a totally different flavor than most grunting angry guys. This guy's a heel because he's sort of an idiot tool, which is an interesting take. Crowd gave him hell for not wearing shoes: Hero worked his feet to the delight of the fans, crushing/biting toes to the horror of all. Hero also had a great escape out of a choke here that required him to do WoS wiggling and a kip-up, which was perhaps the most impressive athletic feat of the night. Riddle bleeding a ton out of his mouth off one of Hero's elbow smashes. Story of the match was that this was Riddle's biggest challenge to date (perhaps even moreso than Thatcher the previous night), but that he rose to the occasion with awesome flying knees off the ropes and the ability to take a serious beating. It was like a prime Kevin Von Erich outing, such that it turned him face to some. 7) Aztec Warfare II (Lucha Underground, 3/23) Not the best match of the year to date, but possibly the most fun. Thought virtually everyone came out of this looking good and that the pace was well-kept. Even guys who I haven’t liked much of late (Jack Evans, Johnny Mundo) or ever (Prince Puma, Drago) did well here. The criticisms against the match (Cobb’s height, Fenix being a one-week transitional champ, a 21st guy being added to the match just because they can, Caterina having the power to keep Pentagon out of the match) are ingrained aspects of the company that don’t feel as bad in context of this show. Rey had a good outing, I loved the Sagrada run, and either because of editing or true prowess this was probably the most I’ve ever liked Ricochet: his stuff works best in small doses during a massive spotfest. Crowd also really helped sustain this as they were on fire the full 40 minutes. 8) Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Drew Gulak [best in the World Challenge Series] (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) Gulak-Sabre in front of crowd that doesn't necessarily love cravates. The trading of holds here was really good: Gulak really felt like he was living up to his gimmick as trainer-technician. Really awesome to see the innovative counters so well executed here. Not kidding: a few mins in, Sabre becomes like the sixth guy on this show to bleed hardway. I'm not even a fan of blood, but that's remarkable. Despite the fancy intricacies, this never felt like an exhibition, as everything was cinched and they were unafraid of clubbering. Selling was smart too as Sabre's ankle became the story of the match and his reactions were excellent. Finish got a huge reaction and standing ovation, so if nothing else people are buying Sabre going on this WOTY gauntlet. Could have just been viewing it live, but I'd be interested to see if/where this lands in MOTYC conversations. 17) Timothy Thatcher vs. Caleb Konley [EVOLVE Title] (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) I’m a bit surprised this was deemed too long by other viewers, though I get it in that it started slow and got better over time. I think someone's bled hardway in every match on this show: in Thatcher-Konley it was both of them, unless Konley somehow bladed his back for no reason. Konley's good but felt like a lame duck challenger. Match was early on a little by-the-numbers even with both guys working hard, but improved over time even in front of a bored crowd who were talking about Sting's retirement and Thatcher's chest hair. This built well, as Konley started throwing bombs and Thatcher worked hard to get over submissions to a crowd who didn't want them. Wacky ref bump leads to 2.9 count for Konley. Crowd approves of Thatcher headbutting Konley's valet. Ends up a very solid B+ title defense that it felt like they had to earn it rather than have it gifted acclaim by the audience. 30) Negro Casas vs. Volador, Jr. [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 3/18) Casas debuted in 1979. Others who did the same: Buddy Landell, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko, Honky Tonk Man, Barry Horowitz, Jim Neidhart. Picture a situation where one of those guys or one of their contemporaries was still the best worker in America or close to it. That’s Casas. Match itself had some nice moments: the ranas off the top rope and the other one that sends Volador into the dasher boards, the sunset flip to the floor, and a bunch of other crazy bumps that I can’t believe a 56 year old and his favorite Sal Rinauro imitator are taking. Volador has always been an odd duck to me, but he did fine and didn’t really make any mistakes. I also like that they went all out for 20 good minutes at a real pace rather than doing two lame falls early in search of the finish. 33) Sami Callahan vs. Tracy Williams (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) Long feeling out process, with Williams as something of a local babyface despite the Catch Point affiliation. Good match but not much in the way of storytelling, compared to what had come before w/ Hero-Riddle. Williams is being built up as a burgeoning star in the company, while Callahan was good if not great in his assault. Highlight was the struggle on the mat where both guys suddenly turned it way up as Williams went for an arm bar. Whenever this was on the mat, it felt like its own unique thing. But during the head drops and brawling, it seemed too much like a lesser version of matches that had already occurred. Still, the finish was strong and it seemed to win the crowd over by the end. No hardway blood, but Sami did chop Williams' neck in such a way that a bunch of massively bruised blood vessels appeared, so I'm counting it and the streak continues. 34) Dr. Wagner, Jr. vs. El Mesias/Texano, Jr. [bull Terrier Match] (AAA, 3/4) AAA is a mess right now, but even with that in mind and my hatred of all handicap matches, I wanted to like this because of the guys and the stip. This is also not a full-on handicap match as there’s dissension between the heels. This is a fun veteran performance from Wagner: you get a Dusty Rhodes vibe from him here where he knows how to tease victory before having it snatched away. Banderas is another guy having a noteworthy year and this should be added to his resume. Only rough moment in this is a truly bad run-in from a fourth guy that has to be seen to be believed. If you include the post-match brawl as part of the overall ranking (as I do), this gains points. Not a great match, but a grisly flavor of heavyweight wrestling that’s sort of missing right now and feels really fresh as a result. 35) Drew Galloway/Johnny Gargano vs. Team Tremendous [EVOLVE Tag Titles] (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) Bill Carr working in old Adidas pants kind of kills the gimmick, but the main event delivered pretty well. Started as a brawl after Galloway's fired up promo about wanting to fight. Gargano still doesn't do it for me and all his thigh slapping was exposed here. Champs cut off the ring to work Barry as FIP. Carr's eventual gut-wrench duplex on Drew and gigantic tope con hilo were insane. Lots of fun double team spots as you had all of the signature Tremendous stuff and then a lot of arena-sized selling from Galloway. Hierarchy felt well established in that both teams looked good even as Tremendous were over-matched at this point in their run. Galloway was presented as the top star in the company, even over Thatcher really. Show ended without angle or much fanfare, but well worked throughout. Back in NYC six weeks from now on May 7th, which was kind of surprising. 39) Rush vs. Maximo Sexy [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 3/18) This starts off like the best possible version of a Rock vs. Foley brawl, as the blue chip guy abuses the affable lug, yet the crowd still likes both of them. First fall - like much of the match - was never in doubt and just felt like a means to an end. Maximo is having a great year: credit to him for coupling a dominant Rush performance with some really nice hope spots and selling. He really makes you believe he can win and the crowd is so entertained by his antics. This improves a lot once the seconds are ejected from ringside, which is what you want if you’re gonna go to that trope. Kind of disappointing in that this never kicked into bloodsport gear of true heat, if only because the finish was a foregone conclusion, but still solid stuff. 43) Tommaso Ciampa vs. TJ Perkins (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) Ciampa-Speedball has been changed to Ciampa-TJP. Jeers of "Suicide" and "Fuck TNA" amuse Perkins. "Ciampa's Gonna Chomp You" soon follows and is not a good chant at all. Then comes "Remember the safe word" during a wrist lock. Ciampa hits variety of moves on TJP's trucker hat a la Flair on his coat. Surprisingly good, stiff back-and-forth match. Perkins looked like a real vet here in the way he built to high spots. His chest was bleeding from Ciampa's strikes, and he is a good opponent to make Ciampa's various head drop spots into something coherent. Highlight was TJP's tope to the floor as he rocketed out of that ring like all hell. 58) Ethan Page vs Fred Yehi (EVOLVE 57, 3/20) Page's affable goof gimmick continues. Yehi was amazing live: dude is in great shape, works really hard in putting over holds, sells intelligently, and continues to have the best shoes in wrestling. If Regal wasn't taking a good look at him, it's only because of his height. Brilliant elbow smash from Yehi to Page here. Page continues to seem mediocre and his sportsmanship phoniness is wack, but his finisher is either intentionally or unintentionally vicious as he dropped Yehi's head right onto his knee. Really well worked if it was on purpose. Post-Match schmozz with Premier Athlete Brand was royally whatevs, and the crowd mocked them the whole time. 60) Dragon Lee/Máscara Dorada/Místico/Valiente vs. La Ola Amarilla [Okumura/Kamaitachi/Fujin/Raijin] (CMLL, 3/18) Wrestling needs more multi-man team battles in the midcard. Enjoyed Valiente fishhooking Fujin. Most of this wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. I swear the ref screws up like five pin counts here, or just looks really weird and fake in the way he counts them. Okumura doesn’t do much. Fujin and Raijin are along for the ride and do some pretty lousy bumping/base work here. The Dragon Lee-Kamaitachi stuff is entertaining, but very indie headdrop in having zero psychology and just going from flip to flip. But after a while Valiente starts to elevate the action, and Mistico hits a tremendous dive to the floor.

Oy vey, fine. "Killed the dude's career" = took a guy who people thought was going to be something and made him into a nobody in a sea of nobodies. He'll make plenty of money trading wins with the Miz, but he's clearly been demoted. Owens is also one of the only guys on the roster who seems like enough of a hothead to quit or get himself fired over his place in the pecking order, so let's revisit this in a year and see how he's doing. I had no expectations for him. I didn't care about him and still don't. But lots of fans do. No one needs to be undefeated or main event Mania to be protected. It's an ad nauseum conversation here and on most boards: we know why the midcard sucks, we know why it isn't changing. Owens isn't a better or worse worker than lots of guys of the roster, but these ideas that his gear or "indy spot fest" style are holding him back are silly. Like it or not, "indy spot fest" is what's trendy in wrestling right now, whether it's a Superkick Party or a John Cena Canadian Destroyer or guys suplexing women through tables.

While I think the New Day hate here is overstated and overly serious in its views of what wrestling should be, the act has started to get stale in 2016. Their long promo at the Rumble felt like a shark-jump where it was clear that the writers were now trying to get their garbage in and write lame "nerd jokes" rather than let the three of them be what was working. They were Eric Andre and Hannibal Buress, and you made them into three Urkels. But the even bigger problem is that like everything good in WWE, it's very over-saturated when you see them cut similar promos 2-3 times a week, plus backstage segments and a few matches. Yet the same was true of Rock and Austin during the Russo days, so the difference is more just a lack of dynamic variety in what they do. Same jokes, same promos, same character tropes, largely the same match. It's overkill, but when overkill is making money, don't expect anyone to slow down. Owens is a B- version of CM Punk and always has been, and I say that as not much of a Punk fan. I actually think Owens is a very good promo and quite a unique one in modern WWE. But his character is deeply flawed right now in that he's portraying a smug role, and IRL is clearly trying to preserve whatever cool star presence or perceived status he still has left after being put in the IC Title death spot. The problem is that he also constantly loses to his fellow 50/50 midcarders. So you're left w/ this guy who's so overconfident about his status that he ends up just looked discredited and naive. He either needs some humility (which effectively kiboshes what he's worked at for the last year) or to stop losing so much and work a good feud (not likely from the way they've handled him and Zayn/Cena/Cesaro thus far). TL;DR: Kevin Dunn killed the dude's career, to the surprise of no one.

I was really confused by this until I read that day's NYMag story that explains that in Florida, jurors are allowed to ask witnesses anonymous questions. Because Florida may genuinely be the weirdest place on Earth.

Bill Carr working in old Adidas pants kind of kills the gimmick, but the main event delivered pretty well. Started as a brawl after Galloway's fired up promo about wanting to fight. Gargano still doesn't do it for me and all his thigh slapping was exposed here. Champs cut off the ring to work Barry as FIP. Carr's eventual gut-wrench duplex on Drew and gigantic tope con hilo were insane. Lots of fun double team spots as you had all of the signature Tremendous stuff and then a lot of arena-sized selling from Galloway. Hierarchy felt well established in that both teams looked good even as Tremendous were over-matched at this point in their run. Galloway was presented as the top star in the company, even over Thatcher really. Show ended without angle or much fanfare, but well worked throughout. Back in NYC six weeks from now on May 7th, which was kind of surprising.

Gulak-Sabre in front of crowd that doesn't necessarily love cravates. The trading of holds here was really good: Gulak really felt like he was living up to his gimmick as trainer-technician. Really awesome to see the innovative counters so well executed here. Not kidding: a few mins in, Sabre becomes like the sixth guy on this show to bleed hardway. I'm not even a fan of blood, but that's remarkable. Despite the fancy intricacies, this never felt like an exhibition, as everything was cinched and they were unafraid of clubbering. Selling was smart too as Sabre's ankle became the story of the match and his reactions were excellent. Finish got a huge reaction and standing ovation, so if nothing else people are buying Sabre going on this WOTY gauntlet. Could have just been viewing it live, but I'd be interested to see if/where this lands in MOTYC conversations. Hero trashes Sabre on the mic afterwards, throwing his previously removed boot to the back of the arena and saying that he's beaten previous "Best in the Worlds" Danielson and Punk. Hero felt like the default heel here, as Gulak later cut a promo on him, and the crowd got on him for his weight again.

Long feeling out process in Sami Callahan-Tracy Williams, with Williams as something of a local babyface despite the Catch Point affiliation. Good match but not much in the way of storytelling, compared to what had come before w/ Hero-Riddle. Williams is being built up as a burgeoning star in the company, while Callahan was good if not great in his assault. Highlight was the struggle on the mat where both guys suddenly turned it way up as Williams went for an arm bar. Whenever this was on the mat, it felt like its own unique thing. But during the head drops and brawling, it seemed too much like a lesser version of matches that had already occurred. Still, the finish was strong and it seemed to win the crowd over by the end. No hardway blood, but Sami did chop Williams' neck in such a way that a bunch of massively bruised blood vessels appeared, so I'm counting it and the streak continues.

I think someone's bled hardway in every match on this show: in Thatcher-Konley it was both of them, unless Konley somehow bladed his back for no reason. Konley's good but felt like a lame duck challenger. Match was early on a little by-the-numbers even with both guys working hard, but improved over time even in front of a bored crowd who were talking about Sting's retirement and Thatcher's hair. This built well, as Konley started throwing bombs and Thatcher worked hard to get over submissions to a crowd who didn't want them. Wacky ref bump leads to 2.9 count for Konley. Crowd approves of Thatcher headbutting Konley's valet. Ends up a very solid B+ title defense that it felt like they had to earn it rather than have it gifted acclaim by the audience. Riddle cuts promo on Thatcher that leads to a cheap shot and challenge for a rematch in Texas. Chants of "Cowabunga" and "Marijuana" and "You're a natural baby face, dude" from the crowd. Riddle openly laughing along with the crowd in a way that kind of obliterates kayfabe but works for his character. Leads to Regal coming out and saying that Riddle needs to win the title before they talk about an NXT contract. Teased a future conflict of sorts between the two of them. As either a work or shoot, they're claiming that Galloway's flight from Orlando was delayed but did take off, so TBD as to what this means for the tag title match.

Huge reaction for Hero, who's looking... huge? "You're a fuccboi" chants for Riddle. What an amusing heel this guy is, in that it's a different flavor than most grunting angry guys. This guy's a heel because he's sort of an idiot tool, which is an interesting take. Crowd gave him hell for not wearing shoes: Hero worked his feet to the delight of the fans, crushing/biting toes to the horror of all. Hero also had a great escape out of a choke here that required him to do WoS wiggling and a kip-up, which was perhaps the most impressive athletic feat of the night. Riddle bleeding a ton out of his mouth off one of Hero's elbow smashes. Story of the match was that this was Riddle's biggest challenge to date (aside from Thatcher last night), but that he rose to the occasion with awesome flying knees off the ropes and the ability to take a serious beating. It was like the best possible Kevin Von Erich outing, such that it turned him face to some.

Ciampa-Speedball has been changed to Ciampa-TJP. Jeers of "Suicide" and "Fuck TNA" amuse Perkins. "Ciampa's Gonna Chomp You" soon follows and is not a good chant at all. Then comes "Remember the safe word" during a wrist lock. Ciampa hits variety of moves on TJP's trucker hat a la Flair on his coat. Surprisingly good, stiff back-and-forth match. Perkins looked like a real vet here in the way he built to high spots. His chest was bleeding from Ciampa's strikes, and he is a good opponent to make Ciampa's various head drop spots into something coherent. Highlight was TJP's tope to the floor as he rocketed out of that ring like all hell.

Page's affable goof gimmick continues. Yehi was amazing live: dude is in great shape, works really hard in putting over holds, sells intelligently, and continues to have the best shoes in wrestling. If Regal wasn't taking a good look at him, it's only because of his height. Brilliant elbow smash from Yehi to Page here. Page continues to seem mediocre and his sportsmanship phoniness is wack, but his finisher is either intentionally or unintentionally vicious as he dropped Yehi's head right onto his knee. Really well worked if it was on purpose. Post-Match deal with Premier Athlete was royally whatevs and crowd mocked them the whole time.

Sabre, Gulak, and Gargano are all out in the crowd selling their merch. Gulak is gregarious and bravely rocking a Catch Point shirt in what I can only assume is a Lady's Medium. Regal signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. It is in an American Legion hall such as this that you get a sense of who Regal is: a world traveler, a vest enthusiast, and a clear-cut badass who feels like he's getting a lift home from Ben Kingsley's character in "Sexy Beast". From 80's South Africa with Tiger Singh to here and back again. Whole joint smells like hot dogs and Bud Light: very close quarters where the crowd is right on top of the ring, moreso than their past NYC shows.

Update live from Evolve 57 in Brooklyn, thirty minutes before bell time: Ethan Page is talking to the camera crew while wearing a fanny pack and his gear. More on this story as it develops.

DVDVR did that "Fantasy WWE" game a few years ago (I wanna say b/w 2011-2012 leading up to Mania) in which you had to picked workers and then received points based on your crew's W-L record, the placement of their segment within quarter hours, whether they main evented, whether their music plays as segment's end, whether they walked tall after a confrontation/segment, etc. It was actually really well executed and told you a lot about who WWE really valued and how. Ziggler was either the guy with the worst stats or close to it. He was made to look inferior constantly: even beyond the endless jobbing, they also bury him in all the subtler ways. He's still his own worst enemy, but it is amazing that he's in this spot of being Chief Jobber who loses a long singles on every RAW, as if he's the guy who gets shot out of the cannon every night at the circus.

This most recent run for Jericho has been awful, to the point that I want to believe he's doing some kind of uber-ECW Foley worked shoot where he has bad workrate matches to get heel heat. That said, if Lil' Naitch couldn't deduce that moments after an ankle break wasn't the best time to check Neville's shoulders, then most of the blame is on him. Jericho is a diva and shouting "You ruined my match!" or whatever it was speaks volumes about his "veteran" status. If anything Robinson's decision in the moment speaks to how whipped/conditioned people are there to follow Vince's OCD commandments, even if it means tanking a match. I find the smarkitude of most crowds pretty lame, but if you're someone who paid thousands of dollars six months ahead of time to attend Mania, you have every right to throw rotten tomatoes at what this card looks like on paper. ("But maybe it'll pleasantly surprise us! Mania usually does." Yes, sure, good, agreed.)

The outro music selections are getting better every week. Brilliant.

One of the biggest reasons NXT is so over. Faces win in the end, creating lasting memories that matter. Aside from Bryan's retirement and closing out Mania 30, there's been nothing like the Bayley title win on WWE TV in years.

A question as old as time.

Congrats on attending the real Wrestlemania, Grimmas. If Lesnar-Wyatt isn't really good, I'll eat Sorrow's hat. New Day-League has high potential. Barrett will continue his tour of as many jobs as possible in the next 2-3 months, but I've liked him as a team with Sheamus. HHH-Ambrose is one of the weirdest main events they've done in years, but I'm intrigued to see what happens. My biggest question for the night is how they shoot it. I assume Kevin Dunn is making the trip across the border (the recent MSG house show shot for the Network looked like any episode of RAW), but I've been fantasizing that this'll be filmed a la the old Maple Leaf Gardens shows, with Ambrose throwing Hunter down the giant ramp and Brock murdering dudes in a smoke-filled hall.

I'm still sort of working through these and have spent way too long doing the math. Here are a few to start that immediately stand out. Anyone listed here is likely making my list. 1973-74 WOS (5): Breaks, Grey, Jones, Rudge, Serjeant 1980 AJPW (6): Jumbo, Bockwinkel, Destroyer, Fuchi, Dutch Mantell, Tenryu 1980 NJPW (8): Choshu, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Bret Hart, Hoshino, Keirn, Maeda, Saito 1981 AJPW (6): Brisco, Destroyer, Fuchi, Jumbo, Robinson, Tenryu 1981 CWA (7): Dundee, Fuchi, Keirn, Lawler, Morton, Onita, Robinson 1981 NJPW (16): Andre, Brazo de Plata, Brazo de Oro, Choshu, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Hamada, Hansen, Hoshino, Inoki, Kimura, Maeda, Murdoch, Solar I, Villano III, Yatsu 1982 Memphis (8): Bockwinkel, Dundee, Eaton, Embry, Funk, Keirn, Lawler, Morton 1982 NJPW (18): Andre, Choshu, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Hamada, Hansen, Hart, Hoshino, Inoki, Marty Jones, Kimura, Maeda, Murdoch, Buddy Rose, Valentine, Villano III, Yamazaki, Yatsu 1983 AJPW (9): Destroyer, Fuchi, Funk, Gordy, Hansen, Jumbo, Kawada, Misawa, Tenryu 1983 NJPW (18): Andre, Choshu, Finlay, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Hamada, Hansen, Hart, Hoshino, Inoki, Marty Jones, Kimura, Maeda, Navarro, Rose, Saito, Yamazaki, Yatsu 1983 Memphis (8): Bockwinkel, Dundee, Eaton, Funk, Hansen, Keirn, Lawler, Morton 1984 AJPW (13): Choshu, Destroyer, Fiera, Fuchi, Funk, Gordy, Hamada, Hayes, Jumbo, Kawada, Misawa, Tenryu, Yatsu 1984 NJPW (14): Andre, Choshu, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Hashimoto, Hart, Hoshino, Inoki, Maeda, Saito, Sano, Valentine, Yamazaki, Yatsu 1984 CWA (7): Bockwinkel, Dundee, Eaton, Keirn, Lawler, Morton, Savage 1984 UWF (5): Fujiwara, Hamada, Maeda, Mantell, Yamazaki 1985 AJPW (10): Brazo de Plata, Brazo de Oro, Choshu, Destroyer, Fuchi, Funk, Hamada, Jumbo, Lawler, Tenryu 1985 UWF (5): Fujiwara, Finlay, Jones, Maeda, Yamazaki 1985 NJPW (8): Andre, Funaki, Fujinami, Hashimoto, Hoshino, Inoki, Kimura, Sano