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A modern ECW would be fun and maybe ideal for me. I could definitely do modern Lucha, but I’m not gonna book 4 CMLL shows a week. So once a week and maybe 1 ppv a month is ideal. I think it’s important to have some sort of NA “indie” but once a month shows is a little bit too infrequent. One thing that would be cool to think about too is talent shares/inter promotional stuff down the road.

Yo Steven it’s Andy - are you still seeking anyone else to join or no? Could do Lucha or US indies or something.

More people need to watch this ASAP. The whole show is fun, and it’s kind of a shame the full release didn’t receive the same hype as the actual LBOA match, but understandable. A couple of weeks since it came out and I think Charles’ review here is the only one I’ve seen. ANYWAY this match fuckin rules. This is one of my favorite early 80s US matches I’ve seen in ages. A total annihilation and assault from Jake here on Brett, think GOOD Minoru Suzuki or similarly sick minded limb specialists. The whole thing is a bit uncomfortable and packed with heat, the crowd really molten for just about the entire show. If you like limb work or good heel work or hot crowds, this is a must watch and an easy new to us classic. 4.25 easy.

You didnt vote homie

Woo boy this was great, but it helps that I love both men and I love both men In the year 2000. Going into this year, my pick and expectation Is that Akiyama is WOTY and Im expecting to be validated and this short little match puts him at a good start. Fwiw, I love Takayama. I love that he bumbles around and is so rough around the edges. I get that it can be unbelievable to some, but it makes it MORE believable to me. I love technical wrestling but having Takayama in there with the all time greats just wrecking shit is super believable to me. Not a blow away match but one that is super solid and features a nice array of work from the guys. Some of Akiyamas dropkicks to Takayamas leg and knee are really brutal (love the one off the apron). I tend to get upset or mark matches down that end with a forward rollup, as even opposed to a schoolboy or cradle, it just looks super unconvincing - would have loved to see the leg put into play for the finish (maybe a cradle that requires Takayama to use his leg to escape?) but thats small grapes. Excited to watch these guys throughout the year (and really any year).

Listen, if its an FMW match or it features Tanaka, you better believe Im going to watch it. As much as I like and love shoot style and slower matches, FMW is the kind of excess I generally love and have loved since I was a kid. It allows me to turn off my brain and just fucking have a blast and thats what I did here. Ive seen on Bahus site that he ranks this as the 28th best FMW match of all time or whatever, which is absolutely not true, but it is super fun with What we get. Yes there is no selling and moves and all that, but idk, I just change my mindset when I go into FMW or late era ECW and have a really hard time ranking things with any logic. This is not the best performance Ive seen either man here, but especially after watching the entire NJPW Wrestling World 2000 Card today, this was such a nice change of pace. Tanaka might be my favorite wrestler of all time and I love when he loses. Awesome, fired up promo at the end and excited to revisit and see for the first time more FMW this year. Hell yeah, fun match. 3.75/5

I actually marked this one down a quarter star on rewatch, but I still really respect and love the hell out of this. I love bi bruiser matches and have always had a soft spot for Kensuke Sasaki, so this match hits a lot of buttons for me. Tenryu looks great here, half the man he used to be but still convincing as a champion. I do like the less is more approach where we see punches, holds and big spots that fuckin mean something. Im excited to see where both these guys go as the year goes on, maybe more than almost anyone, they have lots of interesting competition to go up against and while I have seen some things here and there, Im expecting to get a few new gems added. Overall, a super fun match. 4.25/5

As far as I know, this is one of the first New Japan matches that I remember watching since I began getting semi-heavy into wrestling outside of major leagues 90s promotions. Ive seen it probably a dozen times and heard maybe a few dozen people talk about it, but man alive I love that the general consensus about this match/segment is that it is fuckin great because Big Daves 3 star rating is atrocious. Yall have said a lot already about this and I was going to skip it for this project because I have it rated, as well Familiar with it and everything, but this is one of those matches that doesnt get old to me. This is one that matches the intensity with the proper length and the atmosphere and its just awesome. I dont care about context, what came before and what came after, because right here, for these 22 minutes you get the best of wrestling. Going into this project, this is my favorite match of 2000 and while I wouldnt be surprised if something supplants it, because it isnt perfect - its a fuckin joy. I love this and probably always will. 4.75/5

I echo a lot of what other people have said in this thread, in that the match definitely starts and is worked slow throughout, but these two megastars actually really make I work. I found this match to be a bit of a throwback and totally refreshing. While there were certainly slow moments, the high impact moves (or even submission attempts) really felt like they carried weight in a way that many matches post 2000 dont. Its hard to explain, but even though these two were on the down slide of their careers, this felt like a major match. The obvious highlight here is Chonos diving shoulder block, which is so much different than everything else In the match, that while it would be used as a transition move in most modern wrestling we watch, it sticks with me days later here. Chonos piledrivers were especially brutal looking as well. At least the first one, looked like less than an inch from destroying Mutohs neck. In general, I liked the working of Mutohs back and neck vs Mutoh working Chonos legs. Not a classic, but definitely a memorable match to me. I also hate Chonos pants so much. 3.75/5

Man this fuckin ruled. No its not a great match or hardly a match at all and is, I suppose, disappointing considering it is a Dome match, but I love a squash like this, especially from one of the best to ever do it. Wasnt as brutal, chaotic or frenetic as the 2 minute Hiromu/Kushida beating from 2017, but where that one felt like a fluke of insanity, this feels like the most convincing act of dominance. I know hes north of 50 now, but I would love Old Man Liger to dawn the black one more time and go on a short, grumpy dominant run. Super fun stuff.

Idk yall, I fuckin loved this. It lacks the intensity and sheer in your face gore that death matches have nowadays, and it lacks the bombast of something laid out by Onita, but this is like ideal wrestling to me. I agree to all who say Honma is amazing in 2000 and here in particular. He feels like such a star and has this charisma that I think a lot of people today actually lack. He is an amazing athlete at this stage too, which helps his case. The match doesnt have anything that changed the game, but for what it is and having seen very little of this style at this time period, I just really really liked this. 4/5

Watching this in my bed last night was maybe not the best idea Ive ever had - the screams emitted from the two younger wrestlers here were truly haunting at times. Headphones in, volume down. I am completely unlearned in the ways of AJW outside some of the biggest matches and names of all time (and even then, its middling knowledge), so while Ive seen the names of LCO and Mima Shimoda thrown around, this was the first true time I can remember seeing any of these women in the ring. And what a fuckin bizarre, brutal, painful joy. This was not an easy match to watch, especially when I wasnt expecting something quite like this, but the brawling portions felt theatrical and downright mean (some of those chair throws were straight up gross), and the piledrivers, no matter where delivered seemed to be JUST and inch from a broken neck. I guess something can be said about believability and all, but yeah, this was nasty. If these women do this more often than not (as Im assuming they do), Im gonna have to pace out their matches when I am feeling some time of blood lust. Hard to watch but super captivating. I really enjoyed it overall and am one of the high votes on this. 3.75/5

😎

Happy to help get the Jumping Bomb Angels on!

What a way to start in on this project over a year late. Am definitely stoked to watch a bunch of Lucha that I've never seen featuring luchadors I'm mostly unfamiliar with. Somehow, I'm actually familiar with both guys here, but Bucanero quite a bit more than Tarzan Boy. This match is really good, but never quite gets to that "great" level. The highs, as many people have pointed out in this thread are super high, but the lows are pretty cringey. Bucanero pre-bell and during the Primera was awesome. His ability to be a complete nutcase and attack the early cut on Tarzan Boy is obviously great, but his strikes (especially his kicks) were pretty crisp too, which really surprised. He DECIMATES Tarzan Boy in the opening, and really in the Segunda, which is awesome. The SHITTY roll-up that ties things up is rough and is a big reason why I can't go higher on this match. I don't like to nitpick, especially with second falls in lucha, but after how strong the first fall was and even the early work in the second, for Tarzan Boy to get a completely unbelievable reversal roll-up after executing next to no offense sucked. Oh, and Bucanero's Gory-style Dominator or whatever was fantastic. I can imagine people being split on the third fall. Having Tarzan Boy capitalize on his momentum between falls and bloody up Bucanero is great story-telling, but was hard to follow. While his dive over the top was at risk being overshot and maybe a little sloppy, the height and distance of it, especially during a brawl-heavy, bloody match was a big highlight for me. The replays did it justice too. Third fall has some great selling and great work from Satanico on the outside and while the cavernaria submission spot was dope (love that move), I wish it would've been held like 5-10 seconds longer. The actual finish with Tarzan Boy's double-underhook facebuster (Tarzan Driver?) is cool but really feels like it comes out of nowhere, like Bucanero just walks into it. Overall, awesome spots, awesome selling, awesome Satanico but lacking in areas outlined above. 3.5/5

me and ^^ watched together last year, eating hella Jack in the Box tacos. now we are separate, so of course we are down. BUT IM STILL WATCHING LIVE AND TAKING TOMORROW OFF

Excited to do a pod where I bullshit my way through my list

You should definitely be able to still download the episodes. I can on my end, both mobile and on my laptop. The page looks a little different because it embeds "related" episodes on the webpage for each episode, but scroll to the bottom of the episode page (or even just the main page which will have the latest epiosode) and there should be a download link there. Here is the direct link to episode 5: https://tracking.podiant.co/d/spoke/fightingnetworkfriends/episodes/audio/35a89b07bbd0ac.mp3?referrer%5Bdomain%5D=direct&referrer%5Bformat%5D=episode_list

Got 69 wrestlers left to fill the last 55 spots. Not enough time in the day for this shit.

Hey everyone, I forgot my password for awhile, but I'm back - Thanks for all the kind words about the podcast so far, we are having a blast with it.

Hey y'all. Brennan (VOW, Burning Spirits) and Andy of VOW (Glory Pro, Over The Hill) have started a new podcast based on their friendship and desire to watch and revisit a bunch of old ShootStyle matches. This is our debut episode, and I think it turned out pretty decent. Take a look if you're interested in this style, or dope ass Japanese music. http://fightingnetworkfriends.podiant.co to stream or subscribe to the RSS feed. You can also search us on Apple Podcasts. FNF #001: Slappy Kaki Topics discussed: - Our backgrounds and familiarity with Japanese shoot-style wrestling of the 1980's and 90's. - "Would a USA-based shoot-style promotion work today? And who would you book for such a promotion?" - CITY POP - BJW / Masahito Kakihara Produce: KakiRide (8/14/17), including cigar- smoking Fujiwara, Tatsuo Nakano's mullet, the ongoing saga of Hideki Suzuki's fatherly love and destruction of Takuya Nomura and Minoru Suzuki as the best character on the planet. - Deep Dive into the losing efforts of the terribly underrated Masahito Kakihara: vs. Tatsuo Nakano (9/21/92) **BLOODBATH** w/ Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Gene Lydick & Steve Nelson (6/10/94) w/ Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Tatsumi Fujinami (6/26/96) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (8/17/96) Youtube Playlist: http://tinyurl.com/fnf001 Follow us: @fightfriends @trillyrobinson @bren_patrick on twitter Email at: [email protected] Youtube at: http://tinyurl.com/FightFriends