JKWebb

#361 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/2/ I thought the opening matwork was pretty good, and they did a nice job breaking it up with some intermittent striking. I specifically liked how focused Hash was on the left leg, and thought Hase did a great job expressing how painful Hash's strikes were. I thought Hase was selling Hash's submissions a little better than vice versa. There is one moment where Hase misses a strike, so he makes up for it by nailing two ruthless chops at the chest/neck area of Hash. For me, it was Hase's performance that elevated this to the really good to possibly great level. I love his expression and celebration at the end. The announcers and the crowd and the music, it's all really fun at the end.

I've seen this one before, and thought it was all-time classic ***** match. I was looking forward to revisiting it today running through AJ 80s. I agree that it is the best AJ 80s tag (that I've seen). I'm sticking with the *****. I thought Kawada was fantastic here as the scrappy punk ready to take it right to the beasts. I love the spot in the corner where he beats down Hansen with kicks forcing Hansen to tag out. You can see Hansen start to sell the exhaustion mentioned above around this time. He comes back to defend his partner, but he had to gather himself first. I love the look on Gordy's face when he thinks he's got Tenryu pinned (because he knows Kawada can't break it up with his injured knee trapped on the outside). He throws up his hands like ... what else do we have to do this guy? The answer is double-team, and they demolish Tenryu here. The performances from all three guys (and Kawada on the outside) are just stellar in these final moments. Tenryu gets busted open, and the sharks can smell the blood. Somehow Kawada musters up enough energy for one final save. It comes out of nowhere. Great moment. Tenryu delivers another great fighting from underneath performance. He just can't take out both of them by himself. Lot's of great emotion and selling from everyone involved. Fantastic, Epic Match! Also, I'll note I love how excited Gordy is to get the win. He comes in and hovers over Hansen during the three count to make sure Kawada doesn't have anything left in him. Then he does a little dance.

Jumbo has really brought the fire to a lot of the tag matches leading into this. When he was tagged in, more specifically when he could get a piece of Tenyru, he was going 100 mph with those running knees or whatever else he wanted to throw at him or Ashura Hara. I feel like Jumbo's intensity level has really made this feud what it is, and like you said, it would seem Tenryu is the one bringing that out of him. That intensity level didn't waiver in this match. We get started with hard-hitting strikes and a great looking dropkick from Jumbo. I loved the abdominal stretch, and how Jumbo looked like he was giving it all he could. Then Tenryu reverses it into the armbar, and you can see how bad he wants this win. I feel like Tenryu does an excellent job in getting little things Jumbo does, as simple as a punch to the face, over big with the crowd through the way he bumps or sells for him. There's a great punch to the face where Tenryu hits the ground, and Jumbo shakes his fist to the crowd assuring them that he is the man. The match itself is pretty back and forth. Tenryu works the same left leg he bashed with a chair at the end of their previous tag encounter. Jumbo does some nice selling with it. It's hard for him to climb to the top to deliver his big knee, and it takes him some time to gather the strength to execute it. Like GOTNW mentioned, the brawling at the end is just fantastic! Really great match here. I'd probably agree with that rating as well, but solid ****1/2 for me. I mean, I wouldn't argue with someone who went a little higher, that ending was just perfect.

Well, Holy Hell, this is awesome. Stan Hansen in a match with Ricky Morton... There's nothing else you'd need to say. Why wouldn't this be entertaining? This starts out with Morton getting in some quick offense on Kroffat, but damn ... You can see Hansen bouncing on the outside with anticipation... he's hungry... then... watch the fuck out Ricky Morton! Hansen hops the ropes after Ricky Morton like he just heard Ricky's been sleeping with his daughter or something... it's nuts! Hansen is ready to murder him! All four guys get into the ring, and lucky for Morton it gets broken up and Hansen is back in the corner. I can't understand what he is saying, but it looks like Hansen is yelling at Morton from corner. Morton continues to get the upper hand on Kroffat. Hansen and Morton finally are legal at the same time, and Hansen is a heat-seeking missile. He wants him too bad, he misses an early lariat on the outside wrapping his arm around the ringpost. Morton and Gibson try to work it over, but he overpowers them. Then you get your Ricky Morton FIP segment of the match. I think the match lost a little bit of it's suspense from this point on, but it was still entertaining. Morton eventually eats a lariat from Hansen. I wouldn't say this is a great match, but I was stoked to see the Rock n' Rolls in AJ, and specifically the Morton/Hansen dynamic. It's definitely a good match.

#362 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/2/ This is another one I've seen quite a few times, and I've always really enjoyed it. I'd agree that this is probably Diesel's best match of his career. I think I'd rate his Hart matches about the same as PeteF3, but I think I'd put the HBK No DQ match from In Your House at #2 on a list of Diesel's top four singles matches. I can't think of any singles matches he had better than those four. Of course, Bret does a great job picking apart the knee of Diesel. But, Nash really delivers here with his selling. He's screaming in anguish. He's limping around dragging the left leg. I'm not sure how I felt about Bret tying up Diesel's foot at first. Diesel nails him in the head with a big right leg, which looked awesome. But, then Bret gets on the top rope and Diesel tries to walk off, and it make him look kind of dumb since he should have known his foot was tied to the corner. But, it turns into some pretty good spots with Bret working him over as he is tied up, so in the end it worked. The table spot was sick, and I loved how Nash was limping down the stairs to get to Hart. The finish and ending really play into what a great moment this is. To note, the HBK match made number 475 on this list by Loss (Top 500 Matches of the 90's). I think Diesel's performance in this match is still probably the best of career (as I stated above), but, I feel like I had more fun revisiting the HBK match. So, I may be changing my vote here... I'd have to think on it a bit...They are both great.

Hansen hits the ring first, and while Tenryu is making his entrance, Hansen charges him and busts him open. This feels epic right out of the gate. Once the bell rings, Hansen continues the intense beatdown of Tenryu. Tenryu is bleeding like crazy, and Hansen works over the cut. Tenryu tries to bounce back, but he's not stopping the Hansen train. This was great. This feud has definitely turned into to one of my top favorites from AJ 80s. Watching the gushing Tenryu fight from underneath really brought the drama to the match for me. By the time he's getting his offense in, Hansen has thrown everything at him, and Hansen is fighting exhaustion. He finally gets in a lariat that knocks Tenryu out into the crowd. Another ****1/2 match from these guys. Both of their last two matches (referencing this match and 3/27/88), I would've liked even more had I felt a better connection to the finishes. I still absolutely loved them.

I don't mean any offense to anyone that wants to say 6 stars, because it would be your own scale that makes more sense to you ... so, of course that's fine... but... for me personally ... it reminds me of Spinal Tap... "you see mine goes up to 11" I can just see Meltzer in his basement next to a stack of papers (with match rankings and lists on them) wearing an Okada T-shirt saying ... "You see, but mine goes up to 6".

#363 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/2/ The match was fluid and tight. The second fall finish was cool and creative. I like how the leg work came into play in all three falls. I'm feeling what Childs said, the third fall picked up with really great looking spots, but, I didn't feel a real increase of intensity or drama that I was looking for. I still thought this was really good. Everything looked very neat and had impeccable timing, but it just lacked a certain level of emotion or feeling to it (for me). Well, until the finishing celebration, poor guy...

I would say that I went in to star ratings with the same type of thinking or rating scale as Dylan (and still use that when I rate). I've gotten into a lot of different types or styles and eras of wrestling over the last few years. As I've gotten older, what I look for in my wrestling viewing has changed too. I don't like to think about star ratings when I'm watching something, because I really just want to sink my teeth into it and enjoy. When I reflect on my experience, that's when I start thinking about the rating itself. I only wanted to assign ratings for comparison purposes. I wanted a way to distinguish that I thought this match was great, but this match is an all-time classic. I know I can say that with words, but sometimes there are different degrees, and I enjoy distinguishing between those degrees of enjoyment for me. So if a match is great, it's ****, but if it's really great it gets bumped up a 1/4 or maybe It reaches MOTYC territory at ****1/2. Anyway, I've also thought about never rating matches again. I go back and forth. Sometimes, I don't want to give a match a star rating. For example, I've been following along with the PTBN guys watching all the old WWF shows in the 80s. When I watched the main event of WrestleMania this time around, I was glued to the set having a truly great marking out wrestling experience. I think watching all the shows in order for the first time really sucked me into the moment and the heat the heels were getting and crowd behind Hogan/T etc... Anyway... Most people, including myself, wouldn't necessarily have that "rated" as a "great" match or all-timer. But, didn't it do exactly what it set out to do? Wasn't it as entertaining as all get out? You bet it was. So, I thought to myself... maybe I'll just give up this whole ratings thing... a day later I rated a match from All Japan at ****1/2... because I wanted to make the statement (with my review) that it is a classic... ha, so who knows... I guess I'm a part-timer. I do love to read reviews, and I get recommendations from that, but also, I loved going through the ****3/4/***** thread on the board and grabbing some viewing from there. So, I think whatever works for you is great, and the best part is we all get to tell each other about great stuff to check out, and then express our own experience in some way to the community. I do think the HOF idea could be really fun.

I was pretty excited to watch this tonight after seeing it hyped today. Jun jumped out of the gate fired up, and I loved it. When he elbowed Vader down into the corner and shouted at the crowd, it got me fired up too. Vader started down his path of destruction, but Jun got right at him with really great looking German suplexes. But, Vader stayed in beast mode. I loved when Jun took that back suplex from Vader but hung his foot on the top rope selling it... it slipped off... and he grabbed the bottom rope with his hand right before the three count! Vader went to the well too many times with the Vader Bomb, so it allowed Jun to take advantage a few times. Jun tried everything, from going right at him, to weakening the legs, to working the left arm, but it just wasn't enough to derail the big man. Vader's finishing offense looked demolishing! This was really fun to check out. Great match!

I loved the headbutts in this too. These guys were relentless! The elbows in the corner, and the finish...my god. One huge lariat, and Shibata kicks out at one pissed and on fire. He eats the second lariat ... and it takes to two this time. I was expecting a third lariat at this point, but we got the brainbuster. The lariats had been so brutal, I almost wished we woulda got three for three, but hell this was just downright brutal and awesome.

I watched this last night, and with some of the praise that Shibata/Goto received for their recent bout at WK11, I couldn't help but think of it while watching this. I think the phrase was "hoss battle." Well, that is what this is. Man, these guys stand toe to toe and really lay it into each other the entire match. Hansen is OUT FOR BLOOD in this match. That sounds like a Steven Seagal movie, but seriously he is a man possessed here. He is pacing before the match, and when the bell rings he's shot out of a cannon. He nails Tenryu above the eye and works the cut during the majority of the match. I'd go about ****1/2 right now. It's a fantastic brawl. He's not alone in the violence. Tenryu delivers his fair share of monster blows too... including a punt from the opposite side of the ring. The finish didn't exactly deliver, but I can see around that just fine for what this is. GREAT.

Decided to fire this one up today after seeing it talked about so much... I came into looking at it as two grizzled veterans too. Going into this, I've seen a lot of Misawa from the 90's (and 80's as Tiger Mask, +the some NOAH after this), but really only some of the highly pimped stuff of Hase. There is a great exchange of blows in the beginning where Hase feels the impact of Misawa's elbows and goes down, and then he delivers a big boot to back him off. Then he starts to work over the arms of Misawa. The logic I saw here was that he is taking out one of Misawa's biggest weapons (the elbows he just felt). I liked the progression of the arm work, because as he worked the arms, they became weaker and harder to defend for Misawa. So, Hase was able to get more elaborate with the submission work and attack them more viciously. The first blow from Misawa, out of the initial set of arm work, was an elbow to the face of Hase. Misawa immediately goes to his arm wincing pain after throwing the blow. Misawa throws a second blow trying to power through it, but it takes him down to one knee allowing Hase to take the advantage again. I love stuff like this. The progression continued with Hase's attack now more clearly focused on the weakness he's seen of the right arm. Misawa decides he doesn't care about the pain in his arm and powers his way through again (eventually getting the better of Hase). But, because of the damage done, Misawa takes too long climbing to the top rope, and Hase catches him. Misawa is able to reverse that too. But, I liked how this story continued throughout the match. Misawa continuously tried to win his way (big moves and stiff blows), but Hase tried to outsmart him and pick at him until he could weaken him enough to tear him apart. When Hase thinks he's got Misawa where he wants him, he takes his shot. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough. I thought this was pretty great.

Same here.

Ratings at this point: ***3/4 Goto/Shibata - want to rewatch this one **** KUSHIDA/Himoru - want to rewatch this one too ****1/4 - the other two mains I had a fun time watching this show, but I prefer the kind of (or style of) wrestling you guys speak of as well. I think it's definitely a trend, and as Parv mentioned, I do think influences of some of the younger top guys now are worn on their sleeves. I honestly laughed when I saw the ****** thing. I thought it was a joke until I started digging around tonight. I've never been a subscriber of the Observer. I can see I wouldn't agree with Dave much anyway. I almost quit doing star ratings myself, mainly because I don't like to go into matches thinking that way. I never even thought about them much before I started poking around on PWO. But of course, I think some matches are better than others and that's an easy way to share where you think it stands in comparison. I do think that eventually wrestling will trend back in the other direction or style. I feel like it will soon be trendier for matches that revert back to an older style and rely less on the complaints I'm seeing here. Well, soon may be pushing it, so I'll say eventually I can see the bigger matches reverting back to a style that might be more preferable to some with the complaints against this show (or mainly the main event).

I would have the HBK/Taker matches higher personally. I remember being in a room full of people watching the first one , and like your gf experience they fell completely silent and became totally sucked in. For that reason, I always held that match in a higher regard than some folks. For that style of match, I think I agree with your sentiments that Omega was trying to pull that off but didn't reach that level. I know you don't enjoy the style no matter the level, but I think HBK & Taker achieved a better match in that style.

These reviews make me want to fire this up again. I'm definitely going to check out Shibata/Goto 6/22/13, I haven't seen that.

Man, I'm glad you posted this today. When I saw the two names, I had to check it out as soon as possible. This was fantastic! A truly great match with amazing performances from both guys. SELLING - ah, this was a clinic by two of the greatest of all-time. This should be required viewing for wrestling school. I echo your thoughts on this one.

I liked Dylan's point in regards to Smackdown. I think with this show and Smackdown you get a really solid week of fun wrestling. I don't want this to take away from the show at all, but for me personally, I wouldn't say there were any all-timers on this show. I don't mean that as negative at all. I don't go into any show worrying about seeing the greatest match of all time. I guess just because I'm seeing other folks discuss it, I'll just say it didn't hit THAT point for me. Still, it was an awesome show!

Omega/Okada - I kind of fell out of the match a little early on. There were some alright spots, but there wasn't really anything pulling me in. I do love the Terminator themed clapping/mat pounding. Omega hit a really nice looking missile dropkick off the top rope onto the back of the head of Okada, and Okada grabbed the bottom rope with his hand at three. I started to get into match more from there. I thought the double-stomp table spot was pretty sick. Omega really looked crisp with his offense using the powerbombs into the fireman's carry into the moonsault. In the end, he was the MVP of this match in my eyes. They did a really good job of building the anticipation for DEVASTATING table spot. The missile dropkick from Okada looked like it murdered Omega right there in the ring. Okada took a nasty bump from Omega's top rope suplex. Omega's knees to Okada looked vicious. At this point the crowd is on fire. We get a tombstone and rainmaker from Okada, but Omega won't die. I liked the visual of Omega throwing desperate punches from this knees. He still had enough I him for a rake to the eyes, but he gets caught with another killer dropkick into the corner. Omega basically gets a surge of energy out of nowhere taking over on offense prior to receiving another rainmaker. He tries harder with some great looking knees and kicks, but Okada won't die this time and hits another rainmaker. Whoa, jumping/spinning tombstone looked awesome into one more rainmaker. So, we get another great match at the top of the card, for what was a really entertaining show! I personally would have Omega/Okada as my favorite match of the night, but I'm not sure that it was actually better than Naito vs. Tanahashi all in all. I definitely enjoyed the more unique high impact offense and what felt like a higher level of drama that this match carried. I think Naito and Omega had the standout performances of the night either way.

I watched Shibata vs. Goto this morning. It was really hard-hitting and very good. I liked the KUSHIDA/Himoru match a little more, but it was a good moment for Goto. The punching, elbowing, head-butting moment was awesome. I liked how Shibata sold the continuous pounding vs. how the hockey punching is sometimes sold (or not sold) these days. Naito vs. Tanahashi was terrific. The commentary did a great job getting over the story of the match and game plan of both guys. Definitely the match of the night to this point. I did like how Tanahashi was going for the left knee, trying to basically take out both legs. I liked Naito selling the injury of his right knee at first, but then moving the left knee as Tanahashi continued to focus on it. I thought him catching him on the second high fly flow and then immediately showing it affected his left knee was key in showing that Tanahashi's game plan was working, but it just wasn't enough to pull it out in the end. So, you're left wondering if Tanahashi had focused on the right knee the entire time, could he have won? I like that story.

I prefer Kota Ibushi without the mask. I'm not a fan of the Young Bucks style usually, but there were some fun little moments in their match (like the missed kicks). I thought Ospreay looked awesome. He had a ton of energy and it really sucked me into the show. I liked the story of the knee in the Cody/Juice match. I thought by that point the show was decent and headed in the right direction with each match a little better then the last. The upward momentum continued with Cole/KOR. I thought KOR had a good offensive performance and sold the left arm well throughout the match. I haven't followed ROH too closely lately, but I wanted KOR to retain. The ending left me feeling a little flat. The tag 3-way was entertaining enough with all the cursing and commentary surrounding it. Everything up to that point in the show was decent, some better than others, but there wasn't anything bad or really good. KUSHIDA/Hiromu come along with the first great match of the night. I loved Hiromu slapping at the head and attacking it after the possible concussion sell from KUSHIDA. You got the feeling Hiromu was going to do whatever it took for the victory. Enjoyed the arm work and also KUSHIDA's explosive offense and the punch exchange towards the end. What a cool story they told. It felt like it could've gone longer to me (and I mean that in a good way). I'm going to finish the show tomorrow and continue to try and avoid reading opinions on the later matches until after.

#364 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/2/ This made the list for the Top 500 matches of the 90s by Loss. As noted, it's listed at 364. I watched it today, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. I thought I'd just note on the board where it ranked.

#365 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-400-351/2/ I remember revisiting this about a year ago, and the first thing I thought about was Bret's facial expression after Kid takes him down with the arm drag. I love the look he gives. Obviously, I'm not the only one. This is definitely a classic match. You have to love the underdog story. We get some back and forth after that, then Kid delivers some nice looking kicks knocking Hart out of the ring prior to commercial break. Bret really rocks Kid with some European Uppercuts in the corner after the break. I thought Kid was selling the beatdown from Bret really well, and I really like him trying to shake off the impact from the uppercuts. I think having Bret be the one to continue the match after seeing Kid's foot on the ropes was genius. It really shows Bret as the ultimate competitor with high regard for sportsmanship. Just like the handshake in the beginning, he wants to this to be a true competition and he respects the game. He eventually feels like he has to take a big chance to take Kid out, so he goes to the top and this leads to Kid mounting his comeback. Kid shows a lot of fire, and his top rope leg drop looks really good. JR is calling flips moonsaults, but NBD. Kid didn't really come close when he missed the "moonsault (a forward flip off the top ropes) the second time. Some nice hope spots and nearfalls at the end. We get a dropkick from Kid into Bret's arms for the Sharpshooter finish. Randy Savage calls it one of the greatest matches ever, and JR agrees with a standing ovation. ****1/4

I guess the speculation is in and Goldberg/Lesnar is reported as a lock... but it seemed like on Raw they hinted at Goldberg/Reigns... and also seems like McGregor/Lesnar is being hinted at...