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superkix

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  1. superkix
    This is wrestled in rounds, which is probably a good thing considering the pace these two unknown European dudes were working at. Sirra Fubicha may be of Georgian-descent but don't quote me on that. The first three rounds were awesome. In the first round, Fubicha is all about suplexing and trying to grab a limb, while Valvitov keeps trying for a shoot STF. Fubicha opens the second round by hitting a low-angle Olympic Slam and a deadlift uranage on Valvitov, then gets him in an ankle lock. Valvitov throws a couple of suplexes but he’s trying to get the STF locked in. He's more of the bruiser in this match, clubbing Fubicha down at one point with forearms. Fubicha gets a little too fancy with his headscissors takedown but other than his takedowns and throws, he’s not much of a submission specialist. In the fourth round, he gets a little crazy with the open hand slaps but by the fifth, they’re both spent. They fire off a couple of deadlift Germans but it ends in a draw after the sixth.
  2. superkix
    This was the very first Pro Wrestling NOAH match I was exposed to when I was beginning my journey into Japanese wrestling in 2001-2002. On re-watch, this match is still a total blast of testosterone-fired aggression. Kobashi is especially lit, as is the crowd, and when he’s in there against Nagata, the fans really lap it up. Nagata keeps spurring him on with cheeky slaps to the face until Kobashi wrecks him with chops and smacks in the corner. Akiyama’s the consummate technician in there with his swank takedowns and counters, and of course, Misawa’s in there to throw elbows and tiger drive someone. The first tiger driver attempt on Akiyama is countered with an Exploder but he’s able to hit it on Nagata. This turns into quite the suplex party, with Kobashi throwing out the half nelson and sleeper varieties. Loved Kobashi’s selling off the one count Exploder as he’s hanging onto the ropes, trying to swat at Akiyama with chops before Akiyama hits him with another Exploder and puts him away with the wrist-clutch variation for the big win.
  3. superkix
    Modest is a largely underrated early-to-mid 2000s junior heavyweight whose “thumbs up” schtick was over like rover with the NOAH fanbase. Against Ogawa, these two put on quite the entertaining match-up. After a little showboating to open, Modest starts in with his meathead armwork, hitting a nasty armwhip onto the mat before tearing at Ogawa’s shirt and the bandaged shoulder or throwing a steel chair at Ogawa’s arm. Ogawa’s sells it well, making the ole “pull on the arm” trick look like Modest is trying to yank it out of socket. Of course, the early 2000s was all about absurd offense so we get a bit of that from Modest but we also get some cool tricks, like the bridging top rope fisherman suplex. Modest, being the little Mr. Clean gronk he is, breaks his own pin attempt to deliver the Schwein and then poses, allowing Ogawa to put his foot on the ropes before Modest can cover him. This costs him the match, as Ogawa hits the backdrop hold for a nearfall and then cradles him up for the pinfall. A bit on the silly side but a solid breeze through worth checking out.
  4. superkix
    For starters, this isn't quite as gory as their previous match-up. They take their time feeling each other out until Nakano's had enough and starts cracking Kaki's hamstring with his stubby kicks. When Kaki grabs a leg, Nakano tries to keel his way out of it but Kaki fires off some kicks and slaps and Nakano's such a little shit that he's actually taunting Kaki while getting kicked on the mat. Nakano gets back to his feet, slaps and knees Kaki in the face, clearly pissed off by what's taken place, and perhaps the move of the match is his dragon suplex into the grounded full nelson hold. But Kaki's able to escape out and lock in the sleeper, submitting Nakano but Nakano's like "what the fuck, ref?" and again, he's clearly pissed off by what's taken place. Nakano's the best.
  5. superkix
    A much different match than their previous encounter. Kopilov is very aggressive early on, throwing Han around, kicking out his leg to try and tangle him up on the ground. Of course, Han calmly waits until he sees an opening to crank on some kind of hold. Love his stepover armbar takedown. Han throwing some pretty nice open hand slaps. Aside from the blitzkrieg opening, Kopilov is mostly on the defensive, reversing holds when he can, but Han wins in the end with the ankle hold.
  6. superkix
    A breezy, shoot-inspired juniors match, with handsome Minoru showboating early on with an armbar takedown and a kip up as he plays to the crowd. For the most part, this was an evenly based match, where it seemed like one well-placed submission could end it. The dueling legwork was, for the most part, the crux of this match, with Mochizuki being more of the aggressor with it, chopping at Minoru’s legs with kicks to set up the holds – loved Minoru’s stumbled selling. Both guys were throwing hard kicks, especially Minoru, and at one point, he feeds Mochizuki a nasty kick in the corner. Lots of springboarding around from Mochi and a nearfall off a German suplex hold but Minoru goes from the Minoru Special II to the Minori Special to tap Mochizuki.
  7. superkix
    Kakihara has shown that he’s one of the best wildly unpredictable predictable underdogs in pro-wrestling and deserving of more hearts but Ogawa is one of my favorite sneaks ever and this is a terrific performance from him. Kaki really wants to high kick Ogawa in the head but he gets caught up in the ropes and Ogawa tries to take advantage…but it backfires, and we get an awesome dive tease from Kaki. In general, Ogawa’s able to avoid a lot of Kaki’s big swings, relying on his wiliness to save his skin, but as Kakikara begins to build some momentum, the tide shifts in a cool moment when he throws Ogawa into the ring post and Ogawa slumps to the floor just as Kakihara tries to kick him. Ogawa then goes to work on Kaki’s leg, pulling out the rolling legbars, the legwhips, and the ring post figure-four. When Kakihara’s able to reverse with a hold of his own, Ogawa taps out…err, no, he just repeatedly smacks the canvas. Shrugs. Kakihara stuns him with a big running slap but Ogawa answers with back-to-backdrops. He holds on to a third backdrop but can’t finish him off so Ogawa goes up top and Kaki cuts him off with an armbar takedown. Ogawa being Ogawa yanks the ref in to break up the hold and when Kaki tries again for the armbar, Ogawa’s able to pin his shoulders down to retain. Lovely.
  8. superkix
    Kakihara pissing off Kawada is something that needs to be witnessed. He immediately pops Kawada with a slap and Kawada’s selling is fantastic here as he quickly tags out to Taue, who gets popped a few good times himself! Oh boy, when Kawada gets back in there, he takes it to Kaki with slaps, knocks him down, picks him back up, and then smacks the shit out of him. Kawada and Taue work Kaki over for a while, Taue piledriving Kaki at one point, and each time Kaki tries to fight back, Kawada usually shuts him down with a boot to the face or kicks. But he keeps fighting until he gets the jujigatame on Kawada and the tag to Takayama. He eats some Kawada kicks, Kawada eats some knees, but Takayama’s mostly a ghost in this match. The final stretch with Kaki and Taue was alright – I liked Taue just shoving Kaki down when he keeps coming at him, but it lacked the fire of his exchanges with Kawada.
  9. superkix
    I loved this match-up, especially the surly, zero fucks given Fujiwara. I mean, Kakihara’s equally great as the snappy striker riling up the old guys but when he pisses off Fujiwara, Fujiwara wants nothing more than to choke Kakihara out and he tries, again and again, with that classic grinning taunt. When he’s reprimanded by the referee (“No choke! No choke!”), Fujiwara just starts punching Kakihara on the mat. Takada is here to kick and kick hard but Fujinami’s ready for him, countering the first attack with a dragon screw legwhip to set-up the figure four leglock. I thought Fujinami’s selling was fantastic while he’s getting hammered with knees and kicks. Takada uses those strong kicks against Fujiwara to cut out his legs, laying in the punishment before Kaki gets the revenge tag. Oh boy oh boy, here he comes, adrenaline-fueled, smacking the shit out of Fujiwara before he attempts (and misses) not one but TWO spinning heel kicks. With the wind out of his sail, Fujiwara promptly taps him out with the leglock.
  10. superkix
    Sloppy and erratic, full of awkward takedowns, hiccups in momentum, and yawn-inducing matwork. Sounds like a shitshow, right? Well, not really…the scrappiness is somewhat endearing and the match really sizzles when they’re wildly missing strikes and Nagata is throwing suplexes. The beginning and end are pretty great. Nagata clubs the hell out of the back of Kakihara’s neck to get him off the ropes and folds him in two with a German suplex. When Yuji gets him in the jujigatame, Kaki freaks…love a good submission freak out. Kakihara looks to submit Nagata with a heel hold but Nagata’s positioned too close to the ropes so when he stands up, Kaki clobbers him with what looks like a short-arm lariat. He comes at Nagata with knees but Nagata is able to dump him with a dragon suplex. Nagata tries to finish him off but Kaki’s able to pull off that familiar roll-up kneebar for the submission win.
  11. superkix
    They lit the furnace under the ring and boy, oh boy, did they let loose on each other here, with Takaiwa slangin’ elbows and a maskless Kendo Kashin being an especially dirty ditty, swelling up Kanehara’s eye real good with a headbutt. Being a 2/3 Falls match, the falls felt unpredictable, the first occurring early on after Takaiwa plants Sakuraba with a Death Valley Bomb and submits him with the crab hold. I thought Nagata was the standout here, as he brought awesome intensity to his interactions, dumping Yammamoto and Kakihara with suplexes and blasting Sakuraba with a sweet rolling heel kick in the corner. But as much momentum as Yuji builds, Kaki’s able to snag him with the kneebar out of nowhere to submit him and even the score…but they continue heating it up well into the third fall. Yammamoto, who looked a little rough around the edges throughout, finishes the match in beautiful fashion, delivering a perdy German suplex hold before using a kneebar takedown to submit Takaiwa. Not a very cohesive match on a whole but plenty of fiery exchanges.
  12. superkix
    Re-watched this match and it was a lot better the second time around, once you get past the largely middling groundwork. Kakihara being extra slappy here was great as always, and while the stuff on the mat wasn't the most exciting, the crowd was invested throughout. While Yamazaki tries to slow Kaki down, there is a great spot where he gives Kaki a taste of his own medicine with a burst of slaps and kicks in the corner. At one point, he cracks Kakihara in the armpit with a kick. He coolly ducks a spinning wheelkick in the corner and Kaki's German counter into one of his own was so seamless. In the end, however, Yamazaki hits back-to-back Germans before casually falling back with the cross armbreaker for the win. Nothing top tier but a solid match regardless.
  13. superkix
    Similar dynamic to the Lydick/Nelson tag but with more of a mad scramble of takedowns and reversals, looking for an opening to the upper hand. As I mentioned on the podcast, I’m a sucker for the suplex>submission combo, like Scott with the overhead suplex>kimura and Sakuraba with the German suplex>neck crank. This time around, Lydick is a little more prepared for Kakihara’s usual whirlwind of slaps and catches him with an overhead suplex, trying to follow that up with a heel hook, which sends Kaki scrambling for the ropes. I love the way Lydick just grabs his opponent and figures out a way to suplex them while they're trying to squirm out. Kakihara, however, finishes strong, overwhelming Scott with his flurried attack and tapping him with the single leg crab.
  14. superkix
    This was a whole lot of fun, with cool throws, heavy striking from Takayama, and Lydick trying to find the golden ticket on the mat. It's funny because Lydick is definitely not a striker and he eats plate fulls of knees, slaps, and kicks trying to get in close enough to suplex Takayama. Loved the opening scramble as it seemed full of panic and intensity. The first suplex of the match is a German courtesy of Lydick and he follows that up with a second, looking confident early on. Later, he delivers what looks like a uranage before unsuccessfully attempting an armbar. Takayama's knees looked awesome and he kept kicking Lydick in the gut. He delivers his own German, holds on, then cradles him into some kind of leg crank? No clue but it looked clunky and effective. Lydick manages to send Takayam to the ropes a couple of times, at one point getting his nose cracked when Takayama tries booting his way out of a hold. Takayama's last gasp is a brutal combo of knees and kicks in the corner but it ain't enough to keep Lydick down for the count, and good ole Gene comes back with a belly-to-belly, slapping on the single leg and dragging Takayama back to the middle when he gets to the ropes to finally submit him.
  15. superkix
    Relatively unknown American grapplers Lydick and Nelson come into this match with a cool dynamic of Lydick being the suplex machine and while Nelson still busts out the occasional suplex, he works more of a ground game, forcing both Sakuraba and Kakihara to the ropes multiple times. Kakihara and Sakuraba are the aggressive stand-up strikers here but can be equally as dangerous on the mat. Early on, Kakihara gets control of Lydick’s arm, stuns him with a smack, then transitions to a leglock and Lydick freaks out, pounding away at Kakihara in an attempt to break out. Sakuraba’s kicks appear to be Steve Nelson’s kryptonite – he comes in, his legs get peppered with kicks, and he tags out. Enough is enough. After Lydick overhead suplexes Sakuraba, he cranks on a heel hold and Sakuraba equally freaks, which leads to an awesomely heated scramble around the canvas. The finish ruled, as Sakuraba gets dumped straight on his noggin by Nelson’s overhead suplex before Lydick comes in with a belly-to-belly, scooping him up with an awesome deadlift German suplex for the KO win. Very good stuff.
  16. superkix
    This was a pretty fun tag match that really heats up in the back half. Sasaki was a fan-favorite here and whenever he got the tag in, he'd bulldog Mutoh and Chono around while Hase brought the finesse. I thought Mutoh was especially good here, building off his rivalry with Hase. They work so well together. Loved him kicking out Hase's leg during the bridge, which nobody does. Hase gets isolated, then Chono, and the midsection sort of meanders into the final few minutes of the match. After a sweet ura-nage, Hase puts the sasorigatame on Chono, Mutoh breaks it up, then Sasaki comes in, superplexes Chono, and puts the sasorigatame back on. Gotta get it. When Mutoh tries to break it up, he and Sasaki get into it with slaps until Hase dumps Mutoh to the outside, allowing Sasaki to hit a German suplex hold on Chono. In the end, Mutoh's able to hit a dragon suplex hold and the moonsault press on Hase for a crazy nearfall, but after Sasaki cleans house, Hase pins Mutoh with the Northern Lights suplex hold for the big win.
  17. superkix
    Fuchi is such a surly fucker in this, between his chair jab and dirty, nose-busting stomps to the face. Of course, the bloodied Kobashi plays a terrific face in peril but the underlying narrative of the match is that the young lads can't quite catch a break. Sure, they get a little revenge here and there, like Kawada suplexing Taue on the floor and Kobashi's moonsault press and German suplex hold to Fuchi. But even when Kawada gets that hot tag after Kobashi's beatdown, he unloads on Taue only to get shut down soon thereafter. The crowd turns molten when Misawa gets the tag and starts elbowing Jumbo in the corner, taking the fight to the outside but getting taken out by an awkward Taue plancha. Daddy Jumbo eventually gets the kids reined and I love that final interaction with Misawa, stopping Misawa's attempt to save Kobashi from the powerbomb with an elbow to the face. Kobashi tries one last comeback effort but the thorn in his side, Fuchi, cuts him off up top, allowing Jumbo to the super backdrop and a regular one to put Kobashi away. As always, this is the good stuff.
  18. superkix
    Takano is the perfect grunty worker here, with his quasi-shoot shotei strikes and wakigatame takedowns. He does a number on Tenryu at the outset, dropkicking him out of the ring and hitting a pretty sweet baseball slide through the ropes. But when he whiffs on the plancha, Tenryu takes over on offense and he's not happy about it, stomping and kneeing away at George's gut. They manage to condense a lot of big moves into a short period of time, and between George's tenacity and Tenryu's grumpy presence, this ticks quite a few boxes. Plus, you've got random English commentary sprinkled throughout. Takano keeps cutting off Tenryu's momentum, German suplexing or landing a big crossbody from the top rope to the floor. And of course, Tenryu delivers the goods on the powerbomb front, including an awesome counter to George's 'rana attempt. He tweaks his ankle on one of the attempts, giving Takano a glimmer of hope, but Tenryu ultimately puts him away with a final big boy powerbomb. Super solid match.
  19. superkix
    When a match goes to a draw, whether it's half an hour, the fully sixty, or somewhere in between, there's often an issue of keeping the furnace burning. This match keeps it lit and while there are the inevitable moments of downtime, they are few and far between. All four guys bring something unique to the party and perhaps best of all, buckets of hate. Terrific brawling in and out of the ring and a crowd that stays hot until the end, buying into all the big two counts in the final few minutes. The animosity between Misawa and Jumbo is still very strong here as Misawa gets in some flippant slaps prior to their initial lock up and keeps antagonizing him throughout. I loved the interactions between Misawa and Taue, with Taue's bandaged forehead getting re-opened. He plays to the sympathy of the fans so well here, as Misawa and Kawada keep riling him up with shitty kicks to the head. Kawada, of course, as the gap-toothed rowdy bully the bloodied Taue and pissing off Jumbo -- loved Kawada exploding with elbows on Jumbo before Jumbo tosses him out of the ring. In the back half of the match, the bombs start falling and there's some cool spots, including Kawada hitting a proto-Stylin' DDT on Jumbo and then a sweet atomic drop > jumping high kee > backdrop double team by Taue and Jumbo on Misawa. Misawa especially delivers some beautiful offense, including the German and tiger suplex, and an awesomely executed tiger driver. Taue and Kawada have a pretty great shotei exchange, with Kawada getting the upper hand, and in the end, he comes off the top rope with the knee drop just as the time limit expires. Great stuff.
  20. superkix
    Hase really makes this match something special. From his slick-as-catshit movements and takedowns in the early goings to him trying to fight through the heavy crimson mask with the crowd at his back, just an awesome performance from Hase. He manages to piss off Muta with slaps and gets tossed out of the ring and split open on the ringpost. Then, back inside the ring, Muta spikes him with a fucking Gotch-style piledriver. Hase’s trying to hulk up but missing opportunities to turn things around, as Muta looks to put him to sleep. But when he does finally turn it around, it’s fantastic – the Northern Lights suplex hold, the suplex onto the floor, the way he staggers in for that awesome uranage. But instead of going for the cover, he makes the mistake of climbing up top, which allows Muta to spray him with the mist. Then Muta loses his cool and gets himself disqualified but he gives zero shits for Hase or the ref or the fans, and hits his moonsault anyway because he’s Muta.
  21. superkix
    This is a match that truly clicks into place after trying to find the right pieces, and when it clicks, it’s awesome…and at this point in time, a little disheartening, as you watch Misawa at the birth of his stardom and Jumbo besieged by it, struggling to hold onto his place at the top of the mountain. I like that Misawa thinks he’s not just some young boy Jumbo can bully around, blocking the elbow on the ropes and avoiding the jumping knee. But then he gets caught and put in his place. Jumbo relies on experience and his tried-and-true ways of dealing with the opposition – the clubbing offense, the wear-down holds, the occasional bombs but mostly reserving his energy. On the other hand, Misawa’s spry and hasty, trying to catch Jumbo off guard with kicks or a crossbody. But Jumbo figures it out and there’s a great counter spot to Misawa’s rounding body press out of the corner. When Misawa starts popping Jumbo with elbows, that’s when it all clicks, when Jumbo’s like “are you fucking kidding me with this horseshit?!” and unloads on him. The referee’s trying to maintain order but Jumbo’s fed up, ragdolling Misawa into guardrails and smashing him with a chair, turning the crowd against him. Misawa’s able to exact some revenge and lets loose with the elbows in the corner, stunning him with another in order to deliver the German suplex hold. In the final minutes, Jumbo’s worn out, Misawa’s huffing, and the execution isn’t quite cookie cutter as they’re just lobbing themselves at each other. Jumbo folds Misawa in half with a brutal backdrop and I like how Misawa tries to buy some time with that desperation elbow but it’s not enough to overcome the inevitable and Jumbo pins him down with the backdrop hold.
  22. superkix
    Fuck yeah, this has all the urgency and sense of struggle and survival of a high-stakes match-up, and Takada actually looked like a legitimate badass here, working smart to avoid Maeda's capture suplex. Right out of the gate, he fires off some slaps, blocking Maeda's retaliatory kicks and grabbing hold of a stray, turning it into an ankle hold, and then grapevine-ing the hold to force Maeda to the ropes. When they're on the mat looking for something worthwhile, Maeda's maneuvers himself into a front mount and unloads on Takada with slaps of his own. Maeda misses a spin kick and Takada's able to captialze with a heel hook, using his foot to press Maeda's head back to prevent him from breaking the hold. I like how Takada sits back when Maeda snags the leg for the capture suplex. He snaps on Maeda with some piss-quick slaps, catching him in the eyeball, then uses a waterwheel drop to set-up the single leg crag. Loved the closing stretch of this match, hot damn! Maeda shoves off the side headlock takedown, kicking Takada in the head and then using his foot to break Takada’s arm away in order to lock in the cross armbar...but Takada’s too close to the ropes! Takada catches another kick with an ankle hold, ducks the spin kick and again lays down to avoid the capture suplex, but Maeda's like "fuck you" and applies the kneebar to submit Takada. Awesome.
  23. superkix
    Kobashi is the mosquito that keeps abuzzin' and daddy Jumbo is just trying to swat him down but he's having trouble keeping him down. Kobashi gets in a lot of offense, including the moonsault press, and even shows a little 'tude when he's working Jumbo on the mat, paintbrushing him with a few slaps. Jumbo's pretty generous here but after Kobashi survives a couple of big knees and a powerbomb, Jumbo's finally had it and lays into him with some elbows before putting him down for good with the backdrop. I would've liked to have seen a more grumpy Jumbo here but it was solid enough match heading into his much bigger rematch with Misawa.
  24. superkix
    Quite the little barnburner here between a couple of fiery personalities with a fun shift in dynamic, as Fujiwara goes from mean-spirited aggressor to a beaten and bloody mess on shaky knees. But when he’s being nasty, it’s terrific. The headbutts and punches, standing on Choshu’s busted face, the blatant choking. Loved the little maneuver where Choshu tries to push him off and Fujiwara takes the arms and lays back with the jujigatame. When Choshu stalks Fujiwara into the corner and starts laying in the shots, Fujiwara’s wears this amazing scowl as he absorbs the punches to the head. The only way Choshu’s able to make a dent is by ramming him headfirst into the ringpost, bloodying him…but even then, Fujiwara’s still throwing headbutts. Fujiwara makes use of the wakigatame as a counter but he can’t manage to submit Choshu and in the end, Choshu stands tall after blasting Fujiwara with a couple of nasty lariats.
  25. superkix
    What I love about these six-mans is that everyone has a role to play, and for the most part, they play it so well. Here, we've got Misawa as the crowd-favorite, Kawada as the baby-faced aggressor pissing off Jumbo, and Kikuchi taking a hell of a beating but not staying down. On the other side, Taue is the gangling bruiser, coming in off a tag and immediately lariating the shit out of Kikuchi. Fuchi is his usual grumpster self but I thought Jumbo was really awesome here, taking a lot from the youngsters but also dishing it out in stiff fashion. Kawada isn't scared to go hard in the paint against Jumbo but he pays for it. Jumbo busts Kikuchi open with an elbow late in the match and this after nearly beheading him with a lariat but I loved Kikuchi toward the end, desperately clubbing away at Jumbo to save Misawa and his final exchange with Taue where he managed a few hot nearfalls before taking the fall. Really fun match with lots of fire throughout.
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