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superkix

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  1. superkix
    I kinda hate the term "banger of a match" but when it fits, it fits. Sasaki isn't interesting when he's trying to find his way out of a paper bag on the mat but when he's clobbering and chopping and throwin' bombs, he's pretty great. Kawada trying to work a side headlock and then Kensuke bam-bams his way out of it, blocking the gamengiri and straight punching Kawada in the face. Best part of the match for me was when Sasaki starts to get the better of him Kawada with the slaps, and Kawada socks him in the face! I didn't have a problem with the one count off the Stretch Plum because it was almost like a knee-jerk reaction to the ref's hand hitting the canvas. The dueling lariats are whatever but I liked the finish, with Kawada landing these enziguris that won't take Kensuke off his feet and Kensuke's finally able to lariat an attempt down, only to run into the biggest enziguri kick of them all to end the reign.
  2. superkix
    Slow but effective build to these two just beating the hell out of each other. Fujinami's just trying to contain Hashimoto until he starts slapping Hash silly, then it breaks out into a slap-punch fight, with a pissed Hash spitting at Fujinami. Moment of the match for sure. Then Hash lays into him with big heavy kicks, Fujinami answering back with snug elbows and punches. That high kick/possible KO was either sold terrifically by Fujinami or really knocked him loopy as the finish seemed improvised.
  3. superkix
    One hell of a hoss battle -- you could fry up a couple of eggs on the atmosphere alone. Andre’s monster presence resonates throughout the arena, to the point where Andre's yelling at the fans to shut up. Hansen proves that with enough grit, sweat, and ball-bustin’, you can bleed the dragon if you keep jabbing it with the sharp end of the stick. Hansen really sells the enormity of fighting a giant but Andre’s offense comes off so crushing, from the way he wrings Stan’s arm over his shoulder to his mighty clubs and chops to Stan’s chest, sometimes accompanied by that deep-barreled laughter. Hansen’s missed elbow drops provide some of the best moments of the match, especially coming after the big bodyslam. After the restart (with a little intimation from Andre), Hansen turns up the bruising and starts pounding on Andre, tying him up in the ropes and and lariating him out of the ring! On the outside, Andre tries to load up the elbow pad and the ref’s all over him trying to get it off. Out of frustration, Andre swats him with a lariat and the match is thrown out but the fun don’t stop there as the two keep fighting, lion cubs get clobbered, and a pissed Hansen chucks a chair into the ring.
  4. superkix
    The story is a simple but effective one, with the aggressive Dynamite Kid trying to re-open the champ’s bandaged forehead. Fujinami works from underneath for the majority of the match, firing off the occasional uppercut but ultimately being overwhelmed and bloodied by Kid’s snug forearm shots and headbutts. He tries for the dragon suplex hold but Dynamite fights out and continues to target Fujinami’s injury, using kneedrops and fistdrops, knuckling the forehead and at one point, even biting it! Dynamite's such a little shit here -- I mean, the fans are throwing rolls of toilet paper at him! I like that he's seemingly trying for the manjigatame as a heel move. Fujinami does a terrific job of garnering sympathy from the crowd as he sells his injury and the desperation of his retaliations. Dynamite is able to hit the diving headbutt for two but when he tries for the second, Fujinami is able to roll away and the crowd loses their shit. He’s able to dropkick him out of the ring but Dynamite walks away from the follow-up plancha, once again cutting off Fujinami’s momentum as he had through much of the match. But once inside the ring, Fujinami is able to pin him out of nowhere with the Japanese roll leg clutch and Dynamite is pissed. Really good stuff.
  5. superkix
    Probably the most pro-wrestling match of thei series -- Ikeda tries for a moonsault at one point. Pretty good struggle on the mat, always making it look like they’re trying to grab somethingor anything. When Ishikawa tries for the rope armbreaker, Ikeda has it scouted this time and catches him in a choke sleeper. Ishikawa start building momentum, hits a beautiful double arm suplex, works in the Indian Deathlock and a sickle hold, which Ikeda breaks by squeezing Ishikawa’s nose! The whole match is kind of a scramble, no one can maintain control, and by the end, Ikeda starts escalating the violence of his strikes, but Ishikawa’s able to block the final lariat and take him down with the crossface chickenwing for the submission.
  6. superkix
    Loved everything up until the finish. Fujiwara is ornery as fuck and Anjoh's still a huge dick. When he's working on Fujiwara's neck, dropping the knees and the elbows, and refusing to let go in the ropes. He also lays into Fujiwara with some nasty head stomps. Fujiwara pays him back with some chokes and his armbar off the rope break was awesome. He hits a pretty double arm suplex floatover and that counter Edwin mentioned with Fujiwara grabbing a rear naked choke off a takedown was terrific.
  7. superkix
    Apart from a couple of nitpicky things here and there, this was very good. I really liked the explosiveness of the opening, with Hoshikawa trying to catch the veteran off-guard and eventually controlling with his kicks and arm submissions. A good chunk of the match is devoted to Delphin working the leg, which, in and of itself, is fine. Delphin seemingly had an answer to each of Hoshikawa's escape attempts, squashing any momentum he'd start to build. Hoshikawa's selling could have been better but it worked and I liked how the big dive played into the story, having taken so much out of Hoshikawa that Delphin's able to go back to attacking the leg. Then when Delphin is sure he's got it in the bag with the Delphin Clutch, Hoshikawa pops him in the face with a kick. All that prior legwork disappears at that point as the match settles into a long finishing stretch. The crowd was jazzed, the nearfalls were fun, and there was some cool offense spots, like Delphin's shotei>tiger suplex hold combo. Hoshikawa picking up the decisive win gave it that big match feel.
  8. superkix
    This may be my favorite match of the series -- this or the August '99 match. By far, the most brutal of their match-ups to this point. Again, this is a match where neither man can keep the advantage for very long, and any minor mistake can be costly, as seen when Ikeda grabs the surprise armbar when Ishikawa leaves his arm open for too long. Ishikawa will play Ikeda's striking game long enough to grab a submission, while Ikeda will manage to find a submission of his own through a little hustle and grind. When Ikeda bails to the outside following Ishikawa's armbar, it's like he came back into the ring trying to appease his demon, because he becomes a real dirty daddy, batting Ishikawa around with forearms, straight punting him in the head, and then hitting one of the meanest lariats I've seen in awhile. He beats the shit out of Ishikawa, who sells the beating quite convincingly, to the point where he looks completely out of it. Then Ikeda suddenly runs into a whopper punch to the face and Ishikawa heats up, snapping him over with a backdrop, connecting with the enziguri to set-up the octopus in his best Inoki impression. But in the end, the submissions ain’t cutting the mustard for Ishikawa, and after Ikeda spin kicks him in the fucking face, he gets KO’d by a head kick. Awesome match/battle/asskicking.
  9. superkix
    The whole Golden Lovers reunion feels like such blatant fan service, I haven't been able to get into any of it.
  10. superkix
    Ashino's guy who looks like a million bucks but he often comes off as cosplaying a "technical wrestler" and lacked the edge that fit his throwback aesthetic. While I enjoyed his match against Soya from last year, his performance didn't quite connect with me on the level I was expecting. That being said, his rematch with Soya from last month checked most of my pro-wrestling boxes. Here, Ashino played the self-assured badass champ, and Soya the loveable Manabu Nakanishi underdog. Ashino's aggressive armwork was great as he tried to neutralize Soya's lariat while still teasing his signature ankle lock, which he's used to win all of his previous matches. Soya's selling was really good, even when mounting a comeback on offense. After he blasts Ashino with a gnarly headbutt, he thinks he can finish him off with the lariat but Ashino bitchslaps the attempt away and drops him with a German suplex. Ashino works the ankle lock for awhile, which results in him maneuvering around the mat in order to maintain control, but the next turning point in the match was Soya's awesome superplex, which felt like the biggest move of the match, despite later hitting Ashino with a Death Valley Bomb and package piledriver. He's able to deliver a lariat to the back of Ashino's head but when he tries again to finish him off, Ashino catches him in a Fujiwara armbar, working that a bit, before he proceeds to remove the tape and destroy the arm with a fall-a-way armbreaker. Then he smartly traps the arm and re-applies the ankle hold. The finish was teased and built throughout the match and despite having his arm worked on extensively, Soya was determined to finish Ashino off with that lariat -- but he really had to really fight for it. Easily Ashino's best overall performance and probably the best W1 match in recent memory.
  11. superkix
    I can't stomach the idea of watching Ospreay or Scurll for half an hour.
  12. superkix
    I hadn't seen this before but it was quite the little banger, with good struggle in the matwork early on and some really great selling from Hideki throughout, especially off the leg kicks -- I mean, he's selling the leg even when he's working a cravate on Sato. Of course, the strikes are stiff as to be expected with Sato involved but Hideki also throws some mean elbows. It's ZERO1 so the match escalates to a bit of a bombfest toward the end, with plenty of suplexes and piledrivers, but it works well here. Sato stuns Hideki with a nasty headbutt but then when he turns his back, Hideki jumps on with the sleeper, wearing him down for the double arm suplex. When that doesn't do the job, he dumps Sato with a release dragon suplex and then pins him with the double arm suplex hold to win the title.
  13. superkix
    I prefer the Aoki match to this but this was still a fun bout which saw Hashimoto have to step it up in order to stomp out Nomura's testiness. Hashimoto has to keep cooling him down with elbow strikes but then Nomura will start shoving him around, tapping into that Maeda energy with the capture suplex and crossface chickenwing. I love the fact that he teases hitting a crossface chickenwing suplex later in the match! Then Hash hacks him down with those vicious chops and starts building his own momentum before Nomura catches him with the reverse armbar and continues targeting the arm. Nomura's final strike flurry ending in the high kick was great before Hashimoto eventually puts him down.
  14. superkix
    Suzuki/Goto has been the only NJ match this year that left some kind of impression on me. I feel like I need to rewatch Suzuki/Tanahashi but otherwise, Suzukis been the best thing about NJ in 2018.
  15. superkix
    This was a super cool match and another solid addition to the series. It kicks off with a couple of dope suplexes, Ishikawa trying to wrangle Ikeda on the mat, and Ikeda punching his way out of trouble. The contest is pretty even throughout the first part of the match, with them trading strikes and trying to find an opening on the mat. There is this great little spat exchange that ends in Ikeda lariating the shit out of Ishikawa. I thought Ishikawa was really good here, as far as his presence on the ground -- for example, when he has to use a rope break on the rear naked choke, he immediately grabs Ikeda’s arm after the break. Also, Ikeda works Ishikawa’s nose at one point, which rules. After he takes out Ishikawa’s knee with a dropkick, there’s some terrific selling from Ishikawa as he tries to stay in the corner. Just really good grunty groundwork and instinctive wrestling -- like when Ikeda struggles against the German suplex, Ishikawa just quickly grabs a choke instead. By the end of it, they’re both exhausted, a common trope of this series, and they clobber each other until Ikeda lariats the side of Ishikawa’s head and takes him back down with the choke sleeper for the submission.
  16. superkix
    Yeah, this was a pretty great contest with Inoki trying to hold his own on the mat with Fujiwara. One thing I really like about this match is how the suplexes look like a struggle to deliver, which adds more of an organic element to the match. I mean, Fujiwara powers Inoki over into almost a fisherman buster. Fujiwara holding his ground against Inoki's headbutts was great, and then when Inoki pisses off the UWF crew with that low kick. The final elbow counter to Fujiwara's headbutt was awesome, which leads to Inoki picking up the submission win via the sleeper.
  17. superkix
    What a draw. They continue to play off their respective roles and early on, Ishikawa shows Ikeda that he can’t survive off kicks alone, taking him to the ropes…and then immediately afterward, Ikeda blasts him with a boot to the forehead. They transition from holds to strikes to suplexes, with Ishikawa utilizing some nifty counters. Then it sort of settles back down on the mat, with Ikeda mostly staying on the arm, occasionally straight punching Ishikawa in the face to set up an armbar. I really liked Ishikawa using the headbutts to get Ikeda off the ropes for the German suplex. And then, of course, Ikeda using the full nelson and almost deadlifting Ishikawa up into a dragon suplex. During the final minutes, they start with the big strikes to try and finish it, and you can tell they’re both completely exhausted, especially Ishikawa, who can’t manage much of anything on the mat. He hits a fisherman buster in desperation, trying to secure the arm, but Ikeda rolls to the ropes as the time limit expires. Great stuff.
  18. superkix
    This match felt like a swan song to the science of 1970’s mat-based wrestling, executed by two of the style’s greatest professors. My only grumble is the time limit draw, as it seemed like these two could go at it for another half hour. Bock sticks like glue to Robinson’s arm early on, and even after Billy is able to counter with an cobra twist and start in on the neck, Bock holds on with the hip toss attempt and re-gains control of the arm. As proficient as Robinson is here, Bock’s performance really elevates this match to the next level. I loved the extended headlock sequence, with Bock using various means to escape only to get caught again with the headlock. He brings a surliness to the match, the way he kinks around Billy’s ankle when he’s got him in a hold, or the heat behind the slap to Billy’s face. The bombs get bigger as Robinson tries putting Bock away but when he delivers the second backbreaker, he injures his knee and Nick smells the blood, attacking with the spinning toehold and figure-four leglock. When Billy tries to fight out with a bodyslam, his knee gives out and Bock nearly pins him with the cover. As the time limit expires, the two are still slugging it out, anxious to end it. Great great stuff.
  19. superkix
    This had about two or three minutes clipped but it was still quite the doozy, as expected. Here, they establish their respective roles, with Ishikawa being the aggressive matworker and Ikeda the gruff striker. Ishikawa uses some cool suplex throws, including a deadlift belly-to-belly and a pretty dope capture suplex counter. I loved Ishikawa’s grumpy foot stomps in the corner, and also the the way he steps over into the single leg crab. He starts peppering Ikeda with these big face slaps and punches and then Ikeda destroys him with a lariat, followed by some nasty knees for a knockdown. After a big headbutt to the back of the head, Ishikawa chokes out Ikeda for the win.
  20. superkix
    What a little banger of a match. Bulked up Nomura has been doing his best to channel Akira Maeda, incorporating things like the capture and half hatch suplex, and the crossface chickenwing, in addition to his stiff kicks. Here, he comes out of the gate throwing kicks, catching Aoki upside the head with one of them. They scramble around the mat a bit, with Aoki more than holding his own. The strike exchanged were snug and fiery, and we get some of that signature bad boy attitude from Nomura. At one point, he has Aoki in a sleeper, doesn't immediately let go in the ropes, Aoki pops him in the forehead with a kick, and Nomura gets pissy with him. I thought Aoki did a good job of playing the underdog and getting in his moments to shine, including folding Nomura in turn with a release German. They heat up the final strike exchange before Nomura hits the headbutt and submits him with the cross armlock.
  21. superkix
    This wasn’t anything too special. Fujinami is much slicker on the mat than Rocco but the opening touch-and-go was perfectly fine and Fujinami has some beautiful arm drags. They were evenly matched throughout, although Rocco took the advantage with his toe kicks and by applying the Romero Special. He hit a crossbody from the corner for a two count but Fujinami was able to score the win with the Japanese roll leg clutch to retain the title. A decent contest but not as good as their rematch from 1980.
  22. superkix
    While I’ve seen some of Hara’s later stuff as a heavyweight, this was the first time I'd ever seen/heard of Mile Zrno. Visually, it was a cool match but there wasn’t much substance. The matwork was interesting for the most part but not very engaging. The submissions never really felt dangerous, even when Zrno was lying back with the cross armbreaker fully applied and Hara isn’t making much of an effort to escape or counter. The lackluster selling on Zrno’s part didn’t help flesh this thing out but again, a neat-looking match. Hara’s offense looked great, his seamless side suplex into the pin, his snazzy armdrag, his double arm suplex to win the second fall and the finish to the match, with Hara catching Mile across his shoulders before delivering that exaggerated Samoan drop. I liked Mile’s legwork during the second fall, with his leaping leg drops, elbow drops, and somersault rolls. He had a beautiful leg trap takedown but there was no payoff. A swanky exhibition but little else beyond that.
  23. superkix
    This was pretty fun, with a good back-and-forth to open, neither man gaining the advantage. Then they start picking up speed, getting a little flashier -- Marufuji hitting an Asai moonsault and Sasuke a no hands somersault plancha to the outside. I liked the nearfalls off of some of the cradles and roll-ups, which instilled a little hope that Marufuji could pull off the win. He's able to deliver the Shiranui but it's not enough and after missing a splash, Sasuke puts him away with the awesome Thunder Fire Powerbomb.
  24. superkix
    This match combines the best of their previous encounters from 1978, incorporating the suave matwork, the fiery strikes, cool paybacks and callbacks, and a little extra somethin’ somethin’ from Ryuma Go. Fujinami heats up Go with a slap right out of the gate and Go’s beside himself, tossing Fujinami out of the ring. There’s a great sequence with Go grounding Fujinami with a vicious-looking cravate takedown and Fujinami bridging out to snapmare Go. Once again, Go tries slapping his way out of a leglock but only succeeds in pissing off Fujinami, a recurring theme, in which Fujinami lays into him with hard slaps and kicks. In general, Fujinami treats Go like he’s beneath him, at one point shoving him out of the ring while he’s running the ropes. Awesome strikes throughout, especially those headbutts from Go. After Go cuts Fujinami up top, dropkicking him out of the ring, he goes high-risk with a diving body press – only to be followed up shortly after by a plancha from Fujinami. Terrific false finish off of the German suplex, with Fujinami just barely getting a foot on the rope, before Go gets the upset victory with the backslide.
  25. superkix
    This is, in my opinion, the weakest match of the 1977 trilogy but still a good match. Standard first fall with jockeying for control, Robinson whipping out a few neckbreakers, and Jumbo getting in little spurts of offense here and there, eventually pinning Robinson after a belly-to-back suplex. The referee is the worst. Jumbo works a headlock through most of the second fall and while it isn't quite as engaging as Robinson doing it, it's still fun to see Robinson headstand his way out of it only to get caught back on the mat. In the end, Robinson drops Jumbo with a couple of backbreakers and submits him with the crab hold. Billy continues looking for the crab hold into the third fall, hitting a pretty sweet side suplex at one point. The end is a mess, as Jumbo hits the double arm suplex and puts Billy in his own crab hold...only for Abby the Butcher to interfere and stick Robinson with a fork, allowing Jumbo to hit the dropkick for the win.
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