superkix

Osamu Nishimura 1992 Gene Lydick 1992 Blehs back up.

Yuki Ishikawa 1992 Bleh is up.

One of the more interesting aspects of any Murakami match is watching how his opponents manage his rabid dog-style in the ring, and for the most part, the strategy is predictable: let the dog tire himself out and then sink in a submission hold. Nagata uses the same approach here, absorbing Murakami's wild swings and stomps before taking control of the situation with a suplex and finding some leverage on the ground. Blood is also a common theme in most Murakami's matches and we get it here, complete with Murakami licking it off his forearm. I thought Nagata's knees looked good and the stuff with the arm, breaking it down in between holds with the armbreakers and stripping off the elbow pad to stomp at it. I was kind of hoping this would end via submission but instead, Nagata uses three wrist-clutch Exploders. It does the trick. This was pretty great.

Yusuke Fuke 1992 Jetlags up.

Shinjiro Ohtani 1992

Grom Zaza 1992

On the English HDNet broadcast, one of the commentators referred to the matwork as "dirty grappling", which fit well here, considering these two grunty dudes trying to manage the opposing bulk -- opposing bulk well-versed in the same catch-as-catch-can approach. Between the leg jockeying and the back-and-forth for arm control, Suzuki and Barnett conveyed the struggle of not only applying the holds, but keeping them locked on, and exhaustion of throwing around that weight working against them. This was my first exposure to Hideki Suzuki and it was clear to me early on that there's a lot to love from him as a worker. The fact that he just reaches in and coolly slaps Barnett across the face says a lot. He had a good grasp of selling with subtly, which he did here with the leg Barnett kept going after. I haven't seen much of Barnett's pro-wrestling career but I like that he's scrappy and rough-edged. He'll boot Hideki in the face before applying the single leg before transitioning into a brutal-looking STF. The powerbomb and suplexes were an awesome component of this match to establish itself as "strong style pro-wrestling" but within that, there were cool touches, like Barnett going back to the arm after each suplex, or Hideki using his weight as a counterweight to Barnett's throws. Barnett destroying Hideki with the Northern Lights Bomb from seemingly out of nowhere was the cherry on top of it all. Great stuff.

Yoshihiro Takayama 1992

Lee already took Vladimir Berkovich.

Bart Vale 1992 1. Jetlag 2. Joeg 3. Bleh

Im for it!

Shiro Koshinaka 1991 Lee Castlebolt is up

Dude, definitely.

Bob Backlund 1988 Dick Leon-Vrij 1992 Elliott is back up, followed by LowBlow

Would it be possible to update the rosters page? Makes it a little easier to see who's already been taken.

Masahito Kakihara 1992 El Boricua Beast Grimmas

I can't remember if this match was better than their G1 Climax bout...I think I'd give the nod to this one based on some of the rectifications from their first match. A lot of "your good, I'm better, no, wait, I'm the best"-ing around to open before Tanahashi settles into to working Ibushi's leg in classic Tanahashi fashion. You know, lots of legwhips. One area that was a marked improvement from the G1 match-up was Ibushi's selling. When he tries to get fresh with his standing moonsault, his leg gives out on the landing when Tanahashi rolls out of the way. Tanahashi, working that veteran ace style, does a good job of cutting off Ibushi's momentum by targeting the injured leg but Ibushi gets his comeback in the form of a somersault kick that stuns Tanahashi, allowing a run of offense that includes a lawn dart in the corner and a swan-dive German suplex. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of the match for me was that pissy slap, palm thrust, boot exchange, with Ibushi seizing Red Shoes' wrist and continuing to snap off kicks at Tanahashi in the corner like a shithead. Overall, a simple story with good selling, a few fiery exchanges, and enough big spots to satisfy without becoming too self-indulgent.

This was perhaps Suzuki’s most heel performance to date, although “heel” may not be the right term, as he’s colder and more calculated here, making Kamitani look like a young lion. The opening sets the stage perfectly, as Suzuki coolly side-steps Kamitani’s hot-headed rush. Kamitani looks nervous and hesitant in there, his takedown attempts almost timid, seemingly knowing that Suzuki is such a matwork master that there’s about a 0.00002% chance of outwrestling him. He comes off like a child at times, an example being Suzuki’s drop down and Kamitani delayed reaction, which elicits giggles from the Korakuen crowd. Then, as if feeling sorry for him, Suzuki lays down…only to further taunt Kamitani on the mat. Kamitani awkwardly climbs on with headlocks or choke attempts but Suzuki’s able to counter each, attacking the arm with a vicious European uppercut. When Kamitani taps into that raw manchild power, scoop slamming Suzuki and throwing his baby fat around with elbow drops, the fans finally give him something in return. But Suzuki continues to bite. As champ, he wrestles like he doesn’t have time for anyone, the way he kicks Kamitani over for a pin attempt. He cuts off Kamitani’s momentum with a big top rope front suplex and when Kamitani decides to sling elbows and headbutts, Suzuki slings the strikes back even harder. Kamitani staggers him with some big boy slaps and catches him with a low enziguri but when he tries for the lariat, Suzuki goes from octopus hold > full nelson > German suplex > dragon suplex hold, which sees Kamitani immediately try to escape since Suzuki can use it as a submission. The problem with Kamitani is that his offense doesn’t look all that impressive, aside from some of his clobbering blows and his backdrop finish. At one point, he hits a lariat and then goes into a shitty crab hold…why? Suzuki’s able to elbow out of the backdrop attempt, spiking Kamitani with a scoop slam tombstone, then cracking him with his deadshot elbow. He uses a running knee he probably learned from Shuji Ishikawa and then goes into a front necklock. Poor Kamitani tries to muscle out but Suzuki clenches down, forcing him to pass out before he’s castoff in disgust. The look on Hideki’s face as Daichi Hashimoto checks on Kamitani is the look of a man who gives zero fucks. The final image of Suzuki chilling up on his throne in the corner while Hashimoto’s desperately trying to get at him was awesome. I’ve said it before but Big Japan has done such a terrific job of establishing Suzuki as the ultimate final boss, and while I wouldn’t necessarily call the match itself great, I thought Suzuki’s performance re-iterated that. Everyone fears him but they also respect him, as soon in Kamitani's handshake afterwards.

I think 5 is a good number considering the 35 we are currently drafting.

That sounds amazing. Is there a Hase/Fujiwara match out there? It seems like there should be but I don't remember ever seeing one. They had a couple of matches in 1993 in NJPW. I remember one of them being particularly fun...don't remember watching the other.

Maeda wrestling Vader in a school girls outfit.

As of now, Vader/Maeda will headline and Liger/Fuchi is likely, as well as Hase/Fujiwara.

Tatsuo Nakano 1990 Up next: Bleh Schmidt Good El Boricua Low Blow Elliot Lee Casebolt

1989 Kazuo Yamazaki Low Blow Joeg Blehschmidt Gordi SirEdgar