superkix

Kaito Kiyomiya is quickly becoming one of my favorite young guns. He brings a lot of fire and unbridled confidence to his matches, sells really well, and when paired with a chippy old ace like Naomichi Marufuji, you can't help to root for him. Marufuji's great with his doom chops, hitting him so hard, he's hurting his own hand, or he's sneaking around with his superkicks from all sides. Kiyomiya does a good job of rallying the crowd to his cause during his comebacks and I loved when goes crazy on Marufuji in the corner with elbows. The finish was absolutely brutal and awesome. Simple, effective, emotional, hard-hitting. Great little match.

This was quite the match, with solid limbwork and selling throughout, and a ton of offense in the back half. Terrific submission finish to the first fall with Inoki’s manjigatame, Backlund teasing the rope break and the crowd brewing in anticipation. For the second fall, Backlund initially focuses on the left leg, building up to a great bow-and-arrow hold, and then switching the focus to the back. Love his big releases on those back-to-back double arm suplexes. Backlund gets a few more two counts and out of frustration, scoop slams Inoki on the floor before picking up the fall after a running atomic drop. They fire up the offensive engines for the third fall, as Backlund continues targeting Inoki’s back, booting out of a leglock, applying a crab hold and even delivering a ridiculous over-the-shoulder backbreaker onto his knee. Inoki keeps coming after Backlund with the manjigatame attempts but Backlund manages to evade them and in turn, delivers suplexes and a piledriver. A bit messy there at the very end but a good match overall, probably my third favorite 70’s Inoki match behind Robinson and Brisco.

Burning Spirits #14: All Japan Pro Wrestling "2017 New Year Wars" Burning Spirits returns to the exciting world of AJPW this week, as we discuss some highlights of the New Year Wars shows. Triple Crown defenses, a red hot junior title match, returning heroes, debuting rookies, and some major tag team bouts are just some of the topics we touch on this week, so load up your BIG GUNS and hit the gym with Burning Spirits! https://audioboom.com/posts/5543423-burning-spirits-14-all-japan-pro-wrestling-2017-new-year-wars http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2017/01/27/burning-spirits-14-japan-pro-wrestling-2017-new-year-wars/

I prefer their match frp, the following year but this was still a solid contest, with a lot of dedicated work from both guys down the stretch. Great first fall with Baba rolling around the mat, trying to shake Bruno’s arm control before turning the game around on Bruno. Sammartino has some nifty escapes but Baba keeps him in check. When Bruno goes for an arm drag, Baba just deadweights him to counter, reasserting control. The crowd digs the sportsmanship as the two go back-and-forth targeting the arms, trying to weaken their opponent’s respective offense – Bruno with the bearhug and Baba with his giant chops. At times, the match feels sluggish and repetitive, and the execution isn’t quite as smooth but it picks up again when Bruno starts with the bear hug attempts. Bruno starts unloading on Baba during the third fall -- really great knees. By the end of it, they’re both past the point of exhaustion, with Bruno desperately lunging after Baba with the bearhug attempts and Baba trying to end it with chops, but due to all that prior hard work, neither is effective as the time runs out.

The first two falls of this match are unfortunately clipped, roughly half an hour of footage, but when the first fall opens with Harley in a grounded side headlock, you get the sense that he’s already been through a battle as he’s grunting and sweat-drenched, swigging beer between falls. Jumbo really works that side headlock, releasing at one point to elbow the back of Harley’s head (that facial!) before reapplying it. Race backdrops his way out of the hold and delivers a big vertical suplex for the first fall. The second fall kicks in with Jumbo working Harley’s leg, and turning an atomic drop into a small package to even the score. During the third fall, they start throwing the bombs: suplexes, piledrivers, elbows, and headbutts. I love Jumbo’s beautiful deadlift belly-to-bellies and Harley’s awesome grinding knees. In the end, Jumbo is chasing Harley around, trying to submit him with the spinning toehold before the time limit expires. Based on what’s available, the match seemed like a really good slog but without the complete narrative, it’s hard to really evaluate it.

Enjoyed this a shade more than their 7/27 match. Similar competitive touch-and-go matwork to open with neat takedowns and reversals, including Fujinami showing off his strength as he lifts Go while he’s still in the armbar to reach the ropes. After jockeying a bit for control, things heat up as they start throwing some heavy slaps. Go is persistent with his little side kicks to break up a leglock and a pissed off Fujinami busts him open with a hard smack to the face. The fans eat up that violence. Again, while Go isn’t quite as slick as Fujinami on the canvas, he more than holds his own and works an effectively aggressive style, never letting up on Fujinami, keeping him on the rocks. Loved his repeat elbow drops to the knee to set up the figure-four leglock, with some terrific selling from Fujinami during the struggle. Go also gets some nice elevation on those knee drops before he goes back to the leg, working in an Indian deathlock. It was if they were constructing a good narrative with their meticulous ground game, but then they had to finish it off mid-sentence with an exclamation point. They throw chops, slams, and suplexes, and after Go no sells a piledriver, Fujinami puts him away with the dragon suplex hold.

A slick hold-for-hold junior heavyweight exhibition, with Fujinami showboating on the mat and Go more or less keeping pace. This never really moved past the exposition but it had some cool moments. When Go tries to get out of a toehold via slapping, Fujinami responds by smacking the taste out of his mouth and wrenching the hold even harder. Fujinami continues working over the leg for a bit while Go tries to avoid getting trapped but it doesn’t go anywhere as they shift offensive gears. Fujinami’s offense is swanky, with his double wristlock suplex into the armbar, his sick piledriver, and the German suplex hold to finish off Go. An easy watch and something that wouldn’t look too out of place by today’s standards.

Terry Funk was terrific here, exuding a ton of charisma and selling to the sympathy of the Japanese fans, whom, by the end of it, were in full support of the Funks winning. I thought Dory looked more fired up then usual and both guys outshined Jumbo and Baba for the most part. Loved Funk selling Baba’s chop early on, tagging out in frustration only to return to shake Baba’s hand. Some of the extended hold sequences dragged a bit with Jumbo and Baba on offense but there were a couple spots like Dory delivering a knee crusher to escape a side headlock but Jumbo keeping it cinched in while still selling the leg. Or Terry physically walking Jumbo toward the ropes while he’s in the camel clutch. Terry worked from underneath as the FIP through most of this as Jumbo/Baba targeted his injured ribs with abdominal stretches. Jumbo’s kneeling uppercuts are really neat and him going nuts on Terry with the chops was great. The final minutes of this match sizzled with panic and desperation as each side unloads on offense trying to pick up the fall before the time expires. A plodding first half builds to a hot finishing stretch, with the Funksters all riled up and the crowd fully in support. Turned out to be a lot of fun.

I'd say yes to Shibata/Goto.

I'd say yes to Shibata/Goto.

Don't want to regurgitate what's already been said but the atmosphere was amazing, the interactions stiff and hate-filled, Murakami was the perfect insufferable prick, and Ogawa vs. Hashimoto delivered on most levels, even if it was cut a bit short. Loved Hash's shoot headbutt in the ropes before he starts clobbering Ogawa to the ground. I thought Ogawa's selling was really good during his exchanges with Hashimoto. Iizuka finding redemption in the rear naked choke was a satisfying finish to Murakami, and that face plant when he passes out was a great final visual.

Yes to Naito/Tanahashi. I need to rewatch this in a couple of months Naito was excellent against Tanahashi's aging ace. Some really smart work. Yes to Strong BJ/Twin Towers. Same formula as their previous match-ups but with a touch more brutality and some great selling from Sekimoto.

Taken from my blog.

Okabayashi vs. Kamitani (7/24/16) sits comfortably in my top 3 matches of 2016.

Check out Shibata's match with Akiyama from Wrestle-1. Also, I think Shibata's match against Kojima from last year was probably his best NEVER title defense.

If Shibata doesn't win the G1 this year, I'd be shocked. Well, not really, but I do think he'll get an IWGP Heavyweight title shot this year for sure. He's over with the fans, he's won back the respect of the NJ dads, I think his "punishment" was his NEVER title reign last year and served as his proving grounds. Jay White's a good call when he comes back, I think he'll get a significant push. Sanada definitely fits the ace mold and I could see them milking a Naito/Sanada feud at some point. Not sure what's happening with Kyle O'Reilly but if he stays with NJ, I'd expect him to be involved with the midcard/upper midcard heavyweights. Komatsu/Tanaka will likely stay with the juniors when they come back from excursion although I could see Kanemitsu going heavyweight depending on if he can get healthy.

Shibata works like a rabid dog. It's such an adrenaline-frenzied way of working that his "no selling" doesn't bother me and I think his long-term selling pays off in the end after all the shit he's endured catches up with him. The W1 Akiyama match is a perfect example of that. I thought this match was great, the only one that had me hooked in from start to finish. I don't get too excited by Goto and I think he was decent to good for most of the match but they built heat and escalated the violence in a believable way that by the finish, he looked really strong and pissed off. Shibata's selling and facials were terrific down the stretch and made Goto look even more dominant coming out as champ.

also, if you guys have any match recommendations for weird/unique/undervalued matches from Japan, let us know and we'll review it for the show.

The BS boys are back together and joined by VOW's Dylan Justin (@dylanjx4) to say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017. We start by briefly discussing the absolutely fantastic DDT/BJW/AJPW/W-1/K-Dojo tag shuffle tournament by looking at highlights of the show, our favorite teams, and a great main event. We then countdown our admittedly confusing lists of our top 5 favorite things in the world of indie puro in 2016, before sharing what we're excited about in 2017. This a fun show and a great way to close out the holiday season. Audio Boom: Burning Spirits #11 VOW: Burning Spirits #11

One of my favorite Japanese tag matches of the year but perhaps more importantly, it served as a great plaform for Nomura to showcase what he's learned over the past year. His selling was fantastic for his experience level, from his facials to the desperation in his strikes. He does a lot of little things in his matches that guys who have been wrestling 10-15 years still don't get. Suzuki rules. One of things I love about Suzuki, and it showed in his early exchange with Ishikawa, is the way he's continually moving, not allowing Ishikawa a solid grip, but shifting around and feeling for a weakness or an opening. Twin Towers are the best bully tag team in Japan and Nomura not backing down from them was a lot of fun to watch, especially in his interactions with Ishikawa. The final confrontation between Nomura and Sato was really neat, as Nomura unloads on Sato with everything he has, kicking him harder and harder, his eyes wild as he's thinking "damn, how hard do I have to kick him?" before Sato finally collapses with his spasmodic selling. Loved this.

This is one of Uto's better singles matches. It helps that Okabayashi works really well with the young guys, giving them plenty of offense and always selling well. A very simple but well-executed match. The opening is your standard hoss smash-and-chop but once Uto sends Okabayashi to the outside and Yuji lariats the ringpost, Uto makes Yuji work hard to get back on top. He works the arm and uses the injury to his advantage to squash Yuji's momentum builds. They bounce off each other with lariats but Yuji isn't using his strong arm so Uto is able to take him down with a reverse armbar. Loved the finish, with Uto booting the injured arm of Yuji on the lariat attempt, forcing Yuji to stun him with his right arm before killing him with the strong arm lariat. Fun, easy breezy watch.

Konosuke Takeshita had a breakout year in 2016 and has improved so much from his January KO-D Openweight challenge against Kodaka, which was a really good match. This match is red hot right out of the gate, with Takeshita emptying the tank and tapping into his reserves in an attempt to hang onto the title. He's become such a good selling, whether it's the back that Ishikawa was working or the physical exhaustion of going toe-to-toe with Ishikawa. Toward the end, you can see Takeshita's desperation bleeding through into his strikes, to a point where he just starts punching Ishikawa in the face. Great finish, with both guys dog-tired but still slugging away, having poured out everything into this match. Hard-hitting from bell to bell with very little downtime.

Shibata's facials were great. Loved the zombie-fied look on his face after that final Goto headbutt.

Shibata/Goto was good. The only match I was hooked into from bell to bell. It felt fresh - they didn't retread the same old territory. Goto looked re-energized and pissed off, and the finishing stretch felt meaningful, making Goto look like a badass.

This is a mixed bag of nuts. I buy that these two just want to fuck each other up and see who’s got the bigger dick, and I’m totally okay with that formula if it’s done in a convincing and entertaining way way. Both of these guys busted their asses out there, the crowd was hot for it, and everything looked brutal. The story was simple enough, that Ishii can absorb pain like no other so Shibata’s goal is to make him feel as much pain as possible. Ishii’s such a great seller at times, especially in the way he collapses after that elbow shot. The blatant no selling is what it is and it feels like the ramifications for all the heavy offense is very little but I did like the payoff of both guys crumbling after the sustained damage takes its toll, with that great visual of an exhausted Ishii spitting out his mouthpiece. There was no control in the match, with one guy staying on top for a short time before the tide turns. And a lot of that brutal offense felt meaningless -- like they were trying to do too much to the point where you become desensitized to how nasty things get. The headbutts were absolutely nasty for the sake of being nasty but they don’t really have a major effect on the outcome of the match itself. Shibata took a couple of big lariats from Ishii and they went through the finish as planned. I remember liking the rematch from February a bit more than this but I’ll have to rewatch that one again soon.