G. Badger

This is a sick badass battle. Nakamura pushes the titanic Takayama eats a tremendous beating as a result. This is not one sided as it may seem but damn they don't go easy on each other. For a twelve minute match... I'm gonna call it a classic. Pre-Beat It Nakamura doesn't get a ton of love but damn, I'd like to see more of him if he's doing this shit. Absolutely nails the up and coming young star role against the baddest dude of the early 2000's. HIGHLY Recommended

I'm really digging 2003 NJPW even with the MMA Inoki-ism. Well I'm avoiding the legit MMA that is shown. Here I came across a commercial compilation showing things from the summer of 2003. It starts with the Best of the Super Jrs. X which I'm happy to find. The matches they have included only have the last few minutes shown. It's a nice taste of the action. I believe I've seen some matches NOAH's Takashi Sugiura wrestled...maybe I really dug he vs Kanemoto from 06/11. Also there's another tag Liger/Kanemoto vs Marufuji/K. Suzuki from 06/10 that looked good (again maybe saw this years ago when watch NJ vs NOAH dvd). Also on the comm. comp. is the continuation of Enson Inoue (who I know from PRIDE) vs Kazunari Murakami. It's shown in full and Murakami gets beat up in a great brawling spectacle like from 05/02/03. Also is Tenzan vs Takayama, or the last 7 minutes. It's OK...cool to see these two face each other. We do get the BOSJ X finals though! Koji Kanemoto vs Masahito Kakihara (06/11): Oh yeah! This was a great bout! Most of this was scrambling on the mat and is exactly what you want. Koji then starts with the kicks and gains the advantage. Kakihara isn't going to back down. Things really got great and I felt the near falls actually worked too. Exciting stuff that harkens back to the heart of New Japan Junior division mixing wrestling with select high spots...Tiger Mask, Fujinami but without the formula of the 90's..or that's how it seemed. 06/13 show: Masayuki Naruse vs. Minoru Suzuki - Sweet 6 minute match. Kinda shoot style but, seems kinda like Inoki Strong Style evolved with people's knowledge of MMA. Both guys impressed me as Suzuki wasn't quite considered Pro-Wrestling like he is nowadays. I'd really like to see more Masayuki Naruse. I only know him from Fire Pro but he hung in there with Suzuki and then some. I believe he was in RINGS but that's its own can off worms The shoot style slippery slope must wait until I work through more of my DVDs and heaven knows I'm doing a crappy job...ahem..moving forward... Tadao Yasuda vs. Enson Inoue - More fun brawling shoot feeling stuff but it's more of an angle than a match. Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Very good hard hitting stuff marred by an 80's finish in 2003. The Makai Club stable interferes for Shibata and denies us a clean finish unfortunately. This was getting to be a great match too...Shibata was going to make his comeback and we were going to get into the hot final third. This is still absolutely worth checking out though. In honest words, I can see the issue with the booking now. We really haven't had anything to sink our teeth into match wise. I'm not sure anything has been longer than 10 minutes yet. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Mitsuya Nagai - this is not shown on the tape unfortunately Tiger Mask vs. Takehiro Murahama - Oh ho ho, this was sweet! I haven't watched BattlArts in a long time but this reminded me of that. Very stiff striking, grappling, suplexes and a couple dives. Murahama reminds me of Koji Kanemoto...he seems like he could do it all. Add this match to the list of Murahama matches to watch. Tiger Mask IV was fantastic as well. Great shit - recommended! Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie - joined in progress showing the last 5 minutes. Fun stuff from what was shown. I didn't know Yoshie was pushed this much...damn. Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - This is a sick badass battle. Nakamura pushes the titanic Takayama eats a tremendous beating as a result. This is not one sided as it may seem but damn they don't go easy on each other. For a twelve minute match... I'm gonna call it a classic. Pre-Beat It Nakamura doesn't get a ton of love but damn, I'd like to see more of him if he's doing this shit. Absolutely nails the up and coming young star role against the baddest dude of the early 2000's. HIGHLY Recommended Now I'll include some NOAH vs NJPW that I've never seen or reviewed. These take place in NOAH. Yuji Nagata vs Jun Akiyama (07/16) - Under 10 minute bomb fest. It's a lot of fun but not indicative of their usual matches (if you're interested in starting here). That said, if you like these two then you'll have a good time. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Shinya Makabe & Yoshihiro Takayama (07/16): This was like a delicious meal but you gotta be patient. Once it gets done and out the oven, it's worth the wait. Here things really pick up once Makabe, Takayama and Kobashi are on the apron/ring ramp. Honda Dead End German suplexes the blonde giant back into the ring and Kobashi eats chair shots to the back for breakfast. Let ultra stiff chopping begin. Honda is an acquired taste that I've never fully gotten used to but here I liked him. He uses his wide variety of sleeper and neck holds to great effect (which masks his physical limitations). Makabe was great all the way back in 2003. And Kobashi vs Takayama you already know about. Great match...Recommended. There was a bunch of excellent wrestling here. I definitely encourage you to check some of this out. Everything is online in one place or another. Thanks for reading!!

This seems to be right in the middle of Inoki-MMA which wasn't necessarily a terrible call given how popular PRIDE fighting/K-1 was around the time. But that's not really what pro wrestling fans wanted and no one really benefited. I generally feel like I have a good handle on booking ideas until it comes to a promotion like NJPW or WWE. It seems like a tremendous balancing act along with a bit of luck. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Opening match to a Dome show but I think it was very good stuff. Under 15 minutes, so it's all action with Tenzan pushing young Tanahashi. Nice spots, stiff shots and super entertaining wrestling. This period of Tanahashi is worth checking out some more. Takashi Iizuka vs Ken Shamrock - Shamrock is a great shooter to book for wrestling worked matches...probably the best to be honest. They start out doing shoot style and then transition into Inoki Strong Style. They told a good story of both guys losing their cool and it's a lot of fun. You know it's a very good match as Iizuka doesn't have much charisma but these are the types of matches he belongs in. He and Shamrock worked seamlessly here. Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Heat & Tiger Mask - This was good. It had some cool moments. Minoru Tanaka as Heat is OK but the gimmick diminishes his natural charisma. But, this was lacking something. I think I would have maybe preferred Koji vs any of these other three in singles. After this match we get into the MMA portion of the show which I'll skip. I did skim Manabu Nakanishi vs Kaz Fujita which is two NJ guys versus each other technically. It looks semi-worked... as they told Kaz to make sure it goes 3 rounds and finish him off in the third. I think this alone would have been perfectly acceptable mid show. AJW used to have ladies kickboxing or shoot matches early in the card. Kazunari Murakami vs. Enson Inoue - This actually looks like a fun use of Enson Inoue... there's a whole angle setting this up. They just beat each other up in a brawl It's super entertaining. Again, this is a good way to use an MMA guy especially against someone who can take a punch like Murakami. I could see a lot of people liking this one. Kenta Kobashi vs. Masahiro Chono - Oh man, they had me hooked from the beginning. And because of that, I loved this match. Chono physically can't match up to Kobashi but dammit, he's not backing off. He's got to find a way to grind the NOAH Neanderthal down. That's what made this great...the story of watching Chono using his wits and skills. Kobashi is a juggernaut and aims to destroy Chono with brute force. I dig this pairing since it forces Chono to hit stiff and Kobashi to work smarter (reality not kayfabe) instead of relying on highspots as his opponent is physically limited in 2003. I think this was a classic match and as a fan of both, I highly recommend it. Others might find fault in Chono not being someone else and not working like someone in NOAH. I think that's what makes it so good. The story is bigger than just the moves. This was Chono's swan song in a way (even if it wasn't... it's wrestling after all). I don't know if he had been in match this physical and dangerous after he broke his neck. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but the pacing, move selection, the storytelling (Tenzan panicking ringside at the end), the spectacle of the match, etc., I was enthralled. Perhaps I'm being a sap but, big time Dome dream match fulfilled. Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - Great big time fight! I loved the wrestling at the beginning. Nagata withstands the giant's strikes and goes Inoki with arm breakers to get back into the fight. From there on out they beat the crap outta each other. Nagata is bleeding from the nose and has a goose egg (that's bleeding)...and well it's hard to tell the damage on Takayama. I felt this could have went a minute longer and milked the drama into a classic match but it still delivered on what I wanted with these too. Tons of little touches, surprises and compelling non cooperative looking action. You know, I think it's a near classic bout. Overall, the show was great. Does it live up to being in the Tokyo Dome? No, it would have been fine in the Tokyo Sumo hall or where their usual big shows were. But match quality, I think it knocks it out of the park. There's definitely a MMA flavor in NJPW at the time (New Japan which always had the shoot influence/flavor compared to AJPW/NOAH. This Every few years they really get into it though). That said, each match is its own thing and takes as much or as little from the martial arts tree as it needs. Thanks for reading!

WWE posted the full show if you wanna watch it. This match starts about 1hr, 13 minutes.

20 of 22 minutes shown and this was a classic GAEA tag match! Everything looked and worked great - perhaps since there's so much familiarity? But this is a relatively fresh match up with Toyota and Hamada. What I really liked were the cut-offs. There were a few occasions where it looked like one move was going to happen and an opponent would cut it off. So, this had that that element of surprise that is so important in making a bout feel like a competition. Highly recommended

WWE has posted this on their WCW YouTube page so I'm going to share it here:

Just finished my ROH 2009 project on my blog. 2009 was certainly a transition year for ROH and from reading, they were on shaky ground especially with Bryan & Nigel leaving. I think that everyone else really picked up the slack and it was a boon to have KENTA be a part of ROH for a good chunk of the year. There's a different group of folks holding the company up from a year or two earlier... not entirely brand new but most of these guys were getting the big time push with little safety net. Cherry picking matches prevents me from seeing that on the rest of the shows but there is a lot to like if you're thinking of watching these or other matches from Ring of Honor 2009. I thought Danielson vs Davey was a must see.

Here we are for the final post for my very narrow look at Ring of Honor for 2009. This should be a good one! We're looking at DVD events only. Claudio Castagnoli vs Davey Richards (Final Countdown: Dayton 09/18/09) - Good stuff especially at the end. It wouldn't surprise me if this was a mid card match. It lacked the intensity and pacing of anything else. But it's been awhile since I've seen Claudio. He did some really cool strength moves. Yeah this was good. American Wolves vs Briscoe Brothers (Final Countdown: Chicago 09/19/09) - Great match! I thought this might just be stuck at a "very good" match... it had action and some kind of story but the pacing felt off. Then somewhere they got into a groove or rhythm. When that happened, it all came together and this really felt like the Wolves vs Dem Boys. Man up! * clap clap* Man up! If you like either team, check this out. Bryan Danielson vs Davey Richards (Final Countdown: Boston 09/25/09) - Holy Cow! That was what I am talking about! High expectations met and exceeded. Excellent face/heel work with crowd, stiff as a starched shirt, white knuckle intensity, fans should have gotten a piece of the gate for taking bumps on those dives, yeah... this was all time classic stuff. Bryan Danielson yet again gets his early in the year all timer...3 years in a row, I think. But he needed to work for it as he was getting close to being corny as baby face & getting into a Ric Flair spot sequence (predictable)... then he snapped. And I like to believe Davey brought it out of him. Perhaps it was the savate kick to the throat? Top shelf stuff from both guys. MUST SEE And here's a video leading into the next match... American Wolves vs Steenerico (Glory by Honor VIII 2009) - This is a ladder match, Ladder War 2. It's got some pretty bananas ass spots in it. But I think it's not the best either team can do. It really just is a bunch of spots and I felt all of them were pretty telegraphed. I think the guys were more focused on not becoming paralyzed instead of having a very good intense match. That said, Generico has a knee brace, Eddie Edwards has a broken arm or something, and Steen is fat But, it was a heck of a spectacle! ----- Davey Richards vs Kenny Omega (ROH Clash of the Contenders 10/09/09) - Very good PWG match in a ROH. This felt like a routine set up around a series of highspots. Those didn't always make sense though and just felt more than they needed to be. I really liked how Davey didn't allow some of Kenny's goofiness (kayfabe) so at least it felt like a good story...even Davey felt Omega was a pretender and not a contender. I think it's worth your time. Austin Aries vs Davey Richards (Aries vs Richards 11/13/09) - Whoa, I was not expecting this! This was a slow burner but even then it was quality stuff. It felt like something great like you'd see in WWF or WCW. They did work on Davey's knee which he sold very well until they gradually moved past it. It was allowable but is what holds this back from being an all time classic. If they kept this illusion going, this would have been brilliant from beginning to end. Still I don't feel like I wasted my time with that section. I think it can be attributed to an adrenaline surge (especially from the ultra intense Davey). This felt like a throw back to 2004 or 2005 in the best way... character work, comedy early on, surprises...an action packed match without being choreographed or a spot fest. It has flaws but if you're an old school ROH fan - It's a classic in my book. HIGHLY Recommended ----- Kevin Steen & El Generico vs the Young Bucks (Final Battle 2009) - Ring of Honor YouTube has got this one. I'll post the video first then do my review. Speaking of PWG, this should be good. The Bucks in 2009 could sleepwalk great (if similar) matches. Generico's knee looks better so I'm thinking this is going to be a hit. And dang, at around 17 minutes, this was sick!! Steen's hurt but Generico is well so, Kevin can just lay in the shots while the luchadore can run & do the flying. 2009 Bucks are in top for here and because the teams have that familiarity they are able to mix up the spots and keep it surprising. Additionally, the brothers Jackson aren't completely obnoxious yet. So this really felt like a competition rather a routine. Near classic, Recommended...oh and there's a pretty big angle at the end... And that's a wrap! A very brief look at 2009 Ring of Honor but I definitely feel like I got a great sampling of what the company had to offer. I admit I didn't see enough of Tyler Black or Austin Aries however, I saw enough to see how they had changed from the Age of the Fall era. I like Aries as the hammy heel champ as he offers something completely different than the wrestling machine he was in the Generation Next days. Black/Rollins was always pretty good and it's been cool seeing him on his own (I did love him & Jimmy Jacobs team). Danielson had a pretty good year from what I saw and this probably isn't my favorite era of his in ROH, when he needs to deliver, he really does. If you want to know, I think there's too many smiles and repeating of popular/standard Danielson moves in smaller bouts..that's working smart and getting ready for WWE. From my totally lopsided viewing, Davey & Steen were the standouts of the year. Totally skewed that way, I know BUT I felt that they delivered on every match AND met the booking demands and transitioned to the big stars of ROH for 2010. Here's the list for those tldr folks. I've noted ones posted on YouTube, videos are embedded in my posts for your convenience. p.s. Be sure to check out post # 3 as I added a review and video link for Tyler Black vs KENTA in the comments. Must See: Bryan Danielson vs Davey Richards (Final Countdown: Boston 09/25/09) Highly Recommended: -KENTA & El Generico vs Nigel McGuinness & Davey Richards (Steel City Clash 2009) YT -Davey Richards vs KENTA (Supercard of Honor IV 2009) -KENTA & Tyler Black vs Austin Aries & Katsuhiko Nakajima (Take No Prisoners 2009) YT -American Wolves vs KENTA & Roderick Strong (Violent Tendencies 2009) -KENTA vs Tyler Black (End of an Age 06/27) YT -American Wolves & Chris Hero vs Steenerico & KENTA (ROH on HDnet ep #17 aired 07/18/09) YT -Austin Aries vs Davey Richards (Aries vs Richards 11/13/09) Recommended: -American Wolves vs Steenerico (ROH on HDnet ep #11 aired 05/30/09) -American Wolves vs Steenerico (Manhattan Mayhem III 2009) -Bryan Danielson vs Tyler Black (ROH on HDnet ep# 18) -American Wolves vs Briscoe Brothers (Final Countdown: Chicago 09/19/09) -Kevin Steen & El Generico vs the Young Bucks (Final Battle 2009) YT 2009 was certainly a transition year for ROH and from reading, they were on shaky ground especially with Bryan & Nigel leaving. I think that everyone else really picked up the slack and it was a boon to have KENTA be a part of ROH for a good chunk of the year. As you can see from my list above, it's a different group of folks holding the company up from a year or two earlier... not entirely but most of these guys were getting the big time push with little safety net. Cherry picking matches prevents me from seeing that on the rest of the shows but there is a lot to like if you're thinking of watching these or other matches from Ring of Honor 2009.

I was pretty devastated as a little kid when Randy broke up the Mega Powers. Like, I always saw the Macho Man as a face (regardless) and to have he and Hulk being on the same side made perfect sense to me. And then to have his jealousy/pettiness split them up and pit them against one another really made me question Macho Man as a person but still thought Hogan wasn't innocent That's always stuck with me. Bret's heel turn was pretty rough.... it was pretty interesting for a young person to actually think about some of that stuff...a pretty complex or nuanced angle to be honest. I wasn't angry with him though. I was angry with them doing that to his character etc. So I still rooted for him because I knew that wasn't the "real" Bret. They carried this over to WCW in a way and I had to let go being a Bret Hart fan because I knew he was being wasted. I just wanted him to be the Bret of old. But that's another topic...

KENTA vs Tyler Black (End of an Age 06/27): I have some time to browse around for matches I missed. This definitely counts as one I totally would have added to my list. Glad I found it. This is a fantastic action packed match with Black trying to prove he's a top tier talent by going up against the most over wrestler in the company, KENTA. I don't think this match is on the level of KENTA vs Davey but damn, it's not for lack of effort. I would say this is a near classic bout and for a mid card match on a B-show, that's pretty cool. I definitely recommend checking it out below!

Saw this today also...This is going to be a treasure trove. The fact that they're putting up full TV episodes and PPVs/shows is fantastic. This is probably going to be my first watch:

This week features ROH on HDNet matches predominantly. Let's see how they are Austin Aries, Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs Jerry Lynn, Kenny Omega & Erick Stevens (ep. 16) - It sounds like Jerry Lynn already lost the strap to Austin Aries. Man...for all of the complaints... Lynn barely had the title especially in comparison to Nigel, Danielson or Joe. Anyhow, very fun match...lil FIP reunion with King & Stevens, Omega & King have history, Jerry & Austin do too. Yeah this was a nice six man match - good heel work, nice face in peril & hot tag action, we get some dives...there's a lot to like here! ----- Roderick Strong vs Jay Briscoe (ep. 16) - Main event for the episode and yeah they deliver! Hard hitting action from bell to bell. They don't break any new ground but both guys gave it their all. Although this has been off the air for 15 years, this would be awesome to see on TV...if I knew what HDnet was ----- American Wolves & Chris Hero vs Steenerico & KENTA (ROH on HDnet ep #17 aired 07/18/09) ROH has this one so I'm posting it! Enjoy! This is a pretty high profile 6-man match and damn! It definitely delivered. Intense from the get-go, lots of backstory, a good face-heel start and really a stretch run of fantastic action for the last 2/3. This is the type of stuff you're watching old Ring of Honor for. A low end classic, I think. It's the best ROH on HDNet match so far. Bryan Danielson vs Tyler Black (ep. 18) -This is the third meeting between these two on HDNet. They let us know that the first ended in a time limit draw and the second on a double count out. They tease both outcomes during this bout. The beginning is methodical which seems like they might take it to the TV time limit again. Then there's some great action on the outside which almost ends in a count out. After that, they really kick things up a notch. What was a pretty good match becomes a great one as the finishing segment is fantastic and PPV worthy. I saw their classic on PPV at 'New Horizons' live (or when it was first broadcast) and this isn't that BUT they really out do themselves for a TV episode. Davey Richards & Chris Hero vs Kevin Steen & Lance Storm (Death Before Dishonor VII, night 1 07/24/09) - Very good match at around 15 minutes. Nice action from both teams. Storm could still go but there's a lil bit of nostalgia and Canadian pride here (this show was in Canada). There's not a lot more that I liked about it and nothing that I distinctly disliked. Just 4 true pros doing an above average tag match. At this point, I dig the match quality but I'm bored with the announcing. I actually like the dumb guy-smart guy dynamic in announcing. Tenay and Don West are some of favorites because West is so enthusiastic. This guy that they have with Prazak is just boring but he's trying hard. Prazak just doesn't have the voice for this stuff. Lenny Leonard did and this new guy does. So I watch with the volume turned down most of the time (unless I forget)...but I'm being picky. It's all good because we're at the end of the HDnet stuff for 2009. Thanks for reading!!!

Been keeping an eye on the WWE Vault YouTube channel. I noticed they're putting out some good compilation videos of WWE guys in Evolve. I never quite got around to getting into Evolve as much as I wanted to but these look like a good place to start. These are probably available elsewhere but I'm not paying for that

We're getting into the main chunk of the ROH on HDNet DVD now. Chris Hero vs Jerry Lynn (ep. 13) - You know another reason Jerry Lynn was champ, beyond Nigel's injuries, beyond Nigel probably already planning going to TNA but specifically giving it to Jerry was this TV deal. Lynn is pretty much the only recognizable face in ROH at this time. They are trying to grow and get new fans and Mr. JL is someone watching TV is going to remember. A lot of folks wanted them to pull the trigger on Tyler Black at this time but, you need Jerry as an attraction. But look at me talking about this **oh good God** 15 years later. Anyways, let's talk about the match! This was a really good match...nice little bit of story with Hero being a cheatin' heel but really starting to incorporate the various elbows and kicks into his repertoire. Lynn is in for a fight especially with Del Ray and Hagadorn at ringside. Good mix of Lynn's junior offense and Hero's big strikes. Jerry Lynn has wrestled everyone ----- Kenny Omega vs Kenny King (ep. 14) - Very good movez match. I really appreciate Rhett Titus' heeling and goofiness at ringside. It made this a lot of fun. Otherwise I think this could have just been another enjoyable but skippable match. This was thoroughly entertaining and multi dimensional. Rhett Titus doing his thing...oh...he & Kenny brought their dates along to watch the match... ----- KENTA vs Roderick Strong (ep. 14) - Main event for the episode and baby does it feel like one. Great match between two of the hardest hitting wrestlers. This actually felt like an upper card match on a show. Surprises, good fighting spirit without being hammy and it felt like two guys trying to win an athletic competition. They didn't empty the tanks but this delivered. ----- American Wolves vs KENTA & Roderick Strong (Violent Tendencies 2009) - Hyper work rate match. This is pretty awesome and what you're looking for with this pairing. It flies a little close to the sun with the spots in my eyes. There's a couple tandem spots that I just find too cute anymore, you know what I mean? Anyhow, the rest of the match is that chest slapping, face kicking, back breaking stuff. This all seemed real impromptu as I guess Danielson was originally booked. These guys all have history so they make it work and it gives the match an organic feeling - some moves are repeated, some spots really do look on the fly (as if it were a "real" fight) and although the tandem stuff doesn't do it for me and was a little clumsy/cluttered/forced, they don't diminish the rip roaring excitement of this tag match. Near classic match. From ROH on HdNet for episode #15 Jimmy Jacobs vs Delirious - Fight without Honor (ROH on HDnet ep #15 aired 06/27/09) - This was a great match and having just watched a load of ECW, this definitely would have been a hit at the ECW arena. Great spots with the chairs and table, excellent action in between and a high spot finish that I totally popped for. This is a great hard core match. American Wolves vs Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black (ROH on HDnet ep #15 aired 06/27/09) - Cheap finish aside this was a very good tag team match. It's an excellent match for TV since there's plenty of action but they don't go too crazy with the pacing. I'm tempted to see the "real deal" and watch the Tag Title Classic... we'll see...but anyhow this would probably be a TNA PPV mid card match for like 2006...so yeah pretty darn good for TV episode. I definitely recommend the tag match from Violent Tendencies. The HDnet show is good and reminds me of what TNA wrestling has been doing the last few years. I prefer the in ring work from ROH. Thanks for reading!

Sharing this Terry Funk one posted a couple days ago:

I came across this commercial DVD compilation of the '01 G1 Climax. I was going to just do a small selection but there's too many neat match ups. Since it's a commercial compilation, assume everything is clipped/joined in progress unless noted. (08/04) Tadao Yasuda vs. Minoru Tanaka - This was good stuff mainly due to Minoru fighting from underneath with heart and guts. Yasuda is no ring wizard but here he's the bigger, stronger man and he nailed it. I liked it. Jushin Liger vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan -Fun stuff with Liger taking it to Tenzan. Keiji Muto vs Osamu Nishimura - Nishimura made this interesting but Muto was just doing his thing. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Manabu Nakanishi - Full match but around 5 minutes. It was fun while it lasted. The old samurai vs the wild caveman. Satoshi Kojima vs Masa Chono - If you're keeping track, there's been a dragon screw in every match. Thankfully, they don't follow up with a Figure Four! Anyhow, good stuff with these guys grinding their way into an exciting main event. The place looks to be like 80+ degrees inside by this point and they have another show tomorrow. Good Yakuza kicks, lariats and STFs. (08/05) Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami - A little over 5 minutes but this was fun. A good length of Yasuda as he was able to do his big moves and he & Fujinami were able to maintain the intensity. Satoshi Kojima vs Osamu Nishimura - A big clubbering dummy vs a cerebral technician - this was good stuff. I'd say it was really good but Kojima had a section where he did dragon screws and a half crab that was out of place. They both wisely moved past it and had a super rest of the match. It seemed like a fair portion was aired although not in full. Jushin Liger vs Keiji Muto - 5 minutes shown but it was all really good. Nice surprises. I would have liked an extra move for the finish but that is a minor quibble. Masa Chono vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - I dunno what it was but I really dug this one. I think this was straight ahead action with great timing on spots and transitions. I liked the finish as well. Yuji Nagata vs Manabu Nakanishi - Very good stuff! Not sure I "get" the finish but hey it's G1. Nagata is laying in the kicks and Nakanishi is a beast - what's not to like? Oh and Murakami is participating but they just show pictures of the finish and none of the matches thus far...hoping they show a couple but I don't think so... 08/06 Tadao Yasuda vs Manabu Nakanishi - Good, good stuff...another under 10 minute match..so it's pretty simple but tells an interesting story. Yasuda is older but pretty darn big. Nakanishi isn't as tall but he's younger and stronger. He has a really good chance of bowling Yasuda with his power. This felt like a good WWE match where the action is good and you're able to figure out the in ring story just by watching the match. Full match shown. Jushin Liger vs Masa Chono - Good mat submission stuff to setup a disputed win for Liger. Sorry for the spoiler but that's what's actually interesting. The ref is out of position and doesn't see Chono's shoulders off the map multiple times... however there's no emphatic kick out. It's a tainted win and something you might expect Chono to be the beneficiary of rather than Liger. I'm guessing this angle has more to do with Chono's arc instead of Liger's. ***OK wait... I re-watched the finish and Chono won as he kinda squashed the Magistral and pinned Liger. Hmm...I'm not sure the point of Chono winning this way so maybe this was a flub by the ref. Even the ref didn't seem to know what happened and eventually raised Chono's hand in victory. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Osamu Nishimura - This was OK. They had the opportunity to end this in a smart fashion (the other guy would have won) but instead went stupid. And that went against the whole story that was being told. Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Tanaka - Pretty interesting stuff from Minoru but he probably didn't have a chance. This could have been sweet if they did this differently and showed more than a couple minutes Satoshi Kojima vs Keiji Muto - Surprisingly not more was shown. But once I got past the dragon screw, kneecap drop kick, figure four bit this was very good stuff. Muto did some risky moves and Kojima was his charismatic, hard hitting self. Nice finish too! 08/08 Satoshi Kojima vs Jushin Liger - Oh man, this was exciting and only a few minutes are shown. These two are great opponents. Kojima has a great attitude with working with juniors. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Minoru Tanaka - Whew this looked like a great one. Of course, we only get the last four minutes. They were fantastic though. I liked Minoru trying to use Fujinami's moves against him. Osamu Nishimura vs Masa Chono - Clever match especially from Nishimura. I think I would have liked this in full as both use an old school technical style. Watching this match unfold would have been interesting and perhaps even great. Tadao Yasuda vs. Yuji Nagata- Very good, intense stuff! 75% of the match is made by Nagata working & the final 25% is Yasuda making Nagata's work look good. That's about the best Yasuda can do from the few matches I've seen of his. But, he does it here and we get a really enjoyable under 10 minute match. I dug Nagata doing the north-south knees like Kaz Fujita uses. Full match Keiji Muto vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - I really dug the finish but this was a battle of Figure Four holds and that can & did get boring. 08/10 Osamu Nishimura vs Jushin Liger - This went to a draw but looked like my type of match...old school technical wrestling. It seemed like a wizards duel and while it's a shame only 7 minutes were shown, I'm really glad that I saw that much. I think this is one worth watching in full. Minoru Tanaka vs Manabu Nakanishi - Fun match, pretty good stuff that honestly if a little longer (11 minutes instead of 10) this would have been nearly great. Minoru just added all kinds of neat touches for both he & Nakanishi. I have to think he was calling this match because Manabu looked clever in his choices like chaining moves together. Shown in full thankfully! Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yuji Nagata - Ohh man, I wish they had this in full. 8 minutes shown but this was my jam. Lots of reversals and counters, good psychology trying to work over each others legs (without over selling the effects). Blistering leg kicks from Nagata. Best Fujinami match so far. Keiji Muto vs Masa Chono - Great under 10 minute match. This is the Muto I watch for. This was such fun, smart match and honestly would be PPV quality if this was in TNA a couple years later. That's to say, you totally could see Sting as Muto & Jeff Jarrett as Chono and this would have the fans going crazy. It's got great storytelling, history, and action. And they don't need to fill time to make it an epic...so no overwrought dragging oneself to the ropes etc. Shown in full. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Satoshi Kojima - 12 minutes shown and this was very good, hard hitting stuff. These two only seem to do one type of match with one another but I like it. There were some great spots and everything was fought over. 08/11 semifinals, 08/12 finals - these matches were shown in full Keiji Muto vs Tadao Yasuda - Fun stuff because it was only about 7 minutes long in full. Otherwise it might have gotten silly. We get good punches from Yasuda. Muto is going quasi shoot style. And we get a pretty cool finish. Yeah this is fun Yuji Nagata vs Masa Chono - Very good match! Oh I wish it was one minute longer since I thought they were really cooking to a great match. Nice pacing and work here. They weren't killing themselves but they were hitting hard, working some spots in, and telling a story. Keiji Muto vs. Yuji Nagata - Great G1 final. There's the "Muto doing his thing portion" in the middle but the rest of the match was exciting and had nice surprises/moments. I really like how they chained moves together. This was not just in the beginning but for much of the match. I think that's what made this special. The MMA influence on NJPW and Nagata was definitely here but without any of the negative connotations. This really felt like a pro wrestling match with competition & modern combat sports in mind...but not shoot style. Maybe the closest thing I can think is '87-'88 junior NJ with Takada & Muto. Perhaps that's not a bad comparison at all given Takada trained/mentored Nagata. I don't know if this would be everyone's cup of tea. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this either but I did. Wrestler run down: Minoru Tanaka - Very dynamic and flashy compared to the others. Too much of this would have been a bad thing so they did right in the booking. Manabu Nakanishi - The flashiest of the cavemen, I liked Nakanishi here. He definitely seemed like he could have been plugged into WWE at this time style wise. He had good bouts and his match with Minoru Tanaka was my favorite. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Like most Tenzan I've seen, he could be very good-great or be kinda dull. I think in the edited G1 matches I saw, he was very good more often than not. Satoshi Kojima - Kojima is a more charismatic Tenzan and had better matches overall. Tatsumi Fujinami - Age limited Fujinami but he still had really entertaining bouts. He vs Nagata was the highlight. Osamu Nishimura - Editing down Nishimura probably doesn't do him justice as he's not about big spots but is more storytelling based on his technical attack. Still his bouts vs Liger and Chono were nice even in edited form. Jushin Liger - I'm thinking Liger was probably the best overall wrestler of the guys who didn't make the semifinals... and maybe only Chono & Nagata are in the conversation. He's a guy who probably should have been in the semis given the quality of his performances but...he's still seen as a junior Tadao Yasuda - Not great and not bad. They wisely booked him in under 10 minute matches and everyone else adapted to his style. Didn't dread his matches like I thought I would. Masa Chono - I dunno what it is but I always dig Chono. His Kenka kick and STF variations are all he needs in my eyes in terms of moves. I think he works really smart and has a great technical/brawling style. He can rake the eyes, rain down punches but catch you with a drop toe hold and stretch you. Very consistent in putting on good matches during this G1. Keiji Muto is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. My general feeling is if the match is around 10 minutes, you're more likely to get a good (or better) performance. If it's longer then you run the risk of Muto filling time with dragon screw-knee drop kick-figure four-repeat. Yuji Nagata - I'm a big Nagata fan and this G1 didn't disappoint me. I really liked the crispness of his kicks which I don't remember them being this stiff. I also liked that MMA influence on him here (which may be why the kicks are super stiff). His shoot fights didn't do him any favors but who in the heck would pair him against Cro Cop & Fedor!? Seriously!? Anyhow his performance was excellent stuff for a Nagata fan or anyone interested in checking him out or what 2001 NJ was like (me). This was a fun project since many of the matches were under 10 minutes. Maybe the full versions are on New Japan World? I know the DVDs are out there so perhaps you can see full matches that way. Either way, if this time period is interesting to you then, you'll be pleased. Thanks for reading! I'll be back to 2009 ROH next week.

Wow, yeah I can't call this a classic or all time classic stuff like everyone else. Very good, hard hitting match that told a story. Young Shibata bit off more than he could chew. I'm thinking ***3/4 is more realistic.

Chono was hitting stiffer than Fujita. Kazuyuki was one of the better shooters in NJ as he was beefy and had a personality in ring (to an extent). Even if that personality was a bone crusher. I thought this was a lot of fun.

I prefer this match to the June 2001 one. Maybe it's got a bit more pro wrestling drama or moves but, this actually was pretty good stuff. Nagata really had his work cut out for him. Fujita is one dimensional but he plays "no-neck badass" very well. This seemed to have more of a fire or spark to the action than that June match.

This was very good stuff! Bas knows how to work by mixing his natural charisma with his athleticism. This reminded me of very good UWF/i work..maybe a little bit of RINGS at least early on. The fact that they worked quick like a real fight helped this tremendously.

Good stuff in terms of meshing combat sports with pro wrestling. This is what Inoki had been doing all along with NJPW... or at least in spurts in the 70's-90's. I think it probably got too far away from that vision with Choshu booking. So, when we see the MMA Inokism era in the early 2000's it was unfamiliar territory especially when it's clear what legit fighting looks like. This doesn't look real but it doesn't look cooperative. I appreciate it.

The second post is Davey/American Wolves/Steen centric post. So I'm only looking at 4 matches this week. I was going to watch American Wolves vs Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black (Tag Title Classic (Double Feature) 2009) but it's a long ass match. I don't have time for that. I'm not in my 20's...I'll get around to this at the end if I have the will to continue. Seeing as its called Tag Title Classic, I'm not really unearthing anything new, overlooked, or forgotten...which is an objective of this blog. I own this one so I'll get around to it. Let's get on with the stuff that I did watch! American Wolves vs Steenerico (ROH on HDnet ep #11 aired 05/30/09, story wise this takes place before the matches below but might air after Manhattan Mayhem): Tables are legal and its Texas tornado rules. As far as TV spot matches go, this is a great one! Having TV tapings and a match like this in the ECW Arena is so appropriate. This put some smiles on my face and I was pumped. This would have gotten some "E-C-W" chants along with a "Holy-Shit!". You really appreciate the sincerity of Joey Styles match calling versus whoever is doing it along with Dave Prazak. More like Prozac... these wrestlers are going apeshit with the spots and the commentators are watching golf. That aside, if you're looking to turn your brain off and have a blast, this is a great one for ya! Adding this in afterwards. Found ROH on Hdnet has a YouTube page. I'm going to include videos where applicable: Davey Richards vs Kevin Steen (Never Say Die 2009) - The one on one escalation of the above match. They really do escalate too...tables, ladders and chairs. It's another great hard core type match which is a lot of fun since that's not ROH's bread and butter. It's a blast for me after coming out of my ECW project. Again, it's a match where you can zone out and enjoy the highspots. But from the look of things...it's not over... ----- American Wolves vs Steen & Danielson (Validation 2009) - Very good, hard fought match. I think it's a little one dimensional but seeing as this is carrying the feud along, I'm OK with that. The beginning and the ending are pretty sweet but the middle feels very tame. Considering the previous matches have been bombastic spot matches, I thought this would carry some of the intensity. And it did at the start and finish but it just felt like they could have done more. I'm going to put that on Danielson... just a lot of middle kicks, elbows and MMA inspired submissions. The problem is they didn't allow a story to develop... they didn't slow down to give this time to breathe. But hey, it's still a very good match and you'll have fun. ----- American Wolves vs Steenerico (Manhattan Mayhem III 2009) Yeah, this is a great match without any hardcore gimmicks. Great pace, action and continuing to the story as well as telling one within the match. Not terribly complex in the ring but, you really get the picture they don't like each other. Eddie is sort of just Davey's sidekick personality wise. Davey really doesn't get enough credit for his work with the crowd...I've seen him in FIP, ROH, PWG, DGUSA and he really engages the crowd as heel or baby face. And it's interesting too..he goes from funny to super intense to comically intense but it works for me...he definitely is his own personality in wrestling. Anyways, this is a great tag title match. I do think the hard core matches made a bigger impression on me but if that's not your thing, then absolutely check this out! I'm liking the feud between the two teams and want to see where it goes. Thanks for reading! Hope that this blog can be your dose of old internet wrestling for the week

They should change the show to Smelly Side of the Ring and cover the grossest wrestlers Thanks for the additional info on Vader especially towards the end of his life. I just remember that he made some remarks about Will Ospreay and they turned it into an angle (was maybe already ill) and died shortly thereafter. Given everything else you mentioned, I do think they are stretching on this one (and probably others...Collision in Korea episode stands out). There's something interesting there but there's nothing nefarious surrounding him. Maybe I'm getting hung up on the Dark Side aspect of the show...it's more just wrestler bios anymore. The Billy Graham one could be something though.

That's hilarious 😄 Again, this thread is probably going to be more entertaining and interesting than most of the episodes this season..for one reason or another. Mainly, they just don't get into the meat of the subject. It's a very cursory overview. I think the last one I watched was the FMW one with low expectations and those were met but not exceeded. I should watch the Sunny/Candido one. After watching a bunch of ECW awhile back, that still seems like a treasure trove of Dark Side episodes. Any one have a clue on what the Vader one will cover that constitutes "dark?" I hope they have a cheesy reenactment of him German suplexing Inoki

I occasionally peek into the WWE folder to check on news and saw there was this here. The Vault page is actually pretty interesting and posts super regularly. I'm not too interested in any current the "E" does anymore so this is a cool resource. I'm maybe but probably not going to watch this: Just interested in seeing more Paul London from around this time. Jimmy Yang too, I suppose.