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G. Badger

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  1. G. Badger
    This was a tremendously grueling match...for the wrestlers! Seeing how it was set as kind of a NJ/UWF strong style fight with the Yamada the kicker versus Hasegawa the wrestler, I had no idea it would go on for as long as it would. It never seemed to be dragging on though. Hasegawa would not back down to Yamada despite the amount of damage she was receiving. It showed real heart. The only real downside was the excution was spotty at times. Yamada doesn't always have the best accuracy with her more exciting kicks & Hasegawa is best on the mat & suplexing. Regardless the excitement from the crowd & the intensity of the combatants overshadowed this short-coming. Just a real battle. I thought it was a great match and perhaps an almost classic especially as the AJW style shifted.
  2. G. Badger
    Going thru some old joshi notes and I'd also like to throw Bison Kimura and Sakie Hasegawa in the mix. They's my girls Both are tough as nails and show an awesome never say quit attitude in all of their matches. I've never really heard a ton of praise for them over the years and they didn't hold the spotlight other than in tag (and only for a lil while) but, both are destroyers in my book.
  3. G. Badger
    Notes from the basement: Quite the streamers for Hotta in K-Hall! Very heated and hard hitting... Oh snap did you see that kick!? (I'm guessing there's a really brutal head/face kick). Fought like a late 80's NJ/UWF era match...it was best when on kick/move offense. I didn't care for Yamada's control section but, I suppose it leveled the field by getting Hotta groggy. Excellent closing stretch with nice drama...91 AJW is very good about keeping the outcome in doubt...plus some post match violence, yes! Highly recommended stuff
  4. G. Badger
    Found my notes for this show while rummaging thru boxes in the basement... Here we go: Good focus & heel offense from Aja especially after Toyota's quick moves. Intense for sure, violent. Never seen Aja hit the ropes so hard for her running Aja attack. Plus she can surf! (Not sure what I meant there...) Match gets loose towards the end but I read it as exhaustion rather than clumsiness. A definite recommended match for Aja & Toyota fans...felt it was better than 3/26/95 perhaps due to expectations.
  5. G. Badger
    Finished the main event to WAR's 2/14/93 show: Tenryu & Ishikawa vs Fujinami & Hase. This was a dream match for me. Marky Mark for all four wrestlers but, this wasn't some exhibition or feud transition match. This was fiery and exciting as heck! All four guys were quick and on point all match with that WAR gang rumble pace. Everybody really impressed me...this was a great match. Then when Hashimoto came out after the bell, it sealed the deal. This whole segment, or whatever you wanna call it in today's terms, was classic! Also on this show is the fantastic Choshu vs Ashura Hara match. GOTNW's review of this in the Supplemental Viewing folder for '93 is perfect.
  6. G. Badger
    10/23/92 Tenryu & Kitahara vs Kimura & Koshinaka: wow this was chaos! Fans going nuts, brawls between guys on the outside, blood, all time classic Tenryu glares. It wasn't supremely awesome from a building the match to a climax standpoint but, awesome in building the feud as a whole. It hope that makes sense plus an appearance from the human tank that is Masa Saito!
  7. G. Badger
    OK, so I was digging Orihara from the 10/21 match that I decided to watch the first match in the War vs NJ series - Orihara vs Masashi Aoyagi 9/15/92. I was glad that I did. Aoyagi did his karate kick expert thing and Orihara did his spunky underdog act. He never went off the top rope against the martial arts master but, used his quickness and dropkicks to try and regain advantage. The crowd was pumped for this and I felt the outcome was in doubt. Nice drama by both guys as they played their roles well. Definitely going to check out more of the unsung matches of Wombats and Roses versus New Japan.
  8. G. Badger
    This is kinda tough based on the "untalented" qualifier. Maybe misunderstood talent? If so, I'd pick New Jack. Not technically astounding in ring or on the mic but, he was a blast to watch. He'd bring comedy to his matches too...in between hitting people in head with shit. Also having Natural Born Killaz playing the whole time added to his aura as being legitimately dangerous... Another guy would be Jimmy Rave. People seemed to really HATE him in ROH as part of the Embassy but, I think they overlooked his skills. It became Jimmy Rave sucks, throwing TP or whatever rather than- this guys pretty solid and a good chicken shit or crybaby heel as those things weren't appreciated at the time. He and Alex Shelley but, the whole MCMG thing disqualifies him I guess...
  9. G. Badger
    Just finished Tenryu, Kitahara & Masao Orihara vs Koshinaka, Kengo Kimura Aoyagi from 10/21/92 War vs NJ. Just some brief take away comments: Orihara's awesome opening...hell Orihara's awesome performance overall. The dude made the match. All of the Tenryu vs Koshinaka interactions...straight up windpipe chops. I love both of these guys' enthusiasm/hatred. Kitahara vs Aoyagi kicking the crap outta each other is good. Would like me to see more... The violent chaotic finish...I mean Kimura is eating chops to the face...how is that not fantastic!? Women are crying, men are shouting, Ishikawa comes out, streamers...oh yeah.
  10. G. Badger
    Headhunters vs anyone is likely to be a good match. They were the Holy Demon Army of the Indies I'd like to check this match vs the NJ bookers out as they were also very game to put on a memorable match at this time.
  11. G. Badger
    Oh man! That 8 man match from 4/93 was the one that started me down the WARpath Guys from yesteryear beating the crap outta each other at a fast realistic pace and emphasizing a less moves-more hate ethos. The 4/2/93 show is pretty great in general esp. with the main event plus, Kabuki vs Fujinami is a dream match to me. A perfect show to check out for a defunct puro promotion!
  12. G. Badger
    After an inadvertent month long break, I'm eager to pick back up my exploration of the unsung midcard matches of WAR and SWS (as well as the obscure Japan Indies of the 90s). Here's a good way to get back in the pool: Super Strong Machine, Tatsutoshi Goto & Yoshihiro Ito vs The Great Kabuki, Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura 6/17/93 WAR The inclusion of Kabuki made this one a must watch. Glad that I did! This was a nice quick paced brawling-in-the-ring six man. It was fun but became memorable when Kabuki's team started beating up Ito toward what seemed to be the 2/3rd mark. Koshinaka was elbowing him in the jaw, and 'buki snap punched him the in the same fashion all Strong style as the kids say. Raging Staff (Strong Machine's uncomfortably named stable) was adroit. They kept up their end of the bargain...anyhow a nice Friday after work match.
  13. G. Badger
    Thanks for the recommendation! I'm a fan of both guys but certainly know they have some faults. Surprisingly, neither set of problems came out too bad. Both were very professional...to a fault. They did 6 minutes of Abby choking Takada in some form, teased the fork then, 2 minutes of Takada laying in nice kicks. Kickout, more kicks, Pin, Bob's your uncle, we're done! Hahaha! It was neat but, yeah craptastic. They could have tried for some kind of story but, ego was involved I'm sure. Still, really cool that it happened A good novelty match for sure. I think that there's an Abby vs Sabu match from TPW...that might be my next match...there's bound to be blood
  14. G. Badger
    Tokyo Pro - Russian Roulette Handkerchief Death Match: Mr. Pogo vs. Takashi Ishikawa from 2/96. OK I'm disappointed. This had fair reason to be pretty good even without the Deer Hunter possibility. Kidding! No, really I had no idea what to expect. Ishikawa was dressed like anti-Pogo but nothing interesting happened until the carpentry tools were brought out. No clue what the stipulation was about. Not looking good for my brief exploration into TPW. There looks to be some Sabu matches however, so there's something to look forward to yet!
  15. G. Badger
    Oh yeah I agree they are good students for sure but, its about what they're being taught. These guys aren't watching old Lawler or Bock matches...and that's because the guys teaching them weren't watching those matches and those guys weren't watching either. People now are awesome at topping stuff from late 90s and beyond...cherry picking moves but, not really getting why they were great to begin with. The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience... To quote in part the very dead Lyman Bryson I want to say, I'm just being the devil's advocate really...its all more about the massive technological-cultural shift than anything. 1997 is not 2007 is not 2017. I suppose it goes back to EL-P's comments on the first page really...
  16. G. Badger
    Well, I'll be...my thoughts are with him, wherever he is. He's got a fan in me. Stoked his matches are available still for folks to enjoy.
  17. G. Badger
    Weird if true, considering how many times Kawada would repeat the powerbomb. I actually saw this after seeing the Kawada-Dr. Death Champion Carnival match. Kawada did two or three powerbombs to win and also used the stretch plum (the quote on Twitter goes on to say Baba hated submissions and would always yell at Kawada for doing them). This part about the submission moves is funny. Funny as in interesting...anyhow certain historically significant moves in Japan could be match enders like the German, Backdrop, lariat even submission moves like a sleeper...then that wasn't enough. Wasn't Misawa booking eventually though? Misawa and Kawada weren't buddies and some of that permeated into their wrestling philosophy. In the late 90s Misawa & Kobashi went for moves, Kawada went ungodly stiffness. Really, though the WWE epics of today and those in ROH in the past decade plus are more rooted in Japan Indies trying to imitate AJ than AJPW/NOAH directly. Watch Tajiri vs Hidaka from BJW 98? for instance...it clearly feels like 2003 ROH in pace, moves, and the desire to be legendary before it had any right to be. Its generational... I'm guessing most guys and gals wrestling today aren't half as knowledgeable and into the history of wrestling (dorks ) as most people on PWO. And those who are, ARE NOT making it to or staying long in the big leagues, brutha.
  18. G. Badger
    Yeah he's rocking full on animal print pants in the Oya match. There's that song Cotton Eyed Joe from the early 90s and it says "where did you come from where did you go?" I wonder that with Katayama. Seemed like an easy fit for WAR or even FMW and M-Pro with his awesome attire and ability.
  19. G. Badger
    I have high hopes for Tokyo Pro. Not really based off the IWA Japan matches but, from some of the random talent they've got on their cards. So, to start I picked Abdullah the Butcher & Daikokubo Benkei (who?) v Original Tiger Mask & Yoji Anjoh from 8/25 & 9/15/96, both jip. First off Benkei looks like he'd be a cool guy to play as on the old blocky WCW video games. Big, bald and he's got a gi on. However, he does not make with the martial arts...unless a power slam is judo of some sort :\ He's a bigger dude and older so, pairing him with Abby makes sense from a similarity standpoint. But uh...kinda sucks from an fast heated action one. Nevertheless, Anjoh kicks the crap out of them (seriously Abdullah takes knees to the head and hard kicks to the Sudanese man-boobs), Tiger monkey flips the Butcher and they do their best to put on a fun match or two. Its hard to get too excited as these are two really jip'd matches so it seemed like a 2/3 falls match while writing this. And its not bad...I wish there was a 3rd one as they were starting to click. Good lead in to Tokyo Pro. Nothing deceptively awesome and nothing mortifyingly awful...
  20. G. Badger
    Unfortunately, I'm no help with Ikeda in AJPW but, I know he had a more "true" Daisuke Ikeda match vs Morishima in NOAH...6/01/04, I believe. I remember thinking, "yes, this is what I want with Ikeda in NOAH!" Also I remember Takayama, Ikeda & Sugiura vs Kobashi, Sano & Kikuchi from 4/05/03 being pretty good on the Ikeda front as well...
  21. G. Badger
    Yeah! I saw the Tenryu/Nakano match a few days back and it was sweet stiff and to the point My favorite thing about going thru the SWS/WAR stuff is finding good short matches between known quantities like Tenryu & Nakano and enjoying them for the sake of pure enjoyment. No analysis of limb psychology or critique of layout needed...Two dudes hitting each other at like 80% strength for 8-12 minutes. I can buy that...no need to go too deep. Another favorite thing (in addition to raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens) is finding out about wrestlers I have never heard of...and then watching them have darn good matches. Akira Katayama was an unknown to me until the Kitahara match previously mentioned. Sure 'hara was awesome but, Akira was good...too good not to have never heard of. Anyhow, watched Akira Katayama vs Kenichi Oya SWS from 9/17/91 and man, this was some good stuff! For whatever reason I thought Oya was gonna be some skinny crew cut rookie but, nope. He's a solid man with a beard and shit...perhaps rockin' a surfer gimmick?? I guess it was '91 so those orange and neon yellow trunks were pretty standard... I think I had swim trunks like those actually so, perhaps that's why I'm thinking surfer...I digress. Two relatively unknown wrestlers, mid carding a short lived promotion putting on a solid meat & potatoes, steak & eggs match...all under the watchful eyes of papa Tenryu. This is fun
  22. G. Badger
    So, I started watching Kabuki & Matsuda vs Ishikawa & Okumura in an IWA vs Tokyo Pro chain match. Ugh...I just couldn't do it. I skipped around hoping it'd get better but, whew! This stunk! Ishikawa vs Kabuki though...so I found IWA Japan - (Glass Crush) Matsuda, Yamada & Kabuki vs Ishikawa, Okamura & Kawabata - 2/2/97. Shit...that's what I'm talking about. ...but this was just OK. 'Buki & Ishi were too past their prime and the other guys too young for this to be good. Ishikawa came out in Mr. Pogo paint and tee & jeans. It was fun watching Leatherface pop up in the background during the backstage brawling...like some kind of macabre Where's Waldo? But really, it meandered until Yamada went through the 2nd glass box. He got cut bad as he went hands first and was freaking from the look on his face. Couple more minutes of decent action and it wraps up. Man...bummed :\
  23. G. Badger
    One of my favorite moments of all time is when Vader had Kawada in the corner. He systematically knocks the crap out of K with his patented forearm shots. Like 10 a row from the right, one punch to the gut from the left, and as our man is falling...a quick left and a even quicker brain rattling right. Awesome stuff
  24. G. Badger
    Another gem from SWS 8/9/91, Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu vs Kendo Nagasaki & Shinichi Nakano. I think a misconception that I had about Strong & Straight Super World Sports' association with WWF was that they'd tone down the stiff rugged wrestling. I've come to know that the native vs native matches are some great clubbering stuff. No toning down. This little match is no exception! Holy Guacamole! They just beat each other ugly. Of course the bruising Revolution team go after the smaller Nakano like they want his lunch money. Kendo is older brother trying to keep little Shinichi safe. And then Shiny-chi goes all Ralphie on Tenryu's Farkus...definitely some pent up rage behind those Choshu/Sekimoto chest punches. This was a great violent match and under 10 minutes too. You know, this was more a fight than a match...I want to watch this again
  25. G. Badger
    Finished IWA Japan's contribution to the 4/2/95 super show in the Dome. Despite the setting limiting their brawling and the hype level of the fans, this was pretty good. Again, the Headhunters were tons of fun on offense even doing some turnbuckle to ramp stuff. I've never been more excited to see Leatherface with his chainsaw...it actually looked good here...um what else??? Foley and Funk were very good esp. once the Funkster got his 2nd wind. Yeah...it was pretty good, not awesome as it went longer than it needed to but, I'd recommend it. Oh Yeah! Nakamaki did nothing but bleed, get demolished, scream, and win the match. Nakamaki fans rejoice
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