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G. Badger

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  1. G. Badger
    I'm on the quest of working on my DVD backlog. Clearly I go on internet wrestling side quests. But my main quest, is totally to watch all the DVDs that I blew.. I mean spent...spent my money on. Here I am going to be tackling my Davey Richards American Wolf DVD from Ring of Honor. I got this baby back in 2016 (probably on sale) from Highspots. Davey is one of those guys that I wasn't a giant fan of back in the late 2000's but that's because I never saw him enough. This was during the faction warfare period of ROH. Anyhow, somewhere along the line I thought I would give him a second chance. I probably saw that he had a bunch of highly acclaimed matches in 2009-10 and the DVD was on sale and I bought it. Kinda on a whim but I think I might have watched some matches from 2010 PWG and he was really good in them...it's fuzzy now. Anyhow, I have turned a corner on old Davey boy. I think he's a stand out in FIP by delivering in-ring action along with consistently engaging the fans. For the PWG stuff, I have seen the same. For this post, I'm going to review matches from that era of his career. It's no way comprehensive but it seems to be a good snap shot.

    vs Jimmy Rave (ROH Destiny 2006): This could have gotten away with being a 10-12 minute "fun" match with Jimmy Rave playing heel & Davey hamming it up. The fans just want to see Jimmy get beat up. Rave & Davey most likely had a program in FIP and brought it up North and dialed it up a notch. They put on a great match that not only has the aforementioned heeling & hamming but some intense wrestling action. I've seen a fair amount of him at this time & this was a fantastic ROH intro for Dave.

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    vs Jack Evans (ROH Glory by Honor V, Night #2 2006): Really, really good match. This felt shorter than the Rave match. My guess is this was the big show debut for Davey? Well he and Jack did an excellent job keeping things exciting. The whole thing was back & forth. Neither guy emptied their tanks but it was very impressive. There was likely an FIP match  that made DVD between these two (or maybe PWG) because they worked smoothly here...like Jif peanut butter smooth. Davey seems like the most "made for ROH" wrestler on the indie scene at this time...he fits that Low-Ki/American Dragon mold perfectly.

    Jack's about to take flight.
    -----
    I don't have a full review written but also go see Honor Reclaims Boston (2006) and the great Richards & KENTA vs Aries & Strong title match. It was stiff as shit and had some very nice sequences. Everyone looked very good especially Richards who was the low man on the totem pole at the time. I liked this one quite a bit...maybe 4 1/4 stars (near classic range).
    vs Go Shiozaki (King of Europe Cup 2007 tournament match): I really love this era of independent/international wrestling. You get all kinds of dream matches like this. Here both guys are allowed to perform at their potential rather than be limited by ranking, storyline or gimmick. As a result, we get a great tournament match between two icons of the decade. It's not an empty the tank main event level fight but, neither guy was dogging it. It was a fiery bout between two hard hitters. This may be my favorite era of Shiozaki as he wasn't quite NOAH main event yet but was hungry to prove himself. It's a similar situation with Davey. He was certainly proving himself in ROH with great matches in 2006 but wasn't given that singles push towards the top yet.
     
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    vs Naomichi Marufuji (ROH Final Battle 2007): A good match and best summed up as a fun match. I definitely think that they were on easy mode seeing as this was mid-card on Final Battle. That said they busted out a couple crazy moves and kept the crowd entertained. I've been watching 1980 NJPW so the actual hold for hold wrestling looked slow and a bit loose. And the intensity wasn't that high. This is a compliment to the '80 NJ guys. I think what Davey & Marufuji were doing was perfectly acceptable for the 3rd match on a big show. So if you saw this and thought it was great then, you would like 1980 New Japan
    Richards & Rocky Romero vs Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries (ROH Without Remorse 2008 - Final Fall of Tag Title Ultimate Endurance match): This is an interesting inclusion since this might be Davey's first title win in ROH. Sorry I spoiled it. It's fun stuff but we only get the final fall. I thought it was best when Aries was in since Danielson had a leg "injury." 
    vs Kota Ibushi (ROH Bedlam in Beantown 2008): This is a rewatch for me. I actually watched this one in 2016 when I got this DVD set. Kota Ibushi hype was at an all time high. Surprisingly, this one stood the test of time. This was some action packed, hard hitting wrestling. What made this so go was the pacing. They kept escalating without emptying their tanks. They had enough tricks to keep things interesting and they would revert back to hard kicks, elbows and slaps. This looked like two guys looking to fight and win. This match reminded me of Aries vs KENTA Chi-town Struggle from 2006. Just two wrestlers at the top of their game trying to prove who's best. Classic match.

    -----
    This is a fun project and one I'll probably do sporadically this Autumn. I want to get back to AJPW 2002. But checking out some of the best of Davey Richards 2008-2009 should be a fun side project 
    Thanks for reading!
  2. G. Badger

    NJPW You Might Have Missed - 1980 - Final

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Here's the final part of my 1980 NJPW cherry picking expedition. 
    Kengo Kimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami 09/25: One of the longer matches. Classic Inoki Strong Style technical game-of-human-chess duels. Competitive, non-profit cooperative looking. Doesn't rely upon stiffness but instead counters, reversals, escapes and blocking of moves & holds. There's moments where at first you think they've made a flub but they transition into to capitalizing on the "flub" that it was either planned or there's some aspect to this match that it's gentleman's agreement semi-shoot. But that's where the brilliance of this match lies - a long time wrestling fans is questioning what's really going on. I'm sure it's all a work but to put that doubt in someone's head takes skill. And that's why I put this up as a classic example of Inoki Strong Style.
    Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen 09/25: This was a little too short and lopsided for my taste but damn it was still very good. I popped when Inoki got Hansen up. Stan the Man was absolutely violent here so any opening Antonio could get was exciting. It felt like survival more than wrestling. To contrast this with the Kimura vs Fujinami match, this used stiffness and a brawling energy to convey realism.
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ron Starr 09/30: A very good match that felt a little slow in the middle. When this was cooking, it was hot. But when Starr was working the arm in the middle, it didn't keep my interest. Re-reading SAMS 1980 yearbook entry, he liked Starr's armwork. So, take that into consideration. That sounds like the lynchpin between this being a very good or great match. I really liked the rest of Starr's offense. He and Fujinami have really good chemistry. He almost felt like the junior version of Stan Hansen...technical when he needs to be but a rough neck at heart. So, it's something I would recommend checking out
    Antonio Inoki vs Ken Patera 09/30 gets a recommendation from SAMS but I had a hard time getting into it. I actually needed a little variety as its been a bit too much of Inoki or Fujinami vs someone, 1 vs 1. So, I opted for this instead:
    Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu vs Hulk Hogan & Paul Orndorff 11/06: This was 2/3 falls and was a lot of fun. It very much scratched an itch for a lighter tag match. There's not much to it but it is fun to see Hogan in this setting and before he becomes a huge megastar.
    Kengo Kimura vs Chavo Guerrero 11/03: Oh shoot this takes place before the tag! Well I'm leaving it here. I want to end with a legit selection. The version I watched is joined in progress. I'm not sure if there's a full version out there. There is and its about 15 seconds longer Anyways, this is a fantastic match! This is another technical struggle for supremacy. There was a segment where Chavo was in control and it seemed like every hold he did was chained into the next. And Kengo come through again. He's not the ace like Fujinami but damn he can hold his own and then some. He's really improved in my eyes from this little project. I think I'm comfortable calling this a classic match... I really dug this one!
    I can't locate these '80 matches but they were one's I went looking for:
    -Gran Hamada & George Takano vs Mando Guerrero & Baby Face 03/07
    -Antonio Inoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami 05/30 
    -Bob Backlund vs Tatsumi Fujinami 06/05
    -Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen 06/05
    -Riki Choshu vs Bret Hart 07/10
    -Kantaro Hoshino & Riki Choshu vs Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami 12/05
    For the sake of variety, I wanted to see both tags as well as Bret vs Choshu. If you find them somewhere, then I'd recommend checking 'em out. Feel free to post a comment of a quick review if you see one. That would help out others reading the blog.
    As far as the matches I watched, everything was worth my time and then some. The Inoki/Patera match I couldn't get into but you should give it a go. I may not have been in the mood for the type of wrestling they were doing. If you're going to only want to watch a handful of this 1980 stuff and want kinda short & sweet along with variety then I'd recommend the following:
    Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn 01/18
    Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen 02/08
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Johnny Londos 09/19
    Kengo Kimura vs Chavo Guerrero 11/03
    That's a good craft brew sample 4 pack
    If you're looking for top shelf stuff only regardless of length, I'd recommend these:
    Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn 01/18
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid 02/05:
    Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen 02/08
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ashura Hara 04/03
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Chavo Guerrero 05/09
    Kengo Kimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami 09/25
    Kengo Kimura vs Chavo Guerrero 11/03
    There's a lot of Tatsumi Fujinami but he's a boss in my book. I wasn't expecting him to be badass in 1980...thinking that came later in the 80's but nope...I was wrong. He was already great. To sum up this lil project I will quote my first post in this series, "This stuff is quickly becoming some of my favorite wrestling. I think it is more relatable to the modern wrestling fan than AJPW/NWA style. The tempo is faster and there's more action between holds. Or at least that is the case with this high quality stuff." 
    If you're interested, definitely check some of this out!
    Thanks for reading!
  3. G. Badger

    Thank you Kobayashi!

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    Kuniaki Kobayashi has passed away recently. If you've read my Tiger Mask posts or my 1985 AJPW posts, you'll find that he's one of my favorites. Hell, even if you go back to my 1988 NJPW posts, he still was having some of the best matches of the year. He's one of those underrated wrestlers that makes his opponent look great. A kind person has put up the following matches so I thought I would give them a look:

    vs The Cobra (01/06/84): This was rough around the edges but as as result had a early 90's Japanese indie feel to it (maybe even mid 90's ECW TV title with Dean, Eddie & Too Cold Scorpio feel). That and Kobayashi bled and well the Cobra costume... I mean there's nothing that even refers to a snake in the whole outfit. Very indies Cobra/George Takano isn't the most technically sound wrestler so Kobayashi keeps this thing on the rails (at his own peril). I could tell the booker really wanted a Tiger vs Kobayashi level feud. And while it doesn't hit the same, they really gave it their all. This was fiery and that's what makes this worthwhile. Very good match and if you wanted to see a Cobra match, I'd recommend this one.
    w/ Hiro Saito vs Shiro Koshinaka & Naoki Sano (05/25/89): Whoa! That's what I'm talking about! The Koshinaka vs Kobayashi feud is still going strong from '88. This heated, well executed pro wrestling. We have three of the more/most unsung workers of the 80's/90's in Sano, Koshinaka & Kobayashi in one match. And shoot, Hiro Saito is motivated in '89...this is great stuff. A hidden gem in my book... It might be my late 80's tag team love talking but this is a near classic.
    vs Super Strong Machine (01/25/90): A fun under 10 minute match where we got to see both guys' moves. Plus things got very WAR-like with some stiff shots and grumpiness.
    Hiroshi Hase, Hoshino & Kobayashi vs Honaga, Goto & Hiro Saito (02/10/1990): joined in progress but 6 or so minutes of fun. The Hase, Kobayashi & Hoshino team was a blast to watch! ...Found this thing in full...Yeah this is really good stuff. There's just a ton of action and rope running. Honaga, Goto & Hiro Saito kinda seem interchangeable but Hase, Hoshino & Kobayashi all bring something different to the table. Don't fret if you don't find the full version though... I think you'd get the same vibe if seeing the jip one.
    Kantaro Hoshino & Kengo Kimura vs Kuniaki Kobayashi & Osamu Kido (01/04/92): Osamu Kido has passed away recently as well. This joined in progress bout was a good showcase for him rather than Kobayashi. Still they made a good tag team here. 
    w/ Koshinaka vs Hiro Saito & Tatsushi Goto (05/17/92): Saito and Goto are wearing masks like Super Strong Machine. They're part of the Raging Staffs stable. Anyhow, slight joined in progress match. No worries...it's a fun match where there's a punching, stomping, sorta heel tactics from both teams and then we get an exciting finishing stretch. It's fun I'll note that it seems that Kobayashi is far less technical here than he was in the 80's. My guess is age, booking and the overall style changes in wrestling has that effect.
    -Don't  think he got soft though. No, scroll down to the '92 Karate matches...pissed off Kobayashi is still there. He's not technical but his intensity is still there...back to our new reviews-
    Takayuki Iizuka, Akira Nogami & Kido vs Akitoshi Saito, Kobayashi & The Great Kabuki (1/04/95): This one didn't have a ton of Kobayashi but it still was a fun Tokyo Dome six man match. Honestly Akira Nogami felt like the standout guy with Akitoshi Saito being #2. 
    vs Akira Nogami (02/03/96 Hair vs Hair) This was a great match! It wasn't over the top but a damn solid keep it simple match. Things really picked up in the end as the winner was in doubt. I dug the heck out of the finish too...it felt gutsy. And of course the post match shearing is entertaining
    w/Koshinaka & Saito vs Shinya Hashimoto, Nogami & Junji Hirata (02/04/96): Watch this after the Hair match or you're going to spoil the outcome of that match. Another really heated match and great follow up to the above fight. Kobayashi isn't done with Akira. Junji & Shinya are in his way. That's cool because Koshinaka & Akitoshi Saito don't care. There's some really good pairing here and fun double & triple team moves. It's not fancy but really enjoyable stuff. The finish was pretty sweet too! Very good stuff.
    vs Akira Nogami (02/05/99): Gotta admit I dig this mid card multi-year feud with Nogami. This looked to be a single round during a team match so it was only 6 minutes or so. It was a really good sprint. Nogami was providing the action and well Kuniaki was keeping up too! A lot of fun here!

    Here's some more stuff that is pretty awesome and under the radar. I've included the reviews too. These are from a few years ago:
    Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka vs Masashi Aoyagi & Akitoshi Saito (03/09/92): This thing starts and Karate takes over quickly. This is tornado tag rules- something we just don't get enough of nowadays. Kobayashi tears Aoyagi's gi like dollar store kleenex- fuck your traditions! Koshi & Saito are going at it as well. Anyone who thinks Shiro's hip attacks are lame needs to get a load of him here. He destroyed Akitoshi 's face. This is some fast & loose brawling. Kuniaki goes straight berserk at the end. Holy cow! The ref is checking on Saito and there's a stoppage. But it ain't done yet! This is chaotic as all get out! Very good to great match even. You gotta see this if you are fans of these guys. A very early FMW vibe.
    Akitoshi Saito vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (04/30/92): After the entrances, Sensei Aoyagi is in ring, suited up (literally), with a really old looking wooden board or tablet. Perhaps it is significant to he, Saito, or their dojo??? It appears that Koshinaka & Kuniaki have an envelope. I'm going to wager a guess that they're putting these things up as stakes. Winner takes all. I'd rather win the envelope...its probably cash or like nudie pics of their girlfriends or something. What are ya gonna do with an old board? Make a paint shelf in your garage? Nevertheless, the crowd is hyped & the intensity is like the midday sun. Let's do this! The fighting is downright brutal- Sickeningly stiff! Saito is bleeding again- blood splatter on his gi, blood splatter on the camera lense! This is how you do it! Saito is hanging in there but, Kobayashi is like a demon. A karate kid throws in the towel but, immediately Aoyagi smacks him and calls bullshit! The fighting continues. Yes! This is not slick pretty wrestling. It is grisly uncooperative wrestling-as-combat. Double plus respect to both dudes. Great match!
    If you're interested in the top shelf stuff only, I highly recommend Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask in '82 & '83. Everyone will probably say that. Here's some  more of my favorites with Kobayashi at the top of his game:
    Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask II (AJPW 06/21/85)
    Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask II (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)
    Akira Nogami, Tatsutoshi Goto, K. Yamada, K. Hoshino & S. Koshinaka vs Hiroshi Hase, K. Kobayashi, Kensuke Sasaki, N. Honaga & H. Saito (04/27/88)
    Shiro Koshinaka vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (8/08/88)

    This was a blast to watch and I feel like I have a fuller appreciation of Kuniaki Kobayashi. This has been good to hopefully share some match recommendations. And hopefully I have honored him and his work here in some very small way. Thank you Kobayashi!!!
  4. G. Badger

    NJPW You Might Have Missed - 1980 - Part 2

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Here's part # 2 of my 1980 NJPW cherry picking expedition. 
    Gran Hamada vs Baby Face 04/03: Very good lucha/junior type match. This definitely translates well into contemporary wrestling. The wrestling on the mat was very good albeit more of the sit and stretch variety than the fighting over holds/escapes/reversals like we'd see in other NJ "strong style" junior wrestling. The running and flying stuff was the real showcase here. The only drawback was the finish where it was not really clear what happened... i.e. bad ref count perhaps? This was #83 on the DVDVR Best of the 80's NJPW. That sounds about right I think people have said this was superior to Tiger Mask vs Dynamite or perhaps just pre-dates it. I'd say it doesn't have any odd move/selling choices that you'd see in a few DK vs TM but the overall quality is comparable to those same matches. This does predate Tiger Mask but that doesn't necessarily make it better... I don't think that it features the acrobatic action that you'd see in many of those fights. Honestly I don't think it's a good comparison. A better comparison would be the Tiger vs Dynamite and Tiger vs Hamada matches. 
    Stan Hansen vs Antonio Inoki 04/03: Was that the same ref from the above match? This guy can't count a pin worth shit! No matter, this was a great match! Hansen gave Inoki a helluva beating. I mean this was stiff. Those early knee drops and stomps would have cracked a walnut. Additionally,  towards the end, we see a couple absolutely crazy spots for 1980. I prefer the 02/08 match but, this feud is awesome. I suppose I had a Stan Hansen in AJPW bias. He is just as great in NJPW. If you're lukewarm about checking Inoki out, these are great ones to start with. I guess they have another great match (maybe better than this?) 06/05/80 but I couldn't find that online.
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Chavo Guerrero 05/09: A near classic technical duel. I loved the fight over the brainbuster/vertical suplex. A match very much about parity that felt fresh and exciting. They didn't over-do it but you could tell that they were equals. I would have liked a little smoother finish as that probably would have made it a classic in my book. Still for fans of either guy, fans of this faster, technically oriented wrestling should watch this. I finally got around to seeing this and am glad that I did! I've seen there's A clipped version out there so, I'd recommend finding the full version. It's a 18 minute run time in full.
    Stan Hansen vs Seiji Sakaguchi 08/22: This is a pick that I made to include. One thing, I wanted to see Hansen vs someone other than Inoki. Secondly, I thought I should include one Sakaguchi match since he's the #2 native heavyweight in NJPW. Third, it's not too long in case it is no good But no worries! It's good stuff! Hansen is especially ornery and damn near kills a flower girl at the beginning. Sakaguchi is a more muscular, athletic Giant Baba. And so this shapeless brawl works well. It's only 6 minutes or so but is absolutely worth a watch if you're in need of a quick Stan Hansen fix.
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Johnny Londos 09/19: You're watching this for Johnny Londos and how Fujinami works with him. And you won't be disappointed. It's under 10 minutes or pretty close to it so I can't say it's a great match..they could have done a minute or two more. But it reminded me of a Dean Malenko vs Steve Regal match from a WCW Nitro (Londos as Regal)...Just snug, entertaining and technical. Very good stuff!
    I've really slept on this early 80's NJPW stuff. I would highly recommend checking it out if you enjoy technical wrestling. I really came to love the technical New Japan style during the mid 80's UWF vs NJ feud. For whatever reason, I didn't give the early 80's a chance. I suppose I was interested but, I was still buying DVDs at the time. There just didn't seem to be enough bang for my buck, I suppose. Everything I have been reviewing is online (which is great) but you do have to look around so don't think YouTube is going to have everything/much.
    I'm going to do a brief pause on 1980 for my next post in order to do a special Kuniaki Kobayashi spotlight. Afterwards I should have the third and final entry for 1980 NJPW.
    Thanks for reading! 
     
  5. G. Badger
    Hi folks! A short impromptu post this week. I actually wasn't going to have much of anything to post as this has been a stressful week. Sometimes a good wrestling match can help blow off some steam or whatever but, I wasn't feeling it. Much of the stuff scheduled for this week was more high stakes than I was in the mood for. So I thought I'd give some AJ Jr. wrestling a shot. It just so happens that everything I picked out features Kuniaki Kobayashi
    Mighty Inoue/Tarzan Goto vs Kuniaki Kobayashi/Norio Honaga (07/28 aired 08/17): joined in progress. An actual quality Tarzan Goto in AJPW match - alright! And he's really good despite being young... man 80's Goto vs Kawada is probably out there somewhere. This was a very good action match. Kobayashi is an absolute boss. 

    Goto takes flight!
    -----
    Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Norio Honaga (07/30 aired 08/10) What the fuck!? That opening was amazing! However this was a pretty standard junior title match. Nothing wrong with that but  Honaga didn't stand a chance.  That first minute or so is worth checking out if you're interested... would've been cool if they could have brought more of this energy/excitement later on. It was like Hayabusa Super J-Cup exciting.

    Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (08/31 aired 09/07): So it looks like Misawa and Kobayashi were having a classic feud back in '85. This was awesome and really felt like the type of match Misawa would be having in the early 90's. Of course it's not as polished and smart as those classics but, it belongs in the conversation of classic singles AJPW matches. This style is not what we saw Tiger vs La Fiera & Pirata Morgan in '84. This not what we were seeing with Masa Fuchi, Onita, the Guerreroes, etc. This closer to what we'd see as Kings Road Style. This is top shelf junior wrestling. That said, I think we need to give Kobayashi his credit.  We need to give ref Kohei Wada credit too. This maybe one of the earliest instances of his 2.9 counts that I've seen. I am rambling on about it as this is 1985 and I feel like conventional wisdom is that Misawa didn't do much until his '88 match with Jumbo (the La Fiera & Morgan matches are more novelty showcase exhibition).  I feel that the story goes he didn't do anything great until he unmasked and feuded with Jumbo in '90. This match along with their 6/21 classic disproves that misconception...A misconception that I admit I had.

    ------
    Tiger Mask/Takashi Ishikawa vs Norio Honaga/Kuniaki Kobayashi (09/09 aired 09/21): Pretty darn exciting tag wrestling. Tiger Mask Misawa was doing all kinds of things. Honaga was impressive with Misawa. The highlight was the Kobayashi/Misawa stuff. They were in their own league. I think this raises a good point in regard to the previous review. I don't want to give the impression that everything featuring these two was akin to Kawada vs Misawa era stuff. Those big matches were exceptions to the rule. I do feel like the Riki vs Tenryu match on 06/21 was getting there as well although that did have an 80's finish whereas the TM vs KK matches were clean finishes.
    This was a fun & quick little subproject. This past week was pretty crazy for a bunch of reasons. I wasn't really in the mood for wrestling. I'm glad that I was able to fit these matches in.  As always stay safe and thanks for reading
     
  6. G. Badger

    NJPW You Might Have Missed - 1980

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    This period of New Japan stuff is quickly becoming some of my favorite wrestling. I think it is more relatable to the modern wrestling fan than AJPW/NWA style. The tempo is faster and there's more action between holds. Or at least that is the case with this high quality stuff. And to be fair, most of the matches here are technically Junior matches whereas the top shelf stuff I'm thinking of in AJPW is heavyweight. Honestly, to me, it just seems like they wanted to separate Inoki from Fujinami. Anyhow, I'm watching some of the better known matches from 1980 and guided by SAMS 1980 Yearbook in The Microscope section of this very website. And on occasion I'll pick something to keep things interesting. Here's Part #1!
    Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn 01/18: What a first fall! Kid & Keirn do a great job heeling but never get too far away from the junior action. I loved all the rope running and a great Greco Roman knuckle lock sequence! Nice 2nd fall with a call back to the finish of the first. Oh shit!! What a finish! Really good clubbering heel work and the Japanese team is trying to find an opening. Then when they find it, things pop off! And when you think that's the finish, they add a twist! Out of fear of over rating, I'll say this is a near classic tag bout. This is the type of simple all action tag wrestling I love.
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid 02/05: Classic junior title fight! Dynamite was so aggressive here and Fujinami really had to dig deep to stay in this match. I believe both guys were bleeding... Fujinami from the forehead and Dynamite from his nose. If you'd want to compare, I would say this was up there with the last DK vs Tiger Mask matches. And I think this match by itself was superior in terms of intensity and competitive nature. This is one I've been interested in for a long time and am glad I finally got around to watching it.
    Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen 02/08: What a fantastic title match! Hard hitting, technical wrestling. I enjoy Baba vs Stan but, this match is probably better than any of their encounters. Hansen didn't pull any punches and neither did Inoki. Their chemistry is similar to Stan vs Misawa. I'm not sure but, Inoki vs Hansen seems to be the best Japanese vs Hansen pairing (...although Stan vs Tenryu is pretty good too). They just seem so at home working with one another. I know that they face each other a bunch and perhaps I'll sour on them later. This was a near classic in my book. *Note: I watched their 02/07/80 match in the 70's, 80' & 90's post. It is different from this match. I thought that one was pretty good. So I'm more confident in calling this a near classic. 
    Animal Hamaguchi & Mighty Inoue vs Haruka Eigen & Kengo Kimura 03/31 (IWE): Here's a bonus match from IWE. This starts out as your typical AJPW Jr. tag style match (not a typo) then around the half way point, Kengo & Mighty Inoue start slapping the shit out of each other. We get some more good action and Kengo does like a slingshot tope and kills(?) Animal Hamaguchi and what is happening!? (in the best way)...very good stuff especially if you like Mighty Inoue husky junior wrestling
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ashura Hara 04/03: Oh baby, I went into this thinking it was going to be technician vs brawler. But no! Hara is a lean mean wrestling machine. This was aggressive competitive wrestling throughout... well until Hara starts punching and headbutting. There's the Ashura Hara that I know & love. Like all of the matches reviewed so far, this never overstayed it's welcome. Beautifully paced and full of competitive, snug wrestling. I'm conservatively going to call this a classic match. Hara & Fujinami were nearly flawless.
    A really great start to the project! This is definitely a "You Might Have Missed" series. I think many people's earliest peek into NJPW is Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid. Generally speaking, that was the case for me. 1980 top shelf NJPW is fantastic. Seeing as the matches aren't more than 20 minutes in most cases, this should be a fast & fun project
    Thanks for reading!
     
  7. G. Badger
    I'm currently reading Lion's Pride: The Turbulent History of New Japan Pro Wrestling. I bought this on Kindle years ago but never got around to reading it. 
    I really dig all of the information about 1970-1980's New Japan. The development of Fujinami & Choshu and their feud. Why the UWF split happened as well as Choshu and company moving to All Japan. Maybe this all feels like an extended Wikipedia article but I enjoy it. I like how the author keeps tying things back to Inoki and his dealings. From the pre-NJPW chapters, we can see that Inoki was always looking for something more. He was second fiddle to Baba in JWA and tried to branch out prior to NJ so, it's no surprise that he's always looking for a new angle to make money, increase his prestige, etc. This is really what caused the UWF & Choshu & co. departures. It seems everyone except Baba was sleazy in Japanese wrestling. Or maybe my standards are unrealistic.
    I like how the author keeps NJPW in focus while still letting you know what's going on in the Japanese wrestling world. He clues you into the SWS/WAR exodus from AJPW and rise of the Four Pillars. He lets you know of the popularity of death matches and the hardcore wrestling scene in FMW,W*ING, IWA Japan, BJW and ECW. Certainly, he follows along the UWF story and how those wrestlers' careers inter-weave with NJ. That's an aspect of New Japan that I've always been interested in. It's the one bit of 80's NJPW that I was familiar with earlier on. I didn't know that much about the UWFi & NJPW's dealings in the mid 90's. I knew that they did business but not really the circumstances around it. Of course, WCW is always in the background with their working relationship with the company.
    I was going to do a full book review but I think I have read enough to give you a good idea of how the book is written, the topics etc. In all honesty, it feels like an in-depth Wikipedia article. That's not a complaint. The book moves fairly briskly but likewise it never gets bogged down either. I definitely learned somethings I didn't know or more details were provided than I was previously as aware of. If you really want to know more about the history of NJPW, I think it's a great place to start. If this was at the library 20 years ago, I definitely would have taken it out a couple times or made photocopies of the pictures. I don't think I could recommend buying a physical copy but the Kindle version is $5 and is a definite recommended purchase especially if you're looking for some light reading for your lunch break, taking a bus, train, plane or before bedtime. Even if you're pretty familiar with the history of NJPW, I would still suggest you give it a read. 
    Inspired by the topics covered in Lion's Pride, I thought I'd share some new & vintage (old) reviews from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990's. I should clarify that the book goes beyond this into the 2000's and early 2010's around when this came out. But I won't be going into that here Instead I want to use this to skim over some of the more historically interesting parts of NJPW's history. In no way is this even a good representation of what they produced during almost 30 years but, it's a very small sampling...to get a sense of what was going on at the time in the company. That said, I'm going to favor under 20 minute matches.
    Antonio Inoki vs Ernie Ladd (03/21/74 NWF): This is a little too long for me but its on the 'tube for you. I wanted to mention it because early 70's Inoki matches are hard to come by for free. Plus it features Inoki in the U.S and in Cleveland, OH which is where my dad's family is from. He actually grew up watching NWF with the Sheik, Abby, Johnny Powers, Moose Cholak, Hans Schmidt etc. So I had to mention this match. But in terms of the book & NJPW - NWF and Powers were the one American promo the could do business with early on. Eventually Inoki would own NWF and it would be the "governing body" for its world title, NWF Heavyweight Title.
    Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu vs Bob Backlund & Tony Garea (05/30/78): Thought this is a good match to include as it shows Riki & Fujinami as the top youngsters and as a team (reminds me of Misawa & Kawada 90-92). Also this is a good example of the WWWF's partnership with NJPW. This was very important for the success of NJPW as they really didn't have much access to foreign talent or any connection to the NWA. This was especially important because puroresu was still very focused on native vs foreigner in their booking. 2/3 falls match - come for the technical wrestling, stay for the poofy hair! Good match.
    Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh (10/02/79): I'm including this as an example of how important Tiger Jeet Singh was as Inoki's Sheik/Abdullah the Butcher. He needed a blood thirsty heel. One story from the book is that Singh publicly slapped Inoki's wife (kayfabe). That's absolutely wild! Of course I've seen a bunch of Singh in AJPW and in the early 90's W*ING/IWA Japan/FMW but this maybe my first time seeing him in NJPW. It's a fun match especially once Inoki gets on offense. Interestingly, Abby comes to NJPW in the first big talent grab. 
    Stan Hansen vs Antonio Inoki (02/07/80): Including this one as it features Hansen who's essentially NJ's answer to Bruiser Brody. He and Inoki had a program and again I'm just watching the shortest one I've come across. That said, I dug the heck out of this! Inoki is spry like a panther and that's a neat dynamic vs Hansen. We really don't see that until Hansen vs Misawa. We get an 80's finish here but that doesn't diminish the coolness of this match. Very good stuff!
    Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami (03/17/82): Handheld footage, including this since it's a ground breaking feud that is the first big money native vs native program in Japan. This is under or around 10 minutes long but you can see that these two are some the best wrestlers in the world. They are strong, fast, and technically excellent.
    Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Rusher Kimura & Animal Hamaguchi (09/03/82): I'm including this to represent the NJ vs IWE feud that was a relatively big deal. It's the first "invasion" angle ever (?). Truth be told IWE folded and got essentially absorbed by NJPW. But that mirrors what WWF/E would do with WCW & ECW 20 years later. Again, this was pretty ground breaking as it too pushed the idea of Japanese vs Japanese as commercially successful even before Choshu vs Fujinami as it began late 1981. This was good stuff for sure.Hamaguchi was the standout for his team. He and Fujinami were fantastic to watch. Inoki & Rusher played their parts. Honestly this feud is worth looking into on its own. It's got that scrappy feeling that just makes it easy to watch and enjoy.
    Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami (11/04/82): Have seen this listed also as 11/05 but the 4th is correct. This is much more heated than the previous match. The feud has started in earnest. The intensity  really made this something special. The scoop slams looked violent enough to put someone away for a three count. This was the same show as one of the fantastic Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask matches... so NJPW really had a great thing going at this time especially in terms of high quality, intense wrestling. This was a great match...probably a near classic. I definitely need to see more of this chapter of their rivalry. 
    Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada (02/03/83): This featured great matwork, agility, timing, counters and reversals. Much of this was on the mat and that's where Tiger is best despite being known as a flying innovator. These two are just amazing together. A classic encounter. - I had to include a Tiger Mask match. This seems like a great one to recommend.
    Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Riki Choshu (03/02/84): Really good under 10 minute match that is all about drama and atmosphere than work rate. Fujiwara is the man at conveying violence and malice without swinging things around and attacking fans. He is menacing. This is a fantastic example of that. Really glad I watched this one...almost didn't. I really wanted to include a Fujiwara match despite him not getting a lot of attention in the book.
    Black Tiger vs Shiro Koshinaka (09/12/86): I wanted to include this just to show that the junior division was hanging on despite the departure of Tiger Mask. Although the company tried to replicate the Tiger Mask success with The Cobra, Koshinaka was more the foundation of the junior division. This was a really good match... lots of action and great moves. Black Tiger Rocco & Koshinaka worked very well together... they seem better matched than Sayama & Rocco were. Might have to keep my eye out for more of their encounters.
    Tatsumi Fujinami & Keiji Muto vs Buzz & Brett Sawyer (01/16/87): This is included to signify that Inoki was moving out of the main picture (a little bit) as well as to introduce the new blood that would lead the company in the 90's. Muto like Fujinami was great right out of the gate. Here, based on his flashy jacket, Muto might be in his "Space Lone Wolf" gimmick. Another attempt to repeat the gimmick success of Tiger Mask. It's pretty toned down here. Anyway, this was a very good match... I really dug the heck outta this match. Not anything complex or fancy but damn! this is kinda perfect in terms of keeping it simple. Something like this is why I think mid to late 80's is my favorite period of wrestling.
    Takada/Maeda vs Mutoh/Koshinaka (03/20/87): Oh my goodness! This match was Awesome! The UWF team was soooo stiff and the NJ team was just totally exciting yet looked good taking a beating. Maeda wasn't going to kick somebody unless he could kick them in the head. This seriously was bell to bell fun. There were moments where the excitement ebbed but then bam! It flowed right back to where it was. A true lesson in crowd control that frankly you only witness in the finest of wrestling matches. I don't want to give it 5 stars but, would feel comfortable with ****3/4 since you never knew what was coming & it was so remarkable in the stiffness & move department. This stuff is timeless. - I wanted to include this to share a perhaps forgotten classic as well as give an example of the UWF vs NJPW feud.
    Takada/Yamazaki vs Yamada/Koshinaka (10/25/87) I strongly feel that the best showcase for the UWF guys in NJPW is against regular workers. It lets them work their submission against "trained" sellers so the drama and importance is really played up. Also the UWF guys are really good pro-wrestlers too so they have no problem taking the pro moves as well as incorporate some of their own. This really helps the variety of the match. In any case the best guys to face the shooters are Fujinami, Koshinaka & Yamada. I also liked Mutoh...anyhow...this was another really great match. -Another inclusion to represent a couple years long feud. There's a bunch so I am picking a couple tag matches that are representative of what I liked about this program. Here Yamada is as himself, pre-Liger. 

    OK big jump in time! Interestingly, the book sorta skims over the WAR vs NJPW feud which something I'm interested in learning more about. So I'm going do that another time. We're onto the brief NJ vs UWFi feud.
    Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata vs Yoji Anjo & Tatsuo Nakano (09/23/95): This is the first big match of the NJ vs UWFi program. What a doozy! Stiff as a starched shirt. Nagata gets a mouse/cut under his eye and a blood mouth. He re-pays the favor by repeatedly punch Anjo in the face and sealing his eye up (soon to a mother of a black eye). Choshu was intense and boss as hell. Nakano smartly played ball. This was organized chaos that while not a shoot, was more than just "stiff" or "chippy." Nagata looked great for being so young. Very good to great match! Definitely worth checking out
    Jushin Liger vs Yuhi Sano (10/09/95): This is the big Tokyo Dome confrontation of NJ vs UWFi. Sano is the same Naoki Sano & Takuma Sano. So not only is this company vs company but it is old rivals meeting again. Surprisingly they wrestled this in a more NJPW Jrs. style than a shoot style. Or it was more like some of the Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask I matches. I really enjoyed this for what it was. Sano never lost anything by moving to SWS or UWFi (or BattlARTS later). 
    Kensuke Sasaki vs Yoshihiro Takayama (10/28/95 UWFi): This was pretty good stuff! It definitely could have been longer and more developed but the chemistry was apparent. They just laid into each other for 7 minutes... Takayama hitting especially hard. This definitely harkens back to the UWF invasion stuff in the late 80's...Here UWFi needed the help financially to stay afloat. These shows did pretty well in both UWFi & NJPW but it was too little too late for them.
    Masa Chono vs Yoji Anjo (10/28/95 UWFi): Whoa this was intense from beginning to end! This was pro wrestling done right. I'm sure these matches were under NJPW rules but yeah, the UWF style with traditional wrestling rules, psychology works best in my opinion. This is a great example of that. This is a legit great under the radar match. Another reason for inclusion is we get to see Chono's Team Lone Wolf with Tenzan & Hiro Saito...a precursor to the NWO's style and attitude.
    Masahito Kakihara vs Shinjiro Otani (03/01/96 UWFi): Another really intense bout. Otani did some of his great selling which helped this feel more dramatic. Kakihara was technically excellent as always. This was very fast which helped differentiate it from the heavyweight style.
    Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka (03/01/96 UWFi): This is included because there's so much history and significance that can addressed in one match. Koshinaka is an AJPW dojo trained wrestler that left AJPW in the mid 80's to NJPW. Takada is an NJPW dojo wrestler that left NJPW at every chance to do UWF, UWF II and UWFi. He and Koshinaka had a notable feud in the mid/late 80's while juniors. Here they are roughly 10 years later fighting for the IWGP heavyweight belt that Takada won off of contemporary and NJ ace Keiji Muto. Furthermore Koshinaka wrestled for Tenryu WAR promotion prior to coming back to NJPW for a time. You really get to see how much NJPW was willing to work with smaller companies. And in effect, you see how isolationist AJPW was. Anyways, this is a good match. I think this would have benefited from more organization if it was going to be that mid gear heavyweight title pace. But at a little over 10 minutes and with all of the history baked in, I'm glad I saw it!
    This was an impromptu match review post. A mini project that stemmed from reading the Lion's Pride: The Turbulent History of New Japan Pro Wrestling book. And honestly, that's what it's best for - motivation to watch old NJPW. I definitely am going to watch more stuff from the 80's. There's no way I'm going to be a completionist or even cover all of the big matches. I'm going to try and watch more of the things that piqued my interest here. I definitely recommend you do the same and snag the Lion's Pride: The Turbulent History of New Japan Pro Wrestling book on Kindle while you're at it.
    Thanks for reading! Hopefully I gave you plenty to read/think about on my return to blog-land.
     
  8. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Dr. Death in 1990's AJPW

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    I have put a pause on my AJPW 2002 project for the time being. In the meantime, I thought I would share some "vintage" Dr. Death Steve Williams reviews. Early 2000's AJPW has renewed my interest & appreciation for him. He's certainly not at his prime but he brings something special to every match. So below is a collection of reviews of his peak era AJPW work. I'm going to remove any spoilers that I wrote and if you're looking for stars (*) in your reviews, this one has got 'em
    Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams (07/24/91) Awesome fun stuff here with Miracle Violence Connection looking like the toughest tag team ever. They went after Misawa's face and then his leg which I'm sure both were legitimately injured. Tremendous selling from Misawa & is what made it very special. Kawada was a very good number two playing the part of being Robin to Misawa's Batman. Cool, cool stuff. **** or maybe ****1/4
    Editor's note:
    02/26 Gordy/Williams vs Misawa/Kawada & 12/06: Gordy/Williams vs Misawa/Kawada from 1991 are great matches as well. I don't have reviews written up for them but they are ****+ matches.
    Jumbo & Akira Taue & Ogawa vs. Williams & Gordy & Richard Slinger (05/25/92) ***3/4+ A solid match by all standards and was quite entertaining. Both teams brought a lot of intensity and that goes a long way for me. It probably could have been a little shorter as the pacing was a bit askew. It was a good match nonetheless with Ogawa, Slinger , and Gordy being the standouts & Joe was the referee (the fans counted faster than he did!)
    Steve Williams/Terry Gordy vs. Stan Hansen/Joel Deaton (06/03/93) ***1/4 Although it was only 6 minutes & 47 seconds this match was all action. It was rather one sided though, as Gordy ambushed Hansen and  the Miracle Violence Connection double teamed the whole time like it was a Tornado Tag match (maybe it was). Deaton tried his best to save Hansen but he was no match for Gordy & Dr. Death. There was no pacing or a match just a display of violence and Hansen's toughness.
    Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi (08/31/93) ***** Stiff AJPW brawling punctuated by 3 of the deadliest backdops ever! But the match is much more than the last 5 minutes it's that just those backdrops come out of nowhere and take your breath away. Rewatch: Wow! this is a fantastic, hard-hitting match. Each man gives it their all and the execution is brilliant and the timing is perfect. Kobashi would have loads of other classic singles bouts but to me this is Dr. Death's pinnacle! If one wants to know why Steve Williams is a legend, this match is all the evidence needed.
    Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams (09/03/93) **** Dr. Death held up his end of the deal with plenty of exciting moves and a palpable sense that he wanted to win the Triple Crown. Misawa did an excellent job selling but, the match lacked a real sense of direction and the finish was flat. I would place the blame on Misawa. I think his great matches come out of familiarity & rivalry...not top gaijin vs. second banana native like Kobashi. There was no real offense on his end that would warrant a comeback victory. Elbows are great especially from Misawa but, I felt they were kinda soft or maybe Williams oversold them. The one thing that was preserved was the great execution AJPW is known for but, it lacked the build that the company was known for as well. Everything can't be a classic..still a great match. The bar is really high in '93.
        
    Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams Champion Carnival Finals (04/16/94) I don't know but this one is a clear re-watch candidate. I didn't like the transition from Williams to Kawada other than he must have really messed Dr. Death up with the somersault kick. It was one of the best I've seen so, that may have done it...Williams was throwing Kawada around like a ragdoll though. It could have gone on a few more minutes or with a bit more back & forth before the finish. Anyhow, Williams was just so awesome here but, Kawada probably let him have too much offense for the type of finish they went for. I don't know if that was Doc or K's decision. I could have been Doc's since he's the senior worker (I think). As it stands: ****1/4+ Re-Watch: I watched a clipped version (maybe the first 6-7 minutes cut out) and it was still very good stuff. In fact, I'm comfortable putting it up a notch. Kawada was so damn stiff where the transition was that I'll warrant that he legit screwed Dr. Death up. There was a gaff by the TV crew as they showed both guys talking on the mat in between big moves & this seemed like an "uh-oh!" regarding kayfabe. I mean I probably could have done with out it. They weren't looking at each other & the camera was zoomed in tight on their faces so maybe they were talking to Wada the ref. It sorta killed the next spot though since you just saw them talking it out...possibly. Still damn good stuff & really good in putting over Kawada's big moves. People talk about K's performance but I thought he overdid the selling a couple times but other times I wasn't sure if he was really hurt or what so it balances out. Dr. Death I thought did very good as well but, his job as monstrous gaijin bruiser is much easier to portray. Still he does a damn good job! With a little more action at the end this could have been nibbling at 4.75 stars. Still if you want to see one match with Doc and/or Kawada this is not a bad one to go with...just a very nice example of AJ puroresu. ****1/2
    Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi Triple Crown (09/03/94) I thought they gave Kobashi a bit too much time to get over as the budding super hero but, overall it was a pretty damn good match. Williams was really fun and dangerous, if that's possible. Kobashi really knew when to turn his offensive stuff up a couple notches. Still, he needs someone to take his suplexes in order to appear multi-faceted. Much of his early stuff was chops and leg drops. Although he did get a couple backdrops & a German on Williams, the only convincing near-fall slam was the REDACTED. I still probably would like their '93 match better but this one was a nice companion and a must own for Dr. Death fans like myself. ****1/4
     Williams vs. Toshiaki Kawada Triple Crown (10/22/94) I liked this more than the Kobashi match as it never had a big Kawada on offense section where Williams wasn't try to spoil it. It really helped that both guys sold the effects of the fight so well. To augment that, they really went after each other's weak spots and there were allusions to the Carnival match but, it went in a better, more believable direction. In fact, contrary to all other reviewers I liked this better than the 04/16/94 match although the score is ultimately equal. ****1/2
    Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (03/04/95) ****1/2
    The accumulation of little things brought this match-up to a 4.5 star rating. The beginning portion was rather messy as far as it's direction and Dr. Death was being rather soft and cartoonish. My feeling is: if you're not comfortable striking then don't strike.  This rule really applies to Doc in this match. In they early portion, he was really a drain. Until he & Ace started working on Misawa's striking arm, this match was looking at a **1/2 rating. It was going nowhere but did have some cool moments/moves. Then the match worked up to boil. The moves had meaning and there was some urgency brought to each pinfall cover. Even then this match was only at a *** or ***1/2 (which compared to most other leagues is acceptable). At some point in time Misawa, Ace, & Kobashi got their shit together and took this match somewhere memorable. Doc, however, simply filled a role as the interloper...knocking people off aprons, ax-handling would be pinners, and the like. Although he must be commended for some of the most deadly moves of the match! Overall though, the only ones who brought intensity were Kobashi & Ace. Essentially it was a match between them with their respective partners as seconds.In regards to the length of the match at 36 min...let's say if they cut out the crap from the start and shaved of a few seconds worth of stalling this puppy could have been great. If they had condensed it to tag matches of old at 25 minutes or so, this would easily be ****3/4 stars, telling a story of native vs gaijin & one of equality but here it's a ****1/2 by a hair... 
        
    Akira Taue vs. Steve Williams - Champion Carnival FINAL (04/20/96) This is quite physical in terms of slams and moves for two guys that don’t really take those big bumps. Every move wasn’t as crisply executed as hoped for. This was due to the men’s sizes. Still, it was quite amazing because they pulled them off in a believable manner; very much in the Tsuruta/Tenryu days. It was apparent that chemistry was not working on the same level as with the other 3 or 4 big natives. Kobashi would have been a great fit with either guy but, from a story perspective, I can understand. It is definitely something different and it must be commended for that. ****+
        
    Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams/Johnny Ace (06/07/96) A pure 20+ minute spree of excitement and nearfalls. Ace has never looked better, and his chemistry with Akiyama is what made this match so great. Doc once out of the limelight really showed his strength as a brilliant tag wrestler (again). He and Ace were such a standout team because of this dynamic. Akiyama played his role brilliantly and Misawa was ace but also big brother (again). This was his role here and it was masterful as ever and touched an emotional nerve. The dynamic with Doc and Akiyama was rough in the early going but as it became more heated, one forgot this segment of the action. It was clear this match was for Ace and Akiyama to shine and they did not disappoint. ****1/2
    If you have never checked out Dr. Death in AJPW, absolutely go watch these this week. If it's been a while since you've watched 90's AJPW then, pick a match or two to revisit. 
    Thanks for reading!
        
  9. G. Badger
    Sorry for the delay! My family health issues are ongoing and I really haven't been in the mood to watch wrestling. I have chipped away at my list and finally got this week done. It wasn't a slog or anything at all. In fact, I've really enjoyed it. It's the diversion that I've needed. I'm just not in the head space to watch it on a regular basis right now. 
    Arashi, Nobukazu Hirai & Nobutaka Araya vs. Dr. Death, Mike Rotunda & Yuto Aijima
    (07/17): A fun steak and egg kind of match. If this was a little crisper in a few places, this could actually have been quite good. Still I liked it
    Also from this show is the classic Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (07/17/2002) match. Gaora recently posted this so I'll share it here:
     
     
    Great Koji vs Great Muta (07/20): Muto wrestled 3 times this show. Once as Kokushi Muso (the monk) vs Hayashi, then another as Muto in 6 man legends match then this match.
    Gaora has it here:
     
     
    Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea (07/20): Ooohhh!!! This was great (and shown in full from TV)! 15 minutes of Kea & Tenryu beating the crap outta each other. The Kea vs Tenryu rivalry/angle is really slept on in my opinion. It's very much "younger" guy taking on the legend to prove himself. I think the angle really establishes Kea as a star that no other matchup could. See the 2001 matches & my reviews for context. This is the one to watch!!
    Arashi, Nobutaka Araya & Yuto Aijima vs. Yoji Anjo, Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura
    (AJPW PPV 08 30 2002): This was OK. It had no real flow but there's a couple neat moments and I liked the finish. I definitely believe they could have done better BUT I think the purpose of the match was to put over Nagai's roundhouse kick. You're probably not going to watch it so I spoiled the ending.
    Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo & Gran Naniwa vs. Johnny Smith & George Hines & Gran Hamada (08/30): Fun match but nothing you couldn't see elsewhere. It was cool that the heavyweight guys really put over Naniwa & Hamada's moves. Naniwa was actually the standout of the whole thing to be honest. Dr. Death & Hines were good too.
    Thanks for reading! Take care of yourself...take your health seriously. Things don't always get better on their own. If you've got some health concerns and are nervous about seeing a doctor then, talk to a friend, family member or co-worker. They might be able to help in some way. See if there's tele-health available to you or maybe there's a YouTube video that can help with your symptoms. Anything proactive is better than ignoring it OR thinking you're fucked & giving up at the start. And once you gets started, keep momentum. Starting is the hardest part so long as you keep doing the work. It sucks to have to confront this stuff... regardless if it's your health or a loved ones. But to be honest, you'll have to confront it sooner or later. I'm telling you that sooner is better... it sucks BUT it sucks less because you'll be saving yourself or others a ton of hassle and grief. OK that's my PSA! Hopefully that helps someone out there in webland...just if you're going through something similar, you're not alone
  10. G. Badger
    Things are starting to pick up with AJPW 2002. 
    Arashi vs Satoshi Kojima (04/01): Fantastic heavyweight battle! Arashi being a super heavyweight is fun. Cozy can basically hit him as hard as he wants. Arashi/Isao Takagi is big enough that he can toss and pummel Cozy with confidence. His sleeper hold looks great & don't forget his awesome frog splash! Exactly what you want in a 13 minute Carnival match. Maybe I'm getting old but, I'm really enjoying these shorter matches... there's no fluff.
    Tenryu vs Muto (04/01): Rough around the edges at times but in a good way. Muto bled and Tenryu was in his element - chops, punches and lariats. I am appreciating Muto's explosive offense more than I have in the past. It works here since he's fighting from underneath most of the time. What was also cool is Tenryu wouldn't let Muto capitalize on his dragon screw and kneecap drop kicks. My favorite bit was when he jabbed him in the jaw right when he was going to sink in the Figure Four. Nearly a great match... but at 14 minutes, I think that was their goal. Glad I saw this in full.
    Muto vs Kea (04/02): Whoa shown in full & pretty long too! It was pretty good too. The beginning with all the wrestling was excellent stuff. They transitioned into Kea working over Muto's leg the Muto working over Kea's leg. I think Muto could have sold his preexisting damage a little better especially given his tendency to spring up & attack. This honestly is what held it back from being a great match. The finish was nice and played off the parity they were selling. Kea looked really good here by the way.
    Kea vs Dr Death (04/03): Another match shown in full!? Sweet! More very good stuff. Doc tricks Kea from the outset and this is on. Solidly paced match with lots of good moves throughout. We even see Doc do some Muto like moves!
    Kojima vs Anjo (04/04): Really good match! Another edited one where I can't tell what was cut. Says it's 18 minutes but I saw 12 here. A little bit of dueling legwork. Nice to see Anjo as most of his Carnival matches are clipped to show the last minute or two.
    Muto vs Kojima CC (04/10): This isn't the final but it should have been and for my blog, it is the final Champion Carney match...the real final stinks. That said it isn't wrestled like a big time match but is totally unique. Muto's eschews his usual leg attack and instead opts to go after Kojima's arm. Kojima doesn't actually bring too much to the match and it feels a little phoned in...but again the victor has another match this night. 
    Kaz Hayashi & Jimmy Yang & Hi69 vs. Kazushi Miyamoto & Gran Naniwa & Ryuji Hijikata (04/13): Don't get me wrong there area few Jr. matches over this period of AJ that make TV. Most don't look worthwhile or shown in full but this one did...and it's probably Kaz Hayashi. And without a doubt the highlight is Kaz vs Gran Naniwa channeling Michinoku Pro '96 for a couple minutes. Jimmy Yang has some cool moves too...and everyone else looks good as well. This was fun!
    Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura (04/13): Was tempted to skip this for time but so glad I didn't! This was great! This was a tank emptying big time match with mid card guys. This reminded me of something you'd see in IWA Japan. There were some flubs but they make up for it in heart & intensity. I dug this one.
    Muto vs Tenryu (04/13): Pretty sure this is shown in full but it's not very long...another masterful AJPW edit? Perhaps... anyhow this isn't pretty but it's scrappy and full of twists. And that is what I want from a Tenryu match and even 2002 Muto as well. I thought this was great because of the twists and the little things they do.
    This 04/13 show feels like WAR lives on.
    Muto & Shinzaki vs Kojima & Hines (05/01): Muto is doing his monk persona so he and Shinzaki are a really cool looking tag team. Hines and Kojima aren't going to be out done. Hines is wearing Muto's pants and Kojima is the Great Kojika (Muta homage). About half shown...this was a lot of fun.
    Arashi, Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs. Keiji Muto, George Hines, & Kaz Hayashi 
    (AJPW TV 05/12): In a bit more fun, Hines & Hayashi are dressed as Muto. Kaz even has his head shaved! Team WAR doesn't give a fat crap! They will beat all of them up! This is a blast. Exactly the fun 11 minute 6 man match you want. Only thing missing is a super crazy Kaz dive but I'm not complaining
    Nothing too crazy this time but, a lot of enjoyable wrestling. Both Tenryu vs Muto matches are worth your time. But Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura (04/13) was probably my favorite match overall. I really enjoy the tone of AJ at this time...it's very much dream booking WAR.
    Thanks for reading! Stay safe!
  11. G. Badger
    Thanks for waiting  This wasn't a "quickie" blog post/watch...but for consistency I'll label it such.
    Now onto ASW V Night 2!
    No Holds Barred Match
    Joey Ryan vs. Kevin Steen - I'm not sure how I feel about having this booked first but they didn't make this an over-long match. It was heated and pretty brutal with some of the spots BUT it didn't feel like a hardcore spot fest. Steen can definitely get over indulgent with the brutality but I think it was just right here. If you legitimately don't like Joey Ryan, you might want to watch this. Great match

    -----
    Rocky Romero, Ronin & TJ Perkins vs. Karl Anderson, Lil Cholo & Nosawa - This was a fun match. I would have been happy with Rocky & TJ vs Lil Cholo & Nosawa though.

    -----
    Chris Hero vs. Davey Richards - I watched this after the comedy match below and I actually thought it was funnier. Davey was a riot This was a good match perhaps like ***1/2 stuff. In addition to the comedy, there was some good wrestling. They absolutely had lots left in the gas tank.

    -----
    Colt Cabana & Top Gun Talwar vs. Disco Machine & Kikutaro - I kinda passively watched it. It was funny in parts. I think Kikutaro vs Colt would have been better but again I half paid attention.
    Claudio Castagnoli vs. Alex Shelley - Unfortunately my disc has some flaw because after a few minutes of pretty good mat wrestling, the fucker locked up. I tried going to the next chapter/match and rewinding until I got to other side of the lock up but no dice which leads me to...
    Kaz Hayashi vs. PAC - Fortunately the disc issue wasn't with the whole rest of the DVD. But it's on 75%? of the Shelley/Claudio and 50% of this match. This one was a selling point along with the main event. Still I'd rather have a joined in progress match than none at all. And whoo doggy this was a great junior fireworks match from what I saw. PAC really is one of the standout wrestlers of 2024 for me. Lotsa big moves, cool counters and just about everything I wanted...except the first half of the match Hayashi had a great weekend in SoCal as did PAC.

    -----
    Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Arrogance (Chris Bosh & Scott Lost) - Pretty damn good match. Jack & Strong do some crazy double team moves here. Roddy hits Chris Gosh like he hates him. Scott Lost is as solid as ever. Jack only flubs one move but Bosh handles it perfectly by mocking Jack and using as an opportunity to tag in the fresh Scott Lost. It actually looked organic. The only bummer is we don't A clean finish because Super Dragon & Davey run-in and spoil it. Still it feels like a good ending
    El Generico (c) vs. Human Tornado - Very good match..I actually enjoyed this more than the Claudio/Tornado match from night #1. Generico and Tornado have good chemistry and I liked their 2 Skinny Black Dudes tag team. I didn't think that there was anything spectacular here but was well wrestled. Although Generico did a top rope Quebrada so that was pretty awesome. The spots with Candice were pretty creative without being downright nasty. Yeah this might have been a case of lowered expectations from the previous show with Tornado but I liked this
    Low Ki vs Samoa Joe - A hard hitting, serious affair. No PWG jokes here. That said this felt sorta dry even though the intensity was there. I honestly think the lack of internal story or stakes is what held this back from being a classic match. That said, that's the only drawback of the fight. This is the Ki vs Joe match you want to see. Near classic match.

    -----
    Woo-hoo! Finally got through this DVD. Man stuff is really touch and go from way day to the next with the family health stuff. Had a few chill days and was able to watch most of this very good show. Then having the time & mental energy to watch Joe vs Ki was a bit of a struggle. I'm glad I found the half hour or so to get it done. Anyway, hope you are doing well, take care and thank you for reading!
  12. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - Muto's AJPW - 2002

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    We're back with more wrestling action! Let's take a look at AJPW 2002!
    Arashi & Koki Kitahara vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Yoji Anjo (01/14/02): Almost got this mixed up thinking it was 2001...anyhow fun match here. Tenryu basically gets to hit Arashi as hard as he wants. Kitahara is badass as is Anjo who pulls out the shoot style moves to keep things spicy. 
    Kawada vs Hase (01/14/02): This is shown in full on the Gaora YT page below. Good to very good match. It wasn't fully developed though. Hase was only working part time so this felt more like a novelty rather than a challenge for Kawada. Don't get it twisted, this was really fun stuff - good mat wrestling at the start, nice strikes from both, suplexes. However, Hase wasn't really putting Dangerous K in trouble. In fact, it felt like he steam rolled the former Olympian in 13 minutes. Everything looked great though so if you're a fan of either guy then, you want to watch this!
    Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (02/24/2002) is one I highly recommend you watch. I know some people may not like it and I'm not a Muto devotee but I think it's a classic.
    Now we're on to the 2002 Champion Carnival!
    Kojima vs Mitsuya Nagai (03/23): 2nd half shown.. it was good but I think I missed the story aspects completely. Really dug Kojima's lariats!
    Muto vs Dr Death (03/24): Badass 15 minute Champion Carnival match! This was well paced & built. This match works because both guys are long in the tooth...down but not out at all. I don't have much else to add because this felt like a perfect TV episode main event match between two of AJ's biggest stars. It's got the build but it's not too long. It's got the moves but it's not all about them. Very good to great match. Gaora has shared this below. Stick around for the Dr. Death promo/interview at the end - RIP:
     
     
    Kea vs Rotunda (03/26): 1/2 shown which was about 30 minutes... and I thought this was a really good old school match. It could have taken place in 1984 in the best way. Don't know if this is available in full anywhere but what is shown was very enjoyable.
    George Hines vs Muto (03/26): Too damn short since it was a real quality headlock match. This could have went on a couple minutes more and I would have been happy.
    Kea vs George Hines (03/27): Another edited match but I have no idea where the cuts were. This has a lot more going on the the Muto one. Too short to call it very good but I really liked this one.
    Tenryu vs Dr. Death (03/27): Fun under 10 minute match! Mainly punches and chops. Of course they could have done more but I ain't gonna hate on it.
    Yoji Anjo vs Mitsuya Nagai (03/28): Only a third shown, it was rough around the edges but in a fun way. I'm not sure I want to see the full thing though But it sure was a battle.
    Muto vs Mike Rotunda (03/28): They said this was 13 minutes but this looked shown in full at around 8 minutes. Anyway, I liked this a bunch since 95% of it was wrestled like it was 1987 Over way too soon though but **spoiler** the Shining Wizard was the big move in wrestling.
    This is a very good start to the year. If nothing else the roster is really getting along well after 2001. More good stuff to come
  13. G. Badger

    Post #350 Spectacular!

    By G. Badger,


    From the Editor
    I never thought that I would have done 350 blog posts when I had started this. Doing the blog has helped me keep up with my wrestling watching. There's been times where there's been burnouts or I just don't have the time/energy to get any watching in. This blog has motivated me to keep up with the hobby. But I think my biggest motivation is to share my views with everyone reading... and not because I think I've got the best reviews out there I want to help spread the word about wrestling from years past. I think many PWO members feel this way too whether they acknowledge it or not. I'm also motivated to post to maybe provide that one review that convinces someone to check out a match/promotion/wrestler that they might have skipped over. As someone who got into older wrestling by reading reviews & comparing/collecting best-of lists, I understand the importance of these things. I feel like the heyday of this era is in the past...the peak was probably the 1990's Yearbook project here at PWO.  Still I think it's important to keep this practice going for new fans and old fans looking to get interested in new things. Additionally, I try to provide my honest my opinion based in my enjoyment rather than hard metrics. I used to do all of the star ratings and even have ratings from different aspects of a match like intensity, pacing, etc. But it just zapped all of the fun out of watching wrestling. I was a judge at competition rather than a fan having a good time. So there might be folks out there that cruise reviews for stars but, I seldom do that. Hopefully I keep my reviews short and to the point for even the time-cramped reader. 
    Speaking of which, I'm rambling. So thanks for reading this and posts past. Here I wanted to share an abridged collection of "best of" lists from the blog. These are some of my favorite projects from the blog. Anyone who is new or doesn't want to go back to the Best Match Watched posts should have most of the best stuff here. Rewatches, posts I made using old reviews but I thought were worth sharing aren't included. Also HM means honorable mention so if you're strapped for time you'd be forgiven if you skipped them But they are still really awesome so you've been warned Finally, my apologies for inconsistencies in the date/promotion format. There was a lot of copy/pasting, reorganizing and I just don't have the time to get these uniform. I think you'll be able to figure it out though.
    Tiger Mask I is absolutely worth checking out especially beyond his matches with Dynamite Kid. I think the hindsight "bad reputation" Tiger has gotten is from just how hard those matches were hyped. And don't get me wrong those are amazing matches at first but I've probably watched them all 5 times each. Only their final encounter holds up after multiple viewings. Some of my favorites are:
    Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (11/05/81)
    Tiger Mask vs Steve Wright (04/01/82)
    Tiger Mask vs Black Tiger (05/26/82)
    Tiger Mask vs Bret Hart (07/30/82)
    Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Black Tiger & Pete Roberts (08/27/82 NJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Pete Roberts (09/10/82 NJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (02/03/83 NJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid (04/21/83 NJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (06/02/83 NJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (07/14/83 NJPW)

    -----
    Early-mid 80's AJPW is really awesome stuff. I think it's a fantastic way for someone to get into old school wrestling or Japanese wrestling. You've got lots of legends and it's got a even mix of U.S. & Japanese stars. Then when Terry "retires", Brody is in NJPW and Riki & co. join for a few years, it feels like a brand new organization. Similar to the early days of NOAH or when Akiyama & co. go to AJPW in 2013. Here's the best of what I saw:
    Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (10/14/83)
    Dory Funk Jr. vs Stan Hansen (AJPW 11/28/83) 
    Baba & Dory Jr. vs Hansen & Brody (AJPW 12/10/83)
    Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84)
    Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (AJPW 08/26/84)
    Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (AJPW 12/08/84)
    Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) 
    Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) 
    Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 06/21/85)
    Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 06/21/85)
    Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)
    Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 08/31 aired       
      09/07/85)HM 
    Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (AJPW 10/21/85)
    Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 11/30/85)
    Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (AJPW 12/12/85)
    Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/12/85 aired 12/14) only 1/2    
    aired
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (04/12/86 AJPW)

    -----
    I think I'm most familiar with late 80's NJPW than an other New Japan time period. I took a look at '88 a few years back and it was a hoot! Tatsumi Fujinami is one of my favorites because of this year. I recommend watching these:
    Akira Nogami, Tatsutoshi Goto, K. Yamada, K. Hoshino & S. Koshinaka vs Hiroshi Hase, K. Kobayashi, Kensuke Sasaki, N. Honaga & H. Saito (04/27/88)
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader (04/27/88)
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu (05/27/88)
    Shiro Koshinaka vs Owen Hart (06/24/88)
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu (06/24/88)
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader (06/26/88)
    Riki Choshu vs Antonio Inoki (07/22/88)
    Shiro Koshinaka vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (8/08/88)
    Antonio Inoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami (08/08/88)

    I'm really glad that I've had the opportunity to dig into FMW. As an ECW fan in high school, FMW always seemed like the cooler cousin of ECW...if just for the Tanaka vs Awesome stuff. In my VHS days, I had BJW & IWA Japan stuff but not FMW. Eventually I got an Explosion Death Match comp tape. Then a few years later, I got the Highspots Hayabusa comp which was very good but not great as a taste of the true best of Hayabusa. So finally digging my teeth into the meat of FMW has been fulfilling. As garbage/hard core wrestling has fallen out of mainstream favor for a long while, I think the memory of ECW and FMW is fading. So I'm glad to keep the flame burning. I need to watch more but my absolute favorites so far are:
    Onita/Tarzan Goto vs M. Kurisu/Dragon Master [Kendo Nagasaki] (FMW 04/01/90)
    Tanaka, Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hido & Hosaka (FMW - Exploding Barbwire match - 09/01/96)
    Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Gannosuke (01/06/98 FMW)
    Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (03/13/98 FMW)
    Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (04/30/98 FMW)
    Jado & Gedo vs Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka (05/05/98 FMW) HM
    Hayabusa & Tanaka vs W*ing Kanemura & Kodo Fuyuki (05/27/98 FMW) HM
    Tetushiro Kuroda vs Masato Tanaka (06/19/98 FMW)
    Hisakatsu Oya vs Tetsuhiro Kuroda (12/12/98 FMW)
    Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/27/99)
    Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 03/19/99)

    -----
    Joshi is something I'd loved but eventually moved away from... thinking I'd seen all that I had wanted to see. It took me long time to come back to it but the blog has definitely reconnected me. I know some folks are not as interested in it as much the men's stuff but, I think you're missing out. If you're looking for things outside of "the usual" joshi must see's, try the following:
    Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (AJW 09/14/1987)
    Miss A & Harley Saito vs. Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama (JWP 10/10/90) HM
    Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (JWP 04/26/91) HM
    Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 08/30/92)
    Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 05/22/94)
    Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP 05/22/94)
    Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)
    Akira Hokuto & Toshie Uematsu vs KAORU & Kiyoko Ichiki (GAEA 01/19/97) HM
    Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa (AJW 06/18/97)
    Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 08/23/98)
    Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki (GAEA 04/04/99)
    LCO vs Hokuto and Ozaki (GAEA 09/15/99) HM
    Sonoko Kato vs. Meiko Satomura (GAEA 10/11/99)
    Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) 
    Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)
    Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita &    
      Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/9/00 - Cage Match) 
    Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa - (AJW 2/28/01 - Elim. Match)
    Yumiko Hotta, Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito, Tomoko Watanabe & 
      Momoe Nakanishi (AJW 04/01/01)
    Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura (03/11/01) GAEA - HM
    Akira Hokuto vs Meiko Satomura (04/29/01) GAEA
    Aja Kong & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Meiko Satomura & Toshie Uematsu (05/13/01) GAEA
    Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito (AJW 07/08/01)

    Early 2000's Puroresu
    I haven't seen it all but contrary to popular belief, early 2000's Japanese wrestling doesn't suck. Is it different than the greatest decade in modern wrestling (1990s) ? Yup but there's plenty of great wrestling to enjoy. I think the inter-promotional stuff is very interesting and although it would stay a part of puro, it was best when it was fresh & new. You might be familiar with a couple of these but there's a bunch that I think flew under the radar or have been forgotten about:
    Curry Man, CIMA & Super Boy vs Minoru Fujita, Shiryu II & Jody Fleisch (M-Pro 12/21/99) A few days short of 2000 but I'm counting it!
    Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori & Takashi Sugiura (06/16/01) NOAH
    Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (07/27/01) NOAH
    Jado & Gedo vs The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (M-Pro 08/19/01) HM
    Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa  (ZERO1  09/15/2001) HM
    Naomichi Marufuji vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa  (ZERO1 03/02/2001) hm 
    Shinya Hashimoto & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura (ZERO1 09/15/2001) HM
    Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 12/09/01)
    Vader vs. Jun Akiyama (12/09/01) NOAH - HM
    Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori (02/17) NOAH
    Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (02/17) NOAH - HM
    Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02/24/2002)
    Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW 07/17/2002)
    Jushin Liger/Minoru Tanaka vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - (8/29) NOAH
    Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama (09/23) NOAH
    Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama (09/23) NOAH 
    Shinjiro Otani vs Masato Tanaka (Zero1 07/31/02)
    Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue (01/10/03 NOAH) HM
    Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka (01/10/03 NOAH)
    Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama vs. Tsubasa & Black Buffalo (02/1/03 Osaka Pro)
    Ikuto Hidaka & Masao Orihara vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki (Differ Cup 2003)   
     HM
    Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takao Omori (AJPW 07/18/04) HM

    I'm very glad that I've been able to find and enjoy early ROH. I wasn't quite sure of what I was in store for as I wasn't sure just how developed some of guys were. And you can definitely see some chinks in their armor on some of the lesser known matches but, on the big recommended matches below, they delivered. As you can tell, there's a handful of guys working at that high level but the matches never seem repetitive. I threw in a couple other matches from IWA-MS may as have been in a ROH ring. Planning on picking up with my final 2005 DVDs. The list below has some usual suspects but I bet there's a couple that you don't know:
    American Dragon vs Low-Ki vs Christopher Daniels - Era of Honor Begins (2002)
    American Dragon vs Christopher Daniels  - Round Robin Challenge (2002)
    Daniels vs Low-Ki - Round Robin Challenge (2002)
    American Dragon vs Low-Ki - Round Robin Challenge (2002)
    Jerry Lynn vs AJ Styles -  Road to the Title (2002)
    American Dragon vs AJ Styles -  All Star Extravaganza (2002)
    Low Ki vs American Dragon vs Steve Corino vs Samoa Joe - Final Battle (2002)
    Bryan Danielson vs Paul London  (ROH - Night of the Butcher 12/07/02)
    Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Do Or Die – May 2003)
    Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels (ROH Glory by Honor II - September 2003)
    Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (ROH War of the Wire - November 2003)
    AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson (ROH Main Event Spectacles 2003)
    CM Punk vs AJ Styles (Tradition Continues 2003 ROH)
    Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, Night 1 07/23/04)
    Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TPI 2004 Finals 09/18/04 IWA-MS)
    Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero (TPI 2005 09/24/2005 IWA-MS) HM
    Low Ki & Homicide vs Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal (Punk: The Final Chapter 2005)

    -----
    FIP
    In it's original form as sister promotion to ROH, Full Impact Pro was actually pretty good wrestling. Things don't really pick up until 2006 in terms of great matches but once it does, it really feels like a companion to ROH rather than just another local indie (early matches were at a stripper bar and other depressing venues). I know that there's a few matches out there that I'd like to still see but these are the ones I'd recommend...if you're a Roderick Strong fan especially:
    Roderick Strong vs Jack Evans FIP Strong vs Evans (2005)
    Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Rave & Shingo (FIP New Year's Classic 2007)
    BxB Hulk and Yamato vs Roderick Strong and Jay Briscoe (FIP Third Year Anniversary 2007) HM
    Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong (FIP Heatstroke '07 Night 1)
    Roderick Strong vs Erick Stevens (Dangerous Intentions 2008 FIP)
    Erick Stevens vs Go Shiozaki (Heatstroke 2008 FIP)
    Go Shiozaki vs Roderick Strong (Fallout 2008 FIP)

    In a similar vein, I had been curious about Dragon Gate USA, which was an obvious creative offshoot of what Gabe S. was doing in ROH and even FIP. Turns out it was pretty good stuff. I can't say each show was awesome but there's probably a handful that I would definitely recommend. Instead, it was a promotion that depended a lot on a couple crazy under card matches and then a top shelf main event. But that can probably be said for a lot (most) promotions. These are all in the mix for best match watched for 2024 (see previous post for the complete list):
    Shingo vs Naruki Doi (Open the Historic Gate 2009) DGUSA - HM
    Davey Richards vs. SHINGO (Open the Ultimate Gate 2009) DGUSA
    Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Real Hazard (Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito) (Open the Ultimate Gate 2009) DGUSA
    Naruki Doi/Masato Yoshino vs Shingo/Dragon Kid (Open the Freedom Gate 2009) DGUSA - HM
    CHIKARA Sekigun (Hallowicked, Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush) & Masato Yoshino vs. KAMIKAZE USA (Akira Tozawa, Gran Akuma, Jon Moxley & YAMATO) (Enter the Dragon 2010) -DGUSA
    Bryan Danielson vs. SHINGO (Enter the Dragon 2010) DGUSA
    Bryan Danielson vs. YAMATO (Untouchable 2010) DGUSA
    Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw vs Naruki Doi/Pac (Uprising 2010) DGUSA
    Shingo/YAMATO vs CIMA/Dragon Kid (Uprising 2010) DGUSA - HM
    BxB Hulk vs Masato Yoshino (Uprising 2010) DGUSA 
    BxB Hulk vs Shingo (Bushido 2010) DGUSA
    Austin Aries vs Akira Tozawa (United Philly 2011) DGUSA
    Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk (United Finale 2011) DGUSA
    YAMATO vs Austin Aries (Mercury Rising 2011) DGUSA
    Masato Yoshino/Pac vs YAMATO/Akira Tozawa (Fearless 2011) DGUSA
    Akira Tozawa vs. Ricochet (Open the Ultimate Gate 2013) DGUSA - HM
    Akira Tozawa vs Shingo (Mercury Rising 2013) DGUSA - HM

    -----

    Big Japan Wrestling in the 2000's is definitely worth checking out. Big Japan was my first foray into Japanese death matches. It was good for the time but not outstanding. In just a few years, they really became worthwhile. That's something I can tell just from watching a few shows. It is something I'm going to be exploring more of. Zero One is another promotion that is one that I'll be watching more of. Here are my favorites so far:
    Abdullah Kobayashi vs Daisuke Sekimoto (07/22/05 BJW)
    Jun Kasai, Men's Teioh, Y. Miyamoto & Jaki Numazawa vs Abby Kobayashi, T. Sasaki, MASADA, Shadow WX (01/02/07 BJW)
    Takashi Sasaki vs Yuko Miyamoto - Scaffold and Light tube (BJW 03/14/07)
    Madoka & Kengo Mashimo vs Katsumasa Inoue & Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW 03/14/07) HM
    Takashi Sasaki vs Ryuji Ito: 300 light tube death match (BJW 07/08/07) 
    Daisuke Sekimoto vs Manabu Nakanishi (BJW 2007) Honorable Mention
    Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa  (ZERO1 09/15/2001) HM
    Naomichi Marufuji vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa  (ZERO1 03/02/2001) hm
    Shinya Hashimoto & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura (ZERO1 09/15/2001) HM
    Shinjiro Otani vs Masato Tanaka (Z-1 07/31/02)
    Masato Tanaka v Togi Makabe (Zero One 08/03/08)
    Masato Tanaka vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Z-1 08/02/15)


    -----
    There's a wealth of free NJPW small show matches from the very early 2010's posted officially on YouTube. They actually seem to have matches from the late 2000's to the early 2010's. Although I watched a good deal of these, I still have more I want to see. There's been a few diamonds in the rough:
    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Masato Tanaka (NJ 08/15/09 G1)
    AKIRA vs Kenny Omega - NJPW Best of the Super Jrs. (2010): HM
    Prince Devitt vs Gedo - NJPW Best of the Super Jrs. (2010)
    Nakamura, M. Tanaka, Takahashi & Naito vs H. Tanahashi, Makabe, Nagata & W. Inoue (NJ 12/04/10)
    Masato Tanaka vs Yuji Nagata (NJ 03/19/11)
    Special note:
    On Amazon Prime they are showing old (?) New Japan on AXS episodes from like 2015. A couple matches I have dug are:
    Okada vs Goto - New Japan Cup Finals (03/23/13): This was a great showing from Goto. And I actually enjoyed Okada more than just "he took good bumps and was OK to get beat up." He felt right in this match and in the Korakuen Hall setting. I thought it was a great match.
    Nakamura vs Tanahashi (01/04/14): This was a great match between the perennial rivals. I didn't think this went into high gear but damn it still was entertaining stuff. Good hard hits, neat moves and the entrances were the pros. The lack of substantial selling, kinda slow pacing and the Dome atmosphere were the cons. I think we could attribute the first two cons to this being in the Dome. Still great to see this in 2024 since so much has changed since then... Great match!

    Early 2010's AJPW is a gold mine especially once Akiyama and pals come over. I wish some of those Muto loyal guys that left would have stayed. I really think AJPW could have made a comeback in a big way. This period is really something special if you're into Misawa era NOAH, 06-08 ROH, etc. I think it's an excellent alternative to 2010's NJPW which was all the rage at the time.
    Sanada/Soya vs Yuji Okabayashi and Daisuke Sekimoto (03/21/11)
    Strong BJW vs SUWAMA/T. Soya (AJ 11/26/11)
    Strong BJW vs Get Wild (Omori & Manabu Soya) (AJPW 11/29/2011)
    Strong BJW vs Suwama & Takumi Soya (03/20/12 AJPW)
    Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs Takao Omori, Manabu Soya & Kaz Hayashi (02/10/13) HM
    Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (c) vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (03/17/13)  
    Suwama vs Go Shiozaki (04/18/13)
    Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (04/25/13)
    Minoru Tanaka, Koji Kanemoto & Hiroshi Yamato vs Atsushi Aoki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki (04/29/13)
    Jun Akiyama vs KAI (04/29/13) HM
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hiroshi Yamato (06/02/2013) hm
    Jun Akiyama and Go Shiozaki vs. Joe Doering and Suwama  (06/02/2013)
    Suwama & SUSHI vs Go Shiozaki & Kotaro Suzuki (07/21/13)  hm
    Akiyama & Shiozaki vs Omori & Suwama (2/3 falls 07/28/13)
    Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama vs. Suwama & Takao Omori (08/17/13)
    Go Shiozaki vs Suwama (Triple Crown, 08/25/13) 
    Kensuke Sasaki, Jun Akiyama & Go Shiozaki vs Suwama, Takao Omori & Kento Miyahara (08/31/13 Diamond Ring) hm I'm counting this one
    Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori vs. Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara (10/27/13)
    Joe Doering & Suwama vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori (AJPW - 02/08/14) hm
    Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori (Vacant Triple Crown Title - 06/15/14)
    Joe Doering (c) vs. Go Shiozaki (10/29/14 -Triple Crown Title)
    Burning Wild vs Xceed (11/29/14)
    Doering/Shingo vs Hino/Miyahara (12/04/14 Fortune Dream) I'm counting this one too


    -----
    I have kinda the same experience with early 2010's ROH that I've had with AJPW. I'm not saying every damn match & every damn show is awesome. I think cherry picking is definitely the way to go because I've been pleasantly surprised. In fixing the list up, I noticed I omitted a couple matches on my original list. So, I have added them here. This project is something I want to get back into this year with finishing up my 2015 DVDs.
    reDRagon vs The Briscoes (ROH 05/11/13 11th Anniv. Show)
    Eddie Edwards vs Matt Taven (ROH Honor in the Heart of Texas 06/01/13) HM
    Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole (ROH Honor in the Heart of Texas 06/01/13) HM
    Jay Briscoe vs Davey Richards (ROH Honor in the Heart of Texas 06/01/13)
    Eddie Edwards vs Kyle O'Reilly (ROH  Reclamation - Night 1 07/12/13)
    Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander vs Adam Cole, Matt Taven & reDRagon (ROH 10/26/13 Glory by Honor XII)
    Kevin Steen & the Young Bucks vs Michael Elgin & the Briscoes (ROH 03/07/14 Raising the Bar Nt. 1) 
    -Michael Elgin vs Roderick Strong (ROH Summer Heat Tour Cincinnati 2014)
    Roderick Strong vs Kyle O'Reilly (ROH Winter Warriors Atlanta 02/21/15)
    Briscoe Bros. vs Mike Bennett/Matt Taven (ROH Winter Warriors Atlanta 02/21/15)
    Bennett & Taven vs Ciampa & Hanson (ROH Winter Warriors Dayton 2015) HM
    Alberto El Patron vs Roderick Strong (ROH Winter Warriors Dayton 2015) HM
    Roderick Strong vs Silas Young (ROH - Conquest Tour 2015 - Hopkins) HM
    Briscoes vs War Machine (ROH - Conquest Tour 2015 - Hopkins) HM
    AJ Styles vs Roderick Strong vs Kyle O'Reilly (Aftershock Hopkins 2015 ROH)

    So that's it! Hopefully if you're a new reader, that gives you plenty to sink your teeth into. Go back and find the full reviews. Plus I left off all of the "great" and "very good" matches that really are the meat & potatoes for a wrestling fan. So go check those out too! If you're a regular or long time reader, thanks for your time & attention! I hope I've given you some laughs, ideas & inspiration. Hopefully I have kept some older stuff floating around in the collective community memory for a couple years longer.
  14. G. Badger

    Best Matches Watched of 2024...so far

    By G. Badger,


    From the Editor
    Sorry for the delay! I have had some family health issues that I've been dealing with the past couple weeks. I've got a few matches left to watch of PWG All Star Weekend V - Night 2 but it's probably not going to be ready for another week or so. Sorry if you're looking forward to that! In the meantime, it's time for the Best Matches Watched (thus far) for 2024. I've sorted things by year. It's all 2000's & 2010's. I definitely have to get some 80's stuff in this year...but anyhow HM stands for Honorable Mention, stars denote an all time classic...these are the front runners. I definitely recommend checking all of these out! Also I am going to use show titles/event names for American promotions since they are easier for you & me to track down than using the dates.
    2001
    Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura (03/11) GAEA - HM
    Akira Hokuto vs Meiko Satomura (04/29) GAEA
    Aja Kong & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Meiko Satomura & Toshie Uematsu (05/13) GAEA
    Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori & Takashi Sugiura (06/16/01) NOAH
    Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (07/27/01) NOAH
    Vader vs. Jun Akiyama (12/09/01) NOAH - HM
    2002
    Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori (02/17) NOAH
    Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (02/17) NOAH - HM
    Jushin Liger/Minoru Tanaka vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - (8/29) NOAH
    Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama (09/23) NOAH
    Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama (09/23) NOAH - HM
    2006
    Motor City Machine Guns vs Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black (All Star Weekend IV 2006 night 1) PWG
    No Remorse Corps vs. Kings Of Wrestling vs. MCMG vs. Super Dragon & B-Boy (All Star Weekend IV night 2) PWG
    2007
    El Generico vs. PAC (All Star Weekend V - Night 1) PWG
    2008
    Beer Money vs LAX - (Hard Justice) TNA
    *AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle (Hard Justice) - TNA*
    2009
    Shingo vs Naruki Doi (Open the Historic Gate) DGUSA - HM
    Davey Richards vs. SHINGO (Open the Ultimate Gate) DGUSA
    Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Real Hazard (Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito) (Open the Ultimate Gate) DGUSA
    Naruki Doi/Masato Yoshino vs Shingo/Dragon Kid (Open the Freedom Gate) DGUSA - HM
    2010
    CHIKARA Sekigun (Hallowicked, Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush) & Masato Yoshino vs. KAMIKAZE USA (Akira Tozawa, Gran Akuma, Jon Moxley & YAMATO) Enter the Dragon -DGUSA
    *Bryan Danielson vs. SHINGO (Enter the Dragon) DGUSA *
    Bryan Danielson vs. YAMATO (Untouchable 2010) DGUSA
    Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw vs Naruki Doi/Pac (Uprising 2010) DGUSA
    Shingo/YAMATO vs CIMA/Dragon Kid (Uprising 2010) DGUSA - HM
    BxB Hulk vs Masato Yoshino (Uprising 2010) DGUSA 
    BxB Hulk vs Shingo (Bushido 2010) DGUSA
    2011
    Austin Aries vs Akira Tozawa (United Philly 2011) DGUSA
    Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk (United Finale 2011) DGUSA
    YAMATO vs Austin Aries (Mercury Rising 2011) DGUSA
    Masato Yoshino/Pac vs YAMATO/Akira Tozawa (Fearless 2011) DGUSA
    2013
    Akira Tozawa (w/Christina Von Eerie) vs. Ricochet (Open the Ultimate Gate 2013) DGUSA - HM
    Akira Tozawa vs Shingo (Mercury Rising 2013) DGUSA - HM
    Although it's not represented on this list, I've really enjoyed early 2000's AJPW. Many of the classic matches were viewed in 2023. This year I'm watching the unsung stuff which has been fun especially since I am a fan of late 80's AJ & SWS/WAR. That said, I'm planning on working my way through 2002. Next I want to revisit ROH with a few shows from 2005 and perhaps 2015 as well.

    So yeah, if you're looking for something different to watch, check out some matches from the list. Thanks for taking a look!
  15. G. Badger
    Here's a couple teaser videos that PWG still has on their YouTube page:
     
     
     
    Not sure on video quantity but hey...it's better than some homemade music video from 2008, right?
    Now if you're interested, here's the reviews!

    Nosawa vs. Disco Machine - Good simple opening match. 
    Roderick Strong vs. Rocky Romero - This was really good stuff. It was hard hitting and while longer than you'd normally see a second match go, they never went crazy (unlike later PWG). This finish was a little sudden but again it's the second match of the night. So, they did their job and gave us a very good match without burning anyone out.

    -----
    Claudio Castagnoli vs. Human Tornado (w/Candice LeRae) - This is a good match but it could have been better as it was a little loose at times. The Tornado/Candice stuff was always in bad taste...and reminds me of a poor man's Jade Chung/Nana...which was also distasteful. 
    Matt Classic vs. Kikutaro - Colt...I mean Matt Classic & Kikutaro have a heck of a funny match! They are great together!

    -----
    Jack Evans vs. Kevin Steen - Really good stuff...lots of what you want from both guys - Flips from Jack and sick bombs/drivers from Steen. It's not as good as Strong vs Rocky but it's got the crazy moves whereas Roddy vs Romero was a more complete match.

    -----
    Frankie Kazarian, Ronin, TJ Perkins & Top Gun Talwar vs. Karl Anderson & The Dynasty (Chris Bosh, Joey Ryan & Scott Lost) Speaking of Jade Chung, she's accompanying the Dynasty. And her presence is the best part of this...TJ Perkins vs Scott Lost is pretty good but this got old quick.
    Alex Shelley vs. Kaz Hayashi - I'm sure that if they had a couple more matches together they could produce a classic or two. Not sure that ever happens... Anyhow what we have here is pretty damn good. It's high level '07 junior wrestling... it's really notable how they don't run through their moves & spots like would become common practice. Everything has weight to it. It definitely could have been a Battle of LA match for instance. Excellent false finishes, excellent pacing...honestly this was right on the border of being a great match. I think it does sorta have that middle "work a limb" that doesn't really matter but Shelley doesn't blow it off even at the very end. I think if they called back to it a little bit then this would have propelled it to greatness. In all fairness, this is third from the top so, I think it's not that big of a deal. I dug this a bunch

    -----
    Low Ki vs. Davey Richards - Lemme say that stoogey (?) heel Davey Richards is always fun. I'm not sure how much we see him later in his career but early Davey hamming it up is underrated. Anyway, this is a great match with lots of excellent mat wrestling and of course striking. They kept this simple and it was all the better for it. This was exactly what you want from these two.


    -----
    El Generico vs. PAC - Classic PWG title match. Heck I don't need to qualify it with "PWG title match." It's a straight up classic match. It is very much a go for broke, empty the gas tank with the pedal to the metal match. PAC is excellent as always and he hits everything perfectly despite doing some of the most insane stuff. No knock on Jack Evans but he's been replaced with a better model. Honestly I think Ricochet is/was redundant if on the same show as PAC. Anyhow, PAC is one step ahead of Generico. He's pulling counters and reversals out of thin air... which is usually something that the Generic One does. He's got to stop the Brit with brute force.
    This was a really good show. The weak bits were those featuring the owners/ SoCal regulars...but not all of them so I'm hoping their matches are better Night #2. This is definitely worth picking up on DVD. Night 2 review is coming up!
     
    Thanks for reading!
  16. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - 2001 - Part 1

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    The 2000 AJPW matches were very encouraging. I'm going to keep watching All Japan into 2001. Call me crazy but this is fun stuff! Again, tag team matches are going to be featured and they really are the bread and butter of this period of AJPW. Since there's a full years worth of wrestling, I'm going to do this in two parts.
    Taiyo Kea & Mohammed Yone vs. Masahito Kakihara & Mitsuya Nagai (01/02): This looked good on paper but I wasn't feeling it at all. It's kinda aimless and there's no inherent excitement. Plus they don't really generate any energy with a good story or neat moves. I think a Kakihara vs Kea match would have been good to very good. This was just OK.
    Hiroshi Hase vs. Masanobu Fuchi (01/02): A little bit of comedy but still some quality wrestling. Of course we only get a portion but I would have liked to see more of the early stuff. Glad to see Hase. It's been awhile!
    Masanobu Fuchi, Nobutaka Araya, Shigeo Okumura & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Masahito Kakihara, Mitsuya Nagai, Mohammed Yone & Taiyo Kea (01/10/01): That's a lot of 0's and 1's Anyway this is a really good elimination Tag endurance match. So it's a series of different tag matches with the man who gets pinned/submitted must leave and a new team member replaces him. Blah blah it's cool. The teams don't make a bunch of sense to me. But maybe Kea's team has something to do with the above tag match? What keeps this from being great is there's just not enough Kawada and too much Okumura (who isn't bad but isn't Dangerous K). Also there's probably not enough Kea vs Kawada either. You want to see your big star captains square off but it really doesn't happen. I don't think there's any meaning behind this bout other than a New Year novelty match. I saw the full version (40+ min) but there's a clipped version too. You would be OK watching the clipped one I think. Kakihara and Fuchi doing some shoot style stuff and Fuchi face punching Nagai were my favorite parts btw.
    Masanobu Fuchi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Johnny Smith & Taiyo Kea (01/14): 24 minutes long and shown in full on the New Year Giant Series commercial tape. Very good tag match between AJ's's top old school teams. It didn't really seem to have a fourth gear but every one looked pretty good nonetheless. It was a very hard fought match. They are definitely giving Kea a push and I'm all for it
    Taiyo Kea & Johnny Smith vs. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo (02/24) : We only get the the last third but it's quite enjoyable stuff. In this format, this would be a very good TV match in the States at about 7 minutes shown.
    Taiyo Kea vs Tenryu (03/03): Sadly only 8 of 20 minutes are shown. So I'm hesitant to say this is great but I really liked what was shown. Nice little touches from Tenryu and Kea. Kea definitely is showing he belongs in the upper echelon of AJPW. Quality strike exchange here where you can actually hear Tenryu's punches landing!
    Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuya Nagai (03/03): This is exactly what I was looking for. Nagai & Kawada do an excellent shoot-flavor match. The hit the crap outta each other. Nagai whiffs on a head kick and grazes Kawada on the next and wisely never does another. This is in the first minute and the recover wonderfully. Ultimately it's one of those younger guy showing he's got toughness by withstanding the vet's attacks. Since they work this like a MMA type match, Nagai is still getting shots in and is hurting Kawada without necessarily doing anything significantly damaging. I don't want to say it's great but yeah it's pretty damn close to being great. More singles matches like this please!
    Taiyo Kea vs Tenryu (04/11): 8 of 17 minutes shown. This was also really good stuff. It didn't have the great strike exchange but they have good chemistry. I think if we see the full thing we might have some added drama here but as it is Taiyo trying to take on the legend Tenryu yet again.
    Dr. Death & George Hines vs Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (04/14/01): A great keep it simple stupid match. About 15 minutes of action where the crowd was going nuts seeing the NJ team in an AJ ring plus taking on Dr. Death who was still pretty awesome. Having watched a good deal of NOAH stuff at this time...man it would have been sweet to see Dr. Death vs Akiyama in a title fight. George Hines is pretty good too...awesome drop kick and lariat...wouldn't mind seeing more of him. 
    Also recommend Toshiaki Kawada vs. Keiji Muto (04/14/2001) as it's a great match. So on those two matches, A pretty good night of wrestling.
    Nobutaka Araya & Shigeo Okumura vs. Masato Tanaka & Hideki Hosaka (05/20): Holy crap! ECW/FMW era Tanaka was in AJPW! And they showed the full thing! I would have liked him up against a couple bigger status guys but Araya & Okumura step up and have an excellent showing. It's not ground breaking but it's great stuff... especially if you're a Masato Tanaka fan. This was a treat!
    Taiyo Kea & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara (05/20): Sadly 5 of 18 shown...and I'm not sure we need 18 minutes of Goto & Ohara but this was very solid... brawling in the stands, good action...this felt like a late 70's-early 80's match in the best way but then again we get only 5 minutes. Glad to see more Hase
    Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Masa Fuchi vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Masahito Kakihara (05/20): Another one that's pretty truncated but it was fun. I'm not sure I wanted to actually see this whole thing but at 5-6 minutes, it's neat. If they did more shoot flavored stuff then I think this could have been something.
    Should have Part 2 next week!  Should have some Gaora footy too. Thanks for reading!
  17. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - Post Split - 2000

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    I'm not really sure why I watched these matches. This is a notoriously poorly rated year for AJPW. I don't think many people have thought highly of AJPW after the NOAH exodus. And as a result, I don't believe there's been a good consensus of if AJPW was ever any good post July of 2000. Sure there's been a handful of matches that have gotten some hype and even some wrestlers but I think Western fans have gone elsewhere. I've done some projects in the past looking at early 2010's AJPW (which when originally intended to be completed was actually timely). I found that not only was it good/watchable but it was pretty great. I'm never one to be completionist or do super deep dives...if you've read my blog you know that I watch the stuff that interests me. I favor matches that have wrestlers that I like. And ultimately all of that is what led me here. Post split AJPW has a bunch of Kawada, Tenryu, Masa Fuchi, Dr. Death Steve Williams and even Mike Rotunda. I'm willing to give these a shot. I know from others that there is some quality amongst the junk. The good thing about 2000 All Japan is that the junk is spray painted safety orange with big "do not watch" stickers tacked on the sides. They were booking anyone who would show up for the undercard. I am also favoring tag team matches as these feature the best looking matches. So per usual I am cherry picking and let's get started!
    Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu VS Stan Hansen & Maunakea Mossman (07/23/00): I am not sure if  it's a great match but this is way better than it had any right to be. Mossman gets a big push out of necessity. Hansen can still do mean & stiff. Tenryu is doing his thing. I feel like Kawada is dejected (rightfully so)...like all of this is a step down for him and you can tell his heart isn't in it here...but he still gives a very good effort.. don't get me wrong. And the match is really good and I really dug the last few minutes. 
    Genichiro Tenryu, Nobutaka Araya & Toshiaki Kawada v Johnny Smith, Mike Barton & Stan Hansen (08/20/00): Joined in progress with only the last third shown. It was good at times but also very random feeling with Barton/Bart Gunn especially since he pinned Kawada. Again, Kawada is almost getting punished for staying with AJPW...
    Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Steve Williams & Toshiaki Kawada (09/02/00): This was actually pretty good especially when Tenryu was in. Hansen was done by this point... he was still pretty good a year earlier with Vader but at least here he no longer seems to have it. It's pretty crazy they wanted these guys to work a nearly 30 minute match. I only saw half so maybe he looks better earlier. Tenryu vs Kawada was great and definitely a prelude to their October classic.
    Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams (10/14/00): Half shown, good match but weird pacing as Williams' back or ribs were injured. For 2000 post split, it's worth a watch though. It's different but still good...
    Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen (10/21): Stan is really done here...he's clearly in a ton of pain from the wrestling. It's a good match though because Tenryu works within Hansen's limits. Its mainly chops, punches and other things Stan can just stand or lay there for. Early on they are much more mobile but even at 11 minutes it's too much for the Lariat. He's fighting from underneath the whole match but Hansen is the best at that so this actually makes the match look competitive and real.
    Satoshi Kojima & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Steve Williams & Nobutaka Araya (10/21): This is cool...I didn't realize they started the AJ vs NJ stuff this soon. I know they tip toe into it at the end of the year. That's when we get the awesome Kawada vs Nagata tag match in December in NJ. The crowd is going crazy. It's only 11 minutes but man this is fun. Doc is much better than in the Kawada match and he vs Kojima is really good. They have a couple minutes where he looks like the Dr. Death of old. Goto and Araya do their part (Araya being more interesting) and we get a good little match. More Doc vs Kojima please!
    Masa Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Shiro Koshinaka & Masa Fuchi (10/21): Very good 6 man match. The NJ team (Team 2000) was actually pretty dynamic and did quite a few moves compared to what the AJ team did. Kawada was the most exciting man for his team which you you wouldn't think since we're used to the bigger stars taking a back seat in these types of matches. In actuality, there was quite a bit of Kawada vs Chono and that is what I wanted. Of course it's only 17 minutes and the middle portion is your punch & stomp variety but it works. This really is preamble for bigger things to come so I was never expecting anything mind blowing. It definitely delivered upon expectations (AJ vs NJ skirmish) and went a little above by giving us some good Chono vs Kawada moments... which I'm not sure we got many more of those.
    Jinsei Shinzaki & Masahito Kakihara vs. Taiyo Kea & Mohammad Yone (10/28): Only half aired but I really liked what was shown. What's weird is about 6 of the 8 minutes shown was the first 6 minutes... and it was really good. They started working over Kea's taped up ribs and back...then it skipped to the last couple minutes and was over. Kinda a bummer since it was starting to get good. 
    Toshiaki Kawada/Masanobu Fuchi vs Taiyo Kea/Johnny Smith (11/18/00): This is on the Gaora site so I'll share it below. Even they have it joined in progress...very much a theme with the TV as you can tell. But they have most of the match and thank goodness as this is really really good stuff. Kea vs Kawada is fantastic...their kick exchanges especially. Johnny Smith is also excellent... I think Dangerous K is out of his funk by now. I like having Fuchi as his partner because it protects everyone in a business sense. Like a few months ago Kawada & Taue would have eaten this team for breakfast but there's parity with Fuchi as his regular partner.
     

    Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya  (12/06/00): Great 20+ minute tag match. This is almost like an alternate universe match if Tenryu didn't leave AJPW in '90. Because of the exodus, we get to view this match (as well as the Tenryu vs Kawada singles title fight). They are wrestled almost as if the Misawa era did not take place. It feels like you could draw a straight line from 1988-90 heavyweight AJPW to this. Since I am a big fan of that period, I dug the heck outta this. If you liked their singles match then this is a must see. Fuchi clearly was wasted during the later 90's as he is a face punching, bone grinding SOB still. He and Kawada continue to be an excellent team...again calling back to the early 90's. Tenryu has the young but burly Araya under his wing. There's an interesting balance struck based on size, experience, rank etc. This makes for a really great tag match...everyone had to be beat up by the end of it...like a Wahoo vs Valentine match.
    Taiyo Kea & Johnny Smith vs. Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda  (12/09/00): Oh man other than that one flub in the beginning, this was a very good match. Keeping it simple, keeping the intensity up, yeah this was on its way to maybe being great but they had to keep it short since they're wrestling again this night. Williams/Rotunda are good...surprisingly good in '00.
    Genichiro Tenryu & Mitsuya Nagai vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Mohammad Yone (12/09): This one almost was missed. It's a little bit shoot style, a little bit WAR...there's nothing to hate here. Maybe there's not the epic Tenryu vs Fujiwara elements you're looking for but Yone & Nagai truly make up for it. Yone doesn't get enough love past some BattlArts stuff and I seem to be the only person who actively is excited to see Mitsuya Nagai matches... which is a shame. Neat little stuff like this is why I comb through some of these long TV episode uploads
    Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs. Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda (12/09/00): RWTL final. A great tag match with Kawada trying to beat the Varsity Club all by himself. Eventually he's got to tag Fuchi in. But dammit Fuchi holds his own...again we missed out on Fuchi in the mid & late 90's. This is probably the top Doc performance of 2000 where he & Kawada seemed right at home together. Rotunda is someone who I wish we had in 90's AJPW. He's been an excellent addition to the 2000 AJ roster. He's not spectacular but is solid as a rock. This isn't going to make anyone's top RWTL list BUT it's a great improvement from where they were in July...not only that but AJ actually is pretty damn interesting &  has a few quality tag teams. 
    I think that's my big take away for this project. The tag team landscape is great... perhaps unspectacular compared with the NOAH guys but the matchups are fresh... nothing feels set in stone, no outcome seems predictable. It's definitely a company in flux. The tag scene (sans Steele & Barton who's absence you might have noticed) is really where AJPW is thriving post split. I would say the only singles match worth watching is that Kawada vs Tenryu classic from October. But there's plenty of tag stuff that has not gotten the love it deserves especially if you're into late 80's AJPW/SWS/WAR like I am. 
    My favorites were:
    Satoshi Kojima & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Steve Williams & Nobutaka Araya (10/21)
    Masa Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Shiro Koshinaka & Masa Fuchi (10/21)
    Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs Taiyo Kea & Johnny Smith (11/18)
    Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya  (12/06)
    Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs. Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda (12/09/00)
    I'm definitely going forward with this to look more at early Muto's AJPW in 2001.
    Thanks for reading!
  18. G. Badger
    The YouTube account that had the DGUSA matches also has a bunch of PWG. Way too much if you know what I mean. But I was able to narrow it down to a few matches by the Motor City Machine Guns over the years. It's not complete or anything just some stuff I wanted to see.
    Sabin vs Shelley (Hollywood Globetrotters 2006) - Pre Machine Guns...Shelley with two tone hair and Sabin with the alien on his trunks, yes! This was probably more towards Sabin's style (and the MCMG style) as opposed to Shelley's. Poetry in motion opening. But, whew! this was a great match. Lots of good back and forth stuff. Their familiarity with one another is clear and they are able to work some pretty complex stuff. I don't think there was a story or drama but this was a great athletic contest type match. 
    vs Jimmy Jacobs vs Tyler Black (All Star Weekend IV 2006 night 1) - Dream match fulfilled... this was a classic in my book. Having watched all that Dragon Gate, this totally is in the same league! I loved the Shelley vs Jimmy stuff...playing off their history together. Anyways, the last couple minutes sealed the deal. If you're hoping this is worth your time then you gotta see this!
    No Remorse Corps vs. Kings Of Wrestling vs. MCMG vs. Super Dragon & B-Boy (All Star Weekend IV 2006 night 2) - Hahaha! This is bananas in the best way! The built this thing with care. The first section was all mat and chain wrestling. Then they went into more advanced stuff like suplexes, slams and some double team stuff. It was simple timeless stuff and every once in awhile they would throw something modern (for 2006) in there. Or a fan service spot.. it is PWG after all. Then the final portion was your bat shit fireworks finale. I think if I had to pick a favorite pairing, it was Kings of Wrestling vs Motor City but, everyone was killing it. Super Dragon vs Davey (with their history) was the especially stiff and where the story of the match was. I thought this was a classic. The Guns killed it this weekend in Reseda
    vs Young Bucks (Ninety Nine 2009) - A very good to great match. The Bucks at this time kinda have a set program of spots so I wasn't really surprised by anything they did but the Guns were looking great. Of course there are a couple moves you'd expect from the but they mixed things up a bit. And they did things that look like they hurt...like all of those kicks...damn! I think it was over a little too quick... like the finish didn't feel earned considering what just came beforehand. In other words, the wrong team won. But it's all good, this was a bunch of fun. Just don't expect a lot of actual tags, I think I remember like one tag, so Dragon Gate rules...thankfully I'm pretty used to it recently.
    vs Danielson & Strong (DDT4 2009) - A dream match fulfilled again! A great match. It was simply awesome at times. It's great to see the Guns get the time to go all out. Dragon & Roddy is one of those rare pairs that you can't believe didn't happen sooner. I remember this at the time. Hybrid Dolphins was their tag name I wasn't crazy about the finish but the crowd was & you might be too so I definitely recommend this one.
    Pretty sweet batch of matches here. The bouts from the ASW IV events were the best. Thanks for reading!
  19. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Dragon Gate USA - 2011

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    Sorry for the delay! I figure with Mania & the solar eclipse people would have some diversion for a few days. So I gave myself a couple more days to cover Dragon Gate USA for 2011. This is pretty much the end of the beginning for DGUSA. Although it rarely was simply Dragon Gate in the U.S. only, this early period really does focus on the Japanese talent being the centerpiece of the promotion. 2010 sees the formation of the Ronin stable which despite being a Japanese word/concept is comprised of Americans. The guys (Gargano, Taylor, Swann) are in essence the future of the company. Although my reviews don't show it Sami Callihan also is coming to prominence along with other indie talent of this era. The cards on a whole are more independent wrestling with some DG guys vs Dragon Gate USA. Personally I think this is at least one reason the company got absorbed by Gabe's other group Evolve. But I am just giving some background on this as we look at some of the best of DGUSA in 2011.

    Masato Yoshino/Pac vs CIMA/Dragon Kid (United NYC 2011) - Yeah that was a sick finish! And this was a great match overall. It wasn't trying to be a barn burner from start to finish and I can appreciate that as this was a 20 minute match. Eventually they kicked it into high gear and it was flawless. The PAC/Yoshino team is insane. And while I have seen a good bit of the Kid/CIMA team they are kinda the gold standard for teams in DGUSA. They have the moves, the character, the history etc. 
    Austin Aries vs Akira Tozawa (United Philly 2011) - Wow! That was a fantastic match. The pacing was just excellent... there was action yet also included a bit of comedy & a touch of shenanigans. They seamlessly worked all of that in without losing momentum. Tozawa and Aries are a great pairing. They both have that jack-of-all-trades/all-arounder style - hard hits, explosive, unorthodox attacks etc. I'm going to be conservative and say this was a near classic. But part of me wants to say "classic"...it just hit everything perfectly at around 15 minutes.
    Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk (United Finale 2011) - Tozawa is getting booked into the big matches and he is delivering. This is another one I'd put in the near classic category. This was so very stiff and intense. I don't think that the pacing was a excellent as the Aries match but the ferocity exceeded the previous bout. Hulk just unloaded on Akira. However he got it right back...a couple of those bicycle kicks were nasty! As were his elbow strikes. Tozawa is on a roll in 2011. Let's hope he keeps it up! This looks to be the last BxB Hulk match that I have so big shout out to him. He can be spotty at times but when with the right opponent he can be absolutely fantastic in this style of wrestling.

    Mercury Rising 2011
    PAC vs Akira Tozawa - Great match but not as great as the previous two bouts with Tozawa. Early on this was on track to be better by the fact that there were some organic moments that made this look damn real. I think what prevents this being a near classic is the pacing. This thing was in 3rd gear the whole time. And had it really gone to 4th gear then I think that would have helped. Or had it built up to a 4th gear... that too would have been good. It seemed to lack an urgency or a real intensity. I guess they wrestled the night before (oh this is when they started doing the Wrestlemania double shot weekends) so that comes across here a lil' bit. Still you might really dig this and I'm a fan of PAC & Tozawa so I'm liking it too.
    YAMATO vs Austin Aries - The only thing that would have made this better was a submission victory. And don't believe they weren't going for those way later in the match than you would have thought but, a submission win would have sealed the deal on this being an all time classic. It is damn close. As good as Tozawa vs Aries was Aries vs YAMATO is an even better pairing. This is more on the technical side of Aries' talents and I dug it. It's like Aries vs Danielson in that the technical wrestling sets the foundation of the match. And more so than "oh let's work a body part." Here and in the best matches, we're reminded that wrestling holds hurt and end matches & and win titles. When the wrestlers treat them seriously then we do too. And then we in turn treat everything else a little more seriously as well. One mistake, one wrong step can end it. That's the story you're telling whether the match ends like that or not. That's always in the back of your mind. This match does that... some of my favorite matches do that. You could say, "they didn't sell the leg work enough" and I would say you're over thinking things. You're watching with you head and not your heart here. They don't blow the work off, they are limping, staggering, staying on the mat longer. They are hurt but not incapacitated. It is a thin line to walk but they walk it. This is a classic match. It's more in that golden era ROH style despite it taking place in a Dragon Gate USA ring in 2011.

    Fearless 2011
    Austin Aries vs Johnny Gargano - Very good match...there were moments that this was actually pretty great. I'm docking points for when Gargano is on offense. There's that "why do the same move simply when I can do it fancy" indie tendency. Like everything has to be a signature move type habit...and it comes across as you're not trying to hurt the opponent to win the match or exact revenge... it's like you're performing. He seems to be a fast learners so I'm hoping he grows out of this. I remember watching some later DGUSA where he was the ace and I think he'd greatly improved. All that said, this was a very good TNA style main event match (if you catch my drift). A review I read elsewhere comments on how Johnny sold the shoulder (which was taped up) and that contributed to the quality of the match. Hell if I could tell because that's news to me! I watched this with the sound off so I suspect there was a bit of announcers doing the storytelling. Be that as it may, this was still pretty good. 
    Masato Yoshino/Pac vs YAMATO/Akira Tozawa - Holy crap! This was sweet! One of those matches where it builds from pretty good -> great -> classic match by the time the bell is rung. I thought Yoshino was taking the night off but, I guess he was just conserving energy. Pac did a phenomenal job here as he really did the lion's share of the work during the early & middle portions of the match. I would say Yamato & Tozawa shared their duties pretty equally. Things picked up in the final portion and it really elevated this to a classic. Glad I got to see another Pac/Yoshino match as well as more Yamato & Tozawa.
    CIMA vs YAMATO (Untouchable 2011) - Now we're talking! A match with a injured limb story. This reminds me of a '06 Danielson title defense match. Yamato is Danielson here...not flashy but patiently brutal. He's taking his lumps, waiting to punish his opponent for their mistake. CIMA is that flashy, confident challenger. He's got an attack for every situation and every angle. CIMA is the one you're looking at. He's doing the cool moves and eventually he's doing the heavy selling. And that is what makes this great. A lot of times Danielson is doing the selling where his opponent often doesn't do enough to get their pain across. Here CIMA, the senior, does a fantastic job selling his pain. He delays his follow ups, he's constantly trying to get his joint to pop into place or adjust his protective gear to optimize support. But he never over does it and it allows him to still wrestle an exciting Jr. style match. Which is fantastic as YAMATO makes him pay for that decision I additionally enjoyed how much like Danielson didn't focus all of his efforts on that one injury. He eventually transfers his aggression to another body part after his opponent's defenses have been compromised.

    Way of the Ronin 2011
    Johnny Gargano vs Naruki Doi - I'm not gonna lie, this is a "let's run through a bunch of moves" match. This is a high level version of that indie tendancy. But it still is what it is. And this isn't what I'd call a fireworks match either. Just like a fireworks display, there's a build to a finish. And the dueling chants by the fans...ugh...it was interesting back in the late 90's & early 2000's because it really felt organic. Like you were actually rooting for a wrestler even if it still corny..this is the beginning of the end with chants...I fucking am so over fans being marks for themselves. It's the biggest turn off of modern wrestling and this is a great example. It's the equivalent of the beach ball at a concert. Like, are you not entertained? Ugh...I'm not anymore...Nearly gave up to on this one. I did not like this. It was OK but they had no transitions between control and Gargano would just do a fucking flurry of fancy moves right after taking a beating. You what know dude...do a fucking scoop slam, a snap mare, suplex or two...maybe try a Boston crab or a sleeper hold. This was junk food wrestling at its worst. Matches like this are why I stayed away from this at the time. This reminds me of that Teddy Hart vs Jack Evans match where all they do is crazy shit for 15 minutes. This is not encouraging for my DVD which features Johnny vs Shingo...
    Masato Yoshino/Pac vs CIMA/Ricochet - I was thinking this was pretty good... probably too many crazy moves in the middle...like having Pac & Ricochet in one match is a bit much...I'd gladly take Pac btw...no goofy selling & mannerisms like Ricochet...but when it got to the end it was great. They focused things so the action meant something and felt dramatic. There was even a bit of shenanigans but what easily could have sunk the match actually helped it. Not as great as the other Masato Yoshino/Pac tags but, still worth your time.
    That was a great way to end this little side project. 2011 was still looking very good for DGUSA...at least in the big match department. I very much stayed away from the US indie talent if you couldn't tell. That generation of wrestler is kinda when things started to sour in my opinion. I was probably a little harsh since I enjoyed them on the DVDs I own. To be fair, I really wanted to see the Japanese talent. That's the whole reason I was ever interested in DGUSA along with seeing them go up against the top US (former ROH) talent like Bryan, Davey & Aries. These matches have exceeded my expectations. I have really enjoyed the '09 - '11 period of the promotion. Gargano is still a work in progress. In a tag setting, I think his shortcomings are less noticeable but Gabe strapped a rocket to him. In fact, he defeats Yamato for the title at the very end of 2011...which is bullshit and am glad I didn't see this. Ricochet, while irritating, is a heel now and wisely is paired with the veteran CIMA.  For 2011, if you're an old ROH fan and haven't checked any of this stuff out OR maybe only saw a match or two of these guys in ROH, I'd recommend digging a little deeper. The Dragon Gate natives are absolutely the reason to seek this stuff out. Everything from this post and last is online (for a limited time probably) but, many of the DVDs are available on eBay. 
  20. G. Badger
    I've really been digging the 2009-2010 Dragon Gate USA shows that I've purchased. So I thought to look online to see if there's any other well regarded matches available. And wouldn't you know it, there's a bunch! I'm pretty sure the account that's posted them will be taken down imminently so I'm jumping on the opportunity. Below is a kind of "best of" watch list from what's available. I've used a couple sources like Cagematch as well as my own preferences to guide my selections. I'll list the show title and year as a header. Then, I'll have the match ups for that show. Let's look!
    Open the Historic Gate 2009
    Shingo vs Naruki Doi - Hell yeah! This was an excellent battle. I think Doi & Shingo are pretty evenly matched. Shingo might have more strength but Doi is a tad faster. There's a good portion where they do some leg work but they just kinda move on past it. It's typical of NJPW juniors and it's no different here. It's what holds it back from being a classic but they put effort into it (doesn't feel like going through the motions) and they don't spend too much time on it. That's to say, it's not a story point. I feel the story is more about two of Dragon Gate's most explosive wrestlers squaring off. Near classic battle. Sick finish too!
    Young Bucks vs CIMA/Susumu Yokosuka - So much fringe & tassel! Beyond that, this is an absolute balls to the wall Bucks spot smorgasbord! Where this gets great is the awesome stuff that CIMA & Yokosuka bring to the match. They just gel flawlessly with each other. I've seen this called a classic but I won't go that far as we've seen the Bucks build off this framework since 2009. Still this is non-stop "tag rules be damned" wrestling. 17 minutes of exactly what you want.
    Definitely a great start to the promotion!
    Open the Freedom Gate 2009
    Naruki Doi/Masato Yoshino vs Shingo/Dragon Kid - I might have said this elsewhere but Doi & Yoshino vs MCMG is a match that made me get excited about newer wrestling... that was a TNA Impact match from '08. Go look that up on the 'tube So for a minute here I thought this was going to a very good but by the numbers tag match. I'm pretty familiar with the Speed Muscle tag spots just like I'm familiar with the Young Bucks'spots. They are still impressive and exciting but I know'em when I see 'em. What keeps this fresh is Shingo & Kid screwing with those spots...cutting them off, countering etc. One I really dug was seeing Shingo absorb Doi's rapid fire slaps and firing back with a stiff punch to the jaw. I haven't seen anyone do that... it's simple but surprising. In addition to that we get great escalated spots where moves normally done are now done off the turn buckle, off the ropes etc. They were a little slow going in the beginning and I think it was to make this longer (it's almost 20 minutes) but when they got cooking, there was no stopping them. I would say this was a near classic DG tag match. 

    Mercury Rising 2010
    BxB Hulk/Naruki Doi/Masato Yoshino vs CIMA/GAMMA/Dragon Kid - This was pretty good but it definitely felt like a level below their very best stuff. It felt slower and looser than the top notch DG 6 man matches or tags. I think we could have settled for Yoshino and Doi vs CIMA and Dragon Kid. But we sorta get that in the above match if you swap Shingo for CIMA. Perhaps I have seen too much of this lately and you'll like it more than me. The Wrestling Observer gave it ****3/4 stars another source gave it ****1/2 so with my rating...it averages out to ****1/3 or a near classic... I mean if you're interested I would definitely recommend checking it out. It wasn't my cup of tea but it was many other people's.

    Uprising 2010
    Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw vs Naruki Doi/Pac - The Pac vs Quack opening is a thing of beauty. Things never really let up and while not as poetic as the first few minutes, this was awesome go-go bananas shit. Doi seemed to be the most tame of the bunch but he kicked things up and all four dudes were on fire by the end. I should note no one sold a thing beyond getting knocked down for a pin or rolling out of the ring for safety. That goes without saying for many of these tag matches. It's just the style so I can't use it as a criticism. I bring it up because that's really the only "flaw"... this was as bat shit of a Dragon Gate style tag as you can get...even more notably with one native Dragon Gate wrestler! At 15 minutes it ended on a perfect note. This was a classic in my book.
    Shingo/YAMATO vs CIMA/Dragon Kid - This was different as the majority of the match was a heel vs baby face tag match. Then the final third they kicked it into Dragon Gate madness... but even the it wasn't that crazy. With Shingo and YAMATO is was closer to what you'd get from NOAH or NJPW juniors wrestling. They knew to let the previous match be the bat shit high speed "Dragon Gate match." That said, this was still very awesome and a near classic. Dragon Kid was at his best here playing face in peril /new age young Rey Misterio Jr. with his fancy moves.
    BxB Hulk vs Masato Yoshino - Lightning fast wrestling! Holy cow! I'm really not sure how to rate this because this was not very deep but the fireworks were top notch... and at 75 mph. Things could have broken down especially on Hulk's end but no! execution was flawless. And then when BxB started nailing his kicks...that's what really sealed the deal for me. This was a classic to me...probably the best singles DGUSA match without Shingo or Danielson so far.

    Uprising 2010, based on those 3 matches, was amazing! It actually might be a DVD I  might  buying and doing a full show review down the road. Of course, I'm trying not to buy more DVDs...

    Bushido 2010
    Austin Aries vs Masato Yoshino - A great match and something different than what "we" have been watching. This is more Aries' style but Yoshino is perfectly at home with this. He's just as good at it as Aries. Here there's a focus on Aries' arm and to a lesser extent Yoshino's leg. And you know Yoshino doesn't really sell the leg at all so I take back what I said about being as good as Aries in this style. Austin sells the arm all match long...even opting to use over hand chops instead of his elbow strikes. Yoshino not selling the knee is OK but definitely would have been nice...but going after the knees of a wrestler that use the ropes and turn buckles is kinda dumb. It forces them to blow off the knee work or sell it and have a lame match. So good for Yoshino to not even sell it. Anyway, I didn't even think of any of that selling b.s. with Yoshino until after the match. I was enjoying the story they were telling too much to notice. Of all the short term big stars to temporarily wrestled in DGUSA, Aries is the best fit. Great match!
    Jon Moxley vs Jimmy Jacobs – I Quit Match - Lenny Leonard on commentary helped this match, I won't lie. The crowd really needed to be ravenous for this to hit in the right way. And as I know, the longer DGUSA goes on the smaller the crowd gets. Nonetheless this was a very good match! And like their previous stuff, it's mainly due to Jimmy Jacobs. He kinda gets the idea behind hardcore spot matches and is willing to take a beating. He gets bombed against the guardrail for instance. Both guys bleeds. Chairs, a belt and the spikes are in play and this ends in a very sick finish... and ends just in time before it over stayed its welcome. 
    BxB Hulk vs Shingo - This is one I thought "oh this is very good" for about 50% of the match. Then, for the next 25% "yeah this is a great match actually." So we're at 75% or 3/4 of the way through. Then they really kick it up and I'm like "this is a near classic... they are really just upping things to that next level" for the next 20% of the match. And that final 5%..they do absolutely what they needed to do to make this a classic. BxB hitting Shingo with some of the stiffest kicks to the face & head for instance. But there's more than that...the layout was pretty great at the end...the fans were eating out of the palm of their hands. This is a longer one and definitely is more in that NOAH Jr./ROH style of pacing and layout as opposed to Dragon Gate. Chalk up another awesome singles match for Shingo...Hulk too.
    Very good show from these three matches. Obviously the main event raises the rating there. Maybe not one I would buy unless there's other things on there that interest me... plus I think it might be a little more uncommon of a show.
    Freedom Fight 2010
    Johnny Gargano/Chuck Taylor/Rich Swann vs Austin Aries/Genki Horiguchi/Ricochet - This got recommended by a trusted source but I'm going to have to disagree. Maybe in 2010 or watching each show would make things better. I can't stand Gargano or Ricochet here. Ricochet looks not engaged in an athletic contest but performing a gymnastics or dance routine. Gargano is just hamming it up so much that the HBK would think its too much. I mean it's sort of a comedy match but eh...I'm not watching these for this. If this was on an FIP card (the crowd size is starting to resemble one), I might have dug it a little more. But don't get me wrong its a good match but not a great one. This is the future of DGUSA... people are wanting to see lucharesu & ROH style stuff..but this is something else. 
    YAMATO vs Masato Yoshino - I got vapor locked on the first half of this match. There's a lot of good leg work by YAMATO but also a lot of stomping :S Things do pick up but at the cost of all of the leg work. Yoshino needs his legs to do "his" offense. He's not going to sell at an equal level and well we basically wasted 10 minutes with the beginning. I dunno, they kinda lost me. I've heard this called a great match so maybe you should check it out??? Yoshino does have a tendency to blow off selling and sometimes it's OK  (see match vs Aries) and sometimes not. There was a disappointing Yoshino vs Shingo match from 07/22/18 where the poor selling wrecked the match in my eyes (see my post from 2018 - Spotlight: Dragon Gate 2010's - Shingo & YAMATO).
    2010 doesn't end on a strong note unfortunately.
    2010 is the first "full" year of shows for DGUSA and is that golden period. As you know I cherry pick but, it's clear that the promotion is very much Dragon Gate in the USA. Not just another "Gabe project" yet. However you can see that Gabe S. wanted/needed to push some American talent. This is good from one perspective but the quality of wrestling is not as high. The 6 man match is a great example of that. If you were an ROH fan then I would definitely recommend checking this stuff out. I truly was luke warm about it back in '09-'10 but have come around to really digging it. I knew that I liked Danielson, YAMATO & Shingo Takagi so I focused on getting those DVDs. But yeah, this is fun stuff. I'm not sure I would want to watch it all of the time but, for a few shows in a month... it's worth the while. If the YouTube channel is still up, I might check out a few matches from 2011. I'm still going to watch my final DGUSA DVD but just might watch those first... just in case that YouTube channel goes bye-bye sooner rather than later.
    Thanks for reading! 
  21. G. Badger
    Here we are back trying to watch some of my DVD backlog. This is/was a pretty well known show for the Danielson and Davey matches. I didn't give two shits back at the time but I have mellowed out about DGUSA (it took 10 years) :D. I was able to get a few of the more praised shows for cheap on eBay a few years ago. Like FIP a couple years ago, I might skip a match and I will definitely watch these out of order for the best viewing experience. Also I watched this with commentary off (nice to have the option) but ended up turning the volume down because the ring was way too loud. Perhaps the acoustics of the hall? Also the lighting wasn't great as it really brought the red of the mat into focus too much. You can see how the mat tints the images far beyond what's pleasing to the eye. You get used to it.

    Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino - Pretty good match based on the crazy moves. It's definitely a match to let Dragon Kid do a bunch of zany shit. And it works It's probably a little longer than it needed to be and I'm not sure if they told a story but it was enjoyable.

    -----
    Gran Akuma & YAMATO vs. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush - I've liked these guys in various matches over the years. YAMATO is someone I would be glad to see his work but man I thought this stunk of indie goofiness. I gave up on it...I'm guessing/hoping it had only a minute left but it felt like I was wasting time here.
    Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi - Contrary to the fans, that wasn't awesome. It was pretty good though. The good stuff was the stiffness, the athleticism, the grinding joint holds Dragon did. The "not good" was that the arm and leg work went nowhere - sorry if that's a spoiler. They didn't go too far making it THE story and they did a little selling but I'd rather they make this more about getting a pin vs joint locks. The section where they exchanged pin moves was very good and seemed more to Doi's strength. In that vein, I didn't feel they had good chemistry. It was Dragon doing his thing and Doi trying to keep up...so Doi didn't really bring anything special to the match. He could have easily been someone else beyond his signature moves. It was still pretty good stuff as they kept the action up, it was stiff etc. But per Cagematch the WON rated this ****3/4 and the Match Guide has it at 9.26 (so like ****1/2)...and those people are on acid. ***3/4 (three and three-quarters) is more like it.

    ----
    Brian Kendrick vs. CIMA - This was a really good solid match between vets at this point. You could say this was too simple for a DG match but fuck, it's a good match with solid fundamentals, good action,  and exciting highspots. It's over a little sooner than I would have thought... I can't remember Kendrick doing anything beyond mid level offense but he was probably in Smackdown! mode and this would be a pretty good match there
    Davey Richards vs. SHINGO - Well damn! That lived up to the hype. This was an intense stiff fight. I liked that they even incorporated a leg and arm work story here. I can now understand why they didn't do this in the Danielson match but also why not he with one at all (again would have liked some just "plain old" chain wrestling). Anyhow I'm probably not going to convince anyone to change their opinion on this match or Davey. If you like Davey and appreciate him for what he does (good & bad) AND you haven't seen this one then you really should. It's classic stuff. Shingo is one of my faves but also has bad habits from time to time but I think he was nearly perfect here. I'm really happy with those lariats and elbows towards the end... they really helped cement this as a top tier match. 

    -----
    The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Real Hazard (Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito): Well that was fucking sweet! Great heel stuff by Real Hazard which was a welcome thing here. The Bucks are able to pull these kinds of matches out of a hat at this time period and this is no different. Genki & Ryo add a great twist to the Bucks' formula. Yeah this was a blast. Great match...maybe near classic... I just really liked the heel work which made the comeback all that sweeter. It's the way you do it because it works... I think later Bucks (along with a lot of wrestling) sorta forgot as time went on.

    I had heard Genki changed his look after those ROH matches...holy cow!
    -----
    This was a great show...especially in the order I watched it in.  This was:
    Chikara tag, Dragon Kid vs Yoshino, Cima vs Kendrick, Bucks vs Real Hazard, Danielson vs Doi, Davey vs Shingo. This order made sense and I have no idea why Gabe S. booked this differently. It was booked like FIP trying to push the Bucks really hard...Shit at least have Danielson last...he's your big draw on PPV and not the middle of the show.
    That aside the DVD comes with a bonus DVD featuring Shingo vs Davey in FIP and other stuff. Ah what the heck, it's been 3 years since I watched Full Impact Pro let's go back to Florida:
    Shingo vs Davey (FIP Impact of Honor): Ah I've seen this one because I remember the high school/college gym they do the show in. I really liked this crowd, they are just psyched for the action. Had I been there, I would be too! It's perfect for the crowd. They do great looking moves, the push the pace and have a low end very good match. But that might not sound like a positive but, it is...they did the match that was asked of them and the crowd dug the heck out of it.
    Shingo vs Davey (FIP All or Nothing 11/10/06): Oh man, they did a variation of the previous match, cleaned up the rough edges and this was nearly a great match. Just so well paced plus good action that kept you guessing. They are excellent opponents for one another. Having both of these on here is pretty sweet as an FIP fan...
    Oh I should mention there's another match on the show. It was the curtain jerker and a dark match for the PPV and put on the bonus DVD.
    Eight Way Fray Elimination Match
    Arik Cannon vs. Hallowicked vs. Shiima Xion vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Flip Kendrick vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Prince Mustafa Ali vs. The Great Malaki - Yeah I was liking this as total indie spots galore but damn it went on forever since the participants come out Royal Rumble/War Games style. What the fuck was Gabe thinking? It was like the Tag Scramble matches in ROH but there only 3 pins needed to take place... now you've got 7. And with the absolute bananas stuff these guys were doing (Cannon & 'wicked were actually pretty good & reasonable) it's a wonder the crowd didn't get burnt out a couple matches in.
    Anyway, I've seen this for around $10 on eBay so if you're interested go for it! Lots good stuff for the price.
    This got me thinking about Davey in Dragon Gate USA. I wanted to see what other matches Davey had in DGUSA since there weren't many despite kinda being the big American star of the future for this & EVOLVE. Looks like he did 2 more shows and the most interesting match is him vs YAMATO. I am not planning on getting that DVD but a  person has it up on the 'tube (for a limited time). Here we go!
    YAMATO vs. Davey Richards - (DGUSA OPEN THE FREEDOM GATE 11/28/2009): Wow! This was a great match! Although a respected source says this is superior to the Shingo bout, I  disagree. I think this one is a bit more guilty of the "blow off the selling" than the Shingo/Davey bout gets criticized for. Here I don't think they had the intensity and stiffness dialed up to 10...and that intensity helps sell the adrenaline rush/block out the pain psychology that the Untouchable match had going for it. That said this is still really entertaining and full of great action. Definitely could have been a Full Impact Pro semi main event It's online for the time being so check it out!
    Fun little project...I have 3 more DGUSA shows so I'll be back with another one soon.
    I am going to keep going with early NOAH for next with stuff from 2002.
    Thanks for reading!
  22. G. Badger
    This is probably the last "classic" period DGUSA show that I'll review. I have one last DVD and that's from near of the company the end Open the Ultimate Gate 2013. That features the Shingo vs Gargano main event. It actually looks like a pretty good card as well. However I might have found some stuff online and perhaps a compilation type post is in the works. But let's get onto the show, Untouchable 2010!
    Arik Cannon vs Kyle O'Reilly - This was a dark match and a bonus on the DVD but I am putting it on here.  This was very good stuff. Digging Arik Cannon on these shows. He doesn't fit the image DGUSA but the dude is a workhorse. K.O is pretty mature in this match despite being more of a tag guy in this period. But you can see he was well on his way to greatness. 
    Mike Quackenbush vs. BxB Hulk vs. Akira Tozawa - Really good match...neat dynamic with Hulk & Quack being baby faces and Tozawa being heel. There were no double teams but I felt like the faces tried to wrestling a technical match with each other but when Tozawa was in it was more rough neck. I dunno..this had a good rhythm to it...Hulk was on defense most of the early portions with Tozawa & Quack ambushing each other in order to keep working over BxB. I almost thought BxB was hurt and going to be taking a backseat this time. Eventually they switched things up and all 3 were involved. It wasn't mind blowing but it just was a really enjoyable match.
    Brodie Lee vs. Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett & Willie Richardson) - Not watching this...
    Dragon Kid vs. SHINGO - If you want to see these guys do a bunch of awesome spots then, this is a match for you! And hey on this part of the card that's all you can ask for. They definitely pulled out the stops. It wasn't going to touch Shingo vs Davey or Danielson but this was very good to great. The execution was spot on and they did all kinds of crazy shit.
    Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jon Moxley - As bonus on the DVD we get a worked shoot of Jimmy Jacobs showing us his apartment and talking about Age of the Fall and how during this time he became a drug addict and derailed his own career and life essentially. He talked how Gabe called him up and wanted to help and give him something to work towards by offering him a spot on the DGUSA roster. This was really interesting and honest. I don't think I knew this. Then because this is wrestling, this leads to talking about the Jacobs vs Moxley feud which is a little bit like Punk vs Raven. They show an abbreviated version to lead into this. And they start by brawling in the crowd. Eventually things settled down as they fight in the ring. Chairs, chains and even spikes come into play. I think it lacked something special to make it awesome. Honestly, Moxley is a heel naturally but  here needed to know how to work as a heel. He just is a creep. But anyhow, this needed more heel work as well as a few standout spots like a table spot or a move or two on the chairs. I almost get the impression that they were to keep things PG-13 for the PPV.

    Everything worthwhile about this match is due to Jimmy Jacobs. Like this moment where he surprises the crowd & Moxley with metal spikes.
    -----
    Drake Younger vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Rich Swann - Great PWG style Four Way match! Just so many spots, moves, etc. Not everything hit 100% percent but that's some of the charm. These guys were putting it all out there. Gargano gets better every time. He's goofy as is Chuck Taylor and this type of thing is why I skipped this stuff when it was on PPV. Wrestling has only gone further down this path and well 14 years later this doesn't seem so bad. I've basically mellowed out on this in that time
    WORLD-1 (Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi) vs. WARRIORS International (CIMA & Ricochet) - This was a great match that imo was held back by Ricochet's execution problems. In 2010, he really needed to step up his execution. It was embarrassing or anything but it was not as crisp as CIMA, Doi or Yoshino's. He was in the great 4 way match from Enter the Dragon 2010 but here, he was off his game. I'm not a lover or hater of Ricochet...so I think I'm being honest when I'm watching this thinking "oh please don't screw this up"... And for the most part he doesn't BUT he does hold it back from being one of those Holy Shit Dragon Gate tag matches...it wasn't solely his execution but I think his selling is hammy. All that aside the Japanese guys were killing it and Ricochet wasn't in this too much and doesn't mess anything up, and down the home stretch pulls it together. I think if Chuck Taylor was in this spot, it would have been a classic.
    Bryan Danielson vs. YAMATO - If you're in 2010 or now and looking for super fast paced or absolute tank-emptying wrestling, this is not it. That said, this is still awesome stuff and I'm glad it wasn't those things. We got that intense battle last show vs Shingo. This match a brilliantly paced and built technical wrestling duel. YAMATO seems to have hit his stride in 2010. He had a great match or two in the 2010 Best of the Super Juniors in NJPW. And it's almost what I can compare this to...a imagined final to a BOSJ. It very much feels like a very high end NJ Jrs. match. It's clever, it's hard hitting, it's classic stuff. 


    -----
    This was another great show by Dragon Gate USA! The only drag really was Jimmy vs Mox. It just felt out of place here. I kinda blame Hockey as he was asked to to do a CZW-lite match... As was Jimmy. I'd have preferred just a straight match. But it's not a spoiler. Everything else delivered and then some. This is an easy recommendation for you to scoop this up on eBay. 
    This has all been a surprise to me because back in '09-'10, I was not interested in DGUSA beyond a couple matches. The wrestling they were showing on previews on PPV didn't look for me. Admittedly this is the time I was into watching all of the classic stuff from Japan in the '90s. And much of this go-go style is not my preference over a long term viewing so keep that in mind. You might like some things more or less based on that. However, I definitely can appreciate it and do enjoy it when done well. And the matches I've recommended absolutely do "it" well
    Like I said, I hope to have 1 more review of '09-'10 matches That will be a" Best Of " post. I'm liking this stuff but I really don't need more DVDs! And then a final post with the 2013 show.
    Hope you are digging these Thanks for reading!
     
  23. G. Badger
    I've been watching a lot online and need to get back to my massive DVD pile. Dragon Gate USA is what I have in mind. This week its Dragon Gate USA's  Enter the Dragon 2010. This is their first anniversary show and takes place in the ECW Arena (or whatever it was called in 2010). Since CZW runs a lot of shows here (all?) this has some very prominent CZW wrestlers. I think many of these guys do get incorporated into the DGUSA/Evolve program. In hindsight, DGUSA was Gabe using B-level (at the time) and propping them up with Dragon Gate guys. It was sort of an ROH reboot. He was on the money in picking talent as you probably have seen most of the U.S. talent on WWE and/or AEW in the last few years. Its a really good looking show. But I will level with you...I bought this for Shingo vs Bryan Danielson. Let's go!

    CIMA vs. Johnny Gargano - This is a good match that is pretty much a young Gargano going along for the CIMA ride. This is probably a bit longer than I would have had for my opening match. Clearly Gabe S. saw something in Johnny early on.
    Arik Cannon vs. Ricochet vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Adam Cole - This very easily could have been your typical overlong indie wrestling match. They do magic here as each matchup and spot is a little something different each time. Additionally they wrestle at a really good clip. Of course they aren't selling but as this is about the fireworks, this absolutely delivers. Honestly it over delivers... It's a spot fest but a great one!

    ----
    Drake Younger vs. Naruki Doi - A showcase match for Drake Younger vs the very popular Naruki Doi. Doi was injured (he was hiding his taped up ribs under a tank top). This was a lot of fun. Little angle after the match and Drake juices
    BxB Hulk vs. Masaaki Mochizuki- Very good match made by their efforts. They were dripping with sweat very early. It's clearly super hot inside the building with the crowd fanning themselves off. So things get a little loose in the execution department due to fatigue. Had the heat not been a factor, this is an easy great match.

    -----
    Scott Reed (w/Nicole Matthews) vs. Rich Swann - Fun super quick showcase type match that goes right into an angle.
    CHIKARA Sekigun (Hallowicked, Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush) & Masato Yoshino vs. KAMIKAZE USA (Akira Tozawa, Gran Akuma, Jon Moxley & YAMATO) - Well holy cow! This was awesome. Fast pedal to the metal, balls to the wall wrestling action. This really reminded me of the original Dragon Gate matches in ROH. If you liked those you're going to want to watch this! I'm going to even call this a classic multi man match! And I'm saying that as I think this is exactly the type of match Gabe S. envisioned. I guess on the PPV this was the main event which I think knocked it out of the park.

    -----
    Bryan Danielson vs. SHINGO - Tank emptying all time classic match for DGUSA. This is basically the match you wanted to see if your a fan of these guys. This is basically a ROH match dream match in a Dragon Gate ring. I wasn't sure at first but they paced this really well... again bringing this toe the absolute pinnacle of what they could do. Frankly if it wasn't so darn hot in there it may have been even better.


    -Bonus- 
    Jimmy Jacobs vs Sami Callihan - There's a few dark matches that were on the live show but they're included on the 2 DVD set. The one that caught my eye was Jimmy Jacobs vs Sami Callihan. This was really good - stiff, intense wrestling. I can see if they just didn't have time for this but man, this deserved to be on the PPV. I know from watching the 16 Carat wXw stuff from this time, Sami definitely has the goods. Jacobs still has "it" as well plus he's a bigger name from ROH so it's odd this was a dark match.
    Overall, this was a great show. Perhaps the best DGUSA show ever? I've seen that said. I've only seen a few and I know the earlier ones are better than the later ones. These feel like ROH offshoot shows. The later ones are far less... If only from fan attendance and well most of the actual Dragon Gate guys aren't there consistently/putting forth the effort. Anyhow, this was a great purchase and definitely recommend scooping this up from eBay or elsewhere. Danielson vs Shingo, the 8 man match, and the 4 corner match are absolutely worth your time.
    Thanks for reading folks!
  24. G. Badger
    I got in the mood to check out some vintage (vintage?!) TNA wrestling after enjoying my copy of TNA Impact for the PS2. I checked the matches listed and Hard Justice 2008 looked perfect. Check they even are promoting the game during the show.
    This one has been up for 11 years so I'm thinking they won't pull it down or put it behind a pay wall any time soon. I am going to put it up top if you want to watch it sans reviews. I don't do spoilers/play by play reviews but if you want to go in fresh, there you go! 
    Here it is courtesy of TNA:
     
     
    If you want some reviews as a watch-guide or maybe to read my takes, here they are
    Conquenses Creed vs Petey Williams - Very good to great X division title match opener. I mean they did like a few moves each that should have been the finisher. There was some shenanigans but it all worked out in the end so it wasn't a problem. Creed aka Xaiver Woods had a rocket push and the fans (myself included) were like 'who the fuck is this cartoon character looking like that dude from that Ready 2 Rumble boxing game!?' People love this goofy shit now but not so much then. Pairing him with Jay Lethal was a good idea because they looked like two looney tunes and they actually had fun matches. Anyhow, very good stuff here
    The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) and Awesome Kong vs ODB, Taylor Wilde and Gail Kim - This is pretty good. Gail Kim vs Kong is always worth the time. Actually everyone but Velvet Sky was good. The Knockout division was always really good. Not necessarily a PPV caliber match but a good way to get your top talent in the show.
    Beer Money vs LAX - Sweet ass entrance with an MC rapping and Hector Guerrero and their babe dancing (everyone seemed to have a babe at this time b/c of Spike TV I bet). Also Hernandez should have had a big singles run at some point...maybe I missed it during the Hogan era but the dude was big, he was young & could move and was over with the fans. Anyhow, this was an all action tag title match! I would even call it a classic TNA tag title match to be honest. Not only was the wrestling on point but they worked the story of Homicide having his eyes hurt in a previous encounter (probably that week's episode). They didn't over sell it but it was enough to still keep some heat on Beer Money. There's some shenanigans but again nothing that didn't work in terms of the story. However in '08, I would have disagreed because they used this finish way too much to the point where it was Jeff Jarrett bullshit booking. But I'm OK with it now because I'm watching this in retrospect. Hopefully there's no more B.S. on the show and I'll give this a pass.
    Jay Lethal vs Sonjay Dutt (Black Tie  Ball And Chain Match) - Gimmick match...also Tenay says this is Lethal's PPV debut!? Is that right? Or just as Black Machismo? Really dug this mid card feud though... had similar vibes to Doring & Roadkill feuding with Nova & Chetti or Simon Diamond & partner. Fun story, good wrestling, humor...this was really good. They had some good classic chain spots, did some brawling and were able to pull of some high risk moves. Some people were chanting "boring" but they were quickly silenced (thankfully... ass hats...). The tuxedo/black tie part was kinda silly since you could win by tearing this off of your opponent or by  pinning them...how is that humiliating? They wrestle in essentially speedos...typical over complicated gimmick but Dutt & Jay don't really waste any time on this. 
    Christian Cage and Rhino vs Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother D-Von) (Jersey Street Fight) - Great hardcore tour the building, use the weapons, do the spots match. These are the 4 guys who should be doing this kind of match and they do it right. Not as crazy as it could have been but it's perfect for where it's at on the card. Loads of shit in the ring at the end, post match shenanigans ala ECW...yeah this was cool to see.
     AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle (Last Man Standing Match) - All time classic TNA match without a doubt. This was part of the Karen Angle-AJ-Kurt story and there were some excellent matches and moments from this feud. The intensity was off the charts here..every hit  looked like they laid it in. The pacing was on point even when they got down to the finish (last man standings/Texas deathmatches can be anticlimactic) but they did this right..teasing all along the way of what would be enough to score a pin fall or submission THEN teasing what would be enough to keep these guys down for 10. This was fought from bell to bell like it really meant something. An absolute all time classic and another feather in AJ & Angle's TNA caps. This is one I didn't about but damn this was one of the best I've seen so far this year.
    Booker T vs Samoa Joe (Six Sides of Steel with Weapons TNA World Title Match): Not gonna lie, I was not interested in Booker T in TNA. Loved him in WCW...but when he came in I could see TNA becoming more like WCW in the bad ways... and I was right! But really his in ring stuff wasn't up to snuff especially with stuff Joe & Kurt did or Kurt & AJ...he'll even Sting was putting it all out there despite his age. Booker was just that guy waiting to go back to WWE and doing a WWE style whereas the other guys upped their game (at least during this era before Main Event Mafia which is when I was pretty much avoiding since it was NWO all fucking over again). Reading the Wikipedia page, this era was pretty much the beginning of the end of my big time interest in TNA...the seeds were planted around this time. Haha I'm still miffed 16 years later (holy crap...this was 16 years ago!!?) Anyhow, the match! Don't think it can top the previous ones but, let's see...Yeah this was good perhaps very good. It definitely felt like a step down from the AJ/Kurt match but also from the Rhino/Christian vs 3D/Dudleys match. Joe definitely brought the goods doing all of the risky stuff both offensively and defensively. But at least Booker was OK doing a match like this and taking his shots when it was his turn. It was a by the numbers TNA PPV main event but that doesn't make it bad. Had this not been an absolute banger of a PPV (one I totally remember the Impact episodes leading up to), this match may  have looked better. This was actually probably a good way to keep things going post AJ/Kurt, there's definitely some cool spots plus we get a twist to keep the story going for the next few weeks. So from a business standpoint, this is a good way to end the show.
    Overall, this was a great PPV show for TNA. Like I said, I absolutely remember all of this but on paper non of it seemed like enough to get to buy it. It was too much dough and TNA was starting to get the taint of WCW on it. In all fairness, I was right where 2 matches were some shade of WCW especially at the finish line. I was watching ROH at the time (got a couple of their PPVs instead) as well as getting deeper into puroresu. So I made the right call for then BUT with the passage of time (and at no charge!), I was finally able to enjoy this. And damn is it enjoyable! I watched every match which is a rarity for me. Damn near every match was a gimmick match but they were all different enough that it stayed exciting. Only one bull crap finish (to a classic tag match) so I'll let it slide...again it actually works so that's fine. Thankfully no bull crap with Kurt vs AJ or anything else truly. Absolutely recommend checking this show out...either as a nostalgia trip or just for the great action.
     
  25. G. Badger
    I'm going to level with you. I have written a ton of stuff prior to this. I'm not going to include most of it because it amounts to me rambling on about game mechanics, what I think the developers intended, my struggle to understand the move system. I'm going to get that part of the review out of the way now.
    This is more like the Smackdown games than Fire Pro for PS2. To me Fire Pro Returns is the best wrestling game ever. This took me some getting used to because the controls are closer to the WWE games at the time and its been a decade since I played SD for PS1. I've looked at the WWE SD games for the PS2 and this looks just as good if not better in some instances. I don't think it's anywhere as deep if we're talking about match types or a season/story mode. No lethal lockdown cage, no king of the mountain match, no monsters ball or ladder matches. That stinks but therethere's the Ultimate X match so, that kinda makes up for it. The story mode for PS2 is you playing as Suicide in a narrative in order to unlock wrestlers and arenas. Not all of the TNA roster is ready at the start. That kinda stinks but, OK sure that's cool...I'll play story mode to unlock guys. I grew up playing PS1 in high school so I know the drill. Would have preferred to just win a tournament to unlock guys... there's no tournament match either but there's some Free for All matches but I would have liked that.

    OK so the move thing is the biggest time vacuum I've participated in recently. There's no Create a Wrestler mode for PS2 and there's no way to kinda see all the moves that are available and how they're mapped out. There's a guide in the game, one on gameFAQs in the board but I had to find a 12 year old guide on IGN that actually gives you a decent understanding of how the moves are laid out. Thing is most brawler and grapplers have many of the same moves - slams, suplexes, etc. The high flyers (X Division guys) are the ones that have the real interesting ones and honestly the only ones worth looking up or writing down on a cheat sheet. And I might do just that because there's not a solid logic behind where a move is on the controls or a specific scenario. Like a lot of people's complaints from '08-09, it's not the best control scheme. Unlike those folks, I feel there are plenty of moves...you just need to know how to do them. I honestly feel like each guy has about the same amount of moves as they do in reality. There are some glaring omissions though like Sting's Sharpshooter... Angle doesn't have a true Ankle Lock but there's an Achilles hold that is a fine stand in though. IGN shows AJ's Pele Kick but when I hit the buttons he does a kneecap drop kick. Not sure if that's IGN's fault, it's not in this version or what? I could go on but like I said the move thing is the biggest time vacuum I've participated in recently. I'm getting dangerously close to getting sucked back in. One last point: I think that is the BIG point of this game are the counters/reversals. Very many moves can be reversed. Reversals can even be reversed! I think that is amazing for a PS2 game. Again I think if your thinking about focusing on playing as X Division guys, this feature is really good. Once I got the timing down, this actually felt like a Impact TV match. And I think that is the strength of the game thus far. I do wish countering punches & kicks were easier but I remember them being too easy to counter in the Smackdown games. I like that it's not reversal after reversal.

    So the last "game thing" I'll mention is the "glitches." There's a couple I've noticed with one being so bad you need to quit the match...that is being on the apron and going'round the post. It makes your guy "fall off" the apron into a plane that  isn't in line with the other wrestler and you yourself cannot exit it and get back in the ring. Even if another guy throws you back in you're still off axis...yadda yadda... just don't do it. If you were a PlayStation player back in the day, shit like this would happen... it's part of playing a game. Again there's no tournament mode so no biggie if you have to restart.
    And that really is the type of game this is. It's a nice looking game that really seems made to be played for 30 minutes to an hour for some TNA wrestling fans. They weren't trying to kill any of the WWE games at the time. It's got faults but again, if you familiarize yourself with the general move layout, maybe jot down a couple favorites then you should have a fun with single player modes. I actually got my wife to play against me. She had a blast with the basic instructions of X is kick, [] is punch, ∆ and a direction does moves, R2 runs. I eventually told her R1 is counter. She's a fighting game player & a proud button masher (MK is her fave) so all of that was easy enough and she was able to do some cool stuff...the best was as AJ Styles she did a running headscissors/frankensteiner (the animation looks pretty cool in this PS2 game). Like Oh Shit! that was cool. So of course she does a few more times (along with some other stuff which I'm not sure what due to her said button mashing)...I bet I can counter that and next time AJ goes up for the headscissors, BAM! Power Bomb! And damn it was cool and looked great This definitely feels like a great 2 player game... like I would recommend this if you have a 2nd player and want to kill 20-30 minutes (or more). This is all I wanted out of buying it used...a diversion.

    I think what convinced me to buy it now in 2024 was the roster. Although the WWE games might be fuller, richer games, I couldn't care less about that era of WWE. I could care less about the roster too. Sure there's some ECW guys that would be cool to play as or even some other guys of that era but the bulk of the roster sucks to me. But more importantly, I don't have any connection to that era of WWE and buying old wrestling  games is about the connection instead of game mechanics, match types and move sets. That ended once I  Fire Pro became available in the States (it's the sole reason I bought a PS2 in '07 actually). This TNA Impact is a fantastic time capsule to the golden era of TNA wrestling. It's got big the names you associate with that '05-'09 ('06-'08) period. Petey Williams isn't available on this version unfortunately. Consequences Creed (Xaiver Woods) would have been a great addition though...the Lethal Consequences team was cool! In an alternate universe, they would have included Gail Kim, ODB, Awesome Kong and the Beautiful People if only for a Knockout Division game mode (maybe they were nervous of people doing mixed gender matches?). 

    So, it's a bit of a nostalgia trip playing this in 2024. It's very much a game of its time so I fully agree to anyone who thinks the game stinks compared to their favorite WWE games.. or even the WCW N64 games. But what makes this special is the roster and being able to play as prime era AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Sabin & Shelley, Homicide & Hernandez, Black Machismo Jay Lethal, Chris Daniels, and Abyss...among others. That reversal system along with the pick up and play ability (once you learn the basics) makes this a fun interactive wrestling collectible. I think you might have an even better time with the PS3 & Xbox 360 versions... I'm just a cheap ass
    Thanks for reading!
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