G. Badger

Yeah, I agree about the commentary. I hated Gabe S. (I think) going on and on about stuff other than the match. That's not just with this bout but others...even when he'd jump on during the heyday in '04-06. He's too busy getting the company or his booking over. So I put the volume down to like "3" to get the essence of the commentary Nonetheless, this was a great match and perhaps a classic. This was a "armory classic" if nothing else. Aggressive mat work to start, good surprises, a real sense of importance and competition throughout...hardway blood helped cement that. Two of best wrestlers of this generation going at it with no cheesy story and, early on in their career, no gigantic expectations. Not sure if the "this is wrestling" existed yet or if they were chanting that or anything (remember volume at 3) but, this match deserved it.

Going back into the past here but, I think PWG has the most appeal to a casual wrestling fan and even younger people that aren't especially into wrestling. They have an all action style show, bits of comedy, and don't have big story lines so its very accessible...esp. when they moved to Reseda,CA. Plus not having a ton of shows a year helps if you become a fan and you want to catch up... Also, it helps that a good portion of their back catalog is available at a regular or reduced price, and they have a good series of comps...

Wrestling in the States has more of junior/cruiserweight focus than it used to. The indys of 2000s allowed smaller guys to hone their craft and build a following. Watching ROH during their peak, its essentially an all junior roster save Joe. Even he wrestled a junior style of sorts. So, I think wrestlers are more agile and have better cardio on average than in the past. Sure you had Steamboat, Flair, and their peers but, you really don't see any Buddy Rose, Adrian Adonis, Jerry Blackwell type physiques anymore. And sadly I don't think we will...but yeah, they are better athletes now but, probably not better pro wrestlers.

This was a great match for sure but, not a classic. It lacked that true do or die feeling or athleticism to make it an all time near 5 star match for me. I think the match clocks in around 20 minutes which seems rather short considering the participants. Or maybe that's part of it- Taue & Tenryu. It feels more like an exhibition or sampling but, definitely worth repeated views and a dream match that delivers.

A nice match worth watching but as a part of a gauntlet, it isn't anything worth hunting down specifically. Nice to see London work with Michael Shane, Amazing Red (although it was sloppy), and Danielson in succession. Good showcase of his versatility and in ring ability. This match was the best of the three.

In terms of finishers, I liked the way AJPW handled them in the late 80s-mid 90s. There was a tier of finishers as well as universally damaging/respected moves like a lariat, German suplex, powerbomb, that could (and did) end the match. The end all be all finisher like Tiger Driver '91 was used so rarely that it meant something. Wrestling in some or even most promotions has become like a Street Fighter game. Do a bunch of flashy stuff until its time to bust out your finishing move...every match. Don't get me wrong, that can be a lot of fun but, it is desensitizing and predictable. People want every match to be a MOTYC and they feel that can't happen on a roll-up or a nice counter into a pin. I disagree, those surprise finishes are my favorites nowadays. I'd like to see an O'Connor roll or even the Indy pin reversal sequence end a big match once in awhile.

The close of this match was fantastic. It brought the intensity of the bout to the forefront. Unfortunately, the middle of the match lacked this genuine feel of hate. The beginning was good but, as the body of the bout wore on, I felt they were going thru their plan too clearly, if that makes sense. It was more of a scripted expected hate. For instance, KENTA front kicking guys off the apron...seems hateful...except he tends to do it every match... That being said this was a sound Noah Jr's. Tag match from 2005. The work was clean and the pace was up from bell to bell. It was probably too hurried a pace and thus lacked the aforementioned hate in exchange for move innovation or the infamous "getting my shit in." I blame Marufuji & KENTA for this. Kanemaru & Suguira were keeping things grounded so to speak...only really turning the complex high spots on at the end. All in all, it was a highly recommended match, maybe at or possibly above the **** range with the finish really pushing it through to that level. So, maybe it's a great match depending on your familiarity or expectations..

This helps a ton especially grouping the shows into different eras. I was paying attention to it or was aware of Evolve early on (1-10 era) and totally got lost into puro for years. Have been getting back into the Indys for past 6-7 months and that should give me and others in the same boat a place to start! Thanks!

Interested in Evolve...can anyone describe the overall style or feel of the promotion? I remember when it first came about and the fact Danielson was involved seemed like a big plus...thinking more mat based wrestling. Obviously that was awhile back...based on the OP's show, it seems like it has a more grounded style still... Any recent shows that are good examples? any input would be appreciated

I was totally hoping this would be some awesome lost classic.. It is not :/ It is a highly recommended match however. KENTA really made Sydal bring his intensity level up and it was good stuff with the outcome really in doubt (Sydal was getting a push). A couple more near falls and this would have been great. It certainly didn't over do it so, I was grateful for that. Best match on the card.

I feel like ROH did a good job trying to keep the 3-4 man matches meaningful but, not all the time certainly. There are plenty of mid card throwaways. Good match examples that come to mind are London vs Low Ki vs AJ from One Year Anniversary & Punk vs Joe vs James Gibson vs Christopher Daniels from Redemption in 2005...There's probably more as I remember Nigel having a 4 way elimination match or two for the belt. I am a fan of multi man matches so, I hope people have other examples of standouts.

Bored going thru Wikipedia, looks like some of the SoCal originals like Chris Bosh, Excalibur, Quicksilver retired around this time...freeing up room for younger talent in the undercard.

How much does MMA play into this?

This is a good point...WWE is 'wrestling' to most people in the world and surely the U.S. They have the money, the audience, and thus the power to shift the culture of wrestling...even if it is only behind the scenes. This doesn't make money and it puts their neck on the line so, they are not interested however. Again to the topic title...there is no chance of a feminist movement in wrestling until they are willing to or are forced to change. They, the WWE set the standard. All others follow suit...

Wow didn't know he threw that many Sixer's out there! Kinda hurts his reliability as far as ratings go... All in all I do enjoy him screaming about this stuff in short YouTube clips...shows he cares about wrestling in his own way. But again, we can't go back and reset everything pre 1996 when he thinks the shit hit the fan. I was telling my dad about the Okada-Omega match and I summed it up this way: It was pretty good in an ECW way...they used tables and there were probably a lot of killer moves. Fuck me but, I was in high school during the ECW & WWF Attitude stuff and if you have a guy crashing through a table, it taps into some memory bank and I think "OK...we're going here with the match now..." I liked that they didn't over do the 'hardcore' bit too..it was tasteful, I thought.

One of the first tapes or DVDs I bought along with Jumbo-Tenryu tape. I think it is a pretty remarkable match from memory... I like it better than the Chigusa-Devil match because it had a finish. Other than that they are otherwise equal but, for different reasons. Thought the finish was smart as it played into the legwork...backdrop for the concussive effect but also a knee crusher type compression with the slam. Did the trick for me.

Okada seems to be an odd case of having a 2010s pro wrestling physique with a 80s move set. Dropkick, top rope elbow drop, piledriver, short arm clothesline...now if everyone else in NJ would do the same with their moves... Guys for the last 15 years in the US have been more interested in having more moves rather than developing characters. People told them kickouts equal good matches so, they use turnbuckle bombs like vertical suplexes etc...gets them over in the short term but, ups the ante in the long term for "the business" especially when no one in authority says, "cut that shit out." The more you do crazy shit, the less people care. It becomes routine. From what I hear WWE doesn't even say that to guys and gals. I mean Kevin Steen/Owen was/is champ right?? Powerbombing a guys neck into the apron edge 2 minutes into a semi main event match in 2010 in PWG...not even close to the finish or used for a story BTW. He is the one time I hope someone has been reprogrammed by the WWE. I digress...

She is a rare talent in the ring that we have limited matches of...kinda like a joshi WoS wrestler, if that makes sense. Awesome microscope topic as we all need to see more Jaguar!

Yeah, I feel similarly... I know what he means but yeah, Pandora's box and all that...work rate and high spots trump characters and drama nowadays...limited attention spans crave action! Anyhow, Omega has done well to eschew his past image, take AJ's Bullet Club spot and become a world class talent...at least judging from this match. I think Cornette has no point concerning Omega in regards to this match. Fun to listen to him scream obscenities though According to Jim, the original star system was 4 stars like the movies and 5 stars was the 'over and above' like 6 is now. Speaking of which, I remember reading in one of the top 100 matches of the 80s lists that Meltzer gave one of the Flair/Steamboat '89 matches 6 stars. I am waiting for a 7 star match personally...

I am totally on board with this star rating layout. Its like *** matches have something neat like a good sequence, a crazy dive, a heated moment or finish, or something that makes you get excited like snug matwork. If you have the time, watch the match! If you miss it or don't care for the wrestlers don't beat yourself up. A primo three star example to me is Stan Hansen in AWA when he was champ going up "Baby Bull" Leon White. Better than the infamous 'eye' match...

I also think better DVD covers too! I remember when these all came out. I couldn't tell one show apart from the other. PWG just used the same photo shopped images for their covers and added a wacky title. Once they had both BOLA and DDT4, they seemed to have confidence in being around longer than a couple years and put confidence in the product. I thought they had a west coast ROH vibe eventually...stoked for 2007 PWG & ROH

Read some of the talk and even listened to Jim Cornette scream again about how Kenny Omega is wrestling's anti christ...blow up doll, 9 yr old girl etc. :-) So I watched it expecting to make it 10 minutes...but I finished it! Thought it was a great match as it ended. Even thought the Young Bucks were a nice touch at ringside. Read my notes and did the wrestle dork analysis and its probably not a 'great match' for all time but, in 2017, for tying together a good work rate, a couple teases and payoffs and some killer high spots, having psychology with body and back work, and good characters (esp Omega with a Nakamura-esque violent weirdo vibe), its highly recommended for any wrestling fan to check this out. I don't watch current stuff so, take that into account. Maybe Okada and Omega do this type of shit at house shows and its old hat but, I liked it for a Dome main event. Better than any Tanahashi match I've seen...but, I've seen like 5 of those so...

This match up turned me on to the greatness of Japanese wrestling...that is to say, it showed me that there was a great big world of athletic hard hitting wrestling out there back in 2k. In retrospect however, their matches all blend together. In a way this was awesome when watching every week but, the fact that ECW was pretty well known for rebroadcasting matches in part or full on Hardcore TV and/or TNN didn't help matters any...

Excited to see your take on 2007 PWG. BOLA night 3 and Giant Sized Annual #4 were damn good shows that I recently watched... probably not representative since they were 'bigger' events but, many earlier PWG shows or matches look great on paper but, are average at best. I agree PWG starts delivering on these match-ups in 2007. Before you dive into it, what is your thinking on why it got better? Better talent, less shows, more annual shows like BOLA and DDT4 etc? Less Super Dragon?

I'm more likely to use ratings like OK, Fun, recommended, highly recommended, great, and classic for my own notes or giving suggestions or reviews. Those are a little more interpretative than the star ratings in what most people would say is the 3.5-4.25 plus range. Sometimes people will shy away from 3.5 type matches by just going on rating alone...and they may be missing something that they might end up loving. I think that's why certain people or matches have been rediscovered in the past few years... Someone online may have shit on Fujiwara 15 years ago and panned his matches with **1/2,***, or the like so, I wouldn't go near his stuff on that alone. My mistake because no one has an aura of violence like Fujiwara... But, in conversation, if someones using stars I'll join in...its a good starting point...