G. Badger

Dean Malenko vs Too Cold Scorpio - ECW 03/21/95 Got recommended this on YouTube. It's a WWE official post so wtf, I'll post it here. Anyhow this is a very good to great match. Unlike Dean vs Eddie, we don't get a ton of fancy sequences. Instead we get more drama and excellent work a body part & sell match. Scorpio does a great job selling too! We get a run-in which was excellent and thankfully doesn't spoil the match.

I'm getting back to more of my DVDs. This time I'll be looking Extreme Championship Wrestling or ECW!! E-C-W! E-C-W! Haha! Specifically I'll be looking at WWE's ECW Unreleased Vol. 1 DVD set (along with some YouTube videos to round things out). For a little back story on this purchase, I had gotten vol. 2 a few years after it's release in 2016 or 2017 as I was pretty interested in a few of the matches featured. I bought it used. Vol. 1 I just got a couple years ago new as the price dropped and I thought 'you know I really ought to have these matches as an ECW fan.' And added it to the DVD pile of shame. But I'm trying to topple that pile and this is a good one. It's been awhile since I've watched '90's wrestling at length and even longer since I've watched ECW. As a side note, I feel like WWE has put the "DVD matches" on YouTube either clips or in full so probably everything will be available for you there. I'm not going to link them in the blog though. Just an FYI Disc 1 1994-95 Shane Douglas vs. Too Cold Scorpio - NWA World Title Tournament, 08/27/94 - NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament Final Match: This is the match where Douglas throws down the NWA belt at the end. But the actual match is good stuff. Scorpio really shines with all of his cool offense. Douglas is good but generic in comparison but it works. He's not trying to heel it up on anything. Anyhow, I recommend this for the historic factor but it's an enjoyable title match too! ----- Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven - ECW Hostile City Showdown 1995: This was an OK match but was an awesome segment. We get a ton of feel good shit and a lot of interesting nuance and character work here from everyone. This is a great example of what made ECW different even from FMW in Japan. It's counter culture attitude has been lost or watered down as time has passed. Hell, the Raven grunge character is the obvious thing to point to. Then you have the anti-hero to the anti hero in Tommy Dreamer. Essentially a dork loser (even to the fans early on) who is the everyman trying to make it and be true to himself. Tommy Dreamer reminds me of a character in a Springsteen song. Mix this with iconic Eddie vs Dean match and this must have been a sick show! Dean Malenko & Too Cold Scorpio vs. Eddie Guerrero & Taz - ECW Heat Wave 1995: Fun match... it goes a little long but that's because it's 90-100 degrees in the ECW Arena. So I can't take anything away from them as they keep pushing the envelope. Scorpio and Taz potato each other a few times and Eddie & Dean do their thing. But really Eddie and Scorpio are the shining stars here. It's really amazing that they do some of the moves they do with how f-ing hot it is in there (A good portion of the crowd is in tank tops or shirtless). Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero - ECW Hardcore TV #120, 07/28/95 - ECW World Television Title Match - Very good match at a fairground this is for sure on the WWE YouTube (08/03/95). They worked a neat little story of Dean injuring Eddie's rib and then working them over. Nice moves from both guys. I liked this one and they had some really great sequences. I have to be honest, they knew who they were wrestling for. So when people say that their matches don't hold up 30 years later like other stuff...I would tell them to watch WWF or WCW from the time. They were not doing anything like Eddie & Dean were doing. Conversely, Eddie and Dean weren't doing the same stuff in ECW that they did in Japan because they knew they didn't have to. It's like the AWA guys wrestled more technical matches than WWF in 1984 but when those same guys went to AJPW, they stepped up their game even more. They knew the Japanese fans expected more. Their singles matches are something different from everything else ECW was doing at the time. They definitely would refine this match and style in WCW with tighter time constraints. Their ECW time really was seeing if they could dilute the story and dial in the spots & sequences... and have an American audience appreciate it. The answer was yes and they along with Benoit, Ultimo, Rey get al. would have arguably some of greatest mid card TV matches ever. Malenko in fact maybe the king of the under 10 minute mid card TV match. The big problem with Dean vs Eddie was that they didn't know how to fill the time. I'm looking back at my Eddie Guerrero in 1997 post - https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/blogs/entry/844-spotlight-eddie-guerrero-1997/ Their PPV matches where they had a lot of time (like they did in ECW) were inferior to their TV ones. Here's my run down: -Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Saturday Night, • February 8, 1997) - A fantastic technical sprint to main event the show. -Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Uncensored, No DQ • March 16, 1997) - A very good to great match. -Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Nitro • June 30, 1997) - I think Dean is a fantastic under 10 minute worker especially with Eddie. They just have so many spots and sequences in their arsenal that these shorter matches wrestle themselves. -Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero (WCW Nitro • November 17, 1997) - Almost 10 minutes long and excellent stream of consciousness wrestling. Again Dean & Eddie can do these flawless fast TV matches and its a shame that doesn't translate into the PPV shows. -Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Starrcade • December 28, 1997) - A very good to great match but a step down from what Eddie was doing with other guys..and even Dean on TV. Much of their best stuff is speedy sequences and a feeling of an ongoing fight with counters or reversals. Here I think they had to fill time for the PPV and were slowing down in between moves and taking rest holds to sequence stuff out on the fly to buy time. That '97 Starrcade match iirc matches the vibe of their ECW matches. I think the myth of the Dean vs Eddie in ECW singles matches is because nothing else on the card (or in the US) was like that either in execution or complexity and only a handful of wrestlers in the States had that along with the stamina. Like I'm thinking in '95 Bret & Shawn being exceptions. But the real impact was that smaller guys, could get signed on by WCW and start to spread the international junior style to the U.S. OK whew...take a breather... so I can't leave it there so I found a couple Hardcore TV matches that looked sweet on YouTube. Steiners & Guerrero vs Malenko vs Cactus Jack & 2 Cold Scorpio (Hardcore TV 08/22/95 - Wrestlepalooza '95) I've seen this before but it's been awhile. It's on ECW Unreleased vol. 2 but I'm going to review it here. It's a very good... hell! a great dream 6-man tag match. Rick looks way too invincible, the doomsday frankensteiner doesn't work but dammit! It's got great energy, great moves and its a lot of fun. Mikey Whipwreck vs The Sandman - Hardcore TV (08/22/95) - Singapore Cane match. I'm not sure I've seen this one before. Most of the pre-1996 stuff that I have watched is from the WWE compilations and I'm not seeing this listed. The match itself is clipped unfortunately (looks pretty good) but then we get the aftermath where Woman (Nancy R.I.P. )has to relinquish the cane to Mikey who just defeated the champ Sandman. We get the post match angle stuff which is a blast! Mikey exacts his revenge and then some but of course Sandman gets his hand on the weapon! And in true ECW fashion morphs into a completely different match And finally circles back to Mikey and Sandman! Just a fantastic violent depraved soap opera for men ---bonus--- These are some NJPW matches that are on the 'tube. I wanted a reference point for what Dean & Eddie were doing around the time they were in ECW. I don't think Eddie's work in AAA is A good point of comparison. Jushin Thunder Liger vs Dean Malenko (05/26/93 NJPW) - Holy cow! That opening sequence is perfect! Really good psychology here with Dean keeping on Liger's knees...trying to keep the masked man grounded at the very least. A little bit was clipped out but we get 2/3rds at least. Very good stuff! And a great example of some of the things mentioned above with Dean vs Eddie in ECW. Black Tiger II (Guerrero) & Fit Finlay vs TAKA Michinoku & Shinjiro Otani (06/08/94 NJPW) Wow! That's a junior tag match! Eddie and Fit as a team reminds me of the early 80's Rocco Black Tiger teams. Fit is fantastically brutal and TAKA & Otani sell it perfectly! I actually felt Eddie might have had the weakest performance but it wasn't even close to average... it's was still very good. Here we do see a little bit of Eddie in ECW where he just does a big move too early...I question his psychology using power bombs so early. I feel like he uses it like a DDT or a pile driver. Maybe working Mexico is what changed his move psychology during this period?? I know the pile driver is protected over there. I digress. This is still a great match!! Even when Otani slips, it all works. They worked a great tag match despite seeming to be random pairings. I got to say, I have come back around to loving ECW. It's refreshing to see a wrestling program this honest and upfront about what it is. The t-shirts used to say, "it's not for everyone!" and that's still true. But if you like it then, I'm right there with you. It's not the cleanest wrestling, in ring story telling is hit or miss, the pacing is inconsistent at times etc. but it is A LOT of FUN! It's not prepackaged, sterile shit...it's definitely for punk rock, metal heads, and other folks that are counter to the status quo. And I think that is what makes it so appealing now as it was before. Hang in there folks! Thanks for reading!

This was an OK match but was an awesome segment. We get a ton of feel good shit and a lot of interesting nuance and character work here from everyone. This is a great example of what made ECW different even from FMW in Japan. It's counter culture attitude has been lost or watered down as time has passed. Hell, the Raven grunge character is the obvious thing to point to. Then you have the anti-hero to the anti hero in Tommy Dreamer. Essentially a dork loser (even to the fans early on) who is the everyman trying to make it and be true to himself. Tommy Dreamer reminds me of a character in a Springsteen song. Mix this with iconic Eddie vs Dean match and this must have been a sick show for the fans.

It's the best straight ahead Scorpio match that I've seen. Only a slightly toned down NJPW Jr match. Great execution, pacing and finish. Any fan of Too Cold Scorpio needs to see this one. ****

I stumbled on a clip from Madusa's podcast discussing Bret Hart & Curt Hennig wrestling each other. It's pretty entertaining and I think is referring to their '91 Summerslam match which is probably a classic. And this got me thinking about Madusa's time wrestling in Japan. I went through her backlogs to see if there's any reference to wrestling the AJW women or wrestling for AJW. And lo and behold, there were a couple clips. Then that led me to want to check out if she had any interesting match ups. I wouldn't say I have sought out her matches in AJW but I never thought that they were crap either. One thing led to another and I watched a clutch of her matches from AJW in 1989-1990...one of my favorite periods of Japanese wrestling. This is a quickie so I'm just going to provide some takeaway remarks. If you're interested, go check 'em out! Mitsiko Nishwaki vs Madusa (AJW - JGP Final 8/24/1989) : A good match that was a showcase for both. It's only 5 minutes so there's not a lot to it but they certainly put on a good show with the time they were given. Mitsuko Nishiwaki & Madusa vs Yumiko Hotta & Reibun Amada (AJW 10/8/1989 - Tag League the Best Match): You could look over this match but you'd be missing out on something really cool. They bring the action but the bring the nastiness too. Madusa does not back down from Hotta one bit. Nishikawa (Hotta's Fire Jet partner) is really good as well. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mitsuko Nishiwaki & Madusa 10/8/1989 - AJW - Tag League the Best Match): Nishiwaki & Madusa are a women's team that Tenryu could endorse. Just a face punching, head slapping and back breaking non cooperative tag team. If you can believe it, they are the reason you wanna watch this & not the Toyota & Yamada team. Really good stuff..that goes for this match as well as the one prior. Madusa, Noriyo Tateno & Kaoru Maeda vs Aja Kong, Bison Kimura & Grizzly Iwamoto (01/04/1990 - AJW) : Fun, fun 10 minute match with the heel team doing all sorts of things. Aja beating up the one guest at ring side. Madusa stiffing Aja and Aja responding. Kimura & Grizzly were generic yet competent in their heel performances . Tateno & Kaoru had some fun spots. Yeah this was a gas! Noriyo Tateno vs Madusa (AJW JGP 6/17/1990): Excellent under 10 minute match that's head and shoulders better than the '89 JGP match. This was full of chained moves and was absolutely what made this so damn good. This one is worth checking out! I'm not going to watch it since I'm not a fan of the AJW kickboxing shoot style matches but there's Madusa vs Aja Kong 07/21/90 out there. Bison Kimura/Madusa Miceli vs Mariko Yoshida/Yumiko Hotta (11/14/90): A fierce frenetic fight! Keep it simple stupid with Madusa & Bison being hard hitting heels and Yoshida & Hotta being the athletic baby faces. This was just a bunch of fun...absolutely what you want for a mid card tag match. Aja, Bison, Madusa, La Diabolica & Xochilt Hamada vs Toyota, Mika, Kaoru, Yoshida & Moreno (11/17/90): Whoa!! This is a great 10 woman match! It's an elimination match too but the pace is fast and the action is top notch. And on top of that the final section is just awesome. You might think Madusa is the odd woman out in a way but she provides the kind of variety you want. Maybe the case of low expectations on such a match but this was sweet! Jungle Jack (Aja Kong & Bison Kimura)/Madusa vs Manami Toyota/Mika Takahashi/Suzuka Minami (12/01): This is very fun stuff but not much pacing or storytelling. Barely features Madusa at all. I'm not sure if there's a personal problem or maybe she was injured and she had to take it easy. It was Jungle Jack vs the other team. Definitely a respectable under card match. I gotta say Madusa in this period is really good...and has given me a new opinion on her as a wrestler. It's raised her stake in my eyes. Hopefully, it'll do the same for you Thanks for reading!

OK so I just found a little chunk of AJPW TV for 2002. I stumbled across this team match so I wanted to include it. I did review Satoshi Kojima vs. Arashi which I thought was just a stand alone single match. So I copy pasted that review. Muto Gumi vs. WAR 5 vs. 5 Single Match (10/14): Kaz Hayashi vs. Nobukazu Hirai - Short and sweet! They did a bunch of cool stuff and let Kaz do his thing. Fun stuff! Hiroshi Hase vs. Nobutaka Araya - Another fun condensed match. Per usual the posted match time doesn't jibe with the run time. Who cares! If this is 4 minutes then it's a blast... both guys bring it! They wrestle it like a 4 minute sprint. (Upon review, the posted time is the same as the previous match so I'm starting to think the AJPW post production / the TV channel post production in '02 is sloppy and they have been counting introductions into the total match time too). George Hines vs. Steve Williams - Squash match but I wasn't wanting anything here. Hines could've had some offense but they tore through this one. I don't remember Hines being in later '02 AJPW so maybe this was his exit? Satoshi Kojima vs. Arashi - Very, very good 10 minute match. This pairing works because they can just hit each other. Nothing fancy is required. There's only one gaff but it sorta worked in the match. Arashi and Kojima did a really interesting sleeper hold section that gave this more depth than just being a slobber knocker. Keiji Muto vs. Genichiro Tenryu - Very good main event! It's Tenryu vs Muto by the book but that's not a bad thing. You get what you expect but that's just what was needed for this team match...this was a fun series of matches to watch. I'm glad I went back to find it! Additionally, this match totally sets up Muta vs Tenryu (Gaora video above).

Nothing says "Halloween" like two grown men dressing up as skeletons. La Parka is that fun "mom made my costume" skeleton and Mortis is more like you went to Kmart and bought your outfit. Watching all of these matches should hopefully put you in a good mood. Have some candy or pumpkin spiced snacks and check these out Mortis vs Silver King (01/09/97): Silver King!!! This is a lot of fun. This is probably a little too even considering the size difference and everything but screw it! It's 2024 and this puts a smile on my face. Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, & Ultimo Dragon vs. La Parka, Psicosis, & Silver King (06/09/97): Holy cow - spot festival to the max! This is so much fun to watch. Sure the seams show here & there but this must have been crazy to see on Nitro back then! La Parka & Silver King vs. Juventud Guerrera & Super Caló (06/21/97): Absolute bananas WCW Saturday Night match...so many Looney Tunes spots crammed into 5 minutes. Watch it! Mortis & Wrath vs La Parka & Psicosis (07/22/97): You know it's '97 Nitro because they gave them time to work some kind of match. And that was a fucking blast! Parka & Psicosis are bumping all of the place! I even this Psicosis did a purposeful botch just to take a sick bump. Make no mistake, they didn't get bowled over by Mortis & Wrath though. The big men took a beating as well. Really appreciated Mortis/Kanyon's selling too. Mortis vs Psicosis (07/26/97): Saturday Night excellence - A very good mix of high flying & power wrestling. Both guys love to take risks & get creative with the offense so this was very entertaining. And who should come out post-match? but our co-star La Parka! Really dug this. Nice reference back to the previous match there. La Parka vs Chris Jericho (07/27/97): A full match! Good, good stuff with both guys putting on a show for the WCW Pro crowd without going spot crazy. This is the longest La Parka match so far (I think). La Parka vs Glacier (10/27/97): Fun match with Parka making Glacier look great by taking some great bumps. Mortis & Wrath vs Steiner Bros. (11/01/97): I can't believe that this was on Sat. Night! Surprisingly even fight - it really was simple but good stuff. Big moves from both teams and a clean finish (even though I thought someone was going to run in & spoil it). Definitely worth your time if you're interested. Mortis vs Ultimo Dragon (11/08/97): Way too short (Nitro!) but they still packed a lot of neat stuff in here. La Parka & Silver King vs Public Enemy (12/14/97): Hahaha! This was a great hard core comedy match for WCW Worldwide. Lots of cool moves, excellent pace, humor...yeah shit like this was my jam as a teenager. Stuff like this is why I think of the WCW C-shows more fondly than Nitro. La Parka & Psicosis vs. Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera (12/15/97): What the fuck!? Hahaha - this is awesome! Nearly 7 minutes of double teams, tandem spots, crazy everything. All executed to perfection. Go watch this! Mortis vs Juventud Guerrera (01/03/98): Oh!! That was a sick match! So many crazy moves but so well paced and they worked a great David vs Undead Goliath match. This was legitimately a very good match. Chris Kanyon really knew how to work with the luchadores. Mortis vs Booker T (01/19/98): Oh shoot! That power bomb!! I'm not sure how competitive this was but they did a lot of crazy stuff here! Definitely worth a watch for the power bomb. Mortis vs Raven (01/26/98): Nitro match and this has some pretty good moments. Like Mortis baseball slide kicking Raven's nads La Parka vs Super Calo (02/19/98): Super Calo does a bunch of offense and La Parka makes him look great. There's not a lot of flow to this match though. There's a bunch of Calo vs La Parka matches so I'm just watching this one. La Parka, Psicosis & El Dandy vs Magnum Tokyo, Shiima Nobunaga & Judo Suwa (04/06/98): A bunch of fun capped off by a bunch of dives and big moves. Give these guys 5 more minutes WCW La Parka vs Booker T (04/13/98): Damn this was more competitive than I thought it would be. Maybe it's just me but I like WCW Booker T more than in the WWE. La Parka & Psicosis vs Magnum Tokyo & Judo Suwa (06/14/98): Quick but a lot of fun! Comedy, dives and some cool double teams. La Parka & El Dandy vs Psicosis & Juventud Guerrera (07/19/98): Another fun match Neat seeing El Dandy in these tags. La Parkavs Eddie Guerrero (01/07/99): Holy cow! They gave this almost 10 minutes! La Parka and Eddie got to tell a story and have a fleshed out match instead of 5 minutes of spots. Good stuff! La Parka vs Rey Misterio Jr. (01/21/99): Whew doggy! Rey & Parka killed it. Both guys gave a ton here... both dudes look like they got killed on a couple moves. Definitely recommend checking this out! A big take away lesson is that WCW had a ton of dudes in costumes. All of those costumes rocked! That's something I think we're missing out on in contemporary American wrestling. Another thing I've learned about is why I fondly remember WCW Saturday Night and Worldwide. They had some damn fun wrestling!

Here's the final post for AJPW 2002. This covers more of the Real World Tag League. Otani & Tanaka vs Dr. Death & Mike Rotunda (11/27): Half shown but no idea where the other half was clipped out. No matter this was great in this format... absolutely back on track with the quality here. We get tastes of Dr. Death vs Tanaka (Tanaka taking the first real Dangerous Backdrop in a few years for instance). I'm not sure this match would hold up in it's full form since the full match time was long but if you find this in it's shorter format then you will have a absolute blast! Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. John Tenta/Earthquake & Tenryu (11/27): 6 minutes shown but I have no idea where the other 5 minutes are (again!)...it didn't look like this was edited at all. No matter it was the perfect length for these guys. Tenryu beat the crap outta Araya...two insane lariats...Tenta did his thing perfectly... Arashi assisted but stayed out of the way and Araya did his big boy moonsault...yeah 6 minutes of absolute fun. Mike Awesome & PJ Friedman vs Kea & Kojima (11/28): Oh yeah, this is a super fun match! We get plenty of Awesome vs Kojima which is what I wanted. Yeah, all 3 dudes who you want to see put on a show and PJ keeps the energy up. Tenryu and Tenta vs Otani & Tanaka (11/28): I was going to skip this one and am glad that I didn't! Great match! Otani & Tanaka bump so well and make Tenta & Tenryu look more dynamic than they are. And the sumo team did a great job man handling Emblem and when the Zero One guys fought back, it was electric as a light socket!! We kinda get an 80's finish but it works. Actually shown in full as well. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs Kea & Kojima (12/02? 01?): Great match for what was shown 18 minutes but they said it was longer. Screw it...this is probably the only version available so let's just go with that! And that goes for any of these matches. Kojima vs Arashi is always good because Arashi brings his best stuff. Same goes here! Kea continues to kick ass in the early 2000's. Araya even stepped his game up. Yoji Anjo & Mitsuya Nagai vs Otani & Tanaka (12/03): Another one where the match shown doesn't match the time but this was really good stuff. Otani & Tanaka are such a charismatic team. Nagai & Anjo bring the shoot style offense and its a nice change of pace. I've become a fan of Yoji Anjo. I also have to recommend 12/06/02's Kojima & Taiyo Kea vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka for the RWTL final. Unfortunately Kea gets injured. I reviewed it in an earlier post...here's a snippet: "I do think the closing portion was extremely badass. I mean Kojima vs Tanaka is worth your time and its only about 20 minutes long as Gaora shows a bunch of pre and post match fluff." I was gonna end things there but going for one more. Keiji Muto & Road Warrior Animal vs Genichiro Tenryu & John Tenta (12/06): This is here just for fun. I'm hoping everyone brings their "A game" since they are on a big show & facing familiar opponents. Muto & Animal were a RWTL team (this is probably the runners up match) but I felt they probably dogged many of the house show matches. But I'm going to give this a shot....and I am glad that I did! It is a lot of fun. Animal vs Tenta is a lot of this but its the unstoppable force vs the immovable object. Tenryu & Muto are in supporting roles. If you're an 80's- early 90's WWF adult, you'll enjoy this And that's a good way to end my look into 2002 AJPW. Much of my enjoyment is based on my love of the older wrestlers and seeing many of them giving it their very best, one last time. Then there's a part that sees them interacting with the stars of the 2000's like Kojima, Kea etc. It's been so long since I started that I can't do a proper summary of the year. I did miss Kawada though. WAR vs Muto AJPW was pretty cool but doesn't produce anything earth shattering. 2002 notably does feature the Tenryu vs Kojima matches (which really started pushing Kojima to the top). Kea vs Tenryu similarly. What else? Kawada vs Muto in February was a classic. 2002 AJPW is a lot of fun...it's not always the most ball crushingly brutal wrestling...but it's got it's fair share of very good & great matches. It's got some classics but what it has in abundance is good times. One could probably only get that from watching a bunch of the matches & having a fondness for the wrestlers. If you're a modern wrestling fan, this might not be something you want to start getting into. If you've been watching these guys for a fair portion of your life then, I think you'll be interested in seeing this. Sure some of the guys are long in the tooth but so are you now! I wanted to say, everything I've reviewed is online and on YouTube. The stuff without a Gaora link is part of a block of TV episodes. But search Steve Williams, Kojima, Arashi compilation and you should be able to find what you're looking for. Thanks for reading!

Going through the Gaora AJPW Battle Library and wanted to share the KAI vs Koji match in case I didn't link it elsewhere.

I found a couple newer videos GAORA had posted for 2001 that looked interesting. Both feature Yoji Anjo, who is fantastic in both. I definitely recommend checking both of these out. They are shorter in length but the intensity and action is high throughout. The Kawada match is particularly great. Yoji Anjo vs Toshiaki Kawada (08/26/01) Yoji Anjo vs Masato Tanaka (10/07/01)

We're back with Part Four of my review of Muto's AJPW 2002. Thanks for waiting! There's a bunch of tag matches this post. Arashi, Dr. Death, Tenryu, Koki Kitahara, & Masao Orihara vs. Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Hase, Jinsei Shinzaki, George Hines & Kaz Hayashi (08/31): A very good elimination match that was best earlier on. In all fairness, this would have been great if it were a single fall match and kept the pace up. In this form, things dragged on too long with the younger/athletic guys like Hayashi, Hines and Orihara already eliminated. Shinzaki didn't seem motivated and well the WAR team were generally plodding except for Kitahara. All that said, this is still enjoyable but unfortunately with how they booked it, it over stayed it's welcome. It's a big show main event so I think it definitely delivered, if that makes sense. Watching it now, I would have booked it differently but I think it had a big time impact for the fans. Dragon Kid, Jimmy Yang & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. M2K (Darkness Dragon, Magnum TOKYO & Susumu Yokosuka) (08/31): Absolutely bananas in pajamas! Wow, this was super dialed in for 2002. The fans loved it as did I. And in all honesty, it's a chaotic spot fest that's more about "wows!" rather than "wows + story/drama" (which is something that these guys do improve on...). But yeah if you're itching for Dragon Gate action - check this out below. Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai (10/06) Very good 16 minute match. Hirai was serviceable. Tenryu vs Kojima was excellent. Kaz of course was whipping boy but this wasn't overdone and he was able to go off with his explosive offense. And that's where Hirai was weakest...he just didn't sell. It was fast paced enough down the stretch to ignore this but I feel like he was no selling as a disservice to Kaz Hayashi. Arashi vs. Satoshi Kojima (10/14): Very, very good 10 minute match. This pairing works because they can just hit each other. Nothing fancy is required. There's only one gaff but it sorta worked in the match. Arashi and Kojima did a really interesting sleeper hold section that gave this more depth than just being a slobber knocker. Genichiro Tenryu vs Great Muta (10/27): When Muto gives a crap, he can still put on a great match. Heaven knows Tenryu can too. They do that here. Tenryu goes after Muta/o with his own medicine plus pulls out some older offense and different tricks. Great knee selling by the Great One which really makes the second half special. There was a lot different and enough surprises to keep me entertained and interested. GAORA has this for our viewing pleasure: Dr Death & Mike Rotunda vs. Kojima & Taiyo Kea (AJPW TV 11/23) : Good match with alot to like but I felt there was too much stomp & punch filler in here. Longer matches are not AJPW's strong suit with the older guys...this was 20 but would have been much tighter at 15 minutes. Mike Awesome & PJ Friedman vs Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka (11/25): Super fun 11 minute match! This could have relied upon Awesome vs Tanaka nostalgia but every one wrestled balls to the wall. Friedman was the weakest but was an excellent heel sidekick to Awesome so it worked well. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mike Awesome & PJ Friedman (11/26): You're watching this for Mike Awesome... I'm not going to mince words. He is the reason why this is a fun house show RWTL match. Otani, Tanaka and Mike Awesome give the 2002 Real World Tag League some excitement. I'm looking forward to watching more of their matches next time. Next post will probably be my final post for AJPW 2002. Thanks for reading!

This takes place at AJW's Wrestlemarinpiad 1990. This is just a ton of fun with plenty of awesome lucha moves. I'm not a good judge of Lucha libre but am more familiar with lucharesu. I know it's a minor distinction but as an attraction/exhibition match on a big AJW show (the Bull vs Aja cage match), this absolutely delivered!

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. ----- 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. ----- 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!

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 comes through again. He's not the ace like Fujinami but damn he can hold his own and then some. I think I'm comfortable calling this a classic match... I really dug this one!

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!

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!!!

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!

It seems that Kobayashi has passed away. If you're reading this post then, you owe it to yourself to watch Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask Misawa! Thank you Kobayashi!!

Unfortunately it seems that the news of his passing is true. A Google search now shows multiple sources reporting his death. One of my favorites. Thank you Kobayashi!!

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!

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 Absolutely worth a watch if you're a Gran Hamada fan.

I second being a Sid in ECW fan. I think him being in ECW is one of the reasons I started watching. Like, "oh shoot! Sid is in this sketchy company? Maybe I should check it out..." He had great look and had a real aura about him..especially when he looked gigantic compared to the roster. I can't remember if he had any full matches but him destroying people was great fun and excellent footage for the ECW commercials.

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. "Choshu no-sells a diving knee drop to hit a lariat right afterward, which takes us into the finishing stretch" This was odd but I kinda interpreted it as "the knee drop to the head just pissed Riki Choshu off and fired him up." But, yeah it was a strange moment of no selling to be honest...

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.

Thanks for sharing this info. Seems like a good time & place to ask - any top 5-10 match recommendations for Ogawa singles matches? When watching 2000-2002 NOAH, he actually became one of my favorites and really loved his title run & lead up to it.