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G. Badger

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  1. G. Badger

    Spotlight: FMW 1999

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    This post I'm taking a look at some of the best of FMW in 1999. Without further ado, let's begin!
    Hayabusa v Tetsuhiro Kuroda (01/05/99): Really exciting match with some really great sequences and spots. This is a textbook example of working a body part and blowing it off though. He hurts Hayabusa's leg the Hayabusa hurts Kuroda's arm and it unfortunately has no bearing on the match's story or outcome. This is not a deal breaker at all. It's actually pretty well worked as Hayabusa keeps it somewhat interesting and they transition out of this portion in a convincing manner. I knew it was going to be like this so I enjoyed the hell out of the final 2/3rds of the match. So find this match, fast forward the arm/leg part if you want or don't worry about it too much. It's basically bringing the excitement down in order to launch it up with the remainder of the match. Personally I'd rather they only have one person work a body part and then move onto the rest of  match...Kuroda's figure four segment was unnecessary and is really were I think I have issues...it was pedestrian and part of his schtick so he felt like he needed it in there. Yeah, I think that's it because if you subtract that, I think this is a great match actually!

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    Mr. Gannosuke vs. Hisakatsu Oya (01/5/99): Long, gruelling chain wrestling in FMW? Yes! This is more like a match between two NJPW guys in the late 80's than an FMW match in Kodo Fuyuki's '99 FMW. And I loved it. Slow paced but always working. Oya is looking to either pop a Gannosuke joint throughout. Gannosuke seems content on wrestling Oya's style, saying "I may be a heel but I'm the second best technician in the company. Watch out!" This is a great traditional puro match between perhaps the only two who could truly do it to this standard in FMW. 
    Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida (AJPW 02/13/99): I had watched and reviewed this as joined-in-progress  bout a few,years back but I felt like watching it again. It starts out slow with Honda and Izumida being content on head butting all match. Hayabusa is not down with that and the match starts up in earnest. And man its a slow burn but it gets really good. Most of the exciting offense is from Jinsei and 'busa but Honda isn't a slouch and throws a mean suplex. By the end the crowd is loving it and I am too. Very good match! Worth watching in full.

    Honda takes Shinzaki for a ride
    -----
    Hayabusa & Hisakatsu Oya vs Mr. Gannosuke & Hideki Hosaka (02/27/99): A really, really good keep-it-simple-stupid tag match. I'm even tempted to call this a great match because it did everything so well. The pacing of the match, the moves used, the psychology of targeting Hayabusa neck but not going overboard. It's nice to see Gannosuke especially against Hayabusa. I also enjoyed Oya's Inoki-style (I need to see more Oya!). Great twist here too. This was so much fun!
    Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (02/27/99): Oh yeah what a battle!! This was an outstanding work rate type of match. In all honesty this wouldn't feel out of place in AJPW minus a couple spots. Kuroda and Tanaka take each other to the limit here. The urgency of the fight is what made this a classic to me. It really felt like these guys wanted to win. According to BAHU, "this is the beginning of the push to make Kuroda a main eventer with the company." I highly recommend checking it out!
    Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (03/19/99): This is an amazing tag match! Fought like an AJPW match, they take their time building it up from fundamental wrestling into a spectacular battle between the two most athletic teams in FMW. Tanaka picked an excellent partner in Kuroda. This is definitely top tier FMW tag wrestling and top tier stuff for 1999. Classic shit!


    Awesome job camera man...get in the shot of the other camera...
    -----
    Overall this has been quite exciting stuff! I'm glad I've got much of this on DVD. Just about everything should be available to you online so you should check a few of these out. I've probably got 2 more instalments of FMW '99.
    Thanks for reading folks!
  2. G. Badger

    Spotlight: FMW 1998 - Revisited

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    I'm very excited to be watching more FMW after a long time away (Kudo stuff excluded!). I'm not limiting myself to just FMW but am including interesting stuff from ECW and AJPW as well. I'm going off my DVDs so there's a bunch of pics. They're grainy but you get that old school VHS video quality vibe like you're watching these in '98. Hope you dig 'em. Let's jump on in!
    Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Yukihiro Kanemura & Hido (01/06/98): Oh yeah, this was just a blast! You kinda get everything you want here in one 14 minute match. It's like a Dean Malenko Nitro match from like '96 It is just 4 pros having a very good wrestling match. It tells a little story (or continues one), has some drama with the heels hitting nut shots, using chairs and making blind tags, you've got your baby faces shining with their cool moves, its a good start!


    -----
    Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka & Hisakatsu Oya vs. Mr. Gannosuke & Yukihiro Kanemura & Hido (01/16/98) highlights only but this looked like a lot of fun.

    Two guys going to a Bruce Springsteen concert in 1986 and a guy in his pajamas
    -----
    Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa (02/06/98) highlights but looked cool. I'm not sure Nakagawa had a snowball's chance at this point. I know later when he betrayed FMW, he got a pin over 'busa.
    Hayabusa vs. Jado (03/16/98) : Good match, we got Hayabusa doing his big moves, Jado and his pals doing some heeling, and a really sick power bomb from the apron through a table. I mean no one sold anything but was Hayabusa's 2nd match of the night so it's all good.
    Hayabusa vs. The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) (03/17/98): I wouldn't have laid it out this way but this was a very good battle between the two most flashy wrestlers. It did not disappoint one bit. There were some really great moments here and nice surprises. Really high impact stuff throughout. I thought the selling was pretty good as well. Nothing fantastic but both guys really sold the pain and struggle they were going through in this big stakes match. I think if you want to see a Gladiator vs Hayabusa match this is an excellent one to go with.

    Taste the Radness

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    Hayabusa, Giant Baba & Kentaro Shiga vs Jinsei Shinzaki, Jun Izumida & Giant Kimala (AJPW 05/01/98): Tokyo Dome match, in the ring with Giant Baba, that ain't too shabby! We get a couple clips here in my version (probably a TV edition) but I think a good portion of the match is shown. This thing is FUN. Baba vs Jinsei is great, Hayabusa is on point, Izumida is channeling Shinzaki and Kimala, and Kimala is a blast. So much fun, the wrestling is really good, the fans are loving Hayabusa & Jinsei... yeah this is one of those random 6 mans that you want to see



    -----
    Mike Awesome & Justin Credible vs Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn (ECW Hardcore TV 07/18/98): This is a weird pairing that I don't know if there's any kayfabe reason. I guess it makes Awesome a heel for willing to team with the slimy Credible. And anybody who wanted to think Japanese=Bad guy would be discouraged by Tanaka being with the New F'n Show. All that said, this is a really good all action tag match. Of course Tanaka vs Awesome is the big attraction (this was their first appearance at the ECW Arena) but Credible did a nice job chicken-shitting with Tanaka that they told a really fun story. Jerry Lynn and Awesome worked well together but there was not much there beyond doing their athletic stuff...no little story or anything. Awesome and Tanaka had a match at the Hammerstein before this I believe but, I think this was a truer introduction to ECW fans than that singles match. This definitely could have taken place in an FMW ring. Bonus: They take this match on tour for a few nights in a row and I might like the Ft. Lauderdale fan cam 07/24/98 better. It felt like the ironed out some kinks, incorporated Jason & Chastity at ring side and gelled. 

    Justin and the ref argue over how many brain cells he has left.
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    Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka (ECW Heatwave '98 08/02/98): They were a little nervous at the very beginning but once they got in the groove, they did not let up! The early portion saw a back and forth match but eventually Mike got the upper hand and starting dropping bombs and crushing Tanaka's skull with chair shots. Dangan does not stay down though! There's a great twist here and an excellent finish. It's a great match. From what I can tell, they don't face each other in singles competition on TV or PPV in the States until the next summer. Wow! What a tease! When they return in '99 is when everyone remembers them in ECW but this stuff in '98 is excellent. Tanaka in '98 is fantastic and Awesome is on a bit of a tear too. This is worlds better than the Hayabusa/Shinzaki vs RVD/Sabu match from Heatwave '98 (that's a fun but disjointed type of match).


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    Hayabusa v Rey Bucanero, Jr. (Battlarts 11/23/98): This is kind of a fun squash match. I think Rey does like 1 or 2 cool moves. It's all Hayabusa doing signature moves.

    Hayabusa v Hisakatsu Oya (FMW 12/13/98): I think there was a period where they were friendly and not rivals. Well that time is over! We get a clipped match but it's not a hyper clip/only big moves type deal. We actually get a good portion of the match and from what is shown this looks pretty good. I have this on two different compilations and I actually watched it twice in a row to double check that they were the same. And it was super fun both times

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    This has been a blast to watch! I'm going to keep going with stuff from 1999. Also very glad to be chipping away at my mountain of un-watched DVDs.
    I'm sure some of these are online so go check a few out! Thanks for reading everyone!
  3. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Megumi Kudo

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    I decided to take a little break from JWP. No way I was going to meet my self imposed deadline. Instead I thought I would switch stuff up and watch the best of Megumi Kudo. As an FMW and joshi fan, it's a bit crazy that I've only seen like 2 Kudo matches and some clips. I skipped the one's I've seen 04/02/93 AJW and 05/05/96 Combat Toyoda retirement match. Oh I have seen the first inter-promotional match with Toyoda vs Bull & Bonito in 1992. That's covered in my 1992 FMW post from a couple years ago. I watched her other most highly recommended stuff as well as some other matches that may have been overlooked. If you're unfamiliar with her, she's Jaguar Yokota trained and AJW dojo grad. She wrestled there for a couple years until they gave her the boot as they just didn't think she'd be popular or have anything for her. Along comes Onita and FMW a couple years later. Same for her friend Combat Toyoda. Kudo's style reminds me of a baby face Mayumi Ozaki. Her move set also seems influenced by Misawa but those things are observations on my part.
    Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda - Street Fight (08/04/1990): 7 minutes of beating the crap outta each other followed by like 3 minutes of wrestling. I'm all for that! This is very good stuff. In contrast to what JWP was doing in 1990, this was pretty crazy shit. 
    Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyoda vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (05/05/93): Fierce fight in Kawasaki Stadium! The rematch from their 04/02/93 fight. All kinds of great action with Combat being spoiler since she's so much bigger than the AJW team. They did a great job  containing Toyoda and beating the crap out of Kudo. If it was anyone else I'd be concerned but I knew she could withstand the pain until she could get Combat in there. Great match with a great final third for sure. The outdoor atmosphere was awesome too!
    Aja Kong vs Megumi Kudo (AJW 12/06/93): Great title fight! The opening mat wrestling was pretty awesome. After that Aja dominated Kudo until she finds an opening mercilessly attacks the champ's arm. It's a smart way for the smaller wrestler to get an advantage. Aja sells it all beautifully throughout. It's a slower paced match even towards the end as they are milking the drama of the FMW joshi not just surviving but defeating the baddass AJW WWWA champ. Again this was a great match and in my mind shows Kudo's skill as a singles wrestler beyond just death matches. I wish I knew why they showed Jaguar Yokota... Aja references her post match I assume... perhaps it is in reference to her training the both of them. Jaguar seems to get a little emotional. Later Kudo cries which I think is her thing like Onita. She seems pretty sincere here.
    Megumi Kudo & Aja Kong vs. Combat Toyoda & Bison Kimura (FMW 12/21/95): Great tag battle between class of 1986 AJW. This might be as good as the Toyota/Yamada match above as these teams are similar in size & styles and of course the familiarity and backstory are greater. The 05/05/93 match was probably a smoother fight but this felt grittier and more FMW. Bison was great and I've missed her..just blazing choppin' the fuck outta people. I would've like to have seen an Aja/Kudo tag run in either FMW or AJW. They are great together! Gladly could have gone a couple more minutes. I liked it a bunch.
    Megumi Kudo vs. Shark Tsuchiya (FMW 12/22/95 -First Ever Women's No Rope Barbed Wire Death Match): This was first No Rope Barb Wire joshi match but on 09/05/95 there's a handicap joshi tag match where they wrap wire around the ropes and boards on the floors. I could only find shaky zoomed in hand cam stuff otherwise I would have watched it. Kudo refers to Sapporo in her pre and post match interview (thankfully subtitled) so I was to find that out if you're interested. This match started out a little slow with Shark dominating Kudo but eventually things pick up when she makes her comeback They did a couple really great spots with the wire. Shark's seconds interfered during the match which annoyed me at first but once Kudome's friends helped her, it evened out. Excellent spot with the sickle, super dangerous. Of course it was best when Kudo was in control. Very good match. I'm guessing this was super gnarly at the time. It would have flipped my lid had I seen it back then -Cobra clutch with a barb wire kendo stick still is pretty awesome. Brutal finish too. 
    Megumi Kudo vs. Shinobu Kandori (FMW 12/11/96) : About 15 minutes of all action...you know they could have gone longer. Kudo was the standout for sure. Kandori's performance was good and it got the job done. The story is about Kudo overcoming the badass that is Shinobu Kandori. She was indeed a badass who turned quite a few of Kudo's routine holds/moves into pretty intense submission holds. There were some really great moments too. I dunno, I thought this was a great match. Maybe I appreciate Kandori more after watching JWP 1990 stuff. 
    Megumi Kudo vs Shinobu Kandori (Street Fight - LLPW 01/05/97): Almost missed this one but caught it thanks to BAHU's Megumi Kudo bio. This takes place in LLPW. A great match. Very much an FMW type match with good wrestling and spots with tables & chairs and even a chain. The finish was pretty awesome and involved that chain. My only gripe is that it was very much a tale of two matches. Kandori controlled one half and Kudo controlled the other. I think the Kandori half on a whole was not as exciting from an action standpoint. It made sense though so I can't fault it too much. I think this had potential to be a near classic and that's what I am commenting on. It was 20 minutes and maybe this would have been a classic if it were closer to 15? It was really chaotic and I think that helped keep my interest when things slowed down towards the end.
    Megumi Kudo vs. Bison Kimura (Jd' 01/16/97): Yup next day. No gimmicks just Bison vs Kudo. And this was a great match! I think what makes this a better match fundamentally than the street fight above is that it felt more natural. There's transitions from offense to defense. There are little windows where one might get an advantage that get closed as soon as they're opened. We get brawling on the floor, we get some chair and table stuff but more importantly, we get a match that has a good layout and pace. Awesome finish too. It's a simpler, shorter match and doesn't have the memorable spots like the street fight but is just as great. 
    Megumi Kudo vs Shinobu Kandori (No rope Barbed Wire - FMW 03/14/97) : This was super exciting at the beginning with both wrestlers trying to avoid the wire. After Kudo went into it though it was dreadfully dull. This again was kind of like each person controlling 1 half of the match. Things did pick up when Kudo did a dive over the wire to the outside. This set up the list part of the match. This part was pretty good actually but that should be a given, right? It didn't help matters that the crowd was very quiet. I think Kandori's control section was about her trying to get heat by stomping, cutting Kudo but it didn't work really. It just didn't have a lot of energy, spots or anything to spice it up. I think Kandori felt the novelty of her being in a barb wire match would be enough? Don't get me wrong, Kandori gets the wire pretty good a few times and this is the way to end the feud but I thought this was the weakest of the three matches. This needed more wrestling in the middle. Folks doing the 1997 yearbook liked this more than me so, check it out nonetheless.
    Megumi Kudo & Bison Kimura vs. Lioness Asuka & Shark Tsuchiya (Bunkhouse Death Match - FMW 03/28/97) - This OK but Bison is chained up for a good portion and Lioness and Shark beat up Kudo. Kudo makes some comebacks and eh its not worth your time considering the line-up.
    Megumi Kudo vs Mayumi Ozaki (Double Hell Barbed Wire - FMW 04/18/97): Argh! If only there was a full version of this out there! Little clips don't matter too much but there's a big clip where suddenly Ozaki is not only in control but she's power bombing Kudo. Yet a few seconds earlier on the tape, Kudo is rolling Oz back in the ring after doing a diving splash onto the barb wire boards on the floor. Anyhow the 3/4ths of the match that's shown is awesome! They are just flying into the wire trying to dish out as much punishment as possible. And they are actually wrestling and bumping the whole time as well. Their styles are pretty similar where both are athletic, tough and not afraid to take bumps. It actually feels like competition. They are not going for drama as much as danger. Who knows what was actually omitted but some key transitions must be on the cutting room floor.  What's shown is great though. This would probably be a classic if shown in full. That said, you should check it out!
    Megumi Kudo vs. Shark Tsuchiya (FMW 04/29/97): This was a very good and sometimes great exploding/electric barb wire death match. I think it was a fitting retirement match for Kudo. This features one of the best uses of the sickle by Shark who actually attempts to slash/stab Kudo while she's down on the mat. Shark is pretty limited in her offense but what she did got the job done as Kudo provided most of the good stuff but also took some nasty bumps. She's seriously tough. The finish is kinda cheesy as they did similar stuff during the Attitude Era, later WCW but, hey they didn't get blown up during their matches! It works here so I'm not complaining it's a nice end to this post and her active wrestling career.
    This was a pretty cool project. It's something that I didn't plan on. It just sort of came together on its own. I'm definitely a fan of hers now. I think if she were to have gone to JWP, she would have eventually had a good clutch of classic matches with Dynamite Kansai, Ozaki, as well as had those inter-promotional matches too. I just don't think the caliber of opponents in FMW was up to her standard other than Toyoda. All that said, in FMW she is the queen of the joshi and a star right up there with Onita and Hayabusa. So one cannot fault her one bit. I was going through an old post and I think there was a rumor that some women from AJW wanted to go to FMW back in the early 90's. I feel like they were appeased by the inter-promotional stuff throughout the early & mid 90's. Thankfully! For Kudo's & our sake we got a bunch of great memorable battles. 
    I'm going to take a little break from Joshi in February and focus on watching FMW. This Megumi Kudo post acts as a segue into that. But I'm definitely not forgetting JWP 1991 or the couple other projects I have planned.
    Thanks for reading!
  4. G. Badger

    Joshi You Might Have Missed: JWP 1990

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    This is a project I wanted to do for a good while now. When I decided to watch all Joshi this month, this it the one I've been itching to start all month. Jetlag has done an awesome overview and Quebrada.net's reviews are really great as well. I've used those as my guide. As Jetlag has said, so little is talked about this era. I hope to add a little bit to the conversation. For reference here's Jetlag's Microscope topic: https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/39849-early-jwp-pre-splitinterpromotional-era/#comment-5816331
    I have the dates first because that's how I organized the matches originally. This started out pretty small but mushroomed because I enjoyed the neck out of this stuff. Some stuff I watched in chronological order but there are some I skipped ahead to or snuck onto my watch list towards the end. So sorry for any confusion you might come across!

    04/22/90: Plum Mariko vs The Scorpion
    Not sure what to make of Scorpion beforehand but I like her and the masked gimmick. She displayed a lot of spectacular lucha type moves. Plum was just sort of there to make those moves look smooth. But hey, she did an awesome job in doing that. This was a fun match. A very nice start!

    05/25/90: Cuty Suzuki & Oscar Tomo vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Yukari Osawa
    Really glad that I checked this one out. It was a good tag match. Ozaki and Osawa are heels with Cuty and Oscar as baby faces. What's great is that the heels don't really get into brawling and using weapons as you'd see in AJW around this time. They take shortcuts in the ring but when the action picks up down the stretch they have the wrestling skills to rely upon. Ozaki is already on her way to being awesome. She has a ton of personality and her moves are immediately identifiable as her own.

    05/25/90: Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Plum Mariko
    I really dig Yamazaki from the Jumping Bomb Angels so its cool to see that she went to JWP. Really good match that's veteran vs up and comer. Everything looks really good and builds very nicely. They wanted to put on a really well wrestled match that makes sense and gets the fans pumped to see Plum get an upset victory. Much more competitive than the above match.

    06/14/90:Eagle Sawai vs. Maiko Tsurugi
    Only have seen Eagle a couple times and Maiko is new to me. Anyhow, the moves and action is a little simpler than the match above but the story is much stronger. Maiko is getting the advantage on Eagle. But Maiko gets hurt due to outside interference. Eagle then goes to work on that injury. Can Maiko survive? Very good stuff.

    06/14/90: Plum Mariko & Cuty Suzuki vs. Miki Handa & Utako Hozumi
    A good fast paced match that got more interesting with a restart and a hot finish. Plum and Cuty are a pretty fun team to watch. I wouldn't mind seeing more Handa & Hozumi as they develop. 

    06/14/90: Mayumi Ozaki vs. The Scorpion
    Another very good match! Closing in on a great one actually. I think in part it just had those big moves towards the end or something. I mean Scorpion does a moonsault  and Ozaki does a springboard cross body block for instance. That said there is a good portion of quality matwork as well.  Scorpion seemed at Ozaki's level.

    07/19/90: Shinobu Kandori vs. Harley Saito
    This is stylistically UWF meets 80's Inoki Strong Style. Nothing has been like this at all so far in JWP. Later 80's Crush Gals would do the shoot kicks but nowhere as stiff as this and not this type of grappling. It is tremendously intense and nasty at times. I think if the filming was more than fixed camera, this would be even nastier. Harley is just soccer kicking Kandori in the head for instance. It very rarely feels cooperative. One thing I've noticed is the frequent use of pinning moves in JWP at this time. That is the case here as well and I appreciate it as its going for the win by any means. I also appreciate the refs who actually count the shoulders on the mat. That plays a part here. I don't know if I could call it a classic match but it's certainly memorable, influential and highly recommended stuff. A great match without a doubt. Post match stuff is sick too!

    08/12/90: Mayumi Ozaki & Rumi Yasuda & Yukari Osawa vs. Cuty Suzuki & Plum Mariko & Miki Handa
    Haven't heard great stuff about this but I wanted to see a 6 woman tag in JWP. One of the others I was looking for cannot be found. Plus I know all of the wrestlers at this point and it has potential. And yeah this lived up to the potential. Fast paced stuff with Plum & Ozaki  being the most impressive. Plum gives Ozaki a dangerous looking backdrop also. Really fun stuff, good match. I really like the pacing and competitive nature of these JWP matches. 

    08/12/90: Devil Masami & Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Miss A & Harley Saito
    Pretty darn good match. Devil and Itsuki did all kinds of cool stuff here. This is a longer match but I think they filled the time very well. Miss A and Harley weren't necessarily putting the other team in constant danger however Devil and Itsuki couldn't put them away either. That would give the younger wrestlers and opportunity to find an opening with their kicks. I think a faster paced match would have been more exciting but they wanted to go longer. They even snipped a few minutes from the footage. I'm not sure it needed that because it didn't drag at all.  The veteran team knew how to control the excitement even when the pace slowed down.

    09/30/90: Rumi Kazama & Shinobu Kandori vs. Devil Masami & Itsuki Yamazaki
    Oh this was a great tag match! Shinobu & Rumi are not necessarily heels in deed but the fans are against them. Devil & Itsuki might be heels but the fans like them especially against Rumi and Shinobu. Or that's my point of view. Nonetheless, this is a match that pits the shooter style against the entertainment style of Joshi more than above. And Devil and Itsuki are old guard entertainment style and I imagine the tension is real in ring. It's great because everyone is professional about it and it makes for a really exciting & intense back and forth match. Seeing Devil toss around Rumi is pretty enjoyable. Some might find the finish corny but it works!

    10/10/90: Plum Mariko & Cuty Suzuki vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Rumi Yasuda 
    A clear face vs heel match which is a lot of fun. Hair pulling, biting, running the face along the ropes etc. Everything was well executed and honestly Cuty Suzuki actually wrestled well here. I'm not a big fan as we go further into the decade but perhaps the simplicity of the matches is in her favor? I wouldn't say this is a need to see bout but its fun. Also online this is listed as from 12/12/90 but double checking Quebrada as well as the finish of the Miss A/Saito vs Kandori/Kazama match, this is 10/10. Same with the below. 12/12 must just be either the tape or TV episode date. I've listed it accordingly.

    10/10/90: Devil Masami & Itsuki Yamazaki vs. Eagle Sawai & Moon Ayako
    So yeah, Devil and Itsuki are the best tag team in the promotion. I shouldn't be surprised but this was almost a squash in that no way were Eagle and Moon going to win but this was really fun stuff. That enjoyment was pretty much all from Devil and Itsuki. They just have so much charisma and great ideas on how to work little matches. 5 minutes was cut from the footage but no matter. It was a blast!
     
    10/10/90: Miss A & Harley Saito vs. Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama
    I watched this the following day after the great 07/19 match. I look to this as the follow-up to that battle. I definitely think is the case or the way to watch it. This was great and perhaps a near classic with the story of that singles match (and aftermath) giving this some depth. This is more like a traditional tag match despite both teams being shoot wrestling but the intensity and stiffness is still there. Miss A/Dynamite is really laying in her kicks. Like Shinya Hashimoto, they thud. I just thought everyone was great here. There were a few callbacks to the 07/19 bout that really made this something special. I'm a tag wrestling fan and I think I liked this better but certainly the singles match needs to be seen to fully appreciate this. 

    11/11/90: Miss A vs. Devil Masami
    Whoa! This was a great match! Stiff intense battle from two of the larger wrestlers. There were less pin attempts and more power moves as a result. Therefore it felt like a big-time match with the established star Devil fighting the up and coming Miss A. Miss A/Dynamite Kansai already looks like a star in '90. There's no underdog story here. Its Miss A challenging Devil head on. The middle portion might put some folks off as they settle into some mat work but its purposeful and aggressive enough to keep things going. Again this is more like a heavyweight men's match than a hyper Joshi fight with reversals, roll ups etc. And this is only 15 minutes long, so even if you're not feeling it, the mat work transitions to the exciting conclusion rather quickly. That said, this section didn't bother me in the slightest. I'm just responding to criticism that I have read. I thought it was a good way to bring the match pace & energy down a little bit in order to have the end ramp up into something truly exciting. Works for me! Its on the JWP Best Match - Single matches compilation for a reason.

    12/7/90: Plum Mariko & Cuty Suzuki vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Rumi Kazama
    Had trouble finding this but its on the JWP Best Of Tag Matches 1990 tape and you should be able to watch it searching for that tape title. Anyhow, this was a great match on its way to being a near classic. They never got into top gear but everything looked great. Constant action, always going for an reversal or an escape of some sort. I don't get hung up on joshi mat work as any more than a way to slow things down while putting a hurt on your opponent. Same thing goes here. Plum's different leg lock moves were awesome so I'm not going to complain that they didn't end the match. For a 13 minute match this was a blast! 

    12/24/90: Rumi Kazama vs. Mayumi Ozaki 
    Great match that I haven't seen any praise for. Ozaki is already a bad ass and Rumi is definitely more than just Kandori's lackey. I just thought that JWP is like an alternative to AJW. It doesn't seem as polished as AJW but makes up for it in grit and hate. That's what makes JWP great in 1990 really. It all feels like a honest athletic competition. This match is a great example of that but also goes into high gear with great action and moves in the end. Really glad I went out of my way to watch this.
     
    Overall, this has been a fantastic project. Part of that feeling is not having super high expectations. In actually only the Kandori vs Harley match had a real must-see vibe. I think it lived up to that as it is so intense and unique. But I really took a liking to JWP's stuff in 1990. I'm always skimming the cream off the top because I have a bunch of other stuff to watch but this stuff made want to search out stuff not talked about or, if talked about, it wasn't recommended. Even those matches I enjoyed to different degrees. I think in some part this just seemed very Indie Japanese wrestling. Everyone was busting their asses to put on entertaining matches. What many lacked in technique, experience or pizzazz, they made up for in heart & fight. As I said in a few reviews, matches felt like competition with wrestlers always trying for a quick pin or for a chance to get another stomp in. It reminded me of my fondness for W*ING, IWA Japan, WAR, Michinoku Pro and FMW from the 90's. I definitely put JWP 1990 in that category of excellence now.
    I'm going to go onto 1991 next! Thanks to Jetlag for paving the way and thank you to the folks who have posted these matches online. As always-  Thanks for reading!
     
  5. G. Badger

    Quickie: Kaoru Ito 2000-2001

    By G. Badger,


    Quickie
    Joshi January continues! This little post started out about Momoe Nakanishi and me reviewing a DVD I got 6 years ago. Anyway I was watched a couple matches and realized that the real hero was Kaoru Ito. Well shoot, I'm down with that. She's a great wrestler that unfortunately doesn't get the love because she was pushed at the tail end of AJW after many of the stars left. But Ito made the absolute best of it and had some fantastic battles. Here's just a sample from 2000 & 2001.
    Kaoru Ito vs. Manami Toyota  (AJW 09/17/00): A great title fight for sure. There's plenty of crazy moves and action going on. Ito uses her double stomp quite a bit at the end but any criticism is unwarranted as its a strike move like a lariat or elbow. Toyota is an absolute punishment sponge and if you think it's going to take 1 or 2 stomps to win then, you're mistaken. So the folks complaining in the comments on the YouTube page... c'mon. What's a more fair criticism is that they did kind of stick to working around the one corner for the final part of the match. Kinda like if you get stuck in a corner playing a wrestling video game. That said they really made the very best of this almost like the final portion of a ladder match. But that's me just going after the haters. Personally I thought it was a great match. Ito's move set is comparable to Kyoko which meshes well with Toyota. What I like about Ito is that she isn't trying to out work or keep up with Toyota. She's probably Toyota's last great rival in AJW.
    Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/9/00 - Cage Match): An absolute war from beginning to end. Ito was an absolute beast in this match. And not in an unbelievable way either. LCO and Maekawa beat the snot out of in the late stages of the match but her powerful style along with her size advantage kept hope alive. I'm not a giant cage match fan but having to have everyone out of the cage to win is so much more exciting and dramatic than having only one member needing to escape. I'm not going to go into much more but this is exactly what I had hoped for and more. If you know a little bit of Ito's history then there's a moment that pushes this into the stratosphere. All time classic cage match.

    -----
    Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa - (AJW 2/28/01 - Elimination Match): 30 minutes of mayhem! There was so much action going on that it was difficult to tell what was happening. This was especially true early on before any eliminations happened. But let's say this, being eliminated meant something different for Toyota's heel team. Or that's how they understood it This was a classic match but with an asterisk. The footnote is that recommendation or rating is based on the brutality, creativity and execution of the match. This was not as deep of a match story wise and I wouldn't say that they built the drama to the fullest potential with the eliminations. But this match lived up to my expectations in terms of the wrestling/fighting.

    -----
    Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe & Momoe Nakanishi (AJW 04/01/01):  Similar full tilt madness like the above match but with Korakuen Hall as their playground. So we get some really creative spots as a result. What also was pretty great is the each teams' seconds got in the fighting. Maekawa was especially involved. I think I would have preferred her to Hotta as a participant but I think they are building Hotta vs Ito up down the road. Hotta just doesn't seem to have the stamina she used to.  This was not an elimination match so everyone was working 27 minutes solid. So I can understand her not having as much juice by the final portion (...actually only Momoe seemed to have a lot gas left in the tank). So having her play role towards the end of the match didn't seem as impact ful as one of the main heels. But that's my only nitpick.In some ways the actual action was better than the elimination match above. I don't want to sound like a broken record but I thought this was another classic. It was not a retread of the elimination match and if you're into the brawling chaos then I think you need to see this just as much as the others. Oddly enough this wasn't on my Momoe DVD but is online.
    Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito (AJW 07/08/01): Absolutely fantastic match and finish. I think what made this something special is that they stuck to selling the same story the whole match. There wasn't any time where Momoe powered up, blew off all of punishment and did 3-5 explosive moves. In fact, Ito beat her from pillar to post. Momoe was lucky to get one bit of offense in. And not in the way that Ito just hogged the match. No Momoe would get countered, blocked or overpowered. In a really subtle way, she often couldn't get to where she needed to be in time because of her severely weakened/damaged state. This was exceptionally well paced and thought out. A classic match in my book.

    -----
    This was an absolute joy to watch and feel a little dumb sitting on these for so long. I made the time and am glad I did. Now you might be a little skeptical of my high ratings and I don't blame you. I could be wrong but this looks to be one of the last if not the last great programs for AJW (I think Momoe vs Maekawa folds into this and sets the stage for later Ito vs Momoe and the last couple Ito vs Toyota in 2002). I may think better of these matches as I'm partial to latter day ECW & FMW and some folks don't care for the style. But if you've got similar tastes then you should absolutely check these out. I think most are available online if DVDs aren't your thing
    Awesome stuff!
     
  6. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Ayako Hamada

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    I remember being really stoked when Ayako Hamada, Awesome Kong and Cheerleader Melissa joined TNA for a brief time. Women's wrestling was actually the best stuff they had at that time. Hamada seemed to be a big deal to me as I was really getting into Joshi at the time and seeing a legit Joshi wrestler every week was pretty cool. Her and Cheerleader Melissa had an awesome match..maybe a hardcore match or something. Anyway, I never really got too see too much of her stuff in Japan. There's a couple below that are re-watches from maybe 10 years ago. Most are brand new to me. Let's get started!

    Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999):  I really don't want to analyze what made it so special to me but it was so just damn intense and engaging. I'll do my usual qualifying statement that I was brought up an ECW and FMW and that's not everyone's cup of tea. Mita and Shimoda are in full hardcore wrestling mode here. They are some of the best at the style. This is another feather in their caps. This I think puts AKINO & Hamada on the map in my estimate. A brutal emotional all time classic.
    Ayako Hamada vs. Mariko Yoshida (ARSION 4/21/2001) - Very good stuff here. I really enjoyed Mariko stretching Ayako in the beginning. It seems that Yoshida or maybe Arsion here is more traditional Joshi instead of the grappling focused stuff it was 1998-99. I'm OK with that. If anything it shows Mariko's versatility. Hamada is excellent here in terms of her execution. I'm not 100% on how she sold Yoshida's Koji Clutch finisher after she was released. Although she looked positively out of it while locked in it. So I give her a B+. I think the structure was a bit weak and that's what held the bout back from being a great one. Nevertheless, it was very entertaining.
    Mima Shimoda/Etsuko Mita vs. Ayako Hamada/Mika Akino (AKINO) (Twinstar of Arsion Tag Title, 6/9/01): Very good match but weirdly booked as the baby faces wrestled sorta as heels but the heels LCO were put into a sympathetic position, getting jacked up and bleeding for a good portion of the fight. Of course they make a comeback but why does anyone want to see a heel team make a gutsy comeback. Its the reverse of the 1999 classic. It's not as awesome in part because of this but also its kinda a small crowd. What doesn't suck is the actual wrestling. That stuff is fantastic and that still makes this a really good match.


    Mita piledrives Hamada through a table!
    -----
    Ayako Hamada vs. Michiko Ohmukai (Queen of Arsion Title, 7/3/01 Tokyo): Very good match. Lots of really cool submission moves and double blood. It felt like it lacked a distinction structure or direction. Or you know if they would have kicked it up a notch it might not have seemed that way. It lacked a distinct final third where they went for the absolute kill. I'd say low end very good like maybe ***1/2. 

    -----
    Ayako Hamada vs. Emi Motokawa (7/21/01): I actually liked this match as a whole better than the above bout. It was more basic but I also feel the Emi is more fundamentally sound than Michiko Ohmukai. Emi reminded me of someone trained in AJW, if that makes sense. A very good match, under 13 minutes but it was pretty enjoyable stuff from bell to bell. A great counterpoint to the above match...shorter but always moving, always fighting. No blood but no need to do that sometimes.
    Ayako Hamada vs. Mikiko Futagami (GAMI) (Queen of Arsion Title, 7/29/01): Some of the shenanigans at the beginning were in character for the GAMI persona (I got that from reading Jetlag's Match Discussion post here on PWO). The part where she used the title belt and hit Hamada and did a pile driver on it seemed silly. I mean I guess the ref doesn't mind the weapon use but he won't count Hamada as down for a 10 count either. I've seen this before but don't care for it. Slows the match down to a halt. Here its the only real drawback to the match. Everything afterwards is really good stuff. There's a couple flubs but they actually work in the context of the match. They aren't so totally blown that you feel sorry for the wrestlers, you know what I mean? They are just flubs, they recover instantly and move forward (wisely not trying the exact same move immediately after). If the crowd was vocal (and its a bigger crowd), I don't think any of this would have been noticeable. It's your stereotypical quiet Japanese crowd though. I've said too much and you're not going to watch this because who doesn't want to only watch flawless matches? Well screw that, this is a lot of fun and a very good match. Nothing wrong with a couple bumps in the road.

    -----
    We are going to skip ahead in time a fair bit. Let's take a look at some of her matches in Shimmer. Giant thanks to Shimmer for posting these. I'll share them here.
    Sara Del Rey & Madison Eagles & Daizee Haze & Nakagawa vs. Serena Deeb & Cheerleader Melissa & Ayako Hamada & Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER 09/12/10): This was a really fun 8 woman tag match with everyone being showcased. I thought Sara Del Rey and Hamada looked the strongest in charisma, execution and intensity.
     
     Sara Del Rey & Madison Eagles vs. Ayumi Kurihara & Ayako Hamada (SHIMMER 43 10/02/11): Well we can call this a rematch sort of. That's the story I am going with Dave Prazak lays it all out for us. This is for the tag belts too. And you know what, this was awesome! All kinds of action from bell to bell. Again Del Ray and Hamada are best but Eagles and Kurihara are great teammates. Really good heel/baby face dynamic but never too much b.s. from the heel team. It's definitely a blast to watch. Exciting finish too!
     
    Kana vs. Ayako Hamada (SHIMMER 50 10/27/12): Very good hard hitting match. It's not more than an exhibition style match but they really lay into each other like you'd see in Japan. Very nice counters by both women. I really thought it ended a couple minutes sooner than it should have. It seemed to only be getting into real high gear. So again, exhibition match but absolutely worth your time. In fact, you might like it more than me.
     
    This was a really fun project that exposed me to more Arsion as well as Shimmer. The '99 tag is probably the best match I've watched in awhile and is clearly a must see for Joshi fans. It's online for you to view - thank you! The Shimmer matches are right there so you gotta watch at least one. I liked the tag best but you might want to see Kana/Asuka and Hamada beat the crap out of each other. You'll be glad you did. Again this was a lot of fun. I watched way more than originally intended but am very happy to be watching Joshi again.
    Thanks!
  7. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Crush Gals

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    It has been quite some time since I watched 1980's AJW. After getting a taste of a few of the classic matches of the 90's from a couple Best of the 1990's compilations, I was bit by the Joshi bug. I wanted to see what all of talk was about with Crush Gals. I have always been partial to wrestling from the 80's and I wondered some 14 years ago if it was as good as the stuff from the 90's.Well hells yeah it is! Just as wrestling changed for men's wrestling so did women's wrestling 90's. So as long as you know that then, you'll have a blast. Well, for as much as I loved it I got knocked out of its orbit. I was pretty much getting DVDs exclusively 6-7 years ago and didn't want to get burned with getting a defective DVD or 3 again. So anyhow, I have been meaning to watch some of the matches below for a long time and thank goodness people have posted them online. Perhaps its because AJW is defunct but there's a lot out there! (duh grandpa)... Anyways let's get started!
    Crush Gals vs. Devil Masami & Jaguar Yokota (09/04/84): A frenetic match with a frenetic camera. Maybe that's just how they shot TV AJW at the time. It was a little hard to follow but this was fun. I wonder if this is one of the classic matches of the 80's. I can't agree with that. They just did everything so fast and with little rhyme or reason and they never had any downtime to let anything have much meaning. 
    Crush Gals vs. Devil Masami & Jaguar Yokota (09/26/84): Now this is more like it! Camera work is still not my favorite but its nowhere as crazy. That aside, this is a great match. I definitely think that the 2/3 falls format helps tremendously. They can go full speed ahead and it works. What's cool here is that each fall seems to be equal in length. Most times fall #2 is super quick and almost a formality. So this is a fireworks match that could just as easily taken place in 1994 or even 2004...they were so ahead of their time in terms of speed, athleticism and moves. I can still say they did rush through things a bit more than I would have liked. I would have liked some hot tags and those things. This was just a pedal to the metal fireworks extravaganza.
    Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano vs Crush Gals (Tag League The Best '85 Final 10/10/85):
    Great wrestling as theatre match. It's chaotic from the moment Dump and her crew make their entrance. Chigusa and Asuka are assaulted by all of the crew (who are all wearing masks and matching black outfits). Eventually they get things a little settled and Dump herself makes herself known and the match can start in earnest. 2/3 falls format makes this even better as each fall functions as a chapter in a larger story. Now this isn't a great "moves match" or even a great brawl but the hate and determination really is off the charts. A very very simple match but a great one.
    Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (09/14/1987): Wow! This was a classic fireworks extravaganza match. Bell to bell action that was perfectly executed. I'm not sure if there was a larger story or what but, the Angels really showed that they were on the Gals level here. There are little touches that you'd see in a slower fights like Asuka re-trying pins right after a kick-out. Unlike the Devil/Jaguar match (09/14), I felt they allowed moves time to sink in and allowed drama to build with their respective Ricky Mortons in danger (Tateno and Chigusa). The girls with pompoms chanting all match was electrifying as well. I'm sure this is one of the best pure work rate matches of 1987.
    Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (05/15/1988): Yeah there's a camera man that loves doing a super quick close up to where its fucking blurry and then immediately doing a fast zoom out that is fucking giving me a headache. It like a little kid with a camcorder. I bet he thinks he's avant garde but its annoying. People want to watch the match on TV not feel like they are in a carnival fun house. That's probably the producer/director telling them to do that. Once that scrap stops, I can actually pay attention to what's going on. And this is a good match. It's not as good as the above bout but it has its moments. I think they lose track of the legal participants towards the end and the one woman has one shoulder up facing the camera on the pinfall. I dislike that more than the legality stuff. So many refs don't even see the shoulders and start slapping the canvas because it is close enough. These are the same people who don't count even when someone's shoulders are down while locked in a hold!? Similarly, the person applying the hold also must keep their shoulders off the mat for a 3 count as well. I'm ranting...Joe Higuchi was one of the best at understanding the importance of these things. So this was kinda sloppy from the crew and not really the wrestlers. It was good and full of action but held back by these  distractions.
    Liones Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo vs Bull Nakano & Delta Dawn (04/1989): Delta Dawn did not wrestle in the match. She basically just carried a giant boa constrictor around. That's ok because Bull wrestled both Gals along with an assortment of weapons and a crony referee. That referee actually got the shit kicked out of him by the Crush Gals and they eventually got disqualified. That didn't stop the mayhem. By the way the ref no sold head kicks and chair shots like Ultimate Warrior. This was all kinds of fun! 
    Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo vs Akira Hokuto & Suzuka Minami (04/27/89): I rarely spoil a finish but I am going to. I'll say this was a pretty good match all in all.** spoiler alert** I think the structure of the third fall was a little bland as it featured dueling sleeper holds/chin locks. I think all 4 wrestlers applied the move as well as had it applied to them. It starts to pick back up like they are working towards a big finish especially when Lioness hits Hokuto in the face with a couple kicks then tags Chigusa back in and finishes it with a really crappy northern lariat. Joshi lariats are never really awesome as at very best they are like a good clothesline. Well this is not that good, it's anemic as if Chigusa was like I'm supposed to win, I wanna go home, this will do. I think a bulldog would have been cool instead. What was interesting is that this is close to Chigusa's compulsory retirement from AJW and she seems in a foul mood. The school girls are chanting like her & Asuka are baby faces but she's seems like she is not happy and is going to take it out on The Marine Wolves...especially in fall #2. This doesn't look like part of the story as like the third fall finish and maybe the whole sleeper hold stuff, she was just over it. Like "we're doing sleeper holds until I say we're not, got it?" Lioness spices it up with sick Dragon sleepers at least. Chigusa is like "we're going to get the school girls freaking out with the least amount of work...do some suplexes, and then I'll figure out a finish." I had high hopes for this as its something I wanted to see for probably more than 10 years now but it didn't live up to the hype. 
    I can't end it like that though...
    Crush Gals vs Akira Hokuto & Devil Masami (GAEA 05/14/2000): Gaea 5th anniversary main event. Nostalgia? Yes, I'll take it. This was a great match even without it though. Devil & Akira are cheating heels, this is 2000's Joshi so from its pretty close to 80's Joshi...weapons are pretty much allowed in moderation As an ECW fan at heart, I can never say no to a couple chair shots thrown in for good measure. Crush Gals are bleeding but they won't go down without a fight. Tons of great moves, very chaotic in a good way... tons of charisma as well. I really liked this and am happy to end this on a more positive note. 
     
    This started out as a 3-4 match quickie project but I kept finding stuff that looked interesting. That really says something about how great the Crush Gals were. They excelled in a variety of styles with a variety of opponents. And I only touched upon them as a tag team. They were fantastic singles wrestlers as well but that's for another post.
    Everything above is available online so if something strikes your fancy, do yourself a favor and check it out! This was a super fun project. Glad to revisit 80's AJW & I hope do it again soon.
    Thanks for reading!
     
  8. G. Badger
    I was psyched to find this inter-promotional JWP show online. It's from right around the era I want re-explore. Having watched a ton of full Joshi shows, I skipped the following:
    Kumiko Maekawa & Rie Tamada vs. Fusayo Nochi & Hiromi Yagi, Command Bolshoi vs. Bolshoi Kid, and Cutie Suzuki vs Takako Inoue. 
    Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki - Well, that was a war! I wasn't quite sure what to expect but the hate in this match was off the charts. It wasn't the quick burst of hate type match but more of a smoldering hate. Shit talking on the mic, stare downs, nasty looks and gestures and of course blood and kicks to the face. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't a fast paced match but I thought that it was wonderfully laid out. The match was almost a series of escalating encounters of violence. I could see some fans of more modern wrestling not liking this. In my book though this was a classic. Very distinct and memorable for sure.
    Kyoko Inoue vs. Candy Okutsu- From what I could tell, Candy was going to face a mystery opponent. Well here comes Kyoko! This was my favorite version of her - pulling out creative submissions, limited but energetic bursts of offense and using her strength/size while still being vulnerable. Candy I'm not too familiar with but I'm sure I've seen her before. She was really exciting here and I could draw comparisons to AJW stars, I think she's really her own wrestler. She reminds me of Mariko Yoshida at this time though. You can tell she's physically proficient, and can wrestle however she likes (at least in this match).  Really cool near fall from Candy as well. All that said this was a great match.
    Bull Nakano & Devil Masami vs. Hikari Fukuoka & Sakie Hasegawa -  Good match. I think it was a little bloated in the middle but overall it was enjoyable. I think if they could have stayed more focused after they went into the crowd (for some reason), this would have been very good stuff. The last third was pretty fun with lots of neat double team moves and that's what really saves it from just being an OK match. I don't think the outcome was in doubt so I question the booking a little bit though.
    Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai - I've seen this rated as just an OK match. I disagree. I think it is great! It's at a pace that really requires patience with the story they are telling. It was different from what I've seen them in AJW and if you're going in with expectations based on that, I could see one's disappointment. When Kansai makes her move and shifts the direction of the match, it happens at just the right time. Had they waited one more move or done it in a less memorable way, I don't think the first part of the bout would have been worthwhile. You could just say 'well they were killing time.' Instead we get an awesome moment where Dynamite Kansai just pops Aja Kong right in the face and derails the momentum she had worked so hard to build up.  Everything really just came together and happened at just the right time. The pacing reminds me of a Dory Funk Jr. match to be honest. If you're patient and stay invested in what they're doing then you'll be rewarded. I might even call this a near classic...or even classic in terms of timing and pacing.
    This show was a excellent example of the classic 90's Joshi period but with a twist. I'm not sure if it's a stylistic difference but these matches especially Chigusa vs Ozaki and Aja vs Kansai were more reminiscent of the slower early 80's AJW style. They focused much more on atmosphere and wrestling holds than speed and athleticism (think about AJPW 70s & 80's vs 90's style for instance). I enjoyed this quite a bit and plan to watch more JWP as a result. This is easy to find and totally recommend watching a couple matches if you're so inclined.

    Thanks for reading!
  9. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Mariko Yoshida

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    I've got a few New Years Resolutions and watching more Joshi is one of them. It's been a while so doing a spotlight on one of my faves Mariko Yoshida seems like a great way to get back into this style. As always, I'm cherry picking but here I'm omitting her stuff from 98-99 Arsion on purpose. I think I should do a separate post on that. Enjoy!
    Kyoko Inoue/Takako Inoue/Mariko Yoshida vs. Cynthia Moreno/Etsuko Mita/Mima Shimoda (AJW - 08/15/92) Great 6 woman tag match! Intensely fought from start to finish. Everyone was doing something at any point of the match. It get like each team truly wanted to score the victory. This is probably a better example of  Shimoda and Mita performance than Yoshida but it is a really exciting start to this post.
    Kyoko Inoue vs. Mariko Yoshida (AJW 08/30/92) - This was an OK match. If you really like 10 minutes of half crabs, this is your match! Seriously, it was getting close to a SKIP but I fast forwarded to shorten the time killing half crabbing after watching 7-8 minutes. And the last 5 minutes are super exciting. Those final minutes totally save this but 5 minutes in a 15 minute match can't diminish the first 10 minutes of boredom...and I like "work a hold" wrestling. That is not Kyoko's strong suit. 
    Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 08/30/92) - Same night as above, not a typo. Lord reegrus! That was an awesome match! A classic and a great example of the high level that Yoshida was working at early on. Excellent work on offense and consistent selling of her arm pain. That and she very nearly matched Toyota's athleticism. She was less reckless with her body (good or bad). Yoshida was much better on the mat though and the holds were much more interesting and engaging than what Kyoko did. Toyota's work here was also pretty strong. Here in August 1992 these two were peers in my view. Yoshida very definitely is in the same class as Toyota, Inoue, Yamada, etc. at this time. I really strongly feel if injury did not sideline her,  she would have moved her way up with them. What is bothersome is that she was kept down in the bookings after her return. I understand the company & the show must go on but it seems like AJW thought she would just get injured again. Perhaps that's true but also why she changed her style. 
    Yumiko Hotta vs. Mariko Yoshida (AJW October 9, 1994) - A very good, almost great match. I would say most of that quality comes from Yoshida's gutsy performance. She utilized her aerial skills but her submission skills and toughness are what kept her in the fight with the brutal Yumiko Hotta. She did not back down and in fact opted to use strikes of her own against the hard hitting Hotta. Of course Yoshida got a bloody mouth for her trouble. 
    Yumiko Hotta & Kaoru Ito vs Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida (AJW 06/18/97) - A very good tag match. It was rough around the edges but it was acceptable since it was so brutal at times. Double foot stomps to the spine & Toyota trying to stomp Hotta's head like a giant grape are two memorable instances. Yoshida & Toyota brought the more interesting offensive maneuvers where Hotta and Ito's attacks were of the cringe inducing variety. They were just so stiff. Toyota had a taped cut that got reopened but I'd think she had some far worse internal damage. I'm not aware of a story they were trying to tell here but it was really enjoyable and the Toyota & Yoshida team was most interesting.

    Lioness Asuka vs Mariko Yoshida (Arsion 07/03/01) - This was a great fight that meshed grappling, brawling and big moves into one. I honestly would have liked to see more matwork early on but what was done was good. I got the point across that Asuka hadn't lost her wrestling skills with age or in her brawling/hardcore style change. They put the hurting on each other in this one. Hard fought and at 14 minutes+ and it could have gone on a few more and I'd have been quite happy. 

    Our Hero

    Lioness = Bad Ass

    Check out Asuka's arm on the right
    -----
    Manami Toyota vs Mariko Yoshida (Arsion 11/25/01) - This is a match that they could have done in AJW years earlier had the split not happened. In a way it wasn't too dissimilar than their match in 1992 at least in terms of parity. Sure Mariko was the submission queen at this point but Toyota wrestled this no different than she normally does. Maybe that's what hold this back from being great. She never really truly sells the damage that Mariko should be inflicting on her. Toyota wanted to get her shit in whereas Yoshida wanted to create some tension. Toyota just popping up afterwards doesn't totally ruin anything as she had been doing that for at least 6 years at this point. It would have helped make this a great big time match rather than just a very good one. 
    I think this was a excellent way to get back into Joshi. It's been quite a long while since I've watched anything. That surprises me since I preferred it to men's wrestling for years but frankly there were some let downs in 1996 AJW that kinda soured me on it. I definitely will be watching more stuff prior to then- Late 80's-94 . I know I am missing out on some really good stuff especially JWP. I think I want to revisit Mariko Yoshida 98-99 also. It's been quite a long time.. I do have some 2000's stuff in mind to watch too so, it should be fun!
    Everything here is online and easy to watch except the Lioness fight. I have that on a DVD compilation. I highly recommend the 6 woman tag (its in the full 08/15/92 show), the Toyota fight from '92, the 1994 tag and the Lioness fight if you can find it. Those are all absolutely worth your time.
    Thanks for reading and happy 2023!
     
  10. G. Badger

    Best Match Watched - 2022

    By G. Badger,


    From the Editor
    I'm going to organize this years matches by what's 2010's AJPW and what's not.  Sorry for some inconsistency with the labeling of dates & promotions. I hope this helps folks find cool stuff to watch as well as stir up a little interest in going back and reading old blog posts. Its my version of Match of the Year and other year end award type stuff. Let's do the superlatives first.
    Best Surprise
    I think something I would say to start with would be the high quality of wrestling AJPW was putting out in 2011-2014. I obviously have some knowledge of this at the start of the year but I bought most of these DVDs on a hunch a few years back (probably longer if being honest). So I have been pleasantly surprised that I trusted my gut. It's been like the Full Impact Pro stuff from last year. So in a similar situation, I've been surprised in the quality of Zero One and BJW. Again, not much of a positive consensus was given at the time or thereabouts on this stuff. If anything, the impression I got was purchase at your own risk. I touched on this in my previous post, the bounty of material online and the ease of access to that has given my a taste of these promotions and I like it! With many of my projects, I try to find the stuff that I think is most interesting and disregard the rest. Saves me time and hopefully saves you the trouble. More Zero One and BJW for 2023. Best surprise is probably how much I enjoyed the Eddie and Steven Regal WCW TV matches. I don't look back upon Nitro fondly and with good reason but man there was some awesome stuff before the suits took all of their time away. Dean Malenko's the best at these 5-10 minute matches. His stuff with Regal and Guerrero were the best. I'd soured on Dean but these TV bouts were his specialty.
    Best Feud
    The Zero One vs NOAH stuff was really cool and had a very 2001 in-transition magic to it. I've watched MLW from around this time and it feels like this... Kinda like "What If this promotion, which was closer to latter day ECW, took off instead of ROH?" Even the 2003_stuff including the Differ Cup stuff feels very unlike NOAH in a very good way. So it wasn't the best feud exactly but an overlooked one in comparison to NOAH vs NJPW from '02-03. I think it has way more character than the NJ one. Burning vs AJPW was pretty darn great especially in tag settings. The best was Burning vs Masa Funaki's Stack of Arms stable...specifically Aoki & Kotaro Suzuki vs Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka. In honesty it felt like the only true feud night in & night out.
    Underrated Wrestler
    Naohiro Hoshikawa was simply awesome during the NOAH vs Zero One stuff. Never heard much about him but, he was a real stand out. Takashi Sasaki is another guy I never heard much about other than in name really. Man he's one of my favorite death match wrestlers now. He blends the wrestling and hardcore wrestling near perfectly. It reminds me of Tajiri in ECW in a way. Most underrated worker for the year is KENSO. Dude was mainly upper mid card but acted like a star and the fans responded in kind. When he was given a chance to shine he took the opportunity. KAI vs KENSO 2013 Champ Carnival is a very good example.
    Best Tag Team
    I love tag wrestling. AJPW had top shelf stuff. The 2003 Differ Cup and assorted other tags were the real high points of 2022. This is an easy one though. I gotta go with Atsushi Aoki (RIP) and Kotaro Suzuki. Their stuff in 2013 is some of the best stuff of the year. Even their stuff in 2012 NOAH was very good. I do have to give props to Junior Stars (Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka) as they were equally responsible for the awesome feud and boosting my interest in the team. A great later one to watch in 2013 is their 10/27 match vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie.
    Best Wrestler
    If we're looking at volume of excellent matches, Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki and Suwama are all very solid candidates for best wrestler of the year. Joe Doering is another very good candidate. His stuff in 2014 as champ is absolutely amazing especially his bout vs Shiozaki (more on that later). Doering before then doesn't make a big enough impression as a star. He's more like Suwama's big gaijin buddy until later. Suwama is a great ace and the face of of AJPW especially when the NOAH guys invaded in 2013. He has some real classic matches but also disappointed me in smaller bouts and even in some title fights. He reminds me of later Misawa in that regard. Not bad company to be in at but, maybe not for the greatest of reasons. Shiozaki has been the spark of AJPW in 2013 & 2014. He's brought an energy and intensity to every fight - singles, tags, six mans. That said he's one dimensional in that regard. That is how he's booked. We know that he can play plucky from his stuff in 2005, he can do powerhouse and heel stuff from his time in ROH & FIP. Here he's co-ace with Suwama and he does a great job. However every performance is coming from the same place emotionally. Akiyama is different from all of these guys as he's past his prime. He's Tenryu for the 2010's. He's tough, clever and mean. His style really harkens back to an older AJPW style now that his body won't allow him to perform as he once did. This may sound pretty silly but he actually tells stories in his matches. He makes little things matter ever if it just for one match. Like Tenryu or Fujiwara he sells a lot through his facial expressions at this point of his career. Not just selling as in "ow this hurts" but selling the story. He shows his anger, disgust, frustration. I think he's always done this but was maybe overlooked because of the types of matches he was able to do at the time. But I still wouldn't say he's the Best Wrestler for 2022. Akiyama is 2010's Tenryu and in that regard he's not really an underdog. He's still a big deal and the only BIG name in late 2013-14 All Japan. Takao Omori is my wrestler of the year. He wrestles/performs his story. That is to say, he's the heart & soul of All Japan. He wants to be there and in some ways I feel his goal was to always come back after the NOAH split and his time in Zero One. So when Akiyama, Kanemaru want to come back to AJPW and bring their NOAH pals, he doesn't want them there. He wants to be an AJPW wrestler and didn't come back for the money or notoriety or was forced to come there. But not just that, he does everything that Akiyama does. He along with Jun are bringing the old AJPW to the 2010's. You can see and feel it in how the matches are paced and structured. Akiyama will bring this most of the time but sometimes relies on routine, Omori always tries to work this older, richer style. A fantastic example is his 2013 Champion Carnival match against Shiozaki (04/25/13) or Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori (Vacant Triple Crown Title - 06/15/14).  All in all, I want to give Takao Omori the credit he is due. For his consistency, quality, stylistic choices, and  storytelling he is the Best Wrestler.
    Now onto the big list of matches...
    2010's AJPW (and related matches)
    Honorable Mention:
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hiroshi Yamato (06/02/2013)
     
    Near Classic Matches:
    Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs Takao Omori, Manabu Soya & Kaz Hayashi (02/10/13)
    Jun Akiyama vs KAI (04/29/13)
    Suwama & SUSHI vs Go Shiozaki & Kotaro Suzuki (07/21/13) 
    Kensuke Sasaki, Jun Akiyama & Go Shiozaki vs Suwama, Takao Omori & Kento Miyahara (08/31/13 Diamond Ring) 
    Joe Doering & Suwama vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori (AJPW - 02/08/14)
     
    Classic Matches:
    Sanada/Soya vs Yuji Okabayashi and Daisuke Sekimoto (03/21/11)
    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 and Go Shiozaki vs. Joe Doering and Suwama  (06/02/2013)
    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) 
    Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori vs. Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara (10/27/13)
    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)
     
    Everything Else
    Honorable Mention:
    Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (10/14/83)
    Dory Funk Jr. vs Stan Hansen (AJPW 11/28/83) 
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu (NJPW 09/26/1993)
    Lord Steven Regal vs Dean Malenko (WCW 08/19/96)
    Naomichi Marufuji vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa  (ZERO1 03/02/2001)
    Shinya Hashimoto & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura (ZERO1 09/15/2001)
    Ikuto Hidaka & Masao Orihara vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki (Differ Cup 2003)
    Kotaro Suzuki, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Atsushi Aoki, Bryan Danielson & Doug Williams (NOAH 10/25/08)
    Aoki & Suzuki vs Marvin & Super Crazy - (NOAH 07/22/12)

    Near Classic Matches:
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho (WCW Fall Brawl 09/14/97) 
    Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa  (ZERO1  09/15/2001)
    Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue (01/10/03 NOAH)
    Madoka & Kengo Mashimo vs Katsumasa Inoue & Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW 03/14/07)
     
    Classic Matches:
    Baba & Dory Jr. vs Hansen & Brody (AJPW 12/10/83)
    Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio (WCW Halloween Havoc, Mask vs Title October 26, 1997) 
    Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 12/09/01)
    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)
    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)
    Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles (TNA Against All Odds 2006)
    Takashi Sasaki vs Yuko Miyamoto - Scaffold and Light tube (BJW 03/14/07)
    Takashi Sasaki vs Ryuji Ito: 300 light tube death match (BJW 07/08/07) 
    Masato Tanaka v Togi Makabe (Zero One 08/03/08)
    Shiozaki, Suzuki & Aoki vs Otani, Hidaka & Hashimoto - (NOAH 05/09/12) 
     
    All Time Classic Matches:
    AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson (ROH Main Event Spectacles 2003) 
     
    Well there it is...AJ vs Danielson. Thanks folks, see ya in 2023!
    ...just kidding.
    So the best match watched in 2022 was AJ vs Danielson at ROH Main Event Spectacles 2003. That's a known classic that lives up to the hype. That's awesome but  I'm flipping the script and picking something different A couple others come to mind from AJPW 2013:
    Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (c) vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (03/17/13)  
    Suwama vs Go Shiozaki (04/18/13)
    Akiyama & Shiozaki vs Omori & Suwama (2/3 falls 07/28/13)
    Some from the Everything Else category that really stuck with me this year are:
    Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Do Or Die – May 2003)
    Masato Tanaka v Togi Makabe (Zero One 08/03/08)
    There might be some others that I raved about in my blog at the time so by all means believe those words. However scanning over both lists these ones really, really stuck out in my mind. The first Jr. tag match is on there because its the first in their series and just knocked my socks off. Suwama vs Shiozaki is the because it's their first meeting, there's so much tension and hype but it lives up to it sets the stage for ace vs conquering ace. Its a Champion Carnival match on the first night so both guys are fresh and ready to go. The 2/3 falls tag is there because it is a stipulation you just don't see anymore but was a staple of AJPW tags going back to the 70's. That was a conscious choice to use it here in order to help revive/restore a truer All Japan style (they use it in a Shiozaki vs Suwama match I didn't see as well). We see that in how this match is worked as well. Its my quintessential Burning vs All Japan  heavyweight tag. Joe vs Homicide is here because I'd didn't really see this get talked about other than Mcxal's awesome complete ROH blog. He and I match up with our views/ratings and he wasn't wrong. I didn't go one about this on my Joe post but it was because I couldn't not do it justice but, "Intense violent title fight" really is true. Tanaka vs Makabe falls into that category as well. It just did everything right for me. I said back in February, "more Southern brawl (with heel cheating) than a late 00's puro match. It had a couple hardcore spots but in the ways of later ECW/FMW plus it was intense and hard hitting as you wanted for 2008."
    All that aside, my pick for the best match watched in 2022 is Joe Doering vs Go Shiozaki (10/29/14 -Triple Crown Title). As much as people had said Doering was channeling Stan Hansen, Shiozaki was channeling Misawa. If this period is about restoring the true classic AJPW style then I think they nailed it here. "It never felt like they were killing time or working a sequence. Because just when you thought they were going to do something expected, they did something else. Expect the unexpected is a phrase I kept in mind early on and it stayed relevant throughout. Don't anticipate some slick or cute match. Its nasty and a little rough around the edges at times but man! That's part of what makes it worth your time. A classic match and a fight worthy of the Triple Crown title."
    So there you have it! Another year gone...Holy Cow! I feel like I watched a ton of wrestling this year by the looks of this list. Again, I hope this helps you out and if you're new around here, go check out my posts from 2022. And please join me in 2023!
    Thanks for reading! It really means a lot to me and thanks to anyone who left me comments. I've got some good stuff planned for the new year. Take care everyone
     
  11. G. Badger
    Hi folks! Going through my notes and reviews while working on my year end Best Match Watched stuff and found a bunch of AJPW stuff that I never posted. Very interesting stuff. I'd normally do pictures but I think I used some of them from my last wrestling art show thing. 
    Giant Baba vs Stan Hansen (09/08/83): PWF Title match. For a Baba match, this was pretty good. He and Hansen work well together and work with Baby's limitations. Baba also pushed himself a bit. Perhaps I have seen this before but many Baba singles matches can feel the same.
    Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (10/14/83): International title fight. Brody surprisingly wrestled a technical match by targeting Jumbo's injured arm. We get blood from both guys and this is really good stuff. The finish or end part of the match is fantastic!
    Tiger Jeet Singh vs Dory Funk Jr. (12/05/83): Very good bout. You know what you're getting here but I think they worked it very well. Started hot then brought things down and closed with a donnybrook.
    Baba & Dory Jr. vs Hansen & Brody (12/10/83): This is a short match but the whole thing is fought like the last 10 minutes of an epic tag bout. That's to say, this was intense as hell from bell to bell. Terry is yelling at ringside which makes things even more palpable. It was all so great and felt like a fight between foes (as it is). This was classic stuff (along with the post match stuff). 
    Ric Flair vs The Great Kabuki (12/12/83): For the NWA World Title. Started slow with Kabuki dominating but things picked and the fans really got into the possibility of their countryman winning. It's not the greatest thing ever but it was a lot of fun down the stretch. Would have benefited from being quicker in pace I think.
     
    The Jumbo vs Brody and the tag match are highly recommended. Damn I want to rewatch these now...
  12. G. Badger

    Quickie: Tatsumi Fujinami

    By G. Badger,


    Quickie
    This year has been relatively an AJPW focused year. So I thought I'd squeeze in a quickie spotlight on my favorite NJ wrestler, Tatsumi Fujinami. No real theme or anything beyond matches I found online that looked cool
    Bob Backlund vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 01/01/82): Man, this is 40 almost 41 years old. Anyhow, this is 15 minute technical duel and I loved it. Its the type of match (and time) where they escaped or reversed holds rather than use rope breaks. This could have gone on much longer but we get a weird finish. It legitimately looked like the ref counted in an odd manner and the finish didn't go as planned. I know its the 80's but this didn't even look like a finish. These two are master technicians so I don't think they would have had this look or end as clunky as it did. But screw that, everything else before was gold. I'd say it was a great match except for the finie.
    Dos Caras & Jimmy Snuka VS Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ Tag League 1985): Fun tag match with Dos Caras working his ass off. 1985, it could be 1995 with all of the springboard moves he does. Otherwise nothing terribly remarkable but a fun high energy go-go tag match. It's typical of most NJPW tag matches of the era. What is remarkable is again Dos Caras AND he's posted the full match on his YouTube channel. So I figure it is OK to share it here: 
     
    -----
    Kevin Von Erich vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW in Shizuoka 1986): 80's finish but this is off the hook so it doesn't matter. Kevin is a wild mad man! Everything he does looks fantastic. Scoop slams and snap mares even. Credit due to Fujinami for bumping like this. It really sells the match. You know Kevin reminds me of Muto in his explosive athleticism. Imagine those bursts from Muto but for 12 minutes. On top of that they work a little story with the claw and Fujinami going after the hands in order to take that away from Von Erich. Really good stuff. Fujinami has a pink ring jacket that I don't think even flies in 1986...check that out too
    Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tatsumi Fujinami  (NJPW 12/11/1991): I think this is one I've wanted to see for some time. It was good but nothing terribly remarkable. And that probably sounds like crap when it was actually good wrestling. I figure they wanted to show how Liger would stack up against Fujinami. He does very well but it feels like an off night for him or something. I just wasn't as excited as I expected to be. This was neither a technical duel or an all out action match. Too high of expectations? I don't think so. I just felt like they wanted to have a  'just a pretty good match' and they totally accomplished that. 
    Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu (NJPW 09/26/1993): Fucking great match! I haven't seen enough of the NJ vs Tenryu feud as I want to but have seen enough & know enough. This is a big deal. Tenryu is beating Fujinami from pillar to post. The Dragon does not quit and will find a way to turn the tide if he can. Not a long match but that doesn't matter. The pace is all right for the bout. Glad to see Tenryu too, it's been awhile!
    Keiji Muto vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 2001 AJPW Triple Crown match):  15 minutes long or so. This was a really neat match that focused on actual wrestling on the mat. Fujinami in particular showed moments of brilliance in his counters. Towards the end they sprinkled in some bigger moves like the Shining Wizard. Perhaps this match worked around some physical limitations of the workers or maybe it was just really clever, focused and unique. Shit, maybe it's all those things! I thought that this was pretty darn good...perhaps great depending on your preferences.
    Pretty fun little project to do after work this week. I totally recommend sneaking in a match or two this holiday weekend. I don't think anything was longer than 20 minutes. Just sneak out on Xmas day B.S. and watch some great  wrestling instead.
    Thank you as always for reading, be safe and happy holidays folks!
  13. G. Badger

    From the Editor: My Perspective

    By G. Badger,


    From the Editor
    It's about the end of the busy season at my job. My eyes and brain are fried. I've got a quickie review in mind but in the meantime I thought I'd write something up. One thing I have been interested in talking about is my perspective on wrestling and how that effects my reviews. 
    I try not to do work rate reviews. I'm not trying to give you a play by play of a match. I'm past the phase of nitpicking every match to see if the arm work leads to something. I've out grown the idea that selling a specific injury is all the match should be about. Wrestling is about storytelling. Yet its not always about the storyline. It is about energizing and entertaining the fans. Its not about just about appealing to the nerds keeping score at home. It is something that I try to be mindful of but I know I fail at from time to time." Oh he should have hobbled on his left leg after reversing that suplex. Tsk tsk..." 
    The wrestling should not erode the suspension of disbelief. It should not take the fan out of the excitement to wonder, "wait wasn't she just hurt?" or "he's standing there to catch him for a long while" without providing some in ring explanation or larger universal explanation. That is to say, in the world in which they are telling these stories, does this make sense? I think its more important that the wrestler is selling the story to the fans. That's getting them to understand and believe what they're doing is meaningful. That's what selling is. Not just grabbing your back after a Boston Crab. Pacing and timing are so important but rarely do I see folks mention it. Think about your favorite movies, novels or other fiction. Its all a cycle building up and bringing back down until it escalates to the climax and its resolution. This is something very important to me. 
    I think people forget wrestling is about feeling and subconsciously keep stats on wrestler performance like fantasy football. This is why most of my reviews try to capture how a match makes me feel. I want to convey my excitement or disappointment, my level of engagement or level of disinterest, etc. It makes it simpler for me to write but I really want to encourage wrestling fans to approach wrestling this way again. I think there's this pressure to be hyper analytical and academic about wrestling (and other hobbies). You might be in the early stages, firmly in the middle of it, burnt out or in recovery. But a some point you just loved wrestling because it was fun and excited you.

    "I'm going to have to redo my rating system. Otherwise I can't account for the stylistic differences between lucha and puro. And what about the lucharesu? Sweet Jesus..."
    Wrestling is something that's fun and a hobby and I treat it as such. It's why I take breaks sometimes. But its also why I try to watch stuff that interests me rather than stay current. I tried  and to be honest I just can't keep up. There's all kinds of older things that I missed or want to see more of rather than get engaged in something I can't find consistently or don't really care about. Its like how most people feel about music. The best music is the stuff you listened to when you were young because you were young. So you might pick up new stuff or put it on your Spotify but chances are it'll be from around those times or be in a similar style. I'm that way with wrestling. I'm sticking to stuff I know and love but expanding my horizons here and there.

    Boogie Away Grandpa! 
    I think deep down the purpose of this blog is to stimulate people's interest in wrestling that is softly fading into memory. Things you might remember hearing about, a review of a match 5 to 10 years ago, watching clips back in 2016 or whatever. It can be about things you never heard of. I'm not trying to find esoteric matches or promotions. I think I'm finding things that are right in the open that haven't been obscured by time as much as they obscured by the glut of online content made available in the last 10 years. Its very much what's new and then what's next? 
    If you've read my blog, you know that I too am effected by this. The distraction of new or unseen wrestling online has knocked me off my tracks a few times. So I'm not immune and I'm not against it either. I'm very grateful in fact. Those people are doing the same work for the same reason. But I'm not ignorant to its effects either. I've got ADHD and I get distracted and then interested and then hyper-focused. I'm trying to work against the larger effect of content glut wiping this stuff off of people's radar entirely. It is not a crusade of mine or anything. I'm not the only person doing this and in fact much of PWO is about preservation. Many members do or have done awesome work. I guess I am just doing what I can while watching some really good stuff. Hopefully you like reading about it and I pique your interest.
    I am not sure where I'm going with this now. Like I said, I'm A little fried from the overtime. I just wanted to write a little and be reflective. Pretty lame compared to writing about moonsaults and stuff. 
     
    Thank you for reading!
     
     
  14. G. Badger
    Welcome back! Another Big Japan show from 2007. This is another DVD from Highspots that they no longer sell in the U.S. Its listed as BJW #134 & #135 (07/08/07) but I believe it is episodes #132 & #133 if that'll help you locate it elsewhere. Let's begin!
    Hiroyuki Kondo & Onryo vs Men's Teioh & Shinobu - clipped comedy match mainly. Really cool finish.
    Takashi Sasaki vs Ryuji Ito: 300 light tube death match for the title. Sasaki and Ito do not disappoint at all. A great death match for most of the bout but I felt that they really kicked up the intensity/brutality in the final third. Ito went for more light tubes (if that was possible) whereas Sasaki went for harder strikes...well that one axe kick on Sasaki was pretty damn vicious. I don't know what else to say. This was another classic death match in my book. Sasaki strikes a perfect balance between his pro wrestling and the death match props. Ito depends upon the props a little more but, never to the point where you think he needs them to win the match or put on an entertaining show.


    -----
    Jun Kasai & Naoki Numazawa vs Abdullah Kobayashi & Yuko Miyamoto - Scaffold match. This started out well enough. It reminded a little of the BJW of old...not much action but really good spots. This got better and better as it went on. It was like a FMW match like that. By the end this was really good stuff...utilizing the prop but still putting on an exciting match with good moves and dramatic nearfalls. Kasai and Yuko Miyamoto were the best.

    "Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai
    -----
    Yoshihito Sasaki & Daisuke Sekimoto vs Katsumasa Inoue & Mammoth Sasaki - 22 minutes of wrestling. You'd better believe that this was some hard hitting no nonsense puro. Mammoth Sasaki isn't a physical specimen like Sekimoto but my goodness, he hits just as hard. Inoue is striking out on his own. He and Mammoth are trying to take the belts from Sekimoto and Yoshihito. This was a great battle and perhaps a near classic. I could tell that they didn't want to steal the show from the Ito vs Sasaki main event. Otherwise Mammoth and Daisuke would have had more one on one time. Nevertheless, this was still awesome. Great to see Yoshihito Sasaki - its been awhile!

    -----
    The big 3 matches were excellent examples of the variety & quality puro BJW was putting out there in '07. It's something I had no idea of at the time. A couple folks that recommended this in the past - thank you! BJW is not for everyone BUT its not as niche a promotion as you might believe. I think it's because the focus is still on wrestling and not shocking or disturbing the fans in attendance. 2 of the 3 big matches aren't anymore gruesome than anything you'd see on TNA for instance. All that aside, this was a great purchase. Definitely seek out the death match and the puro tag match. 
    More Big Japan Wrestling in 2023, for sure!
    Thanks for reading! Gonna try to sneak in another post or two before the end of the End of 2022 / Best Match Watched post.
  15. G. Badger
    I got this DVD from Highspots when they still had Japanese wrestling. They've got this labelled BJW #118 & 119 (03/14/07) . I think the correct numbers are episodes #116 & 117 episodes. In any case, this is for for the 03/14/07 show. 
    Takashi Sasaki vs Yuko Miyamoto - Scaffold and Light tube death match for the title. We get a really nice build up and back story to Miyamoto etc. I don't speak Japanese so other than the match footage, I fast forwarded much of this. But you can tell that he has a lot of heart. What's interesting is that he's soft spoken and seems to have lisp. Not the type of person that you think would willingly fight in barb wire & glass. So right there you're pulling for him to win. He's the baby face. Sasaki is a beast as we can see from the clips beforehand. He's beaten Miyamoto with the buzz saw kick through the light tube to Yuko's head. So yeah... Wu Tang ain't nuthin' to fuck wit. This was a great death match...heck it's probably a classic if I'm being honest. The wrestling was there, the drama was there, the spots & spectacle were there...I'd highly recommend it even if you avoid death match stuff. You might think they went overboard with a couple spots (not anything sickening with the weapons but using the scaffold) but personally I think it went right to the very edge. It told the story, the K- Hall fans were out of control... yeah if you've enjoyed TNA's Ultimate X matches, it's like that with a couple spots (and blood). If you're the type of person that thinks a pile driver on the floor should end a match in all circumstances, this probably isn't for you The 15 year old kid in me loved this shit though!


    ------
    Madoka & Kengo Mashimo vs Katsumasa Inoue & Daisuke Sekimoto: Alright, Kengo Mashimo! Just saw him in my AJPW 2014. Sekimoto is well known and I think I've seen a couple Madoka matches. Katsumasa Inoue is new to me though. He's a welcome addition to the BJW crew (at least the ones I know). All that aside, this match rocked! The opening Kengo vs Daisuke exchange was a harbinger of good things to come. They did an awesome job of having an all-gas-no-breaks tag match. I love it when they really want to have a dynamite bout and hold nothing back. The pace was quick, the intensity was fierce and the execution & selection of moves was excellent. A near classic match to me...really scratching at a low end classic. 


    -----
    Ryuji Ito, Abdullah Kobayashi & Shadow WX vs Jun Kasai, Naoki Numazawa & Saburo Inematsu : I knew it all couldn't be fantastic. What took me out of this was Numazawa and Abdullah's performance. They looked like they didn't care. Numazawa isn't that good but Abby Jr. can perform when he wants. If this was Ito & Shadow WX vs Kasai & Inematsu (who is slightly better) this would have been pretty good. Numazawa just killed the energy every time, he got in the ring...his shit did not look good here. A couple cool spots but this also had no flow or organization. Its an OK match but is kinda the match that wasn't more than the gimmick.

    This is probably the coolest thing Numazawa did all match.
    -----
    Overall this was pretty damn great stuff! The last match could have been better but the first match (the actual main event) and the Sekimoto tag (which happened right before the main) were awesome. I wish I could tell you to pick this up but I'm not sure where to direct you. I'm very happy that I picked this up a year or two ago. Hope you dig the pics.
    I got another BJW 2007 review coming up soon. Thanks for reading! 
  16. G. Badger
    I think we can all pretty much admit AJPW took a stylistic nosedive after the NOAH exodus. Sure Kawada, Tenryu, and Kojima occasionally had some great matches but, by in large, folks just didn't care to go out of their way to purchase this stuff. Therefore, the internet community didn't have much to go on as far as recommendations. My interest in AJPW post NOAH actually starts when some of the guys went back in 2013 I believe. Akiyama, Shiozaki, Kotaro Suzuki and others decided NOAH was a stagnant pond and head back (at least Akiyama and Kanemaru) to their true home.
    So, I watched a few matches from that period and saw a couple reviews and whatnot that it caught my interest to explore a little more. I was surprised to find that AJPW was actually pretty darn good...great at times! Mutoh eventually was fading from the scene in ring and stylistically. So, matches that featured athleticism and struggle were being championed over angles and sports entertainment style wrestling.
    So, I cherry picked a few DVDs from about 2011-2015. I'm a cheap skate so I only got single disc shows so, I'm probably missing out on some big time match ups BUT I was taking a risk. I figure it'd be better to trust my gut with the match-ups than, hope the 2 disc big shows would deliver.
    Anyhow, for whatever reason I jumped in during the Fall of 2011 and boy was I pleasantly surprised!
    Let's check out the matches!
     
    SUWAMA, Masakatsu Funaki & Takao Omori vs Seiya Sanada, Taiyo Kea & Manabu Soya (09/25/11 AJPW): This is exactly the exciting, hard hitting match that I hoped it would be. It never treads into parody of former AJPW or NOAH territory with unneeded strike battles or meaningless machismo. The characters play their part during the 20 minutes of action. Highly recommended, very good match.
     
    Koji Kanemoto vs KAI - Jr. Tournament Finals (09/25/11 AJPW): Holy crap! This was awesome  They really beat the crap out of each other. KAI is a guy that I've seen a couple times and liked. I'd not yet say, "Hey gotta search out me some KAI footy!" but, he is one to watch. Koji worked on the leg here, setting up for his Ankle Hold. KAI did very well in selling the leg damage (even though he did do some flying moves). I felt he sold it enough within the narrative: He's young and he's going to work with the moves that got him to the finals.
    Koji was punk as fuck and the A+ worker that he can be- especially as the tough vet. The match featured loads of stiff strikes, variety and smarts. Both guys were battered by the end. It was a true contest for something important and a classic match in the Jr. tradition. I've never heard anyone mention this match so, I'm glad I got the DVD on this.
     
    Stong BJW & Takao Omori vs Manabu Soya, Sanada & Taiyo Kea (10/17): 17 minute match. Things weren't clicking 100% but, that made this bout feel more organic and "real." Strong BJW vs Soya/Sanada is the rivalry at the time and the focus was kept on that here. Kea vs Omori is a struggle that's been going on since the late 90's so, there was something at stake here as well. The action was good with many tags, irish whip moves, and strike exchanges. The finishing segment was fantastic and capped off a very good match.
     
    Jun Akiyama & Ricky Marvin vs SUWAMA & KAI (10/17): 19 minute match. I really dug the mind games Akiyama was playing on SUWAMA...not only effecting this match but setting the stage for their 10/23 Triple Crown fight. KAI and Marvin's interactions were rough around the edges and not in the way of the above match. I'll chalk this up to KAI (who I usually like) but, didn't really bring much to the match. He just kept things moving along. It was a very good match with nice action and told a good story. I just remember liking it a heck of a lot more on the first watch a year or two ago. SO, you might disagree with me here...heck If I watch it a 3rd time, I might disagree with myself!
     
    Jun Akiyama vs SUWAMA (10/23): Sorry, I don't have my notes handy for this match but, I remember that is was kinda disappointing. I was hoping for a classic but, recall it being just a very good match (like *** 3/4). I want to say the pacing was slow and probably went 5 minutes longer than it needed to. I'm pretty confident in that recollection.
     
    Kaz Hiyashi & KENSO vs Minoru Tanaka & Koji Kanemoto - RWTL (11/26/11 AJPW): KENSO is another guy that I've come to watch for. He's kinda a heel and uses his belt to choke guys. I like this kind of guy in the 2010's. He's got some moves but, is much more of a character than a world class athlete. I'm kinda tired of guys that are young athletes but, rely upon a gimmick rather than their abilities. They work a parody gimmick but, have no idea how their work matches up to their character. So, they do a bunch moves that their character would/should not do. KENSO is a guy where he's got a charisma about him without being a cartoon character with a 100 moves.
    Anyways, this match was one long finishing run at 11 minutes. Very exciting rush match. Minoru & Koji are cocky jerks taunting KENSO until he has to smack the taste outta their mouths. At this run time, I highly recommend watching this. Its just very good stuff.
     
    Takao Omori & Manabu Soya vs Seiya Sanada & KAI - RWTL (11/26/11 AJPW): Here's that KAI fella again! Omori & Soya have teamed up here as Wild Hearts. The thing is Sanada & Soya were tag partners just a few months ago. Not sure who wanted the split but, they square off right at the bell. Seiya goes for speed and shocks Soya. KAI's in there and they go for the double team. These two young guns look dynamic as all get out!
    Oh shit! They are fighting in the stands now. Old man Omori's out there choking Sanada with a child's parasol! Hahahaha! Back on inside the ring and KAI's trying Soya but, come on dude! Manabu is a freaking caveman...and not the Fred Flintstone type either.
    Omori gets in there and wisely slows things down with KAI. The K man eventually finds an opening to get Seiya, the fire plug, going. Omori's had enough and puts big Soy sauce in there. Hey, deadlift suplex a motherfucker, Soya! This is a real back and forth match. Omori's trying to Axe Guillotine Driver KAI off the top now. Great! erase his head from existence!
    Just tons of double team destruction but, surprisingly never goes into bonkers territory. Both teams were very impressive. This was a great match.
     
    Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs SUWAMA & Takumi Soya (11/26/11 AJPW): Strong BJW have the tag belts but, this is a non title fight. It's a RWTL match-up. So here we go- Takumi smartly WRESTLES Okabayashi...fuck...do NOT get into a power battle with him. Daisuke wants SUWAMA. 'WAMA is a beast eating chops for lunch. Takumi gets back in (at some point) and wrestling smartly but, gets sucked into trading hits and early one his chest is a cherry tomato. BJW is stretching him out like a fat lady in a pair of stirrup pants. Quick tags and repeated hard slams only rub it in. Soya is in trouble. Slam, cover, 2 count, kickout, tag, repeat. SUWAMA's waiting...
    This match was built brilliantly and paid off in a perfect manner. It starts out being like a ***3/4 match then, a great match like a firm ****+ but, damn this just kept getting better and better. So, I'd call this a classic match. I can't give a number or anything like that but, whew! This did it for me! Awesome closer to an awesome night of wrestling.
     
    KENSO & Kaz Hiyashi vs KAI & Seiya Sanada (12/03): I wanted to mention that if you get the DVD of this show, it has a really nice recap segement of the highlights and finishes of many (all?) of the RWTL matches that have taken place up to this time. I know as wrestling dorks, we want to see the full matches BUT it is really nice and fun to see some of these things clipped down to the highlights. They make Akebono matches look watchable. Anyhow, I like everyone here but, wouldn't say I would stick around for an 18 minute match of theirs...but, I was wrong. They managed to keep everything fun and exciting. The action was very good and it really was time well spent. KENSO even busted open KAI's chest, giving meaning to the nomenclature- knife edge chops. Very good match
    Strong BJW vs Get Wild (Omori & Manabu Soya): This is my jam! BJW are tag champs and damn! do they look it here. Omori and Soya can only hope to slow down the juggernaut team. Of course, the AJ team finds a way but, you know Sekimoto and Okabayashi are not going down without a fight! If you're into Choshu/Hashimoto/WAR/Kensuke type stuff then, you must watch this 20 minute RWTL match. It is so simple from a move/sequence perspective yet, the physicality is remarkable. That's what really keeps you hooked and what moves the story along. Matches like this feel like a battle in the true sense of the term. There are ebbs and flows, bits of luck, acts of courage and desperation - This was a classic match to me.
     
    Some of these reviews appeared really early on in the blog but,  I wanted to consolidate everything for convenience and reference sake. The first post or so was more than a year and a half ago and I know when I'm doing research on wrestling recommendations, it really helps to have everything right in one spot.
    Anyhow, I was damn impressed by the above matches. Three matches I would call classics (in that ****1/2 star range). Don't be mistaken there is some so-so matches that I had to sit through, some I had to skip but, I've spared you the write-ups on those. Manabu Soya is one guy that I think is slept on especially as a tag team wrestler. If you dig Strong BJW then, you need to see them go up against Soya and Omori.
    As winter approaches, I want to try and start on 2012 AJPW which I think I have much more of. So, that is a little project goal. We'll see though
    Fingers crossed!
    Thanks for reading!
  17. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - 2013 - Revisited

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Here we are back in 2013 -again! Some kind soul posted these since my 2013 project wrapped up. I stumbled upon them will looking for 2014 stuff. This is some really nice wrestling so let's take a look!
    Minoru Tanaka, Koji Kanemoto & Hiroshi Yamato vs Atsushi Aoki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki (04/29/13) : Thought maybe I saw this but, no! So this was from the 2013 Champion Carnival final night. First things first, kudos to the dude who gave Aoki the double birds right in his field of vision while stomping his opponent. Then kudos to Aoki for getting up in said dudes face Hahaha! That's was hilarious! All that said, this was SICK! The top juniors in the company in one ring, all with beef - this was top shelf stuff. It was so aggressive yet intricate that nothing came off as overly contrived. It just felt like rivals going to battle. It made me realize how much I missed Kotaro and Kanemaru in 2014. Aoki is so much better with Kotaro than Sato and this match is proof (nothing against Sato). But Minoru, Kanemoto and Yamato were just as fantastic here. The feud of Burning juniors vs Stack of Arms/Junior Stars is the best of the year thus far ('22). Its been awhile since I saw the original matches but, this is an amazing reminder. Classic junior 6 man match.
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hiroshi Yamato - 06/02/2013 - This match is a direct response to the 04/29 match. Great, great 15 minute junior title match. The first 5 minutes are some of best sequences I've seen in awhile. Shit, it might be one long sequence actually. It doesn't really drop off from there too much if at all. Just the unpredictable element of those 5 minutes was top notch. I think as the match continued, I generally knew where they were going. However, they still sprinkled in twists and turns that made this pretty awesome. Kanemaru in 2013 (along with Aoki & Suzuki) is rad.
    Jun Akiyama and Go Shiozaki vs. Joe Doering and Suwama - 06/02/2013 - 28 minutes of classic tag wrestling. The final few minutes elevated this for me. There were a couple spots that I feel were cutesy or for visual effect rather than what you'd do in the heat of a fight (especially heavyweight wrestling). But I mean that's 2010's and later wrestling, isn't it? I'm nitpicking because it was really exciting & dramatic stuff. Again, the final moments eliminated any reservations that I had. This is a classic bout.  It is a tag match-up I wanted to see during my initial coverage of 2013 AJPW and it delivered - sweet!
    Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki vs Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo - 06/30/2013 - I wanted to like this one and have a proper sendoff for Hayashi & Kondo. It just wasn't happening. You very well may dig this match and it was spectacular and full of cool moves. But that's all it was - a bunch of cool moves. No rhyme or reason and right from the get-go. Its the worst tendency of Kaz & Kondo to just go balls to the wall like early 2000's Indies and we get that here :/ I watched 12 or so minutes and just knew this wasn't going to get better by being longer. 
    Atsushi Aoki and Go Shiozaki vs. Suwama and Takao Omori - 9/19/2013 - In contrast to the above match, they kept it simple, built up the drama & intensity and had a very very good tag match (***3/4+) in front of like 1/4th as many people. A fine way to end this revisit of 2013. I'm not selling how fantastic this is but its pro wrestling done right.
    All in all this was a very enjoyable mini project. I try not to go back to anything just because I have so many other projects and ideas for the future. However 2013 AJPW is so good and my 2014 project was a tad shorter than I wanted. All of these are currently available to watch on that most popular of video sites. Get em while you can! I highly recommend you do!
    Speaking of going backwards on projects, I actually found a batch of 2011 AJPW matches on the Gaora YouTube page. I'd like to review those next as well as share the links so you can enjoy them as well - guilt free  After that, I think I'm going to watch what little AJ 2015 I have. I might mix that in with some other 2015 stuff perhaps like BJW, Wrestle-1...we'll see.
    Thanks for reading! Keep staying safe folks!
  18. G. Badger
    This final installment of my brief look into AJPW in 2012 takes place on 11/27/12. There's some other stuff on the show but I'm giving you the last 3 matches as those interested me most.
    Masakatsu Funaki/Masayuki Kono/Minoru Tanaka/Koji Kanemoto -vs- KENSO/Hiroshi Yamato/Kaz Hayashi/Shuji Kondo : A very good 8 man match that I was surprised that I enjoyed as much as I did. The opening was pretty exciting but a good portion was Yamato getting his ass kicked by the very dangerous Stack of Arms team. His comeback and tag out to KENSO was really great! He is a fantastic AJPW-as-Indie star. The finishing section was really good and at 16 minutes this was well paced. A good story, nice action and an impressive ending - this was quite enjoyable.

    -----
    Takao Omori/Manabu Soya -vs- Taiyo Kea/Seiya Sanada- Great Real World Tag match! Hard hitting, excellent grappling, tons of heart and although we don't get a definitive outcome, this was top notch stuff. Everyone was just on the top of their game.


    -----
    Akebono/Ryota Hama -vs- Suwama/Joe Doering - Hama is a big fat guy like Jerry Blackwell who can work. He works best with hard hitters such as SUWAMA & Doering. Akebono is more like Bill Kazmier - a great perhaps legendary athlete from another sport who has the build and aura that would work in wrestling but it just doesn't belong in the ring. That being said, this was a good match especially when Hama was in the ring. Akebono is overpowered or Doering & SUWAMA are nerfed when he's in the ring. The previous match is your real main event. but this has its moments. I can't wait to see Doeing & SUWAMA (Last Revolution) in a real match.
    2012 AJ has been pretty good. Daisuke Sekimoto had the two best matches of the year with SUWAMA in singles and tag in March. Since then there has been a smattering of great stuff especially tags. 2013 marks the beginning of the Akiyama era and the exodus of some of the Muto loyalists to form Wrestle-1, RIP. So I'd recommend checking some stuff out from this period. I was pretty brief but tried to pick out quality stuff with no reviews available. So now you've got mine to help guide you a little bit. I'm sure you'll find some more diamonds in the rough.
    Thanks for reading folks!
  19. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - 2014 - Final

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Here we are at the end of the road for 2014 AJPW. We're wrapping up with the 11/29 show which I found online.
    Masanobu Fuchi vs. Naoya Nomura -skipped
    Takeshi Minamino vs. Yohei Nakajima - Fun indie heel vs babyface match. Just simple stuff but so enjoyable.
    Keisuke Ishii & SUSHI vs. Enoshima Man & Ultimo Dragon - I started watching this and it was pretty bland. It was just a generic junior tag match with not much spark. I fast forwarded to the last couple minutes and it never seemed to have much more urgency. Its probably OK but I don't feel bad skipping it.
    Kotaro Suzuki (c) vs. Ryuji Hijikata - Unfortunately not available :-/
    Akebono & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Dark Kingdom (KENSO & Mitsuya Nagai) (RWTL Match) - Um this was OK. It wasn't very long.

    Burning Wild (Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori) vs. Xceed (Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara) (RWTL Match) - My main event and watched after the match below. And so glad that I did! This is a classic RWTL match between to great teams. It had a traditional structure and a good work-a-body-part basis for the meat of the match. This wasn't an epic empty the tanks classic but one that was clever, exciting and increasingly dramatic. Something right at the ****1/2 mark. This show needed something of this caliber.
    Special Tag Team Match - Suwama 10th Anniversary Debut
    Evolution (Atsushi Aoki & Suwama) vs. Evolution (Hikaru Sato & Joe Doering) - Starts out a little directionless and not fitting for a intra-stable exhibition match (more technical wrestling less brawling). So I had a hard time getting interested. But things really picked up when Aoki made the hot tag to Suwama and it was bombs away for the rest of the match. This could have been great if they put a story to it. In all fairness the story this told was the Evolution stable coming apart at the seams but, that's not the case based on the post match Anniversary celebration. It was a good match but under expectations. I sort of thought that might be the case and watched the Burning Wild vs Xceed match last as my true main event just in case.
    Overall, this was an OK show. A one match show in terms of recommended stuff. Maybe you'd like the Evolution tag more than I did. It's certainly worth checking out but the Burning Wild vs Xceed tag match is what you want. I wasn't keen just ending it there and found a bonus match from Kobashi's Fortune Dream show (12/10/2014):
    ---
    Joe Doering and Shingo Takagi vs. Yuji Hino and Kento Miyahara - 2 AJPW guys and Wada as the referee? Close enough for an AJPW match for me! Do yourself a favor and watch this match! The hardest hitting, smash mouth, He-man match for 2014. Add another awesome match to the 2014 list. This was a classic bout especially if you like Sekimoto/Okabayashi strong style tags (something AJPW was missing in 2014). Loved every minute of this. Not a thinking man's fight but for raw power this was fantastic. A great end to this 2014 project. This is on the 'tube currently.
    ---
    2014 AJPW was pretty good overall. I didn't feel immersed in the storylines or promotion as much as 2013 just because I didn't have as much footage available. I didn't help that one of my DVDs was defective. All that said some of the very best bouts of 2014 are on the 'tube or the "day-to-day movement" video site. These include but aren't limited to:
    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) 
    Doering/Shingo vs Hino/Miyahara (12/04 Fortune Dream)
    Doering was kicking ass and is an awesome champ. He really was bringing a special energy and fight that is old school (and lacking from recent wrestling). The comparisons to Stan Hansen are arguable for either side but I appreciate his work as champ. He is the Gaijin monster of old and I like it!
    P.S.I was able to find some more matches from 2013 (and 2012) that have been posted recently. I found them while looking for 2014 stuff so a nice treat! I'll do a post on those next as an addendum to my 2012-13 projects. After that I might pivot to something else. I had my eye on 2001-2003 Noah matches that have been overlooked. But it's my busy season at work so that may not happen before New Years.
    Thanks for reading!
  20. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - 2014 - Part 3

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Well looks like my sample of AJPW for 2014 is going a bit shorter than expected. My disc for 09/28/14 is defective. I'm going to be perfectly honest, this is why I stopped getting stuff from my "Internet Video Provider." This disc was probably from my last or second to last order when half the stuff was either defective like this or just the wrong show (labeled date matched what I bought but what was on there was different). And here it bites me in the ass a couple years later. If you're interested in ordering I'd recommend going light with your initial order and check every chapter to make sure that it works right when you get it. I'm not angry but disappointed since it was a good show with Miyahara vs Doering and Suwama vs Shiozaki being the highlights.
    Let's move on & start with a free match online posted by Gaora:
    Ultimo Dragon & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato (10/22/14) - Junior tag battle and it looks like Aoki has joined the Evolution stable after all. He and Sato are a great team. Ultimo and Kanemaru are vets so really there's no worry here. And don't you know it, this is a great tag fight. I loved the finish. It was something they were working towards and it paid off. You gotta love that! Besides that, there were some really fun holds, interesting double team moves and yeah just a blast to watch.
    This is free from Gaora on their YouTube page:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8uPX9a7sR54&list=PL9GbOLsWy6qLCD-R4zPkA9lUAtbzj06bm&index=109
     
    Unfortunately it is the only thing from 2014 AJ that they have currently. 
    Elsewhere on the internet:
    Joe Doering (c) vs. Go Shiozaki (10/29/14 -Triple Crown Title): Well we know who won the big match on 9/28 and get a couple clips from the match. Now the title fight... Best Joe Doering singles match to date. No fucking lie, he ruled in this match! He made Shiozaki fight for every move, strike exchange, high spot etc. This felt like an athletic contest and a brutal one at that. Doering looked like an absolute monster in the ring. Shiozaki played a great underdog but also a star. That was difficult to do but I felt he was inspired by Misawa at times_- rolling out of the ring to prevent a pin attempt, blocking or reversing attacks and using his counter attacks at opportune times. There were nice touches like this that helped build the drama and kept things engaging. Joe Doering provided the pace and tone. He kept this match quick and aggressive. It never felt like they were killing time or working a sequence. Because just when you thought they were going to do something expected, they did something else. Expect the unexpected is a phrase I kept in mind early on and it stayed relevant throughout. Don't anticipate some slick or cute match. Its nasty and a little rough around the edges at times but man! That's part of what makes it worth your time. A classic match and a fight worthy of the Triple Crown title.
    Woo doggy! That was something! Anyhow, let's get on to my 11/1614 DVD! 

    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Naoya Nomura - not shown but listed on Cagematch.
    Dory Funk Jr. & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Osamu Nishimura & SUSHI - skipped
    Masayuki Mitomi & Ryuji Hijikata vs. Xceed (Kotaro Suzuki & Yohei Nakajima- fka-  Menso-re Oyaji) - Oh wow, this was really really good. Ryuji Hijikata vs Kotaro was fantastic. They had some surprising and refreshing sequences together. Those felt either well thought out or entirely spontaneous, if that makes sense. That's to say, they added twists and turns to well worn Junior sequences that came from being in the moment or by making a conscious decision to surprise. Yohei Nakajima & Mitomi were really good as well. They didn't work anything as complex as their partners but it was still quite engaging. This is 13 minutes of very good stuff...reminds me of the 2003 Differ Cup in the best way!

    RWTL Matches from here on out!

    Kengo Mashimo & Tank Nagai vs. Dark Kingdom (KENSO & Mitsuya Nagai) - Dark Kingdom explodes as former members Kengo & Tank team up as K-Dojo (home promotion) and battle against the top DK dogs KENSO & Nagai. Heel vs Heel teams in K-Hall - yes, please! This didn't disappoint as it scratched that Indie itch - brawling on the parquet floor, foreign objects, and keep it simple stupid tag wrestling. 15 minutes of great tag wrestling. Tons of good pics with this one too: 



    -----
    Akebono & Yutaka Yoshie vs. The Big Guns (The Bodyguard & Zeus) - 10 minutes, good physically taxing match. Two strong men taking on two super heavyweights, its what you want and expected.
    Xceed (Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara) vs. Evolution (Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato) - Great tag match especially when Evolution was facing Shiozaki. Miyahara was OK but, I don't know if he added anything other than being Shiozaki's partner. If we got better selling or in essence a story that involved him, this would have been a classic match. The ending of the match was absolutely fantastic.

    -----
    Burning Wild (Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori) vs. Evolution (Joe Doering & Suwama) - Well my mouth is still hanging open from this match. Under 10 minutes long. They went fast and hard from the get go and you get good stuff but this was WAY too quick in my opinion. 10-12 minutes would have been better with the same result and not been a WCW Nitro paced match in AJ. What I will say is that storyline wise, it fucking works! I'm kinda amped to see more of the Real World Tag stuff... sure I've only got one more installment but, it's a doozy!

    -----
    A tad disappointed with the main event but not truly because it is a teaser and the rest of the show was awesome. I love tag wrestling and this delivered. K-Dojo vs Dark Kingdom was the most fun but Xceed vs Evolution Jrs. was that Great AJPW tag match I was looking for.
    The best one of the post was Doering vs Shiozaki though. Seek that out!
    Thanks for reading folks! It means a bunch to me
     
  21. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - 2014 - Part 2

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Part Two and our first combo entry. We start off with a match found online then we'll go over a full show. As you can tell from the date we're skipping ahead a few months.
    Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori (Vacant Triple Crown Title - 06/15/14) - I guess Akebono had to vacate the title. We get a nice lead in to the match showing the history between Omori and Akiyama. I'm a dork and know it already... it's one of things that makes this period of AJ special. It's as if Akiyama never left and he and Omori would be the old guard. Speaking of drawing on classic AJPW, Akiyama works over Omori's lariat arm like a fiend. At every turn, he's kicking, smashing or wrenching on his opponent's wing. Not only is this weakening the Axe Bomber arm but its forcing Omori to use his other kick based offense, which isn't as strong as it was. A great example is when Omori was going to the top for his knee drop because it is something that can turn the tide but is a big risk. Akiyama forces Takao into this situation then makes him pay for it. Just really awesome work from Akiyama. Omori finds openings but either cannot capitalize or over extends himself when he gets going. This is really smart work from Omori as well. He never sells the arm to where it's stupid if he uses it BUT sells enough to let you know its hurting him when he does. Classic match in my book. Hard fought match, the story is there both long term and within the bout...the story of the match makes sense and feels right. Heck the pre match stuff even helps out! 
    Now onto the DVD of the 07/27/14 show!
    SUSHI vs. Menso-re Oyaji - Quick indie Junior match. Menso-re Oyaji unmasks and I think is going to wrestle under his real name from here on out.
    Dory Funk Jr, Osamu Nishimura & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Masanobu Fuchi, Takao Omori & Ultimo Dragon - Only in Fire Pro Returns would this be a good match. I would have been stoked to see Nishimura & Yoshie vs Omori and Ultimo.
    Hideki Suzuki & Zeus vs. Kengo Mashimo & KENSO - Sweet indie feeling tag match. 12 minutes of action. Everyone brought a little something different to the table but all combined it was so much fun. Really good stuff.
    Kento Miyahara & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - Very fast paced match with a purpose. Everything looked great here with the focus on Akiyama putting Miyahara in his place. Great under 10 minute match!

    -----
    Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Takeshi Minamino - Nagai & Minamino are part of KENSO's group Dark Kingdom. They are basically the capital 'H' heel group. Irie & Ishii are so baby face that its nigh impossible to hate them. So we get a match you'd expect but it feels really refreshing in an AJ ring. But then again this is AJ-as-Indie promotion if you couldn't tell by now. There's no complaints from me. You get that stuff mixed in with your more traditional AJ stuff with your big names. Gonna sound like a broken record but another really good tag match.

     

    -----
    Atsushi Aoki vs. Hikaru Sato - Now for something different! Aoki and Sato put on a shoot/Inoki-strong style match for the Junior title. Lots of very good grappling and fighting for holds. I would have loved to see more scrambling on the mat. Maybe why that's why I can't call it a great match. I think if the pace was quicker or more like a real fight then this easily could have been fantastic. Now I still really dug it especially Aoki's work. I think there was a portion where this was going to be a little more pro leaning but once they decided to make it more shoot style, it got really good. 

    Two guys riding the bus to work...
    -----
    Suwama vs. Joe Doering - Evolution main event! This is for the title. You know what you're getting from these two. Smash mouth heavyweight puro and they don't disappoint. What's really cool and makes this a great match is the surprises they include. It's either moves they rarely do or adding twists to their standard arsenal. Plus they hit really hard :-) This is two of the physically largest dudes (outside of Akebono and Yoshie) just beating each other up for 20 minutes. It harkens back to Jumbo vs Tenryu a little bit. The hate isn't there...this is two current stable mates fighting after all. But the slower pace & heavy hits are definitely reminiscent of an earlier style in AJPW history.  
    Another really good show (minus the Dory Funk Six Man) and I'm liking 2014. These shows are a breeze to watch. The variety of characters from top to bottom is refreshing. So little spoiler if you jumped ahead of everything. I'm a little bummed the Vacant title winner (the first match in the post) was just a transitional champion. We'll see how 2014 goes for the winner of the Evolution main event (trying not to spoil). We will see if I agree or disagree with the decision as we go on. Something to look out for...
    Thanks for reading! I'm going along at a good pace so stay tuned for more of AJPW 2014!
  22. G. Badger

    AJPW You Might Have Missed - 2014

    By G. Badger,


    You Might Have Missed
    Thanks for waiting on me! If you've followed my blog you know I am easily distracted. I have a real good plan that gets interrupted by something that draws my attention elsewhere. I'm not like this with serious matters but it's something I do with my hobbies. The seasons usually play some part. In the summer, I tend to focus (fixate) on skateboarding. Invariably I'll get hurt or its too damn hot to skate and that's when I make time for other stuff like wrestling. In the winter, I just tend to get burnt out on wrestling and other stuff. Anyhow, enough about me. Let's see what we've got!
    OK first thing, I do not have as much available online as I did for 2013. I've got about a handful of matches as opposed to almost as many full shows online. Also the stuff I bought for 2014 is all over the year. We're starting with February and I think the next DVD I have is in September. So my apologies if you were looking for a more comprehensive overview or even a good summary of the year like I did for 2013. This is going to be a healthy sampling instead. I wish I bought a couple more discs but the quality of the seller wasn't up to my standards anymore. Maybe he got better but I'm not messing with it. Lets start with the first show and any online ones I'll tack on at the beginning or end chronology as we go. Its looking to be a four-parter.
    02/08/14
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Soma Takao  - Good all action Junior match to get things started. Soma impressed me and hope I get to see more of him in 2014. I guess he's a DDT guy like many of the non AJ guys here.
    Keisuke Ishii vs. Atsushi Aoki - Good for what the guys in the ring did but Kenso & Nagai spoil it to cause Aoki to lose the match. More of an angle than a full match.
    KENSO & Mitsuya Nagai vs. Ryuji Hijikata & SUSHI - Nice music for Nagai & KENSO! But yeah they're the new heel team. I like that. This was a good match and really kicked up a notch when Ryuji Hijikata made the hot tag. Definitely want to see more. Not fully developed since it was meant to get over the new heel team.
    Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Hikaru Sato - I like both guys well enough but I wasn't feeling it. It was a bit too much of "I'm tough!" - "No I'm tough!" wrestling. I can get behind that. I enjoyed Eddie Kingston vs Ishii from the free part of the recent AEW PPV. This match wasn't compelling though. It was too guys doing this type of thing for 10 minutes trying to build to a submission win. But it wasn't for me :-/
    Akebono, Shigehiro Irie & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Go Shiozaki, Kento Miyahara & Kaji Tomato - Perfect use of Akebono. The focus is on he vs Shiozaki for the belt. Akebono is amused by Go and his attitude. This is a very interesting perspective for him instead of the super serious one he takes. It shows depth personality which he normally lacks. All that said, the highlight of the match was Irie & Yoshie vs Kento and Tomato. And that's was very good stuff! Heck it all was very good. It was a nice twist that Go couldn't seem to hold his own against even Akebono's partners,and he needed help. Kaji Tomato was new to me but the dude can work. He showed 100% effort. Very good match, scratching at a great one if I'm being honest.

    -----
    Kotaro Suzuki vs. Ultimo Dragon - Very good junior match! They wisely treated this as a tournament match instead of a title fight or one time dream match. They made a lot of good decisions in what story to tell, when & how to shift momentum and actually incorporated wrestling holds which we haven't seen much of this show. 

    -----
    Joe Doering & Suwama vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori - Tag belts on the line. This starts out well enough and is going along at a good pace. It's operating in that ***3/4 range but eventually switched into high gear. The attacks became fierce, the defensive actions got more desperate and everything just felt more urgent. I really know they have a classic match in them. As it is I would say this ends up as a near classic ****1/4 bout. 

    -----
    Pretty darn good show and a super easy way to get back into the groove of things. I really like the variety that they have now. After the Wrestle One exodus, the company was pretty much Burning stable vs AJPW...no complaints from a quality perspective but its nice having the mix of styles.
  23. G. Badger

    Wrestling Art Show - September

    By G. Badger,


    Wrestling Art Show
    I haven't been watching anything lately but wanted to post something. I've been messing around with old AJPW footage and flares and distortion from the bright lights. I take whatever halos, prismatic effects, after images or saturation of light that occurs when filming (and temporarily blinding the camera men no doubt) and further manipulate it. 
     

    Baba
    -----

    Kabuki vs Flair
     
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    The Funker
  24. G. Badger
    In all honesty, this was going to be a quickie post of just a few matches that I stumbled across. But then I became intrigued by the match ups or was impressed by a worker and wanted to see more. And here we are! The entire 2003 Differ Cup watched out of sequence reviewed out of sequence. I'm not going to pretend it didn't happen. Sit back and read on:
    KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki vs Great Takeru & Kappa Kozou (02/08): Was going to skip this since I'd never heard of the IWA Japan team. But then I thought - I'm going to end up watching the whole event (mostly) so I should just check it out. So glad I did! Its shown in full as it features the home NOAH team and frankly it is a great opening bout! Both teams were smooth and exciting which surprised me. Perhaps it's a case of low expectations but I thought the teams gelled well enough that the IWA-J team would be invited back for under card jobs at the very least. Not thinking they were though...
    Jun Kasai & Gran Naniwa vs YOSSINO & Ultimo Dragon (02/08): Saw this called the worst match of the night...no way man! In fact, I thought it was great! It wasn't a move fest but it was clever, funny and had some exciting moves too. It just felt like 4 pros at work. Sometimes it doesn't have to be epic, brutal or intense to be great. 
    MIKAMI & KUDO vs Kuroda & Chocoball Mukai (02/08): JIP to the last 10 minutes of an 18 minute match. Took a chance on this and was pleasantly surprised. My sleazy indie radar steered me right. Very fun very indie match with chairs and a ladder. As a fan of ECW & FMW, this felt good.
    Ikuto Hidaka & Masao Orihara vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki (02/08): In a NOAH ring but this is a Zero-one match. And that is pretty cool. The familiarity is there and they were able to do some really good stuff. Hidaka never ceases to amaze me with some move or sequence. Orihara (who I hadn't seen much at this time other than Fire Pro Returns) can still go. This was all action and a great match. Yoshihito Sasaki looks good even this early.
    MIKAMI & KUDO vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki (02/08): JIP and clipped however the stuff that was shown was really good! The Zero One team brings the steak but MIKAMI brings the needed sizzle. Heck KUDO looked really exciting here as well. The ladder is in play again and I'm not complaining. 12 minutes shown out of a 15 minute match so I feel safe giving this a "very good" rating.
    KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki vs YOSSINO & Ultimo Dragon (02/08): Oh yeah this was really good stuff especially towards the end. Masato Yoshino/YOSSINO did his part here but Ultimo was the star of the whole tournament. Good pace, action throughout - this 11 minute bout was a nice way to end night #1.
    Great Takeru vs Kappa Kozou (02/09): Fun showcase match of the IWA Japan guys. It's about 10 minutes of them throwing their best stuff out there. They made a good impression on me.
    Ikuto Hidaka vs Masao Orihara: Oh shit! They were not going to be out done by the IWA guys. This was some next level stuff. Hidaka again drops my jaw with his precision, speed and body control. Orihara is right there with him! This wasn't all fireworks either as Hidaka was trying to get a clean win whereas Orihara was going to take it anyway he could. Even Ikuto has a breaking point and introduces a steel chair to the mix. Nothing too crazy like we've seen the night before but it's nice to see the ECW/FMW relaxed rules again. This is a great junior match.
    Kuroda & Chocoball Mukai vs Gran Naniwa & Jun Kasai : I wasn't sure about this one. I looked it up and it was around 20 minutes. 12-14 minutes seemed right but that time seemed too much. Yet again, I was wrong. This was a really fun match that had a little bit of everything. Both teams looked really good. Kuroda and Kasai were the best though. I don't know if I would have booked this after Hidaka  vs Orihara from a draw perspective but they did their job and provided lighter entertainment to prep the fans for the main events.
    KUDO & MIKAMI vs. KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki: This is fought for Third Place trophy. I've seen this called a very good match but I can't agree. The start was fun but the middle was long and pretty dull. The last third was good but wasn't enough to save this from being just OK in my book. This was very good but the Naniwa/Kasai match was no good? Yeah right! The Kappa/Takeru bout smoked this as well. It was just too long and none of the guys knew how to fill the time in the middle. A disappointing fight.
    Ultimo Dragon & YOSSINO vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki (02/09):  Its much more toned down in terms of crazy spots (although it has a few) and has a strong face/heel dynamic. Masato Yoshino (YOSSINO) played the whipping boy and Takaiwa was the bully. Dragon was the big brother and Sasaki was the lackey. It was simple and effective. It was well executed, there were nice surprises, shoot it was a really good tag match! A great way to end the tournament.
    There you have it! Never had any intention at anytime to watch this but dammit I had a lot of fun! Only one match was a bummer and most were actually pretty darn good to great. This gets a very strong recommendation from me especially if you're craving something from this time in wrestling.
    Thanks for reading!
  25. G. Badger

    Spotlight: Doug Williams

    By G. Badger,


    Spotlight
    I was really psyched on the Doug Williams match vs Samoa Joe from a couple weeks ago. Williams has been a favorite of mine since seeing TNA in 2007. I remember how it really impressed me with how he used his knees for much of his striking offense. Knee drops, knee lifts and such really resonated with me at the time. Not only didn't you see them very often at that time, Williams used them in such a deliberate manner. It wasn't just one knee drop, it was a myriad of attacks. Its almost like when I first saw a Wanderlei Silva fight and how he used his knees. The style is different but the principle of using the knees seemed very smart and dangerous. That coupled with his mat wrestling and suplex skills, I was sold. Anyhow, I've never done a spotlight on the Anarchist and after watching a bunch of Steven Regal matches, I thought why not now? So without further ado, let's begin!
    I'll post any YouTube videos below the match if they're posted by the folks that own the rights. Other stuff, you'll have to watch it anyway you can.

    Doug Williams & Jun Akiyama vs. Go Shiozaki & Kenta Kobashi (Universal Uproar, November 12, 2005) : Very small ring and while they did give the fans Kobashi  vs Akiyama right away. They then had Akiyama in peril for a good while and it felt odd. It almost felt like they dominated him. Once Williams got in there it resumed the normal order of things and all was good. All was great in fact. Doug was on fire and Shiozaki in his rookie year was fantastic as well. Kobashi did his thing which is all anyone could want. Akiyama seemed really game to work with Doug. They functioned extremely well together. All of the knee strikes, it was awesome! The closing segment was so enjoyable. Not on par with Kobashi's ROH appearances but absolutely great stuff!

    Doug Williams & Jody Fleisch vs Go Shiozaki & SUWA (ROH Unified 2006): Great golden age mid card magic. I mean this is also from the Unified show which is arguably one of if not the best shows. Jody keeps things simpler but does mess up a couple things but honestly I couldn't tell either way. The simple things he does work and is an astute partner for Doug. SUWA does his thing and Go in 2006 had all of the fucking tools already. Honestly, Doug vs either NOAH guy would have been just as good to me and really this match is really about those encounters with Jody in there for fun.
     
    -----
    Doug Williams & Go Shiozaki vs Davey Richards & Atsushi Aoki (RQW April 2007) : Very good tag match. Its pretty much a NOAH tag in the UK - good grappling to start, strong hits, quick action down the stretch. A couple bobbles as Richards/Go miss the body scissors or maybe hurricanrana and the bottom turnbuckle breaks during the end but they recover on both. Neither really hurts the match. Just good action with everyone going all out in front of the small UK crowd.
     
    -----
    vs Johnny Moss (3CW Remembrance Day 11/11/07): This was a quite fun & more technical style bout. Things get chippy from time to time especially towards the end but its more traditional than we see Doug in Japan, ROH or TNA. He does it all so very well. Moss you might remember from my wXw 16 Carat tournament posts from a couple years ago. Very nice to see him again. 
     
    -----
    Doug Williams & Nigel McGuinness vs. Akira Taue & SUWA (NOAH 10/13/06): This was pretty much all SUWA and the lads but that's not a bad thing at all. Take functioned kind of like a heel manager - interrupting pins, meddling, and assisting in some moves like the Dudley Boyz "Whassup" headbutt spot but SUWA dropped an elbow instead and looked to destroy Novel's dick in the process. The Brits worked their butts off this bout. Taue eventually gears up and we get some really exciting stuff in the last few minutes and this is a really good tag match. So many of these seemingly throw away tag matches are only perceived as such because of the quality of the high end stuff.
    Doug Williams & Nigel McGuinness vs The Briscoe Brothers (RQW Indypendence Day 2008) -  Slight JIP but this is about 13 minutes of great tag wrestling. Its like the TNA PPV version of what they can do. Everyone looked really and mat wrestling at the beginning was awesome. Its very much what I want to see in Doug or Nigel's matches. 

    -----
    Kotaro Suzuki, Yoshinari Ogawa & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Atsushi Aoki, Bryan Danielson & Doug Williams (NOAH 10/25/08): Great 15 minute 6 man match. Lots of  action and a neat twist where Ogawa isn't really amiable with his teammates and vice versa. We used to see that on TV during the Attitude era but not too much in Japan. I'm not sure what the background is but it makes it a memorable match. All the talent in the ring ensures you'll find something to like here.
     
    Excellent project! Its something I should have done a long time ago. If you're unfamiliar with Mr. Williams, check a couple matches out. If you're a fan or just want to look back to wrestling days of yore, give it a shot! 
    Thanks for reading! Stay safe folks!
     
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