G. Badger

Here we are back trying to watch some of my DVD backlog. This is/was a pretty well known show for the Danielson and Davey matches. I didn't give two shits back at the time but I have mellowed out about DGUSA (it took 10 years) :D. I was able to get a few of the more praised shows for cheap on eBay a few years ago. Like FIP a couple years ago, I might skip a match and I will definitely watch these out of order for the best viewing experience. Also I watched this with commentary off (nice to have the option) but ended up turning the volume down because the ring was way too loud. Perhaps the acoustics of the hall? Also the lighting wasn't great as it really brought the red of the mat into focus too much. You can see how the mat tints the images far beyond what's pleasing to the eye. You get used to it. Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino - Pretty good match based on the crazy moves. It's definitely a match to let Dragon Kid do a bunch of zany shit. And it works It's probably a little longer than it needed to be and I'm not sure if they told a story but it was enjoyable. ----- Gran Akuma & YAMATO vs. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush - I've liked these guys in various matches over the years. YAMATO is someone I would be glad to see his work but man I thought this stunk of indie goofiness. I gave up on it...I'm guessing/hoping it had only a minute left but it felt like I was wasting time here. Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi - Contrary to the fans, that wasn't awesome. It was pretty good though. The good stuff was the stiffness, the athleticism, the grinding joint holds Dragon did. The "not good" was that the arm and leg work went nowhere - sorry if that's a spoiler. They didn't go too far making it THE story and they did a little selling but I'd rather they make this more about getting a pin vs joint locks. The section where they exchanged pin moves was very good and seemed more to Doi's strength. In that vein, I didn't feel they had good chemistry. It was Dragon doing his thing and Doi trying to keep up...so Doi didn't really bring anything special to the match. He could have easily been someone else beyond his signature moves. It was still pretty good stuff as they kept the action up, it was stiff etc. But per Cagematch the WON rated this ****3/4 and the Match Guide has it at 9.26 (so like ****1/2)...and those people are on acid. ***3/4 (three and three-quarters) is more like it. ---- Brian Kendrick vs. CIMA - This was a really good solid match between vets at this point. You could say this was too simple for a DG match but fuck, it's a good match with solid fundamentals, good action, and exciting highspots. It's over a little sooner than I would have thought... I can't remember Kendrick doing anything beyond mid level offense but he was probably in Smackdown! mode and this would be a pretty good match there Davey Richards vs. SHINGO - Well damn! That lived up to the hype. This was an intense stiff fight. I liked that they even incorporated a leg and arm work story here. I can now understand why they didn't do this in the Danielson match but also why not he with one at all (again would have liked some just "plain old" chain wrestling). Anyhow I'm probably not going to convince anyone to change their opinion on this match or Davey. If you like Davey and appreciate him for what he does (good & bad) AND you haven't seen this one then you really should. It's classic stuff. Shingo is one of my faves but also has bad habits from time to time but I think he was nearly perfect here. I'm really happy with those lariats and elbows towards the end... they really helped cement this as a top tier match. ----- The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Real Hazard (Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito): Well that was fucking sweet! Great heel stuff by Real Hazard which was a welcome thing here. The Bucks are able to pull these kinds of matches out of a hat at this time period and this is no different. Genki & Ryo add a great twist to the Bucks' formula. Yeah this was a blast. Great match...maybe near classic... I just really liked the heel work which made the comeback all that sweeter. It's the way you do it because it works... I think later Bucks (along with a lot of wrestling) sorta forgot as time went on. I had heard Genki changed his look after those ROH matches...holy cow! ----- This was a great show...especially in the order I watched it in. This was: Chikara tag, Dragon Kid vs Yoshino, Cima vs Kendrick, Bucks vs Real Hazard, Danielson vs Doi, Davey vs Shingo. This order made sense and I have no idea why Gabe S. booked this differently. It was booked like FIP trying to push the Bucks really hard...Shit at least have Danielson last...he's your big draw on PPV and not the middle of the show. That aside the DVD comes with a bonus DVD featuring Shingo vs Davey in FIP and other stuff. Ah what the heck, it's been 3 years since I watched Full Impact Pro let's go back to Florida: Shingo vs Davey (FIP Impact of Honor): Ah I've seen this one because I remember the high school/college gym they do the show in. I really liked this crowd, they are just psyched for the action. Had I been there, I would be too! It's perfect for the crowd. They do great looking moves, the push the pace and have a low end very good match. But that might not sound like a positive but, it is...they did the match that was asked of them and the crowd dug the heck out of it. Shingo vs Davey (FIP All or Nothing 11/10/06): Oh man, they did a variation of the previous match, cleaned up the rough edges and this was nearly a great match. Just so well paced plus good action that kept you guessing. They are excellent opponents for one another. Having both of these on here is pretty sweet as an FIP fan... Oh I should mention there's another match on the show. It was the curtain jerker and a dark match for the PPV and put on the bonus DVD. Eight Way Fray Elimination Match Arik Cannon vs. Hallowicked vs. Shiima Xion vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Flip Kendrick vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Prince Mustafa Ali vs. The Great Malaki - Yeah I was liking this as total indie spots galore but damn it went on forever since the participants come out Royal Rumble/War Games style. What the fuck was Gabe thinking? It was like the Tag Scramble matches in ROH but there only 3 pins needed to take place... now you've got 7. And with the absolute bananas stuff these guys were doing (Cannon & 'wicked were actually pretty good & reasonable) it's a wonder the crowd didn't get burnt out a couple matches in. Anyway, I've seen this for around $10 on eBay so if you're interested go for it! Lots good stuff for the price. This got me thinking about Davey in Dragon Gate USA. I wanted to see what other matches Davey had in DGUSA since there weren't many despite kinda being the big American star of the future for this & EVOLVE. Looks like he did 2 more shows and the most interesting match is him vs YAMATO. I am not planning on getting that DVD but a person has it up on the 'tube (for a limited time). Here we go! YAMATO vs. Davey Richards - (DGUSA OPEN THE FREEDOM GATE 11/28/2009): Wow! This was a great match! Although a respected source says this is superior to the Shingo bout, I disagree. I think this one is a bit more guilty of the "blow off the selling" than the Shingo/Davey bout gets criticized for. Here I don't think they had the intensity and stiffness dialed up to 10...and that intensity helps sell the adrenaline rush/block out the pain psychology that the Untouchable match had going for it. That said this is still really entertaining and full of great action. Definitely could have been a Full Impact Pro semi main event It's online for the time being so check it out! Fun little project...I have 3 more DGUSA shows so I'll be back with another one soon. I am going to keep going with early NOAH for next with stuff from 2002. Thanks for reading!

Hahaha! That's pretty catchy actually. Glad you like 'em.

Here's more 2001 NOAH! Along with the Sterness post and my Zero One vs NOAH post, https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/blogs/entry/862-spotlight-noah-vs-zero-one-2001/ , I feel like I've got a pretty good sense of the company in '01. There's a lot to like with the fresh match ups, up and coming wrestlers and new twists on old rivalries. With the benefit of hindsight we know that NOAH hadn't quite hit its stride yet. Of the big 3 puroresu companies in '01, I think it was the most consistently good. NJ & AJ had some quality but most of it seemed dependent on Kawada, Tenryu and Muto (his '01 stuff is quality stuff). One big match I'm leaving off my watch list is Misawa vs Takayama 04/15/01 which was the deciding match for the inaugural GHC championship. That's a classic match. Below are some others you might have skipped over for one reason or another (hell I even ended up skipping a couple too!). Let's take a look! Takao Omori vs. Jun Akiyama (April 1, 2001): A really good...almost great match. I really like the Omori-Akiyama story. This period is one that I'm not as familiar with so I'm glad to have found this match. There's a strong focus on working a body part here and I think that's what makes it special. Akiyama mercilessly targets his former partner's Ax Bomber Lariat arm where Omori goes after the neck. Jun's attack is more defense minded. Takao is more offense oriented as his big moves also focus on the head and neck - piledriver, powerbomb, dragon suplex, Ax Guillotine driver and the lariat. I think what keeps this from being firmly "great" is the finish felt very uninspired. And I don't mean the final part of the match...no just the last couple moves. Like they didn't play off of the body of match...and they don't have to BUT it probably needed another back and forth sequence THEN the last couple moves to be a great finish and a "great" match. What a picky bastard I am sometimes This is still a very good encounter with the bulk of the match being excellent. And if I'm being fair both moves at the very end were super over at the time so I'm comfortable saying this is like ***3/4 stuff. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (05/18/01): Great 15 minute title fight. This is the GAEA version fast paced and they hit a load of big moves without emptying the tank completely. That said there's no intra-match story but it definitely plays off their previous encounters. I guess if anything the story is that Taue has to keep the pressure on and keep hitting Misawa with head kicks, slams etc. He can't give Misawa any room to recover. If you've never seen Misawa vs Taue then this is a good way to get your feet wet. ----- Jun Akiyama vs. Takeshi Morishima (05/25/01): Morishima brings the goods early on, clearly besting Akiyama in the strength/power department. Jun uses technique to get the upper hand and stretches the fuck outta Morishima. His work from the head scissors is fantastic. It's sad that people just blow past this move in the tired headlock takeover to head scissor to escape sequence. It's a great move if you know what you can do with it. Anyhow, Morishima finds an opportunity and takes it. Then a match that seems like its going to a "veteran punishing up-and-comer" match goes Budokan. We get a big move off the apron to the floor. This isn't a lost classic or anything but it is great match for sure. Morishima even this early brings the intensity and confidence. I really like the finish as well as it plays off of that early psychology. I was going to watch Juventud Guerrera vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (06/24) but I just couldn't get into it after the beginning. I skipped ahead because there were some neat spots. From what I saw, it was a little stiff/rough around the edges due to being unfamiliar with one another. If you're interested, seek it out...maybe I'm missing something. Mitsuharu Misawa, Naomichi Marufuji, Takeshi Rikio & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Michael Modest, Scorpio, Superstar Steve & Vader (07/16): Whoa, this is a nice little under the radar 8 man. It's rough around the edges on a spot or two but as the main event of a B-show that's alright. The veteran talent covers for any mistake quite well to where you don't even really care. The reason is that this is a super entertaining match. There's a little comedy, and although things are simple, it is done very well. You don't need to go crazy in order to have a good match. There's good pacing/rhythm, good chemistry, some gaga that keeps you engaged, and good action. I thought this was very good stuff as a result. Scorpio & Superstar Steve vs. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji (07/27): Wanna see KENTA get a concussion? Too Cold hits him with a standard spin kick but clearly KENTA wasn't ready for and is on dream street. Scorp does a good job taking care of him, stalls for time and gets Marufuji in the ring without too much harm or showing that the K man is seeing stars. Marufuji then proceeds to go off with Scorp and Superstar. Eventually KENTA comes back in and is slightly better and actually hits some high flying offense. Really good finish to boot. Kentaro Shiga & Makoto Hashi vs. Satoru Asako & Takashi Sugiura (07/27): This seemed like a neat matchup. And dang! I was right! Asako & Shiga bring that AJPW trained goodness that really gets the match going. From their the NOAH newbs follow their energy and we get a really fun 6+ minute match. Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Donovan Morgan (07/27): Pretty good match in the end. They confused the audience in the middle and they kinda switched face & heel roles. Part of it is Morgan is part of the Americans and is therefore sorta heel but certainly is when he spits in Kanemaru's face. Sterness is a tweener stable but Kanemaru should firmly be a face if only in this match does some heel shit like ball kicks & choke with his wrist tape (which he does on the regular). Then Morgan asks for the crowd support to break out of the sleeper. At first he gets laughs, which maybe what he wanted but then the fans were actually behind him. Like Kanemaru decided wasn't going to be the baby face dammit It was weird but they went with it. They got me & the crowd back, did some great stuff at the end and had a pretty good match overall. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs. NO FEAR (Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama) (07/27): Badass 13 minute fight...really just beating each other for most of it. We got some really sick moves later but it ended sooner than I wished. Wild Two are still you but damn they brought it to Takayama & Omori. Near **** match. Takeshi Morishima vs. KENTA (08/15/01): Super young KENTA looks like he's got a surfer gimmick. One little flub early on (that damn Tiger Mask corner back flip off the guy) but this was surprisingly good. Morishima was a great base for KENTA's more generic junior offense (remember early Kawada in Footloose for instance?). It funny because he would still keep some of this in his offense like a top rope rana and definitely the springboard dropkick. Morishima and he are just great opponents and that's no difference even here in 2001. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Tamon Honda (09/01/01): A great example of what I was talking about last time. Early NOAH seemed more interested in doing different matches than what we'd see in the mid-late 2000s. This was a 12 minute BattlARTS match essentially: Lots of really good mat wrestling and fighting over holds, striking from Ikeda, some shoot-style suplexes from Honda (ala UWF). This was for a title shot and is something a few years later, I could see them booking a macho strike/bomb fest instead of this. Financially it probably is what people wanted in the end but 2001 NOAH gives us little treats like this very good match. Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura vs. Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama (09/09/01): The NTV matches such as this one are clipped in half. This one is 5 min of 10 minutes. Really wish we got all of it. I'm not sure we even see Omori as the legal man??? Anyway what is shown was great! I can't give this a proper rating but if you come across this in full somewhere, check it out! Helluva opening! Shinjiro Otani vs. Kentaro Shiga (October 17, 2001): A few more Zero One vs NOAH matches that missed the cut a year ago in my post. Glad to add them here! Otani was great here making Shiga look like a real threat. He stooged for him and took most of the moves during the match. Still Otani hit some big stuff and also came out looking strong as well. A real pro...good fun match right here! KENTA & Masao Inoue vs. Richard Slinger & Superstar Steve (10/19): Hey I watched this for Richard Slinger and he didn't disappoint. Now I have to back and watch a bunch of his AJPW under card matches that I skipped This was fun...probably could have been 10-12 minutes instead of 15 but I liked it. Simple stuff but best when Slinger was in. Masashi Aoyagi & Takashi Sugiura vs. Kentaro Shiga & Makoto Hashi (10/19): Sterness' C-team again taking on Sugiura and this time karate expert and indie favorite Masashi Aoyagi (although it looks like he was with NOAH for 14 years). This is another fun match and a good one overall as its given almost 15 minutes. If you're into 90's Indie puro like me then it's real easy to pretend this is an upper mid card match in between some death match with the Headhunters and the main event featuring someone who was trained at the AJPW dojo in the 80's But yeah, going with that notion, you'll really dig this. I'm on a Kentaro Shiga kick I guess... his lanky physique, silver shorts and technical skills scream baby face. It's a lot of fun day dreaming he's the star of this pretend Indie Daisuke Ikeda & Shinjiro Otani vs. Satoru Asako & Takao Omori (10/19): No Fear B-team vs Ikeda & Otani!? This is too weird for me to pass up! But I tell you what I thought it was kinda dull. It just seemed like they were told to eat up some time. I gave up on this Akira Taue & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (11/20): Only 5 minutes shown on a 10 minute match but shoot this was fun. Kikuchi and Takaiwa are trying to kill each other. Taue vs Hoshikawa is a lot of since Taue takes a ton of offense and Hoshikawa is a junior bumps beautifully for Taue's power moves. Mitsuharu Misawa, Naomichi Marufuji & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Richard Slinger, Scorpio & Vader (11/20/01): Want to say this before I forget: Richard Slinger & Marufuji's opening sequence is awesome! And we're off to the races from there...7 minute finishing stretch match. This was a blast!! Fun post match too! An NTV match shown in full ~ yay! Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (11/25): 1/2 shown and maybe that's a good thing. The parts where they were hitting each other was great. The parts where they were slamming each other was great. There's some leg work but that just was just kinda there because they needed something to make this 20 minutes long. Maybe it was clipped in such a way but nothing seemed to follow a logical pattern. So yeah at 10 minutes this was good but I can't think this was any better in full. Scorpio & Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (11/30/01): This is one I actually own. It's been over a decade since I watched this. And yeah, this is really good stuff! It's a good mix of guys since Vader is all power, Misawa & Scorpio are all arounders who can bring anything given the situation and Ogawa is quick & sneaky. There's really sick spots here and let's be honest the spots are what make this match - Vader especially. His mobility is pretty limited here. Still he gets the job done. I dig the Scorp/Vader team. ----- All in all 2001 NOAH is a pretty darn good year. The under card always seems to have a couple good matches per show and the main events deliver. I wouldn't say they delivered in the way AJPW in the '90s did...but in all honesty they were already that way in 99-2000 which I've seen a good deal of (but not reviewed much of on this blog). It's definitely a transitional period but definitely makes it more interesting to go back and see what's been overlooked or underrated. As you can tell I really have a new appreciation for Kentaro Shiga but also appreciate how ready to go Marufuji and Morishima were. NOAH trainees Rikio and Sugiura weren't far behind since they're more one dimensional power wrestlers. Richard Slinger and Scorpio were always fun to watch and dammit even Superstar Steve. KENTA reminds me of Kawada in that he was good early in doing the junior high risk offense but it took a couple years to find himself and be awesome. And I'm not even counting the Zero One stuff or the Sterness stuff...yeah 2001 NOAH was pretty darn good indeed! I am planning on looking at 2002 in a little bit. I probably won't watch as many under the radar matches but heck! its '02 NOAH so anything more than a handful of matches and we're going to be under the radar But I've missed out on two of the bigger matches of 2002 so those are going to be reviewed hopefully! Also I went back to last week's post and the NOAH vs Zero One post and added some pictures in case you want to check those out. Turns out I had some clips of those matches on a Misawa comp. and thought a couple pics would make things more interesting. Thanks for reading!

This is a project that's been in the works for awhile. So long that a handful of matches I had bookmarked on YouTube are no longer available. This early NOAH stuff is hard to come by through the normal "free" channels. I'm guessing a lot of folks didn't pony up and buy the tapes/dvds. And I'm pretty much past that part of my life now...I've got a mountain of stuff that's in need of watching. Still, this along with joshi and supplementing my late 80's AJPW with Riki Choshu content, is all I'm really watching online. I digress. So this post I'm taking a look at Jun Akiyama and the first incarnation of his Sterness stable (his team with Akitoshi Saito especially). This week I'm focusing on 2001 since NOAH's a really interesting promotion at this time. Kobashi is out and they seem to be searching for an identity which doesn't truly seem to come until Kobashi's GHC title reign in 2003. That seems really overlooked to me. I've seen a couple things like Misawa vs Takayama and I'm thinking a Taue vs Misawa match over a decade ago. Relatively recently I did a Zero One vs NOAH in 2001 post and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Not only was the match quality good but NOAH seemed to have a less polished presentation, more adventurous/creative booking...it feels like a high end Indie like WAR or BJW or what later Zero One would be. I think most folks might recognize that with the NOAH vs NJPW feud esp. the junior tag matches of 2002. Or perhaps the 2003 Differ Cup which I also reviewed a little bit ago. Anyhow let's get onto the matches. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori & Takashi Sugiura (06/16/01) - Oh!!!!What a finisher!! 21 minutes of great tag wrestling. Just so well paced and never gets gratuitous. In fact it's rather simple. That keep it simple stupid mentality is what makes great matches when the talent and athleticism is there. Its 2001 so everyone is still in their prime. Sugi is the face-in-peril as a rookie. What's great is that with his frame, Saito and Akiyama can just lay into him. Everyone is on point here, everyone is excited to be doing this new promotion NOAH - its something I'd feel good giving ****1/4. That finish was just the right thing at the right time and gives it that extra 1/4 star and "near classic" designation. Saito, Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru vs Ikeda, Misawa, Marufuji & Ogawa (06/20/01) - Great 8 man match. Good kinds of chaos. My only complaints are with the couple commercial breaks and the VQ from the upload of the old footage. It got pixelated a bit and some the guys had white pants so they looked the same on the far away shots. That said, this was a blast to see these guys in one ring. I'm not sure if this was anything beyond a stable fight. Sterness seems like a street gang especially with Saito there as the enforcer. This is a little over 20 minutes (19ish shown) so this was a great appetizer to I'm sure a lot of other stuff at the time. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio (07/15/01): Fun match and a good showcase for everyone not named Akiyama. Kanemaru displays a good mix of junior offense and sneaky Ogawa tactics to stay competitive with the big men. Rikio is more developed than Morishima in terms of character and moves but you can tell in 2001 that Morishima has better fundamentals. That was a smart pairing. You can tell Akiyama likes working with them. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (07/27/01): Man, they paced this one beautifully. This was not a match of excess at all. Very economical but still surprising and with just the right amount of razzle dazzle. It wasn't ungodly stiff or unnecessarily dangerous. The choice of moves and spots were so tasteful. It felt like two of the best in the world, former partners/allies going toe to toe. This was a classic match to me. I'm not watching AJPW/NOAH all of the time like I was 15 years ago so I can't tell you how it rates next to their other bouts or any of that stuff. Looking back I did a Akiyama in 90's AJ post in 2019. So I dug their 04/18/98 Champ Carnival bout quite a bit as well. If you liked that one I think you'd like this as well and vice versa ----- Saito, Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru vs. Misawa, Marufuji, Sano & Ogawa (08/15/01): Sterness vs Wave again! Another great match! There's a lot to like here. Everyone is involved including Misawa. There's a bit of comedy at the start. We get lots of rope running and simple but effective teamwork for the body of the match. At the end they dial up the team moves, we get the strong offense, saves etc. These guys are just working in a groove... super fun stuff. 26 minutes but it just flew by. Daisuke Ikeda, Morishima & Rikio vs. Akitoshi Saito, Akiyama & Hashi (08/27/01): More Daisuke Ikeda in NOAH? Absolutely yes, please! Ikeda and Akitoshi Saito blasting each other with kicks, hell yes! 12 minutes of a 14 minute match. Rikio and Morishima (Wild 2) were super impressive. Rikio does the big man thing well as he did throughout his career. Morishima even here shows he's more than just a big man. His explosive quickness makes me want to see more of him. Akiyama does what he needs to as the new champ but is actually pretty damn giving as well. This was really good stuff. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (09/09/01): I did a Zero-1 vs NOAH in 2001 post back in 2022. I missed this one and am happy to include it here for my Sterness post Unfortunately we only get the last 3 minutes as its from a TV show. What's shown is a blast with Kanemaru & Takaiwa. Kanemaru does one of the best flip bumps on a lariat ever...and I hate flip bumps. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (10/17/01): We only get a third of the match. The full match is out there somewhere but we get the last 7 minutes and it's really good stuff. Untouchables are still a great team. Sterness just act like a couple of bosses. Saito is definitely a great tag partner to have...a great #2 to Akiyama. He and Ogawa work really well together as well... it feels like you are watching WAR or BJW..there's a real charm to it. Vader & Scorpio vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (10/19/01) 11 minute match. This is really all about reminding people how much of a badass Vader is! Sterness have a great opening attack on the Americans. Saito really has one of the best enzuigiris in the game. Fun stuff but not entirely competitive. Michael Modest & Vader vs. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama (11/25/01): This is from another TV episode so only have is shown and it focuses on Vader vs Akiyama. More real fun stuff. Wish we got to see more as we also didn't see much of Saito until the finish. He puts Modest away with his version of the Steiner Screwdriver. On the outside Vader chokeslams Slogans through a table like a god! Holy cow! Jun Akiyama vs. Takeshi Rikio (11/30/01): Really good 15 minute match. Rikio had some great slaps and power moves which is all you can ask of him. Akiyama provided the little touches to make Rikio look like a contender. That said Akiyama was never really in danger although the big man hit the champ with some fierce bombs. Vader vs. Jun Akiyama (12/09/01) Oh man that felt like a title fight! Stiff and psychology to boot. We get call backs to the above tag matches. We get both guys coming out with a game plan and sticking to them throughout. When people say that Akiyama doesn't employ psychology in his matches, point them to this match. Near classic stuff! Long live Vader too! Just when you think he's over the hill, he busts out a a move or two to remind you just how great he is. Release German suplex anyone? This was a lot of fun. There's a good amount of variety despite focusing on Jun Akiyama/Sterness. You would think every match would be the same but that wasn't the case. The big reason is that everything wasn't trying to be an epic. So while there was only one classic, they seemed interested in putting on entertaining wrestling matches. Everyone seemed excited to be there and to wrestling in these new fresh match ups. Even if it was only one new guy a match like veterans like Saito, Too Cold Scorpio or new blood like Morishima. In fact, I'm digging 2001 so much that I'm going to do a bonus post on it...matches that I ran out of time on for Akiyama but also a couple title fights and high profile tags. After that, I am planning on doing a Akiyama/Sterness 2002-2004 post. Thanks for reading!!

This is a big post today so let's get going! Kyoko Inoue vs Lioness Asuka (04/29): So these two have had a couple/few acclaimed matches in other companies. I think it was fun but definitely not up to standard set by the others (or so I've heard). Where the best GAEA matches remind me of the best that FMW/ECW offered, this one felt like a TNA match. It was like half the match was Lioness on offense and then the second half was Kyoko. And honestly I don't this Inoue did that much whereas Lioness did some great hardcore style offense. And let's be real, this is a match all about offense and cool spots. Asuka definitely delivered but we got a kind of lazy (or maybe just old & banged up) Kyoko Inoue. It was good but not as good as it could have been. Akira Hokuto vs Meiko Satomura (04/29): Well this one lives up to the hype. Holy cow, the last classic Akira Hokuto singles match? What I liked here is that 1) It was very stiff...Hokuto set the tone that she wasn't going easy on Satomura and she wasn't done yet. 2) This was a straight match...No interference or weapons which Hokuto hasn't done in like 3-4 years in GAEA. That's significant because she's showing she doesn't need that. 3) Much of this match is focused on wrestling holds...this is very much in the classic late 80's early 90's AJW style. A steady pace with a story based on working holds, wearing the opponent down and going for the kill at the end. 4) Satomura didn't spam her moves...she hasn't done this as much in 2001 (but certainly did enough in '99 vs Kong). Wonderfully Hokuto wouldn't let her. Whether kayfabe or legit (in the middle is usually the truth), Hokuto reigned Meiko's bad singles match habits. Instead of not knowing what to do and rely upon going bicycle kicks and Death Valley's, Satomura was kicking Hokuto in the leg and head ala Yamada, Hotta, Kong Kansai. She finally seemed ready for big time longer singles bouts (she's always been fantastic in tags & shorter fast pace matches... her vs Kato matches for instance). I'll share the link for GAEAism's video below. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dOu0JySr8jA Next 3 are from 05/13 and are interrelated: Aja Kong & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Meiko Satomura & Toshie Uematsu: Well that was absolutely badass! For the folks that don't like any of the brawling/weapons stuff - this one is for you. 14 minutes of fantastic wrestling. In some way it was one long sequence but I can't imagine that is the case. I think the familiarity between Aja & Satomura is indeed that good now. Uematsu has levelled up and she definitely belongs in these matches. This was one of the best straight tags I've seen from GAEA in awhile. Near classic-classic match. Chikayo Nagashima & Toshie Uematsu vs. Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU: You have to know there's weapons and stuff in this one I don't tire of it because they always keep it interesting. In fact there was a ton of great stuff with KAORU's table halves that I've never seen before. Having the two junior/lucha oriented GAEA girls made for really great spots and sequences... stuff you'd see like in Hardy Boyz, Young Bucks, MCMG, Briscoes etc tags. Another recommendation from me. Great match for sure! Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai vs. Meiko Satomura & Chikayo Nagashima: And another great match! The youngsters had their work cut out for them as not only is it their 2nd match each but Kong and Kansai are twice their size. Satomura was on some next level shit with Kong here especially at the start... and frankly this whole series was. This could be considered one match if you want.. like an endurance series or something. If so this is absolutely classic stuff. These 5/13 matches in a way prove just how advanced these 3 GAEA originals are. To me its a shame Sonoko Kato is pretty much out of the picture as she was the best... better than Satomura. I'm not sure if Kato comes back in any capacity (I know she returns to wrestling) but it makes me want to check more of her earlier stuff out. But I'm talking about something else and should be focusing on this match. So yeah this match is great and unique compared to the previous ones. I think that is what makes these so awesome is the mix of match ups. Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU vs. Lioness Asuka & Sakura Hirota (06/17): Hahaha! Hirota comes out looking like Strawberry Shortcake so KAORU blasts her with her table piece. Hirota drops like a sack of potatoes immediately Even KAORU is laughing afterwards. But soon its all business as Lioness is handcuffed to the ring and Sakura is bloodied. Eventually they get bored with the youngster and toss Asuka the keys. This is really good dramatic stuff with the heel team being ferocious. It was a great little story and Asuka was absolutely amazing especially after they handcuffed her again! Just awesome visuals throughout the match as well. (This sets up a KAORU vs Lioness match but I've heard it just goes on WAY too long so I'll skip that). Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Meiko Satomura & Chikayo Nagashima & Toshie Uematsu (06/17): Awesome high energy match! The start with Aja & Satomura is what I'd hoped their previous singles encounters would be like. Everyone looked pretty good. Nagashima & Toshie Uematsu were especially exciting going up against the heavy hitters. Aja Kong was great as ever, trading pinning moves with Uematsu despite her greater size. Speaking of Uematsu, her being in another match like this really means she's getting a good push. This was a great match! Another one to see with these teams. Meiko Satomura vs Mayumi Ozaki (08/19): A great match with a fantastic opening few minutes. They bordered on overly ambitious but all in all they stayed in the lines and pulled off some really interesting stuff. This felt like pretty darn fresh match up. Satomura is very close to A-level talent in '01. Ozaki brought her A game (this was a relatively straight up match) so this was way better than I expected. And for that I think I may like it more than the Kong vs Satomura singles bouts. Satomura in 2001 has definitely matured as a singles wrestler in the marquee matches. Mayumi Ozaki vs. Aja Kong (10/28): They cut out a few minutes but this was very good stuff. No new ground was broken but lots of exciting action. This would be a good random GAEA match to watch as an ice breaker. Like, "oh shit they're not over-the-hill" and "this doesn't suck" in contrast to what popular opinion may have been at the time. This is still really good stuff! There's blood and everything Aja Kong vs Meiko Satomura (12/15): Yeah OK that was pretty good stuff but it felt like their other bouts. Satomura seems to have taken a step back here from her Hokuto and Ozaki bouts. Again there were probably 4 (or more? DVDs)...it's basically a fucking scoop slam at this point Is this Satomura or Kong...I have to think it's Kong calling the shots. Just like it was most likely Oz & Hokuto calling most/all of their matches with Satomura. Arsion and GAEA are known for their shorter matches so really wonder if Aja is rusty on how to layout a long (25 minute) match? There's like 5 minutes that just didn't need to be there. But honestly this was so similar to their other bouts, I'm not sure this whole match didn't need to be more than 10 minutes. There was good ground wrestling and injury story potential that would have made this great or at least different. They just don't seem to do that anymore. It just felt long because there were few surprises. Only the beginning felt fresh and awesome...This was just a cookie cutter long title match..much like their 2000 match. I'd rather they just do a 15 minute sprint and keep the good things like the quick beginning, stiffness, the mat wrestling, a couple of the surprising spots. Even if its only "very good ***1/2+" at least we're not sitting through a half hour very good match, right? I think back in the day this was clipped down to 16 minutes so I could see calling this a great match in that form but not knowing what happened in the missing 10 minutes. Some folks have said the full version helps as it sounds like it might be a real bad clip job. I know this is a rant now. But I think it should be said Kong is not Satomura's best singles opponent contrary to popular opinion. Their tag stuff is top notch and Kong is probably her #1 foe but their singles matches just don't do it for me. Again, this may be Kong plugging Satomura into a "big match formula" that worked against others in the late 90's- 2000s. This may be Meiko afraid to deviate from the plan or just not have enough experience/seniority to mix things up in a 20+ minute singles match. That energy we see in shorter bouts is really what's lacking. I'm watching bits while writing this and it reminds me of a Muto match where there's no urgency between attacks. Kong's best bouts are one's where it looks like she & her foe are trying to kill each other. Don't get me wrong its pretty stiff but there's too much dead air at times. It feels like a trip amusement park train...it's moving at a speed so you're aware of toward motion but not enough that you feel a thrill. There's no real ups and downs. Its amusing but not exciting. And Satomura needs some mid level offense (a suplex, body kicks, a DDT for instance)...I'm watching this and Meiko stops Aja's offensive run by axe kicking her from up on the apron (Aja is standing on the floor) - this is one of the awesome surprises! It's brutal as Meiko has so much force as her foot/heel is traveling like 100° and coming crashing down on Aja's head and neck. But then she has Kong stunned on the floor and can follow up. She could throw her back in ring and capitalize on this massive attack. She could do a diving stomp from the apron onto Kong on the floor. She hops down and does a fucking Death Valley Driver!? It's sick but doesn't she want to win the match in the ring? Now if she wants to inflict max damage but still eventually get the pin that's when you have a mid level move like a vertical suplex, a DDT, a back drop/back suplex. I think a piledriver would be good here for instance. She has no mid level offense in these Kong matches. Kong sells this but then Satomura follows this up (her finisher on the floor) with throwing chairs on her. Kong essentially brushes this all off and goes back to offense I looked at Kong's face and I really think she was frustrated. They're only half way through and she just took a finisher on the concrete... 'what the hell!? We've got 10 more minutes to go and you (Satomura) have no idea where to go now.' I'm making a point here because the Satomura vs Kong singles stuff is what GAEA is known for in the community. And it's not even GAEA's best stuff. It's not Kong or Satomura's best stuff in GAEA. It actually seems like their worst stuff in a way. They are in the position to work a 25 minute match in a company that does 10-15 minute matches. Satomura does not have the experience to logically work a match this long. She needs guidance. With guidance she can do excellent work (see Hokuto & Ozaki matches above). Kong either cannot or does not want to guide Satomura. As in, "you're in the big time now Meiko, you need to figure this out on your own." There's a few instances where Satomura is making decisions in real time and Kong vetos in response. Like, "wtf are you thinking"...Hopefully I made my point. And hey I'm just speaking for myself. You check it out! There is still a lot to like...you might see things differently. I can't end this post like that though... Chigusa Nagayo & Aja Kong vs Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (12/24): Joined in progress. Not sure how much we missed but a nice return to form. Quick pace, nice assortment of moves, plenty aggressive.. it's a very good tag match. Maybe its too quick not enough selling etc. but it doesn't overstay it's welcome & there are nice surprises (we get that in tags of course). About 9 minutes shown. Obviously I'm comparing this to the above match because I'm making sure I'm not burnt out or mistaken. I feel much better wrapping up with this. 2001 is definitely the year Chigusa wants to really push the homegrown stars to the top of the company. Satomura really knocked it out of the park even though she still needs work to be the ace. GAEA absolutely kills it with their tag matches and continues to do so in 2001. So there we have it for GAEA for now! GAEAism YouTube is currently loading up more 2002 stuff and while I don't have a ton in store for 2002, 1) I'm always adding more as I go 2) They don't even have all of the few things I have on my to-watch list. So I'm going to have to give them some time So very thankful that they are posting all of this stuff! I might check out some stuff from 95-97 GAEA that I overlooked earlier. We'll see Thanks for reading!

I am going to keep going with GAEA for the New Year. As I've done for the past few posts I'm going to split the wrestling year up. So let's look at early 2001! Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka (01/27): This was a great under 10 minute match. The energy of the bout is what makes this so enjoyable. Its in Korakuen Hall, its noisy, there's blood, chairs flying, dives etc. Its not out of control but there's that energy. And even when the match is over, that energy is still there with Chigusa yelling on the microphone. And when Hokuto is shouting back with her addressing the camera, splatter of blood on her face, I got chills. This is badass stuff. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura (03/11): A rip roaring good time! Everyone was at the top of their game (for '01 at least). Nice little bit of wrestling at the start. The opening with Oz & Meiko makes me want that match in this style...heck even Chigusa gets in with Oz, its still pretty cool. However this was a lot of brawling type action... I mean ECW/FMW stuff - weapons, spots etc. The babyfaces break down and engage in the chair swinging too.Also this is a match I would point to when making the claim that Satomura is an awesome tag wrestler. She is a fantastic #2 to the veteran Crush Gals and a fantastic #1/big sister when teamed with lower ranking partners. Anyhow, I watched this twice and it's a near classic GAEA tag. The pacing is excellent as they are fighting non stop for 13 minutes. On top of that, the execution is exceptional. There's only one moment where Satomura whiffs on kick but Ozaki didn't really sell it. She staggers back to avoid the chain which swings off Meiko's leg. But that gives Satomura the chance to try again and she makes sure she connected this time. Also lots of nice borrowing of moves and little things I noticed on the second watch. Aja Kong & KAORU & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Lioness Asuka & Toshie Uematsu & Chikayo Nagashima (03/11): Not to be out done, they start this off like FMW, in the crowd, chairs, dive off the little stage, Uematsu being hung from the balcony!?! Holy cow! Things eventually get back in the ring and it becomes a more traditional match (not 100%). Lioness does an awesome spot with her table for instance. The real highlight and reason this is a great match is Aja vs Nagashima...or really when Aja & Nagashima are the focus. Nagashima was on fire here throwing 'ranas like Rey Jr. or Dragon Kid (maybe not as quick and smooth but you get my point). The assists from their partners are really on point too. Excellent finish to boot! Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto vs. Chigusa Nagoya & Lioness Asuka (04/08): Great 15 minute match between the two top teams. A bigger match than their January bout but similar as both teams used weapons and the action was pretty non-stop. I think I preferred that one but this was still awesome. They really have the mix of brawling and pro moves down pat. This was a big stakes match and it felt big but not big enough for me. That doesn't hurt the match but it holds it back from being a (near) classic. There was an Akira Hokuto & KAORU vs. Lioness Asuka & Meiko Satomura (04/15) match that I wanted to see. I doesn't appear available online on the GAEAism YouTube Kyoko Inoue & Aja Kong vs Crush Gals (04/22): Really fun 11 minute match. Everyone was was just doing their big stuff right from the start seemed. A little more so than most GAEA tag matches. But it worked! It was one of those crowds/matches where the fans were happy to see the matchup and the big moves...and that's what we got The Crush Gals actually out worked Aja and they didn't use any weapons (tables/chairs). Kyoko was having a lot of fun in the best way. Nice to see her back in GAEA. Heck of a week of wrestling! Chock full of tag matches... I love it! One thing I'll mention is that these mainly focus on the veterans and not the GAEA homegrown talent as much. Sonoko Kato's absence is definitely being felt. That said Crush Gals 2000 and Ozaki & Hokuto are kicking butt!

It's the end of 2023 and it is time for the Best Matches Watched of 2023. I've been trying to stick to different themes/projects each month so I thought it right to organize my list accordingly. If you want to go back and read the reviews then this should help you out. Plus there's a lot of very good and great matches you'll be able to explore that are not included here. A plus sign (+) means its an all time classic match and a contender for Best Match Watched for '23. HM stands for Honorable Mention and is usually a near classic match (like ****1/4) and everything else is what I thought was a classic (****1/2 or more). So Honorable Mention to Classic to All Time Classic if its on a continuum. January Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (AJW 09/14/1987) Miss A & Harley Saito vs. Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama (JWP 10/10/90) HM Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 08/30/92) Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 05/22/94) Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP 05/22/94) +Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) + +Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/9/00 - Cage Match) + Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa - (AJW 2/28/01 - Elimination Match) Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe & Momoe Nakanishi (AJW 04/01/01) Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito (AJW 07/08/01) February Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/27/99) Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 03/19/99) March Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (JWP 04/26/91) HM Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02/24/2002) Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW 07/17/2002) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takao Omori (AJPW 07/18/04) HM Kaz Hayashi vs Shuji Kondo (AJPW 08/30/09) April/May Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84) Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (AJPW 08/26/84) Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (AJPW 12/08/84) +Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) + +Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) + May Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki (M-Pro 03/31/1994) Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo (M-Pro 07/30/1994) HM Great Sasuke vs TAKA Michinoku (12/15/94) HM Curry Man, CIMA & Super Boy vs Minoru Fujita, Shiryu II & Jody Fleisch (M-Pro 12/21/99) Jado & Gedo vs The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (M-Pro 08/19/01) HM June Briscoes vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 07/01/07) HM Briscoes vs. Marufuji & Suguira (NOAH 03/02/08) Briscoe Brothers vs Katsu Nakajima & Kota Ibushi (NOAH 09/06/08) Re-post but a classic Go Shiozaki vs Joe Doering (AJPW 01/03/15) HM July Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa (AJW 06/18/97) +Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+ Akira Hokuto & Toshie Uematsu vs KAORU & Kiyoko Ichiki (GAEA 01/19/97) HM Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 08/23/98) August LAX (Homicide/Hernandez) vs AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (TNA Bound for Glory 2006) James Storm vs Chris Harris (TNA Sacrifice 2007) Re-watch but a classic Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, Night 1 07/23/04) September Bryan Danielson vs Paul London (ROH - Night of the Butcher 12/07/02) Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TPI 2004 Finals 09/18/04 IWA-MS) Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero (TPI 2005 09/24/2005 IWA-MS) HM October Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 06/21/85) Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 06/21/85) Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85) Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)HM November Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (AJPW 10/21/85) Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 11/30/85) Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (AJPW 12/12/85) Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/12/85 aired 12/14) only 1/2 aired December Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki (GAEA 04/04/99) LCO vs Hokuto and Ozaki (GAEA 09/15/99) HM Sonoko Kato vs. Meiko Satomura (GAEA 10/11/99) +Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)+ ----- I'll sort by decade as well. Why not? 1980's Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84) Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (AJPW 08/26/84) Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (AJPW 12/08/84) +Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) + +Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) + Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 06/21/85) Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 06/21/85) Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85) Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)HM Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (AJPW 10/21/85) Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 11/30/85) Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (AJPW 12/12/85) Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/12/85 aired 12/14) only 1/2 aired Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (AJW 09/14/1987) 1990's Miss A & Harley Saito vs. Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama (JWP 10/10/90) HM Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (JWP 04/26/91) HM Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 08/30/92) Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki (M-Pro 03/31/1994) Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 05/22/94) Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP 05/22/94) Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo (M-Pro 07/30/1994) HM Great Sasuke vs TAKA Michinoku (12/15/94) HM +Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+ Akira Hokuto & Toshie Uematsu vs KAORU & Kiyoko Ichiki (GAEA 01/19/97) HM Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa (AJW 06/18/97) Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 08/23/98) Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/27/99) Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 03/19/99) Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki (GAEA 04/04/99) LCO vs Hokuto and Ozaki (GAEA 09/15/99) HM Sonoko Kato vs. Meiko Satomura (GAEA 10/11/99) +Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) + Curry Man, CIMA & Super Boy vs Minoru Fujita, Shiryu II & Jody Fleisch (M-Pro 12/21/99) 2000's +Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)+ +Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/9/00 - Cage Match) + Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa - (AJW 2/28/01 - Elim. Match) Yumiko Hotta, Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito, Tomoko Watanabe & Momoe Nakanishi (AJW 04/01/01) Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito (AJW 07/08/01) Jado & Gedo vs The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (M-Pro 08/19/01) HM Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02/24/2002) Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW 07/17/2002) Bryan Danielson vs Paul London (ROH - Night of the Butcher 12/07/02) Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TPI 2004 Finals 09/18/04 IWA-MS) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takao Omori (AJPW 07/18/04) HM Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, Night 1 07/23/04) Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero (TPI 2005 09/24/2005 IWA-MS) HM LAX (Homicide/Hernandez) vs AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (TNA Bound for Glory 2006) James Storm vs Chris Harris (TNA Sacrifice 2007) Re-watch but a classic Kaz Hayashi vs Shuji Kondo (AJPW 08/30/09) Feud of the Year: There's been some really good feuds this year. I think the ones that stick with me are Brody & Hansen vs All Japan in '84. Another one is SSU is GAEA in '99...I didn't get into it but its basically Lioness Asuka and stars of the 90's + Ozaki's students vs Chigusa and GAEA. Early on LCO vs AJW specifically Kaoru Ito. I think the feud of the year is Riki & co. vs All Japan in 1985. You have the amazing early part of '85 which is very much Riki and his pals (Yatsu, Hamaguchi, Masa Saito, Killer Khan, Teranishi, Kobayashi) and a variety of tags. These might not have made the Best Matches Watched list BUT these are night in-night out great matches. And absolutely worth mentioning here as part of the BMW superlatives. Wrestler of the Year: Piggybacking off the feud of the year, Riki Choshu is a man worthy of best wrestler. I'd also say Stan Hansen for his work in '84 & '85 AJPW... same goes for Jumbo Tsuruta. I think Dory Funk Jr. & Genichiro Tenryu have a case to be made as well. For Joshi, I would definitely highlight Kaoru Ito who was an absolute beast. Mayumi Ozaki was a consummate talent throughout the year in early JWP and GAEA. Similarly Aja Kong was ubiquitous presence in my joshi watching (1997 AJW, Arsion and GAEA). Chigusa Nagayo and perhaps Devil Masami should be in consideration too. In January, Kaoru Ito was the clear front runner and deserves a big time nod. All that said, I think Jumbo and Aja Kong are the best wrestlers of 2023. The quality and consistency of their work as top talent earn them this distinction. With Jumbo, I think about his excellent matches with Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell. With Aja Kong, I think about her matches with Meiko Satomura and KAORU. In both cases, they elevated their opponents and the matches through their work. This was the case in every match I saw. Surprise of the Year: I pushed myself this year by trying to post once a week. I also tried to have monthly themes to help keep things fresh as well as keep me on track watching stuff I've been meaning to watch and not get distracted. So in a way I could say there were no big surprises. That's not truly the case because I have been pleasantly surprised with how much I have enjoyed GAEA. Originally I had only 15 matches listed to watch. That's a two week project. So I've been surprised that I'm liking it so much despite dismissing it for a long time. Thank goodness it's available on YouTube! A negative surprise would be that I've not really loved the Satomura vs Kong matches as everyone else has. Those are sort of the sure thing of GAEA but both have done better work there. Perhaps if I had limited my GAEA watching to 15 matches then, those may have been classics to me. Aja's work is phenomenal in them but I feel that Satomura lacks variety in these matches... she's only debuted in 1995 so it's completely understandable. I think the matches were overrated in the past. In the context of GAEA they absolutely accomplish what they set out to do by elevating Satomura. Match of the Year/Best Match Watched: The most difficult choice to make. I've added plus signs (+) to the all time classic matches above. Let me separate those below to help: +Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) + +Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) + +Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+ +Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) + +Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)+ +Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) + That's helluva list! Kong vs KAORU is the only singles match so we can say it is the best singles match watched for 2023. But is it the best of them all? Shit...this is really hard to pick since they all have great wrestling and amazing storytelling. I'm going to take LCO vs Hamada & AKINO as well as Kong vs KAORU off the table for the fact that these bouts lack the historical depth that the others have. That's to say, the remaining matches have a history both within the year as well as amongst the wrestlers. So we have: +Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) + +Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) + +Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+ +Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) + That's better. Now I'll pick top men's and top women's match based on which one "stuck with me more" throughout the year...those are: +Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) + +Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) + Applying that same criteria, my Best Match Watched of 2023 is: +Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) + This was one of the earlier matches watched in 2023 but it has stuck with me all year. It's been that match that others are compared against this past year. In some ways I see the bias since it was put upon a pedestal early and perhaps the others were never allowed to stand on their own. On the other hand, it's been 300+ days since I've seen it and I've watched a good bit of wrestling in the meantime. I won't lie, there's a couple matches on the month by month list that I don't remember. Any of the All Time Classic matches are ones that you just don't forget. So all 6 get my highest recommendation and you really ought to give them a watch. Hopefully this helps you out if you're looking for something different to watch. Or maybe there's something here you've passed over in your wrestling journey because of a luke warm review in the past. Either way it has been a fantastic year for watching old wrestling and I recommend checking some of these out. Thanks for reading!

I'm just jumping right in: Sonoko Kato vs. Akira Hokuto (09/15): Waaayy too short of a match but it was fun. Seems like more of an angle than a match. I dig it though. Meiko Satomura vs. Devil Masami (09/15): I liked this pretty well. They did a good job telling the story that Satomura couldn't go toe to toe with Devil. So she uses her quickness and technique to weaken Devil's arms. Masami sells this pretty well and although she's able to power bomb Meiko, we can tell there's some effort. This is emphasized when Meiko is able to counter a couple bombs.**spoiler** They had me right up until the end where Satomura spams her Death Valley Driver...get another finishing move! This would have been the time to debut something new or a modified Death Valley Driver...A running one like Masato Tanaka or maybe one off the bottom rope. Instead she does it 3 times in a row and 5 times in the match. Those first two were a waste... and maybe the 3 in a row would have meant more if those earlier ones weren't done. The post match was interesting as Devil wouldn't respect Meiko despite just losing to her. Meiko tries to DVD her but Devil goes deadweight and hits her Steiner Screwdriver and cackles. I actually liked this because its almost like she let Satomura beat her...or at least Satomura just got lucky. Other than kinda killing off the impact of the DVD as a one maybe two hit finisher, showing us arm bars aren't going to win a big match, this was pretty good. Chikayo Nagashima vs. Mayumi Ozaki (09/15): There's a theme here with these matches. See if you can spot it But this has the most back story as Ozaki is Nagashima's mentor and she was a former member of their heel stable. This was very good stuff. For a minute I thought this might be a repeat of the previous match but this was fast and sometimes frenetic enough to be its own thing. Ozaki was as giving as ever and really let Nagashima shine here. I think if they had more time or teased more this could have been a great match. Still its probably the best out of the three. Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai (09/15/00): So this match is a result of the 07/22 Sonoko Kato return post match segment. And it's a dream match come true. Sure everyone is getting long in the tooth but GAEA is smart keeping things under 20 minutes. This way everyone can do their thing and still keep it intense. I thought this was a great tag match full of big moves, believable false finishes and spectacle. Because, this was a match about spectacle more than anything... Crush Gals continue their reunion tour taking on the baddest of the bad asses of the 90's. I think if Chigusa and Kansai were in better shape (health re: Kansai) then this could have been a classic. But that's taking nothing away from this match. This is just simple big time wrestling done right. Tag Tournament Semifinal: Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki (11/23): Really fun stuff! No it's not 1993 level at all but they still excel at putting on an exciting tag match. Not everything was pretty but dammit they went for it here. I think at ten minutes and going pedal to the metal the whole time, I can say this was very good stuff. Tag Tournament Semifinal: Devil Masami & KAORU vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura (11/23): Another really fun match! KAORU's sequence heavy opening was best. I'm not usually a fan of this kind of stuff but it came off pretty well. Everything wasn't ultra clean so it seemed spontaneous. As the match went on it seemed to lose direction but kept up the pace. The kicks were really cool in this one. I really like Satomura as the underdog tag partner to Chigusa. The Devil/KAORU team had a great power/agility/heel dynamic. Yeah fun stuff. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura (11/26/00): Sprint pace but Hokuto still sells! She is awesome. Also hits Satomura with a drop kick that looks like Meiko was shot out of a cannon. For an under 8 minute match, this was really packed full. They managed to throw a bit of drama in there as well. Sonoko Kato & Saika Takeuchi vs. Toshie Uematsu & The Bloody (12/17): Wanted to see more Kato and its been a long while since I've seen Toshie Uematsu who is a talent. About 6 minutes shown on a 13 minute match but from what was shown it was as good or better then the big time tag matches above. KAORU vs Chigusa Nagayo (12/17): You will either love this or hate it. I loved it as it felt very Joshi does "attitude era" with all of the weapons (including a bat). What I liked was Chigusa's attitude to stick to her skills rather than rely upon weapons. There were lotsa neat spots and at ten minutes it was a lot of fun. Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki (12/17/00) 21 minutes of a 24 minute match. And it was a great one too! They really gave everything for this one. One of the best Sugar Sato performances as she came with fire and didn't bungle anything. The absolute highlight was Nagashima & Ozaki battling it out like their 09/15 match. This match was full of action (not always the prettiest) and exciting double teams and false finishes. The drama was there too as this was for the tag belts plus Sato & Nagashima were pupils of Oz and a big part of Hokuto and Ozaki's heel stable. The end of 2000 was all about the tag matches and this, the culmination of those bouts, was the best. A great way to end the year too! 2000 was another excellent year for top shelf matches in GAEA. There was a variety of singles and tag matches that were absolutely awesome. Aja Kong vs KAORU is by far the best of the year and is definitely an all time classic for GAEA and Joshi in general. Sonoko Kato, who I like more than the more popular Meiko Satomura, has been relegated to the under card due to her injuries. Had this not have happened, I'm sure this year would have been even better. Her 12/17 match is proof. I'm not done with GAEA but the best stuff looks to be less frequent as I look ahead to 2001 & beyond. But you know, I have found that I'm digging it way more than I thought. And I'm digging it more than others have in the past. Ohtani's Jacket makes a good point on the 11/23 Oz/Hokuto vs Kansai/Yamada match discussion archive/yearbook post, "if there's one thing I've learned about 2000 Joshi it's that the broken down 90s stars weren't as bad as we made out at the time." I think my GAEA viewing confirms that notion for me. GAEA was presented by some folks to be the Joshi retirement village but that is not true at all. In some ways it reminds me of when the guys from WCW (Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit, Saturn, Malenko, Misterio Jr.) and ECW (RVD,Tajiri, Super Crazy etc.) were in WWE together in the 2000's...their best work-rate matches were behind them BUT they were able to adapt with age & circumstances and continue to put on excellent matches. Anyway, next post will be my end of the Best Match Watched of 2023...which really is about the best matches watched. I never seem 100% committed to a #1 and just off the top of my head, this year should be no different Then I'm feeling I'm going to go ahead with more GAEA for Joshi January.

We're almost at the end of the year and we're going to take a look at the first part of 2000 in the GAEA promotion. 1999 was great so let's hope that they keep it up! Lioness Asuka & Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki (01/16): Great start to 2000! 10 minute sprint of chaos. Heel team has their gang, face team has there's, all kinds of crap is going on. This isn't what you would expect if they met in '95 but it is still super enjoyable and exciting wrestling. The fans were going crazy for this and for good reason. Oh Sonny Onoo was there as part of Hokuto and Ozaki's gang 'Nostradamus.' KAORU vs Mayumi Ozaki (01/30): We get almost all of the match here. It's a really good one too. Very much a hardcore match with your tables, chairs, weapons, some interference, double juice and eventually a little something more. I liked it quite a bit as K was in Ozaki's world and for her to win she would need to push herself. Ozaki was tremendously giving here. KAORU looks great, Ozaki is vicious and we get a very good match as a result. This is perhaps the most vicious match I've seen KAORU in. Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato (02/13): Great match and absolutely loved the beginning. It was bananas FMW-style Korakuen hall brawling and in the ring table and chair spots. The flaw is that the last couple of minutes didn't need to happen. They repeated moves and spots... a flaw of youth perhaps? (Lioness wasn't involved) We basically already saw the finish two times beforehand so why does it work at the end? Additionally Sugar Sato brought the quality down a little as she flubbed a couple moves at key moments.. not absolute botched but the ECW fans of years past would have not been kind. And that's what holds this back from being a classic match. I think if the youngsters could have cut a couple minutes, Satomura gone for simplicity, this would have been a near classic. But it really is a great match nonetheless... there's so much good stuff that I have recommend it. Ah what could have been though...very good still. Aja Kong vs KAORU (02/13): Remember how the Ozaki match above was the most vicious KAORU match ever? Yeah... it's this match. This is an Aja Kong war...don't believe me? KAORU gets her fucking tooth knocked out. Kong gets beat to hell too..the first spot of match, KAORU does a awesome tope that sends Aja crashing backwards and hitting her head on the bottom cross piece of the guard rail. Later on both of her arms are cut up and bruised from KAORU. I haven't seen a brutal Aja Kong match like this in awhile. Big praise goes to KAORU for doing a match like this...they are wearing their pain on their faces for most of the match. I was not expecting this to be so violent and competitive of a match. It's really sticking with me as I write this. All time classic Kong match...again Kudos to KAORU for this as well. I'm pretty sure the YouTube channel is the official GAEA channel (due to the abundance and quality of the videos) so I'm going to link this here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=He_JguAdKKU&list=PL1H0xznHtMkx7283qLqT2zGS6MO1y7TSl&index=10&pp=iAQB Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Lioness Asuka & Aja Kong (03/12): Finally a great Sato & Nagashima match!! I've enjoyed their matches but invariably someone screws something up but not here! So everything look really good plus they can't get too cute because of the size of Aja & Lioness. I am really stoked on their performance (there were a couple close calls from Sugar) and Lioness & Kong brought the goods as usual. Recommended stuff! Aja Kong & KAORU vs Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura (04/23): jip. This was some good stuff. Very neat spots that honestly looked very natural especially Yamada spin kicking the board back into KAORU's face. That was sick!! I watched this one a few weeks/months ago so this was all I had but, yeah I dug it. Re-watch: KAORU is wearing clothes more appropriate for a dance club than a wrestling match. Yamada has blonde hair and is wearing something more appropriate for a Master P music video circa 2000. But yeah this was pretty good stuff... the ending keeps it from being a great match as it devolves into Aja testing Satomura's mettle. Neither KAORU or Yamada intervene to either stop it or actually finish the match. It is definitely a helluva scene and a great lead in to their next encounter (below) but in all honesty they had a pretty great match going...much better this second time since I knew Meiko & KAORU better and such. I would have liked a more traditional end but this ending was probably better for business. Aja Kong vs. Meiko Satomura (05/14): The rematch from their '99 fight. I liked this one as it was shorter than that match BUT that one was still better than this. It's a good match perhaps a really good one but they didn't really tread any new ground here. Additionally the pacing was much slower than other GAEA matches. It's like an AJPW pace but I didn't really think any of the the stories they tried to tell went anywhere (Satomura hanging onto the head lock, Satomura going after Kong's arm). Some call this a great match but not to me. Both have had much more interesting & exciting matches. I'm copy/pasting this from my Crush Gals post earlier in the year. This was THE match that convinced me that I should give GAEA a chance (so very glad I did): 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. Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto & KAORU vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura & Chikayo Nagashima (06/13): Nagashima has gone baby face and turned her back on her mentor Ozaki. KAORU in the meantime has gone heel. And that's what they should be. KAORU doesn't bitchy very well and Nagashima is the physical equivalent of Momoe Nakanishi in AJW. So yeah this is a great frantic 6-woman tag match. Any sourness on Satomura went away here...this is where she shines as Chigusa's spunky protege. But she's much more than that now and imo works much better with competitors her size. Aja is twice as big as her...but that's not for here. Anyway, everyone shines. Akira Hokuto gets her arm attacked and sells it! That really helps at the end of match when she definitely looks in peril. Awesome finish too...wanted to take a pic for the blog but that'd spoil it. Lioness Asuka vs. KAORU (07/22): I took a chance on this one because it's gotten bad reviews. Well I disagree! If you're an FMW fan, then I think you'll really want to see this. It absolutely is the Joshi equivalent of 2000 FMW: Lots of fighting in the stands & ringside, tables & chairs, really exciting reversals, counter attack spots...stuff like that. A couple of the spots don't go off 100% but they absolutely work in the context of the match. I mention this because that's where some of other's criticism comes from. I just don't care about perfect levels of execution anymore but also I've seen worse looking moves every single match on Smackdown. There's no problem here. Sure you could say they didn't sell enough but I don't think that's what this was about... it was about being tough. And frankly they sol enough to get across that they were banged up. This is a great 2000 hard-core "garbage" match. If that's not what you like then skip it The fans loved it and so did I. Chigusa Nagayo & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai (07/22): We haven't seen Kato in awhile (since Feb. here) as per her Wikipedia page she was out due to injuries. If you watch that February tag match, you'll know where she got a couple of them (Sato basically does a Phoenix-plex on Kato). The fans shower her with blue streamers in ring. A helluva team to face right away. Chigusa and Kato are ready for a fight. A it's a really good one too! Short (8-9 minutes) but there's plenty of action. Kato is awesome here as she shows no fear. Dynamite Kansai is great too by bringing the intensity... her facial expressions are priceless. There's a fun & exciting post match segment too...especially if you're a Crush Gals fan like me. Meiko Satomura vs. Sonoko Kato (08/20): Anyhow this is a really really good to great under 10 minute match. The only problem is that if Satomura can take a bunch of Kong's best shots then surely she can take Kato's. And I mean Kato hits a couple really good ones. That's the downside to booking the Kong- Satomura stuff that no one mentions. Perhaps storyline wise, Kato is not 100% etc. Also to note Kato has buzzed hair... not sure if its because she has a bandage on her head (stitches?) and they needed to shave it, if it was a wager, or a stylistic choice. She had a pixie cut in the above match but this is much shorter. Honestly I think I preferred this than the Kong match...as I was getting at in the 6-woman match...Satomura is a smaller wrestler and in a 1 on 1 she works better with folks her size. So all in all the first part of 2000 GAEA has been great! Clearly I'm disappointed in the Kong vs Satomura match but everything else was fantastic. And you know, you might like that match & hate the rest...this is just how I'm looking at it. Part #2 of 2000 is next and should probably be the last review post of 2023. The final one of the year will be my Best Matches Watched of 2023.

Let's just jump right in! LCO vs Hokuto and Ozaki (09/15/99): This is one I hadn't seen recommended. It's a battle of badasses...it's worth a try, right? Oh yes, its so very worth it. Oz & Akira ambush LCO at the entrance way. And it is mayhem from that until the finish. Chairs, blood, guard rails, no actual tagging, 16+ minutes long...if you're a FMW, ECW fan then this exactly what you want. It isn't always pretty. Everyone looks legitimately beat up. It's '99 so if definitely is more reliant on spots than 1994. They don't go for "epic wrestling,"they go for fight. They succeed and we get a near classic in my book. I have seen this get a poor rating from a reliable source but that rating seemed pretty severe so I gave this a shot. Really glad that I did. Aja Kong vs. Meiko Satomura (09/15/99): Aja Kong was amazing on offense and defense. There were times she reminded me of Stan Hansen - always fighting. Satomura was in the fight of her life. She's much smaller than Kong, less experienced and Aja is angry. Meiko is tough as any of the GAEA wrestlers and has a ton of heart too. So this is a punishing match with Aja beating the crud out of the youngster at seemingly every turn. But you're ecstatic once Satomura gets Kong reeling. The problem here is Satomura really only uses (or tries to use) the same 3-4 moves towards the end of the match. Her lack of variety is excusable because 1) she's young 2) Aja varies her offense/defense enough for both. I felt her mid-match stuff was excellent though. Some think this is a classic but I don't (although I think it's a classic performance by Aja Kong who was giving off best Joshi of all time vibes here). This is a great match though and one you absolutely need to see if you want to watch GAEA. This is another chapter and step forward for Meiko Satomura. Lioness Asuka vs Chigusa Nagayo (09/15/99): There were some really great high spots with tables in the beginning. In fact they did some painful looking stuff on and off the ramp as well. I also liked the grappling here. I liked this match but it had a strange layout. Each of those parts were pretty much separate from each other. There's the high spot middle then the old school grappling and kicking and the final third returns back to the hard-core wrestling stuff. I guess there were no real nuanced transitions. Additionally I felt they went back to the old days of Chigusa getting beaten up most of the match. Or it seemed that way. This isn't a story in 1999 for Chigusa although I think it's the one that they were trying to tell. I liked this though and am a fan of both so this was fun. Their 07/18 was better if only because it was organized better... but it was probably just better overall if I remember correctly. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada & KAORU & Meiko Satomura vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato (09/22/99): jip 9 minutes or so (we've been lucky with a good streak of full matches until now). The was pretty good stuff. Lotsa action, some neat spots..Nice to KAORU and Yamada. As you can tell Sonoko Kato has aligned herself with the heels. Yeah this is fun stuff Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato (10/03/99): joined in progress and a little clipping (but maybe a minute is missing overall). This was a small show but a big time effort from Hokuto and Kato. This was pretty good stuff and looks to make Asuka & Kato babyface as Akira, Oz and her underlings the true heels. Chigusa even comes out to try and stop them. Kato bleeds...yeah this is enjoyable stuff. High Spurt 600 Tournament Final: Sonoko Kato vs. Meiko Satomura (10/11/99): Fuuuucckk...that was an awesome match! This is an absolute under the radar classic battle in my opinion. Two rivals meet...Satomura is Chigusa and Kato is Lioness in the story of GAEA. There's more there but that's what you need to now. And this is intense, competitive, dramatic stuff from bell to bell. It's only 11 minutes or so but everything is so fierce and stiff. It's been awhile since I watched Yoshida in Arsion but if you dig that you want to see this. This shorter match definitely benefits the youngsters while on their own. This is a classic. Also, I watched this after Kong vs Meiko and this is a better match to me because of the speed, intensity and story. Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada (10/23/99): 7 minute match but a few minutes of scrapping afterwards. I'm really digging the heel team of Ozaki and Hokuto (and gang) since it's a bit of something different. Fun stuff! Mayumi Ozaki & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato (11/13/99): At this point I'm just tacking on matches I want to watch. The tag scene is super strong. This is jip a couple minutes but this is really good. I really dug Chikayo Nagashima with Ozaki. She's tempered by the veterans here. Kato is awesome as ever... I may like her more than Meiko..or at least I dig the Asuka/Kato a bunch. We get some outside interference here but that's Oz's thing and if you understand GAEA is like ECW/FMW type rules then you will have no problem Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto vs. Chigusa Nagayo & KAORU (12/12/99): Fun match...again more shenanigans from the heels. These last three matches I wouldn't say are the "very best of GAEA" but I'm enjoying them. Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Chikayo Nagashima (12/12/99): Jip and only 8 minutes long. These matches are all pretty short and I feel like that's where they're going in terms of match length. I think shorter contests are beneficial to the younger girls who don't know how to fill a 20 minute match and for the veterans, its a bit easier on their bodies. Lioness is 40 years old here for instance... and they're not doing head locks & abdominal stretches... getting hit in the head, kicked etc. has got to wear on ya! Anyway, this was a very good all action match. There were some really cool spots with Nagashima . I definitely like her paired up with a vet like Kong or Ozaki. Asuka & Sonoko Kato continue to be a great pairing. So I have finally finished my GAEA goal for 2023 but, 1999 has been so good that I am going to keep going into 2000. 1999 was definitely a really strong year and did not disappoint. Again, at my core I'm a ECW/FMW/BJW/W*ING/Attitude Era etc. fan. That's the stuff that made me love wrestling as a teenager and GAEA in '99 definitely speaks to that. I mean this is contemporaneous with that. It is a product of the time (although in all fairness GAEA was always a brawling heavy company). If you're not looking for that then this might not be for you. If it is then all of these matches are available on YouTube so if you're interested, go check'em out. Mita/Shimoda vs Ozaki/Hokuto and Kong vs Satomura from 09/15 are worth your time as is Sonoko Kato vs Meiko Satomura (10/11). These matches exemplify the brawling & shoot style that is GAEA '99. Thanks for reading folks! Hang in there!

Sharing some of my reviews of Tiger Mask matches from my blog. Generally speaking, I think I enjoy Tiger Mask more than most people nowadays. It's been a couple years but I feel pretty good about my takes still. I really dug the Bret Hart match (which is their 2nd match). Also the Dynamite matches are still very good stuff... 1981 11/05/81 - Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada: Exactly what I was hoping for! Hamada was doing more of the spectacular while Tiger was hitting his kicks. Tiger has slowed from his debut and he and Hamada did a near perfect lucharesu match like we'd see a decade plus later in M-Pro. Near classic match to me! Like ****1/4 territory 12/01/81 - Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Canek & Super Maquina: A full tag match, yes!!! Super Maquina has a similar outfit as Maquina Salvaje, a football player. What's odd is Super Maquina is Super Machine in English. But, this is too early for Junji Hirata to even be thinking of doing his famous gimmick. Oh the confusion of masks and older wrestling, its great! Nevertheless, he's a good worker. This is one of the few El Canek matches that I have seen. I gotta say I like him! The Mexican team pits their power against the Japanese team's speed & technique. And another match where "wrestling" is the focus and exciting spots are kept to a minimum for maximum effect . And the big highspot was for the finish of the match...very good stuff. Really a pleasure to watch and had me wanting to see more. 12/08/81 - Tiger Mask vs. El Canek: So this is the follow up to the above tag match. Its a pretty big deal that El Canek is facing TM. Or the other way around, I guess. The first move was kinda wonky so, they re-did it. Eh, I don't like when they do this but, the rest of bout erased that faux pas. Plus the little spot was pretty cool to see done right. Lotsa good power moves & stretching from Canek. Tiger had some clever answers for those but, also pressed the Mexican with his kicks. Exciting "80's finish" but, you know what? If its done right like this, I really don't mind. Very good match..perhaps a tad below the tag match. 1982 vs. Dynamite Kid (01/01/82): The Brit focuses on taking out TM's leg after he apparently took an odd bump. Quick thinking! On top of that he drives the masked head of Sayama into the mat with some devastating moves. Very good match, ***1/2 area. vs. Dynamite Kid (01/28/82): The rematch of sorts. Kid really wants to get his mitts on the feline fan favorite. Lotsa clubbing blows, tosses to the floor, and chokes for good measure. Tiger wants to prove he's no fluke and out wrestles the lad with armbars, leg locks, and headscissors. Of course, Dynamite gets his chance and delivers a cervical vertebra crushing piledriver that looks to have TM beat. An extra exciting finishing segment caps off a great match. vs. Baby Face (02/09/82): Now we get to see a more out an out cheating heel in Baby Face. Those fish hooks were great! A very mat based match with explosive rope running will get me every time. Here is no different! If this would have been longer, I would say it was a really great bout. But, as it is, I've gotta say its a peg down at Very Good. There's no shame in that though. I had a blast! vs. Blackman (03/12/82): Joined in Progress but, no matter...this is great! Excellent chemistry and I have to believe they have fought each other previously. I thought that this was going to be glorified squash filler or maybe clipped since Blackman is unknown to me and such an anachronistic gimmick. (Was it part of the TM Manga?) Glad I was wrong though! He really looked like TM's equal in terms of speed and agility. Only Gran Hamada is up there so, that's good company. Anyhow, check this one out! Its got an awesome organic finish that really seals the deal on a great bout. Tiger Mask/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Blackman/Karloff Lagarde (03/19/82): If you're interested in a high energy tag match where everyone is in constant motion, look no further! This is like the '83 version of a mid 2010's PWG tag match - double teams, comedy spots, and just go-go throughout. Just a bunch of fireworks (just in time for the Fourth of July too!). A heat segment and a more emphatic victory probably would have put this into great match territory. It's exciting stuff nonetheless! vs. Steve Wright (04/01/82): This was just excellent. It was a long technical match with beautiful chain wrestling - counters, escapes, reversals, and counter reversals. It was what I consider an aggressive World of Sport style. Since this is a spotlight on Tiger, I want to mention how comfortable he is at this style as well as lucha libre. It was distinct from his matches with Baby Face, Hamada, Blackman but, still was athletic and exciting as we've come to expect. I think I'd have to say this was a classsic bout but, may not be everyone's cup of tea. You really have to want to see wrestling for wrestling's sake. vs. Black Tiger (04/21/82): Rollerball Rocco is the Black Tiger. He had a roughneck but, technical style that is what i imagined Bret vs Tiger would be. The first time, Tiger Mask did not have an answer for his foe. He we see Tiger's true rival (as established in the manga (imagine Vicious & Spike in Cowboy Bebop)) and told through the story of the match. Every time we thought a TM flurry of kicks or dives would turn the tide, Black Tiger would shut him down. The superhero met his super villain...and Tiger snaps at the end. Almost betraying his vow to fight fair and for good (think like a technico) and turn back to the evil (rudo) ways of the syndicate he and Dark Tiger fight for. A very good match, a compelling story, if you know a little bit of the manga or the trope (again Cowboy Bebop uses it well and The Wild Bunch to a degree). I think what's even deeper is that NJ had the idea to bring in one of Sayama's best opponents from the UK as his evil counterpart. I think it's the closest the TM and Black Tiger characters had matched real-life...or even tried to. They had a back story and a history. If you're unaware of these things then, its an OK match BUT with some depth, it makes this more substantial. Plus, it is only setting the stage for the future. vs. Black Tiger (05/26/82): Man is that a hot crowd! They are eating every spectacular Tiger move up! Black Tiger doesn't give a damn. He's making the hero pay. Again, Black Tiger Rocco is staying one step ahead. I really like how BT kept going for the pin by using knuckle locks and leverage holds. This was a brilliant touch because it made the fight feel more real. It wasn't out of desparation to get the match over but, a way to show technical superiority over Tiger. Think of Bryan Danielson or Tatsumi Fujinami winning with a small package. Its not a cheap win like maybe a school boy roll up. Its a display of technical mastery and getting the "W." Even moreso like Danielson, BT Rocco is making Tiger expend all of this energy to kickout. These pin attempts are more like amateur wrestling attempts...making the opponent keep moving and fighting out so that, they'll be tired or hurt later and make a mistake. Honestly, its a simple thing but, so few wrestlers do it. If you're looking a this type of work as rest-holds or think every fucking hold has to set-up the finish then, we're going to disagree on this. I thought this was a near classic match. vs Dynamite Kid (07/23/82): NJPW probably wanted to get the failed Ultraman feud out of everyone's memory so, they go for a safe bet and start up the bulk of Tiger vs Dynamite storyline for the summer of '82. This chapter closes with the legendary WWF MSG match. But, I'm getting ahead of myself! We're at the beginning here. On the previous occasions, Dynamite has been unable to get the better of the super hero. He's tried traditional rough housing, mat wrestling, and even quick attacks. Nothing has worked though. Here he goes full speed ahead showing that he can keep up with Tiger. There's not a great structure to the match but, the theme is that they are peers. I thought it worked well. Bret Hart's involvement at the end was fun and set up the Space Flying Tiger. Now here we have one of the big faux pas in the series. DK apparently no sells the dive and tombstones Tiger on the floor. To play devil's advocate, the crash & burn of the landing is obscured by the hard camera angle. The floor shot might have shown that Dynamite stepped aside and let Bret take the brunt of the dive. People talk about holy grail wrestling footage...I'd like to see the floor cam angle of that dive! Nonetheless, it was a great match and in terms of intensity and athleticism, this is hard to beat in 1982. Plus, we get an uncommon type of finish. vs Bret Hart (07/30/82): A few days later we see Bret w/ Dynamite at his side. The Canadian hero-to-be tries his hand at pinning the masked man. Let me tell you, this is the superior Bret vs Tiger match. In fact, it may very well be better than the above DK bout. We see a nice face/heel dynamic, Bret looked more confident and worked a smart match where Tiger used is fancy moves as hope spots/comebacks and NOT just to show off. Bret wasn't looking to work as equals he was looking to use his size, smarts, and ability to dominate TM. The story here and in most Bret/DK matches vs Tiger is to shows that they may be better, faster, stronger than TM but, they were hot heads and couldn't resist taking shortcuts. These shortcuts would then backfire. Tiger knew his opponents better and that knowledge is a weapon more dangerous than any spin kick or dive. If he could endure then, Tiger Mask could find a way to win. The finish played really well to this narrative and we get a great overall match. A different style than many of the others but, you could see that Tiger as a character and worker could adapt. Plus, it was a glimpse at what a great storyteller Bret would be. Again, great match! Tiger Mask/Tatsumi Fujinami/Kengo Kimura vs Dynamite Kid/Bret Hart/Greg Valentine (07/31/82): Oh man, this was shown in full & is a 2/3 falls match! Tiger isn't even in that much so, I'm surprised this was shown in full. I'm not complaining though. The North American team focused on beating up Kengo. He was really great at selling this beat down. I mean I've rarely seen anyone try to scramble or dive to make a tag like Kengo did in this match. One criticism I've seen is that Valentine looked like he didn't belong here or that he was bringing some corny WWF stuff to the match. I disagree. He was bringing Heavyweight action to a Junior Heavy match. In fact, I wish this was fought a little slower like Greg than the Red Bull & vodka crazy pace they were running. Still, the story was there with Kengo being the man in peril, the wrestling was on point, and the finish was bananas in the best way. So much fun, a very good bout and a very nice way to end this post! Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid (08/05/82) - I watched this twice and know I've seen it at least a few other times. It's a pretty good match still but, the set-up and pacing is where I have a problem. In fact its one that's a common problem nowadays...there's no real build or story. There's problems with the psychology that keep this from being great. It is a collection of neat sequences & the finish was sick...so this doesn't lack action or excitement just substance. w/ Tatsumi Fujinami vs Black Tiger & Pete Roberts (08/27/82) - Oh yeah! Rocco Black Tiger (R.I.P.) is just there to throw shade & mug Tiger every chance he gets. Even Roberts has words with Black Tiger at one point. That said, this is fantastic fast paced technical tag wrestling overall. These type of bouts is where TM Sayama shines brightest. Even more so with Rocco acting like a dirt bag villain amongst the technicians. Great match! Something I would skip over had I not got this DVD set. vs Dynamite Kid (08/30/82) - The steroids are really kicking in for the Kid now...holy crap! So this is the widely known MSG match and is a condensed version of what they're doing in Japan. So, their getting their stuff in without killing for time and it works. I wouldn't say it's as complete as their NJ stuff but, if you want to show someone classic puro without taking up too much time - it's a good start! vs Pete Roberts (09/10/82): Black Tiger Rocco tried to jump Tiger Mask before the match but he and Roberts handle B.T. and get onto their bout. Interesting since Roberts and Rocco/Black Tiger teamed up earlier in the year. Anyhow, that aside we get a slight skip ahead in the the tape (not much) and wow! We get two technical wizards having a good old fashion duel! Tons of holds, counter holds, escapes and reversals are in this match. This was technical marvel! Classic match...this is Tiger in his element. vs Chris Adams (09/17/82): The mix of styles here was rather pleasant. Adams could do Tiger's mat stuff but, also had good punches and of course the Superkick/Thrust kick. This busted Tiger Mask's mouth open. I think it loosened a tooth frankly. TM responds with kicks of his own and tries to fight his way out of hole. Not quite a heel/face match but, Adams was no Gentleman Very good match where Tiger has to go for broke! vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (10/26/82): KK & TM just despise one another. This felt more like a fight than the above matches. Very aggressive tone to every block, counter and dodge. This is very much Tiger in his element and we're rewarded with logical uses of his speed and agility (rather than doing spots for the crowd). Great match even with an old school ending. vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (11/04/82): A bigger, better version of the above match. I mean Tiger drop kicks Kuniaki before the bell rings. This felt like a grudge match for sure! But what's interesting is that Kobayashi isn't a heel but more of true equal to Tiger Mask...thing is he wants to take that mask...to get TM to stop playing dress up. At least that's what I gather from how the match is wrestled It reminded me of Otani or Kawada letting an emotion get in their way of victory. I'd call this a near classic match. I've seen folks go higher than that so you really want to check it out for yourself. Personally I think this is THE series of matches people should see instead of the Dynamite Kid ones...if you only are going to choose one. 1983 vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - NWA Jr. Title (1/6/83): This is one of my early favorites of my puro dvd collection. I probably saw it in 2010 or so with my dad along with the Dynamite Kid ones. This is the match that gave me a clue that TM could be more than his feud with Dynamite. This was awesome then and its awesome now. Its ahead of its time with nearfalls, double count outs, etc. This was pretty darn stiff near the end and was very intense. This was a near classic match to me. Tiger Mask/El Gran Hamada/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Los Misioneros De La Muerte (Negro Navarro/El Signo/El Texano) (1/14/83): This was clipped a little bit in the beginning but after that one it was shown in full. Man, this was all kinds of fun! Tiger Mask vs. Negro Navarro (1/20/83): JIP a little as far as I could tell. I wasn't expecting that! Really good stuff that was enjoyable to watch. Based on these two matches, I wish more of this mini feud made the DVD. Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada - (2/3/83): This featured great matwork, agility, timing, counters and reversals. Much of this was on the mat and that's where Tiger is best despite being known as a flying innovator. These two are just amazing together. A classic encounter. Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - (2/8/83): 7 minute JIP, what was shown was awesome. Its a shame we didn't get to see their feeling out period and matwork. Spectacular stuff that was 10 years ahead of its time. vs. Dynamite Kid - (4/21/83): The final encounter and the famous restart match. This may be the first "5 more minutes!" match. I think that's what made it a classic match. It was off the hook when both guys got disqualified. The fans were chanting for more time or a re-start...and they give it to 'em!! We haven't seen this level of intensity in awhile...I mean its beyond the level of the Kuniaki matches when Dynamite Kid is bringing broken bottles in the ring to stab TM with! We haven't seen Dynamite in some time but they really dial it up for this ultimate fight. I have some problems with some move choices and their selling but I think all US fans that grew up with the Undertaker will feel this way. Classic match for everything that goes on here. vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - NWA Jr. Title (6/2/83) - Oh my goodness! This is their best bout so far. This felt like a Misawa vs Kawada match as they have no only had many encounters to build the feud but they are physically and stylistically similar like you don't see very often. This is the match that Tiger Mask wanted to have. He can do lucha and British grappling. It really felt ahead of its time. The stiffness and aggression were amped up. This looked like a fight. I wrote a whole lot more but it may have spoiled the ending and I try to avoid that. It wasn't my favorite ending yet it was a clean finish. vs. Isamu Teranishi - NWA Jr. Title (7/7/83) - Teranishi is a guy I've seen ringside but had no idea who he was. I always thought he was bald based on Fire Pro R. Not the case! I've seen poor reviews of this feud but you know this was very good stuff. Teranishi looks like a meat & potatoes wrestler but he's got quickness and some tricks up his sleeve. Kobayashi is at ringside and this breaks down after the 3 count and Tiger gets his mask shredded. This match along with the post match elevated this to something great and provides more substance to the larger TM/Kobayashi feud. Hells yeah! vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - WWF Jr. Title (7/14/83)- Oh boy, here we go again. This starts out like a shoot match and you can see Tiger's time with the judoka Kobayashi helped his vision for UWF. Much like the encounter above this exemplifies the best of Junior Strong Style. The action is exciting, the mat work is engaging and the stakes are high. This looks and feels like wrestling as competition. Here unlike other classic lucha and British style bouts, Tiger is able to fight a style of his own which combines stiff kicks, minor acrobatics and grappling perfectly. Perhaps it is because Kuniaki is also comfortable in this style that we truly get to see the zenith of TM. That's why I made they Kawada/Misawa comparison. These two bring the best out of each other. Classic match as long as you're OK with the "80s ending. " I may have preferred it to the clean finish in their first match above. Or maybe equal... Tiger Mask vs. El Halcon - WWF Jr. Title (7/29/83): Return to early form with the Falcon. This was a near great match (***3/4+) since it was just so clean and well executed. It was more lucha than anything done recently. I still felt the sense of competition. It was like two honorable competitors trying to use their techniques to gain victory as opposed to fighting with strikes. A joy to watch! vs. Isamu Teranishi - NWA Jr. Title (8/4/83): The final match goes out with a bang! Teranishi is the Akira Taue to Sayama Tiger's Misawa. They went all out for this with stuff that easily could have been seen in 1993. On top of that Teranishi has the German suplex which damn near beat TM a couple of days earlier. This is the end of the road and anything could happen! The most well-known matches vs Dynamite are still great. I believe only the final encounter is what I would consider a classic. The feud with Kobayashi is more my preference and maybe when comparing ratings, they aren't too different. However the Kobasyashi matches just feel so much more REAL than the D.K. bouts. I'm only comparing because those are the two defining feuds of Tiger Mask. I hope putting these here helps out anyone interested in watching the old matches

Going through some of older posts and stumbled on these Good Shit posts that Supersonic did a few years back. These were pretty helpful. Thought I would compile some of my TNA reviews and share them here again for folks that want to go back and watch. Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TNA Sacrifice 08/14/05): I thought this was a fantastic meeting of two of this generation's best wrestlers. It was really everything you could hope for in a match between AJ & Joe. Athletic, intense, and surprising. Also thought the ending was good for the match/story as well. A 100% clean finish or draw would have been preferred but, I think this match is still a classic. Samoa Joe vs Jushin Liger (TNA Bound For Glory 10/23/05): Amazing cool entrance by Joe and Liger's wasn't too shabby with his NJ music, full shoulder pads, and streamers. Liger, sized wise, looked like a good match for Joe. Shorter but, thick as Joe. Crowd was amped. Joe pretty much did his 'standard' TNA act here but, Liger switched it up from his 2005 routine and played it like a younger junior taking on the heavyweight. So, we got a few moments of brilliance from Liger as well as him taking to the air.The only thing stopping this from being a great match was the time it was given. It reminded me of a Fire Pro Wrestling match where you get a Critical just as you're starting to amp things up. Highly recommended match and a successful dream match in my book. Jeff Jarrett vs Rhyno (Turning Point 2005): This was a good to very good hardcore match. It was a lot fun as it was mainly a bunch of different spots around the arena. There were some different one like of a scaffolding and using the entrance tunnel. It was a Double J match so it was overbooked in the end but it was enjoyable. Also a couple folks I don't recall like A1 for Team Canada and Jackie Gayda (va va voom)... but got this odd feeling of nostalgia for something I didn't experience. This is right before I got back into wrestling and there's something very early 2000's about seeing those two but never knowing or hearing about them prior. Hahaha it's just they seem to perfectly represent the blind spot of American from the 2000's that I still have. Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TNA Turning Point 12/11/05): AJ took it right to Joe and set the tone for this match. Intense and physical as hell. It was full of nice surprises,teases, hard way blood from both guys, and fantastic pacing. Plus, the post match kept the story going setting up Daniels vs Joe. This really is a classic match alongside anything they did in ROH. Its really a testament to how TNA was mismanaged. Styles, Joe, and Daniels could have been having classics like these for the Heavyweight belt for a few years instead we got 2000 era WCW redux and all kinds of other stupidity. From Against All Odds 2006: Roderick Strong & Austin Aries vs The Naturals - Wow ROH tag team royalty taking on a Hardy Boyz type indie team. Its pretty good stuff with Aries & Strong looking best with the Naturals doing their cools moves like a Shooting Star body block to the floor, double team moves etc. Alex Shelley vs. Petey Williams vs. Matt Bentley vs. Jay Lethal in a Four Way X Division Match - Shelley rocking the two tone hair like Suwama. Fun action match that's well paced and told some fun stories. Wish we got more Shelley & Jay because they were the best. Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin vs. America's Most Wanted - Really good tag match. Sabin & Duty are underdogs based on size alone. But then the AMW target Sabin's recently repaired leg and things look dire. Sabin does a great job hanging in there and making the hot tag to Sonjay. He goes ape shit with the cool moves to the offish tag champs. Really nice simple but well executed story match. Rhino vs Abyss (Falls Count Anywhere) - Best match so far although it didn't resemble a wrestling match. The bunk house brawl match in other times. Rhino looked really exciting here (which is an uncommon thing). Abyss is his usual plodding self like early Kane but it works since he's the only monster in the promotion. Anyhow this is your ECW style match. Its pretty back & forth since they're big tough guys. Nice garbage swinging especially the trophy spot. Good tease of the high spot and fantastic unique finish. Maybe it was telegraphed a little once the pieces fell into place but screw it - it was pretty sick! Very good to great stuff! Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles - The REAL main event and it definitely delivers! Daniels just gets brutalized by Joe but Daniels hits a vertical Death Valley Driver that evens the score. AJ is bumping and diving. There's a lot going on with the spots and sequences. I think the only thing that stops this from being a ****1/2 classic is some of spots seemed too contrived to be done more than once a match. There were some 3 man spots that were call backs to earlier ones that you kinda saw before. BUT!!! they still worked and kept things exciting and interesting. So I'd still call this a near classic match, ****1/4 and match of the night. Just lots to enjoy here from a work rate perspective. Jeff Jarrett vs Christian Cage - A good match that gets a little sloppy down the road (not sloppy but not smooth either). And like many TNA main events, especially with Jarrett, has too much scrap booked. There's Earl Hebner in his first TNA match and they referenced the Screw job in commentary and in a spot. Then he keeps getting knocked down or out so no one can count the pin. Then another ref comes out and they do the same thing. Then Gail Kim is doing stuff and there's foreign objects etc. So I mean it's fun & the crowd was having fun. Stylistically I don't think this was any different from what WWE was doing. LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) vs AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (Bound for Glory 2006): Steel cage match for the tag titles. This was a big selling point for this DVD and it delivered! Non stop action, ghetto fork, coat hanger chokes, double teams, moves off and into the cage, and a helluva finisher. Classic TNA tag match without a doubt. Rhino vs Christian Cage (1st TNA Impact episode 2006): Rhino has got his original spelling back. Christian and the War Machine have some history and we get a nice feud that culminated in this barb wire cage match (plus extras). Of course it's more spots but damn they picked some good ones. Plus neither guy is afraid of taking a few big bumps. Everything looked really good here - reversals, sick bumps, a little bit of the wire, and finally some real time crimson mask. Plus a pretty awesome finish! Very much what everyone wanted and I was pretty happy with it too. Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle (Genesis 2006):This still holds up after 3 or 4 viewings over the years. I was a hard fought battle between... ah shoot you already know by now. It's a little quick in my opinion. I think they transition too quickly and its because they make Kurt too strong... he doesn't shake off Joe's offense but he doesn't really sell it either. The atmosphere they create is electric and they accomplish what they set out to do. I wish they slowed down a little but its a great start. Kurt cuts himself a gusher...classic Perc Angle moments in this one. From Turning Point 2006 Jay Lethal vs. Alex Shelley vs. Senshi vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Austin Starr (Paparazzi Championship Series Five Man Elimination Match) - Austin Starr is Austin Aries and Senshi is Low-Ki. Very good multi man match, the paparazzi stuff has something to do with Shelley &Aries' gimmick under the tutelage of Kevin Nash. Who cares but all that talent in one ring, that's worthwhile. Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Chris Sabin - Great match much like the previous match. Both guys in 2006, hard to go wrong. Rhino vs. AJ Styles - Not a giant Rhino fan but man this was great! Basically starts as an ECW brawl and you've got a big man and a guy who'll bump for him. Lots a of hate and great spots. Finish was pretty good given the story. America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) (w/Gail Kim) vs. LAX (Flag Ladder Tag Team Match): Very good, all spots really but it was entertaining and crazy at times but I thought the gimmick finish was typical TNA. It sets up one of the best TNA matches (Harris vs Storm) but still... Abyss (c) (w/James Mitchell) vs. Sting vs. Christian Cage - This was pretty good even though the finish was TNA at its worst putting an angle over match quality and happy fans at the end. I honestly don't know how the finish even made sense. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe - They cleverly tease another TNA finish but it isn't to be and we get a clean finish and a classic match. Kurt was pretty much in business for himself here but it works out in the end. James Storm vs Chris Harris (Sacrifice 2007): These guys just beat each other senseless from beginning to end. Stiff as you'll see in TNA, great spots that actually surprise you, intensity and buckets of blood. Harris gets a good one but Storm damn near Muta's himself (fantastic spot that "busts him open"). He's wearing the crimson mask, he's drizzling blood everywhere (you can see this best when setting up a table on the outside), and actually when at rest is leaving puddles of the sanguine substance on the floor and in the ring...the intensity, the stiffness, the creative and high risk spots and absolute gusher Storm blades..this is a 5. Plus it's classic TNA match especially if you know the history between these two in AMW and how things got to this point. Tomko vs Abyss (Slammiversary 2007): No DQ match but its a death match. And it's done right for a fairly mainstream audience. The thumb tacks and glass mean something. The BIG bumps mean something. It was a spectacle like an old Onita death match and they did it right (which he didn't always do). I am not 100% sure on the glass not being sugar glass but shoot it works either way. I thought this was great with the tacks, glass, barb wire bat and big bumps. Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett (Genesis 2009 January) : This was a No DQ match that was very much an Attitude Era throw back. Boxes were getting checked off: Big bumps, blood, chair shots, etc. But it felt good given the age of the two. I mean Jeff almost lawn darted on a suicide dive and damn near missed the table on a big spot. It worked because they sold the hate. This was a very, very good match. Kurt Angle vs AJ Styles (Table match, January '09, Impact TV bout) : The intro video does a great job recapping the AJ & Kurt saga...One I'm very fond of. In a nutshell, Tomko (remember him?) and AJ are tag partners and part of Team Angle. Kurt's babe of an (ex)wife is introduced here as well. Kurt is a egocentric tool and AJ is protecting her. Kurt thinks there's romance brewing but AJ & Karen say they're just friends. They say this is after all of that but I sorta remember that running into this period of the Main Event Mafia (groan) vs the non former WWF /WCW wrestlers. Anyways, this was a good TV match but it should be clear that TNA was becoming WCW part deux. Kurt Angle vs Sting (Empty Arena Match Grudge match, Impact TV February '09): This is a battle I remember loving. It felt like something very special to see on TV. I still feel that way (even after all we've seen in the past year). Other than the fantastic and hilarious finish where Kevin Nash yells at them like an angry father (see below), this was a great battle. You could argue that this was more WCW flash backs but, if its done right, there's no problem to me. This was an instance where they did it right. I would give that credit to Sting and Kurt wanting to still put on a good show. It'd be wrong for me to call this a classic match BUT with the match combined with the ending, this was a Classic bit of TNA Impact TV! Sabin vs Shelley vs Homicide vs Daniels vs Amazing Red vs Suicide (Bound for Glory, October '09, Ultimate X match) : Red was the champ and this was a free for all, the MCMG fought as a team and came out as a team. Yeah in hindsight they were in here just to spice shit up.And really that's all this was - top notch high risk spot match. It is neat that you have all of this talent but also bummer that they're not fighting for the World Title. They were just so afraid of pushing them beyond the X division. This should have been the main event as it was thrilling and the fans were crazy about it. AJ Styles vs Sting (Bound for Glory, October '09): A simple but effective World title fight. It reminded me of Sting facing a young version of himself in AJ Styles. You could say it was a little disappointing if you bought the PPV and thought they would top Ultimate X but on tape and a decade removed, its a great match. Kurt Angle vs Desmond Wolfe (Turning Point, November '09) : Its not great when you don't have anything worthwhile for 9 months from your top star to put on the DVD. But here we are! Desmond Wolfe has been gunning for Kurt and has decimated him on TV. Now they have a match to settle things. OK...I'm going to get my rant from 11 years ago out of the way. Why the hell did they change the name and character of Nigel McGuinness? He had so much hype coming from ROH and they just KILLED it by doing this. Doing this seemed like such WCW/WWF level bullshit. Its not worth going into but even Nigel (I know its not his real name but he's used it everywhere else in wrestling) says in a promo/vignette something like, ' I'm going by the name of Desmond Wolfe at the moment ' when introducing himself. He or whoever wrote the segment knew there was still cross over between ROH and TNA and they should acknowledge that this guy was someone else somewhere else. That is convoluted to write but its because it is a convoluted idea! All I can hope is Nigel didn't want to tarnish the character and his legacy by jobbing in TNA. And I can support that with hindsight on my side because he was a mid card jobber to the stars in the promotion. They tried to do the British team thing again but I had fucking tuned out of TNA a little after seeing what they did to my boy! :(Spoiler alert!!! The writing above should give you an idea on the outcome of this match. It is a great match. Its Kurt big-match-by-numbers but Nigel...I mean Desmond is masterful. To use a line from The Dark Night Returns, this isn't a wrestling ring. Its an operating table and Desmond Wolfe is the surgeon. Samoa Joe vs Daniels vs AJ Styles (Turning Point, November '09, 3 way, TNA 2009 Best Bout): Best Bout? You better believe it! This was a classic work rate match showing their 2005 classic was no fluke. This is in the Top 10 Best TNA matches that I've seen. I remember the build up to this and it was great to see Christopher Daniels as "himself" instead of Curry Man. I missed his early years in TNA and had only heard of these three's 5 star match. I was really jazzed up about this but I never bought TNA shows since I was worried about cheap finishes. So its fantastic to finally see this and know that it lived up to the hype. That said, I don't know how it would stack up against a ROH three way match in 2009 but would still put it at the ****1/2 level.

Saw this pop up earlier this year and wanted to wait to share my blog post from January. Adding it here for folks doing research etc. 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.

Here's 1991 01/06/91: Miss A vs. Itsuki Yamazaki A great bout pitting veteran technician vs the young powerhouse. I think they told that story wonderfully. Yamazaki's leg work on A/Dynamite was masterful. A eventually found the opening she needed to mount a meaningful offense. It wasn't as precise and thoughtful as Yamazaki's though. It was good nonetheless and Yamazaki continued to target As knee when she could as well as go for quick pinning maneuvers. The finish wasn't as strong as I would have liked but it's part of a tournament so its OK. It doesn't hurt the match which was pretty great. 01/07/91: Eagle Sawai vs. Shinobu Kandori Simple but effective match with Eagle's power vs Kandori's technique... until shit breaks down and Kandori is throwing chairs in the ring. Really spirited good stuff 01/08/91: Harley Saito vs. Devil Masami Wonderful little match as Devil mauls Harley for the majority of the match (to the delight of the few Americans in the audience chanting and cheering the whole time). Harley will not quit and as a result you really start to get behind her (every though its fun watching Devil on offense). 01/13/91: Miss A vs. Eagle Sawai Greatest whip into the steel barricades ever. Eagle kinda forgets wrestling physics and full speed runs/whips Miss A into the railing and it flies! It never recovers and each subsequent whip knocks it further apart. This was a great WAR-style battle. I loved it! The 3 count is suspect but that happens in JWP as they kind of just keep going which is reasonable. This was a 2 count but screw it, this wasn't about the finish it was about the violence! 02/11/91 Miss A vs. Harley Saito I should say this is UWA final and the preceding singles matches were tournament matches. This was good. Miss A showed moments of brutality with her strikes. Harley showed moments of technical prowess but there was not enough of either to make this a great final. I would have liked more parity to be frank. It felt like many other JWP matches where sometimes the actual match is negated by a quick count or perhaps a great pinning maneuver at the end. If Harley's character is that a technicians and perhaps an underdog, I understand this match. But I don't know how much of an underdog she is as shown in her great match with Shinobu Kandori in 1990 where she takes the #2 of the company to the limit. But that underdog story is what we got and it's just not that compelling. But what hurt this for me were the "submission" attempts by Miss A. The Scorpion deathlock was good but the sleeper segment and the figure 4 were boring to me. I'm so tired of seeing meaningless figure 4's. I think I liked every match before this. This was good but not great and the final should either be a great work rate match, a great story match or both. I like them as teammates more than opponents. Miss A/Harley vs Rumi/Ozaki 04/23/91 Very good tag match. Oddly A & Harley were sorta the heels here by dominating most of the match. Harley was especially stiff to the point where I really did feel bad for Ozaki & Rumi. This really picked up in the final third as they were doing all kinds of neat suplexes, double teams and saves. I don't recall anyone touting this but so glad I checked it out. 04/26: Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito What an awesome intense battle! Everyone was in top form and there was so much hate from bell to bell. If the UWA finals helped push Harley and Miss A then this bout helped Ozaki. Near classic Joshi tag match, rough around the edges in the best ways and highly recommended for sure. Devil/Rumi vs Miss A/Yamazaki 04/26/91 Oh man tough act to follow but this was also pretty damn great! It had an awesome start but dip in the middle with some legwork but then picked back up for a great final segment. I shouldn't poo-poo the legwork part as it was acceptable and a means to control Devil and they never just laid there. Rumi did a very good job breaking stuff up as best she could. Yamazaki was excellent as usual and hope I get to see more of her in part #2. Yeah go see this one as well. Both 04/26 tags are worth your time if you're into old school Joshi. Harley Saito vs. Rumi Kazama (05/12): Wow! I was impressed with what they were able to do in an under 10 minute match! Lots of stiff looking kicks, good bits of mat wrestling sprinkled in and a nice finishing segment. The early portion looked like Rumi stiffed Harley and Harley was looking for pay back. Good to very good match. Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami & Miss A (5/12/91) Oh man you can't go wrong with these teams in '91. Much of what makes this great is Ozaki vs Devil. She is so much smaller than the veteran Masami but has tons of fight (and hate). Eagle is the big sister bailing Oz out and Kansai/Miss A is the serious partner looking to play a good teammate. Lots of great moves throughout some are even teases but that's what makes JWP so organic and great at this time. I rarely get a feel that spots are planned and the victories feel genuine. That's pretty special in my book. Mayumi Ozaki vs. Devil Masami (06/16/1991) A really good match with Devil having some fun with the smaller Ozaki. Oz is quick and takes short cuts so Devil would only go so far until she really punished her opponent. Its a simple match but two joshi greats in the same ring always produce something worthwhile. I viewed this before the above match and it actually makes more sense to do so. Itsuki Yamazaki & Rumi Kazama vs. Miss A & Harley Saito (06/30/91) Intense fucking battle. Miss A/Dynamite Kansai is actually the least stiff of all the wrestlers. Unfortunately the version I saw has a section missing (perhaps this is the official version) but what's shown is pretty sweet. Itsuki Yamazaki is awesome in this. If shown in full this would be great. Dynamite Kansai & The Scorpion vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (08/04/91) First "Dynamite Kansai" match that I've seen. Her gear is different and she's somehow even more of a badass. This is a very good match and you want to watch it for Dynamite just blasting Harley. It seems very clear that she has pulled ahead since their meeting 02/11/91 meeting and as tag partners. This Dynamite Kansai is even handing Kandori her ass. Harley Saito & Itsuki Yamazaki vs Dynamite Kansai & Scorpion (08/08/91) I may have spoke too soon about Harley. She wasn't scared of Kansai. Itsuki Yamazaki seems to get better as we go. Scorpion upped her game too. This was a ferocious match. The Yamazaki & Harley team was one I wish I could see more of but we're almost to the end. This was a great match...seek this one out! Devil Masami vs. Itsuki Yamazaki (08/30/91) This starts out with Yamazaki jumping Devil kinda like Hayabusa would do to Liger Super J Cup. Then it settles down into the normal flow of the match which is pretty solid as Devil injures Yamazaki's arm. The former Jumping Bomb Angel gets an opening and hurts Devil's leg or ankle specifically. I don't know if this is legitimate as Devil sold it very well then too much if you know what I mean. Yamazaki didn't really have a great plan of attack other than a figure 4 and some weak stomps and kicks. It really seemed like she took a bad bump from the apron or to the floor on earlier the comeback spot. She may have twisted it and the remainder of the match was on the fly. I've rolled or bruised my ankle tons of times skateboarding. It's not a serious injury once you can get off your feet and ice but at the time walking normally isn't happening. Standing isn't too bad though. I think once Devil was able to get standing she was able to power bomb again and things picked up for the final few minutes. Good match but it's really something that could/should have been much better as these two are consistently the best workers. I can't end things like this though so one more... Harley Saito & Itsuki Yamazaki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Dynamite Kansai & Eagle Sawai & Reiko Hoshino (12/07/91) I think this a very good to great six woman tag in Korakuen hall. Lots of energy and action with the styles and sizes of the wrestlers meshing well. I think it's also a fitting end as this is pretty much the end of the original JWP promotion. Saito & Sawai leave with Kandori to form LLPW. Reiko Hoshino who (as The Scorpion) lost a well received wager match vs Cuty Suzuki is gone after this (and perhaps wrestling in general?), Yamazaki retires and Kansai & Fukuoka go on in the restarted JWP that 90's Joshi fans know. All that aside, this is a fun match and the ending I was looking for

Gonna start putting some of reviews also on/in The Microscope section of the forums. Probably should have been doing that for awhile as it seems it gets more views than the blog section. Not going to add any of my ramblings, intros, summaries, etc. there...just straight match reviews. Also will probably just post longer projects there like AJPW 80's, this GAEA stuff once completed as well as some older ones like Tiger Mask. I am not looking to start any new threads but probably will tack on to pre-existing ones that have been dormant. I don't want to post a giant ass list in the middle of someone else's ongoing work. But if no threads exist, I might as well start one once I'm done with a project. We'll see

I reviewed 90-91 JWP on my blog earlier this year. Thought I had posted my reviews here a few months ago but guess not. Thought it be good to have some of my bigger projects here in the Microscope section as well since there are some pre-existing topics that match up. Plus the forums tend to get more looks than the blog section. 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.

We're FINALLY on to 1999 which has some of the best matches in the company's history according to many fans. I've got access to all of those but there are a couple others that are right out of that top tier that I can't seem to locate. Therefore I'm going to do my best to find some reasonable replacements. It's been so long since I made my watch list that I'm not sure which these are though Also I'm at my busy season with work so I'm going to break it up into two parts. Lioness Asuka & Mayumi Ozaki vs. KAORU & Meiko Satomura (02/11/99): Oh man what a welcome back to GAEA! This was an awesome 15 minute tag match...never a dull moment. It's so badass that Lioness is working here now. Her & Ozaki make a really great heel team. KAORU was impressive offensively and Satomura is as tough as ever. Sonoko Kato even gets in the mix a little bit here. I definitely could rate this higher but I'll be conservative and just say this was a great match! Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki (04/04/99): Classic GAEA tag match right here. So brutal... Aja & Oz weren't pulling their shots. Kato & Meiko were in the fight of their lives. And keeping that glimmer of hope throughout the match was really what made this brilliant. For a time, it looked like Aja could beat both of the GAEA girls on her own. Red & blue were just so damn tough! I got to also say some of the moves/sequences were really interesting/surprising which is always a boon. Don't wanna say more. If you're interested in GAEA or are fans of the parties involved, go watch it! Lioness Asuka vs Chigusa Nagayo (04/04/99): Holy crap this was a crazy hardcore match. It mainly became spots as it went on but it had a really good beginning with stiff kicks and actual wrestling stuff. Asuka is a badass heel at this point in her career uses tables, chairs etc to punish her opponents. Chigusa doesn't need those things but she's not afraid of them either. So we get some blood and some nutso spots... or at least are nutso because they involved those indestructible Japanese tables. A couple of the set ups are a little obvious and that is a complaint but I'm only thinking of two in particular. These are greatly overshadowed by a really enjoyable and punishing fight. Remember the Crush Gals were wrestling classic matches in the mid 80's and 15 or so years later they are having a ECW/FMW style bout...that's like an alternate history British Bulldogs doing this in '99 WCW (That would have been great and in the same way so was this!). Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima (07/18/99): Kong and Oz were extremely giving here. Sato and Nagashima are very good wrestlers but are of the mid card variety in my opinion. They are not polished enough to be in this match as believable threats. They are doing some Rey Misterio Jr. shit but not as flawless as him. That said this is a really good work rate match and some of spots are pretty darn cool (99 is the year for cool spots across Japan and the U.S.). I just don't agree with the finish for a variety of reasons. The first being the aforementioned but also this didn't really tell that good of a story to justify the conclusion. But it is exciting from an athletic standpoint so there's that to like about it... and Ozaki and Kong are solid as ever. So you might really enjoy this one more than me Akira Hokuto & Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura (08/15/99): I'm watching this thinking, "OK this is a pretty good match..not great but pretty good." Then the last few minutes really elevated this to a great match (especially if you watched the 04/04 tag)...yeah the Kong/Satomura feud is palpable. If you're an Aja Kong fan, you've got to watch this! Also if you've mainly seen AJW 90's stuff (and liked it), this is a excellent place to dip your toe in with GAEA. It's essentially a continuation of what they were doing there Glad to be back watching GAEA! A big goal of mine for 2023 was to get back to Joshi. I think I did accomplish that and am glad that I'm ending the year how it began, watching women's pro wrestling. I'll be back next week with part #2 of 1999. Thanks for reading! Also a shout out to anyone else who is working retail, customer service, in a warehouse pulling and packing orders, anyone working at USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc. etc. We're going to get through the bullshit soon enough!

I thought this was a very good to maybe great match. I don't get the all time classic match vibes from this at all though. It lacked structure or narrative...I get that this was some homage to shoot style but I actually would have preferred if there were more standing strikes to be honest. Where I think this dropped the ball was not playing up Ki's striking abilities vs Dragon's mat skills. Sure they can do both but Danielson was very much a grappler (more than he would even be a few years later) and Ki's was known for his 'maybe too stiff at times' kicks. So you could have Dragon wanting to go the mat whereas Ki wants to stay on his feet until it's time to slap on a hold. Maybe there's shades of that but they don't sell it to the crowd (And they don't really sell anything else either). I really feel this comes from Low Ki's stubbornness as a worker. He wants to be the best at everything (at least at this point in his career). It's why he's super stiff but does submissions but also does cartwheels but also does a Phoenix Splash & double stomp but also does a fisherman driver etc. Dragon Danielson is pretty much doing this kind of singles match at this time...and Low Ki seems to be like 'Yeah I can do that too.' So he just does grinding holds too. And that could actually be the angle... Ki thinks he can do Dragon's thing but Dragon punishes him on the mat for trying. And the finish can be the same if Ki's face or heel too. But that's the real issue here...there's no storytelling here even if its two faces engaged in a technical duel. It just doesn't tell any story. And although the show is called Smarts Only there's actually a good percentage of "regular" fans. In fact we can see a group of a few boys in the front row most of the match along with a bunch of people half heartedly paying attention (you can hear the kids getting frustrated with them being on the mat). There's some smart marks like you & me cheering, clapping or never looking away like they're watching Misawa vs Kawada at Budokan (even some of the smarks' interest wanes). But this ain't Budokan...it is some crappy bingo hall type place. Plenty of negative criticism now some positives. I like it because I like mat wrestling and it does have a competitive/non-cooperative spirit that I dig. The ending of the match starting with the outside spot, the suplexes, etc is what all of the match should have been. I think that was them realizing they were losing the crowd. The esoteric mat stuff is cool at the opening but is directionless in the middle. I am really glad that they shifted gears to get a relatively exciting finish (even though sorta out of thin air). Sort of not a lot of positives but non cooperative mat wrestling goes long enough way for me despite the problems I had with it.

I thought I would give myself some time and wait til after Thanksgiving to post this. So here we are at the end of 1985, we've got a bunch of tag matches. Let's get going! Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith v. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Norio Honaga (12/04/85): Good match but not really anything special here. I'm sure you can guess the outcome. If this is on a . compilation for the Bulldogs then, its enjoyable enough. Jumbo Tsuruta v. Curt Hennig (12/04/85): Good match but boy was the crowd dead for this match. Oof! Jumbo and Curt did a nice clean match with some good action. I know no one thought Curt would win but man this was a lot better than their silence would indicate. This is one instance where the "quiet Japanese crowd" stereotype is true. Anyhow watched this after Smackdown on Friday. One thing is that I liked this simple match better than anything on there. One part is that everything was really snug and well executed. The other part is everything on Smackdown is so bright and obnoxious... tons of fucking colors, camera angle changes and absolute move overkill. One thing I'll give those wrestlers is they have a lot of athleticism. There's very little break in the action (it's a TV show after all) and they are in great shape. It's just worlds away from this stuff... but I guess that's what almost 40 years will do. Riki Choshu vs Nick Bockwinkel (12/04/85 aired 12/28): joined in progress. Pretty good match here with some good wrestling filling out the majority of the match. The final few minutes are Riki's high impact offense style. Nothing earth shattering but a good showing from both guys. I felt Bock is actually what made this worthwhile so if you're a fan of his then maybe give yourself 10 minutes and check this out. Shoehi Baba/Dory Jr. v. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase (12/04/85): Quiet crowd but they pop during this match at least This bout is great though because it is well paced. It is simple yet well executed and well Hansen beats on Dory Jr. like he owes him money. Holy cow, I can't believe he didn't induce a heart attack with those clubbing blows to the chest! One of the main reasons that I bought this DVD set was for the abundance of Hansen/DiBiase tag matches and they do not disappoint. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase v. Nick Bockwinkle/Curt Hennig (12/07/85): Not a long match but a very fun one! I hesitate to say that its anything else because there was a possibility for Bockwinkel to be more involved especially with Stan Hansen. I could tell from the pacing (more Hansen's pace) that it was not going to be some sort of lost classic. That said this might be the best showing from Hennig. He really cuts loose during the closing couple of minutes. The fans were super excited. His athletics were comparable to Misawa Tiger Mask. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith (12/07/85): Two big teams that have been on parallel courses throughout 1985 finally meet. And it's a blast! The Bulldogs are treated like equals and as a result we get a very good match where we see a lot of good stuff from both sides. I don't think it is meant to be more than a "what if?" main event draw so there's not a ton of substance. Still, it absolutely accomplished it's goal. This is kinda like the inverse of most/all Road Warriors matches...no one is their equal, they do a bunch of stuff regardless of their opponents' ranking/standing and many of the bouts are disappointing Harley Race/Jesse Barr v. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith (12/12/85): I wasn't expecting much from this match but I loved it! It told such a great little story with a one match rivalry. Kid tries to bully Harley at the get go but Race does one of the most seamless moves on Kid...like a fucking old lion who can be quick when it counts. From there Barr, who is big dude just not ultra jacked is showing of his power. Davey Boy is like hold my beer. Meanwhile you know Harley and Dynamite want to do the diving headbutts off the top etc. It's a damn shame this wasn't a program but this was great! Perhaps the best Race match of '85 because he's basically Tenryu in the 2000's ... he doesn't have to be the best athlete, he just has to provide the heat & story of the match: younger guys try to upstage him and he just needs to be surly & hit hard while the younger guys do the moves. So you're getting the best of both worlds. This is a neat little match. Really does remind me of those early 2000's NOAH under card matches or B-show main events that mixed vets with younger guys to great results. ----- Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (12/12/85): Holy cow! I wasn't expecting this to be as great as it was. But frankly it was a classic. The in-ring work was amazing. They didn't do the craziest moves of course but used what they had to take us through peaks and valleys. I think it's an excellent example of pacing and layout being more important than dazzling attacks. But don't get me wrong the offense is here as everyone takes some big bumps and in later AJPW fashion dusts some classic moves off the shelf to get the win. On top of that we have the stories of Dory being Jumbo and Tenryu's teacher, Baba being Jumbo's old partner and mentor, and the beginning (?) of something that becomes one of the best things going later in the decade Baba vs Tenryu. I wasn't expecting them to have that here but oh no...it's here and maybe starts here as by the end Baba & Tenryu are really going after each other. I don't recall seeing this in earlier matches. Anyhow, this felt like a quintessential AJPW tag match...maybe I'm crazy but if you like these guys it's at the very least a "great" match...but in my book it's a classic. Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (Real World Tag League Finals) (12/12/85 aired 12/14): jip by 14 minutes (I believe... so this is only a review of this point forward...I do believe the full match is available). This is really great stuff from the most aggressive teams in the company. I think this was a pretty bold choice for the final match but absolutely shows the confidence Baba had in his booking. It puts Riki & Yatsu (more importantly) as the native team to beat for 1986. It cements Ted DiBiase as Stan's #1 partner for the mid/late 80's (he was teaming with Ron Bass earlier in year which we didn't see any of here). What it also does is make sure there's more matches for 1986. We never get a blow off for the Riki vs Jumbo & Tenryu stuff. We don't really know if Stan & Ted can be beaten. I was close to calling this a classic because there were some absolutely great moments in this match but I only saw half. But I'm betting the first half of the bout was quality so I'm comfortable giving this a "great " rating. 12/12/85 was a great night for tag wrestling. ----- Rick Martel v. Stan Hansen (AWA Title, 12/29/85 in Meadowlands NJ): Technically an AWA match but glad to have this on DVD. Very good to great match here. What makes it special is the psychology of Hansen staying on Martel's back, Rick's selling, and Rick's attack on Hansen's arm. Honestly I'm pretty sure its one of the most psychologically strong matches of the year (not sure that's the right way to phrase that but you get what I'm saying). Only thing keeping it from a shoe-in great match is the finish. I don't 100% get what they were going for... or I think I get it but visually didn't do it for me. No way is it a match spoiler...and in fact plays off the story of the match. Maybe its one of those things that announcers would make sense of it. Watch it for yourself and see what you think! Couple the outcome this match along with Hansen & Ted being the points victors of the tag league and Stan is definitely the Man going into 1986. In summary, 1985 AJPW was excellent. It's an awesome year for tag wrestling without a doubt.I usually do a tl;dr list of my favorite matches of a long project like this. I'm going to skip that now since we're close to my end of the year Best Matches Watched list. So you're going to have to read or wait in the meantime. It's also a weird year as the first part of the year feels like an alternate history AJPW. I mean you've a sizable chunk of NJPW & British Bulldogs there. And are pushed right away. Bruiser Brody doesn't make the tapes (and then is in NJ), Hansen is working mid card and we don't see a Funk brother until late summer. Then the last 4 months, things look more like AJPW (but we (I) miss the lower ranking guys from the Riki vs Jumbo feud). As a result things don't get stale. Historically 1985 All Japan hasn't gotten much more than middle-of-the-road hype. 8 out of the 10 '85 matches on the DVDVR Best of the 80's are in the middle of the list. The top match of the year is only #23 and the 2nd best match of '85 per their list is #37 for instance. And I don't recall anything from AJPW '85 making those old Best of the 80's lists (I think AJW/Crush Gals and NJPW did). So you can't blame a guy for skipping this. But I'm really glad that I finally listened to myself and took a chance on this year. And I did take a monetary chance buying this DVD set... like this could have been lame with only 10 matches being worth my time out of 7 discs (and not a single Choshu match remember!). But honestly, damn near everything felt worthwhile and there were plenty of great matches and a few classics that I feel confident considering "lost." It did help that the "missing" Choshu matches could be easily found the 'tube. Even had I went straight off my DVDs, 1985 genuinely feels like the first year in a new era of AJPW. I highly recommend checking some of this out...especially if you've never really dug the slower 70's/early 80's style. Thanks for reading folks!

Everything seemed right here. A precursor to the 01/28/86 match perhaps? More proof that Yoshiaki Yatsu is under rated for his AJPW work...excellent evidence for the Jumbo/Tenryu tag chemistry greatness, Riki Choshu is THE MAN for a hot tag-in. Yeah classic match in my book.

Great all action match that would be quality stuff in 1995, 2005 etc. I got serious 1988-92 AJPW all Asia tag title match vibes here. If you dig those Can Am/Footloose, Kobashi era matches, check this out this one. Again, 1985 Misawa doesn't get a lot of talk but as Tiger Mask he was pretty awesome. He's settled down from trying to do an homage to Sayama Tiger and really wrestles like you'd expect a young Mitsuharu Misawa to wrestle

Here we are just a couple days past due but, finally November 1985 is ready to go. A couple of the matches were longer this week and therefore made my list a little slower to get through. It was worth it as you'll see. Let's dive in! Riki Choshu vs Jumbo Tsuruta (11/04 aired 11/09) Long time limit draw match...in my younger days I would have watched this. Anymore, I just don't want to devote this much time to one match especially knowing that it's a draw. But I did jump around (as does the TV episode...it actually jumps to the 23 minute mark after the first commercial break). I watched the last 10 minutes all the way through and this looked pretty great. So from what I saw here and the other bits I'd have to say this is pretty good to great stuff. I hesitate to go higher of course but it does have the potential to rate even higher. This just so physical throughout and a real testament to the high level of skill it takes to do do these long matches... not just the physical endurance but the presence of mind to tell a story. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase v. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith (11/23/85): The Bulldogs' muscles are nearly bursting out of their skin...holy cow boys...it's difficult to see how hard they were hitting the juice especially given the results down the road. That's all in the past now... so let's talk about the match. And what a match this was! Fast paced, all action wrestling right here. Hansen and Ted wrestle a Bulldogs match...and don't steam roll 'em either. It ends sooner than we'd all like but damn this was great. DiBiase was especially good with the lads. But Hansen going beast mode on Dynamite is noteworthy as well. Definitely put this on your watch-list Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Nick Bockwinkle/Curt Hennig (11/23/85): Fuck yes, mid 80's AWA Curt Hennig. Bockwinkel back in AJPW... and versus Jumbo & Tenryu. This was great stuff for sure. All the little touches from Bock made this really special in my eyes. Things got a little loose at the finish but its an early Real World Tag match so really no gripes. This delivers. Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr. v. Harley Race/Jesse Barr (11/27/85): Long match but a really good one. This was probably more paced & worked like it was 1975 at times but, after a few minutes I was digging it. You just have to get in that head space. Once you're there then, there's a lot to like here - Dory hitting hard, Baba doing big moves taking big bumps, Harley giving it his all and Jesse Barr does not look out of place either. It has been a minute since the last Baba match but this was a fine one to come back to. Now that's a fucking fancy ring jacket! The Bob Newhart of pro wrestling is going to kick some ass. ----- Tiger Mask v. Dynamite Kid (11/27/85): I started out watching this and comparing it to Sayama Tiger vs Dynamite based off the first little bit. It was not a fair or warranted comparison so, I waited an hour or so and started this again. I was glad that I did. This is very much young Misawa vs Dynamite Kid. And it's a really good match! And in fact its a near great match. Unfortunately this ended just as things were really starting to cook. In fact, I think this had the potential to be better overall than many of the original TM vs DK (and I'm not a hater, go back and read my Tiger Mask blogs from a couple years ago). I just think Dynamite was a little smarter now, Misawa has a different style, etc. My guess is this was perhaps the beginning of a program between the two and it was in the middle of the RWTL so Baba didn't want to risk their injury (but you wouldn't know that from this!). Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Rusher Kimura/Goro Tsurumi (11/27/85): Good match with a really good final third. I'm going to put some little spoilers in here so you check it out.. at least skim through it... because they do a top rope back drop (back suplex is what I think its called in the States) and Tenryu finishes things up with a power bomb (it's not super smooth like we come to see but shit doesn't it look like it hurts... aka head bouncing off the mat potential). Anyhow both moves are super high end for '85. ----- Stan Hansen v. Ashura Hara (11/27/85): Shorter than I would have liked but hot damn! this is good shit. They are just beating the crap out of each other. They are laying in all of their shots. It's hard to tell but I think Hansen's eye is closing up on the way back to the locker room. If you're like me and disappointed from their match in the 70's from Hansen's AJPW Classics special (which many folks probably own or have seen) then THIS is the Ashura Hara vs Stan Hansen bout you were hoping for. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase v. Harley Race/Jesse Barr (11/30/85): Fast paced and surprisingly move heavy. We open up with Race & Hansen potato-ing each other in the best way. Then DiBiase & Barr are young and want to show the crowd what they can do. Stan and Harley get in on the action and we get a really, really good match. Had the thing gone on longer, I think it would have been a great one. Jesse Barr is Art Barr's older brother and Jimmy Jack Funk in the WWF...Terry and Dory Jr.'s kayfabe brother btw. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith v. Tiger Mask/Mighty Inoue (11/30/85): Great all action match that would be quality stuff in 1995, 2005 etc. I got serious 1988-92 AJPW all Asia tag title match vibes here. If you dig those Can Am/Footloose, Kobashi era matches, check this out this one. Again, 1985 Misawa doesn't get a lot of talk but as Tiger Mask he was pretty awesome. He's settled down from trying to do an homage to Sayama Tiger and really wrestles like you'd expect a young Mitsuharu Misawa to wrestle ----- Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (11/30): This is from the 1985 TV episode and is joined in progress by like a minute. That makes no difference really. This is an amazing RWTL match...I was totally geeking out by the end! Maybe it's that we haven't seen a Riki & co. tag vs Jumbo & Tenryu in awhile but this near, if not at, the top of the list. Everything seemed right here. A precursor to the 01/28/86 match perhaps? More proof that Yoshiaki Yatsu is under rated for his AJPW work...excellent evidence for the Jumbo/Tenryu tag chemistry greatness, Riki Choshu is THE MAN for a hot tag-in. Yeah classic match in my book. An excellent week of wrestling. It did make me miss guys from earlier in 1985 that we haven't seen in awhile like: Animal Hamaguchi, Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takashi Ishikawa most notably. So we're almost done with 1985 All Japan. There's just one more post (Dec. '85) and then I'm thinking of using the rest of the year to tie up some loose blog ends...GAEA '99, a couple high end matches I skipped over earlier in the year, etc. Thank you very much for reading!

And we're back with AJPW 1985. We're looking at October. Riki Choshu vs Ashura Hara (10/04 aired 10/12): I noticed I had no Riki Choshu this post. The booking has separated Riki/partner from Jumbo & Tenryu for a little bit. Presumably to build to another encounter for RWTL drama. Anyway this was blazing right out of the gate. Full speed ahead ass kicking. Unfortunately it didn't get too far in before a DQ was called but Damn! this was a blast while it lasted. Dory and Terry Funk v. Road Warriors (10/19/85): Not to be a bummer but, looking at these guys in 1985, it's a shock Dory Jr. is the only one still alive. Not the two muscle bound giants or the crazy bearded brawler but the guy who looks like an old Charlie Brown. I don't consider Road Warriors matches more than novelty outings at this point. ------ Ric Flair v. Jumbo Tsuruta (Non-Title, 10/19/85): These two always have a great encounter and this was no different. Technical and hard hitting so I can't complain. Seeing as this is a non title fight it added a bit of drama (that we don't get in hindsight with big title matches). ----- Shoehi Baba/Takashi Ishikawa/Mighty Inoue v. Ashura Hara/Rusher Kimura/Goro Tsurumi (10/21/85): A really fun match. Although Baba is regularly an excellent 6-manner, it was best when he was out. Ishikawa & Inoue had a really fast paced match going on with the heel team. Kabuki v. Killer Khan (10/21/85): Good brawl but over before it had a chance to be better. Ref saw Kabuki spit the mist in Khan's eyes. Dory and Terry Funk/Tiger Mask v. Billy Robinson/Terry Gordy/Chavo Guerrero (10/21/85): This is a fun match and something you'd dream up for a video game or fantasy booking. I've seen it a few times so I won't review it here. One of the more memorable times was watching this the night before my last day at work before getting laid off. I remember getting drunk that night and after I ran out of beer, I started drinking gin & Gatorade. Threw up. Big surprise! Was super hung over and late to work the next day... what were they going to do? Fire me? Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Road Warriors (10/21/85): Probably the best Warriors match thus far. Not a novelty as this was pretty damn good! They actually sold and wanted to do good wrestling with Tenryu and Jumbo. This was a heavyweight fireworks match for '85. If I'm going to recommend a RW in AJPW '85, it's this one. Holy Shit an actual wrestling hold from Animal! ----- Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (NWA Title v. AWA Title, 10/21/85): Fuck yes! This was awesome! This is the match that I was hoping it would be. The pacing and flow were perfect and I felt like I could have watched this go on all evening. Excellent teases, near falls (even though you probably know the outcome)/..but you really don't know how they are going to get there 38 years later. Classic match for me. Dory and Terry Funk v. Terry Gordy/Art Crews (10/22/85): Good little match here. Art Crews was a good hand it would seem. Everything he did looked crisp but without trying to upstage the stars. Don't think I'll see him again in '85 but this match is a good example of some of non-stars working AJPW at the time. Mil Mascaras v. Norio Honaga (10/22/85): Quick fun match. Cool to see Mascaras. This was a nice exhibition showing. He did a bunch of cool holds and although Honaga never had a chance, he got a 2 count Ric Flair/Rick Martel v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (10/22/85): Dream match? Yeah absolutely... no idea this happened but glad it did! And its a great one. It's a terrific match for a Sunday night. Four hall of fame wrestlers in AJPW 1985...it's hard to go wrong here. ----- This was an excellent week of wrestling. Lotsa Rick Martel and I even skipped one, Martel vs Riki Choshu from 10/19/85. It's out there on the Roy 1985 tapes, take a look. We're going onto November '85. Thanks for reading!

Took a trip down memory lane listening to a Solesides crew compilation CD that I made back in '09. Got the Lyrics Born song 'Just Raw' on it which features a Big Boss Man reference so I had to post it here even though I'm a bit late: ... Lyrically y'all don't compare to me in any contest Like a stealth bomber up against a Hyundai Accent Tall-can to a shot glass Bong-hit to a contact Gary Coleman versus Big Boss Man The Loch Ness Monster up against a crawdad Talking Sly Stallone in Rocky versus Sly Stallone in Copland... Love the visual of Gary Coleman in a match vs Boss Man

I'm taking a week break from 1985 AJPW to celebrate Halloween by watching some spooky wrestling. I'm going to look at some stuff you might have missed in TNA and Japan because that's more my jam. But there's plenty of Halloween/horror wrestling in lucha libre and lord knows there's always a spooky character in the WWE/F Raven vs Vampiro (TNA PPV #68 2003): This was fun but maybe for the wrong reasons. The execution of moves was pretty lazy. Like only of handful of things beyond the dog collar parts looked cool. TNA was pretty Indie still but man this felt like they were doing a VFW/church rec room match. The visuals were awesome though. I think that's what Raven really cared about here. His get-up, Vampiro's, the hanging from the collars, the blood, the two collars on either end of the ring attached to Vampiro's neck...that's probably why you should watch it. That and Raven really looked like he was choking Vampiro out. Great Muta vs Great Muta (AJPW 12/05/04): The fake Muta is Johnny Stamboli and he would take the character and make it his own as Rellik in TNA. Muto has a crazy fucking dragon-demon looking mask on...absolutely worthy of being this Halloween post for that alone. Absolutely freaky! He even tries to scare little kids and chicks with it ...like a guy working a haunted house This was 11 minutes long but frankly was kind of boring since Muto was on offense. Stamboli Muta seemed more interesting to me. But hey these are novelty matches for Halloween so it's all good. Abyss vs Black Reign (TNA Genesis 2007): This was Dustin Rhodes/Runnels/Gold Dust as Black Reign. Anyway, this was a really fun garbage match. Abyss matches usually deliver and this was no different. They are kinda the same but if you space them out, they are just mindless fun. With this match, Dustin was really good with the fundamentals. His punches looked good, he sold things and beyond that took a really crazy bump. Small world- Rellik/Stamboli makes his debut post match. If you're looking for more Halloween wrestling, I suggest you look up Leather face, Jason the Terrible in W*ING and IWA Japan. Leather Face is in FMW as well. They have matches against Freddy Crugar/Krueger, Boogey Man (Michael Myers mask guy) and others Here's a a good one from the review graveyard: Shoji Nakamaki, Crash the Terminator, Fukumen Taro, Masayoshi Motegi & Nobutaka Araya vs Freddy Krueger, Jado, Gedo, Invader II & Invader III (W*ING Hollywood Nightmare 08/25/93, Captain's Fall Barbed Wire Bat Bunkhouse Deathmatch):First and foremost, watch Victor Quinones' promo for the heel team. Absolute gold ! On to the match: This is all out chaos and I loved it! 4 out of 10 people have masks, 6 out of 10 people are wearing red, Nakamaki isn't wearing jeans and a tee shirt, Crash legit looks like he could win the thing since *ahem* Freddie fucking Krueger is the heel team captain.All kinds of wackiness but, its the good early 90s Indy puro kind you want in this match. There's wrestling in the ring, brawling around the ring, Freddie in the stands chasing fans, Nakamaki laying somewhere in Korakuen bleeding...All the fans chanting his name despite being only visible to 5-10 of them due to the aforementioned bleeding, Indy juniors trying to shine, Crash no selling like a Road Warrior, a guardrail, seats popping off chairs, more Nakamaki chants...This is W*ING in the best way! Happy Halloween!!