Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

G. Badger

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1186

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by G. Badger

  1. G. Badger
    I'm back with the second and final installment of the Samoa Joe - World Champion DVD released by ROH in 2004. Let's pick back up where we left off.
    vs Christopher Daniels (Glory by Honor II - September 2003): A fighting champion for sure! Daniels used his speed & agility to take Joe to the limit. In a way Daniels maybe should have won because he showed tons of toughness withstanding Joe's awesome offense. If you've seen their TNA battles then you know Joe can really toss The Fallen Angel around. The one STO looked especially vicious! So yeah in a way Daniels was the physical underdog and even though he's the heel, you started rooting for him. Just a classic match...nice pacing, things made sense and was earned. I really appreciated the finish as well. These two would not be done with each other.
    vs Jay Briscoe (Tradition Continues - October 2003): Man there were some early 2000's frat bro marks in the audience this night. Christ Almighty dude, sit the fuck down. I hope that these dudes bought the tape back in '03  and saw what douche bags they were. But they probably were marking out for themselves. Anyhow, this was a pretty good match. Joe wasn't taking Jay seriously and Jay would mount a comeback then Joe would snuff him out. The reason those guys were such dicks is that Jay had no chance of beating the champ. Yet they were acting like he could and getting folks all worked up. It reminded me of PWG in the Reseda VFW. Just fans who think that they are part of the entertainment. It took away from a pretty enjoyable match. In all fairness this is in Maryland and I'm sure there's local fans from here & Delaware at the show. Pretty much like BJ why he was booked in a title fight.  It wasn't great as Jay didn't have much of a personality yet and looked bush league with the singlet and shorts gear but all things said, his offense looked better than BJ Whitmer's and he took some punishment thus making him a viable singles contender down the road. One near fall was pretty dumb and killed the prestige of a finisher in my opinion. It was far too generous to 2003 Jay.

    One more time?
    -----
    vs AJ Styles (War of the Wire - November 2003): Phenomenal world title match! Seriously though this is one I hadn't heard of but seeing it on paper I knew it had to be worthwhile. A classic match without a doubt. This is a twist on what Joe has been doing as AJ seems to an answer for many of Joe's attacks. Joe actually seems to have met his match and in turn takes a few short cuts (see the eye rake out of the Muta lock for instance). I'm not sure how it rates against some of their TNA matches but this is exactly what I wanted to see. If the Corino vs Homicide barb wire war wasn't right after this then I think they could have made this even better. But hey that's business. I loved that match too so no complaints. We get kind of a unique twist on the finish too...sort of a modified extra hurty version.

    -----
    vs Mark Briscoe (Final Battle - December 2003): Mark pinned the champ in a tag match before the above show so he gets a shot at the title. I liked the story of this much more than Jay's fight. It makes more sense in terms of a narrative. Jay was booked to capitalize on being in Maryland & get local fans. Admittedly Mark was booked as a somewhat mid level challenger for the AJPW visiting Final Battle. Joe, I believe still was a zero joke affiliated worker so he needed to be out of the cross promotional fights (Monika vs Joe in 2003 would have been sweet!). All that aside, no one thinks Mark is gonna win..maybe not even Mark. BUT I think he & Joe use that to tell an great underdog story. Additionally, Jay's presence at ringside is more meaningful as Joe is soft feuding with the Briscoes. I don't know, it's one of those the sums is greater than the whole of its parts matches. It was very good and a nice finish. Plus we get a Punk Joe confrontation to pave the way for 2004.

    -----
    Overall, this is a great DVD. A few classic (****1/2) matches vs perennial rivals, and some very good defenses as well (vs Williams, London & Mark being the best). I would have liked more shown of the highlighted tag matches (Night of Grudges 6 man & Briscoe Brothers vs Joe & AJ at The Conclusion). That's just a preference since they could have shown a highlighted version of the Whitmer match. I do not care for that at all. Anyhow, highly recommended DVD. Its on eBay but be patient and you should be able to get it for a reasonable price ($10-15).
  2. G. Badger
    This show was kind of a holy grail DVD for me. Well holy grail for a reasonable price. But it is actually rather uncommon to find compared to later ROH stuff. The big draw of this is the main event of AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson. It was the one major omission in the excellent ROH Year Two compilation.  This match completed the trinity of all time classics from AJ, Paul London and Danielson in 2003 - Epic Encounter, Night of the Grudges being the other two. And let me say it again, Paul London would have had more classics if he stuck around. Those two classic battles were not accidental.
    Anyhow, this is a Quickie so let's get going. I skipped stuff that I wasn't interested in or have watched once elsewhere and had no intention of watching again.
    Dan Maff vs Colt Cabana - Skipped
    Xavier & Nigel McGuinness vs John Walters & Tony Mamaluke - Very early Nigel appearance and I think he's the standout here. His work with The Purists was the real interesting stuff. Nothing against Xavier (R.I.P.) but his stuff was generic. This was a fun match though.

    -----
    Matt Stryker vs Justin Credible - Skipped
    Izzy & Dixie vs The Briscoe Brothers - Cornette is with Dem Boys (oh wait! too early for that). Special K matches usually gets skipped but this was actually rather good. Glad I gave it a shot.
    Homicide vs BJ Whitmer - I feel that whatever was good here was due to Homicide. A reliable source said this was a great match but I humbly disagree. It was OK. What SHOULD have been the finish would have kept this as a good match. But in the worst decision they went beyond that...in true nonsensical Indie fashion. Who made this decision?
    Scramble Cage Match - I'm not listing all of the teams. This is kinda infamous. Its Jack Evans' debut and Teddy Hart's last ROH match (ever?). I've seen it once. Its Indie in the worst way. What's notable is Jay Lethal as Hydro for Special K wrestles in this one too. If you haven't seen it, go check it out for the spectacle. 
    Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs Steve Corino vs CM Punk - Everyone has got a little bit of history here except Joe & Punk which is funny. Fast forward the obnoxiously long Corino intro and you've got a great match with 4 icons of ROH. Joe looked like the World Champ here.
    That match could have been the main event to an average ROH show for the time but we get one more...
    AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson - Topping their classic from All Star Extravaganza ('02), we get one of the most intense and competitively fought matches I've seen this year. You need to watch this match. It has been hyped since it took place so I'm not going to say anything that hasn't been said. All Time Classic ROH match. This is probably my Best Match Watched front runner right now. That said I probably won't choose it since it is something a lot of folks have been aware of for awhile.

    Overall a fun show with an all time classic. That really elevated the appeal to me when searching for this. Shit its the only reason I was searching for it. So the tag matches and the 4 way are gravy on top.
     
    Thanks for reading!
  3. G. Badger
    I got interested in the Atsushi Aoki & Kotaro Suzuki team from watching 2013 All Japan. Their bouts against Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka are some of the best this year. So I was curious what they were doing in NOAH a year before they jumped to AJPW. Let's take a look!
     
    Suzuki & Aoki vs Nakajima & Kajiwara - (NOAH 01/15/12) - Story here is Aoki is gunning for Nakajima's Jr. Title. Man do we get that. Aoki is like Kawada or KENTA by going after Nakajima every chance he gets. He even leaves his lesser opponent Kajiwara (new to me) in the ring in order to injure Nakajima's leg. Suzuki plays the supportive partner by keeping the attack on or defending. Aoki and Nakajima's work makes me want to watch their title fight. Very good match.
    vs Ricky Marvin & Super Crazy (03/18/12): This was fun with lots of cool moves but was excessive. And I'm not sure it told much of a story. I think if it was 15 minutes, you could get away with that and I'd say it was a great fireworks match. Just too many fireworks from start to finish with no build up or downtime. 
    vs Marvin & Sabre Jr - (NOAH 04/22/12) - Very good small show match. Slow or perhaps insignificant first part but then we get the pairings of Aoki vs ZSJ and Marvin & Suzuki and it gets cooking. 
    vs Marvin & Ishimori - (NOAH 04/29/12) - Basically the closing 5-7 minutes of a match presented as the whole thing. Sequence after sequence especially by Marvin & Ishimori. Kotaro gets annihilated! Pretty cool but not quite a full match as its more of a sprint. Fun though!
    Shiozaki, Suzuki & Aoki vs Otani, Hidaka & Hashimoto - (NOAH 05/09/12) - OMG, I loved this match. Korakuen hall 6 man tag magic here with every pairing offering something interesting or outright exciting. The big story is young Hashimoto being able to hang in there with Noah top dogs especially Shiozaki. Otani keeping Go in check was enjoyable as all hell since Shinjiro looks like someone's buff dad. I think what made this great beyond the actual talent was the pacing. It was around 20 minutes and built up steam little by little until at the end, the excitement was at a fever pitch. Never did they over do it or go down a road narrative wise only to abandon it. In fact the story finished what it began with twists and turns along the way. I think this was a classic 6 man tag.
    vs Naomichi Marufuji & Taiji Ishimori (05/13/12): Great match but not without its faults. The hyper pace is so untenable and renders so many cool moments forgettable. They never let anything sink in. And that can work if you have a shorter match of like 10-15 minutes but they went double that. It's too much. Still there were so many cool moments that I guess they accumulated into something special. 
    vs Marvin & Super Crazy - (07/22/12: THIS is the definitive version of this match-up! Under 20 minutes, all fireworks still but the slimmed down version of their March match. They wrestled it as Aoki vs Crazy in the first half and then Marvin vs Kotaro in the second. Of course there were double teams and break -ups but the legal guys really broke down like that. I respect their decision to do this. It made for a much better match. A fitting end and on a high note. Great fireworks match!.
    This mini project has been OK. It at least reaffirmed my lukewarm interest in later day NOAH. But there are some diamonds in the rough - shorter matches are better is a good rule though. There is a lot of what I don't like about contemporary wrestling here as well (and this was 10 years ago!). Aoki & Suzuki's work in 2013 AJPW is so much more substantive than many of the fireworks displays here. The 6 man match above was the highlight without a doubt though! That was a under the radar awesome match and very similar to the stuff I loved in AJ '13.
  4. G. Badger
    I very much wanted to call this post "The Champ is Here" but that is the title of Joe's second volume ROH DVD. Today we'll be looking at volume one which looks at Joe's  first defenses of the ROH World Championship after defeating Xavier. These are the matches that really put that title on the map and really establish the prestige of that position. You may forget that Low-Ki was the first champ and his climb to the top was greater than his time there. That's OK since Xavier was a project for Gabe S. but the fans really didn't want him even after a few shows. Here comes Samoa Joe who was both a badass like Ki and a project for Gabe. 
    vs Doug Williams (Retribution: Round Robin Challenge 2 – April 2003): Having just watched a bunch of Steven Regal, I'm thrilled to watch a version of Regal (so to speak) take on Samoa Joe. The first couple minutes could have been on Nitro. Things pick up into more familiar territory especially for the champ as his MMA styling shows through and we gets sort of a worked shoot-style thing (BattlARTS) with Williams going after the arm and Samoa Joe trying to hook in what he can given the position he's in (STF, Crab, Heel hook etc.) but it leads to the the Choke in the end. Quick match at a little over 10 minutes but certainly puts the finisher over as a match ender AND Joe as a fighting champ. This was hard hitting and very physical. A good way to set the tone for Joe as champ.

    -----
    vs Homicide (Do Or Die – May 2003): Intense violent title fight. The backstory is tied to Homicide vs Corino's Group. But really this is Joe vs Homicide. I haven't seen their other matches but I think this is the best of the bunch per some trusted sources. That's good because this is a classic... maybe a forgotten classic ROH World title match. 

    -----
    vs Dan Maff (WrestleRave - June 2003): Hard hitting no nonsense title fight with the two heavyweights of the company. It felt very much like a local independent promotion's TV main event on the cable sports channel at 10:00 on a Sunday. There's a story to tell as Maff pinned Joe at the previous show thus disbanding the ill-fated Group and well pinning the champ with a jack knife pin. However there's no real story telling here or even a call back to Maff using the jack knife pin. Its just two guys beating each other up. Good stuff nonetheless but could have been improved with just a couple small touches.
    vs Paul London (Death Before Dishonor - July 2003): London's final ROH (of his original run) and while common sense says he's not going to win, your heart hopes he does. Paul London is sorta like the best kept secret of early ROH watching in the 2010's & '20s- even more so than his former pal Brian Kendrick. Sure both went on to the WWE and got some fame but that's probably faded by now. But I think what's stranger in hindsight is that Paul jumped ship as his star and confidence in ring was rising. I suppose it makes sense at the time to take the big time deal then...no it makes perfect sense. In hindsight, went in 10 years too early. He was Smackdown tag champs but what is that really in the grand scheme of things? He was one of the first in a long line of fantastic talent wasted in WWE. I digress. So here we have Joe on the rise and London at the end of the road. What could be a very simple to the point match or even a squash is given time and room to breathe and be creative. London wants to go out on top and will use everything in his arsenal to win. Joe is slowly becoming the legendary definitive ROH champ so you're not going to win without a helluva fight. Its not a perfect or even pretty match at times but everyone looks good in the end. Great match and I enjoyed it more after seeing for a second time 5-6 years later. 

    -----
    vs BJ Whitmer (Wrath of the Racket - August 2003): This was a low end good match. Whitmer has as much charisma as a saltine cracker. He's also still doing an tribute act to Jun Akiyama. His exploder suplex looked good his jumping knees were mediocre. Those are tough for anyone to make look good. The corner ones you can jump up and jam the knee in the chest, guy sells it and its like caught between a rock & a hard place. The running version comes down to the guy selling it. Act like its hit you and stopped your momentum and knocks you flat on your back. Trying to make it look good as a actual strike is tough. Joe does his thing and keeps this interesting.
    I'll pick back up with Part #2 soon.Thanks for reading!
  5. G. Badger
    Saw this pop up online and thought, what the hell, why not!? Its free and put out there by Impact Wrestling so I'll post it here for you and put my thoughts below.
     
    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. 
    LAX vs James Gang - Skipped, only wanted to see the Notorious 187 but that's not enough to watch this.
    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 oafish 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.
    Team Canada vs. Team 3D - I skipped this
    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.
    Thanks for reading and stay safe!
     
  6. G. Badger
    I saw a few Steven Regal matches pop up as I was doing my Eddie Guerrero post. A 1996 Nitro match. I wanted to watch it but I'd wisely limited my little project to 1997. Here I found another cache of bouts all featuring Lord Steven Regal from WCW. Most if not all are from Nitro and all are on the 'tube. Let's see what we've:
    vs Chris Benoit (01/01/96) - Very good aggressive match. Looked like more potatoes than Idaho. Regal got dumped on the German suplex, it was great! Unique finish too. 
    vs Eddie Guerrero (01/08/96) - Technical but very punishing match. That is to say Regal punished Eddie - European uppercuts, knee lifts, palm strikes and an arm trap dragon sleeper to name few. Eddie doesn't quit. Despite Regal's size he took the head scissor moves and the like very well. This was a really good bout.
    vs Dean Malenko (08/19/96) - Great under 10 minute technical wizard duel. I think this match was the best of the 3 Cruiserweight musketeer matches because they wrestled a faster pace. But speed isn't everything so perhaps it was the story of them both being evenly matched. Regal had size and strikes but Malenko was had a slight advantage from a technical standpoint. 
    vs Chris Benoit (12/02/96) - Even stiffer and more violent than their January match. Hard way blood from shoot headbutts a couple minutes in forces the TV cameras to no longer show close-ups and even the fixed camera has to pull way back. It's a little too far back in my opinion but we can still see everything. like a clear version of a handheld match. They do not let up. It's only 6+ minutes but its pretty awesome.
    vs Dean Malenko (12/23/96) - Another technical battle. Regal seems to have an advantage most of the match but Dean uses his quickness to exploit openings. Then goes apeshit with elbows in the corner. We get a time limit draw (bull shit) in the end because they need plenty time for some NWO crap no doubt...however what they did was sweet.
    Psychosis vs. Lord Steven Regal (01/18/97 WCW Saturday Night) - Pretty much all Psychosis on offense and Regal does the reverse vertical suplex/brain buster and finishes the man off with the Regal Stretch.
    vs Rey Mysterio Jr. (02/10/97) - Good match but a little distracted by Regal taunting the group of fans the whole match. It did make Rey's hope spots seem more plausible as you could say Regal was not paying attention like he should.. perhaps taking Mysterio lightly. Actually I choose to believe that it was all intentional and we get a neat story out of this. Time limit draw for an under 10 minute match again. Maybe its to keep Regal's heat but he seems to be doing just fine on his own.
    vs Chris Jericho (03/31/97): Fucking idiots chanting U-S-A gets old watching these matches. I usually mute WCW matches since I hate 3 man commentary and WCW's especially. But I've been tempted to listen here & there especially for Tenay or Zbyszko's remarks. I guess Regal was getting heat though. Anyhow Jericho steam rolls Regal and gets the upset win. Regal then goes to town on Chris. 
    vs Rey Mysterio (04/07/97): Competitive match but Regal refused to break the hold and gets DQ'd. Prince Iaukea (remember him?) comes out to make the save (he just beat Regal for the TV title) but gets stretched too. We're at the point in WCW where cruiserweight wrestling gets no time on TV.
    vs Chris Benoit (04/28/97) - Short match and in their usual style. Lots of work from the Greco Roman knuckle lock. They do the shoot headbutt spot again and no blood this time but the producers had them pull the camera back again just in case. Wimps! We get outside interference and is a DQ.
    vs Hector Garza (06/30/97) - Fun with Garza getting a ton of offense. I'm not sure if the top rope tornillo to the outside was a botch on Regal's part or it was more of a tope head butt thing. He should have just done a big cross body attack or double ax handle smash instead. Edit: OK sorry for my ignorance! Looks like it IS supposed to be a tornillo plan ha move but guessing Regal had no clue how to prepare for it. I watched a Nitro match with Garza vs Villano IV and it was very similar but watched some other clips and Garza hits it beautifully as a cross body move.
    vs Ultimo Dragon (07/22/97): Quick but rather fiercely fought match. Dragon was really laying in his kicks. Nice little match... again very short but really enjoyable for what it was.
    vs Alex Wright (09/15/97): Whoa! They actually had some time to work a match. Good wrist lock stuff, very carnival, and a nice clean finish. Fun stuff!
    w/ Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero & Dean Malenko (11/03/97): Odd tag teams but we get the great action you want in a very small dose. Its more of a Rey showcase than anything but good fun.
    As with most things WCW, it peters out by the end. Still, Regal and his opponents were able to work with the time given. The best stuff is from '96 with the Three Amigos. I highly recommend checking those out. Personally I liked the Malenko matches best. The time limit draw with Rey is very worthwhile too.
    Thanks for reading and stay safe!
  7. G. Badger
    Chavo Guerrero vs Masa Fuchi (NWA Int'l Jr. Title, 08/31/83) - Great technical match and while not as crisp as what Tiger was doing in NJ with others at the time, this is the type of great stuff the NJ juniors and especially Eddie & Dean were doing 10+ years later. 

    -----
    Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (Int'l Title, 08/81/83) - Slow feeling out process at the start but it was OK because it built into a bloody and dramatic title fight. Two giants of Japanese wrestling go head to head. If you don't like Brody then perhaps you won't get as much out of this as I did. Great match!

    Dory and Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy (08/31/83) - I was going to watch this again for like the fourth time but I've got too many other things to watch. Plus its a known classic so I'm not saying something you don't probably know already.  Here's my original review from 15 years ago: This was Terry's retirement match and many have said enough about how it didn't last but, in wrestling how often do retirements last? Everyone was willing to sell for everything to keep the energy up in this brawl. Dory sold in his normal manner but it looked rather out of place with sluggers like Gordy & Hansen selling shots like they were getting hit with crowbars. Still it was a very exciting match with the fans cheering for the brothers throughout. The iconic part takes place afterwards with Terry's "Forever!" speech which is incoherent and thoroughly awesome, if you like the Funker. It's a match that one has to appreciate for what it is & enjoy. The speech is a bit of gravy. Great match.
    That is a fantastic night of wrestling back in '83. Check this stuff out any way you can.
    Thanks for reading
     
  8. G. Badger
    I've got a pretty big gap in coverage for end of the year unfortunately. So I'm quoting the prowrestling.fandom Kento Miyahara entry to fill in some gaps for me & you:
    "In August 2013, it was announced that Miyahara would be taking part in AJPW's 2013 Ōdō Tournament the following month. On September 9, Miyahara announced he was officially breaking off his affiliation with Diamond Ring and becoming a freelancer. On September 14, Miyahara was eliminated from the Ōdō Tournament in his first round match by Suwama. In AJPW, Miyahara formed a new partnership with Go Shiozaki due to the similarities between the two in both size and age."
    Ok so this is where I pick up with the 10/27/13 show. 
    Hikaru Sato & Masao Inoue vs. Kazushi Miyamoto & Nobutaka Araya - skip
    Masanobu Fuchi & Osamu Nishimura vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk - fast forward to see how bad it was. This picture shows what I'm talking about...no disrespect. Those tee shirts are sweet though!

    -----
    James Raideen & Joe Doering vs. Bambikiller & D-Lo Brown - This was fun. D-lo vs Doering could have been a singles match.
    Atsushi Aoki & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie - Nice lead in video showing both teams training and developing new tag moves. The DDT team does a 2 man Go To Sleep but uses one guy's head instead of a knee. Then Burning uses a combination move that culminates in a back heel & running elbow strike that compresses the opponents head - very MCMG style. Anyhow this was a great match that is scratching at the door of a near classic. Like ****+ rating. Just fast action packed wrestling. Aoki & Suzuki are the tag team of the first half of 2022. Like MCMG or The Briscoes they are just putting on excellent matches regardless of familiarity. 

    -----
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. SUSHI - jip A good junior title match with SUSHI getting elevated by earning a shot at a previous show. He takes Kanemaru to the limit but I thought it could have been better. Not sure why...maybe I was groggy or something. I don't feel that Kanemaru did a lot extra here. It felt performed by rote. 
    Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori vs. Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara - jip I really wish this wasn't joined in progress to the point where the guys have wrestled enough to be visibly sweaty. Nothing I can do about it. That being said what it shown is fantastic, fantastic stuff. This is the precursor to Shiozaki breaking away from Akiyama's Burning stable. Miyahara is a very welcome addition. He's like KAI was - a junior who's transitioned into a heavyweight...like Eddie Guerrero. As a jip match, I'll say near classic but perhaps if shown in full, it'd be a classic tag. What sucks is some post match angle  stuff happens including D-lo Brown & Kenso which is pretty fun BUT I think that's why they clipped off the first few minutes of the bout. * Edit: see comments below*

    -----
    Suwama vs. Akebono - This is for the Triple Crown and before I watch it I bet Akebono wins. Let's see if this is any good. Well I was right...sorry for the spoiler! But it was a pretty good match. Suwama knew he needed to level the playing field and talked before the match about using the sleeper hold. And boy did he use it to good effect. Akebono truly looked like the monster he his. This is probably the best and most physical 'bono match I've seen. He looks in great (?) shape and scary when attacking. The smirks on his face when he knew that Suwama couldn't stop him were pretty great. So yeah a pretty good match and I'm kinda glad Suwama lost the belts so he can go on to do more interesting stuff in the promotion.

    -----
    Okay let's see what happens for the close of 2013:
    "On November 14, Voodoo Murders held a press conference to announce that Miyahara was also leaving the stable to fully concentrate on working for AJPW. On November 21, Miyahara and Shiozaki came together with Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki to form the new Xceed stable. The following month, Miyahara and Shiozaki made it to the finals of the 2013 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, but were defeated there by Evolution (Suwama & Doering)."
    Sucks that I wasn't able to find this Tag League match. I think that along with a few other tag league matches would have been a good end to this project. But 2014 should be pretty cool. I have to look at my notes but it should be a shorter project than 2013. I lost steam a couple times but all in all it was a rewarding experience. Just look at my Best Match Watched contenders list for the proof. You can can add the two tag matches from this show to that list.
    Thanks for reading!
  9. G. Badger
    I've been in a bit of a rut regarding wrestling. My momentum was lost once the weather got nice and I've been skateboarding more. My brain has switched over to "skate mode" but if you're like me it gets stuck on one thing and its tough to get unstuck sometimes. I find that watching old WWF, WCW or TNA helps. I don't know if it's the low expectations or just the familiarity but it seems to work pretty well. I put in my copy of Rise and Fall of WCW and started digging the Eddie Guerrero matches and what do you know!? I had my Eddie Guerrero set sitting out too. Its gotten super warm lately so skating is out of question until it cools down. Many of the PPV matches are on DVD and the TV matches are online. But a few of 'em are online as well. So I thought I would do a post on these bouts. All are probably in the Match Discussion Archives/Yearbooks. I probably don't have enough content to add to what those folks said but WTF. I'll say this, I'm watching these as an Eddie collection rather than in relation to what's going on that year. And we're talking about 1997. So if your looking to watch some classic Eddie, look no further!
    Alex Wright vs. Eddie Guerrero (WCW Nitro • January 06, 1997) - Good, almost 10 minute long match. Haven't seen an Alex Wright match in forever but he was really good. Reminds me of Jimmy Rave in a way - technically proficient and unselfish in the ring. I enjoyed this. It got overshadowed with Syxx being a ringside with a ladder (teasing the PPV match below) and the announcers ignored it (per usual) but this was a very nice technical TV match. 
    Syxx vs. Eddie Guerrero (nWo Souled Out,  Ladder Match • January 25, 1997) - Very good solid Ladder match. WCW never gave two shits about the smaller guys so this was not going to be the best it could have been. Nonetheless, it had some great work and Waltman may have been better than Eddie here. Or let's say he was a nice change of pace to the NJ Jrs. in WCW style. I really liked this match. 
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Saturday Night, • February 8, 1997) - A fantastic technical sprint to main event the show. Matches like this is why I tried to catch Saturday Night and Worldwide on the weekends. OK it goes to a draw but this was great! They didn't quite reach their top shelf moves but in away that's what was so refreshing. It was fought like a Jr. heavyweight match from 10 years earlier... simple but effective - and fast.
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho (WCW SuperBrawl • February 23, 1997) - Great match! Maybe the first big match between Eddie and Jericho? Chris still had his black and yellow WAR pants. This was Eddie facing a younger version of himself. Lots of good grappling, excellent suplexes & slams and surprisingly not a lot of acrobatics. Or well not a lot of dives...no Lionsault or Frog Splash for instance. But Eddie laid out a match to really make Jericho look fantastic. 
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Uncensored, No DQ • March 16, 1997) - A very good to great match. It was really technical with a nice little bit of Eddie attacking Dean's leg in creative ways. It didn't do much but Eddie did go for Malenko's clover leaf so you say he didn't totally give up on it. I think it was more 'move theft' though as Dean-o did the Frog Splash. This was a longer developed match and of course the finish was bullshit but it's a No DQ match so I suppose it works AND the baby face won. Still its shit like this that makes me glad I never bought a WCW pay per view! Wish we got a good finish still...
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Nitro • June 30, 1997) - I think Dean is a fantastic under 10 minute worker especially with Eddie. They just have so many spots and sequences in their arsenal that these shorter matches wrestle themselves. Does that make sense? Of course there's some outside influence to set up the finish but ah well.
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Hector Guerrero (WCW Nitro • July 27, 1997) - Fast but fun match between brothers. Hector pulled out a couple old school moves that I'd like to see make a come back. 
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho (WCW Nitro • August 11, 1997) - Fun and exciting 5 minute match. Clean finish too...but WTF gives with having this be 5 minutes long? I'm mad about this 20+ years later
     Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho (WCW Fall Brawl • September 14, 1997) - Oh man, I think this might be a better match than their first PPV bout. The pacing was more deliberate and the structure seemed more coherent. That's an obtuse way of saying that this bout told a better story. Eddie was pretty much a heel and wrestled that type of style when given the chance. So this was more of an American style but they still incorporated their Japanese and Mexican maneuvers. And everything just flowed from one thing to the next..plus a clean finish. I'm really tempted to call it a classic for that reason. I'll temper my enthusiasm and call it a Near classic.
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon (WCW Nitro • September 15, 1997) - Sprint paced under 10 minute with a work-the-arm match that Dragon hard-sold which led to the finish. Great under 10 minute match. They have some others online but this looks like the longest/most developed from what I've seen.
    Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio (Halloween Havoc, Mask vs Title October 26, 1997) - Yes, this lives up to the hype. The spots are just amazing even 20+ years later. I really appreciated the consistent back-work Guerrero did as well as Mysterio's creative escapes from those attacks. Everything was just so crisp and made sense with the story they were telling. I have no problem saying this is a classic Jr. match. 
    Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero (WCW Nitro • November 10, 1997) - The TV version of the Halloween Havoc match. Shorter but still very thrilling. It was very good stuff. I always wish we got more Eddie in Japan but WCW really did have something special with their roster. 
    Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero (WCW Nitro • November 17, 1997) - Almost 10 minutes long and excellent stream of consciousness wrestling. Again Dean & Eddie can do these flawless fast TV matches and its a shame that doesn't translate into the PPV shows.
    Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Starrcade • December 28, 1997) - A very good to great match but a step down from what Eddie was doing with other guys..and even Dean on TV. Much of their best stuff is speedy sequences and a feeling of an ongoing fight with counters or reversals. Here I think they had to fill time for the PPV and were slowing down in between moves and taking rest holds to sequence stuff out on the fly to buy time. It felt like something you'd see in WWF or the WCW heavyweights do. Looking at Wikipedia and I guess this was a highly purchased show but critically it stunk with this bout being the only one of value. That tells me that they asked these guys to go longer (second longest match which is NOT what you want) either because the card was bloated or per the Wikipedia page Nash no showed which was announced immediately after the match. Not the way to end this post but! is a pretty good summary of how WCW would decline. Their TV matches feel like PPV matches and vice versa. It's really weird.
     
    This has been a blast. Thanks for reading!
  10. G. Badger
    Honorable Mention:
    Dory Funk Jr. vs Stan Hansen (11/28/83) 

    Near Classic Matches:
    Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue (01/10/03 NOAH)
    Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs Takao Omori, Manabu Soya & Kaz Hayashi (02/10/13)
    Jun Akiyama vs KAI (04/29/13)
    Suwama & SUSHI vs Go Shiozaki & Kotaro Suzuki (07/21/13) 
    Kensuke Sasaki, Jun Akiyama & Go Shiozaki vs Suwama, Takao Omori & Kento Miyahara (08/31/13 Diamond Ring) 
     
    Classic Matches:
    Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka (01/10/03 NOAH)
    Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama vs. Tsubasa & Black Buffalo (02/1/03 Osaka Pro)
    Masato Tanaka v Togi Makabe (08/03/08 Zero One)
    Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (c) vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (03/17/13)  
    Suwama vs Go Shiozaki (04/18/13)
    Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (04/25/13)
    Akiyama & Shiozaki vs Omori & Suwama (2/3 falls 07/28/13)
    Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama vs. Suwama & Takao Omori (08/17/13)
    Go Shiozaki vs Suwama (Triple Crown, 08/25/13) 
     
  11. G. Badger
    Now we're back to 2013 AJPW...well Diamond Ring with the two top matches involving AJPW top talent. Its their 08/31/13 show.
    Akira Hokuto Produce ~ Women's Pro-Wrestling Special Tag Match: Yumiko Hotta & Nanae Takahashi vs Natsuki*Taiyo & Sareee - Clipped here and there but not much really. Good to see Joshi again especially with familiar faces like Hotta & Takahashi to a lesser extent. The younger and smaller team were new to me but they were a lot of fun. This was fun stuff! Hotta and Nanae blasted their opponents in the head a couple times and it was great - in true Joshi fashion.
    Diamond Ring vs. Voodoo Murders ~ Mitsuhiro Kitamiya Return Match: TARU, "brother" YASSHI & Kengo vs Osamu Nishimura, Satoshi Kajiwara, Mitsuhiro Kitamiya - Very much an Indie 6 man mid card match where you get a little bit of everything but not enough to really identify it as anything other than Good. I think a tag match may have been better. Also clipped a tad so was disorienting with 6 guys fighting at times.
    Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kota Ibushi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki - Here we have the first of two AJPW related matches. This was a great match. Kota Ibushi was the odd man out as I don't think there's much history with him & the others. Stylistically I don't think he fit as well. He is very good at what he does but thankfully he's not in there a bunch. The heart of the match is Burning vs Nakajima especially Kotaro vs Nakajima. Kotaro was on fire here and Nakajima wasn't far behind. Kanemaru brought his A game as well but is much subtle (like a Shiro Koshinaka or even Christopher Daniels) so you just expect him to be flawless and keep moving the story/match along. That said, this was the match I'd hoped for with a very different finish that was fantastic. I'd probably put this at **** or so.
    Kensuke Sasaki, Jun Akiyama & Go Shiozaki vs Suwama, Takao Omori & Kento Miyahara - A near classic match with stories weaving in and out. Kensuke vs Suwama, Suwama former Voodoo Murder member years ago seemingly dealing with the devil teaming up with V.M member Kento Miyahara. Shiozaki against his rivals Omori & Suwama, Miyahara opposing his mentor Kensuke and seemingly hating Akiyama because he exists. And Akiyama is this decade's Tenryu. And the action backs all of that up!

    ------
    This was a enjoyable little diversion having the Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring guys mix it up with the AJPW roster. The two matches that needed to be awesome delivered. Only a few more shows/matches to go.
    Adding:
    Go Shiozaki vs Suwama (Triple Crown, 08/25/13) - I accidentally watched this after the Diamond Ring show. I think everything is like mid 90's AJ and if I watch anything out of order, it will spoil it. Anyone else like that? Of course it didn't matter that I watched this chronologically out of order! and in a way the 6-man Diamond Ring match made this better. I think that tag match is a good build up to this title fight. That aside, this delivered in just about every way. This was the culmination of Suwama vs Go and I feel the culmination of AJ vs Burning as well. Suwama had held off Akiyama and delayed Go but could he actually stop Shiozaki? This was the HARD hitting title fight you & I wanted to see. I legitimately think they took each other to their limit. Shiozaki was bleeding from the nose and Suwama from the chest. Both wrestlers were spent by the final bell. Neither have looked so battered all year. I would have really been thrilled to see some cleverness in terms of strategy (kayfabe work a body part) or a few nifty sequences towards the end. It wasn't that kind of match though. It was like a Shinya Hashimoto, Riki Choshu or Kensuke Sasaki match where its about endurance and pushing through the pain & exhaustion onto victory. That's what kind of wrestler Suwama is so he's not going to get cute & intricate at the end. Shiozaki can hang with that style. I can certainly appreciate that! I'm thinking this is probably the best singles match of AJ 2013 so far. Its a classic heavyweight title fight. Its not an all time classic but I want to see their next meeting and that's good business.
    Super awesome bonus! Gaora's YouTube channel has this up for your viewing pleasure. Skip the first tem minutes to get straight to match or sit through that to get some clips and backstory. You'll see see some stuff I've talked about in previous posts. And because I am all about spreading the wrestling love, here it is:
     
    Thanks for reading! 
  12. G. Badger
    Let's take the way back machine to 1983!
    Shoehi Baba/Jumbo Tsuruta vs Tiger Jeet Singh/Umanoseke Ueda (07/26/83): Before the introductions, Tiger was so enraged that Ueda and young boys needed to hold him back. That's really cool. I miss madman heels in wresting. This was a good match but Tiger's antics while on the ring apron were really the most memorable moments. The final portion when this spilled out to the floor was quite enjoyable but the heels dominated too much. Their offense was boring. That's all good it was still a fun time while eating lunch.

    -----
    Dory Funk Jr. vs Stan Hansen (11/28/83): Oh man, this is a match-up I'll never get tired of. Funks vs Hansen & Brody is just timeless stuff like Tenryu vs Jumbo. Perhaps its because this stuff is the foundation of my puro watching (along with Jumbo/Tenryu and 80's AJW). But the stuff just looks so physical and natural. Its not complicated. It looks and feels like professional wrestling should. I mean this is not that far off from top flight wrestling from the 50's. Maybe you can argue that with me but this match is no different. Its just two legends in the ring putting on another great match in their series. Terry is at ringside as is Brody. Do yourself a favor and watch this match. 

    -----
    There's a few guys that I wanted to see more of from the 250 list on my AJ Classics dvds so, I definitely will be doing more of these posts.
    Looking to get back to AJ 2013 first though and maybe get the year done before the start of June & the mid year Best Match Watched contenders.
    Thanks for reading!
  13. G. Badger
    This is my 250th post and I have the wild idea of going through the top 250 wrestlers as voted on during the Greatest Wrestler Ever project from 2016. I'm not going to rank anyone specifically but am going to give my opinion on the workers and maybe complain a little bit about who's in front of or behind them
    250) Koko B Ware - Ah man just remember him from being a little kid but no real memories.
    249) Tamon Honda - Probably like a lot of folks I've seen his big matches a multi man match from AJ, and a couple tags from 2002, his 2003 Kobashi ...maybe some stuff from 2004 & 05. He's OK
    248) Booker T - The better member of Harlem Heat
    247) Chavo Guerrero Sr. - A quickie post about Chavo is probably coming up very soon. 
    246) Ole Anderson - Sadly not seen much of him
    245) Kana/Asuka - Only seen a few things in WWE, my wife thinks she's awesome
    244) Mil Mascaras - A fan of Mil and really dig his stuff in Japan if only for its uniqueness. 
    243) Jeff Jarrett - Doesn't do much for me but enjoyed some of his TNA stuff more recently...just not at the time.
    242) Dr. Wagner Jr. - Got a handful of matches of his to watch. Sick wrestling name
    241) Batista - meme fodder
    240) Karl Gotch - I think its silly to put someone who doesn't have a ton of footage on here. He's such a legend in puro that he should be excluded.
    239) Raven - In ECW, he's a legend. His importance in helping TNA & ROH get off the ground shouldn't be forgotten.
    238) Sasha Banks - I've got some NXT stuff to watch but she's got a cool look.
    237) Jerry Lynn - Indie iron man, not much personality but is a wrestling machine. 
    236) Roderick Strong - Ha! I was going to compare Jerry Lynn to Roddy. No way Roddy should be this low considering the high quality of matches he had in ROH from beginning to end of his time there.
    235) Dick Slater - Seen on some AJ Classics
    234) Abdullah the Butcher - Limited physically but an absolute legend.
    233) El Solar - Dabble in lucha on occasion and El Solar is one of my faves.
    232) Masakatsu Funaki - Honestly haven't seen enough of his prime stuff in PWFG & Pancrase. But the NJ Jr, UWF II, and 2010's AJPW is good good stuff. He's the real deal.
    231) Juventud Guerrera - Juvi - check out some of his stuff in NOAH because you already know about the other stuff.
    230) Joe Cortez - Sorry 
    229) Gino Hernandez - Watched the Dark Side of the Ring. Do want to see more.
    228) Super Dragon - I really can't say anything positive. Indie in the bad way...
    227) Super Porky/Brazo de Plata - Nope
    226) Rob Van Dam - Athletic, charismatic as hell in his heyday. Big fan in high school as he consistently had good- great matches in ECW.
    225) Buddy Landell - Sorry
    224) Sheamus - Physical style I appreciate but basically a cartoon character
    223) Masa Chono - A rare western Chono fan I bet. 
    222) Diamond Dallas Page - My mom's a fan and my wife knows him from the yoga stuff. He was pretty damn cool in WCW. Kinda like Chono or Raven, just has something that makes him interesting.
    221) Bill Eadie/Masked Superstar - Saw him in WWF but nothing special.
    220) Ken Patera - Definitely want to see some of his stuff
    219) Lioness Asuka - All in all I've probably only seen her best matches and I'm biased there but they are fantastic. '85-95 and she's still ass
    218) Jim Duggan - Probably missed his best stuff but loved him in grade school. 
    217) Kyoko Inoue - Kyoko is someone I am not as high on as when I began watching Joshi. Toyota gets blamed for the go-go style but its as much Kyoko.
    216) Mark Rocco - Seen mostly as Black Tiger but enjoyed him in the UK matches more stylistically speaking
    215) Tommy Rogers - OK, kinda don't recall him but dig The Fantastics
    214) Yoji Anjoh - OK but in a different way
    213) Chris Adams - not seen much
    212) El Samurai - like most, I've seen the high end matches. I like him but there's folks that should be higher up than him.
    211) Invader I - Puerto Rico is a blind spot for me
    210) Nigel McGuinness - Seriously top 3 ROH champ along with Joe & Danielson. His injury and illness cut his rising in ring career short.
    209) Tomohiro Ishii - Like his style
    208) Osamu Nishimra - Handful of matches seen but I appreciate the style and intensity
    207) Seth Rollins - Other than 07-08 Tyler Black stuff I'm not sure. But very talented in ring. I've got a lot more of his ROH stuff on my plate so I expect my opinion to improve.
    206) Kota Ibushi - Perhaps he would rate higher now with others. I'm lukewarm
    205) Pat O'Connor - Seen a couple matches and want to see more. I always appreciate a technical wrestler
    204) Daisuke Sekimoto - Someone who I kept seeing pop up in lists. Polarizing perhaps but he's one of my favorites in the 2010's
    203) Big Show - I like Paul Wight and admire his longevity. Kinda wish he had a career in Japan.
    202) Christopher Daniels - His importance in the US Indie scene is crucial to wrestling now. Ready from day #1 in ROH and kept evolving and staying relevant despite his age.
    201) Cima - OK but so many people who are listed above that should be ahead of him.
    200) Buzz Sawyer - Handful of matches, very physical style 
    199) Dennis Condrey - Probably heard Cornette talk about him more than I have seen
    198) Randy Orton - just goofy, same class as Batista for me
    197) Ray Stevens - watching AWA on ESPN Classics from over a decade ago, liked what I saw
    196) Jay Briscoe - gotten better with age like Mark, best tag team of the past 15 years, very capable singles star too
    195) Megumi Kudo - the ace of FMW's joshi division, probably haven't seen as much as I should given the amount of FMW I've watched
    194) Masaaki Mochizuki - OK next to Shingo & Yamato, probably the third guy in Dragon Gate
    193) Emilio Charles Jr. - lucha blind spot but I have seen a couple matches
    192) MS-1 - have seen the couple big matches but same as above
    191) Hayabusa - True ace of FMW, like Nigel his career trajectory was cut short. Totally could have gone to NOAH or at least flourished in the 2000's and had some fantastic bouts. Way too low on the list for me.
    190) Gran Hamada - Phenomenal body control and like Jerry Lynn just a in ring machine. His matches with Tiger Mask are fantastic and want to see much much more of Hamada.
    189) Mocho Cota - Sorry
    188) Ivan Koloff - not overly impressed with what I have seen.
    187) Mariko Yoshida - I can't put her ahead of Lioness Asuka but she's 90's & 2000's best kept Joshi secret. Totally re invents herself and excels.
    186) Kazuo Yamazaki - A victim of Takada's ego but so talented. I wish he stayed in NJPW.
    185) Verne Gagne - Again only seen a couple but a technical treat to watch. Probably hurt that he went on longer than he should have.
    184) Yoshinari Ogawa - I really really like Ogawa but no way should he be ahead of many of the others. He's a novelty act that stands out because his style was so different than his AJ/NOAH counterparts.
    183) Psicosis - Probably unfairly he & Juvi are interchangeable to me. 
    182) Edge - Has the look but nothing else. Boring along with Orton, Batista era of WWE
    181) Magnum TA - Absolutely have more to watch, like Nigel & Hayabusa, his career was over too soon
    180) Taka Michinoku - I've probably soured more on TAKA than any of the other KDX guys but he's got longevity but I'm not a fan of the heel stable stuff in Japan.
    179) Negro Navarro - Need to see more of
    178) Jeff Hardy - Uh during the attitude era he was the most late ECW Jr. style guy and that's cool but, he hasn't aged well.
    177) Kevin Owens - Kevin Steen is best in tag matches to me. 
    176) Austin Aries - Just going off his ROH stuff, really talented but not sure I'd put him of Roddy for instance. Actually no way I'd put him ahead...
    175) Masato Tanaka - Dangan, if you've been reading the blog you know how I feel.
    174) Kensuke Sasaki - I really like Kensuke but he's kinda only ever been one thing which is the powerhouse but the definitive powerhouse amongst 90's-2000's puro stars
    173) Yuji Nagata - Nagata probably is hurt by his big time being in the down period of the 2000's NJ but he is the man for that time by taking on the best of the best from the Four Pillars of AJ, up and comers and even Kurt Angle. 
    172) Yoshiaki Yatsu - Kinda like 80's Taue - fantastic tag wrestler with a smattering of choice singles bouts
    171) Big Boss Man - No I can't get with this at all. This is a bonkers pick especially ahead of nearly everyone so far.
    169) Scott Hall - Kinda a similar sentiment here as well. I've seen some early Outsiders stuff which I like but...c'mon
    169) Ultimo Dragon - A fantastic junior wrestler that I honestly have little problem with. A world traveler and is some of my favorite 90's Junior matches and under rated under his real name in the SWS & Hamada UWF.
    168) Tiger Mask - I did a giant deep dive project last year. Read some of that. This is not unexpected but is insulting low. Guessing this is all from his series with Dynamite Kid.
    167) Dutch Mantell - Heard great things
    166) Michael Hayes - Not seen much of him but well aware.
    165) Adrian Adonis - same
    164) La Fiera - Probably only seen the match with Tiger Mask Misawa
    163) Terry Rudge - Nope
    162) Scott Steiner - Probably one of the bigger Scott Steiner fans here and this is a bad location. Like no way he should be ahead of many of the others. 
    161) Paul Orndorff - Not seen much of but he's alright
    160) Masa Saito - Same as above, has a great look, looks like he can & will hurt you
    159) Necro Butcher - ugh, as a death match fan this is silly.
    158) Davey Boy Smith - Kind of like Scott Steiner, very good stuff in tags but not a greater wrestler than most already listed.
    157) Bob Orton Jr. - Not seen much of but he's alright. 
    156) Mark Henry - yeah we're in a weird pocket of people. Its like we're in the not a great wrestler but a good wrestler territory. Which sucks when these people ranked higher than Verne Gagne. I can see why people were upset at the time
    155) Fuerza Guerrera - Really dig Fuerza Guerrera quite a bit. Again my lucha exposure is limited but I know what I like.
    154) Matt Hardy - The more even handed Hardy. 
    153) Tracy Smothers - Enjoyed what I've seen
    152) Bam Bam Bigelow - Beast from the East, clearly very very underrated big man. Wish we had more of him in Japan. Him in ECW was brilliant btw
    151) Black Terry - Sorry 
    150) Eddie Gilbert - Sorry again
    149) Sabu - As big an ECW fan, this probably is a fair spot for him 
    148) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - I'm a Kikuchi fan but c'mon. A side kick in AJ and a grumpy side kick in NOAH. Has great & classic matches but he's a bit player...maybe one of the best but still a bit player.
    147) Bruiser Brody - Much much too low. Has flaws in ring but the character is Classic and in Japan he & Hansen are one of the top tag teams of all time.
    146) Shinobu Kandori - seen the hits, I dig her
    145) Lou Thesz - Again too low, a legend, his stuff holds up today in my book
    144) Lex Luger - Similar to Scott Hall. I've seen stuff in NWA/WCW late 80's & early 90's that I dig but there's also a mountain of crap too.
    143) Villano III - need to see more of
    142) Buddy Rogers - Like Gotch, Thesz in a way these guys should not really be on this list as we wouldn't have wrestling as we know it without them.
    141) Tommy Rich - Vanilla 80's baby face to me
    140) Perro Aguayo - Not seen much of, bleeds well
    139) Bruno Sammartino - Probably too low but haven't seen enough of to argue
    138) Marty Jones - Like what I've seen. As you can tell UK wrestling is more a novelty for me but, really enjoy it
    137) Kazuchika Okada - I don't think he's much and the fact folks love him turned me off contemporary NJPW. He's good and folks like his character but he's like Edge to me.
    136) Butch Reed - Not seen enough but also know that this seems a little bit off
    135) Devil Masami - I've really dug everything she's in. It's been awhile though.
    134) Nobuhiko Takada - Overrated but I still like him. When he's ON he's fantastic.
    133) Mayumi Ozaki - Haven't seen enough later day OZ but her stuff in the 90's is AWESOME. Her & Dynamite Kansai - shoot!
    132) Antonio Inoki - Yeah this is criminally too low but I love his original vision of Strong Style. That said I avoid the worked shoot stuff he did. That's taking it too far.
    131) Jake Roberts - Like the person more than the wrestler, like the late Scott Hall. Jake was THE heel when I was a kindergarten kid.
    130) Meiko Satomura - I drop off with Joshi after 1997 or so other than a little bit here & there. I know she's one of the best in that post AJW era.
    129) Koji Kanemoto - Koji is the best at being a prick & he can back it up. His stock as one of the premier junior wrestler goes up the more I see. He's got two Best Match Watched contenders this year in AJ '13.
    128) Minoru Suzuki - Suzuki is the version of Masa Funaki where his peak is after Pancrase. Love Suzuki when I see him.
    127) Alexander Otsuka - this is a wacky pick by a BattlARTS maniac right? 
    126) Naoki Sano - Love me some Sano in NJ, SWS & NOAH but not sure he'd make my greatest ever list. I feel like this list should have been divided between top 50 Japan, USA and then lucha & top 25 UK. 
    125) Dynamite Kansai - Illness got in the way I believe but top worker of the golden '90-95 Joshi period. Her & Ozaki were an amazing tag team.
    124) Dean Malenko - Fan of Dean and his tag stuff with Joe in AJ is overlooked but I really need to revisit his WCW run.
    123) Yoshihiro Takayama - I'm trying to think of someone more of a Japanese monster (with the real toughness to back it up) than Takayama. He is the embodiment of 2000's puro. 
    122) Johnny Saint - A lot of fun and my intro into World of Sport UK wrestling.
    121) Pat Patterson - Haven't seen anything beyond his Attitude stoogery.
    120) Triple H - Ha! Someone had him @ #12 but refused to reveal their identity. I can feel ya! I've lessened my hate recently but a heel in front of and behind the camera over the years. The definitive heel of the last days of Attitude era by politicking but he could back it up. Very generic work hidden behind a top notch physique. 
    119) KENTA - The Jr. version of Takayama. No one encapsulates early 2000's puro more the KENTA. His performances in 2006 (ROH & NOAH) is sorely overlooked as one of the best years an individual has had in wrestling. Better than Danielson.
    118) Jerry Blackwell - Big tough fat guy, him vs Hansen in AWA where Stan hits him with his cowboy boots and Blackwell is bleeding is gold.
    117) Pirata Morgan - Not enough seen but have enjoyed it
    116) Great Sasuke - Haven't seen enough of his stuff from the past 20 years but his 90's stuff speaks for itself. But maybe not your cup of tea.
    115) Wahoo McDaniel - Wahoo is great, no nonsense hard physical style that is timeless. Like you could have Wahoo vs Sekimoto and it would be great.
    114) Jaguar Yokota - I have a small window of Joshi that I'm pretty familiar with and Yokota is a top 3 worker. Her mid card stuff in the mid 90's is better than some main eventers.
    113) Sting - I like Sting. His late 80's and 90's stuff is best. But he was still putting on go stuff in TNA.
    112) Dory Funk Jr. - An all-time favorite & legend but an acquired taste. But I could say the same for many of the UK, lucha and 50's/60's guys.
    111) Masa Fuchi - Fantastic during the Jumbo & co vs Misawa & co feud. Pops up in very good to great matches thereafter. Kinda goes away until the NOAH split where he & Kawada are the only long time vets.
    110) Chigusa Nagayo - I'm more of a Lioness fan but what I said about her, Masami, Jaguar apply to Chigusa. I haven't watched Joshi in a long time but thinking about it, the Crush Gal era is where I want to start.
    109) Larry Zbyszko - A Larry Z fan from really is AWA time. Its when I started really appreciating heel moves.
    108) Steve Grey - Never got around to watching him
    107) Low Ki - I'd probably compare him to Austin Aries but rank Aries higher.
    106) Sean Waltman - X-Pac along with Chyna & the New Age Outlaws were DX. So for that X-Pac should be remembered.
    105) Akira Maeda - I like him in NJ & UWF but never got into Rings.
    104) Chris Hero - I like him and he has great & even classic matches in him but I can't say he's a greater wrestler than Dory Funk Jr. for instance...
    103) Carlos Colon - Blind spot, sorry
    102) Christian - At the end of the day the best singles wrestler out of the Edge & Christian, Hardys, Dudleys. His work in TNA is pretty good but ultimately pretty vanilla.
    101) The Rock (2228 points, 57 ballots, 61.93 avg, high: 8 - anonymous, 2006: 64) - Well this is pretty damn silly having an icon of pro wrestling from the last 20 years this low. 
    100) Daisuke Ikeda - Again BATTLArts skewing and Daisuke Ikeda is awesome but, not ahead of Dory Funk Jr.
    99) Virus - Sorry again
    98) Kerry Von Erich - planning on watching a little more of him. Reminds me of Lex in the late 80's early 90's style wise.
    97) The Destroyer - Stuff from the 70's vs Mil & Horst Hoffman are awesome
    96) L.A. Park - Like him from WCW know I'm missing his best stuff
    95) Sangre Chicana - just seen a match or two
    94) Shinsuke Nakamura - Had the potential to be a great and I think there's more from NJ that's been overlooked but is definitely hurt by his WWE time.
    93) Bob Backlund - just haven't seen the essentials
    92) Dusty Rhodes - Dusty is a lot like the Rock (or vice versa) except Dusty bleeds and can really pull you into a match. Rock has a better look.
    91) Too Cold Scorpio - I love Scorpio and is one of the bright spots of wrestling in the early ECW days.
    90) Ron Garvin - I think I would like him but only saw a couple matches years ago.
    89) Atsushi Onita - Kinda like a sleazy Japanese Dusty Rhodes. 
    88) Sami Zayn - The better member of Steenerico. Like Jerry Lynn but I guess he's quite the performer now. 
    87) Cesaro - F-ing silly right here. I need to see Kings of Wrestling in their peak more but c'mon...he's a very good tag wrestler. Jay Briscoe is way the fuck behind him and if we're just going on who's a better tag wrestler, Jay smokes him...and Jay is a better singles wrestler.
    86) Hiroshi Tanahashi - I've come around on Tanahashi since doing a 2010 house show tag match deep dive. I'd take Nakamura still 
    85) Manami Toyota - I have gone back and forth over Toyota. She's one of many necessary wrestlers that contributed to the awesome run of AJW in the 90's. Her & Kyoko changed the pace but unlike Inoue she is essential to so many breathtaking &  iconic matches.
    84) The Undertaker - Another icon of American wrestling especially during the Attitude Era for me.
    83) Roddy Piper - The more I see the more I dig Piper. Liked him as a kid but really appreciating him now as an adult.
    82) Steve Williams - Just familiar with his AJ work but he was this interesting & dangerous cog in the near perfect machine of 90's All Japan.
    81) Yoshihiro Tajiri - Going to try for another deep dive into Tajiri. This time pre- ECW. He along with Lynn were the premier junior talents of late stage ECW.
    80) Tito Santana - Just haven't seen enough
    79) Terry Gordy - A few years ago I'd argue Dr. Death over Gordy but Bamm Bamm's stuff in the 80's AJ scene puts him above. Then you've got the Freebirds too...
    78) Dynamite Kid - The Tiger Mask project lowered my opinion whereas it seems to have lowered others on Tiger. I will be watching more British Bulldogs soon I hope. I favour him in that role.
    77) Rick Rude - Just memories as a kid and the occasional comp match
    76) Hiroshi Hase - Dude was never given a big push but he is the best of that class in NJ. 88 vs Takada, with Mutoh vs Steiners, vs Vader & Bigelow, vs Hashimoto, vs Kobashi. 
    75) Hulk Hogan - Best match I've seen is him vs Hansen. Should try to see more stuff in Japan. But its the Hulkster
    74) Atlantis - Awesome mask, have really dug what I've seen
    73) Chris Jericho - World traveller and still going. Loved him in WCW and Y2J, his Japan stuff is worthwhile as well.
    72) Brian Pillman - Like Nigel and others mentioned, he never reached his full potential. Would have loved him in NJ Jrs.
    71) Dick Togo - Probably the best of the KDX guys, really need to see more singles stuff. His match vs ZSJ in wXw was fantastic though!
    70) Yuki Ishikawa - BattlARTS skew but as a strong style fan, Ishikawa is fantastic. Actually want to revisit Batt-batt now.
    69) Blue Panther - One of the guys I've purposely sought out in lucha and he is a favorite. 
    68) Kurt Angle - My neighbor (haha sorta not really). His 2006-2009 TNA stuff ranks as some of the best the company produced.
    67) Jack Brisco - just not seen enough but I love he vs Dory in '74. Think also might have he vs Inoki somewhere.
    66) Keiji Mutoh - Honestly a really great tag wrestler and a sporadic singles performer. NWA Muta is good stuff and early 90's in NJ but after that I don't know.
    65) Shinjiro Ohtani - I like NJ Jr. Otani as much as Zero One Otani. Actually might like 01 Heavyweight Otani more!
    64) Sgt. Slaughter -Am I drunk?
    63) Giant Baba - I've seen more Baba than I ever intended to. He is a novelty act beyond the 70's or very early 80's. I won't skip them but...am ready to especially if in singles. Baba in tag especially multi man matches is very worthwhile. 
    62) Kiyoshi Tamura - Have seen his UWFi stuff, very cool
    61) Bull Nakano - Yeah she's awesome, monster heel but can wrestle, brings the hate and bringing up Kyoko again, has an awesome singles match with Kyoko. I don't know why I'm focusing on Kyoko but here we are...
    60) Volk Han - Watched some stuff on YouTube, the problem I have with Rings and all worked shoots is the now we see shoot fights in the form of MMA. So its difficult for me to suspend disbelief. Its too close to real that I'm watching it as a fight and not pro wrestling. That's me though.
    59) Samoa Joe - 2004-2009 Joe is one of the best in the world. Poor booking in TNA really hurt him and perhaps should have gone to Japan for a couple years like AJ Styles.
    58) Owen Hart - His stuff in NJ late 80's is revolutionary and is where he belonged. Or maybe WCW, he never was really given a real chance.
    57) Bill Dundee - I'm missing out
    56) Jim Breaks - Same here
    55) Curt Hennig - This is kinda silly and I like Curt especially in AWA. Mr. Perfect was a goofy gimmick and his talents were wasted like Owen. 
    54) Greg Valentine - I recently have seen the light on Greg especially older stuff. He vs Roddy Piper is a thing of sick beauty.
    53) Dick Murdoch - Just haven't seen enough of him
    52) Akira Hokuto - We get a few years of absolute brilliance then gone (essentially). 1991-1993 then sporadically for a couple years. She is probably my favorite wrestler. 
    51) Andre The Giant - The man, the myth, the legend. Still gotta see more especially vs Hansen.
    50) Billy Robinson - Seen the classics vs Inoki, Nick in Japan, and his series vs Jumbo plus a great match vs Verne Gagne. Assorted AJ matches too. How much of his AWA stuff is out there?
    49) Aja Kong - Right up there with Hokuto in terms of greatness. One of the most brutal but great all time Joshi. 
    48) Fit Finlay - Fit should be somewhere on this list but this is too too high.
    47) Brock Lesnar - I'm not sold on him as a great pro wrestler but he is a great wrestler and fighter.
    46) CM Punk - Like Chris Daniels, he could wrestle but also could talk , sell an angle and connect with the audience when everyone else was still trying to figure out who they were as wrestlers. Yeah one of the most complete pro's of the past 15 years. 
    45) Harley Race - Just haven't seen enough Race to convince me of his awesome-ness. 
    44) Tully Blanchard - The more I see of him, the more I get him. Definitely want to see more Tully.
    43) Rick Martel - Oh man Rick Martel! Yeah The Model gimmick like most WWF gimmicks, it ruined him. But in AWA & Japan sign me up. He vs Bockwinkel where he's pulling the canvas to crawl to the ropes is forever burned in my brain!
    42) Ted DiBiase - Really dig his work in Japan. I need to see his pre WWF work.
    41) Riki Choshu - Missing much of his time in AJ but really love what I have. His career is really in NJPW and probably haven't seen his best from the early 80's. His stuff in the late 80's is still top shelf, '88 specifically.
    40) Yoshiaki Fujiwara - Has the look of violence and backs it up. I really should look up more Fujiwara in NJ. Surprisingly haven't seen enough of his UWF stuff...especially vs Tiger Sayama.
    39) AJ Styles - Probably one the best in ring workers. He can adapt to any style and any promotion. His work has changed to accommodate his age and style. He reminds me of Yamada/Liger in these things.
    38) Mick Foley - I probably am not as high on Foley as I was in high school but damn I love Mick. Like Styles he always kept changing his character to stay fresh and interesting. Who would think the King of the Deathmatch would be one of the funniest & most  empathetic baby faces in the crass Attitude era? All that aside he & Terry Funk have one of the best deathmatches in Duel of the Wilds.
    37) El Satanico - Like Blue Panther, seek his stuff out  & am always happy.
    36) Buddy Rose - Only saw him as a tubby heel in AWA with Doug Sommers
    35) El Dandy - Must see more El Dandy...something tells me I should bust out my unwatched lucha dvds.
    34) Chris Benoit - Liked him in WCW, loved him in New Japan, and never really saw much in WWE as I started to lose interest in WWE around then.
    33) Ricky Morton - Richard when he's in singles competition. Yeah he's great.
    32) Dustin Rhodes - I could see Dusty here but not Dustin.
    31) Shawn Michaels - I really think he's overrated but I also really don't like most 90's WWF stuff stylistically. The whole thing including the in ring action looks and feels made for children. 
    30) John Cena - Couldn't help but see some of his stuff over the last 15 years. Don't get the hate but also don't think he's great. Clearly he's marketable. Good for him, I guess?
    29) El Hijo del Santo - Perhaps as a lucha dabbler, my appreciation of El Hijo is typical but, he's fantastic. 
    28) Bobby Eaton - Skilled as hell as a heel. Just tremendously natural at what he does. 
    27) Jun Akiyama - Big Akiyama fan, longevity is now an attribute (guess it was in 2016 too) but his later work has gone overlooked
    26) Akira Taue - Excellent tag worker with a handful of singles classics as well. So not overrated but sometimes I think he's given a tad more credit in those singles matches than is due.
    25) Barry Windham - Very much dig him but this is a little bit too high on the list for me.
    24) Steve Austin - I want to say too low but we are in the top 25 now...let's see who else is here.
    23) Shinya Hashimoto - Seemingly the only NJPW heavyweight who had reliably great singles matches in the 90's. I think Hase is better but was pushed much less. Their championship match is top 3 heavyweight NJ match of the decade.
    22) Negro Casas - Probably my favorite luchador and clearly many others as well. 
    21) William Regal - I must be on bath salts. This seems very high on the list. I like what he does though and one of the guys I'd stop & watch if channel surfing.
    20) Tatsumi Fujinami - One of the best that Japan has produced. I really want to see more of him and I've already seen quite a bit. I think his stock can only go up with me.
    19) Arn Anderson - Has the look and the skills to back it up. My teenage years were him as an non wrestler but still a tough looking badass with Flair and the 4 Horsemen. Seeing his actual work as an adult,  the proof is in the pudding.
    18) Randy Savage - Probably the best WWF star in terms of personality, look, visibility, and in ring work. WCW didn't really know what to do but what else is new?
    17) Bret Hart - The only 90's WWF guy who actually put on great matches. If we don't bitch about the Flair Formula then I won't mention Bret's. His look with the pink and wrap around shades is lame even then but his ability was never in doubt. A guys gotta be tough if he wears pink.
    16) Nick Bockwinkel - Love Bock and need more in my life. 
    15) Ricky Steamboat - Perennial babyface and just fantastic every time I see him. I actually have a few of his top matches still to watch. 
    14) Vader - Love Vader, really wish he would've stayed in Japan as I'm not really as high on his US work as others. We all can agree on his WWF run though.
    13) Genichiro Tenryu - Like Bockwinkel he got better with age. But really his 1989 stuff is the start of that consistently great Tenryu as Tenryu period. I know it at least goes until 2006. That's something remarkable.
    12) Eddie Guerrero - Like Benoit, I'm more familiar with his work outside of WWE. Love Eddie and like Steamboat I've got a few top US matches to watch but the best Jr. Heavyweight in the States.
    11) Jumbo Tsuruta - Tenryu had longevity but so did Jumbo...and even longer although he didn't have a career that wound down really. It just ended. But '75-92 as a top level wrestler is crazy. There are stronger years than others but Jumbo evolved with the trends and all of his programs are landmark feuds in puro.
    10) Jerry Lawler - I have come around big time on Lawler since my adolescence but his overall style isn't my thing.
    9) Toshiaki Kawada - Probably the smartest heavyweight star in Puro in terms of storytelling. There are notable big match exceptions in the later 90's AJ but honestly those only seem like exceptions in comparison to masterpieces. To see his transformation 88 to 92 is so rewarding and gets totally overlooked by what comes later. And his work in the early 2000's with strangers is the true testament to his ability as a talent.
    8) Kenta Kobashi - The best actual baby face of AJ since perhaps Terry Funk. Misawa like Jumbo were aces but Kenta Kobashi like Terry were the hearts of AJ fans. They would get their asses kicked but never quit. Even when Kobashi was ace in NOAH, he's still face due to real life injury and illness. What's so crazy about this is he's built like a tank by the mid 90's. 
    7) Rey Mysterio Jr. - I dig Rey Jr. but missed a lot of his WWE career. I think this rating is based on that work.  Therefore I politely disagree with him being this high. His coolness in WWE is due to the fact that for a long time there was really no one else like him. But Rey is a star nonetheless.
    6) Jushin Liger - AJ Styles is like Yamada/Liger. Just insanely talented from the get-go. He keeps changing his style or approach and looks like he's be wrestling that way his whole life. Fantastic seller and extremely selfless in terms of wins/losses so that always makes the outcomes uncertain.
    5) Daniel Bryan - Danielson jumped 100+ spots from 2006 to 2016 and like Rey that must be from his WWE work. And I think from the weight a lot of the non regular members that voted on this list. Like in my humble opinion, his work didn't get better than 2006 while in WWE just by the limitations that are there. 2007-2009 ROH stuff, yeah that bumps him up a tad but I think this was some of the problem folks had with the results. I think others were from some people just not getting total votes. Like Negro Casas was left off (completely off) 40 people's ballots and Misawa the greatest Japanese wrestler was left completely off 11 people's ballots. All that aside he is brilliant. His Best in the World claims back in the 2000's were hard to argue especially with guys in the States.
    4) Mitsuharu Misawa - The gold standard for aces in Japan. 
    3) Stan Hansen - Nearly every match he's in feels real. He attacks defensively his offense looks like it hurts. He's ornery and tough and is the best gaijin in puro and one of the best heavyweight wrestlers ever.
    2) Terry Funk - In my mind you're either a Funk person or a Flair person. You can like or even love both but you've got to pick one. A long time ago I would firmly identify as a Funker. But I have come way around as a Flair fan. But at the end of the day, I'm going with Terry. 
    1) Ric Flair - See above
    ...you know what? I may have thrown my post # off by one..shit..well, maybe not? I'm still posting this  This has given me some new ideas, made want to rewatch some things, and show me my blind spots. Now mind you these are not my top 250. Some of my comments are simply off the cuff and if I dissed your favorite wrestler, sorry! 
    Thanks for reading!
  14. G. Badger
    Here's a quickie covering a few Ikuto Hidaka matches that I found online. I guess it's all a part of looking for Zero One wrestling matches. He's a guy that really impressed me from my brief foray into BattlARTS and from an ECW match back in 2000 or so. Had ECW lasted longer perhaps he'd be in the mix with Super Crazy, Tajiri, Jerry Lynn, Little Guido etc. and the best Juniors matches on US TV. Anyhow let's take a look at what I found. 
    & Minoru Fujita vs T. Kuroda & Yoshihito Sasaki (08/31/04): Classic structure Jr. tag match with an awesome high energy final act. Great to see FMW alum Kuroda kicking butt! And man Sasaki had a relatively short career but he's so impressive even this early. No one talks about him so I'm going to praise his work and no frills style every chance I get. Here Fujita's execution is on point and the man Hidaka is his usual wizard self. He is just so quick and clean in his movements that it's a joy to watch. Fujita's hot tag to Hidaka is just sick! This is a very very good match.
    & Fujita vs Spanky Brian Kendrick & Alex Shelley (03/27/05): Kendrick surprised me again! He's so scrawny that I just don't believe he's any good. Then he proves me wrong. Thank goodness! Fujita was a bit off tonight or there were communication issues so some of his stuff (especially with Alex) didn't work correctly. But Shelley vs Hidaka was sublime. Their mat wrestling was totally worth it. Really other than those couple execution errors this was looking to be a great match ('05 Shelley and Spanky make it easy). As it stands its still very good and absolutely worth a watch if you're interested or nostalgic for early 2000's ROH type stuff.
    vs Super Crazy (04/14/05): This was what I had hoped for! He and Crazy met in ECW and had a breathtaking encounter on ECW on TNN. Here they do it again and actually take it more to the extreme. Crazy lived up to his name and Hidaka wouldn't be outdone in his home promotion. 14 minutes of fireworks. Very good match! Absolutely left me wanting more.
    vs Munenori Sawa (09/19/10): Wow this was some BattlARTS shit! I kinda didn't know what I was watching since stylistically this was so different from the previous junior style matches. This was two dudes beating the crap outta each other. There was little defensive manoeuvres. It was palm strikes and kicks until someone fell down. Then try to snap a limb or pop a joint. But in BattlARTS fashion there were drop kicks and a couple more moves too. But then Sawa just punches Hidaka in the face His face swells up and is bleeding from the mouth. This was a heck of a match. Feels weird to watch something so Indie 90's Japan take place in 2010. I love it! I'm not going to give a rating but highly recommend watching this!
    Overall this was a fun little mini project. I know there's more Ikuto Hidaka on my horizon as I've got some Zero One wrestling dvds as well as some late 90's stuff. This has only gotten me more hyped to watch those.
    Thanks for reading!
  15. G. Badger
    Lets keep on truckin' with AJPW in the summer of 2013.
    Akiyama & Shiozaki vs Omori & Suwama (2/3 falls 07/28/13) -   One week after a under the radar great show, we get this big match main event. The 4 biggest stars in Akiyama's AJ going head to head. Omori & Akiyama friends and rivals but Suwama & Shiozaki is ace vs ace and a build up to their long awaited Championship confrontation. I think I have their Champion Carnival match as the best singles match of AJPW so far. They are an excellent pairing much like Suwama and Sekimoto were. The 2 out of 3 falls match is something I have been missing in my wrestling lately (In fact Suwama & Shiozaki have a 2/3 falls match in July but can't find that online and I don't have the DVD...can't get 'em all ). But anyhow, this was one of the matches that got me into watching post-2000's wrestling and here's my write-up from the start of this very blog in 2018:
    "Here we have one of the few reminents from Muto AJPW, ace SUWAMA and a cast off from Misawa's AJPW exodus in Omori up against NOAH's ace and Kobashi/Misawa pupil Shiozaki and Jun Akiyama. Let's all remember that Akiyama is former tag partners, champs and friends with Omori. Akiyama got to ride the NOAH wave in the 2000's while Omori was surfing relatively low tide in Zero-1 and washed up back in AJPW like driftwood. This was a battle for a lot. Omori had remade himself in partnership with Manabu Soya however. He was not someone to be kicked around anymore. This was Omori's home, AJPW had been through alot in that time and SUWAMA had been there and is still there. This isn't just his home, it's his kingdom. He had outlasted them all. Akiyama wants back in? Akiyama had been gone for 13 years. Ok that's fine but he has to earn it. Shiozaki on the other hand has no place in AJ. He's an outsider through and through. This was a battle.
    A beautifully long match that harkened back to the classics of AJPW '92-'96. The grappling, striking, layout and pacing were conservative. Therfore, the contest was more organic in its story progression and the escalation of aggression. The 2/3 falls usage was brilliant and perhaps is what made it so damn good. It provided the wrestlers the framework to bring the level of excitement up and down, to be able to rest the fans energy only to build it back double fold. Classic Match! "
    One thing that I omitted is that Kawada was in attendance and Akiyama used the Stretch Plum on Omori at one point - hell yes! Everything else I can fully agree upon now as well. This is a classic heavyweight tag team match and is as important to the heart and soul of All Japan as their heavyweight singles matches.
    Now on to the my next DVD, 08/17/21.
    Masanobu Fuchi vs. Masao Inoue - skipped this
    KENSO vs. Kazushi Miyamoto - Really good yet simple match. Way better than a #2 match usually is. Just an easy watch. I like Miyamoto in this spot...he's a good addition to the undercard.

    -----
    Argenis & Drago vs. Atsushi Aoki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - Fun match, didn't agree with the outcome but that's as a fanboy Liked Drago's execution more than Argenis.
    Joe Doering vs. Kotaro Suzuki - Under 10 minute David-and-Goliath match. It was something special that I don't see very often anymore. And I don't think we see it shown very well when we do since big guys starting doing dives and shooting star moves. Doering is improving in the last 2 matches. I got to think Muto-AJPW wasn't using him well and his heart wasn't in it. Very good match!

    -----
    Akebono vs. SUSHI - I'm not watching this. Its a waste of SUSHI. Still good for him being 2nd from the top match.
    Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama vs. Suwama & Takao Omori - Classic match, these two teams have great chemistry. Here they go on to have another must see encounter. This is only one fall but just as exciting as their previous bout. Everyone did well but this but Shiozaki's match. He really showed so much as a performer but also as an athlete. I can't wait for the title fight between he and Suwama! I didn't write as much as the tag match above but this was just as awesome.


    -----
    This DVD/show was another very easy watch capped off with a thrilling main event.The next installment should be a Diamond Ring show that features AJPW and essentially introduces Kento Miyahara to the equation & builds the Shiozaki/Suwama tension.
    Thanks for reading!
  16. G. Badger
    Yeah, we're back on track and are in summer of 2013 and the big Wrestle -1 exodus has happened and the AJPW roster is lean and mean. Its Akiyama's Burning stable and a few guys who wanted to stay on like Suwama, Omori, KENSO, Joe Doering & Sushi. From there they are going to have freelancers...you know I think Masa Fuchi is still on as well. And to be frank I'm only going to miss Kaz Hiyashi, Koji Kanemoto & Minoru. They lost some big names like Akebono, Masa Funaki & Sanada but they weren't setting the world on fire every show. This small roster with freelance help is what I was thinking they should do with ROH. Have your core and spice it up and fill in gaps with folks from the outside. Anyhow let's talk AJPW:
    First off is the championship match with Suwama defending against Jun Akiyama. Which is June 30th so not sure if the exodus started but for our purposes it has. The future is centered around Burning in one way or another.
    Jun Akiyama vs Suwama (06/30) - This was a great title fight but did feel a bit safe. I understand that though. They are setting Shiozaki as Suwama's true rival yet reminding us Akiyama is the general of Burning. So this is more a story of Burning vs Suwama...and that eventually the Triple Crown will be in their possession. Still its out the for free so if you're just watching the BIG matches, go check it out!
    So now we're on to the 07/21 show. 
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs MAZADA - 11 minutes of fun, energetic Jr. wrestling. Sometimes funny but always interesting, this was a good start to the show.

    MAZADA with an eye rake. Timeless shortcut!
    -----
    Kazuchi Miyamoto vs Masao Inoue - 8-9 minutes of fun wrestling. Again a little bit of comedy but rooted in good wrestling. Miyamoto who isn't small does a Swanton Bomb - very cool!
    Joe Doering vs KENSO - Here we get into the meat of the card with two upper midcard favorites. This was very good stuff. KENSO gave meaning to 'knife edge chop' by cutting open Joe's chest during an exchange. Both guys looked good and Joe employed an attack-the-leg strategy that was way deeper than I thought he could go. Had KENSO really sold that in the final minutes this would have been great. No complaints here though.
     
    -----
    Takao Omori & Hikaru Sato vs Jun Akiyama & Atsushi Aoki  - This was the Aoki & Sato show and I didn't know that I would dig it so much! Shoot style purist probably will scoff at this but seeing these two go at it was great. When they both re-entered the ring with their boots & kick pads off, I was pumped. Akiyama & Omori were perfect in their roles. The action was heated, the shots were stiff, and Sato & Aoki were selling the damage in a believable shoot type of way. The cherry on top was the final few minutes. Sato vs Aoki is something I want to see more of. This was a great match. 

    Aoki (RIP) and Sato mid-beating the crap outta each other.
    -----
    Suwama & SUSHI vs Go Shiozaki & Kotaro Suzuki - Going into this, the focus is on Shiozaki vs Suwama and building up a title fight. That stuff is great but little by little this becomes a match about Sushi hanging in there with champion level opposition. And this isn't some walk in the park, he's clearly bleeding from the mouth. But he will not quit or be beaten down! And he's got the Triple Crown champ at his side. This just becomes one helluva tag match. Early on I thought the previous match should have been the headliner but this won me over. Rightful place on the card and match of the night. Near classic match.

    -----
    This was an EASY show to watch & enjoy. 5 matches that were all unique. The one similarity was each made everyone look great especially the lesser known guys like MAZADA, Miyamoto, Hikaru Sato & SUSHI. The former AJ talent was hardly missed. Everyone stepped up and I'm excited once again for AJPW in 2013. Well worth the $3 from your friendly Internet Video Provider *wink wink*
    Thanks for reading! Stay safe folks!
  17. G. Badger
    So here's the remainder of my 2003 Highspots DVD. This isn't really why I was interested in the comp but heck these look fun and are outside of what I've been watching lately.
    Kaz Hayashi & Jimmy Yang vs. Fuego (Amazing Red) & Super Dragon (01/13/03) - This is fun to see all of these guys in one ring especially an AJPW. A very nice spot match...very early 2000's vibe in every way. Not necessarily lucha- puro as the following matches but probably as lucha as I've seen in an AJPW ring.
    Anthony W. Mori, Takuya Sugawara, & Taiji Ishimori vs. Milano Collection A.T., Masato Yoshino, & Shuji Kondo (01/19/03) - Wow, everyone is a baby! This is high speed lucharesu and is a nice bit of nostalgia for someone who gets a kick out of the Dragon Gate 6 mans in ROH. Very fun stuff.

    -----
    Ultimo Dragon & Kaz Hayashi vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero (01/19/03)  - I've seen this before but it really struck me as something special this time. Its all action lucharesu fireworks that gave me tingles like 90's Michinoku Pro. Every move was crisp, guys were bumping like crazy and even in the Tokyo Dome fans were audibly excited. This isn't the best Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero match I have seen but man it was an exciting one. I'll call this a great match.

    -----
    Milano Collection A.T., Brother Yasshi, & Shuji Kondo vs. Ryo Saito, Naruki Doi, & Anthony W. Mori  (01/27/03) - A slight step down from their match about but felt different as there was a bit more comedy, there was 6 sided ring and a smaller yet loyal audience (as opposed to the Dome show audience from above). Still a load of fun and non stop excitement. Although I only know Anthony W. Mori from Fire Pro Returns, I really want to see more of this dude.
    Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama vs. Osaka Pro Tag Team Champions Tsubasa & Black Buffalo (02/1/03)  Holy cow! Where did this come from? Only know Liger. Murahama maybe I saw a couple times years ago and the Osaka Pro team I remember from Fire Pro Returns (still the best one due to the pre-made roster). But seriously I did not know this match would pack such a punch! This is top shelf lucharesu. Quick action, lucha partner swaps, liberal time given for partners in the ring but still a little slower, stronger emphasis on stiffness, 1 fall with a classic escalation of drama and action. Part of me wants to call this a classic because it was so exciting and unexpected. And there's part of me that wants to dial that rating back a tad for the same reasons. So instead I'll say if you're a fan of Jr. style tag matches, you'll want to see this.

    -----
    From the star ratings on the box, I've under rated & over rated a couple of these. I'm OK with that and totally stand by my opinions. These matches coupled with the NOAH matches make this a pretty great compilation. I recommend checking some of this out anyway you can. Highspots has discontinued all of their DVDr comps but this might be available still on their UK site and people have it on eBay. Or do your internet stuff.
     
    Anyhow thanks for reading!
  18. G. Badger
    Sorry for the delay if you've been waiting for this next entry! As I've mentioned in a couple previous posts, I had to take a rest from watching and writing about the grapple arts. It was nothing too dramatic or even stress related. I think the season changing and wanting to be outside is probably the biggest contributor. I've put on a few pounds over the winter and want to make hiking & skateboarding a priority to get in better shape. Plus I think my anxieties need to get reigned in after a long winter and even longer pandemic so, I think getting out more will help with both. So less time to watch wrestling and less time to blog.
    Anyhow, I think I'm back in the swing of things and dammit we need to get through the 2013 Champion Carnival..There's some really exciting stuff here! We'll see the 04/27 stuff then move onto 04/29 which are the finals. So without further ado, let's go
    Go Shiozaki vs Hama - Good match and Hama got a lot of fat-guy offense in. Shiozaki then had to hit him really hard. It went exactly as expected which was OK for everyone.
    KAI vs Joe Doering - Quick but fun match...maybe 7 minutes long. Kinda bummed about that time but what they did was really good. *** type stuff
    Kanemaru, Kotaro Suzuki & Aoki vs Minoru Tanaka, Kanemoto & Fuke - The best ongoing series of matches takes a dip here. This was as much cruise control wrestling that I've seen from any of them in 2013. Nonetheless Minoru & Kotaro lit things up for the final portion and had a great finish. That elevated this to about *** which is what I typify as a fun match.
    Suwama vs Takao Omori - This started with some nice wrestling that builds to the strikes & slams. The finish was great and pretty unexpected. I think that really made this something above the matches viewed thus far. That said, its Omori's weakest CC match for 2013 & I know they have a better bout in them...
    So I dug a little and found their CC match from 2012. It takes place 04/21/12 and in K-Hall. That is a boon because the 2013 matches have been in small crypt like venues where the fans have played the part if the dead. So this 2012 version is THE match I wanted to see! More intense, more dramatic, better crowd - this is the one to watch It actually felt like a Champ Carnival match between two of the biggest names in AJPW. Great match! (I needed to see something like that as the 04/27/13 show has been disappointing)
    Masakatsu Funaki vs Jun Akiyama - Main event time and we get dueling chants!? I don't know if I've ever heard that in Japan. Figures the crowd was pretty sedated all show to come alive for the big time match. Both guys have their dudes second the match so we see the Stack of Arms vs Burning rivalry story advance. This feels like a big deal. Both guys play for keeps. Akiyama hurts Funaki's knee so he targets Jun's arm. This very fast paced and it ends in around 10 minutes. But it was great and felt like how you do a veteran match like this towards the end of a tour. (I checked 2012 here as well and they actually do a sub 5minute match so the 2013 encounter is superior)
    04/27/13 is a fun show but not as exciting as the early part of the tour. Let's see how things wrap up on 04/29. I only have 2 matches from what looks like a nice card. Hey found this online for free so beggars can't be choosers...
    KAI vs Go Shiozaki - This is a tie breaker match to see who goes to the finals. Seeing as I haven't watched all of CC matches I'm going to take their word for it. It starts a little slow but Go targets K man's bruised chest with his fierce chops and it starts to bleed. This ups the ante and we get the hard hitting & action packed match you want. I've seen people go call this a classic/****1/2 but I'll be realistic and say that is a little much. ***3/4-**** is much more appropriate as it lacks either bell to bell intensity or depth to go that far. But *spoilers* its a BIG win for KAI as Shiozaki is the man in 2013 AJ.
    KAI vs Jun Akiyama - Again not sure how Akiyama made it and aren't they in the same block? Ah screw it...I'm down to see them fight one more time. Now we have the story of KAI's battered chest driving the last few matches, will Akiyama use that weakness?...shit I'll answer it for you- yes! 2013 Akiyama is the guy you want to structure a match that continues an arc within a single show. That's to say he's a cerebral veteran that is going to tell the story with nuances rather than overt actions. For instance, he targets the chest of KAI as a defensive strategy rather thinking he's going to win by chops like Shiozaki. Jun is more similar to Kawada than Kobashi at this point. KAI makes sure to play his role and man! All things considered this adds up to a near classic match and an excellent end to the 2013 Champion Carnival.
    As I do with many final posts I'll do a summary of stuff to go back read in an older post or to watch in case you're coming into this late or in the future. Rather than do all of the matches, I'll just list the Very good  to Classic matches (***3/4-****1/2) for the Champion Carnival I saw.
    04/18
    Sanada vs Omori - very good
    Suwama vs Shiozaki - Classic
    04/20
    Kenso, Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Shiozaki, Suzuki & Aoki - very good
    04/21
    KAI vs Akiyama - great
    04/24
    Sanada & Sushi vs Akiyama & Kanemaru - very good
    Shiozaki, Suzuki & Aoki vs KAI - Great
    04/25
    Shiozaki vs Omori - Great
    Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Suzuki & Aoki - Classic
    04/26
    KENSO vs KAI - Great
    04/27
    Akiyama vs Funaki - Great
    04/29
    KAI vs Shiozaki - Very good - great
    Akiyama vs KAI - Near Classic
    In a bit of bummer 2013 AJPW news, KAI hurts his elbow on a frog splash vs Kono in June. I think he's going to be out for the rest of the year and then eventually goes to Wrestle -1. He really made a big impact during the carnival. In fact many of the guys might have made their last appearance (as far as I have available to watch) so Kaz Hiyashi, Kanemoto & Tanaka, Funaki etc. are off to W-1.
    We're going to jump ahead in time to late June and late July next. It might be a little bit before the next post for 2013 but rest assured, I will persist!
    Thanks for reading!
  19. G. Badger
    I've been in a bit of a down period with wrestling the last month or so. I got a Highspots Best of 2003 compilation off eBay a little while ago and I thought it might be the thing to get me back into things. It starts out with matches from the January 10th show. A couple of them are ones that I always wanted to see but never got around to. Looks like a good place to start.
    KENTA & Takashi Sugiura vs Takuma Sano & Kotaro Suzuki - Man alive this was a Jr. tag fireworks display. Kotaro just set the tone early showing Tiger Mask like speed & agility. Sugiura was the powerhouse while KENTA & Sano were the violent artists. 14 minutes of Jr. action without being contrived or "out of order." There is a difference between this and what was going on in the U.S. at the time. Guys would catch up but this was crisp, clean and engaging Jr. tag wrestling. The finish was the only flaw of this great match. Even then, it doesn't diminish the work.
    Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka - This is a WAR lover's match. More potatoes than Idaho. Some might more moves but this burns bright with inter-promotional hate. That coupled with a brutal finish makes this a classic tag match in my book!
    Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue - So I thought the above match was the final but no! We have this dream bout with NJ's Chono getting in the mix. His interactions with Kenta & Taue were like a Fire Pro match come to life. Its different than what came before it and was very much a big time main event style match where you get what you came for. The tanks aren't emptied out but you're still grinning at the end. It's been awhile since I've seen Misawa, Kobashi & Taue so this was a treat. I feel very comfortable calling it a near classic match...

    -----
    Its no secret that I'm a big fan of tag matches and these were totally up my alley. Each was different stylistically yet each was dynamic and engaging. I'm sure these are available online somewhere or maybe you have them on DVD or saved somewhere on a computer, take the time and check these out. If you're a newer fan, its some great stuff from the not too distant past. If you were watching NOAH take shape 20 years ago (holy cow!), these matches will take you back in time to a period of excitement and possibility.
    Thanks for reading! 
  20. G. Badger
    Holy cow! Its been awhile since I've posted. I've finished watching the 2013 AJPW Champion Carnival but just haven't done the write up yet. I guess I'm on a bit of a wrestling break with the weather getting better. Been trying to get out and go for walks/hikes as well as get some skateboarding in as well. But you don't care about that, you want some wrestling reviews! Well you're gonna have to wait a little longer but I've got some sweet wrestle-art to feast your eyes on in the meantime.
     
    The Octopus doing what he does

     
    Hansen, Gordy & Brody vs Baba & the Funks

     
    Brody with a double ax handle smash...

     
    I stretch and strain with all my might. Drift off into the velvety arms of the night...

     
    Thanks for enjoying and I'll be back with your precious reviews soon
    Take Care Folks!
  21. G. Badger
    In October, it was announced that Ring of Honor would be taking time off from Jan-March of 2022. The hiatus would end with Supercard of Honor. In the meantime, portion of the roster would be let go at the end of the year while others would be let go in early 2022. Many including myself believed this was the end of the road for the promotion. I'm not sure calling the Final Battle 2021 'End of an Era' helped dispel our speculation. I just posted on ROH thread that I thought AEW might have some interest in the brand especially with so many former ROH now AEW stars participating in Final Battle. 
    After Final Battle ROH Chief Operating Officer Joe Koff did the ROH Strong podcast to talk about all of this. I've never listened to this podcast and I am guessing many of you haven't either. I had no intention of starting with listening to a suit talk corporate talk for an hour plus. That being said, it also seemed like the only place we were going to get actual details on what's to become of the organization. Again, there's just a lot of speculation floating around by both people in the business and fans alike.
    I'm going to give you my take aways from the 80 min. long interview. Its actually a pretty easy listen and Koff really seems to have a sincere affection for the fans, employees, and promotion as a whole. They begin by talking about Final Battle and the events that transpired with the tributes, matches, guest appearances and having the Lethal vs Gresham main event with Bandido being pulled due to COVID. Then there's a bunch of thanks given to Delirious (referred by his real name). What's odd is that they do seem to refer to things in the past tense. As in saying WAS instead of saying IS. I didn't make notes on this because they hadn't started talking about the hiatus and etc. But it did seem to initially corroborate speculations.
    They get to the meat and Koff starts by saying ROH's plans for 2020 were to start a live weekly TV taping ala RAW. So 52 live episodes per week. Perhaps live to tape like the late night talk shows. Additionally they wanted to have a fixed time across the Sinclair stations so it would appear the same time on every station so 22 The Point here in Pittsburgh would have it the same time as WUAB in Cleveland as in wherever else...again like most wrestling shows. Anyhow COVID happened and that plan got shot to shit. ROH then showed a few months worth of best of shows (we'll get back to that) and eventually came back with the Pure Title Tournament (see my past posts about that). He mentions in the meantime AEW has grown and IMO ROH has stagnated. They have done the best job in keeping people safe in terms of their and the Maryland Athletic comissions COVID protocols. Koff seemed please in keeping fans and staff safe although probably wouldn't have been a strict. 
    Koff is adamant that Ring of Honor is not going out of business. Its not a matter of IF they come back its a matter of WHEN. They are "re-imagining" Ring of Honor. He does not express what this means (I'll take some guesses). He did say the plan is to cease matches and plans of touring until March when the plan is to return with Supercard of Honor. Koff said they will still be having TV shows in that time. I assume they have some stuff already taped and may do a year end retrospective. But more interesting is Koff remarked that ratings were positive for the Best Of shows in the Spring and Summer of 2020. In case you missed these, each week would feature a wrestler or team and showcase usually 3 standout matches during the ROH career or since Sinclair owned the promotion. If we read between the lines of what Joe Koff was saying, it sounds like this will be the plan from Jan-March. He said the shows without matches did really well (paraphasing). Well there's no ROH episode without matches but he must mean this from a production standpoint. So no matches booked, produced (filmed, lit, etc.) and wrestled. 
    He was very careful not to give anything away for the future but repeated 're-imagine' and emphasis on the fans importance and 'focus on fans.' What this means I don't know and now comes the speculation - Informed speculation. At the end, I'll say what I'd like to see but this section is more interpretation of what Koff has said. First, I really believe this hiatus period of Jan-March will be Best Of episodes using ROH's back catalog. This will do well in the ratings while requiring minimal production and staff. This keeps ROH on TV while keeping fans happy. I think one thing everyone wants is easier access to ROH's back catalog even if its just 2011-2021. There's some really awesome stuff in there that I don't believe is even available on ROH's Honor Club service. I'm getting ahead of myself. I think COVID is a big part of letting go of talent and taking a hiatus. They were trying to wait the pandemic out while other companies eventually said screw it. Ethically I agree with ROH. Financially though this was pretty bad. They have had no show revenue for 2 years! This 3 month period is a time to hibernate and slow the bleeding as well as wait COVID out a little longer. 
    In regards to his emphasis on the fans, I would think this means more social media activity but also listening to what the fans want in terms of booking. I don't think they will do away with Delirious but they will give fans more input as they do with The Experience shows and Unauthorized where people vote on matches or stipulations. I think they may have some folks pay more attention to what fans are saying online and booking with instead of against those opinions. Oh one other thing I remember is regarding the Forbidden Door. People believe Final Battle 2021 shows that ROH will be working with other promotions like AEW and Impact. Koff was quick to say there never has been a Forbidden Door with ROH. This is true and good of him to say this. ROH was THE promotion that worked with other companies - Zero-1, AJPW, Dragon Gate, NJPW, NOAH, Chikara, CZW, CMLL, and of course they had a working relationship with TNA on and off for awhile. WWF used to do it with ECW. I mean the NWA was before all of that! So anyhow, I do see this as a very real possibility. This is something the fans want to see. Fans of puro have been privy to this for the past 20 years. But the hope is that the AEW fans who jumped ship with the Elite and other talent will come back to ROH even if only on occasion. I think everyone would want another ALL IN level show down the road. Koff remarked that one of his best memories was doing ALL IN even though the aftermath was less than desirable. Could we see something like this in March for a true Supercard of Honor?
    That's what I've got as far as informed speculation. Koff didn't show his cards past what they are going to do in the meantime. He was pretty firm about Ring of Honor not going away. It would just be coming back different. I'm going to go bat-shit with the ideas. One thing I've thought of is having the majority of ROH's TV show be flashback matches along with promos all themed toward upcoming PPVs or which could be teased on AEW TV perhaps. This all depends on who ROH wants to keep or build around. I would love to see ROH focus on the Pure Rules or guys like Gresham, Tracy Williams. The ROH product will focus on a core group of guys but various talent will be brought in from the Indies or elsewhere (AEW, Mexico, Japan) to challenge them. Those guys and girls would venture out on occasion as well. This would be similar to the NWA territory days. Essentially re-unifying and sharing talent after Vince tore it apart 35 years ago. Again we have seen this in Japan in the 2000's Pro Wrestling Love Era. Again, we kinda would see this with TNA, PWG and ROH for awhile...I think we can see it again. I'd love to see this along with classic matches every week or two. 
    So I don't think ROH is going to dissolve. I know ROH has put their back catalog out for the highest bidder so I think if someone gave them the right dollar amount for that and everything, they would take it. Koff is a businessman as he reminds us at the end of the podcast. I just don't know if that'll happen. OR maybe that is exactly how this is all going to go down... AEW buys ROH then they do like a RAW vs Smackdown thing with them? Or perhaps they will cut enough costs and re-envision their business model to work better work around COVID. They are very adaptable as Koff said and I believe him. But then again, business is business.
    Thanks for reading! Just had all of that floating around in my head so I hope it makes sense.
  22. G. Badger
    We're back and going to look at 04/25 & 04/26 AJPW. Its the Champion Carnival tour.
    Akebono vs Jun Akiyama - Short match but good. Akiyama gets an Akebobo singles match worthwhile.
    Hirosho Yamato vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru - Quick somewhat average match with a very good finish. Reminded me of a early 80's AJ Jr. bout.
    Joe Doering vs KENSO - The giant gaijin manhandled KENSO but they had a good match. Good chemistry but they have a better fight in them.
    SUWAMA vs Seiya Sanada - Another good match but really by-the-book and frankly I'm not sure they're good opponents for each other. Sanada can't match stiffness with Suwama so his elbow strikes look weak in comparison. There was a story worked but it was bland which shouldn't be the case with two of you top wrestlers.
    Go Shiozaki vs Takao Omori - Chain wrestling to begin which almost feels like a throwback in 2013. But I think that's the "point" of Akiyama back in All Japan. Anyway, Omori injured Go's neck and uses a variety of offense to target it. Takao looks to have the Burning ace's number. Go isn't going down without a fight and he's got to really fight his way back into the match. Its a simple but effective story and really harkens back to late 90's AJ. Great match.
    Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki - Minoru gets hurt early (real or story? Great selling) and his opponents smell blood in the water. Koji has got to get violent and buy his partner time to recover. Koji & Aoki's grappling was awesome stuff as were all of the kicks, suplexes and double team moves. I felt like anything could end the match especially with Minoru's limitations. This is one of, if not the best feuds going on in AJ at this time. If you're a fan of Motor City Machine Guns or really 06-08 ROH tag stuff then you will dig this. I felt it was a classic Jr. Tag match classic. 03/17/13 was a little bit crisper but damn this is a worthy rematch. 
    What a main event! Now we're onto the next show 04/26.
    Sushi vs Kanemaru - A darn good match that told a simple story (hurt neck vs hurt leg). The important part is that they stuck with it til the end. Sure they did some exciting moves off the turnbuckles or dives but it was all within the realm of believability. Sushi is climbing up the ranks.
    Stack of Arms vs Last Revolution - 6 man match where Shuji Kondo was never tagged in nor was Minoru Tanaka (maybe he did get hurt? Cool to see they're sticking with it either way). It was an OK match but so short given the teams that you can skip this.
    Jun Akiyama vs Joe Doering - A good ***1/2 sub 10 minute match with intensity, surprises and therefore drama. Doering reminds me of Mike Awesome in FMW to an extent. I like that.
    Kanemoto & Nakanoue vs Suzuki & Aoki - Another ***1/2 match that keeps the fire burning. The finish was almost a shoot with how outta nowhere it was. I dug that.
    KENSO vs KAI - KENSO is so very popular especially in these smaller venues. I might be missing something but I guess he's pretty charismatic. KAI is much more similar to a Misawa/Akiyama favorite. Anyway, this was a HARD fought battle. It was perhaps the most physical match I've seen KENSO in. He gave it as good as he got though. He blistered KAI with chops, kicks and slaps. KAI's chest was purple by the mid way point (it was healing from the previous night). KAI in turn kicked Mr. Chrisma's ass. Both guys gave 100% and were the best bout of the show. Great match and KENSO's best singles match I've seen.
    I wouldn't say it was a show saver because everything else was short and fun to watch. But that felt like an AJPW match instead of a ROH TV match from 2018.
    So I would recommend the 04/25 show over the 26th, if I had to pick one. But I would still say both are worth your time. Pick and choose if you like. I think I skipped a couple that might have been available online.
    The 4/27/13 show is next and looks to be a bigger one.
    Thanks for reading!
  23. G. Badger
    We're going back to the 04/20 (Blaze ) show from 2013 and then moving on to the 04/24 show. These are smaller events so nothing on paper is mind blowing awesome but let's see.
    First thing first, I only have access to what has been uploaded so perhaps I'm not capturing the full experience but this is a review of what I've watched. Take it with a grain of salt.
    The two actual Champion Carnival matches (Funaki vs Doering & Kono vs Suwama) can be skipped from the 04/20 show. I felt that they were boring. From that we have two tag matches that are more interesting.
    Sanada & Sushi vs Akiyama & Kanemaru - Sushi is like Curry Man if you remember that Chris Daniels gimmick. Comedy but he can wrestle. Nevertheless, that doesn't bode well for him facing Mr. Sterness. In a twist of fate Kanemaru gets injured and its Sanada & Sushi 2-on-1 so dammit they have a chance! This is a fun match.
    KENSO, Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Shiozaki, Suzuki & Aoki - Burning vs Stack of Arms/Jr. Stars continues and this is the best match on the show. Aoki & Kanemoto grappling was a real highlight. Lotsa action and KENSO & Go's interactions were interesting since the K-man isn't your traditional 2010 puro guy. Anyhow very good match that keeps the feud going. This was a very good match.
    04/24/13
    Masayuki Kono vs Takao Omori - Another example of Omori being an underrated worker. He's the guy who's having smart work-a-body-part match every show. That makes this something above the average and a good match with the limited Kono.
    Kaz Hiyashi, Shuji Kondo vs Hiroshi Yamato & Nakanoue - This was a fun match but Nakanoue is lowest man on the totem pole so the outcome wasn't in doubt. Good double team moves.
    Sanada & Sushi vs Akiyama & Kanemaru - Same pairing as 04/20 but this was a different match and a mid-card storyline! Because of this, I think this is better than the first match. Good stuff!
    Kotaro Suzuki, Aoki & Shiozaki vs KAI, Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka - A bigger feeling match than the 04/20 6-man. We get high quality interactions in KAI vs Shiozaki, Minoru vs Suzuki & Aoki & Kanemoto. Aoki's arm destroying moves inspired ZSJ without a doubt. This was a great match and the best bout of both nights. If you just wanna sample one match, this is it!
    Both nights were clear B-shows as the venue and spotty attendance indicated. There's some good stuff nonetheless but I would focus on the 6-man matches if you're just looking to dip your toe into 2013 All Japan.
    Thanks for reading and stay safe folks!
  24. G. Badger
    This post is all about the early parts of Champion Carnival for 2013. This stuff is out there online for your enjoyment. But no screen shots to give you a taste. I'm watching these on my living room TV/streaming rather than the trusty one hooked up to the DVD player. You don't care about that. You want wrestling! Here it is! The first two matches are from April 18th:
    Seiya Sanada vs Takao Omori - This felt like a Champ Carnival of old where the finish actually played off working over a body part. We don't really see that enough anymore. Sanada is really fun to watch here and Omori doesn't get enough love. Just a really smart finish, very good match ***3/4 stuff.
    Suwama vs Go Shiozaki - The meeting between Shiozaki & Suwama has been building up since Akiyama's Burning stable invaded AJ at the start of 2013. Here we have it and this did not disappoint! it is everything you'd want in a first fight. Not bloated yet not rushed or cheap with its finish. Classic Champion Carnival match. You really should check it out!
    Jun Akiyama vs KAI  (04/21) - This begins as simply an average match with a couple neat sequences and moves. That's OK, however it continues to escalate and becomes something special. Akiyama was not going to let some young punk beat him in the Champions Carnival. That punk doesn't even belong in the Carnival! KAI was fighting for more than just a win. He was fighting for his chance to be recognized as a main player. A gutsy performance from him and Akiyama is 2010's Tenryu. These are the types of matches I'm looking for in 2010's puro - hard hitting matches that are not afraid to take the time to sell a simple story. A great match for sure.
    There we have it! Very impressive stuff that I never heard much about at the amid the NJPW buzz.
    For those keeping track, I skipped the 04/20 show for the sake of having 3 matches for this post and not cutting April 20th up at all. i have way more footage available so that will be more like a typical show review.The order is irrelevant 9 years later, right?! I'll circle back around for that show next time.
    Overall, 2013 has been pretty great stuff and I'm thrilled that this footage is still up after all of this time. Concerning AJPW in '13- The Burning crew has really invigorated the company and many of the top talent that would leave to form Wrestle -1 is still there. So there's been some fantastic Jr and Heavyweight matches as a result already. I'm very enthusiastic about this project
    Stay safe folks!
  25. G. Badger
    This is only what I was able to find online for the 03/17 super show. There's a good looking Omori/Soya vs Akiyama/Shiozaki match but there's no sign of it. So like I said before we say goodbye to Soya then. Kinda bummed but I'm not complaining about what's available as you're about to find out.
    AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs Kaz Hayashi - This is an awesome 14 minutes of Junior wrestling fireworks. It never overstayed its welcome which many junior matches do anymore. Its a great match! Kaz Hiyashi really impressed me and Kanemaru is like the Shiro Koshinaka of the 2000's.
    All Asia Tag Team Title: Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (c) vs Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki - Holy crap! This was awesome! I was losing my mind at the end. At 20+ minutes this ended just when it needed to and as a result we get a classic Jr. tag match. I think both sets of guys were excited to have fresh opponents and wanted to put on a phenomenal performance. They certainly accomplished that goal. 
    Triple Crown: Suwama vs Masakatsu Funaki - A much slower pace than the two Junior matches but this was like 2 heavyweight boxers going at it until the final round at which point they tried to go for the knockout. But in all honesty they could have done it at any point IF they were facing lesser opponents. Its Masakatsu Funaki trying to knock out or choke out the ace of AJPW. Its SUWAMA trying to pin one of the most dangerous grapplers and pioneer of MMA. This was a great slow burn main event title fight. It was like Hashimoto's IWGP title reign. No its not Misawa vs Kawada but dammit its intense physical wrestling! You feel like you watched a struggle.
    Theses bouts are out there online so if you've got the time or inclination, go watch them! Very exciting stuff already for 2013 AJ.
    Thanks for reading and more stuff on the way shortly!
×
×
  • Create New...