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
    Now we move on to AJPW in 2013. This should be one of my longer projects of the year as I have a bevy of matches available online to bolster my DVD collection. I'll say I'm really digging 2013 from what I have seen so far. 
    Here is my first show & dvd. Per usual, I skip stuff that I'm not interested in. If you're feeling these matches then by all means, watch them & let me know
    3 Way Match: KENSO vs MAZADA & Andy Wu - A squash for KENSO which was pretty enjoyable.
    Masanobu Fuchi & Reid Flair vs Tomoaki Honma & Kazushi Miyamoto - I'm sure there is merit to this but I didn't want to wait for it to happen.
    Suwama, Joe Doering & Shuji Kondo vs Akebono, Ryota Hama & SUSHI - Great use for Akebono. Fun match.
    Masakatsu Funaki & Masayuki Kono vs Seiya Sanada & Yasufumi Nakanoue When Sanada was in this was a really good match. Gratefully this was the final third of the bout. He vs Kono was pretty awesome. I'd say that this was ***1/2 tops but I really dug that final third. Wish we got this Sanada in ROH!
    AJPW World Tag Team Title Skirmish - All Japan vs. Burning: Jun Akiyama, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs Takao Omori, Manabu Soya & Kaz Hayashi - Absolutely the best bout of the night! The announcer can't finish the intros before Omori attacks Akiyama. The pace was vigorous and didn't let up. Suzuki and Kaz were the whipping boys but showed maximum heart enduring the punishment. Everyone except Kanemaru  was in there for a good display. What he did do was special stuff especially with the Caveman Soya. Eventually Kaz & Kotaro were back in one on one and put on a fireworks display. This is the match I bought the DVD for and it definitely delivered! This invasion feud (somewhat real) injects AJ with some pep and excitement that it needs. Near classic encounter and the melee after the bell only makes it sweeter. Since I'm doing stars this post, ****1/4 seems right without overrating...cause this was exciting stuff!


    ----
    All Asia Tag Team Title: Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Hiroshi Yamato & Hikaru Sato - Starts out just OK but picks up to be a very good tag team battle. There's some very exciting moments and the last few minutes are the best. This is the main event but I knew that this wasn't going to be the best. I'd say this was *** 3/4 though. Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka are always worth watching in my book.
    Pretty good show with the 6 man being something to watch. I'm partial to tag & multi man matches though. The 6 mans of the late 80's and early 90's are some of my favorites. 
    Anyhow, I believe this is the final match I have of Manabu Soya in AJ. Not sure if the exodus started yet but I had a blast watching him. He's one of my faves. Clearly the Burning stable from NOAH has invaded and this will change the landscape of AJ as well as provide a bunch of fresh match ups.
    Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more AJPW 2013!
  2. G. Badger
    Nick Bockwinkel v. Jumbo Tsuruta (AWA Title, 07/13/83): It was 30 minutes or so and was very much a match from 1983 in a technical style. Its Bockwinkel vs Jumbo but its not a classic or anything. But man is this quality stuff. Jumbo's jumping knee never looked better and Bock's pile driver was deadly. This is their first encounter that I have in my dvds. So I'm hoping that things get better and better. I would say this is ***3/4. My feeling is that it never kicked into top gear. We never got Nick at his most crafty or Jumbo at his most brutal ('83 Jumbo at least). I really think this could have been stronger in that department. Or could have had a stronger story. Its a very good match but right under being a great one.

    -----
    Dory and Terry Funk/Baba v. Bruiser Brody/Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy (08/30/83): 6 man matches weren't as common in AJPW as they would become in the late 80's and thereafter. However that fact does not diminish the quality or excitement of this bout. A day before Terry's "retirement" match we see the heart of AJPW take on the titans of AJPW. This one is as wild as expected - stiff hits, double teams, blood and post match bedlam. My dad loves this type of wrestling and I know he would dig this match. Great action & feverish pace makes this great.

    -----
    Thanks for reading!
  3. G. Badger
    The DVD is listed as 06/01/2012 but as we see from the actual show, it takes place 05/20/12. In case you are joining me now, this is not going to be a comprehensive look at 2012 All Japan. Its more like a few snapshots to pique your interest. Let's go!
    Minoru Tanaka -vs- Yasufumi Nakanoue - Good opening match. Vet vs newcomer
    Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo & Azteca -vs- KAI, MAZADA & Hiroshi Yamato - Really good 12 minutes of cool moves and action. I was really surprised by this. Started as just plain old fun but got really exciting in the last half. Kinda reminded me of a Indie puro match with the mash up of talent. Shoot, AJ is pretty much an Indie fed at this point. That's fine by me!
    Taiyo Kea/Masa Fuchi -vs- KENSO/Masao Inoue - Good comedy with Fuchi and good action when it was KENSO vs Kea. Thought about skipping because Inoue & Fuchi don't have much left in the tank but it was a fun match!
    Akebono -vs- Ryota Hama - skipped, Hama & Akebono don't need to face off.
    Kohei Suwama -vs- Masayuki Kono - This started off hot and never let up. It was a slug-fest with an excellent closing few minutes. The downside was that it was very "samey" with a lot of elbows thrown especially at the start. But they were stiff ones and not the limp taps you've seen lately. Things got very good and I don't want to spoil anything but there actually was a story!  Kono is a big dude on Masakatsu Funaki's squad but isn't a player beyond tag matches. Here he has a chance to fight the ace of " indie" AJPW who recently lost the title. Tonight is the night when he can knock out SUWAMA. Can SUWAMA prove he's still got it or does he move aside and let Kono take his spot? For real this is the best Kono match I've seen. Very meat & potatoes WAR match here.

    -----
    Takao Omori/Manabu Soya -vs- Seiya Sanada/Joe Doering - Tag title fight. Get Wild vs the seemingly slapped together team of Sanada & Joe Doering who as the video package shows have the answer for Soya & Omori's strong style. Joe can match power and Sanada can put the champs away with his technique. Its a very good to great match with a surprising finish. It is not a classic encounter but is an excellent main event to an extremely enjoyable AJPW show.

    -----
    I got this show by accident as the wrong show was burned onto the disc. I'm not one to complain so I thought I'd enjoy it nonetheless. And I did! It is not a blow away amazing show but for the $3 spent, it was money well spent. If you're interested, check it out. I think there's one more installment of 2012 AJPW.
    Be safe folks and thank you for reading
     
  4. G. Badger
    We're back with Ring of Honor 2018 Global Wars in Buffalo, New York.
    Dalton Castle vs TK O'Ryan - skipped...this starts off as The Boys vs Vinny and Taven which kills the momentum of the show right off the bat.
    Kenny King vs Cheeseburger - skipped
    Kelly Klein vs Madison Rayne - skipped...notice a pattern?
    BUSHI vs Jonathan Gresham vs Flip Gordon vs Kushida - Ah a match that I'm interested in! This was fun but pretty underdeveloped and predictable. Nonetheless it still was enjoyable to see these guys do some cool spots even if obvious. BUSHI didn't do much for me but the other three were pretty good. I like this iteration of Flip Gordon.
    Jeff Cobb vs EVIL - I want to like Jeff Cobb but his intensity is lacking and his move set is unimpressive for his size. He has a good look and should be a beast but something just doesn't click with me. I've seen EVIL do better but that aside this was good stuff. But was not 'awesome ' as the crowd was chanting. It was a good mid card match that two professionals should be able to have. Nothing more or less. That doesn't really help my impression of Cobb though.
    Silas Young vs Juice Robinson - Here we go! Best Bout so far (not saying much!). Silas and Juice have a really good thing going. They are basic wrestlers with sprinkles of flash and it works out here. I was really digging this until Bully Ray comes out and spoils the finishing segment. I wouldn't care had the previous 2 bouts been better but damn dudes! Let's get an honest ***1/2 match in the books before you start with the Jeff Jarret-like bull crap! We get 95% of a very good match then some storyline setup. Whatever!
    Tetsuya Naito/SANADA vs Young Bucks - Thank goodness for the Young Bucks. They can get a show back on track in their sleep. Naito and Sanada have upped their games and have a great Young Bucks romp. Lots of cute sequences and fake outs but damn is it fast and exciting. Its Bucks by the numbers with Naito & Sanada plugged into that equation. And that's nothing to sneeze at
    Jay Lethal vs Chris Sabin - Proving ground match which is a 15 minute time limit match. If Sabin wins or lasts the time limit then he gets a shot at Lethal's championship. Yeah, best match so far. This isn't turn back the clock nostalgia. Both guys can still go! They play up their equality throughout and man are there some real surprises. I like that older Sabin is more like Alex Shelley now - he's all about Mr. Salty style submission holds. There's one segment when he just tears Lethal apart. This was smart as it not only ate up time but made Lethal weaker and less likely to hit the Lethal injection. This was a great match and if it was longer, I think it had the potential to be a classic. I liked the aftermath too. This felt like ROH of old.
    Best Friends vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Cody/Adam Page - Cody looks like a boy in pajama pants. He is like Peter Pan. Thank goodness he's in a multi man match. OK that's out of the way! This was a very good borderline great match. There's a little cutesy crap with Brandi and a group hug but overall this is serious match. Cody looked pretty good as his time was limited. Chuck Taylor was all business so yeah this delivered as a main event. They gave it plenty of time. Delirious can't help but overbook the finish for no good reason. Maybe it protects someone or something but not much makes sense in 2018 ROH. You just hope for exciting ma and stories be damned! This accomplished that and I ain't complaining.
     
    We'll finish up with the final stop of the tour in Toronto in a day or two! Thanks for reading I recommend checking out the Lethal vs Sabin match for sure! But the last 3 matches make this show worthwhile. 
  5. G. Badger
    Thanks for sticking with me! We're finally to the end of Tiger Mask in NJPW. Or at least to the end of my DVD set! Let's take a look
    Tiger Mask/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi/Isamu Teranishi (7/20/83): One clip in the match but that didn't hurt anything. All high speed action match. The finish was really nice too! 
    Tiger Mask vs. El Halcon - WWF Jr. Title (7/29/83): Return to early form with the Falcon. This was a near great match (***3/4+) since it was just so clean and well executed. It was more lucha than anything done recently. I still felt the sense of competition. It was like two honorable competitors trying to use their techniques to gain victory as opposed to fighting with strikes. A joy to watch!

    -----
    Tiger Mask/Osamu Kido vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi/Isamu Teranishi (8/1/83): jip but what was shown was really good stuff. Lots of trying to steal the mask. Isamu damn near pins Tiger with a German suplex. Great finish...kinda like a leg trap powerbomb! Fighting after the bell too, I love it!


    -----
    Tiger Mask vs. Isamu Teranishi - NWA Jr. Title (8/4/83): The final match goes out with a bang! Teranishi is the Akira Taue to Sayama Tiger's Misawa. They went all out for this with stuff that easily could have been seen in 1993. On top of that Teranishi has the German suplex which damn near beat TM a couple of days earlier. This is the end of the road and anything could happen!

    -----
    To close out the DVD, Sayama (I presume) gives commentary on some of his trademark moves. Too bad that I don't understand Japanese yet its still an excellent quick overview of the set
    In summary, this has been a fantastic experience. I've gotten so much enjoyment out of this project. I've been able to see a bunch of different wrestlers from the early 80's UK, Mexico, and Japan. I know some folks have differing opinions on Tiger Mask and some of these matches. That's cool but I beg to disagree. The most well-known matches vs Dynamite are still great. I believe only the final encounter is what I would consider a classic. The feud with Kobayashi is more my preference and maybe when comparing ratings, they aren't too different. However the Kobasyashi matches just feel so much more REAL than the D.K. bouts. I'm only comparing because those are the two defining feuds of Tiger Mask.
    Black Tiger should have been an equal but other than a couple matches, I never felt like he was in the same league. Not only story wise but also performance wise. I think if it was just Marc Rocco and not Black Tiger, we'd be talking about something different. The Gran Hamada matches were something that I heard a little bit about but man, go see 'em. I wish there were more. Hamada is a favorite of mine so these lived up to and exceeded expectations. Pete Roberts and Steve Wright...yeah no idea and was so happily surprised. In fact, I had read mediocre things about many if the non Dynamite -Kobayashi-Black Tiger bouts. I read that the Teranishi matches were crap. What!? In a way, I'm glad that's what I read because it felt like I was finding something special on my own. And that's why I had such a great time.

    If you can't tell, I highly recommend watching these matches and getting the DVD set if that's your thing. The mix of opponents, match types, and styles made this a blast!
    I usually list my favorite matches at the end of my projects but I urge you to go back through the posts and re-read. The above mentioned matches should give you an idea of the classic and great ones but there are so many others worth your time as well. Thanks for reading! Stay safe and be kind this holiday season
     
  6. G. Badger
    Hello and welcome to my end of the year Best Match Watched list! Its like your Match of the Year lists but isn't limited to matches that took place this calendar year. Obviously, right? I haven't watched much of anything from 2021. Let's take a look at the first part of this year's viewing.
    Tiger Mask vs Pete Roberts (09/10/82 NJPW)
    Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Gannosuke (01/06/98 FMW)
    Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (03/13/98 FMW)
    Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (04/30/98 FMW)
    Tetushiro Kuroda vs Masato Tanaka (06/19/98 FMW)
    Hisakatsu Oya vs Tetsuhiro Kuroda (12/12/98 FMW)
    Abdullah Kobayashi vs Daisuke Sekimoto (07/22/05 BJW)
    Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Rave & Shingo (FIP New Year's Classic 2007)
    Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong (FIP Heatstroke '07 Night 1)
     
    Honorable Mention Tag Matches - Gotta show some love to the tag matches that just missed the cut:
    Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Black Tiger & Pete Roberts (08/27/82 NJPW)
    Jado & Gedo vs Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka (05/05/98 FMW)
    Hayabusa &Tanaka vs W*ing Kanemura & Kodo Fuyuki (05/27/98 FMW)
    BxB Hulk and Yamato vs Roderick Strong and Jay Briscoe (FIP Third Year Anniversary)
    -----
    And let's see what the second half of 2021 had for us:
    Roderick Strong vs Erick Stevens (Dangerous Intentions 2008 FIP)
    Erick Stevens vs Go Shiozaki (Heatstroke 2008 FIP)
    AJ Styles vs Roderick Strong vs Kyle O'Reilly (Aftershock Hopkins 2015 ROH)
    Go Shiozaki vs Roderick Strong (Fallout 2008 FIP)
    CM Punk vs AJ Styles (Tradition Continues 2003 ROH)
    Jun Kasai, Men's Teioh, Y. Miyamoto & Jaki Numazawa vs Abby Kobayashi, T. Sasaki, MASADA, Shadow WX (01/02/07 BJW)
    AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels (Turning Point 11/09 TNA)
    Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (02/03/83 NJPW)
    Strong BJW vs Suwama & Takumi Soya (03/20/12 AJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (06/02/83 NJPW)
    Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (07/14/83 NJPW)
    Jay Lethal vs Kenny King (Global Wars Toronto 2018 ROH)
     
    -Honorable Mentions:
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (04/12/86 AJPW)
    Sting vs Kurt Angle (Empty Arena Match Impact 2009 TNA) 
    Desmond Wolfe vs Kurt Angle (Turning Point 11/09 TNA)
     
    -Re-watch honorable mentions:
    These don't count towards my BMW but I give high recommendations.
    Eddie Edwards vs Roderick Strong (Battle of Los Angeles 2011 PWG) Classic match
    Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong (Titannica 2010 PWG) Classic match
    Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid (04/21/83 NJPW) Classic match

    -Wrestler of the Year -
    Wrestler of the year is between Roderick Strong, Hayabusa, AJ Styles and Tiger Mask. AJ and Hayabusa had some really awesome battles the first half of the year. Styles just shined in everything I saw him in. Tiger and Roddy were ubiquitous in 2021 though. Strong was the ace of FIP and although I won't count his PWG matches but he killed it there. But you might have guessed, Tiger Mask is the wrestler of the year. Tiger Sayama had fantastic matches in a variety of styles and with a variety of opponents. Beyond that he was so damn innovative and had battles that looked & felt 10 and even 20 years ahead of their time.
     
    -Feud of the Year- 
    Hayabusa/FMW vs Team No Respect had some really great encounters but fizzles out with the multi man matches. Erick Stevens vs the world in FIP was pretty damn compelling stuff and he had some of FIP's best singles bouts in the process. Homicide vs Corino was only a couple matches but was some of the most intense stuff of the year. Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask was the best feud though. But the match quality and intensity of each match really elevated it above all else.
     
    -Match of the Year -
    In all honesty, its tough for me to pick anything that rose above the rest. Everything listed was fantastic but I really had to go through my notes and blog posts to remind myself what was an all-time classic match. I think I'm going back to the first half of the year.  Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (03/13/98 FMW), Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (04/30/98 FMW), and Daisuke Sekimoto vs Abdullah Kobayashi (07/22/05 BJW) are my single match picks. Sekimoto vs Abby Jr. is very stylistically similar to the FMW bouts. The  best tag match is the Sekimoto & Okabayashi vs Suwama & T. Soya from All Japan 2012. But I really recommend Roddy & Jack Evans vs Jimmy Rave (RIP) & Shingo in FIP as well. All that said the best match watched of 2021 was Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (04/30/98 FMW) due to the historical depth and the "deep" selling by Gannosuke. The wrestlers ' past, the stakes, the story of the match itself. It is comparable to a  Misawa vs Kawada classic while still being FMW. That's a perfect combination for me. And one that I didn't know existed. If I was actively following FMW in 1998 and saw  this when I was 14, I would have been flipping out!
     
    -Closing Remarks -
    I'll be frank: Check out the 6 disc Tiger Mask DVD set. Check out some of the FIP DVDs before they are gone. I really feel like those are going to be lost to time just for the mere fact that other FIP reviews are so hard to find online. And I'm not seeing much variety of DVDs on eBay. The BJW matches are also nearly lost media in my view. They just haven't gotten the hype that AJ, NOAH & especially NJPW have gotten. All of the above are for sale at Highspots. Not shilling here but trying to get you pointed in the right direction if you're wondering. Of course, check out what you can online as well. My goal for the blog is to provide some kind of record of wrestling soon to be forgotten. Its imperfect and biased but hopefully it encourages people to look to the past, give something a chance or even a second look.
    Thanks so much for reading! I hope that I've given you some enjoyment as well as some inspiration. Keep exploring! Stay safe folks and see you in 2022
  7. G. Badger
    Kaitlin Diemond vs Karen Q - sorry, I skipped it. Long show for me.
    Chuck Taylor vs Adam Page - From last night's main event, we get a really good opening match. Seriously, this felt like a regular ROH opener compared to the previous show in Buffalo. That's even with me skipping matches too. The Buffalo show was anemic up until the Silas vs Juice match. This was just as good as that and we really haven't gotten started!
    Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Tetsuya Naito/BUSHI - What is Naito doing this low on the card? Ian, Colt and Caprice (I thought I missed Colt when he left but man I'm just a fan of Ian & Cedric together) indicate that Cody won't be on the show due to injury so they had to shuffle the card a bit. I guess that's part of why we get Page vs Chuck and this tag match. This is surprisingly good. Its sleep walking Naito and Bushi vs Vinny &TK probably having one of their biggest matches. It was rough around the edges but damn they brought just about everything that they have.
    With that said, I'm going note how despite this being a Global Wars tour, there's been a pretty meager NJPW presence. I'm not counting Juice because he's stylistically American. Other than Kushida, the LIJ guys have not really done anything to blow my socks off. If I was a younger fan, it'd be cool just to see them but in my heart, I'd be disappointed. Kinda like Kenta vs Misawa in ROH in 2008. It was cool and historical but not the all time classic we wanted. Well here ROH isn't even giving us fans the opportunity for top shelf performances. You stick main eventers in the mid card or below the top couple matches then I'll have to ask "why bother bringing them over?" It draws I guess but it doesn't seem to be productive long term. But heck I'm talk about stuff 3years ago! Next match!
    Matt Taven vs Christopher Daniels - Good match with few surprises though. I'm not complaining because its doing its job & I like both guys. But its wrecked by more interference leading to the finish. Is this fucking WCW?
    Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs EVIL/SANADA - Best Bout so far. Mark and Jay just beat Sanada like its Japan. Sanada and EVIL get steamed and man we get a very very good match. Its what you want and kicks into high gear but damn! We get another cheap finish. Come on! Can't they get a clean finish booked? Heck don't do 2 in a row at least...I wouldn't have minded this one if they didn't do something cheap right before this one. Everything that came before was really good stuff though so I still liked this overall.
    Jonathan Gresham vs Flip Gordon - I wish they would have given this at least 2-3 more minutes. It was over before it had a chance to get into high gear. Nonetheless, this technically was the best match this far. Flip hurt his leg and Gresham went after it in some very clever and punishing ways. Flip, to his credit, sold it quite well. I mean actually the best selling we've seen all tour sans Sabin vs Lethal last show. He hesitated on his movements, collapsed when he could have capitalized, and carried it through to the finish. Had this been a little longer, this would have been a great contest. Instead, they had to rush the finishing portion and wrap it up just too soon.

    -----
    Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky vs Super Smash Bros - ROH Tag Title Match - Yeah boy! This is what I'm talking! 12-13 minutes of straight bananas junior tag action. It was exactly what the show needed at just the right time. You could say that it was foolish to make this a title match since it telegraphs the outcome. But having the Smash Bros on here vs Kaz & Scorpio is all that matters. Great match, a blast!
    Trent Beretta vs Juice Robinson - This was supposed to be Trent vs Cody but the American Nightmare is injured. So they booked this instead. Seeing as both are NJ guys moreso than ROH, they fought this like a NJ match. Juice damn near died on a missed cannonball/rolling senton into and over the guardrail. You know the fans have changed because no one was chanting 'holy shit! Holy Shit!'. If there was a time to chant it, this was the time! From there they told the story of Juice hurting his back and Trent hurting his ribs. They weren't going to live and die on this story but it gave the middle of the bout substance. It was a means to explain why they were laboring to get to their feet and pull off their moves. I prefer this to plain old ' we're tired' or 'we're loopy'. The whole thing was excellent and really made me want to see more of Trent & Juice. They did exactly what the Global Wars tour is meant to do. Expose folks to new/different guys and make ROH seem like the place to watch. Near classic match, like ****1/4+ type stuff. Almost 20 minutes 'vintage' ROH action. The last three fights actually resemble Ring of Honor of old.

    -----
    Chris Sabin/Kushida vs Young Bucks - Another great tag match. I think having this after the Smash Bros one may have hurt it some. I waited a day to watch this but felt it didn't rock my world like that one did. Also seeing a few Young Bucks shows the past week or two diminished the pizzazz if their spots. They are less spontaneous than they seem after you've seen them a few times but n close proximity.That's one of my biggest issues with them. That all said, this is an all over the place crazy sequence heavy match. I am a fan of Superkicks as they add a bit of ferocity to what sometimes appears to be a gymnastics or acrobatics routine. All 4 guys did an excellent job pulling that off though. I wish we got to see more Kushida on his own in the Global Wars tour. Since these matches have all been free for alls, I didn't feel like I got to see what he was all about. Nonetheless, he's a talent and if I were younger, this match would have been mind blowing along with the SCU/Smash match.
    Jay Lethal vs Kenny King - ROH World Title Match - I remember really digging Kenny King's push back in 2018. I would catch ROH TV here and there. His hunt for Lethal was engaging so I am psyched to see this match. Even more so after watching him develop in FIP this past viewing year. He is a talent so to now see him with a larger frame and a killer instinct, he seems ready to take it to champ Jay Lethal.  Jay Lethal 2018-present has been one of the best at making everything he's in seem important. So although the Toronto fans may not have had the energy for this, it was a helluva title fight between two rivals. 20+ minutes of intense and exciting wrestling. I wouldn't say it is perfect but it is a fantastic main event and end to the Global Wars tour. A classic match to me.

    -----
    This without a doubt is the best show of the tour and although the Global Wars title might not be accurate, it still was high quality modern wrestling. This show is packaged with the Lowell, Lewiston, and Buffalo shows. It runs for $10.00-2.50 (the lowest was a black Friday deal) but even if you spent the $10 it would be worth it. A word to the wise ROH's S&H is kinda high so plan on getting a couple things to offset the cost. But yeah, a fantastic show in Toronto and a smattering of very good to great stuff across the other 3 dvds...including the excellent Sabin vs Lethal match in Buffalo ...this is a no brainer.
     
    Thanks for reading! Hoping to take a rest for the next few days. Then I'll post my year end Best Match Watched list and any superlatives I want to mention. Stay safe folks
     
  8. G. Badger
    If you've read the blog in the past or you've looked at enough entries, you know this is my busy time of the year for my job. So, I'm going to try in earnest to finish up the Tiger Mask set up before Xmas. I watched all of these yesterday and I have four more that I'm going to try for tonight. I don't like to rush things if you haven't seen yet But I don't want to stretch the set out into 2022. I am looking forward to doing my 2021 Best Match Watched list along with other superlatives at the end of December. I would really like to finish the 2018 ROH Global Wars tour before then as well. I don't want to drag that out. I'm probably not going to finish my AJPW 2012 shows but you never know! If I can get Tiger and ROH done and have energy after work then, I'd like to shoot for it. 
    Anyhow, let's get to the wrestling! Mid 1983 NJPW!
    Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - NWA Jr. Title (6/2/83) - Oh my goodness! This is their best bout so far. This felt like a Misawa vs Kawada match as they have no only had many encounters to build the feud but they are physically and stylistically similar like you don't see very often. This is the match that Tiger Mask wanted to have. He can do lucha and British grappling. It really felt ahead of its time. The stiffness and aggression were amped up. This looked like a fight. I wrote a whole lot more but it may have spoiled the ending and I try to avoid that. It wasn't my favorite ending yet it was a clean finish. 

    -----
    Tiger Mask vs. Fishman - WWF Jr. Title (6/12/83, Mexico City, Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) - Good match with some good moves. First appearance of Tiger's Red bell bottoms. Great costumes and atmosphere.

    -----
    Tiger Mask vs. Isamu Teranishi - NWA Jr. Title (7/7/83) - Teranishi is a guy I've seen ringside but had no idea who he was. I always thought he was bald based on Fire Pro R. Not the case! I've seen poor reviews of this feud but you know this was very good stuff. Teranishi looks like a meat & potatoes wrestler but he's got quickness and some tricks up his sleeve. Kobayashi is at ringside and this breaks down after the 3 count and Tiger gets his mask shredded. This match along with the post match elevated this to something great and provides more substance to the larger TM/Kobayashi feud. Hells yeah!

    -----
    Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - WWF Jr. Title (7/14/83)- Oh boy, here we go again. This starts out like a shoot match and you can see Tiger's time with the judoka Kobayashi helped his vision for UWF. Much like the encounter above this exemplifies the best of Junior Strong Style. The action is exciting, the mat work is engaging and the stakes are high. This looks and feels like wrestling as competition. Here unlike other classic lucha and British style bouts, Tiger is able to fight a style of his own which combines stiff kicks,  minor acrobatics and grappling perfectly. Perhaps it is because Kuniaki is also comfortable in this style that we truly get to see the zenith of TM. That's why I made they Kawada/Misawa comparison. These two bring the best out of each other. Classic match as long as you're OK with the "80s ending. " I may have preferred it to the clean finish in their first match above. Or maybe equal...
    This was an excellent clutch of matches to get me enthused about finishing the set.
    Thanks for reading! Be kind! And hope to write again with more Tiger Mask real soon
  9. G. Badger
    Here's stop #2 on the 2018 Global Wars tour. We're in Lowell, MA.
    Matt Taven vs BUSHI - Nice start to the show. Good action from both guys. A little quick but its the opening match so, I can't complain!
    The Bouncers vs Dalton Castle/Juice Robinson - This could have been good but I skipped it. Too much comedy...I should have Fast Forwarded the intros and maybe I wouldn't skipped this.
    Frankie Kazarian vs Flip Gordon - Whoa this was your X division title match! Wait wrong company! Good stuff...a little bit too cutesy with moves but some were really sick looking! No selling but for the spot on the card it is acceptable :-)
    Sumie Sakai vs Jenny Rose - Stylistically this was my favorite match so far. Simple moves, aggressive behavior, and organic progression to the story. Nice selling of pain and exhaustion for an under 9 minute match. Excellent finish too! Liger style avalanche Frankensteiner to pin.
    Jay Briscoe vs Scorpio Sky- Alright! We get another intense competitive wrestling match. Briscoe and Scorpio Sky hit some big blows here and neither wants to back down. We get a sorta kinda cheap win as things were heating up but this was bordering on a very good match. As it is maybe ***1/2 -ish. I've seen this get * elsewhere but I think that's too harsh. Seriously I would make a concession to go *** but no way is this a poorer match than anything proceeding it.
    Bully Ray/Silas Young vs EVIL/SANADA- A simple but effective match. Bully is old school heeling and its up to the LIJ team to shut him up. Really fun match but this is a waste of EVIL and Seiya Sanada. Sure Ian says they're keeping a tally (like the WCW vs NJ Starrcade I believe) but that's just fluff. There's no stakes. So then you have to wonder why we can't have another team in there OR why a more dynamic ROH isn't taking place. ROH is very much TNA circa 2005-09 in 2018, that's why. We get dissension after the match.
    Jeff Cobb vs Christopher Daniels - This was starting to be something good but it finished up rather quickly. It was fun but truthfully underwhelming from both guys considering the legend status of Daniels and the hype of Cobb. It makes Cobb look strong but it looks like an artificial boost in his power rather than him really decimating his opponent Chris Daniels.
    Mark Briscoe vs Cody - The entrances to the match show why ROH dropped off after the AEW exodus. The people who are chanting "Cody!" and have their Bullet Club shirts, Young Buck fans etc. really weren't long term ROH fans but birds migrating from WWE over to ROH when they got the NJ/PWG/Bucks/Omega hype and have since flown off since the NJ/Elite split. The 2019 crowds were the drizzling shits. I mean Mark Briscoe has the same legend status as Daniels. It terms of ring wars and titles held he's more of one to be fair. This stage of ROH and pop wrestling is all about fan service and interaction, I suppose. People are tired of watching the show, they want to be a part of it. This is obvious to those that still watch WWE or AEW. But to an old timer like me, its a bit of a revelation. I think that's why people can get hyped about a middle of the road talent like Cody. We can see the difference as he floats around like Peter Pan whereas Mark Briscoe moves like he wants to hurt people. Thankfully the better part of this match had  Mark doing just that. Cody gets a chicken -shit heel win and the fans cheer. I don't understand this...Cody is like Christian Cage 2.0 with a dye job. Its an OK match. Sucks Cody goes over even though it's splitsville pretty soon.

    This is a pretty disappointing upper card to the show when the early matches out perform the latter ones. Let's hope that the final two bouts save it.
    Adam Page vs Tetsuya Naito - Best match so far, thankfully! The crowd was kinda iffy and that hurt the match a little bit. The were sitting on their hands but still gave a 'this is awesome' chant?? Like they were obliged to so. Then later they were shitting on Todd saying he blew a 3 count. Hey dipshits...its not over when you think its over. Its over when its over. I don't think "older" ROH fans would chant 'you fucked up' at the ref if Austin Aries kicked out of KENTA GTS. They would be fucking excited and probably chant a sincere 'this is awesome '...Again these folks want to be part of the entertainment rather than be entertained. Its a different world and I guess I'm being nostalgic but they seem pretty content to chant the 'Elite' chant, cheer Naito when he mails in a ***3/4 match, and mug for the camera. All that said, its a very good match. On a normal show this would have been a a mid card match.
    Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Chris Sabin/Kushida vs Young Bucks - Thank goodness for this match! A great pedal to the metal free-for-all spot match that saved the show and surely sent the wrestling fans home happy! Kinda like a rough around the edges Dragon Gate style match but dammit, it was what we all needed after a pretty uninspired show. I'll say its in the **** range. The last few minutes are pretty stellar and reminiscent of the Dragon Gate matches a decade earlier.
     

    -----
    This would have been a pretty good FIP show but, for all of the talent on here, that's more of a insult than a compliment. I think if you paid $15 for a ticket then you'd be a happy camper. If this were its own DVD eh...I think the live experience made this better than it was on tape. Bundling this show with 3 other shows makes sense. I waited and bought the set for $5 last Black Friday and this one it was down to $2.50, I think?? The main event here is the only thing I would highly recommend watching. It was fun at times and went by fast but the crowd got on my nerves.

    For better or worse those people hit the road with The Elite in 2019.
    Thanks for reading!
  10. G. Badger
    I got the 4 disc set from ROH last year on a season sale and shoot might as well check it out. I always wanna watch stuff in chronological order but I got to give that up or I'll never watch everything. This set is $5 for 4 discs. This is disc one...just want to keep it simple.
    Eli Isom vs Flip Gordon - I skipped this...great start, right? I got too much to watch to spend time with this.
    Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky vs The Bouncers - The start of my show and this was the way to do it. Speed vs power and vets vs younger guys...yeah this was very enjoyable. Was it the best use of Kaz & Scorp? No but, it was fun.
    Jeff Cobb vs Cheeseburger - I can justify The Bouncers but I really can't justify Cheeseburger. Skipped...terrible use of Jeff Cobb here.
    Matt Taven/Vinny Marseglia/TK O'Ryan vs Dalton Castle/The Boys - ROH Six-Man Tag Title Match - This was a really fun comedy match with some very good moments of wrestling. If you're feeling a PWG 6 man this will do the trick.
    Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Cody/Adam Page - I'm watching these like ROH TV shows where they squeeze 3 matches in an hour. This is my main event for the "episode." And wow! This was a very good match. I'm not a Cody fan but he works really well in tag matches since his weaknesses are well concealed. The Briscoes are the tops and were working on making this a great **** level bout. Page was definitely game for that.
    Christopher Daniels vs Juice Robinson - This was disappointing but it did confirm my practice of treating every 3 matches like a TV episode. This then was fine for a TV opener. On to the next match!
    Bully Ray/Silas Young vs Young Bucks- I can understand that people don't want to see Ray in ROH. But this is more TNA then ROH in 2018 and they can really use a guy who can draw some heat...even cheap heat. There's no real faces or heels in the company here. He and Silas actually feel like actual heels and they are in their with the biggest faces of the company (tweener faces I guess??). The biggest stars of the company at least. So they work a real simple face/heel match. Bubba...or Bully bumps for the Bucks, Silas is the athletic heel and the Jackson boys do their stuff. This was a great match. People will disagree but the heel stuff made the Bucks' moves mean something.
    Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham/Chris Sabin/Kushida vs Tetsuya Naito/EVIL/SANADA/BUSHI - Big names and the main event to this episode and DVD! And you know that it came through! It wasn't as good as the previous match but once it picked up it gave you all the action you wanted to see from the guys. I'm not seeing the NJ guys as much as I used to (fine by me) but this is a nice way for someone only seeing NJPW in ROH to get a taste. Like TNA doing their Global X matches, its a really good 15 minute action match that is fast and exciting without killing anyone. That being said, this didn't have a lot of personality from LIJ besides EVIL. Lethal's team was fun as heck though!
    This was a really good DVD. I'd totally say this by itself is worth the $5. There's no classic encounter and only one great **** match this was so easy and fun to watch.
    Thanks for reading!
  11. G. Badger

    Wrestling Art Show

    By G. Badger,

    I've been watching some TNA Year One which wasn't really something I thought to blog about. The Low- Ki, Styles & Jerry Lynn ladder match is fantastic though!
    In the meantime, I wanted to post some more of my fractured photos :-)
    TNA Double J


    -----
    AJ, Sting & Earl

    -----
    Wahoo & Tully...bleeding
    -----
    Sekimoto Maddness


     
    I should be posting some actual written materials shortly...probably some ROH stuff.
    Hope you enjoy!
  12. G. Badger
    Hello again! Part 3 will cover the 03/04 show from Tokyo's K-Hall. Then we close out with a tag title encounter from 03/20 which may be at Budokan or some other larger venue. So its a big time match-up.
    Let's go!
    Okabayashi -vs- Takumi Soya: We see a very good to great under 10 minute match between two rivals. Soya (Manabu's brother) is ranked below BJW's Okabayashi but he has tons of fight in him. That intensity raises this match up to be something special. And when I say intense, this at the start reminded me of Stan Hansen or Ishikawa vs Ikeda in Battlarts. It was just frenetic and violent. 
    Takao Omori/Manabu Soya -vs- KENSO/Kaz Hayashi (TLC match for tag title shot): A really fun TNA TV style ladder match. There is nothing too innovative or breath-taking. It was not trying to be an awesome bout as you would expect in the States.

    -----
    Yuji Nagata -vs- Masayuki Kono: An interpromotional grudge match between an aging Nagata and an adroit Masa Kono. This has good action and heat but this isn't something to seek out. Nice to see Nagata though!
    Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Osamu Nishimura: JIP OK stuff
    Kohei Suwama -vs- Seiya Sanada  - (2/3 Falls): A very good to great match between two of AJPW's best at this time. Here SUWAMA is Jumbo to Sanada's Misawa. Its not a perfect analogy but we get the underdog fight and the fighting spirit of Sanada to survive the big man's backdrop. SUWAMA is heir apparent to the move IMO. Also Sanada uses a bit of Misawa's offense like mulitple elbow strikes and the Tiger Suplex. The first fall has the best action while the second one has the fighting spirit story going for it. Personally I would have liked one longer fight rather than break it up but, it's all the same really.
    Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi -vs- Kohei Suwama/Takumi Soya (03/20): This was my main event for the comp DVD. It definitely delivered. This is your big time Tag Title FIGHT! There's history between these teams and the straps are on the line. The strength of Strong BJW is unmatched in 2012. However AJ's SUWAMA is a destroyer and Soya has the heart of a lion. This does not disappoint. Everyone gets banged up, most notably Sekimoto who's go a bruise on his cheekbone egging up. A great story along with great action and timing makes this a Classic match to me. 

    STRETCH PLUM! STRECH PLUM!!!
    -----

    Sekimoto is not happy...
    -----
    This was a really great comp which is available on IVP video as October-November 2012. I think it was an AJPW TV rebroadcast (we get commercials). If you do business with him and are looking for something different to try, this is a good pick.
    Thanks for reading!
     
  13. G. Badger
    Here we are at Part #2 of my non-comprehensive and completely based around my cheapness look at AJPW 2012. I have this and the 03/04/12 showon a AJPW comp type DVD. I think there's two more shows after that. Let's see how things go!
    Mutoh/Akebono/Ryota Hama vs Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi/Yoshito Sasaki - This was a fine example of Korakuen hall 6 man magic. Mutoh and his team's limitations were hidden because no one was in there long enough to be offensive. Also the BJW team (who are some of my faves) have a simple hard hitting style that works well against the giants Akebono and Hama. Mutoh was relatively untouchable and did his trademark moves but - its fun to still see him out there! It was generally a predictable match with the fat guy spots, fighting spirit toughness and the aforementioned Muto spots but it was a ton of fun! 
    Masa Fuchi/Hikaru Sato -vs- Hiroshi Yamato/Yasufumi Nakanoue - This was about 7 minute and had some good stuff but was too short to rate.
    Kenny Omega -vs- Kaz Hayashi.  *All Japan Jr. Title - Overall, I think Kenny Omega is OK. Kinda like how I really like pancakes and french toast but waffles are OK if the other two aren't available. I wanted to say that first and foremost because I think his weird antics and attempts to get heat didn't help this match. The start of the match was a really exciting sequence followed by a spectacular moonsault off of some tables set atop the K-Hall stage. It was something special. After that his control section, which took up the middle of the match, were a series of tepid Muto spots where he was looking for cheap heat from the AJPW crowd. I don't think most people care because in 2012 who the hell was Kenny Omega to the AJPW crowd? It would be different if Muto was at ringside with Kaz. It really just looked bush-league. As the match kicked into high gear, Omega was performing at the level we would see in NJPW. In fact he out performed the veteran Hiyashi who threw some of the worst punches in the strike exchange. Omega was throwing stiff chops but Kaz wouldn't take the bait and dragged this potentially exciting moment down. The finish was pretty darn good but overall this title fight was disappointing. I guess my hopes were for a **** great match. There were glimmers of greatness but in the end this was just a good match with flaws.
    Jun Akiyama -vs- Takao Omori    *Triple Crown* - This is not a mid 1990s Triple Crown defense obviously. But they were able to take this back to the late 80's -'92 era of Triple Crown matches. It was not tremendously spectacular but it was fought with ferocity and guts. And a bit of wits too. What interested me in this period of AJ was Akiyama's return but also in his stylistic choice to go back to the old days of AJ by focusing on smart hard hitting physical matches without the head drops or flash. This was a fantastic example of that as the body of the match focussed on his attempt to weaken Omori's Ax Bomber lariat arm. Omori then trying to fight despite that weakness and then realizing he can't get the win without it. This was a great match between two vets of the golden 90's going out there and showing folks (and probably Kenny Omega) how its done. Solid **** match right here.

    ----
    Overall, this was a pretty good night of wrestling. Nothing that's must-see but I'm sure the Akiyama vs Omori is something that an old fan of AJPW would enjoy. I would recommend that for sure. the BJW 6 man match is also very fun. Again, the Kaz vs Kenny bout had some high points but is more about it being two guys letting me down. But I wouldn't dissuade anyone from watching it ...I still think its got more positive points than negative.
    Thanks for reading! Stay safe folks!
  14. G. Badger
    Ring of Honor 2003 was something that was interesting to me for a couple reasons. The first was that it featured so many highly regarded matches with great show titles - 1st Year Anniversary (3 way), London vs Daniels from Round Robin II, The Epic Encounter, Night of the Grudges, Main Event Spectacles, and Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies and War of the Wire. ROH 2003 was also intriguing because these shows or matches are pretty hard to find. Comparatively 2004 stuff is still easy to track down because of such landmark shows or matches that have sold well over the years. Enough fans bought these back in the day either in 2004 or after that they're available on eBay or Amazon.  Or they were significant enough to put on a compilation or two. Think of Joe vs Punk's trilogy, Generation Next, Weekend of Thunder, Final Battle 2004...I even see the Reborn series and some of the highlights now and again. Going back 2003 on paper had as many or more MOTYCs than 2004 but these DVDs don't see the light of day as often as 2004. It was an odd situation. One would think 2003 stuff would be more available and ROH would have gone back an re-printed those shows. I mean I got Joe vs Punk II in 2008 but I don't recall much of any 2003 stuff being available then...save the early compilations which are hit or miss in terms of quality. Sidenote - The best title is 'Let the Gates of Hell Open' which is the Rottweilers comp. 
    Sorry for being long-winded. My point is that part of my interest in 2003 was also based upon its scarcity. 2004 was pretty available and 2002 due to the Takedown Masters and other re-print/re-packging was available (although I dragged my feet on that). Yeah 2003 had all of these classic bouts but never seemed within reach. So back in 2016 I scooped up ROH's Year Two DVD set as fast as I could (along with some other stuff) because I knew ROH's comps always went out-of-print. Knowing the lack of availability of these matches/shows for a fair price, this seemed like the only chance I would have. Its stupid but fear of missing out was at the heart of this. History has shown that to be a good move on my part. Since then ROH has dramatically cut back on their DVD production especially their compilations, which I think is their biggest asset (re-issuing their back catalog). 
    I was finally able to see the all time classics mentioned above and man I was so glad. These were awesome contests and the biggest discovery was just how amazing Paul London was then. Seriously if he had stuck around, ROH would have been a different place for the better. But as you can tell from the title of this post, its not about him. Its not about those matches but the ones that were omitted. There was no Corino vs Homicide. I really wanted to see those but apparently they were omitted to be put in the Notorious 187's comp from the same time. I passed on that due to the problem of too many duplicated matches from other DVDs. 
    So years went by and I just figured I'd miss 'em. That's part of being a fan is knowing you won't see everything you want to. However, at the start of the pandemic a lot of places put stock on sale. ROH was one of them and the Homicide one wasn't available but there was a Steve Corino one!?  But there was Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies and War of the Wire listed. 
    The backstory of the feud has to do with Corino kicking Homicide during a tag match in 2002. Homicide then gets revenge at All Star Extravaganza when he stabs him with a fork ala Abdullah the Butcher. Final Battle 2002 sees Corino hurt 'Cide and take his place in the 4 Way match. That's a classic match you should see.
    So now we're onto 2003 with the 1st Anniversary show where Corino introduces his ill-fated Group of Samoa Joe, Michael Shane and CW Anderson. This causes a big problem for ROH as this goes against the official booking. Of course this is a work. It doesn't matter because the fans are pissed. The match happens and its OK but the excitement comes from the fans shouting at Joe and company at ringside. It really is at or beyond ECW levels of unrest. Eventually the fans spill over the guard rail and attack Steve and his group. This is crazy! There is some certainty that most of these folks were plants but its been pointed out that a few real people rushed the ring as well. Supposedly Homicide breaks character and protects his foes. I for sure saw Joe beat the hell out of one guy. This was a tremendously risky booking decision but it paid off. I would consider this more of an angle than a match.
    vs Homicide (Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies 2003): Here's the first real meeting in my view and its a battle. Its a relaxed rules match and the only real rules enforced are the rope breaks and the ring-out count. Beyond that it appears anything goes! The blood was flowing and hits were connecting. Early on Corino eggs 'Cide to give him his best shot and gets a hard slap in return. This pops Corino's ear drum and as you may know he's left permanently deaf in that ear. What's odd to me is that this blow takes place so soon. I had always thought it took place late in the match. Credit to Corino for continuing after this injury. This was a great match (****) but it left room for the feud to continue.

    -----
    vs Homicide (War of the Wire 2003): It makes perfect sense that they escalated to a barb wire match. Although I'm sure CZW did barb wire matches, I look to this bout as the sequel to Funk vs Sabu in ECW. ROH was the true heir to ECW's throne. To me this match felt like bringing the wire out of retirement after Paul E. vowed never to do another Barb Wire match. As if to say that the hate was so intense that only an ancient and forbidden battle would settle the score. They did it justice as both wrestlers put their bodies on the line. Their seconds got involved as well and made things more chaotic. I think it was a classic ROH match. Do not expect a work rate match with barb wire though. He had it in him in 2002 ASE and Final Battle but he'd gained some weight. More than that, I appreciate that as it puts over the damaging effects of the wire (If you are looking for something like that BJW has you covered.) That being said I wouldn't say it was the best wire match EVER but it was worth the wait.  

    -----
    In all honesty, I can't see why this was omitted from the Year Two DVD in terms of quality of content. These matches deserved to be on Disc #2 of that set as both are iconic matches. Secondly, disc #2 is the weaker of the set. I think we all would have picked these bouts over the Scramble Cage Match from Main Event Spectacles or AJ vs Kaz Hiyashi from Final Battle for instance. Perhaps swap one out at least. That being said, I'm glad they were available on this Steve Corino DVD. Like Paul London, I think ROH would have been a different place had Corino stuck around long term. His story in ROH is an odd one. He comes and goes every few years but always feels like an outsider threatening the principles and values of the company. In the included interview, he compares himself to Riki Choshu in this regard. I'm glad I got to see his first invasion and am looking forward to his return and the SCUM storyline in the future.
    Thanks for reading!
  15. G. Badger
    Here we go again with more of our hero Tiger Mask! We're getting close to the end.
    Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada -  (2/3/83): This featured great matwork, agility, timing, counters and reversals. Much of this was on the mat and that's where Tiger is best despite being known as a flying innovator. These two are just amazing together. A classic encounter.

    -----
    Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger -  (2/7/83): JIP 8 minutes in,  good match with state of the art offense. Black Tiger isn't Tiger's best opponent but he's always there to try and foil our hero's plans.
    Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi -  (2/8/83): 7 minute JIP, what was shown was awesome. Its a shame we didn't get to see their feeling out period and matwork. Spectacular stuff that was 10 years ahead of its time. Check out the Muta lock!! Yeah, Muta got nuthin' on this!

    -----
    Tiger Mask/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Gran Hamada/Kuniaki Kobayashi (2/10/83): Another JIP, 4 minutes in but I think we get enough to not have it be obvious. This is pretty exciting stuff with action from bell to bell. 
    Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid -  (4/21/83): The final encounter and the famous restart match. This may be the first "5 more minutes!" match. I think that's what made it a classic match. It was off the hook when both guys got disqualified. The fans were chanting for more time or a re-start...and they give it to 'em!! We haven't seen this level of intensity in awhile...I mean its over the Kuniaki matches when Dynamite Kid is bringing broken bottles in the ring to stab TM with! We haven't seen Dynamite in some time but they really dial it up for this ultimate fight. I have some problems with some move choices and their selling but I think all US fans that grew up with the Undertaker will feel this way. Classic match for everything that goes on here.
    I've got one more disc of my TM DVD set so probably 2 more posts. I'm still enjoying the heck outta this set. We've got more Kobayashi  in singles and tags so, it should be good!
    Thanks for reading!
  16. G. Badger
    I pulled out a few more PWG dvds for a re-watch to see if they were as good as I remembered and to be surprised how stacked some of the shows were. BOLA 2012 - wow...Anyhow, I cherry picked matches featuring Roderick Strong, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards as well as a bonus match. OK let's take a look
    Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong (Titannica 2010): Holy cow! This is way beyond what I saw them doing against each other in FIP 2006. On top of that, we get no playing to the PWG crowd, jokes or other stuff that became commonplace in the Reseda VFW. This is just two of the best Juniors going out there and bringing innovation, intensity, speed and stiffness. They brought the energy level up and settled it down, brought it up - settled it down. This was probably my best match watched in 2016. It stuck with me for days..and to boot its still available for $5 on Highspots as of this post. Classic match still to this day. Thankfully! 

    -----
    Eddie Edwards vs Roderick Strong (BOLA 2011): I haven't seen their ROH stuff but this was right up my alley as athletic competition/dramatized combat sport. I thought this was a classic BOLA match as the physicality, move choice and timing was excellent. Truly I would say it was on par with a Champion Carnival match of AJPW 90's. 

    -----
    Drake Younger vs Roderick Strong (BOLA 2012 n.1): A very good match that if given more time would have been a great one. This was really brutal at times.

    -----
    Kyle O'Reilly vs Eddie Edwards (BOLA 2012 n.1): Two of my favourite guys but they never developed a story here. They just ran through a lot of good stuff but they never gave a chance to mean anything. That's OK because they would go on to perfect this on ROH's Reclamation Night 1.
    Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin (BOLA 2012 n.1): This was a Showdown in the Sun rematch and they have amazing chemistry. There are great strikes, counters, fighting spirit comebacks and all those things made this great. I hesitate to call this a classic because the stalling suplex spot was too long and they kicked out of one too many good finishes. I mean the ending should have been Davey's absolutely perfect flurry of kicks. It WAS the right moment but they wanted to do a minute or two more. It still works and is certainly the match of the night and was pretty bad ass. I'll say it's a BOLA classic but if a couple things were different this would be an all-time classic.

    One thing I'll say is folks got pretty drunk and that hurt the show. I felt that they got drunk early too. The guys in the front row are drinking pitchers of beer. Reminds me of college...but yeah lots of chanting, guys trying to get cheap laughs from the crowd, etc. Should have muted this...
    Adam Cole vs Eddie Edwards (BOLA 2012 n.2): This starts with Cole doing comedy heel shit and Eddie punishing him for it. This was a really good pairing AND fans aren't drinking tonight. Great match!
    *Bonus*
    Michael Elgin vs Ricochet (BOLA 2012 n.2): I distinctly remember thinking this was fantastic and I'm glad to say that holds up. This doesn't really come across as a classic but man, its the most logical and well paced match that on the BOLA this year. It was the man-beast vs the high flyer and they did an AWESOME job selling this story. Most of Ricochet's offense was hope spots and counters. And unlike Davey vs Elgin the night before, they didn't empty the tank but they never over did it. A great match and honestly its probably better than that because its smart.

    -----
    Overall this was a pretty fun and rewarding rewatch experience! I genuinely was having a blast watching these matches without the "need" to watch the rest of the show. I would recommend all of the actual dvds if you're into these wrestlers but it was nice to rewatch and pretty much enjoy them like the first time 5-6 years ago.
    Thanks for reading! More Tiger Mask on the way shortly. Stay safe folks!
  17. G. Badger
    Here we go! 1983 
    Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - NWA Jr. Title (1/6/83): This is one of my early favorites of my puro dvd collection. I probably saw it in 2010 or so with my dad along with the Dynamite Kid ones. This is the match that gave me a clue that TM could be more than his feud with Dynamite. This was awesome then and its awesome now. Its ahead of its time with nearfalls, double count outs, etc. This was pretty darn stiff near the end and was very  intense. This was a near classic match to me.

    ----
    Tiger Mask/El Gran Hamada/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Los Misioneros De La Muerte (Negro Navarro/El Signo/El Texano) (1/14/83): This was clipped a little bit in the beginning but after that one it was shown in full. Man, this was all kinds of fun! 
    Tiger Mask vs. Negro Navarro (1/20/83): JIP a little as far as I could tell. I wasn't expecting that! Really good stuff that was enjoyable to watch. Based on these two matches, I wish more of this mini feud made the DVD.

    ----
    Tiger Mask/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Black Tiger/Jose Estrada (1/28/83): A fast paced tag match with Black Tiger Rocco thankfully returning to form. He looked best here. This was another fun match.
    This round of matches from Tiger were a breeze to watch. The variety of opponents he faces make this set stay fresh & interesting. I make sure to take breaks but every time I come back to it, it doesn't disappoint.
  18. G. Badger
    We're back with more from the original Tiger Mask! 
    vs Black Tiger (09/21/82): There were some neat moves here but it didn't flow very well as both seemed off their game. Highlight was Tiger double knee dropping the mat from the top rope.

     
    vs Marty Jones (10/08/82): This was much better but not as awesome as I had expected. This match was a very good technician vs technician bout. It was on its way to great things though.
    vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (10/26/82): KK & TM just despise one another. This felt more like a fight than the above matches. Very aggressive tone to every block, counter and dodge. This is very much Tiger in his element and we're rewarded with logical uses of his speed and agility (rather than doing spots for the crowd). Great match even with an old school ending.

     
    vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (11/04/82): A bigger, better version of the above match. I mean Tiger drop kicks Kuniaki before the bell rings. This felt like a grudge match for sure! But what's interesting is that Kobayashi isn't a heel but more of true equal to Tiger Mask...thing is he wants to take that mask...to get TM to stop playing dress up. At least that's what I gather from how the match is wrestled It reminded me of Otani or Kawada letting an emotion get in their way of victory. I'd call this a near classic match. I've seen folks go higher than that so you really want to check it out for yourself. Personally I think this is THE series of matches people should see instead of the Dynamite Kid ones...if you only are going to choose one.

     
    That's all for now! We get another match with Kobayashi as well as some lucha action next installment!
    Thanks for reading! Check out the Kobayashi matches and see ya soon
     
  19. G. Badger
    I've been reorganizing some stuff around the house and was going through a box of dvds. I found some PWG ones that I'd watched 5 years ago. I wasn't really keeping notes and was in a down period regarding wrestling. I just wanted to check out something different. Anyways, I thought I'd give a few things a re-watch and a proper review. 
    Roderick Strong vs. Joey Ryan (Block A Quarterfinal) - skipped...I'm just over Joey Ryan's shtick.
    Alex Shelley vs. Matt Sydal (Block A Quarterfinal)- skipped, people really dig this. I'd recommend it too! but I've seen it a few times. It's kind of dry IMO.
    PAC vs. Claudio Castagnoli (Block B Quarterfinal) - Spectacular at times, Claudio was a fantastic base for PAC's moves. Likewise, PAC moved and bumped brilliantly for Double C. Very good match
    CIMA vs. SHINGO (Block B Quarterfinal) - Not as spectacular but more well developed and paced. Didn't think a ton about it originally but this was **** great match.
    Nigel McGuinnes vs. Necro Butcher (Block C Quarterfinal) - This was mainly Nigel being awesome in 2007. Good stuff very easy to watch.
    El Generico vs. Dragon Kid (Block C Quarterfinal) - Skipped wasn't interested. Having Claudio here would also have worked booking -wise
    Roderick Strong vs. Alex Shelley (Block A Semifinal) - First off, get the Alex Shelley ROH DVD now if you're a fan of his. Originally watched this after the 2004-05 Gen Next saga including the Embassy stuff. This match TOTALLY extends that feud to 2007 and in a PWG ring...the opening sequences and move theft make this so much deeper than just a very good match. If you know that stuff then this match is great shit! If this wasn't a tournament then they would have went on to wrestle a classic.Makes me wish we got more Alex Shelley in late 2000's ROH. He is truly an unsung great of ROH.
    CIMA vs. PAC (Block B Semifinal)- I have seen someone call this a classic but I disagree. It is a good spot match with some really crazy stuff. They were getting a little too cute with the moves at times (mainly PAC) but it was a worthwhile watch.
    El Generico vs. Nigel McGuinness (Block C Semifinal) - I would say this was a very good match but I enjoyed it way more than rating would indicate. Nigel just breaking Generico piece by piece is a thing of beauty...especially skinny 2007 Generico. Don't count the luchadore out though!
    Chris Hero, Kevin Steen, Tyler Black, Doug Williams, Susumu Yokosuka & Jack Evans vs. Austin Aries, Jimmy Rave, The Human Tornado, Scott Lost, Davey Richards & Karl Anderson- Its fun and there's no comedy b.s.  like they would make a habit of doing. A nice match to eat lunch with.
    CIMA vs. Roderick Strong vs. El Generico (Finals - Triple Threat Elimination) - This was a pretty good ending to a great night of wrestling. Like many tournament finals, its more about the finals being a culmination of the tournament rather than it being an awesome fight. So this was a fun spot based match where it was all big moves with not a ton of story or selling.The right guy won it and that really helps everyone go home happy.
    This is a no brainer purchase if you're a fan of this era of wrestling. Its akin to an excellent 2007 ROH B-show. Very easy to watch and enjoy the heck out of!
  20. G. Badger

    FMW Index

    By G. Badger,

    I wanted to provide a index of my FMW posts for the convenience of people who are interested due to the upcoming Dark Side of the Ring episode on Frontier Martial arts Wrestling. 
    Mixed Up Monday FMW M-Pro
    Spotlight: FMW Pt. 2   Spotlight: FMW Pt. 1
    FMW Late 1992   FMW: Late 1991 to Mid 1992   FMW: 1991   Atsushi Onita Feburary 1991   Atsushi Onita FMW 89-90   FMW: November-December 1996   FMW: Funk Masters of Wrestling, 1996   FMW: 1998, Pt. 1   FMW: 1998, Pt. 2   FMW: 1998, Pt. 3   FMW: 1998, Pt. 4   I hope this helps and thanks for reading!  
  21. G. Badger
    OK we're on to Part #2 of the Best of TNA 2009 as determined by the DVD put out by TNA in 2009
    Sarita vs Alissa Flash (Best Women's match, Impact TV 07/16) : You know I remembered this match and it was alright. TNA's Knockout division was getting pretty good around this time. You could expect quality beyond Awesome Kong, ODB and I think Gail Kim left already to try WWE again. Fun moves

     
    Sabin vs Shelley vs Homicide vs Daniels vs Amazing Red vs Suicide (Bound for Glory, October, Ultimate X match, #4 Best Bout) : Red was the champ and this was a free for all, the MCMG fought as a team and came out as a team. Yeah in hindsight they were in here just to spice shit up.And really that's all this was - top notch high risk spot match. It is neat that you have all of this talent but also bummer that they're not fighting for the World Title. They were just so afraid of pushing them beyond the X division. This should have been the main event as it was thrilling and the fans were crazy about it.

     
    AJ Styles vs Sting (Bound for Glory, October, #3 Best Bout): A simple but effective World title fight. It reminded me of Sting facing a young version of himself in AJ Styles. You could say it was a little disappointing if you bought the PPV and thought they would top Ultimate X but on tape and a decade removed, its a great match.

     
    Samoa Joe vs Daniels vs AJ Styles (Turning Point, November, 3 way, #1 Best Bout): Best Bout? You better believe it! This was a classic work rate match showing their 2005 classic was no fluke. This is in the Top 10 Best TNA matches that I've seen. I remember the build up to this and it was great to see Christopher Daniels as "himself" instead of Curry Man. I missed his early years in TNA and had only heard of these three's 5 star match. I was really jazzed up about this but I never bought TNA shows since I was worried about cheap finishes. So its fantastic to finally see this and know that it lived up to the hype. That said, I don't know how it would stack up  against a ROH three way match in 2009 but would still put it at the ****1/2 level.

    ...and that's it folks! A fun albeit brief look at the Best of TNA in 2009.
     
    Thanks for reading and stay safe! 
     
  22. G. Badger
    A couple of years ago I found a TNA DVD that I'd never seen before and haven't seen since. It is TNA Best of 2009. I actually got my copy factory sealed too but without a price tag. So its odd that someone never opened this OR maybe this copy just sat around a warehouse for 10 years until I bought it.
    What makes this such a great find for me is that its right about when I really was paying attention to TNA but also becoming less interested in the program. So it features some of the last good TNA stuff on Spike. In the bonus features it has the announcement of Hulk Hogan joining the promotion which was the beginning of the end.
    So this DVD features the Top matches of the year and I can't really complain since I can only recall a better Knockout match than the one featured here and that was Cheerleader Melissa vs Ayako Hamada in a no DQ match. That could have been 2010 though. Anyhow, this post is going to focus on the Kurt Angle matches since he's in half of those featured. Personally, his stuff here isn't as top shelf as some of the bouts from 2006-2008 as shown on his TNA solo DVD (Joe matches, vs Nagata). That said those featured here are still very worthy of being some of his best work in TNA wrestling.
    vs Jeff Jarrett (Genesis 2009 January, #5 Best bout) : This was a No DQ match that was very much an Attitude Era throw back. Boxes were getting checked off:  Big bumps, blood, chair shots, etc. But it felt good given the age of the two. I mean Jeff almost lawn darted on a suicide dive and damn near missed the table on a big spot. It worked because they sold the hate. This was a very, very good match.

     
    vs AJ Styles (Table match, January, Best Impact TV bout) : The intro video does a great job recapping the AJ & Kurt saga...One I'm very fond of. In a nutshell, Tomko (remember him?) and AJ are tag partners and part of Team Angle. Kurt's babe of an (ex)wife is introduced here as well. Kurt is a egocentric tool and AJ is protecting her. Kurt thinks there's romance brewing but AJ & Karen say they're just friends. Haaft They say this is after all of that but I sorta remember that running into this period of the Main Event Mafia (goan) vs the non former WWF /WCW wrestlers. Anyways, this was a good TV match but it should be clear that TNA was becoming WCW part deux.
    vs Sting (Empty Arena Match Best Grudge match, Impact TV February): They call it the best grudge match but you'll see the match below is the #2 match of 2009 and that's a grudge match as well. Maybe its the best TV grudge match??? Regardless, this is a battle I remember loving. It felt like something very special to see on TV. I still feel that way (even after all we've seen in the past year). Other than the fantastic and hilarious finish where Kevin Nash yells at them like an angry father (see below), this was a great battle. You could argue that this was more WCW flash backs but, if its done right, there's no problem to me. This was an instance where they did it right. I would give that credit to Sting and Kurt wanting to still put on a good show. It'd be wrong for me to call this a classic match BUT with the match combined with the ending, this was a Classic bit of TNA Impact TV!

     
    vs Desmond Wolfe (Turning Point, November, #2 Best Bout) : Its not great when you don't have anything worthwhile for 9 months from your top star to put on the DVD. But here we are! Desmond Wolfe has been gunning for Kurt and has decimated him on TV. Now they have a match to settle things. OK...I'm going to get my rant from 11 years ago out of the way. Why the hell did they change the name and character of Nigel McGuinness? He had so much hype coming from ROH and they just KILLED it by doing this. Doing this seemed like such WCW/WWF level bullshit. Its not worth going into but even Nigel (I know its not his real name but he's used it everywhere else in wrestling) says in a promo/vignette something like, ' I'm going by the name of Desmond Wolfe at the moment ' when introducing himself. He or whoever wrote the segment knew there was still cross over between ROH and TNA and they should acknowledge that this guy was someone else somewhere else. That is convoluted to write but its because it is a convoluted idea! All I can hope is Nigel didn't want to tarnish the character and his legacy by jobbing in TNA. And I can support that with hindsight on my side because he was a mid card jobber to the stars in the promotion. They tried to do the British team thing again but I had fucking tuned out of TNA a little after seeing what they did to my boy! Spoiler alert!!! The writing above should give you an idea on the outcome of this match. It is a great match. Its Kurt big-match-by-numbers but Nigel...I mean Desmond is masterful. To use a line from The Dark Night Returns, this isn't a wrestling ring. Its an operating table and Desmond Wolfe is the surgeon.

    I wrote more than that but I'm going to leave it there. The match is posted on YouTube so I recommend checking it out.
    More of the Best of TNA 2009 coming soon!
     
    Thanks for reading If you have pets give them a hug today!
  23. G. Badger

    Wrestling Art Show

    By G. Badger,

    The Good, the bad and the Ugly - Snuka, Hogan & Flair

     
    Andre vs Inoki

     
    Choshu applies the Scorpion Death Lock with Inoki looking on

     
    Andre vs Killer Khan

     
    Flair vs Steamboat

     
    The Dream vs The Superstar

     
    I hope that you dig this stuff. If you're like me, you really enjoy old wrestling photography. It really captures the gritty action of the ring.I want to incorporate more art into my blog and I just thought I'd play around with some picture editing software and share some of my work. I hope to have access to a copy machine so I can start up my collages again. No way am I cutting up my old books and magazines! I had made a great one that was my original id pic here on PWO. It was of Fujinami vs Fujiwara with Cherry blossom trees in the background. I titled it 'Heavenly Dream Battle.' An homage to the great titles that Japanese promotions (especially NJPW) give their big matches. To me Fujinami vs Fujiwara is just that type of dream encounter.
     
  24. G. Badger
    Hello again!
    This covering is episodes 108 & 109 of BJW Deathmatch Wars TV show. Its from 01/02/2007 and in Korakuen Hall so we're looking at something that's at the very least going to be fun.
    GENTARO & Mammoth Sasaki vs. Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto - The first team I know a little bit from FMW and the second team I know from watching clipped matches on BJW's YouTube channel. They are pretty good and Miyamoto is a great junior wrestler who reminds me of Hayabusa in his toughness, his agility and charisma. Anyhow this is a really good match with old vs young. Miyamoto makes an impression on the main eventers and they invited him to join them as they're in need of a 4th partner.

    Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match: Jun Kasai/MENs Teioh/Yuko Miyamoto/Naoki Numazawa vs. Abdullah Kobayashi/Masada/Takashi Sasaki/Shadow WX - So that leads into this match, duh! Ha But for real, this was a sick match! I mean like ill ya know. There was action all over the place early on. Then things settled down in and around the ring but, there were still plenty of fantastic encounters/pairings. As with many multi-man matches, weaknesses were hidden and strengths were on display. Aside from that Yuko Miyamoto was seen as the junior baby who didn't belong in this war but, like Hayabusa he fought bravely and endured. He made his team believe that the made the right decision in selecting him. I'm not going to give away any of the memorable spots other than Masada dragging Miyamoto around the broken glass by his ankles. That was sick! Like F'd up! Overall this was  helluva spectacle and great death match. Maybe a classic as it fed off the previous match, kept the fight interest and interesting throughout and the K-hall fans were on fire!

    We're on to the 2nd show
    Daikokubo Benkei/MIYAWAKI/Yuichi Taniguchi vs. Kazu Imai/Tomomitsu Matsunaga/Shinobu - Opening comedy type match. I skipped around in this bout.
    Mad Man Pondo & NOSAWA vs. Coke & Sam Hain - I started to watch but as Jim Cornette would say this was an "outlaw mud show." In all fairness, Jimmy would hate EVERYTHING on this show.
    Kintaro Kanemura/Tetsuhiro Kuroda/Onryo vs Hiroyuki Kondo/Yoshihito Sasaki/Daisuke Sekimoto - Unfortunately we only get 15 minutes of a 30 minute match but, what was shown was a blast! This is a real treat with FMW vs BJW for me. I believe the FMW team is reppin' Apache wrestling but its a real joy to see two generations of hardcore/death match/Indie wrestlers going head to head. Dekimoto and Sasaki as a tag team are something that I need to see more of. Torture Rack - German suplex combo is probably my new favorite tag move!

    Really, really good DVD that's still available on Highspots for $10. Not trying to give free ad space but I want to let you know where you can actually get your mitts on this stuff! Certainly worth the cash and maybe wait for a Xmas sale to get it for less. No one really talked about how good BJW was back then... if you can't get into the occasional light tube deathmatch I understand. I felt that way for awhile but its really no worse than the bread and butter thumb tack and barbwire matches of my youth
  25. G. Badger
    Generally speaking, I live in a cave with my head under a rock when it comes to contemporary wrestling. I poked it out a little bit last year to see the empty seats of Smackdown for historical purposes. When the Wonder Wall was debuted, I lasted 15 minutes before I became dizzy. I took a small trip away from the cave to see Ring of Honor attempt to return to form with their Pure Title tournament. I thought it was fantastic but they squandered or scared away whatever interest that drummed up. 
    Now with CM Punk (and perhaps Bryan Danielson) in All Elite Wrestling, I am compelled to lift the stone from my head and check it out. So I watched his return promo in Chicago and man! that's entertaining! He's still got it. I'm not going to watch anything else on purpose mind you but I wanted to see that. You know...for historical purposes.
    I liked Punk's speech because he explained his comments regarding wrestling when he was doing MMA/UFC. He acknowledged his time in ROH and made the distinction between that wrestling and what he was doing for almost a decade in WWE. I was confused by a few (hundred) fans booing ROH in a past life. I'd be less confused if they booed ROH in their present form.  Who boos a mention of ROH from 2002-2005? Are these folks completely ignorant of the giant influence the company had on both CM Punk and the current American pro wrestling landscape?
    That's an aside though.What I thought of after a couple days after is more interesting than the excitement of CM Punk back in a ring. Or more interesting on the historically ignorant fans. What really stuck with me is that Punk's history is kind of not true. Now I know it may have been kayfabe but Mr. Brooks, Phil if you will, has a tendency to blur the lines between a work and a shoot when on the mic. So we can say some of this was true for Punk & Phil. But I don't think any of it was any form of an objective truth. Chick Magnet Punk says that things had run their course in ROH and then went to WWE where he didn't wrestle for almost a decade. Now that's not true because no one wrestled in ROH either. I'll defend WWE's " sports entertainment " ideology in so much that what they do isn't wrestling.  Pro wrestling is more dramatized combat with melodrama than wrestling like you'd see in high school, college, the Olympics etc. That's a sport. But frankly, I could say all professional sports aren't sports either but are this sports entertainment since no one's playing in an empty gym (until last year) and people are being entertained either through TV, videos, clothing, games. There isn't intentional and planned melodrama (although it happens organically). It lacks nuance for Punk to say he left wrestling in 2005 and came back now in AEW. It is kinda not true. I've watched his stuff in ROH (as we'll see below) and all in all it wasn't that different from what he was doing in WWE. Punk never mentions UFC. I wouldn't either.
    What he left in 2005 was the freedom and identity that ROH and the Indy scene afforded him. He could be himself. Brooks left a community that embraced him for an opportunity to make a living and potentially make a fortune. I don't think he anticipated what it would cost. I don't think he knew it would cost him friends and fans and would embarrass himself in the process...I recall him saying if UFC had been around when he was younger he would have gone into that instead of wrestling. Man, you ever hear of karate or judo? That wasn't true when he said it. And I don't think anything he said the other night is true either. 
    This is why I stay in my cave and keep my head beneath a boulder. He's not the same person. I just know too much about Phil Brooks to really believe CM Punk anymore. But maybe that's the state of contemporary wrestling in general? I just know too much to really believe any of it.
    That's all a lead in to some reviews of when Brooks or perhaps Punk was a wrestler before not being a wrestler (never was a wrestler) and becoming a sports entertainer (always was a sports entertainer) and then a mixed martial artist (a sports entertainer but STILL not a wrestler believe it or not!) and a wrestler again (still not a wrestler).
    vs Raven (Death Before Dishonor 2003) : This was a dog collar match and I believe the consensus is that this is their best bout. I don't know since its all I got to watch but this is very much a Raven match. If you like his style and character (which I do) then this is something that you want to watch. Its a bit on the loner side but it pretty simple in terms of execution and scope. Its violent like it needed to be. Its got some stuff ECW fans would like too...remember this is only a couple years after they closed so that wasn't as odd as you might think. Great match
    vs AJ Styles (Tradition Continues 2003) : This is almost a 180 from the Raven ECW style match. Instead we see Punk stay in step with the Phenomenal One. It was full of fantastic counters and reversals. The human game of chess cliche is going to be applied to this match because I'm not always very good at describing what make a good match so very good. I think something I appreciate on this viewing is the teasers they chose to do. It just felt organic and competitive and dammit I'm a fan of that. I'm going to say this is a classic match. If you're keeping track, I wouldn't put it in the top tier but its certainly overlooked because it takes place in 2003 which probably doesn't get much love. And if anyone wants to sample 2003/Year 2 ROH they'll usually go to matches of AJ, Danielson and London putting on masterpieces. But in 2021, do people even do that anymore? Other than me?
    W/Ace Steel (Second City Saints) vs Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer (The Prophecy) (Death Before Dishonor II 2004) : Second City Saints was an awesome name. BJ Whitmer lousy name. Here's my BJ Whitmer rant: I can't believe that he/they wanted to keep a name with a double entendre in it and not have it purposely imply that 2nd meaning. Case in point D.P. Associates in FIP was a purposeful double entendre for the sake of a bunch of 20 year old guys having a laugh. BJ Whitmer never struck me as the type of talent that had a sense of humor about his in-ring persona. That aside, this was a bananas garbage wrestling spot mtach. This was your typical overkill wrestling to show how tough you were. As a match, it stunk BUT as a violent spot driven spectacular, it was great Its a few years ahead of its time but does bite off more than it needed to in order to get the same message across.
    vs Jimmy Rave (Manhattan Mayhem 2005) : Here we see Punk's (Phil's) version of the dog collar match. And you know its not bad at all. Its decidedly more move oriented but with Punk and Rave in there I did not mind. Rave is such a great opponent for Punk because he can stooge when he needs to, he can get nasty when he needs to, and he can do moves when he needs to. Frankly he's much like Punk in that regard. We get a good deal of blood from Punk and we get the Embassy interfering. Its quite great to be honest. I've not seen this before but I have seen their cage match and man this was a great (probably forgotten) feud.
    So there you have it. A few matches from CM Punk's time wrestling/sports entertaining in ROH. As you have already figured out, I picked some unsung ones for 2021. They aren't the Joe matches or Summer of Punk ones. 3 of the 4 are quite like stuff you could see in WWE actually. Again, either he never was a "wrestler" or he never left wrestling when going to the WWE. All semantic games aside- He should have been honest in saying he made a mistake in leaving pro wrestling and its fans when going to the UFC. And if he (Phil is Punk at this stage in his career) should have said thanks for welcoming him back despite his mistakes. In my opinion, CM Punk is the best all around pro wrestler of the last 20 years. His return to the square circle is huge and his promo was exhilarating. He will do great business for AEW. However, I think his cleverness in dissing WWE hides the real hurt of his MMA phase. As great as I know him to be, I just can't trust CM Punk anymore. I have to forgive him first.
    I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill. I'll be back in my cave.
    Thanks for reading!
×
×
  • Create New...