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SmartMark15

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Everything posted by SmartMark15

  1. SmartMark15
    Watched this for the first time again after years of not having seen it. The main thing about the match that always stood out was the story of Hokuto and Kandori learning to work together more than any actual moment in the match. I've been watching a lot of joshi recently for the most part to work my way back to this match. And yeah, the match is really just too long. You can feel it drag in the first half where most of the crowd really just can't be bothered. Aside from Kandori and Hokuto's interactions, that section of the match dragged heavily. But once you started getting into Hokuto and Kandori starting to cooperate, things pick up fantastically, and you hear it reflect in the crowd as well. I popped huge for their STF/Fujiwara combo. The final stretch is great stuff but the first 10/15 minutes really seemed superfluous and same-y with a lot of the trends that I don't really like in joshi. I would have enjoyed it more if the crowd had but as it was, they only came into the match 20 minutes in. ****1/2
  2. SmartMark15
    From the 2017 MOTY Thread: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE TWO? There's like ten floor bumps in this match, three of them in the first three minutes or so. This is just escalating insanity that would be a gross indy spotfest if not for the feeling of actual struggle and competition between the two as well as some extended bouts of selling both in and out of the ring. Lee probably has the best tope suicida in the business, guy shoots out like a bullet. You can feel the force of it. ****1/2
  3. SmartMark15
    YES to: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee - NJPW 2/11 WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO? There's like ten floor bumps in this match, three of them in the first three minutes or so. This is just escalating insanity that would be a gross indy spotfest if not for the feeling of actual struggle and competition between the two as well as some extended bouts of selling both in and out of the ring. Lee probably has the best tope suicida in the business, guy shoots out like a bullet. You can feel the force of it. ****1/2
  4. SmartMark15
    YES to: Dominic Garrini vs. Cain Justice - CWF Mid-Atlantic 2/25 This was really great. I've seen some CWF Mid-Atlantic in the form of Trevor Lee matches so this was the last thing I expected from these guys. Just a great struggle and exchanges for holds, throws, and strikes. Whoever's doing road agent work for CWF Mid-Atlantic needs a medal because just as always, this was paced perfectly. Engaging transitions like the hand into the ringpost or the dive into the Triangle just make for absolutely great wrestling and the match ended just where it peaked. Really fantastic stuff. ****1/4
  5. SmartMark15
    This was really great. I've seen some CWF Mid-Atlantic in the form of Trevor Lee matches so this was the last thing I expected from these guys. Just a great struggle and exchanges for holds, throws, and strikes. Whoever's doing road agent work for CWF Mid-Atlantic needs a medal because just as always, this was paced perfectly. Engaging transitions like the hand into the ringpost or the dive into the Triangle just make for absolutely great wrestling and the match ended just where it peaked. Really fantastic stuff. ****1/4
  6. SmartMark15
    This was really great. Loved the beating that Hokuto took to end the match and really her selling from the point Kandori drops her on her head to the finish really make the match. All the little references to the past matches were great and gave a sense of weight to what they were going for here. Kandori teasing that arm bar that ended the tag match between them was pretty great and everything just built up nicely to the finish. ****1/2
  7. SmartMark15
    Obviously this happened a lot in Ring of Honor. Danielson shook hands with loads of people during his 06 heel run.
  8. SmartMark15
    I would certainly put my money on Savage. Haven't seen enough pre-Fed Duggan to really get behind that. I think running with Andre as champ against Steamboat and Roberts on the house show circuit until a big SNME loss to Savage would make the most sense. You could have Savage and Steamboat even team up as unlikely partners fighting off an impossible task.
  9. SmartMark15
    Gotta disagree on this one. Thought Orton looked great for VERY brief moments but once he went back into Methodical Randy, things slowed to a crawl. Jinder has some great facials but most of his offense here as a wristlock. Wish they'd kept up the pace with Orton being fired up but instead they chose to slow it down which really dulled my enthusiasm for the match. ***1/4
  10. SmartMark15
    Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles - WWE 5/21 Slow start, yes, but boy does it pick up once Owens starts really targeting the knee. Then his offense starts carrying some actual weight to it. Great moments include him tossing Styles into the steps Foley-style, the cannonball to the knee, and THE BOTCHED FOREARM. YES. I LOVE MY CRUMPLE SELLING. I thought the finish was absolutely brilliant. Built up to perfectly and left the fans angry in a legitimately heelish way. Take away their victory AND their table spot. Genius. ****
  11. SmartMark15
    NOMINATING: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles - WWE 5/21 Slow start, yes, but boy does it pick up once Owens starts really targeting the knee. Then his offense starts carrying some actual weight to it. Great moments include him tossing Styles into the steps Foley-style, the cannonball to the knee, and THE BOTCHED FOREARM. YES. I LOVE MY CRUMPLE SELLING. I thought the finish was absolutely brilliant. Built up to perfectly and left the fans angry in a legitimately heelish way. Take away their victory AND their table spot. Genius. ****
  12. SmartMark15

    WWE Backlash 2017

    SmartMark15 replied to ...TG's topic in WWE

    For the first time in a long time, I thought Orton was the better half of a match. Sure, Jinder had some good facials and charisma but when Orton decided to go nuts and kill people, it was pretty entertaining. Those shoulder submissions were deathly boring and Orton slowing down is the same thing. Not really mad at Jinder winning. I just kind of laughed when it happened. I'm willing to see where it goes. Certainly a match with someone like Zayn would do some good.
  13. SmartMark15
    Weird coincidence that we're both not nearly as high on each other's #2 MOTY. Roode and Itami's respective selling of their injured limbs was quite good especially down the finishing stretch. The work before that wasn't that great for me though. Roode continues to really bore me and Itami's strikes were good at points but he just didn't have the same cocky energy that got him so over with people in the mid 00s. This was decent, and I couldn't say much else about it. ***1/2
  14. SmartMark15
    Thought I'd share this with all you guys just as a resource. This is my complete list along with available online links (comprised mostly of YouTube and Dailymotion). Only missing the two PWG matches so any help with that would be greatly appreciated. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MO6lySqZ6eMPSdY_RN-KSa6bXWarDN_DKNysf5ziUvo/edit?usp=sharing
  15. SmartMark15
    From the 2017 MOTY Thread: 5 star moment: the slugfest.
  16. SmartMark15
    YES to: Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne - WWE 5/20 WOW. Crazy, crazy good match. Dunne brought the stiff strikes and the joint manipulation while Bate really came to shine as a pretty natural babyface. His power spots and comebacks came off really well. He pulled off probably the best deadlift into powerbomb counter to a triangle I've ever seen which followed probably one of the best worked triangles I've ever seen. Then you have the extremely great finishing stretch which was really a master class in stringing together false finishes. I bought into nearly every single one right up the perfect finishing point. Also, that airplane spin. Crazy. This is just under Okada-Shibata and just edges the AOP-Revival-DIY match. Currently my #2 MOTY. ***** NOMINATING: The Authors of Pain vs. #DIY - WWE 5/20 Yeah, I'm a sucker for a martyr spot, sorry. Not just any martyr spot either, one of the most brutal well sold ladder spots I've ever seen. Things really picked up in this match after Gargano superkicked Ellering. Speaking of Gargano, the guy is just a fantastic babyface. Excellent at bumping, selling, and garnering sympathy from the crowd. AoP continue to be great brutal monsters who generate legitimate heat from the crowd. Really good ladder match here. ****1/2
  17. SmartMark15
    Thought that the overall card was much better than most of the past few Takeovers. This is aided by the fact that we had a five star match as the second of the night followed by a very strong main event and a killer closing angle. I'm glad the break up came when it did cause now is the perfect time to have a heated singles rivalry at the top of the card to hopefully supplant or supplement the fairly dead NXT Title picture.
  18. SmartMark15
    I certainly liked this more than the Mania match. Just a simple story of babyface vs. heel with Savage going back after Steamboat's throat. Loved the point in the match near the end where Steamboat goes after Savage's throat as revenge. Just really good stuff and the blade job added to the intensity and the heat. I felt actual annoyance (in all the right ways) at the ending. Just wonderful stuff. How smooth was Steamboat in his prime and how charismatic was Savage? Fantastic combination of workers. ****3/4
  19. SmartMark15
    Loved this. The struggle was just so great, all the little things that they hit each other with down on the mat. One of my favorite moments came early on with Ki fighting his way out of a vertical suplex with some stiff strikes. Then there's how Ki nearly bumps through the ropes when Dragon gives him a shoulder block. Then you've got how it just builds and builds to those bigger spots to the end that climax pretty much perfectly. I'm also a big fan of crumple selling of which there was much of in this match! ****1/2
  20. SmartMark15
    Still holds up to this day. Not a 5-star classic, certainly, but wow what an absolutely amazing match. Possibly the best compliment I can give this match is that never once did it feel contrived. The timing on these spectacular three-way sequences was absolutely impeccable. Not a moment of drag or hesitation or awkwardness. I also liked how they let some of the more spectacular moments settle. For example, the look on Daniels' face after the monkey flip into headscissors spot was priceless. Fantastic stuff. ****1/2
  21. SmartMark15
    I rewatched this a few weeks ago and recall being entirely unimpressed with it. Just a lot of fast action that refused to switch up the pace and built up to pretty much nothing. Even in my younger days as an ROH fan, I recall not quite understanding the hype behind this match. ***1/4
  22. SmartMark15
    There's no two ways about it, this was just absolutely awesome. Stiff, brutal, stiff, and did I mention stiff? These guys just beat the shit out of each other and kept up the pace and the struggle until it culminated in a stiff (have I mentioned that yet) and logical finish. This is the kind of war of attrition that a lot of US indy matches wish they could be. ****1/2
  23. SmartMark15
    My thoughts exactly. Thought this had the potential to be on par with say a really good Dragon Gate tag like they used to do on early 2000s ROH shows. But once the dance off started, things only got more and more contrived. This is a bad PWG house show main event and PWG doesn't even do house shows. **3/4
  24. SmartMark15
    All Japan 90's, man. Best stuff in the world. Cliched because it's true. Brutal, urgent, exciting. Stiff strikes accompanied by a constant fighting from underneath by BOTH GUYS (Hansen is incredibly underrated in this aspect) creates a match that sends the already molten hot crowd into overdrive. One of the best moments is that it has probably the best "get-your-foot-up-as-your-opponent-charges" spot in wrestling history with Hansen slumped in the corner but getting his boot up to kick Kobashi in the face. Hansen's a brutal bully and Kobashi is the ultimate fiery babyface made of pour TOUKON~!!! The finish is iconic and a 5-star moment without a doubt. *****
  25. SmartMark15
    Yeah, absolutely fantastic. I loved this. Felt like a great follow up to Hokuto-Kandori and really helps set up a rematch down the line which I will watch soon enough. I loved the inclusion of Aja as she is just not having any of Kandori's shit in this match. Aja-Kandori were great, tense, and incredibly stiff, but surprise surprise, the highlight was still Hokuto-Kandori. They're exchanges leading into the finish absolutely made this match the heated hate filled affair that it was. Really great stuff here. ****3/4
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