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SmartMark15

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Everything posted by SmartMark15

  1. SmartMark15
    One aspect of my own pro wrestling criticism that I've yet to discuss on this forum is my requirement of a "5-star moment" before granting a match said rating. It's a moment that takes the match from something great into something truly transcendent. It sends the match skyrocketing into that upper echelon of wrestling where it snows all those pretty snowflakes. Classic examples for me are Kobashi's martyrdom, HBK's last defiance to Taker, and Sasha Banks making a little girl cry. Basically, I'm a sucker for theatrics. This match is one of the rare examples of a match transcending so very early in the match. One could argue it begins at Kandori's first arm bar. I personally think that it comes when Kandori piledrives Hokuto onto the table and we see that glorious blade job. After that point, the match transcends into something else. Absolute WAR. Having done my little tour around 90s joshi, it's clear to see just why and how this match stands out as an all time classic. The brutality is unmatched, the selling is unmatched, and most of all the struggle. Just a violent, vicious need to come out on top that builds and builds. This match is truly something else. One of those matches that only gets better with time, if you ask me. *****
  2. SmartMark15
    For a lot of the first fall, I thought this would end up being just a decent joshi go-go-go spotfest. Especially because Toyota is involved. But by the time we hit the second match, and we have Hokuto selling the shit out of her knee, then we start getting into some really great stuff. The last 10 or so minutes are just so action packed and wrought with tension that you can't help but be engrossed in the finish. A lot of that is thanks to Hokuto who brought a lot of drama and structure to the match with her knee selling. Toyota makes for a great hot tag and adds all the sizzle to the steak. ****1/2
  3. SmartMark15
    Orton's so boring we've shifted topics to Triple H and co.
  4. SmartMark15
    I've found it hard to care about anything Orton has done in the past thirteen years that doesn't involve having a way of hitting the RKO. He's one of those guys that I felt peaked incredibly early (that run in 03-04 with the IC Title is probably his career best stuff especially vs. Foley) and has been coasting on his position ever since.
  5. SmartMark15
    Yeah, I lean on the side of people who really loved this match. I thought this was fantastic. Some real brutality in the striking, heated encounters between all four wrestlers. Then you have the added factor that joshi works incredibly well with a multiple fall format since it lends itself to more tense nearfalls. Then you have a great moment of Kansai knocking Aja out to avenge their first encounter at Thunder Queen. Since my recent revisit to joshi, this is my first Hokuto match (as I'm trying to work my way towards the Hokuto-Kandori series) and she looked great in this. Fiery babyface trying to overcome the odds. She's born to play that role. ****3/4
  6. SmartMark15
    YES to: Hideki Suzuki vs Yuji Okabayashi - BJW 5/5 Suzuki looked like a stoic ace destroying the fiery babyface coming at him. Okabayashi sold the arm beautiful and it played into every major transition in the whole match. Wonderful finishing stretch. ****
  7. SmartMark15
    I seriously love these two together. I didn't know that this was the end of the series so the finish popped me huge. Loved the structure of the match focusing on the strikes. The opening sequence which played off the finishing stretch of their previous singles match. One of my favorite spots is Aja powering out of a camel clutch and Kansai just going "Fuck it" and kicking her right in the face. Of course, the match reaches a whole new level once Kansai goes at the arm. Once she kicks it in and Aja has to tape it up, it's all heat, all great. *****
  8. SmartMark15
    Aja Kong's Urakens + Dynamite Kansai's face kicks = great, great wrestling. ****
  9. SmartMark15
    This one finally *clicked* for me. In the past, I went in looking for more creative barbed wire use, some urgency, and overall more brutality. Watching it now, those long teases really make the explosions pop. You mark out big time every time someone gets even close to the wire and you can hear the crowd react that way too. That finishing stretch is nuts with some incredibly sick head drops that are just as cringeworthy as any of the spots involving the barbed wire. Wonderful match. ****1/2
  10. SmartMark15
    Great brawl with some incredibly heated spots and a frightening finish. Kandori, as mentioned, looks like a BOSS in her black business attire and tie. Fucking loved it. The hangman spot with the chain was horrifying. Kudo sold it like legitimate death. Great stuff with the chain too like the turnbuckle spot that Kudo sets up. The finish was clever but took a little while to get to. The crowd brawling gets a little tedious but not enough to take away too much from the match. Raw insanity in this match. ****
  11. SmartMark15
    YES. JUST YES. Oh my god, now THAT is a fight. Brutal, bloody, urgent, this is everything a big time violent match needs to be. Both these ladies put in amazing performances to help put each other over. Aja is the remorseless beast while Hotta is the fiery TOUKON babyface. I absolutely loved this match to bits. It never slowed down for me. I haven't seen 6/3 in a LONG while but I honestly can't recall enjoying it as much as this. This is right around the levels of Hokuto-Kandori greatness if you ask me. *****
  12. SmartMark15
    Thought this was a very good match! A shade too slow for what I wanted in this match. With the joshi I've been watching recently, as frantic and over the top as the pace can get, it's still a very enjoyable and engaging watch for me. I like the urgency in it. But here, while Kudo's work on top destroying Aja's arm was great, I didn't feel anything too urgent until Aja's starts battering her with Urakens. Aja puts in a pretty inspired selling performance here by the way and the match is seriously elevated on that basis. ****
  13. SmartMark15
    Wonderful match. Saw their stuff in the Thunder Queen Battle that got me incredibly hyped to see this and it really didn't disappoint. The second half of this match is just pure greatness. They both take turns beating the shit out of each other and both women really sell the damage that the bombs they throw are taking. I liked how everything escalated to finally get the pinfall and you really did buy into the shifts in momentum down the line. Two of my favorite joshi performers for sure. ****1/2
  14. SmartMark15
    Whoa, what a crazy whirlwind! Finally saw this in full for the first time today and it was just a lot of fun! Sure, it has your trademark joshi sloppiness and awkwardness but it also has the blistering fast action and crazy pace. Aja Kong is a force of nature and Dynamite Kansai is just the bomb. Like seriously, Kansai is great. Loved how Aja knocks her lights out as soon as they step into the ring together. No real long term selling here but I've come to expect that from joshi. I just let myself enjoy the ride and when you do that, it's really great stuff. I actually think that the strongest point of the match is the stipulation itself. It lends itself perfectly to the go-go-go-GO joshi style and it lends weight to nearly every nearfall. ****3/4
  15. SmartMark15
    Not so much in terms of career trajectory but in terms of style and audience reaction, Braun vs. Roman from Payback would have been massively over in the 80s WWF landscape. Children would have literally wept.
  16. SmartMark15
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tBUuZa19-4&t=5s Jake de Leon vs. Billy Suede - PWR WrevolutionX 4/30/17 From this year's WrevolutionX, their biggest show of the year, this is easily the best match of the ones I've seen so far. Simple story of plucky babyface up against the arrogant heel. They do some simple fun stuff to get the match going. Some good strikes and chops to get things going. A few interesting sequences like the counter into the Cross Armbreaker were fun. But I gotta say, that finishing stretch was really quite well worked. As I watched, I actually was marking out and fist pumping by the time the final bell hit so that's a really, really good sign. ***1/4
  17. SmartMark15
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tBUuZa19-4&t=5s Jake de Leon vs. Billy Suede - PWR WrevolutionX 4/30/17 From this year's WrevolutionX, their biggest show of the year, this is easily the best match of the ones I've seen so far. Simple story of plucky babyface up against the arrogant heel. They do some simple fun stuff to get the match going. Some good strikes and chops to get things going. A few interesting sequences like the counter into the Cross Armbreaker were fun. But I gotta say, that finishing stretch was really quite well worked. As I watched, I actually was marking out and fist pumping by the time the final bell hit so that's a really, really good sign. ***1/4
  18. SmartMark15
    How do I get in on this? Please and thank you. https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/0Bwpbsa8C2iSmZXJuaE44bm40eHc?usp=sharing I honestly can not emphasize how absolutely grateful I am. Truly. Stuff like this is what makes me so grateful to be in a community like this. Cheers.
  19. SmartMark15
    How do I get in on this? Please and thank you.
  20. SmartMark15
    NOMINATING: Kenny Omega vs. Tomihiro Ishii - NJPW 5/3
  21. SmartMark15
    Really enjoyed this match! Ishii necking himself for the sake of the story of the match looked great (that DDT bump, ugh). Then you have Omega staying pretty cohesive with his attack on the neck which was nice to see. Worked at a nice pace that keeps things exciting and Ishii really did sell fantastically all throughout. While it seems over the top at times, I really do appreciate how Omega just throws himself into those knee strikes which is strange because the excellence of those strikes undermine some of his more up close strikes like his elbows. Still, great fun! ****1/4
  22. SmartMark15
    Was going over my 4.75-5 star list and certainly most of these matches do NOT have limbwork as the central focus of the narrative but certainly it plays a part as a feature. I would, however, like to highlight some examples of matches that attained a high rating from me particularly because of the limbwork in the match: 1) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki 10/12 2) Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA 9/06 3) Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart 3/97
  23. SmartMark15
    Here's one: Eddie Kingston's initial run with the CHIKARA Grand Championship was really great for me. I was closely following the product at the time and I remember really enjoying a lot of the matches (vs. Quack, vs. Brodie Lee, vs. Jigsaw) and even getting rather invested in the angle with Tim Donst.
  24. SmartMark15
    Still the greatest ROH match of all time. *****
  25. SmartMark15
    Actually think that right now, Okada's IWGP Title run is top notch from a title match quality perspective. Three MOTYC in a row, and I don't even like the guy that much.
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