Makai Club #1

This was a good opening match. I liked the english commentary for this match. One of the commentators said “Anjoh is a real nice guy outside of the ring” which is funny because he’s a total shit head in the ring. Very smug and has a punchable face. Only punches aren’t allowed in the rules. Alas. The striking was super fun to watch though. Anjoh threw some wicked palm strikes, busting Nakano’s nose opening midway through the match. Nakano threw mean kicks to the body, mostly hitting the mark but would occasionally get caught and taken to the mat. Nakano had an awesome dragon suplex where he spiked Anjoh on the back of his head and got ahead on points but he fell into the trap of trying to hit his german suplex only to get caught by Anjoh in the end and choked out with a sleeper choke. ***1/2

A historic match giving Rogers his first and only NWA World title win after being a top draw for the era. Pat O'Connor was the straight laced veterean that dominated in the beginning but Rogers played counter defence perfectly and baited Pat into a knee getting the first fall meaning he was playing catch up the whole time. Rogers had some awesome heel mannerisms. When he was doing a criss-cross spot with Pat O'Connor, he quickly grabbed the ropes and then strutted out of the way of the incoming collisions. I thought that was great and the crowd ate it up. The finish of the 2nd falls did really well. The seamless counter from O'Connor into the O'Connor roll was perfectly fluid. The final fall was pretty short but it was similar to the first fall. O'Connor dominated with his technical\ wrestling but he added a few more stiff strikes which Rogers was more than happy to give back. Rogers got the win and the title after O'Connor missed a drop kick and landed on the ropes. Rogers could've had more offence to really solidify the win but it was still a good match. ***3/4

This was pretty insane. You have Takayama and Suzuki in one corner, looking like the most badass dudes in the world and the other side is Kobashi, Shiozaki and Honda with the most determined looks on their faces. The match was super intense with an epic atmosphere in Budokan Hall and very hard hitting in all aspects. Kobashi was in his element as the sympathetic babyface getting his ass kicked by Takayama who was not holding back with his strikes at all. Kobashi leveled Takayama with his chops himself but Takayama ruled the ring with his vicious knee strikes. The one where he catches Kobashi coming off the top rope and catches him with the knee in his stride was amazing. Takayama brutalised Kobashi’s arm with submissions and kicks. Anything he could to tourture Kobashi, he did it. Perhaps to his detriment as he eventually lost stamina giving Kobashi the opening to make his big comeback. Kobashi’s selling was excellent the entire match. Not just selling the arm. The selling in every little thing - his facial expressions, his comebacks, everything. Kobashi’s overall performance was amazing. The escalation made the match feel more grander. When Kobashi hit the Burning Lariat, the crowd went insane only for Takayama to still kick out. Kobashi then pulling that famous grimace and hitting the moonsault was a pitch perfect way to end the match. *****

The first time I really got lucha. Any other attempts at watching it wasn't really hitting the mark for me. Now, to be fair, the stuff I watched wasn't great anyway. It was mostly the other Triplemania events which weren't great prior to this show and LU which I'm not totally fond of. So here I am, just finishing watching Floyd vs Conor go 10 rounds, turn back over just in time for the main event. It's 4am or around that so I'm dead tired but the energy of the match was something else and woke me right up. The rest of the show didn't have the vibe this match did. The apuestas setting certainly helped. The brawling was great and very violent. Wagner diving in the crowd blew my mind at the time as brawling is fairly tame nowadays. The ripped masks, the blood, everything. You could feel the gravity of the situation. Wagner is desperate not to lose his long worn mask whereas Psycho Clown, the hot product of the time, is deseperete to hold on to that. The nearfalls were nail-biting and gripping. ****1/2

I love how this progressed from the first match. Tamura looked super dangerous in the backend of the match when he stopped relying on his submission and began striking. So in this match, Tamura began throwing the kicks in early. Han reacted strongly to the kicks, going for the kill early. Volk Han’s submissions were world class. The extended double wrist lock looked so painful and Tamura sold it perfectly. Han was twisting Tamura up with holds and Tamura could only withstand it all and lock for the small openings that Han would leave behind. Tamura weathering the storm and firing off with blasting kicks was great to watch. Han trying to shrug every kick off like it was a fly bite was great. So stubborn by a man who is a clear perfectionist. Han firing back with a few wicked palm strikes to get a down after Tamura had been schooling him in the stand up was the perfect receipt for him but Tamura catches him with a brilliant judo throw into the cross arm-breaker submission. Excellent match although I prefer their January match. Great win for Tamura though after previously losing to Han in their first two matches. ****1/2

Submission wrestling at its absolute finest. It’s an art that many can make so engrossing and entertaining. Both Tamura and Han are masters of their crafts. Han’s on the fly submission holds totally blow me away. He’d wrap Tamura’s legs together and torque them in the most uncomfortable way and then he lock on an ankle pick for good measure. Tamura could only try and wriggle out of them anyway he should. His submissions were more traditional but they worked as well. Tamura would use wicked fast body movements to take the arm or the knee. There was one moment where he feigned going one way only to snag the other arm in super quick fashion. It was a joy to watch. What’s great about these two is that not only do you get impeccable technique, Tamura brings tons of personality through his micro facial expressions after the rope breaks. Or in one case, it’s very overt showboating via his kip-up after a failed rolling knee bar attempt. That kicked ass. The strikes came in very limited action but Tamura got a ton of big kicks to the ribs of Han getting a down but eventually Han’s submission prowess won out with a calf slicer. ****3/4

Fucking awesome. Really set the tone for what UWFI was going to be. Great mix of strikes and grappling. Tamura being really assertive and dominant throughout the match. Leading the nasty strikes, being snug with the submission, even simple things like cranking the neck on the headlock. Kakihara trying to absorb everything, blocking the submission very well and doing some lovely counter striking. All in all, great match. ****

“TAMURA” Chants followed by a slap to Yamamoto - a perfect pre-match standoff that perfectly encapsulated everything I love about this match. The raw animosity that came out in the simplest of things. A tiny tap on the face that was hard but not too hard, just enough to let Yamamoto know what he’s in store for. The crowd goes absolutely mental for it as well. Before I get any further, I have to mention the incredible Korakuen Hall crowd. Not only do they react wildly to everything they need to - the stand-up strike battles, the important submission attempts, the little things in between - they were infectious in their excitement and how engrossed they were in the action. They were fixated fully into what these two guys were bringing to the table. The mat-work portions of the match were mesmerising. You can often sacrifice technique to add drama into the mix or focus purely on the holds, how realistic they look, etc and have the match be totally good but to have the perfect blend of technique and suspenseful action is awe-inspiring. The story of the match plays out like this - Yamamoto is on-top for the most of the match, leading the holds and controlling Tamura on the ground via a vice-like body scissors. He manoeuvres around Tamura, who in turn is on constant defence, attacking any opening Tamura allows in. Tamura is totally focused and tries to minimize any danger that can come to him. Yamamoto fights off light body shots with closed fist, trying to bait Tamura into giving an arm up, only to get stiffer and stiffer with them before finally unloading on the stomach and getting yellow carded by the ref, giving up vital points. A pivotal plot point that links into the latter stages of the match. Tamura slowly gets more control on the mat and becomes obsessed with locking in a cross arm-breaker. There was an awesome moment that sums Tamura up as a character to a tee where Tamura rides a nasty rare naked choke from Yamamoto to gain a better position to lock on the cross arm-breaker. And he’s like a pitbull whenever he gets the chance to snag the arm. It’s relentless action that tires you out as a fan. They work in rope breaks well, all while putting good emphasis on how last resort the rope breaks are in RINGS. When either has to grab the rope, they are pissed and angry with themselves. The transition to the stand up exchanges was great and so perfectly timed. Yamamoto wins out the first strikes by knocking down Tamura first, seemingly winning the match for himself with a flurry of palm strikes to the bridge of the nose and kicks to the head. And Tamura has to first back with big shots to just stay alive, and that he does. Tamura hits a lovely jumping head kick but that fails to knock down Yamamoto to everyone’s surprise, so he fires one on the chin but that fails too for a small while as Yamamoto finally falls a few seconds later to more palm strikes to tie the two on points. And they finish off an extremely tense and exciting 5 minutes by returning to the mat seeing out the match. Unbelievable match. Perfect from bell to bell and more. *****

Excellent match. Happy Motel taking it to the Golden Lovers, who are virtually gone from the company soon after this. The torch of the future has been past, and it’s only right the Takeshita was the star and focus of the match. His work with Kenny was great, his selling was good but him going back and forth exchanging big moves was the peak of his performance. Endo and Ibushi stood out as great partners as well. Great double team moves galore. ****1/4

This is a great example of a face v face in a No DQ match. Bret plays it on the edge. He isn’t hesitant to use chairs or ropes/cables to his advantage. And why should he? It’s all allowed and legal. It’s not a morality contest and he’s in it to win. Diesel is similar but plays it a bit too straight and is hesitant at the crucial points in the match. That’s why Bret wins over him, and Diesel knows it. Love the call backs to their Rumble match with the Figure Four in the middle of the ring and the use of the chair by Diesel. They arc’d the match really well from Diesel kicking Bret’s ass, looking like a total badass;, to Bret attacking the leg of Diesel and then the finishing stretch where they are selling the fatigue and damage of the whole match while building to the big high spot of the match - the epic spanish announce table bump from Bret. An overall great match. ****1/4

An epic Now Generation vs Old Guard match in Budokan Hall. The opening exchanges between Kobashi and Hansen were great. The struggle for the cross elbow tie up before Hansen took Kobashi to the mat and smothered him was a strong way to open the match and the following encounter between Misawa and Baba was cool as well. Misawa oversells for Baba, naturally, but Baba’s facial expressions after the brief strike flurry from Misawa made it all work. Baba smirking might be my favourite thing in wrestling. The match lost steam in the middle of the match with too much repetition with Baba locking Misawa in loose arm-wringers and various submissions. Kobashi putting Baba in the rolling cradle made sure that the middle portion of the match wasn’t a total waste of time, however. The finishing stretch was fun though and finished the match off super strong. Hansen and Baba constantly trying to set up the irish whip into Western Lariat, only to be scuppered by Misawa at every attempt was awesome. Hansen got so pissed off that he pounded Misawa on the apron, sending him flying into the guardrail. Kobashi’s crying face after Baba kicked out of his moonsault was a prime WWE-esc moment. Loved it. ***3/4

A match that wasn’t even scheduled to happen apparently. I heard that Vader was supposed to get a rematch for this show but Shawn throwing a fit at Summerslam scrapped those plans so they put Mankind in this match. Neat. The match reputation speaks for itself. Almost everyone considers this to be a great match. Some go as far as to claim it's one of the best matches WWF has ever done. I won’t go as far as that but this was an incredible match, for sure. This was very unconventional and out of the box. A different match from what you’ll usually see from a WWF title match or a Shawn Michaels match. It was one of the few times where Shawn Michaels came across as wrestling rather than performing. He lays in his strikes, his aerial attacks have more malice than flash in them. He is very aggressive and totally game in this match. The first third of the match is so great. Mankind stiffs Shawn with a back elbow to kick it all off and what came after was a very rough and unpredictable scramble. Michaels dropkicks Mankind, who’s holding the outside mats and then jumps on him. It looks super dangerous as does the subsequent back bumps on the concrete he takes. One of my favourite moments of the match was Mankind, after the little worked shoot incident in the corner where Shawn shouts at Mankind for not running at him in the corner, baiting Michaels in and grapevining his legs around Michaels before trying locking in the mandible claw. It felt very off the cuff and raw. It worked perfectly into the tone of the match. The match is next spent with Michaels first working over Mankind’s knee after a sickening bump into the steeps after a suplex on the outside and then the hand after the chair gets brought into play. Michaels throws out a dainty dragon screw and the figure four on the wrong leg (Flair does it as well so I’ll forgive Shawn) but Mankind sells the work excellently. The match has tons of little moments but works great as a highlight reel as well. The table bump is awesome and was worked in seemingless both into the spot and afterwards to the finish. Mankind gets caught in the ropes in horrific fashion. Michaels hitting a running, chair assisted superkick looked incredible. Just so many things you can list off. The finish kinda sucks with Vader running in a tad too late making the planned false finish seem awkward and wasted since Mankind had to kick out of the aforementioned superkick to no fanfare. But Undertaker showing up out of the casket was pretty cool, admittedly. So what we were left with was an unbelievable match with a great mix of brawling and highspots and some brilliant selling from both wrestlers (+ some great character work by Mankind with his squealing). They were given tons of time and they used it well to combine different components to make one very compelling and gripping match. The match probably needs a more tight finish to make it a top tier match but I haven’t got many complaints for this match. If you’re a Shawn Michaels critic, you'll probably like this. It has pretty much none of his bad attributes and some of his best. ****1/2

This probably should’ve been better than it was. But I have grown very weary of endless strike exchanges at this point. Perhaps their age should give them some slack but I just prefer a bit more. I’m glad that they switched up the strikes so it wasn’t just the bland forearm blows and the selling was fine. Give me way more than that though. The meat of the match where there were a bit more submissions being attempted was more my alley. That was the best part of the match for me. Nagata getting the win was great though.

This was pretty great once they got kicked into another gear and AJ began attacking Bryan’s leg. All the technical wrestling up-to that point was a bit too showy with not much struggle to it but once the duel-limb work aspect got added to the match, the work from both, Bryan especially got more snug and heated. I thought AJ’s selling was very strong and was the constant quality that carried through the match from start to finish. Bryan’s selling was decent but I didn’t really buy his pain unlike AJ's. The finish itself was pretty great as well. The counter from the running knee to the styles clash was super slick and impressive. ****

Saying that isn't too much depth isn't the same as saying that there is no depth. That'd be a lie from my POV. He still has a few great years where his output was really good (2012, 2013, 2018) which is still a lot. And making the best out of garbage tv and writing is all well and good. However it's still something that I've never been into, and doubt that I will ever watch again, as far as the angles go. So I can't honestly say that helps his case as far as I'm concerned. He's still in the top 5, just not #1. Or at least decisively. I'd have to really think about how I compare his peak years to the others I mentioned.

I don't think Bryan had nearly enough of a great 2010s, due to injury, booking, etc, to be considered an undisputed #1. I guess he's like Rey Mysterio in that point of view. He's had some good matches, high level matches like the Sheamus match at ExRules, Cena at Summerslam and the Brock match. But unless you're a rabid fan of his, I don't think there is too much depth there for the aforementioned reasons. Cena comes to mind. He doesn't have a strong full decade for both 00s and 10s but I feel like he has a great 06-14 which is enough of a blend to cover the amount of time in question. Dick Togo definitely has a shout. I probably need to watch more 00s Togo outside of DDT, if possible, though. Tanahashi maybe? I think 00s Tanahashi has his flaws, one's that were improved upon later in his career, but he still has some quality matches against Goto and Nagata. Even Muto of all people. Okada would be my #1 for the last decade but with the 00s being his YL run, albeit with a few good matches, but he has no chance I'm afraid.

The most built-up match of the year. And whilst it's not the main event, it felt on that level. Extremely strong match with both guys totally outdoing themselves and delivered on what they built up in the tag team matches. Sho looked great with his power moves and submission attempts, making Shingo looks the most vulnerable he has been since debuting. Shingo ruled as always but Sho was the standout here. ****1/4

This was good. This gets a reputation for being an all time brawl but I don’t see that a whole lot. Instead this was more focused on fast tag team work that is constantly flowing back and forth. The crowd probably elevates the work to the point where I can see why people think so highly of this. However I think desperately lacked a killer stretch where the match turned into that transcendent masterpiece. And there were a few aspects that I really hated. Austin and Owen got sent backstage after hurting their knees via figure fours on the post. I don’t know why that was necessary. It’s a fairly standard spot in the 90s and they don’t even look in bad enough shape to be sent away. It takes two of the most over in the match out of it, Austin in particular. And Owen being taken out of the match, only to return for the finish and win made it a whole lot worse. And the finish beside that was so anticlimactic and comes out of nowhere. Austin gets attacked by Bruce outside, a small brawl takes place and then Austin goes in the ring and gets pinned. A bad finish to what was a pretty good match. ***3/4

Hase and Sasaki had the more substantial exchanges in this, and I kinda loved them going at each other. The slap exchange was great. Although I’m not sure if Hase was supposed to get knocked down the first time, it worked as Sasaki is the badass and Hase is at the end of his career. Tenryu had some good Ternyu-isms where he’d throw a stiff punch to Kawada or Sasaki and that was awesome. Just a simple match that lacked a bit of heat but it didn't hurt the match too much. ***1/2

Had a hard time actually sitting down to watch this. Always had to do something when I planned to sit down and watch this, and an hour later, I can say that it was worth waiting. This was pretty great. This was a great hybrid of shoot style and pro-style. The early mat-work was awesome. The struggle just to get Kandori into a neck bridging position by Saito was incredible. Everything was contested and very uncooperative in a compelling way. Saito was great from working beneath, having to come up with different ways to defend herself against Kandori’s submissions and stiff strikes. The finishing stretch with all the nearfalls was really well done, too. Saito got some great nearfalls, even getting a pin at one point but the ref said Kandori got her shoulder up (I don’t think she did) but she ultimately fell to Kandori. ****1/4

40 minute match...kinda worrying on paper but this flowed way better than I thought it would. The pacing is still rather slow with most of the offence being basic mat work with a few cool counters and fast sequences being thrown in. Also Yamada had her kicks which will always pop me. The first bell threw me for a loop. I was unaware that there was a 30 minute time limit to this opposed to the 40 this gets extended to. It makes sense 30 is the traditional time limit. But like their 91 match, this goes 30 but Toyota asks to receive 5 more minutes, and again once that runs out. Then they noticeably switched up gears, throwing more all or nothing offence at each other, desperately trying to end the match and prove who is the better. They upped in tempo and intensity which worked great into the match. ***3/4

More fuel to the fire in regards to Aja Kong and Kudo. The class of 86 are destined to collide sometime in the future. And this is the first meeting between the two (in any form) since Kudo’s return to wrestling. They would face each other in December for the 3WA World championship. Before that, they have to team with their fellow wrestlers for now. Love Aja getting in the ring, shooing off Sato and calling for Kudo. And unlike Toyota and Yamada on the Anniversary show, she gets a reaction. It might be small but damn if it didn’t make me smile. Love their initial exchange where Kudo attacks the arm and tries to bring in to the mat only for Aja to blast her in the face with a kick. There was another awesome sequence where Kudo was outwitting Aja with her quickness, countering anything Aja Kong had in store for her. Aja Kong had to rely on the strikes to get anything after a while. Told a great story there. Poor Sato. She got beat up so badly any time she was in the ring. With Ito, there was more give and go but with Aja Kong in the ring, it was dream street. She ran nice interference for Kudo though and even had some cool subsequent offence, following whatever Kudo did nicely, whether it was a clothesline off the top after a Kudo arm wringer or catching Ito with a running clothesline after she missed a footstomp (to Kudo). There was an awesome moment where Aja Kong comes, with no cause to, and hits Kudo with her metal box. She fails to hit it off the top rope the second time though, hitting Ito (which would repeat itself when she accidentally hits the Urakento her for the finish) with it instead. A really, really good tag match with tons of neat spots and match building between Kudo and Aja. Sato and Ito more than pull their weight in their lesser roles. ***3/4

Kudo and Toyoda were very over with the crowd. Maybe that was in comparison to the AJW duo but they had the crowd behind them whether they were in the driving seat or working from beneath. Toyota, to her credit, was great in spite of getting little from the crowd. She had some great sequences that she strung together. Toyoda was a good base for her high flying. Yamada kicked ass with her stiff kicks. Kudo was a strong sympathetic character with her selling and charisma. And her string of offence to put away Toyoya was awesome. ****

Triple Crown Title Match: Suwama (c) vs. Taiyo Kea - AJPW Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 5 31/08/2008 I believe this is my first time watching Taiyo Kea in a singles match. I probably watched him randomly once or twice, I know I watched in him a tag but that was 2019 Kea. This is pretty much peak Kea it seems. Although, the match itself is critically panned, and my curiosity has gotten the best of me. Probably not the best way to watch someone at their craft for one of the first times. I think I’m fair though. However, the match..well lived up to its reputation. It was not very good for a plethora of reasons ranging from them never really getting out of the second gear until the last closing stretch (40 minutes into a 60 minute match btw) which, to me, was totally lacking in drama. There were hints of the two working each other’s legs but I found the struggle to be rather dry. Neither were great at submissions as far as I can tell. Although Suwama splashing himself onto the leg was pretty great. It was just too lackluster for far too long. They lost me before the finishing stretch which itself seemed to go on forever. I’m convinced they lost track of time and went “home” too early. This wasn’t awfully bad. Just boring. Early Suwama disappoints me once again. **

This was pretty much saved by a brutal closing stretch with mean punches that hit the mark, some awesome bombs thrown. Really good end to what was a pretty unintresting match. The flow was really ugly, essentially taking me out of the match. There would be large gaps inbetween the moves with little transitions. It was just "pause, figure out what to do, do". It was fairly stiff and Suwama had some nice power moves but the overall match was too bare bones. I like both guys but this was not it. Takayama didn't look the best either - his wellness frailties showed. But god bless Suwama for eating those punches. **3/4