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Makai Club #1

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  1. Makai Club #1
    On initial viewing, I wasn’t into the grappling portion of the match that most of the match is built around. Hashimoto has never really stood out as a great mat-worker to me and it didn’t fully click as a whole. On second viewing though, it came out a bit better. I loved seeing the struggle between two wrestlers who essentially have the same strategy: attacking the leg. Hase switching up the way he did the figure four, pushing the leg with his soles rather than the back of the leg, was clever. Hashimoto trapping Hase’s arm while trying to lock the other in an armbar was a nifty transition into a potential submission. I really dug how things escalated from pure 70s style grappling to more strikes being thrown to the legs, by both Hase and Hashimoto. Hashimoto would throw sweeping kicks, taking Hase out from under him while Hase would use dropkicks and stomping knees. Hashimoto utilized his kicks in brilliant ways. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kick to the leg being used as a defence to someone (Hase in this case) coming off the top rope. Eventually Hashimoto takes full control of the match and Hase looks in total danger. Hase’s selling is really strong for this final stretch of the match, being able to make the most of Hashimoto’s offence. Hashimoto looked like a killer when he was throwing vicious head kicks to a kneeling Hase. The finish is perhaps too sudden with Hase just sneaking the win after being pummeled for a good while though. The crowd and Hase go nuts at the surprise win though. A match I’m glad I revisited. ****1/4
  2. Makai Club #1
    Of course I left it late to even join in with this project, so my top 100 is a very rough draft that I put together yesterday. I'm confident in it though.
  3. Makai Club #1
    This was another incredible WAR vs New Japan match. The outcome was never really in doubt but they still put on a big show. The crowd was super hot for the New Japan boys - Chono in particular was the hot commodity of the match. The WAR Crew were outright vicious with her hard strikes and snug lariats focused towards Chono. The potshots they’d throw towards Fujinami was great. He’d get riled up and come in and kick ass. Chono is able to channel the crowd heat to maximise her performance. His quick comeback is a bit sudden but it further puts the STF over as a strong move. ****
  4. Makai Club #1
    This is probably more in tune with what I want from a tag team match than their matches. Non-stop drama in the nearfalls with an exhausting build but with a thrilling climax. But I think it's still just shy of their second (and best) of the series. The little callbacks to the first match where Kansai booted Toyota in the throat while she was in the boston crab was brilliant. Yamada threw all she had in the kicks back. I love that the camera didn’t even catch the first kick but you could hear the THUD of the contact. Toyota was incredible towards the last five minutes. Her missile dropkick to the floor was gorgeous. And I loved the crafty clutch pin she used on Ozaki. Brilliant match all around. Just one long stretch of nearfalls. ****1/2
  5. Makai Club #1
    That stardown before the bell. Aja Kong was like “Fuck your flowers!”. Incredible. 5 Stars? Oh I need to watch the match first. Okay. The match definitely lives up to its billing. Dynamite Kansai made herself a total threat and a worthy adversary for Aja Kong. Hitting brutal kicks to the face is one thing but being able to withstand a few urakens is what really proves her worth. The Splash Mountain Near fall was insane. I love the KO tease Kong has as well. Just a total badass moment. Incredible match. ****3/4
  6. Makai Club #1
    This was excellent. Io Shirai is newly turned heel and is uber arrogant towards the one she turned on. But Mayu sees that as an opportunity and unleashes a totally blitz of dangerous and forceful offence. Io mounts a comeback though and eventually goes through a barrage of suplexes. Mayu is a brilliant seller in the way she rag dolls herself on them too. She also has an uncanny ability to milk every nearfall for all its worth. Mayu has never been so close to the title but it was just out of her reach still. Brilliant match. ****1/2
  7. Makai Club #1
    Same pairing, same stipulation, totally different layout though. Team JWP bunrush the AJW side and put them away for the quick first fall in 12 seconds. Amazing. So the match is different immediately. And this time around, Toyota was less vulnerable to the smooth teamwork by Ozaki and Kansai, more aware of the tricks and relatively stays out of danger. And when she is in trouble, she is crafty enough to get out of it fairly quick. The dropkick to Ozaki while in mid-strike from a Kansai irishwhip was awesome but what was truly immense was Toyota, again, in mid-stride being able to balance herself on the ropes and hit a twisting crossbody taking Kansai out. That was brilliance which shows you why Toyota is widely considered the GOAT womens wrestler. That stuff right there is untouchable. But the body of the match was focused around Kansai and Yamada. And their exchanges produce excellent results. I loved how they still kept the underdog/big boss dynamic in their portion of the match. Yamada could easily knock anyone out with her wild kicks but Kansai is a machine and outmatches her in every way. So there is still a mountain to climb. It was so compelling. Ozaki adding in her lucha offence and some great heel characteristics is always a treat among the rest. She is the perfect tag wrestler, honestly. The match was paced rather long and you could feel the length but I can’t say there was a time where I was bored. Is it better than their first match? Hard to tell. I'll say yes. ****1/2
  8. Makai Club #1
    This was so, so good. The first fall was incredible. The FIP work by Toyota was top notch in this fall, although it'd wane in the 3rd fall and the double team work by Ozaki and Kansai was immensely good. The Camel Clutch setting up Kansai's brutal kicks to the throat was sadistically awesome. Kansai produced magic whenever she was involved. Especially when matched up with Yamada. The 2nd fall was short but still good and got a big pop. The 3rd fall is where the match falls short of being a classic though. The length of the fall wasn't exactly a problem but it felt long. Toyota was again the FIP but her work wasn't as compelling as the 1st fall. But it wasn't a terrible fall by any means. Ozaki showed some great character work on the apron when she stamped on Toyota's outreaching hand near the ropes. Awesome match. ****1/4
  9. Makai Club #1
    This progressed really well from a slow, drawn out technical battle to with Funk attacking the neck and then cranking on a headlock on Orton Jr before Orton fires back and is able to apply a tight bearhug of his own into a more scrappy fight with hard punches. I love how the heel and face roles switch constantly. Funk is disrespectful and violent early on but later Orton is willing to lay in some big punches to Funk while he’s on apron, not caring for the rules at all. Funk’s selling is tremendous. The classic wide eyed facial expressions, the staggering response to Orton’s punches. He puts Bob Orton over huge. Funk’s work on the leg is brilliantly worked into the match also. Funk out of nowhere, just drops a knee onto Orton’s leg and attacks it, setting up the spinning toe hold. Orton’s selling is good in return. The final stretch of the match where both are throwing caution to the wind to get the win - Funk at one point hits a low blow - to get the win before the time limit expires. ****1/4
  10. Makai Club #1
    I have never watched this before except maybe once when I was six and my Dad was watching a Ric Flair documentary that had this match. But it’s time to have some actual critical eyes on this. The entrance from Flair is legendary and pretty spectacular. The very definition of styling and profiling. This was terrific as it seemed to be on paper. Flair was a nasty, vicious heel working over the nose of one of the best, sympathetic baby faces in wrestling history. The brawling was very rough and heavy. You could feel the punches and the slams into the cage. It’s even cringe-worthy when Flair grates Morton’s injured face into the fence. Morton’s hope spots are really good and it’s always entertaining to see Flair get his ass kicked. The only downside is that even without clear hindsight and wrestling knowledge, Flair was always going over in this match. Excellent title defence for Flair. ****1/4
  11. Makai Club #1
    To say that I've grown jaded on endless strike exchanges could be an understatement. I tend to check out whenever that happens by this point since it's usually mindless and boring but this match will always capture me like no other match despite being the very example of endless strike exchanges. Only with chops being the case rather than elbows. Sasaki and Kobashi is one of the most enthralling, spectacular matches of its kind. It's in the Tokyo Dome, it's the big showdown between the two titans, the enormously hot crowd that eats everything they do up. It's an experience to witness. This is my favourite match of all time so naturally I think it's Kobashi's best which is quite funny considering that when I was the last few matches of the Kobashi GHC title reign, I noticed that he was slowing down a bit. His matches began to suffer from not many new or interesting ideas and just being not up-to usual standard. But here, he works perfectly to his capabilities to match the nature of the match and has an absolute classic, just after his peak has ended. Sasaki, on the other hand, is coming in after freelancing all around Japan so he has something to prove against Kobashi. So when Kobashi throws the first chops, Sasaki fires back. And over 200 chops later, the crowd is still begging for more and more. They eventually move on to an epic bombs away finishing stretch which included a few awesome no-sell pop ups that never fail to get the juices flowing. Just a classic. *****
  12. Makai Club #1
    What a day 16/04/1994 was. Not only did you have the finals of the Champion Carnival, a pivotal moment in All Japan’s yearly plans involving the elevation of Williams and Kawada. You have the Super J Cup taking place 3 miles down the road at Ryogoku, the launching pad for Junior Heavyweight wrestling of its generation. Just to follow up on the All Japan side. While Kawada wins this match, setting up the next Misawa vs Kawada title match, getting to the Finals solidifies Williams as the top gaijin of All Japan now. This is the second match between these two of the Carnival themselves, previously going 30 minutes earlier in the tournament. And this is a brilliant follow up from that. Kawada is on the counter defensive, actively avoiding Williams’ biggest moves (Oklahoma Stampede, Backdrop Driver) while looking to get his stiff strikes in to knock Williams loopy. Kawada hung onto the ropes for dear life when Willaims first went for the Stampede. Fantastic work by Kawada who made everything Williams was trying to do that much more dangerous by his sheer desperation to get out of those signatures. Williams worked the back with hard slams and kicks to the back early on which Kawada sold wonderfully with his screams of agony. It’s not often you hear Kawada audibly sell but he went that route in this case. Williams brought out a few out of the box offensive moves, such as the Tiger Suplex which got a close two count and some awesome punches to the jaw. Kawada had some brilliant combo strikes near the finish, hitting a spinning backfist and then a rolling kappou kick which was the turning point for Kawada’s eventual win. The mach excelled at milking the drama for all it’s worth in the near falls and submission holds. Williams did his best to make Kawada earn that finish and it made the win much more satisfying. Now give Kawada the Triple Crown, Baba! ****1/2
  13. Makai Club #1
    Minoru Tanaka vs. Shunma Katsumata A brilliant match built around Minoru Tanaka attacking the leg of Shunma and working it over the whole match. Tanaka was superb I thought. His initial assault on the leg and the following kicks to the knee joint were great. There were tons of extra snap in his dropkicks and his submissions were pretty snug. Shunma proved his versatility once again by working really well on defence. His Brock Lock submissions were great hope spots and allowed Shunma time to make a comeback. I loved the selling of the leg as well. Shunma is very audible in his screams and the intimate atmosphere increases it tenfold. The finish to the match was an excellent way to end the match. Not only was the drama in the figure four milked for all its worth but Tanaka following it up with heavy kicks to the left knee and then transitioning into the rolling knee bar was so ruthless. Tanaka is a Fujiwara student at heart, and it showed. Credit to Shunma for an excellent performance from beneath. ***3/4
  14. Makai Club #1
    The first fall was decent. There was some good lucha mat-work, with the headstand slap exchange sequence to boot. The second fall wasn't great but it set up some good elements like Villano showing more rudo tendencies with Villano III Jr injuring his leg seemingly but it turning out that he was faking it and then captalized on that when Aereo was distracted. And the blood being drawn with Villano III Jr hitting a tope that nailed Aereo in the face. Both looked to have drawn blood from it. And I'm not comparing it to Atlantis vs Villano III as a whole match but that spot was pretty much the same - now that's a good way to emulate a great match. Villano III Jr didn't take long to finish the fall after that. The third fall was good in parts. Villano throwing Aereo in the crowd ruled. He did it so recklessly too. And with the camera being fixed to a certain point, we only saw him being thrown and if he landed on anyone which was probably for the best. This big tin thing was thrown at both guys heads. The brawling was pretty violent and honestly chaotic in ways most brawls aren't. Villano took a nutty bump onto some chairs which transitioned into a crazy dive Aereo took from the light structure. But I oddly felt uninvested in the nearfalls and the big final struggle for the win. The key for the apuestas matches is their high level drama and maybe it's just not really being into either luchador but this didn't have that. And that gave the entire match a ceiling for how much I enjoy the match overall. And that finish. I'm unsure if it was a shoot but that was a lame duck of a finish. A count out? What a way to lose your mask. Ah. This had me and then it didn't by the end. Good match that probably needs revisiting but right now, it's good to a point but not great like you'd expect. ***1/2
  15. Makai Club #1
    This was a much needed improvement from anything else Kerry has done this year. Jumbo is the hometown hero and Kerry worked well as the foreign champion, putting Jumbo over with his selling. The whole first fall is him getting outclassed by Jumbo and the second is Kerry getting his ass beaten with strikes and slams. Jumbo unloaded with stiff punches, cutting Kerry open heavily making it very likely that a Jumbo will get a second straight fall but Kerry survives the big onslaught to hit a discus punch and then lock on a claw to regain some footing by winning the second fall. Kerry heels it up big time by keeping hold of the Iron Claw after winning, getting an unfair advantage. And then he does an awesome cocky dance before hitting a few punches and then Jumbo blocks the Claw attempt and then works it over, making him pay for that piece of arrogance. Jumbo can be a bit of a dud personality wise (I love Jumbo too) but he brought tons of fire and intensity in the 3rd fall. Jumbo’s face of fury before slamming Kerry’s hand into the turnbuckle was amazing. His whole performance is what gave the match the dramatic oomph it needed. The finish, if you’re familiar with NWA title matches, was a fairly typical finish. A double count out to protect the home town ace. Super good match. ****
  16. Makai Club #1
    I'm struggling to even put something to words because the match itself was super good. Suzuki's performance in particular was top quality, Kobashi's performance lacked any big spark and quality throughout the match. It hurt the match a ton despite Suzuki's best efforts. Suzuki made Kobashi earn anything he could by dodging and ducking any backfist attempt he could, trying to squirm his way out of the corner while Kobashi was hitting his machine gun chops, forcing Kobashi to work his pace and his match. Suzuki tightly locked on a headlock and forced Kobashi to try and fight his way out. Suzuki attacked the arm with his kicks and various submissions. Suzuki is quick on his feet so he has no trouble in applying the holds. Kobashi could only try and withstand it. Suzuki's heel mannerisms were so good as well. Who doesn't love it when Suzuki teases and dicks off his opponent? Like I said Suzuki was great. But I think it came at the cost of Kobashi because Kobashi didn't offer a lot on his own. His best moments in the match was Suzuki in control and Kobashi having to work with him. The aforementioned headlock spot, for example. But I wasn't feeling it during Kobashi's run on offence towards the latter stages of the match. And neither were the crowd near enough. It's a rare sight to have Kobashi hit lariats to little reaction but that was the case here. His selling wasn't particularly noteworthy either. Suzuki kept up his end of the match with his brilliant selling of Kobashi's backfist and lariat strikes. ***1/2
  17. Makai Club #1
    Koslowski had a legit background in Greco-Roman wrestling, wrestling in the Seoul 88 and Barcelona 92 Olympics getting the Bronze and Silver Medals respectively. There was a nice game plan from Kozlowski. Any time Kakihara was overwhelming him with strikes, Koslowski would smother him in the corner. Kakihara’s only grace was kicks and he hit a pin-point Koppou Kick but Koslowski was able to catch him and locked him in a crab hold for the tap. ***
  18. 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
  19. Makai Club #1
    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
  20. Makai Club #1
    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. *****
  21. Makai Club #1
    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
  22. Makai Club #1
    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
  23. Makai Club #1
    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
  24. Makai Club #1
    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. ****
  25. Makai Club #1
    “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. *****
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