Makai Club #1
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Everything posted by Makai Club #1
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A hell of a match with an amazing closing stretch - something Osrpeay has grown to excel at. The start of the match was decent, it kept a quick pace but it was nothing all that substantial but as the match went on, they grew into it more and started throwing some great sequences together. Ospreay hit a nasty Spanish Fly as a reversal to a running lariat attempt. The near falls at the end were superbly well done too. ***3/4 -
The start of the match was the usual Okada vs SANADA (well, most NJ matches if I’m honest) but with Okada being the aggressor. He played to the crowd in a subtle way (that cocky smile and sarcastic slaps) which further got the crowd onto SANADA’s side, which is a very underrated part of Okada’s game. Which made an otherwise, generic, nothing first part of the match feel all the more fresh. This whole match in-fact reminds me of the Chono match post neck injury. They don’t have a total bombfest that most people expect from Japansee wrestling but they keep the crowd, and myself invested through the little things and their natural charisma. Also adding a few new, fresh ideas into the mix such as the Rainmaker counter by SANADA into the pop-up TKO which looked great. I loved the way they teased the 30 minute time limit finish. SANADA hitting the moonsault finally on Okada but him being on his stomach, causing SANADA to have to hit another one - it was pretty incredible to watch. Had my heart racing thinking that SANADA wasn’t going to do it. I think the match overall could’ve been better but it wasn’t bad, or terrible. It was borderline great, in my opinion. ****
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This starts out like your typical Tanahashi match, with him working on the opponents leg, which he does a fine job at but is ultimately not used for most of the match. Tana’s dragon screw whips looks nasty as usual and he even brought out a deep texas cloverleaf. Ibushi seemed determined to blow it off though, which was pretty amusing to see. The call back to their Power Struggle ‘17 match with the slaps was great. Tanahashi doesn’t throw great strikes but he has a nice slap on him and Ibushi is Ibushi. The finish was fun, it wasn’t so much as a counterfest, more Tanahashi just trying to survive Ibushi’s big moves. The pacing of the match overall was great. Wizzed by super fast and other than the usual leg work in the beginning that’s no sold almost immediately, this was great. ***3/4
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This had your typical Ishii start to the match where they’d test each other’s will until you realise that your ain’t out toughing Ishii, which was pretty fun. Especially the hard slaps Goto would throw that Ishii wouldn’t even register. No pain on his face at all. Epic. The counters and strikes were pretty great, both know how to build drama in the match well and maximum the full effect of their big moves, Goto w/ his GTR is the perfect example. Now, this was one of the lesser versions of the match, sure, but it’s a high barrier to overcome considering their previous matches. Great match. ***3/4
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This was intense from the off. No wasting time, Inoue and Marufuji beating the hell out of each other. Samurai and Inoue working over KENTA in a great, heated way. Marufuji coming in and getting the hot tag was awesome. Really great match. Blew me away ****1/4
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If he was younger and there was no Jay White, he would be one of the top gaijins in the company.
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This started off like a typical big match, slow and the two being cautious. They had some lovely exchanges on the mat and have a nice knuckle lock struggle. Speaking of which; I always love the “You can’t wrestle” chant right before Cena goes all grapple fuck and proves he can. Then the fans chanting “you still suck”. Lol. Idiot fans being idiots as per usual. Then there was a great transition for Cena to take control with Cena throwing Bryan neck first into the ropes and then basically hits a shoulder block on Bryan, who is no on the apron, sending him flying hard into the announcers table. The momentum switches in the match were great at times. Bryan made a brief comeback, hit the Yes kicks which Cena reversed into a Five knuckle shuffle which then Bryan blocks with a kick to the head and then Cena cuts him off with a slam and then hits the Five knuckle shuffle in a minute lock fantastic sequence with momentum going back and forth - totally blew my mind. Bryan was excellent at the little things in this match. The way he brought the crowd alive by just milking in the crowd, the way he slowly pulled himself up after hitting a spider suplex to Cena off the top rope and then put his hands in the air. Playing to the crowd for maximum effect. There was a scary, yet great counter by Cena to a hurricanrana into an STF by just dropping off the ropes, almost dropping Bryan on his head. I almost thought that he was doing a styles clash for a second. Cena brings everything he has in this match, intensity and all. He even hits a stiff lariat to Bryan when Bryan tries to hit a knee in the corner. The best part of the match, for me, was when they started trading slaps which transition to the closing stretch so, so well. Then the finish with Bryan debuting the Busaiku Knee was a great way to end the match. It says a ton when you completely forget the Special ref. One, that they didn’t need a clutch and instead got you into the match on your own. And two, HHH did a good job as ref. Two outstanding performances that kept you engaged from start to finish. Starting with some great grappling exchanges, eventually turning into a great battle of Bryan having to fight from beneath and come up with new ways to beat Cena and be champion. Tremendous match. ****3/4 The post match angle was tremendously well done. Stunned the crowd and just sent me back to 2013 when my 13 year old self was sat in silence for like an hour, unable to comprehend what happened. That's what wrestling does to you, man. When done right, anyway.
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[2013-06-16-WWE-Payback] Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in June 2013
I thought this was tremendous. It's rare that a double turn is done right and the crowd takes to it but they did it perfectly here. Ziggler basically a wounded animal with a serious head injury and Del Rio took advantage like a shark. I've always considered myself a Del Rio fan (despite him being a massive dick) and this is the reason why. His facial expressions were class. He went from the smiley face with a hint of excitement and slowly transitioned into a hate filled man willing to do everything. Being very aggressive early on, attacking the injured head of Ziggler. Ziggler scrambling to defend himself, doing anything he can but never being able to sustain a flurry of offence. The crowd already behind Ziggler, turning more and more against Del Rio as the match progresses. Ziggler was helpless throughout and could do nothing but endure the offence from Del Rio. Highly engaging throughout, it helps that it was only 13 minutes long but it didn't need to be any longer because this was was done almost perfectly. Awesome match. ****3/4 -
A terrific six man tag between the two groups, as per usual. The crowd and match was most heated when Kawada and Jumbo were going at each other, some great stuff that. As well as the Taue vs Kawada interactions brewing off their blood feud at the time. Fuchi didn’t do much but he wasn’t totally a hang along, as he did some good stuff. Kikuchi took some nasty bumps into the guardrails and was basically the guy for Jumbo to torment. Misawa was pretty decent too. Loads of different components. ****
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Now this was a pretty good match. I knew these two would have good chemistry with each other. The match combined limb work (Moxley attacking the leg of Shingo) with some brawling, which was done well. Moxley using the chair to wack Shingo's knee was awesome - visually nasty. Shingo's selling of his leg was very good and consistent as well. It's nice to see the work on the leg pay off in the finish also. Shingo was great, bringing tons of intensity in his comeback. ***1/2
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Loved this from start to finish but it wasn't perfect. KENTA's offence, whilst stiff, lacked the intensity and emotion behind it unless it was a counter to a move. The slaps after the attempted Rainmaker, for example. The work on Okada's neck was visually brutal though - the foot stomp on the guard rail, the kicks and slaps. Okada did a superb job of selling, making every strike look even more painful. Okada on offence was pretty good too, Okada getting pissed off at KENTA, slapping his head was great. This just needed to be more heated and intense. ***3/4
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The match was forgettable but the result was shocking. I was all in on Naito winning but now, he is pretty much out.
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[1991-01-19-AJPW-New Year Giant Series] Jumbo Tsuruta vs Stan Hansen
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in January 1991
Not the bomb fest the typical triple crown matches would become but a good match filled with smart wrestling. ***1/2 -
[1991-01-15-AJPW-New Year Giant Series] Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in January 1991
Brother Kawada, get rid of these theme quick. But never mind that, we got a wild match. The brawls on the outside was something I never expected. Taue gets busted open, Kawada hurts his knee. And they do a great job of matching that intensity when they get into the ring. Taue is the king of the most simplest of offence, using chokes, sumo slaps and throwing heads into the floors, as well as the work on the leg. He was awesome in the match. Kawada’s selling was pretty great. Both in the match and post match. He made Taue look like a killer in this too. **** -
[1991-01-02-AJPW-New Year Giant Series] Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in January 1991
Kobashi running to the ring? We are firmly in the middle ground of being a young boy and Kenta breaking out as a singles star (Although the fans treated like one here). I was mauling but Kobashi got tons of offence on Hansen, working on the arm for considerable portions of the match. Hanse sold for him and won in the end. Nasty stuff with the chair too. ***1/4 -
Tremendous match. Seen the promo a bunch of times but never the match but thank god I did. Amazing. One of the best retirement matches of all time, even if it didn't last. Violent brawl early one, a great FIP section with Dory being ganged up on by Hansen and Gordy. Great performance by Terry on the apron and when he comes in. HOT crowd. Excellent match. ****1/2
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It's taken a while but White has pretty much put it all together by this point. He was absolutely tremendous in this match. His work on Tanahashi's arm was fantastic. The little counters that he does look great, especially the sprawling defense for the twist and shout which was excellent. That's the stuff I love about wrestling when done correctly. Tanahashi sold the arm so well. The timing of his comebacks was on point and as always, his dragon screws were great. These two didn't have much chemistry before but I thought they clicked perfectly here. The finish was well done too. ****1/2
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[1990-06-08-AJPW-Super Power Series] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in June 1990
Hot crowd from the start. As the legend goes, Baba changed the result once he heard the crowd’s chants of Misawa and his pre show merch sales, so this crowd was full pro-Misawa. Jumbo was popular, too, amazingly. The match started off pretty heavy with Jumbo clubbing Misawa with some brutal offence but Misawa outsmarts him and gets the better of him, before catching him with his elbow, followed up by a pescado. Misawa slapping Jumbo after the stalemate spots was pretty cool, Jumbo seems rather stunted but he kept his composure which is classic Jumbo. The best part of the match was Jumbo beating down and working over Misawa for me. The spot where Misawa went for a cross body only for Jumbo to catch him and drop him on the rope was both visually nasty and amazing, as was the rest of the work on the neck of Misawa. Misawa fighting from beneath was good, he sold well and made great use of his offence whenever he could. The crowd was totally on Misawa’s side, being so loud so it was easy to rally behind him. Everytime Misawa would kick out of Jumbo’s moves, the crowd would stamp their feet on the floor, making rumbling noises, adding to the atmosphere. Misawa blocking the backhold driver by pushing off the ropes and stunning Jumbo’s momentum of the hold was great and an awesome transition to the closing third. The finish wasn’t particularly great but it did its job, it built suspense and that’s all you can ask for. Great match - history making. ****1/4 -
This was a big occasion since this was Dr Death’s first title defence of as Triple Crown champion since defeating Misawa in July. Who better to defend against that Kobashi after their great match in 93? And this was pretty much on par with that, only twice as long. The match started off a little slow with a few mano e mano spots, trading chops, a test of strength spot, even a shoulder block where Kobashi knocks Willams down and hits a stunning crossbody to the outside from the top rope. I think that they do a really good job of establishing Kobashi as a threat that way, with him dominating Wiliams, forcing him to fight from beneath, even if it’s not the most interesting to watch. The match kinda retained that slow pace as the match progressed, but with Williams getting more into it, the offence got more intense and creative with Williams turning a bearhug into a lovely belly-to-belly suplex. The crowd started getting into the match more when Kobashi started to throw some big bombs and began countering Williams’ offence more and more, chanting “Kobashi” after one of his trademarked running lariats. Loved the moment of the match where Willams almost necked Kobashi with a suplex and then just threw him out of the ring and onto the floor like he was nothing. Love the little spurts of fun that he puts into the match like that. Kobashi’s moonsault was used to great effect with the first successful one being a great near fall and the second attempt being missed after Williams desperately scrambles away. Kobashi’s leg drop from the top rope was beautifully well timed with him hitting Willimas perfectly as he turned over from his front, as was his entire offence the whole match. The finish was pretty good with Williams being unable to put Kobashi away with the Backdrop driver, building and building to him finally being able to cover him, hitting one on the turnbuckle (of all places) and then one in the middle of the ring before finally beating Kobashi. Now I didn’t think this needed to go over 40 minutes but it was still a pretty great match. It was a great showcase of Kobashi and allowed Williams to shine whilst being the defensive one of the match. ****1/4
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Great match with an incredible final stretch. Big move after big move with great selling from Kobashi along with his great comeback. The rest of the match was pretty good too but a bit bumpy and it sometimes felt like they were waiting to get to the finishing stretch. Still great stuff but oh well. , ****1/4
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Loved KENTA is this. This was the total KENTA show with KENTA brutalising Tanahashi with some nasty strikes and being a real douche to him - the part where KENTA kicked Tanahashi in the back of the head when he was posing was awesome. Tanahashi was very selfless, he let KENTA totally run over him, sold really well all match and thus allowed KENTA to shine even more. ***3/4
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Very different from what NJ main events usually are. The brawling around the ring and in the crowd was awesome. The fans scattered which is always a great visual, some great use of q weapons, even if it was very WWE esc in the set up. A couple of things I didn't like about the match though was Moxley's facial expressions and mannerisms. Pretty goofy and didn't fit the match at all. The brawling on the outside didn't translate into the ring well so whenever they got in the ring, the match lost a bit of its magic. The rest was great though. ****
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[1998-05-01-AJPW-25th Anniversary Show] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in May 1998
I believe Misawa is going into this very messed up, and it unfortunately shows. Misawa doesn't do anything bad, but he is just a passenger really that can only offer his best moves, which is still fun to watch in all fairness. Kawada steps up big time though to help carry the load by beating hell out of Misawa. The finish was amazing, a nice homage to the Tenryu/Jumbo finish as well. *** -
[2012-05-20-WWE-Over The Limit] CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan
Makai Club #1 replied to Loss's topic in May 2012
I was pleasantly surprised that these two were given this amount of time. They made great use of it too, keeping it tight, adding tons of different layers and building the match very well. The call backs to their indie days, the duel work on the ribs (Bryan to Punk) and the leg (Punk to Bryan), the struggle for submissions and holds. I loved the structure of Punk absolutely schooling Bryan in the early goings, out-doing Bryan at his own game, working on a limb and being the dominant force. Only then Bryan to find some openings and slowly get back into the match and then ending the match with a tremendous back and force struggle with momentum changing with every move. Tremendous match. ****1/2 -
I didn't really buy the "Ospreay is WOTY" talk last year but he has really stepped up even more this year round and this is another feather in his cap. Even more impressive considering that both guys had different injuries going into this match. Both of which could've had them taken out of the G1. And the way they incorporated that into the match was splendid. Ospreay nastily going for the ankle early on and Ibushi working on the neck. Love the build from working holds to them throwing some brutal strikes and hitting some big bombs. It became less about the injuries and more about getting the win. Great match. ****"