Suplex-12

Rest in power to the GOAT. A legend who will be remembered for generations to come. All i can say is hopefully he is at peace now.

There is crazy people, there is insane people and then there is Antonio Inoki who was an awesome level of crazy and insanity. His ideas were unorthodox to say the least but I have huge respect for his influence on Japanese Wrestling as well as being an early pioneer in MMA history. Bonus points for as everyone else so far has pointed out literally having the best jawline in history right until the end. RIP Inoki.

This match is much quicker than it should be given Bock was out of the ring for 3 years. Bock and Saito include some little details within the match when it came to the holds as mentioned above, another detail that caught my eye was Bockwinkel using headlocks in the early stages of the match to slow and wear Saito down and that reliance on the headlock is what gets him caught right in the end with that massive Saito Suplex to finish the match. Bock is in my top 3 for GWE and his consistency is a big part of why along with him being one of the best older wrestlers.

Thesz wrestled this match with an artificial hip which makes what he does in this match a bit crazy. Chono is there for the ride taking a big backdrop suplex right at the start and a Thesz press but Thesz himself does take a few bumps, obviously him blowing his hip on that failed powerbomb attempt was already mentioned above but right before that Thesz on his first attempt takes a goddamn backdrop and bridges up before trying that powerbomb that blows hip out before Chono gets the STF in to submit Thesz. Of course, this is more of an exhibition and is not as much of a proper match like the Bockwinkel-Saito match is but I feel this was an impressive last match for Thesz who gets to showcase a few of his big moves before Chono takes control and capitalises on Thesz slowing down as the match goes on to win.

The definition of a Southern Tag. This match has such a hot crowd that are into everything from the high five showdown before the brilliant shine that is a classic Rock N Roll vs. Midnight Express shine ending with Ricky Morton doing that brilliant headscissors/headlock highspot. The transition to Face In Peril is brilliant with Eaton using the racket to whack Morton's back, I also think that this was maybe a bit too long of selling for Morton but that damn hot tag transition for Gibson was awesome with the hip toss and the tease that the Midnight might regain control with the use of a chain before Morton trips Eaton and Robert hits the crossbody on Dennis Condrey to win the match. The aftermath involving Cornette and the Midnight claiming that the Rock N Roll Express had used the chain before the Rock N Roll show they didn't use the chain and they won fair and square is the cherry on top. As I said this is a classic example of the Southern Tag formula being used to perfection combined with such an engaged crowd. ****1/4

What a bloody brawl! From start to finish this match is very scrappy with Kawada and Taue not slowing down at all really having a great sprint with both men using hard hitting strikes trying to take the other out. Kawada showing why he is called "Dangerous K" as he fights through Taue's attacks on his knee and Taue was great adjusting to the ways he attacked Kawada's knee. Couple that with the usage of blood that was rare at this time in big All Japan matches and a finishing stretch that is as intense as the rest of the match before it and you have one of the best non-Hansen brawls in All Japan. ****1/2

And this is something I feel is important to bring up because the reason I brought this up was because when people talk about Bret's 2010 run, it's normally the Vince WrestleMania match that is used and as someone who views longevity as an important thing to focus on, I do feel that something like this match helps Bret's case for longevity as while he isn't the same Bret in his prime, he still was Bret when it came to having logic in his matches.

I know it's been a while but I found this match from 2010 that Matt might want a little look at. Bret does a bit more in this match than anything I have seen from this 2010 run. It's not really new footage but no one else has really seen this to my knowledge.

This is a fitting match for me to watch because it's Johnny Saint's 80th birthday today. He is 67 in this match but as Edwin mentioned he still wrestled brilliantly for a man of his age. First Half Saint starts the match for his team against Dave Taylor and Danielson and does a freaking monkey flip that I didn't see coming. Danielson sells his leg after Saint targets it as a callback to the match the night before with the Roughnecks. Bryan and Saint tag out to Claudio and Quackenbush and after a bit of stalling with the "Ayy" chants, the two of them have some fun exchanges of speed vs power in a technical way before they tag out to Taylor and Rivera for a quick moment before Saint and Bryan Danielson get back in. There are some more moments of Johnny Saint showing those slick counters against all three men of Team Uppercut and while yes I would love to have seen Saint vs Danielson in both men's primes, Claudio vs Saint was just as cool to see Saint get out of the bigger man's holds. Saint was also fun to see wrestle against his fellow Englishman Dave Taylor as well. Claudio threw the first strike of match with a European Uppercut against Skayde who wrestled quick with Claudio showing off how great of a base he can be. Dave Taylor was the 2nd oldest guy in the match besides Johnny Saint but he still impressed the hell out of me. He was still spry in the exchange with Skayde and showed it more throughout the match he could keep up with the younger guys, he is someone along with Saint I need to look into more for the GWE project. Second Half Quack stomps the damaged leg of Danielson after Danielson stomped his leg and things get more serious from here. It's a bit grittier with more strikes and more vicious holds. After the Masters work on Bryan's leg for a little bit, Danielson fights back and gets to his corner to tag Claudio and Dave to work on Quack's back before Mike gets some hope spots in and then Danielson comes back in. Quack imitates some of Danielson's elbows and the Cattle Mutilation before doing the Chikara Special and then getting thrown out of the ring. Saint does the Johnny Saint Special rolling into the ball and getting a near fall before going over the top rope. Bryan and Rivera go hold for hold with Rivera reaching the ropes to get out of the Cattle Mutilation from Bryan and then going for a dive right to the outside and then It's Claudio vs Quackenbush to end the match with Claudio doing a Top Rope PowerBomb to win the match for Team Uppercut. This match is amazing to watch. A technical first half of beautiful wrestling followed by the second half with focused limb attacks on both Bryan's leg and Quack's back. Johnny Saint is a highlight throughout the match. He is so damn good at his age, it's either him, Satanico or Fujiwara for best wrestler over 65 years old in my opinion. He keeps up with the younger men in the ring with him and only really shows his age once in this match with the leapfrog before the Saint special. I enjoyed the match as it was a fun match in the first half that got serious while still having some levity in the second half. ****1/4