TheBean

I wanted to get a few more matches in this week but was busy. So, I think I'm going to find some time for 'em this weekend and will either add them to this post or make a mid week post before the month runs out. Stay tuned 🙂 AWA Big John Studd vs Mad Dog Vachon (12/25/80): Good, good old school fight. There's some real moments of greatness here. And despite this being a rough & tumble match there's some nice technical maneuvers towards the end. Cleveland All Pro Wrestling "Mr. Insanity" Toby Klein vs Christopher Daniels vs Chris Hamrick (02/10/02): No date on this one but CAPW has Daniels' entrance up separately and this is the date given. This was a heck of a match for some gym! Tons of 3 way spots and everything looked great. Just a lot of fun and tremendous time for indie wrestling. ECW Saturn & Kronus (The Eliminators) vs Sabu & Mikey Whipwreck (Heatwave '96): Yes! This was chaotic, exciting and kinda rough around the edges as I expected. It really feels like like 4 lunatics risking life & limb in a stinky, dimly lit bingo hall in South Philly. Saturn impressed me the most and would have been great in FMW as a singles wrestler for a tour. Anyhow, old school ECW nerds will enjoy this one! TWA Abdullah The Butcher vs The Sheik (Cage Match 1991): Hot damn! This is what Psycho September is all about! Sheik is cutting up the ref before Abby gets in the ring. We get bloody carving in the ring. Sabu throws a metal trash can over top of the cage. Sheik caves the bin in over Abdullah's bald head. Eventually there's a winner but things don't end. In fact, things get crazier! Sabu is in the mix, Kevin Sullivan comes out, Terry Funk is fighting. Sheik gets a sign off a wall or something. Abby is choking a camera man. Some other dude gets it! WCCW Bruiser Brody vs Great Kabuki (Cage Match 06/07/81): A really good old school back and forth cage match. There's a fair bit of action here as opposed to a lot of stabbing and face grating like the Abby cage matches. It's nothing earth shattering but a perfect match to watch while eating lunch 🙂

Takao Omori vs. Jun Akiyama (April 1, 2001): A really good...almost great match. I really like the Omori-Akiyama story. This period is one that I'm not as familiar with so I'm glad to have found this match. There's a strong focus on working a body part here and I think that's what makes it special. Akiyama mercilessly targets his former partner's Ax Bomber Lariat arm where Omori goes after the neck. Jun's attack is more defense minded. Takao is more offense oriented as his big moves also focus on the head and neck - piledriver, powerbomb, dragon suplex, Ax Guillotine driver and the lariat. I think what keeps this from being firmly "great" is the finish felt very uninspired. And I don't mean the final part of the match...no just the last couple moves. Like they didn't play off of the body of match...and they don't have to BUT it probably needed another back and forth sequence THEN the last couple moves to be a great finish and a "great" match. What a picky bastard I am sometimes This is still a very good encounter with the bulk of the match being excellent. And if I'm being fair both moves at the very end were super over at the time so I'm comfortable saying this is like ***3/4 stuff. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs. NO FEAR (Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama) (07/27/01): Badass 13 minute fight...really just beating each other for most of it. We got some really sick moves later but it ended sooner than I wished. Wild Two are still you but damn they brought it to Takayama & Omori. Near **** match Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori (02/17/02): Wild Two vs No Fear! A heavyweight super battle. This is the match I knew that they could have. No quarter given and none expected. The strikes were hard enough to crack concrete. Then some if the big moves were so sick looking because the guys are so big...they can't roll through with the momentum like a smaller guy. Rikio's Germans were especially nasty looking. A classic match for sure!

AAA Abismo Negro, Charly Manson, Electro Shock, and Histeria vs AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Homicide & Low Ki (Verano de Escándalo 2006 TV): Really awesome start but probably went on longer than it needed to. As time went on it was clear how team TNA out classed Los Vipers...not just kayfabe but also in actual skill. Abismo Negro & Histeria down the road looked like they should have been in the same ring with the TNA guys. There's a link for the video but its not worth sharing IMO. Not a bad match but just kinda OK. ECW Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck vs Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke (08/12/00 St. Petersburg, FL): Some shenanigans for the crowd to start. Guido & Tajiri go at it to set the tone. Mikey & Mamaluke are great partners for these guys. This was a nice way to add some variety & longevity to the great 'junior division' in ECW. Too bad it didn't last too long. Anyhow, no death defying moves or hard-core spots...just really, really good all action tag wrestling! Independent Wrestling Cartel (IWC) Delirious vs. Christopher Daniels (UNCaged Fury - 07/07/06): Gosh, this really was a great period for Indie wrestling. Fun title match with a good deal of comedy & shenanigans. Simple, enjoyable stuff to watch while having a sandwich or something. TNA Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss (Destination X March 13, 2005): A very fun hardcore anything goes match. Falls count anywhere but there's only one bit in the guts of the building where they use that stipulation. The rest is in the ring. All the props are here: tables, a ladder, chairs and more. If you're looking for a fun 2000's mindless spot fest, give this one a shot! 👍 WCW Ultimo Dragon vs. Psicosis (Great American Bash 1997): Really, really good cruiserweight PPV match. This starts off more "American" style and the fans are eating up the face vs heel dynamic. Then they turn on the excitement. Admittedly, shorter cruiser matches (10 minutes or less) are best but they do a good job extending it beyond that. I give credit to Sonny Onoo for being an excellent heel manager. His presence and interactions kept this from being a move fest that starts to over stay it's welcome. It's a three man show with this bout. Really good stuff that you might have missed - Recommend it!

It's not complete but Internet Archive is where I go. Takes some looking but someone has posted the old PWO best of the 90's yearbooks up there as well so there's a good amount up there.

Part #2 of 2010 • Steen & Corino vs Colt & Generico (April 24 Bitter Friends... II): Oh yeah, this delivered. Blood, big spots and nastiness because they HATE each other. Excellent stuff in the ECW tradition. That in mind, it's a near classic and highly recommended if that's your style of wrestling. • Roderick Strong vs Davey Richards (Bitter Friends... II): Great intensity, excellent struggle on the mat & blistering strikes. Add another amazing match to each guy's 2010 resume. And this is an under card bout - Near Classic! RECOMMENDED for sure! • All Night Express vs Briscoe Brothers (Super Card of Honor V - May): Another bigger match booked as the curtain jerker. Like above, this was a really good match. I got lost a lil bit with all of the moves..the pace was too quick for me. I didn't feel like I could settle in to their rhythm. That's a quibble and you might not notice it at all. So go watch this one. It's a treat to watch Jay & Mark whoop the cheesy Kenny & Rhett 🙂 • Amazing Kong vs Sara Del Ray (Super Card of Honor V): A damn smart match & wrestled very well. It's definitely one of the better or best women's matches from ROH (that I have seen). It was very good and if given just a couple more minutes, it could have been great. • Eddie Edwards vs Christopher Daniels (Super Card of Honor V): Lots of neat sequences and fighting over the Half Crab. Good psychology with injuring or attempting to injure Daniels' knee. Both guys put on a great match. • Kevin Steen vs Colt Cabana (Super Card of Honor V): Last Man Standing/Hard-core match. Never over stayed its welcome & they worked smart with the gimmick. Some shenanigans but those worked for the match & the feud. A great match. • Motor City Machine Guns vs Kings of Wrestling (Super Card of Honor V): The Guns come out ready to fight. They do their synchronized attack but the Kings respond with a Storm of Boots to the face. The big guys use their size to their advantage. Chris damn near KO's Shelley with a back brain elbow - damn! This is as awesome as I hoped. I'm not going to spoil anything but we get a finish that serves the overall booking instead of serving the match. I can live with that especially since it's justified. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Ring of Honor tag match. A classic to me. • Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong (Super Card of Honor V): Great title fight and main event. Rod was excellent here showing a diversity of moves while maintaining his plan of attack. This all would have been made better had Tyler sold the back as injured. But I'm not bitching...this had awesome stuff going for it.

Psycho September is looking at some of wrestling's most notable crazy-men. Truthfully, this gimmick has a ton of variation so I'm using it as a chance to watch some of my favorites and some guys I haven't seen enough of. AWA Mad Dog Vachon vs Jerry Blackwell (05/22/83): We get the last 5 minutes only but they're great five minutes. Mad Dog is drilling Jerry with punches. Very intense stuff with fantastic selling by the big man Blackwell. An easy 5 minutes of old school brawling that you will dig! ECW Abdullah The Butcher vs. Kevin Sullivan (10/02/93 Bloodfest - Steel Cage Match): Nice violent stuff! My favorite bit was when Woman comes out to stop Abby from choking Sullivan. Then the Madman from Sudan goes after the vivacious valet; her eyes rolling back in her head and Kevin Sullivan whacks the Butcher with a chair!! Damn you can hear it smack his broad back like a Ric Flair chop! Inside the ring is the good but standard "use the cage as a weapon" fighting. Taz comes out and throws a metal briefcase in there to help Sullivan. Then it gets really good again 😁 Fun, fun stuff. Yeah more '93 ECW is on the menu boys! Houston Johnny Valentine vs Wild Bull Curry (06/20/69):This really is an awesome match and the first time I've seen a full Johnny Valentine bout. He and Bull Curry beat each other senseless here...and I loved it! It was really great, simple yet violent pro wrestling. The quality of the footage is excellent as well. So very glad I watched this! Recommended! ROH Delirious & Cheeseburger vs Young Bucks (Conquest Tour 2016: San Antonio – 04/23/16): Ahahahaha! 😆 This was a fucking blast! Absolutely bonkers comedy wrestling match for days fans. Height of Super Kick Party. Cheeseburger & Delirious were a great team (in a fun indie way) and definitely gave the Bucks a run for their money. I was buying these DVDs when they were a couple years old and have yet to watch them. Long time readers might remember early days of 2015 ROH reviews. Anyhow, lots of fun! WCW Psicosis vs Kidman (09/23/97): Fun TV match...A wager match but I'm not sure it had the urgency like you'd see in Mexico. Still good moves...Juvi & Chavo Jr. interfere on Psicosis' behalf so that does give it a bit of drama. But let's be honest, we know the outcome 🙂 WWF Sid vs Bret Hart (In Your House: It's Time! 12/15/96): Very good match. Bret surgically attacks Sid's spine. The Sycho won't stop! We get Stone Cold and HBK shenanigans but it doesn't hurt the match. Sid vs Mankind (RAW 03/03/97): An excellent TV match for the World title! Plenty of action, great showing from both guys. I actually think Mankind should have used the sleeper hold as his finisher based on how it was worked here. Anyhow, fans of either guy will find something to enjoy here!

October '87 Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinichi Nakano & Isamu Teranishi (8:35 complete)All Japan TV (October 2nd, 1987): Man, it's not hard to do a good action tag match but for the past 25 years people just over complicate the fuck out of it. This is a great example of how to do a under 10 minute action packed match. Run the ropes, tag in and out, keep your shit simple but it look like it hurts, give the match some ebbs and flows, some believable near falls and get a cool looking finish if you can. If you're following Kawada's progress, this is the best he's looked so far. Definitely junior star material at the very least 😋 Shout out to Shinichi Nakano & Isamu Teranishi...too many folks are sleeping on them still. They might not be flashy but they do it right. Jumbo Tsuruta, Tiger Mask & Giant Baba vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Toshiaki Kawada (10/03/87): Last 6 minutes and lots of action. Hara is just blasting guys with his lariat. This definitely is priming me for 1988!

Loved the European Championship back in the day...

AAA 04/21/09 Mascarita Sagrada, Octagoncito & Mascarita Divina vs. Minis Abismo Negro, Psicosis & Histeria: An absolute moves filled blast! I see Triple A minis, I watch them. Rarely do they disappoint! Aero Star, Súper Fly, Argenis vs. Tigre Cota, Río Bravo, Tito Santana: More spectacular high speed lucha action. Aero Star & Super Fly continue to "wow!" Pimpinela Escarlata, Gato Eveready & Crazy Boy vs. El Brazo, Decnnis & Black Abyss: Another really entertaining match. This has a bit of comedy but plenty of action. This card/show is shaping up to be a very good one! Classic UK wrestling Ian McGregor vs Bernie Wright: This is from an England vs Scotland tournament. It's edited down to 10 minutes or so. Technical bout as I had hoped. Really like how Wright was rolling through the snap mares. Ian does a wonderful counter move where he applies the headscissor from a back breaker, rolls Wright over (flying headscissors) and goes for the pin! Good stuff! ECW Terry Funk & Stan Hansen vs Abdullah the Butcher & Kevin Sullivan (09/18/93) Ultra Clash '93. This was a lot of fun. Not so much a match as a brawl and no real direction as the "match" actually got better after the bell rang to declare the winners. It's hurt by just the one fixed camera angle but Joey Styles does a great job keeping us in the action even though this style really benefits from up close shots. Tempted to explore more ECW '93 after this one 🙂 Natural Born Killaz (08/24/96) Mikey Whipwreck vs Little Guido: I didn't remember them meeting this early but boy this was a lot of fun. Mikey gets hurt as some giant lug who was part of the Full Blooded Italians blew one of Whipwreck's spots...I think he was supposed to catch his diving frankensteiner to the floor and uh...maybe Mikey over shot him but the crazy tee shirt wearing junior hit the guy in the head and dived from the top right into the crowd. It's ECW so I'm not sure what was supposed to happen! 😄 Terry Gordy vs Brian Lee: A fun, quick big man brawl. They went outside, busted a few tables, hit some clotheslines and yeah nothing to complain about 👍 Rob Van Dam vs Doug Furnas: Good stuff...rough around the edges even by '96 ECW standards at times but Furnas' raw strength saved it...like turning a god knows what move from RVD into a kneeling pile driver on a chair! This would have been better as a straight match between the two with chair shots sprinkled in but still cool to see. I probably should look for more RVD in All Japan one day? NJPW Vader vs Shinya Hashimoto (08/08/89): Two bovine sized brawlers bashing about for 12 minutes. This is the best period for Vader and Hashimoto might be his best opponent. Size, chemistry, intensity... it's all there. This is a very good-great match with a great, wild finish. RECOMMENDED 1992 Shinya Hashimoto vs Shiro Koshinaka (08/06): joined in progress but really good stuff. 8 of 12 punishing minutes. And a bit of post match melee as well! All hail Hashimoto! Jumping elbow drop of death! +-+-+-+-+ Jushin Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Pegasus Kid & Jim Neidhart (08/06): Very fun, all action tag match. The teams were excellent pairings and everything felt really good although I can't recall if they teamed before or since. Liger was in the ring for his team a majority of the time so, you can't go wrong there. 10 minutes of excellent tag wrestling 🙂 Shinya Hashimoto & Osamu Kido vs Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura (08/11): 10 minutes of chaotic wrestling goodness. Akitoshi Saito & Aoyagi are at ringside and are jacking Hash & Kido up! Dusty Rhodes is in the stands (in official context) and is enjoying this one. Super Strong Machine vs Arn Anderson (08/12): Good meat & potatoes wrestling by two of the best big enforcer type wrestlers, in my opinion. Big impact moves at the end. Nice stuff at 8 minutes.

Highspots posted this:

Highspots' YouTube has been posting some PWG Good Shit recently: AJ Styles vs Roderick Strong BOLA 2014 Zack Sabre Jr VS Kyle O'Reilly BOLA 2014 Young Bucks & Adam Cole VS Matt Sydal, Ricochet, & Will Ospreay BOLA 2016

"This community always had a hipster edge to it. So now it's cool to state the fucking obvious that Stone Cold was awesome." I think PWO has had a wrestling nerd edge to it. Just look at the 2016 GWE project or the Yearbooks of the 1990's/DVDVR 80's projects. That is hardcore nerding. That's not hipster-trendy shit. Maybe retrospectively it appears that way??? I've read & re-read your point so maybe your referring to the Internet Wrestling community at large? Regardless, the obvious thing about Stone Cold has been stated on both 2006 & 2016 GWEs. He's been in the top 25 all 3 polls. #16 in 06 & #24 in 16. So if you're being serious or sarcastic with your point, the numbers tell a different story. Stone Cold has done well whether it was cool or not...for better or worse.

08/07/11 Ikuto Hidaka & Takafumi Ito vs Takuya Sugawara & Kaijin Habu Otoko: Fun, fun match! Suwa is out there as the guest official NWA referee looking like Joe Higuchi in his all red outfit & white belt. Unlike the venerable Joe, Suwa is a heel ref 😄 So he's making trouble for Hidaka & Ito (who is new to me). But it doesn't detract from the in ring action. Everyone looked great but Hidaka put on a show but I am partial. 14 minutes of enjoyment. Shinjiro Otani & Yuichiro Jienotsu Nagashima & Daichi Hashimoto vs Ryoji Sai & Kamikaze & Munenori Sawa: OK 6-man match. Nagashima didn't do much for me but I looked him up & he's a kick boxer & cosplayer...and has some backstory with Hashimoto & Otani so...it makes sense. The team of Sai, Kamikaze & Sawa was much more entertaining. Masato Tanaka vs Daisuke Sekimoto: Great-Near Classic. Remember the phrase "subverting expectations?" It was that kind of bullshit that ruined the Game of Thrones TV show. But here it's not some ploy. Here they actively (and actually) surprised me for more than shock value. I can say that because they similarly did "what you expected" ... lots of beastly stiff chops, elbows & lariats... macho stuff and so forth. But they added twists and even when I thought I figured the twist out... those sneaky two would add something else. It's not a clever match though. This the equivalent of a gorilla fight...but that's what you want. Here in 2011, Tanaka is showing his age (I was watching '08 Zero One last) so Daisuke Sekimoto definitely seems at an advantage. It's up to Dangan to hang in there. As an old time Masato Tanaka fan there's a few moments that got me jazzed - pulling out old moves and/or reminding me of his battles with Mike Awesome. I'm going on, aren't I? Anyhow, RECOMMENDED stuff especially if you like these two. Glad I got this on DVD but it's on the web, I bet. +-+-+-+-+-+ Daisuke Sekimoto vs Kohei Sato: Fire Festival Finals. This was definitely hard fought as it was hard hitting AND the second match of the night for both. I didn't like the pacing on this...it's that deliberate strike trading where they just take too long between hits. It just feels like killing time. And a lot of the match felt like that...hit me then I hit you...we do that for 8 times then do a move or two then we reset to hitting each other. This would be OK for a lower match in the tournament but this couldn't hold a fucking candle to Sekimoto vs Tanaka earlier tonight. THAT match was the finale in my book. It felt epic like a finale should. One other thought: Sekimoto doesn't have a ton on tricks up his sleeve so this match just felt "less" in simple comparison. Sato, I like as a tag wrestler but, he doesn't bring much to the table as a singles wrestler. This was his opportunity to instill some character, variation, intensity etc. but he did little... I think other people like Hidaka, Otani, Kamikaze & Munenori Sawa would have had more inspired & interesting matches...even if they would have been "underdogs." I just think this was a bland final.

W*ing Kanemura vs Masato Tanaka (FMW 08/02/97): Electrified Barb wire match. 13 minutes of death match wrestling done right! They had a great match and worked in some nice spots with the gimmick. They weren't crazy with most just being whipped or knocked back into the stuff. Personally, I think taking the turn buckles away from these two hurt what could have been... you're taking away Tanaka's Frog splash & tornado DDT as well as W*ing's senton splash. A minor quibble... Still great stuff and Recommend it to fans of either!

BJW YouTube has posted the 12/24 Abby Jr. vs Ito match:

Classic UK wrestling Ritchie Brooks vs Ian McGregor (08/27/88): Not familiar with either guy but this was a scrappy contest. A single pin or submission match so the near falls went a long way. I REALLY LIKED this one. Going to keep an eye out for both. FMW W*ing Kanemura vs Masato Tanaka (08/02/97): Electrified Barb wire match. 13 minutes of death match wrestling done right! They had a great match and worked in some nice spots with the gimmick. They weren't crazy with most just being whipped or knocked back into the stuff. Personally, I think taking the turn buckles away from these two hurt what could have been... you're taking away Tanaka's Frog splash & tornado DDT as well as W*ing's senton splash. Still great stuff and Recommend it to fans of either! Monterrey Damian 666/Nicho el Milionario vs Pierroth Jr/Veneno (Monterrey August 4th, 2002): Fun, janky barb wire, weapons & light tubes death match 😋 NJPW Tatsumi Fujinami vs Greg Valentine (08/13/82): Fujinami vs Valentine in '82? Hot damn! Sign me up! And this absolutely delivered! Both guys were beating the sweat off of each other. The Dragon used his drop kicks but Greg was definitely "The Hammer." He was pounding Fujinami with elbows, over hand chops & clubbing fists to the sternum. To make matters worse, Dick Murdoch was his ring second. The Texas red neck wasn't shy about interfering (but not too much). I LOVED this match. A near classic battle! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of either. Steven Regal vs Satoshi Kojima (08/01/97): Oh yeah! Where's this match been!? Regal and Kojima actually wrestling 80% of this bout. Regal isn't messing around either so many palm strikes and forearms pressed against Kojima's nose. It's fantastic. Cozy can hang in there with Lord Steven but you know he wants to lariat. The Brit is down like a pound and eats some nasty clotheslines to the side of the head. And that Regalplex...🤕🤘 10 minutes of awesome. Really Recommend this one! Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Prince Devitt (08/12/10): G1 match. Wow! Holy cow, that was a great little match! Nice wrestling to start. Tanahashi works Devitt's leg which they actually come back to later (although wish they would have revisited in the final third). Great finishing stretch nonetheless and an excellent wrestling match. RECOMMENDED

2010 In my normal fashion, I have cherry picked matches from my DVD collection and a few online to get a decent sampling of the year. I'll post official ROH YouTube videos if I have them 🙂 • El Generico vs Davey Richards (02/13/10 8th Anniversary): Great match that played off of 2009's top feud (Wolves vs Steenerico). They showed a lot of intensity. These two were on fire in the ring at this point of their career. Great start! • Kenny Omega vs Davey Richards (03/20/10 Epic Encounter III): These guys worked their asses off ALL MATCH. I appreciate the aggressive Richards hunting Omega throughout. He kept lighting the Canadian up with kicks. He wanted the Cloverleaf hold early but switches to his arm. Kenny is fighting to stay in this one. He's got to use his big moves to even this up. And damn, Kenny's got plenty of those in his arsenal. This match had a great pace, providing top notch action for a little bit under 25 minutes. I think what hooked me were the surprises and counter moves. This absolutely is worthy of the 'Epic Encounter' title and is a classic in the full speed ahead junior style. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED • Davey Richards vs Kenny King (Big Bang - April): This was the opening match and damn! this was very good - great. ROH gave them time to work. This had some nice touches, big moves and believable near falls... plus a great post match. • Steen & Corino vs Colt & Generico (Big Bang): A good match but a great segment overall. This awakens the Generico that fought the Age of the Fall & Briscoes. Plus Steen & Corino are made out to be dastardly heels. An appetizer. • Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (Big Bang): Both teams have truly come into their own by 2010. True professionals who paced this out excellently. The action was there but that steady handed pacing is what made this a classic tag match. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (plus stick around for Jay puking after the match. Not sure why we get that filmed but...it's there!). • Austin Aries vs Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong (Big Bang): This is what you want! All kinds of cool spots and fierce strikes. I do think there's some excess but it's well established that everyone hates each other so I'll make an exception...especially when some of the moves breaking up pins/submissions are so neat. Aries and Roddy are better than Tyler Black. Chalk it up to experience and familiarity. Near classic gimmick title fight - RECOMMENDED

Regal vs Kojima (08/01/97): G1 match. Oh yeah! Where's this match been!? Regal and Kojima actually wrestling 80% of this bout. Regal isn't messing around either... so many palm strikes and forearms pressed against Kojima's nose. It's fantastic. Cozy can hang in there with Lord Steven but you know he wants to lariat. The Brit takes some nasty clotheslines to the side of the head. And that Regalplex...🤕🤘 10 minutes of awesome. Really Recommend this one!

If AEW/ROH is gonna keep posting classic shows then, I'm gonna keep sharing them:

Found this one while looking for Kotaro Suzuki recs: Ikuto Hidaka & Masao Orihara vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki (02/08/03): In a NOAH ring but this is a Zero-one match. And that is pretty cool. The familiarity is there and they were able to do some really good stuff. Hidaka never ceases to amaze me with some move or sequence. Orihara (who I hadn't seen much at this time other than Fire Pro Returns) can still go. This was all action and a great match. Yoshihito Sasaki looks good even this early.

More Kotaro recommendations! KENTA & Takuma Sano vs Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki (07/26/02): Nice junior offense to open up with! I don't know if this is the first instance of surly KENTA vs veterans but it's a damn good one. Akiyama is so good in knowing when to no sell and when to sell here...he's probably the best of the big guys from AJPW in working with younger guys. Sano doesn't make a giant impression here because he knows that's not what the match is about. He does his job well in neutralizing Akiyama and,putting the hurt on he & Suzuki when he needs to. This is a great tag match. We really get to see the KENTA we come to know here both in attitude and move set. Suzuki really shined here as well. Kotaro Suzuki, Mitsuharu Misawa, Takuma Sano & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue, Daisuke Ikeda, Masashi Aoyagi & Takashi Sugiura (10/19/02): Oh man this was a lot of fun! The last few minutes were especially good. Not top tier but there's some really exciting sequences that had me cheering. I liked the early focus on Aoyagi and by the end everyone was going off. I really dug this one. KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki vs Great Takeru & Kappa Kozou (02/08/03): Was going to skip this since I'd never heard of the IWA Japan team. But then I thought - I'm going to end up watching the whole event (mostly) so I should just check it out. So glad I did! Its shown in full as it features the home NOAH team and frankly it is a great opening bout! Both teams were smooth and exciting which surprised me. Perhaps it's a case of low expectations but I thought the teams gelled well enough that the IWA-J team would be invited back for under card jobs at the very least. Not thinking they were though...

September '87 Jumbo Tsuruta/Tiger Mask vs. Joel Deaton/Nick Bockwinkel (September 11th, 1987): Good simple yet exciting tag team wrestling. These are the types of matches that make me sure of my love of pro wrestling. There's nothing spectacular but there's a true entertainment derived from viewing this bout. Four professional wrestlers knowing what to do and when to do it for the amusement of the crowd. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinichi Nakano (5:10 of 7:52 shown) Sept 12 87 special*** Really good, spirited stuff. This is joined in progress so we lose a few of the first few minutes but if you're looking for a quick, exciting young Kawada match - look no further 🙂 Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkel (September 12th, 1987): A heck of a bout! 10 minutes or so of intense action. They distilled their previous encounters in this match for the late 80's. And I think it's a great one. There's nice teases on the possible finish and Nick has a lot in the tank. If you're fans of either guy, watch this one! +-+-+-+ Toshiaki Kawada vs. Masa Fuchi (9/15/87): You really only need to watch half of this. I think that's when it gets good. It's an OK match. Fuyuki comes into help Kawada & in my eyes joins Tenryu's group & form the Footloose team. I think that's more the point of this match.

AJPW Gladiator (Mike Awesome) & Maunakea Mosman vs Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama 08/21/99, 08/22 TV): 9 of 13 minutes shown. What an AWESOME release German suplex!!! Big moves & believable near falls. RECOMMENDED Classic UK Wrestling Vic Faulkner vs Steve Grey (08/25/76): 15 minutes of technical wrestling and humor. People use the term "work rate" as a pejorative but I don't think about it that way. So when I say this is a work rate match, I mean that as a testament to Vic & Steve's athleticism and technical ability. I LOVED This!! +-+-+-+-+ Pete Roberts vs Wayne Bridges: Not sure on the date...so I will add it in 😋 17 minute match. Good to Very Good fight with the bigger Bridges trying to rough house Pete Roberts. Pete is no push over and employed his technical prowess (and a bit of roughness) to stay in the match. Liked this one. CMLL Torneo Cibernetico (08/20/99 TV): 9 minutes of TNA X-Division-like action. Not a ton of depth but plenty of entertaining wrestling. Some eliminations came a lil too quickly though. Participants include: Olimpico, Satanico, Rey Bucanero, Ringo Mendoza, Shocker, Solar, Super Astro, Tony Rivera, Ultimo Guerrero & Zumbido. Mephisto vs Sagrado (08/07/09): Lighting match, 1 fall. Definitely Recommend this one for old TNA heads (again). Under 10 minutes of crazy moves & fun action - this one had a sweet finish too! FMW Hayabusa vs W*ING Kanemura (08/25/95): 11 minute match but this was good stuff. Kanemura was working over Hayabusa's back with holds, chair strikes, you name it. Bird Boy found an opening but W*ing wasn't going to give up that easily. Fun stuff. They would go to top this but there's something fundamentally good about what they did here. There's no bloat and they excellently incorporate chairs, tables and wrestling moves into their match. Definitely Recommend this to ECW & FMW fans if you're still out there! Gladiator (Mike Awesome) vs Masato Tanaka (08/25/95): I didn't know that they fought each other so soon. Nevertheless Awesome's explosive power and Tanaka's iron toughness were on display. I didn't recognize any sequences that they'd develop so this is refreshing if you've seen most of their matches (Japan and US). If you're interested, then go check this out! You won't be disappointed. 8 of 11 minutes shown. UWA Enrique Vera/Villano III/Tigre Canadiense vs Signo/Black Power/Negro Navarro (08/22/92): 2/3 falls where the match just kept on moving along - good action, comedy and a nice pace. Good times 👍 Seems like folks nowadays want to watch wrestling that they don't like and tell you how much they don't like it. What a bummer & a drag, man. Makes you feel stupid for liking what you like 😕 If you're not having a good time watching wrestling then watch something you like!!! Life is too short. If you dug some of the stuff I've recommended or at least enjoy reading my takeaways, thanks! I appreciate it! Hope you are having a good time!

Go Shiozaki vs Austin Aries (6th Anniversary - 02/23/08): Holy shit! This was awesome! Aries knows how to work with NOAH guys. The size difference made for some fantastic counters & reversals. The story is the smaller Austin chipping away at the larger Go. I'm glad that they don't pretend that Aries is the same size as the NOAH native. But don't misunderstand, they still beat the crap outta each other! This is exactly what I hoped for with this bout. It's a hard hitting match with great, great pacing. It's a match that reminded me why I love ROH. And this one is a classic - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!