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TheBean

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  1. TheBean
    •Isamu Teranishi vs Goro Tsurumi (03/12/81 IWE): This is a fucking great jip 6 minute match. It's a crime that we only get 1/2 the bout...Teranishi is going to do a rope but Goro uses a folding chair like a shield. Isamu reconsiders...this was a fun spot. It shows a cleverness that I find rare. If you're unfamiliar Goro is going to beat his opponent down with punches and chops. Teranishi is doing monkey flips and other great fundamental junior moves. This is a lot of fun. 

    •Nick Bockwinkel vs Rick Martel (03/13/83 AWA): Martel comes in like a rocket, hitting the champ with a drop kick. The Canadian hero keeps hitting Nick with offense which keeps him rolling to the safety of the floor. But let's be honest, Bockwinkel is coming up with a plan. He gets his challenger in a test of strength and controls the match. Eventually, the Quebecois finds himself stuck on the floor with Nick playing king of the mountain. You can't keep Martel for long and he lets the champion have it! The crowd is hot for this match and seems to end at just the right time. Great heel performance from Bock & a great offensive baby face display from Rick. This is very good 15 match from two of my favorites. If you're needing to scratch an 80's wrestling itch, I recommend this one.

    •Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Terry Gordy & Art Crews (03/12/87 AJPW): A very good all action tag match! There's lots of rope running and simple but good looking moves. I'm unfamiliar with Art Crews but he keeps the party going so this is a winner of a tag match. Yatsu &Animal are awesome and if you didn't know...Then your ass better call somebody! 😄 
    •Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Pete Roberts (03/28/87 AJPW): This is one for the real wrestling fans in All Japan. 8 of 9 minutes of these two trading holds & fighting for leverage. Then we get about a minute of big moves to set up the finish. I'm glad that we get to see Pete work a technical match. I think Yatsu is the man to have it. I really am starting to really appreciate him. This is a fast, athletic and competitive bout. Very good stuff, an easy recommendation.

    • Akira Nogami vs Hiro Saito (03/11/92 NJPW): A simple yet fun heel vs baby face match. Saito, the brawler, is beating Akira up on the floor. He really smashes a table into our neon yellow trunk wearing hero. Very appropriate for '92 😁 Saito is full of hate and is grinding Nogami down. Can he overcome the stocky Saito? This was an easy match to watch. It's got great pacing, A simple story and just the right amount of stiffness and aggression. 
    • Eddie Guerrero & Black Tiger III vs Wataru Inoue & Shibata (03/22/02 NJPW): This was a lot of fun. Black Tiger III/Silver King & Eddie as a tag team - yes, please! Inoue and Shibata are the plucky youngsters. Their contribution is pretty basic but Eddie and BT Silver King bring all kinds of fun moves and moments. I actually don't know if people here knew Eddie was BT II or a mega star in WCW/WWE. This is one of types of matches that keeps me searching for stuff online as I want to truly cut back. It's under 15 minutes, it's got a neat mix of talent and it's a good time. Here's NJPW's link:
    •TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask vs. The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Pablo Marquez (03/06/99 Michinoku): M-Pro seems to reign supreme in pacing, emotion and knowing what to do when. I felt this was flawless... Not necessarily a classic per se but, 15 of 21 minutes of near classic lucharesu. Don't sleep on this one because it's not 1996 or Kai En Tai.
    •Kenny Omega vs Davey Richards (03/20/10 ROH 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. If you're curious & reading this review then, I think you should check this out! For more ROH recommendations Check out: https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/search/label/ROH
     
  2. TheBean
    What's up folks? I'm chugging along with March Mayhem. I'm only watching and reviewing matches from March. I thought I would share a few posts from my Blogger blog here as well as a couple new ones. If you're interested in getting more frequent wrestling recommendations then come over to Wrestling Dream Battles. More reviews, more recommendations, more pics 👍
    •Abdullah The Butcher vs Jack Brisco (AJPW 03/27/81):  This is not a match but a chaotic spectacle in the best way. I think every once in awhile, we should watch Abdullah the Butcher vs a star such as Jack Briscoe. It serves as a type of mental reset. We are just watching simple yet charismatic wrestling. There's no real maneuvers or complex story play out. It is just simple good guy versus bad guy. Additionally, we get to see the fans go absolutely bonkers in the venue. I think this is true fan engagement. No one is needing to bring a sign, chant names or songs...the people in attendance are watching the brawl but are also a part of it. Maybe the wrestlers bump into you, or use your chair as a weapon, maybe your entire row of seats gets knocked down and scattered around the ring floor...you're right there. I think there's a lot of imitation of this but Abdullah is one of the best. So I can't say if this is better than another Abby 'match' right now but I will say this is really fun stuff. If you're needing some true pro wrestling, this is a good choice.

    •Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW 03/02/84): March Mayhem indeed! A quick intense fight between two of the most intense wrestlers of the 80's. Fujiwara is like a mad man from the start. He's put on a choke and won't let go. Eventually Riki finds his way free. He then proceeds to smash the fuck out of Fujiwara's face against the unprotected top turn buckle! I'm really surprised there's no blood. Things break down and the wily Fuji' goes under the ring for a wrench. From here to the end of the footage, this resembles something you'd see in AJPW with the Funks. This was a blast!! It's about 8-9 minutes of wrestling goodness.

    •Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mika Takahashi & Kaoru Maeda (AJW 03/20/88): Wow! This was a spirited sprint! This was a beginners style tag match and had plenty of scoop slams & drop kicks (not a bad thing). There were some great arm drags and rope running segments as well. There's one especially sick back breaker - keep an eye out for that one! Yeah, this was a lot of fun. These women brought the intensity and desire to win their novice level bout so the relatively simple moves were a perfect fit. It showed that their efforts were more impressive than their skill. Of course they would improve in that regard soon.

    •Gran Hamada, Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. MEN'S Teioh, Shoichi Funaki & Yoshihiro Tajiri (Michinoku 03/01/98) - 8 of 13 minutes shown. This was very good Michinoku action. It's not as crisp as the top shelf stuff but is still damn good especially once they start picking up the pace. Tajiri fits in wonderfully and wish we got more of him in this one. I'm looking forward to seeing more Hoshikawa.
    FMW  2000 (03/27)
    •Gedo, Jado & Koji Nakagawa vs. Hayabusa (H), Naohiko Yamazaki & Yoshinori Sasaki - Fun match with Hayabusa (H) guiding the youngsters up against Team No Respect. Yamazaki was a little clumsy like a baby giraffe but it worked well. H had to save the day a couple times in a bigger brother way. Gedo, Jado & Nakagawa were excellent as always... especially in these 6 man matches. Nice way to kick off the event.

    •Balls Mahoney, Chocoball Mukai, Crazy Boy & Tracy Smothers vs. Hideki Hosaka, Hido, Hisakatsu Oya & Kintaro Kanemura - This was fun like a bag of pop rocks & a Pepsi! Stuff was happening all over at the beginning! And the draw really is that everyone here is pretty solid worker (except Crazy Boy but he's doing the flying moves). The other bonus is that Balls, Tracy, Kanemura & Hido were working with each other in ECW around this time. So they really gelled. Very good stuff!

    •Hayabusa (H) vs Kyoko Inoue 03/27 - This was a good match and was looking to be a great one at the very beginning. I think this became too much "your turn, my turn" wrestling. Someone would do 5 moves and try to get a pin then when that doesn't work the person on defense gets an opening. Then they try 5 moves and try to get a pin then it switches back. It is kinda lazy from a layout standpoint. Hayabusa does do this sometimes... not very often but unfortunately this is one instance. It is also elsewhere in wrestling, of course but we have two dynamic wrestlers and it doesn't feel dynamic. Why is it good? It's good because it does tell a quality story. It does actually treat Kyoko as an equal... there's no bull shit pervert spots or brushing her off. It's treated like Hayabusa vs a mid carder...so we can't actually believe they were going to do a great match.. I just wish they did.

    I definitely would recommend the multi-man matches over the big match. I think you'll have a lot more fun with those! 
    •CM PUNK vs. EDDIE GUERRERO vs. REY MYSTERIO (IWA-MS 03/01/02): This has no reason to be this good in such a tiny venue with ropes as loose as an old rubber band. These greats went for it though. Eddie Guerrero had nothing to prove. Rey was maskless but a star that clearly was getting better each day. Punk was champ but let's be honest, had a lot to prove here. He had to keep up with two of the best workers. And the young Punk did it! These guys went for fun spots. They went for tricky spots. And they hit them all. It wasn't as crisp as you'd see because of the ropes but damn they didn't let anything stop them. Now I'll stop you, it's not a tank emptying battle for the ages but for an indie match less than 15 minutes, this puppy will put a smile on your face.

    •Dr. Wagner Jr., Mistico & Dos Caras Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero & Hector Garza (CMLL 03/4/05): This was a blast!. Everyone did something impressive and cool. There was a decent sense of animosity between the teams. I thought the finish was rather brutal for lucha libre (at this time). It's sort of an 80's finish.
    •Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero (CMLL 03/11/05): This picks right up where the previous fight left off. There's so many cool moments and this is a breeze to watch. Plus this has a clean finish! 
    Thanks for reading folks!
  3. TheBean
    I'm taking a break from All Japan 1986 to visit Big Japan Wrestling 2013 for my March Mayhem project. I'm watching a little bit of everything from my DVDs and online watch list that took place in the month of March. I'm covering the 1980's, 90's, 2000's and 2010's. So far, I've got stuff from NJPW 1984, '96, IWE 1980, Michinoku Pro '98, ROH 2008 and more is being posted. Click those links 🙂.  Or check out: https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/
    ~~OK let's look at Big Japan Wrestling in Hiroshima!~~
    Magnitude Kishiwada & Shoichi Uchida vs. Yoshihito Sasaki & Ryuichi Kawakami - Good to really good match. This had some really surprising moments for an under card match. Sasaki and Magnitude crushing wind pipes with lariats was totally unexpected for instance. All 4 guys put on a performance worth your time. Seeing as I skipped the official opener, this was a fine way to kick things off ! Chairs Match: Takashi Sasaki vs. Sakigake - I'll have to keep an eye out for Sakigaki. He's a decent mid card guy. Takashi Sasaki is a ton of fun here. He's just going for big moves and Sakigake is fighting him off. Sasaki doesn't quit and eventually gets his move. This is hard hitting and the chair spots send a twinge down my spine. There's one I'm glad that they don't hit perfectly because the one guy could have been really hurt. This is a fun, fun match...weird to say that right after the previous sentence but that's wrestling for you. Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match: Suicide Kings (Drake Younger and Danny Havoc) vs. Ryuji Ito & Takumi Tsukamoto - Haha! Oh shit Drake has some blood gelatin swinging off his forehead at the end of this one 😄😵 This was a very good match. They kept the pace up. They had their spots of course but there's good tease and reversals too. It felt competitive which is always a positive. The barb wire bat spots were especially cringe inducing. And I'm not talking about some socially awkward situation...I'm talking about watching a guy get suplexed on a baseball bat wrapped in barb wire and  imagining how painful that would be.  RIP Coffin Death Match: 045 Junkies (Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa) vs. Isami Kodaka & Masashi Takeda - This was a good standard death match. It took a little bit to get going, I thought. Isami Kodaka really kicked the match into 2nd or 3rd gear. He started getting everyone else to do wrestling instead of aimlessly doing pedestrian hard-core wrestling. It was rather low effort before he got tagged in. Once everyone started wanting to work, this was fun. It was a little 'tongue in cheek' death match wrestling however... like the fun is that the crowd is enjoying the wrestlers do stunts rather than have a competitive match. Or that's how Kasai & Jaki were acting. Eventually once Jun, who is a good wrestler, got serious this was worthwhile.  Shinjiro Otani vs. Kazuki Hashimoto - This was a pretty good "young punk vs old grump" match. Hashimoto lit Otani's chest up with stiff kicks but Shinjiro has had worse (I think!). So the veteran wrestler was able to mount a come back with some stiff kicks and slaps of his own. And that's the point of the game. Hit the other guy really, really good. I ended up getting into this match because of the simple story and the intensity they were displaying. This gets this show back on track in terms of high quality wrestling. Shinya Ishikawa & Amigo Suzuki vs. BJ Strong (Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi) - Good tag team match. Amigo was out of his depth here being a junior wrestler vs two heavyweights (super heavies). Shinya was a great partner for him. This match told a good believable story so it never hit the height that it could have. Still it was well done and a fun bout. YMCA Death Match: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuko Miyamoto - This took a couple minutes to warm up but once they did, this was great! I cannot believe they did that superplex spot! What is best about these two is they want to do a wrestling match augmented by the props rather than make complicated arrangements. This was so much fun. Miyamoto had to give it his all to combat the titan Ishikawa. I definitely recommend this one! By the way, the props were barb wire, light tubes, chairs and two boards with sea shells attached to them (I think?).  This was a really good show/DVD. Everything was easy to watch and got me excited to see what was next. I was a little disappointed by the Big Japan Strong  tag match as that was a selling point of the DVD. I was hoping for a battle but instead got a really fun story match. The thing is I'm not an Amigo Suzuki "fan." It's my second time seeing him...but that's on me not the wrestlers. Death match & hard core wrestling fans will get a kick out of this show. Thanks for reading!
  4. TheBean
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (07/04/86) - I needed a Hara fix so I went scanning through the Roy TV episodes and saw this one. Boy, it did the trick. It is not a long match but it's a very good one. These two are evenly matched. A worthy follow up to their match earlier. This felt big or innovative for '86. There's things, spots, that seemed ahead of their time. The pacing as well feels more like what we'd see in the 90's. It's not the Choshu/Hansen frenzy nor the "work a hold for 10 minutes" style either. Very good stuff here. Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask II vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Isamu Teranishi (07/05) Fun match where Yatsu's aggressive wrestling (as in actual wrestling) was really cool. It felt like he was kinda-shooting in on Tiger & Jumbo. Those segments felt really good. Otherwise this was good 80's wrestling. Exciting ring action, a couple cool moves but I'm sure an appetizer to a bigger match. I liked it though. It's good to watch simple wrestling done right. Tenryu & Giant Baba vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (07/05) - An appetizer for the Stan vs Tenryu match later in July. This is one of those matches where Stan really lays in his shots on Baba. When that happens, it is on like Donkey Kong! And that is this match. Everyone is just excellent with their timing and urgency. And the spot that sets up the finish is wonderful! And the post match is a bonus treat...yeah this was a near classic tag match. It's not a long match, under 15 minutes but that is all they need. RECOMMENDED Takashi Ishikawa/Mighty Inoue vs Goro Tsurumi/Ashura Hara (07/10) - I had to watch this lineup. It's too good to resist. Only 5 minutes is shown but we get a taste of the action: Ishikawa and Hara slapping the taste from each others' mouths, Goro Tsurumi doing a couple really cool moves, Mighty Inoue being the spark plug of All Japan juniors... yeah this was fun. Tiger Mask II & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Ted DiBiase & Pete Roberts (07/26) - Wow! What a sprint! 8 minutes of action. I was actually surprised Pete Roberts & Misawa didn't do anything slick. In fact, Ted was in quite a bit. This was just fast paced all action wrestling. Lots of rope running, quick roll-ups and organic sequences...I thought this was great! Stan Hansen vs Genichiro Tenryu (07/26) - Two of the best to ever wrestle put on a great match for the AWA belt (I think this was one of the defenses Stan made with the "stolen" belt!). In either case, they beat the HELL out of each other. Stan blasted Tenryu a few times including a sternum crushing elbow drop. That's OK because Genichiro Tenryu is no wimp & gets payback...I'm pretty sure he got Stan in the face on an enzuigiri. I guess that makes it a gamengiri. What's notable beyond that is Tenryu really does a great job going after the Texan's lariat arm. Stan sells the heck out of it and once weakened, gets bloodied.  Hiro Saito vs Brad Armstrong (07/31) - A good match that's really just neat to see Brad Armstrong working in All Japan. This could have been something special but it's more a novelty than anything. Don't feel bad if you miss it but it's nice if you watch it. Riki Choshu vs. Killer Khan (7/31) - A grudge match with Killer Khan's knee drops serving as the highspots. Other than that & the ringpost hits there were no spots or sequences of note. This did hurt the match but the intensity was there but, neither wrestler is dynamic or exciting  enough to elevate this to something overly memorable. Maybe if there were a couple spots of note this would have been more than just a very entertaining match. I'm really not sure how this is a top 100 match of the 1980s when many matches listed above were better than this. Watch for yourself and decide 🙂
  5. TheBean
    Baba & Ishikawa vs Killer Khan/Masanobu Kurisu (05/10) - This is only OK as Baba really weighs this down. It's noticeable here where it wasn't in the 04/06 match. It's pretty much filler but not a long match. Tenyru vs Yoshiaki Yatsu (05/10) -An excellent, aggressive & technical singles match. This felt closer to something we'd see in 1988-89. It's not the brawling style seen at this time in All Japan. It's Tenryu's style that helps define late 80's AJ and the King's Road era. Here we see it for the first time in my viewings. We see it from Yatsu too. Yatsu is pretty underrated. So good technical start, hard strikes which build into stronger moves working towards a clean finish. That's not the cleanest explanation but it's not the methodical technical work of the early 80's nor the high energy excitement of Choshu & Hansen's style that you see in big singles matches. I thought this was great.  05/17 Tiger Mask/Masa Fuchi vs Kuniaki Kobayashi/Masanobu Kurisu - Yes! Action packed angry junior AJ wrestling! Kobayashi attacks the faces before the bell and folks get whipped into the guardrail and it blows apart. Then someone else gets whipped into it before its reassembled and crushes a the front row of fans. This is the Kurisu match I wanted. He and Kuniaki are great. So is Fuchi...pairing him with Misawa/Tiger II is a good choice. It brings out his mean streak.  Rusher Kimura/Ashura Hara vs Shoehi Baba/Haru Sonoda - A Baba vs Rusher tag match that's actually worth your time! I thought it would be good only because of Hara & Sonoda (AJ's version of Tatsuo Nakano... chubby, mustache dude but really good). But Baba & Rusher were inspired to work tonight. This was fun stuff. Shunji Takano/Hiro Saito/Strong Machine vs Killer Khan/Shinichi Nakano/Teranishi - This had the same energy as the junior tag. It made the simple stuff so much more exciting. Guardrail gives out a few times during this one too!  You have to be a wrestling dork to get excited about this lineup. If this is the stuff you're looking for then, I think you'll have a fun time with this one. I wish it was a couple minutes longer truthfully.   Jumbo Tsuruta & Tenyru vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi - This was a fantastic tag match. Yatsu & Hamaguchi were just pressing Jumbo & Genichiro the whole time. Yatsu vs Tenryu is a sure thing. I really liked their 09/89 match together and they had that rough & tumble chemistry in '86. Their earlier singles match was not a fluke. Animal is becoming one of my new favorites. He is high energy & impact. His attacks look great especially against the larger Tsuruta. He needs to lay everything in. Jumbo in turn has to keep his head on a swivel...Choshu might not be here but this team is no joke. LOVED THIS ONE! June Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito (6/07) - Fierce fight! 10+ minutes of pro wrestling mayhem. This is how you do simple but effective tag team wrestling. Watching this I get the vibe that '86 is way more about Strong Machine vs Choshu than anything Jumbo has got going on. This feels very alive compared to seeing more Tsuruta vs Hansen. Animal is a madman here. Great match! Masa Fuchi vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (06/07) - Hard way blood from a top rope fist drop? I think so! This match-up delivers again. If you're interested in Masa Fuchi then he's got great opponents in '86. If you know these two then, you'll want to see this. Great! Tenyru vs. Strong Machine (UN Title, 06/12/86) - A great match and something different. Tenryu tries to bowl Machine over at the start. Hirata/Machine counters him and gets the advantage for most of the bout. He neutralizes Tenryu with a variety of arm locks. This keeps the former sumo at a disadvantage. Here's a great example of Machine having a great singles match (I always think of him as a tag teamer) plus Tenryu working from underneath. I really dug this one. Masanobu Fuchi vs Hiro Saito (6/12 jip) Oh man, this was really good! I just wish we got more of it. Somehow Fuchi is bleeding from the side of his head. We get excellent action here nonetheless. It's gritty junior style wrestling. Matchups like this has be considering 1986 to be the most interesting, if not the best, roster in All Japan history. *There's a full version out there, if you're interested!
  6. TheBean

    Spotlight: AJPW 1986 - April

    By TheBean,


    Spotlight
    Tenyru vs Ole Anderson (04/05/86) - Ole & Tenryu deserve more time than this. They are a great pairing in terms of physicality. Here Ole goes berserk on Tenryu's arm. And Tenryu eventually finds some breathing room. Then there's a flurry of offense and the match is over. Weird...it makes some sense given the moves that ended it. But I was left wanting more. It reminds me of a tournament match or a fall in a 2/3 falls match. But it is a single fall. This has been recommended by some and it is definitely memorable. It is over too soon for my liking. Still it's fun. It is intense... man I just wish there was more. Hahaha have I said that yet? Stan Hansen vs. Riki Choshu (4/5/86) This is an older review: This match could have been better & could have been much worse. The best way I can make it sound good is by saying it would be a good match for the near end of a T.V. show. The ending was awkward though...there were two lame looking lariats from Hansen and a third Riki ducked & hit Joe Higuchi. Joe obviously didn't get hit with the real deal & this now explains why the earlier ones thrown were so weak. If Hansen had thrown 2 monster lariats and the third was pathetic, it would have look tremendously odd. All in all this match put the PWF belt on Riki for his DQ victory over Hansen. Very little drama or overt excitement in this match but was a transition match. The best parts were Riki trying for the deathlock, the Riki Lariat & Backdrop. Hansen was rough on his offense but was nothing great. Ted Dibiase/Ron Bass vs Motoshi Okuma/Rocky Hata (04/06/86) - Heck I think it's neat that a match with Motoshi Okuma & Rocky Hata made it to Samurai Classics. I see these guys at ringside and never knew their names. It's a fun, if forgettable match. But sometimes you need something like this to raise your spirits. Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Masa Fuchi (04/06/86) - Kobayashi has jumped Fuchi at the start! Fuchi doesn't stand for that an ups the ante and pulverized Kuniaki with chairs. He rams his head into the ring posts and Double K is bleeding. Masa Fuchi dominates for awhile but Kobayashi isn't a push over. This is really good stuff and really comes together in the final third. This is more brawling than the typical athletic junior style. If you're a fan of either guy, you'll enjoy this! Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenyru & Tiger Mask vs. Shunji Takano, Hiro Saito & Strong Machine (04/06/86) - Oh boy! This is what I'm talking about!! An action packed 6 man match that is as good on paper as in the ring. The Takano, Saito, Machine team makes up for the lack of star power with superior tag team tactics. They're getting in quick tags, double teams, and dynamic offensive moves. Tsuruta, Tenryu & Tiger are fighting to keep their shoulders off the mat. Great match & a great post match too! Shohei Baba, Ricky Fuyuki & Takashi Ishikawa vs Rusher Kimura, Ashura Hara & Goro Tsurumi (04/06/86) - AJPW vs IWE. Really good 6-man match. This was bordering on great when Baba & Rusher weren't in the ring. Actually Rusher was still halfway decent. Baba was still trying to be technical and it just doesn't fit the style or times. Thankfully he wasn't in that much. OK that's pretty much the ONLY downside to the match. This is mainly Hara & Goro vs Ishikawa & Fuyuki... and that's absolutely what you want! Genichiro Tenyru vs Ashura Hara (04/12/86) - That was great!! This was way better than I thought it would be. It's probably the best singles match so far. These two were doing stuff ahead of their time in my opinion. There's an emphasis on the head lock and sleeper hold that I appreciated. It's not boring but definitely controls the flow of match. These two guys know how to work holds. And heaven knows they know how to hit each other! I can definitely see the influence Hara had on Tenryu's style. Tenryu still wrestles closer to Jumbo's style. He focuses on his technical ability. 1986 is a good transition year for Tenryu because he's slowly incorporating a little bit more attitude. I loved the Tenryu/Hara tag team. Ashura Hara is becoming one of my faves. This is a classic match! Ole Anderson vs. Haru Sonoda (04/19/86) - Good match especially when Ole & Sonoda were trading blows. Sonoda's sleeper hold control section was kinda making me sleepy actually. But they worked out of it and got things going again. So, a good match but not something that you need to make an effort to see. This is the last appearance of Ole Anderson for '85 so I've appreciated his inclusion by the Samurai TV folks back in '99 🙂 Genichiro Tenyru & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Ted Dibiase & Ron Bass (04/19/86) - A really good showing from both teams. I thought it was best when it was Ted vs Tenryu. I'm looking ahead and it seems like that was on purpose. They have a big match later in April. I think they teased it well. Ron Bass is always fun as a hulking figure. I like when he fills in for Stan Hansen. Ishikawa was enjoyable although I think I like him better later in his career. He doesn't seem to have the fire in him quite yet.  Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta (04/19/86) - This was a great big time match! Jumbo came out using Stan's fast start assault plan. Things never really let up. They were wrestling on the mat. Jumbo controlling Hansen's head & neck. Stan was working Jumbo's arm later on. I think the pacing was really good throughout. It felt like they were fighting for something meaningful. I think this was a rated highly by the DVDVR Best of the 80's All Japan project. I totally agree with that. Samurai Classics did a good job including this one. Genichiro Tenyru vs Ted Dibiase (UN Title, 04/26/86) - Great fierce title fight! Two of the best go at it. They really bring everything here. They're technical, they're off the ropes & the turn buckles, heck! Tenryu does a dive. This was fantastic stuff. Tenryu & Ted really gel. This lived up to expectations. This absolutely is one I'm glad was on this Samurai Classics set.
  7. TheBean
    Tenryu & Tsuruta vs Choshu & Yatsu  (02/05) - Great, hard fought match! Choshu & Yatsu assault Jumbo at the outset. Tenryu is the guy you want to make a hot tag to! At one point I thought he & Yatsu were going to go at it for real. They get back in the groove. Damn near everyone gets worked over at some point. It's a real physical affair - the stuff you typically associate with Hansen...just violence at every opportunity. All that said, it doesn't seem to have big peaks and valleys in the story or excitement level. It's peak actually is at the beginning. Just straight upwards and then keeps that level until the finish. It's a heck of a neat finish too! Great match Tiger Mask & Mighty Inoue vs Ashura Hara & Great Kabuki (02/22) - This was a very good tag match! Wow, this was really enjoyable. There was plenty of action in the beginning. They slowed it down in the middle with some leg locks. Finally, the brought it back up for an exciting final third. The finish was great too. I think what I enjoyed was the contrast of the junior style (Tiger & Inoue) with the more rough & tumble style. March Jumbo Tsuruta vs Animal Hamaguchi (03/13/86) - This was a sick match! 😋 Animal jumps Jumbo at the bell...he's crazy! There's a lil down time where Animal works the arm but after that this cooks. Animal is out ranked big time but dammit, he's fierce. He pisses the All Japan ace off. Jumbo pulls Hamaguchi up a couple times from his own pin in order to punish his foe some more. This backfires as Animal doesn't know the meaning of quit. And he's got moves and takes some crazy bumps...which makes this quite exciting. This was a very good match. If you've wanted to see an Animal Hamaguchi match, this is one to try! Harley Race & Jerry Blackwell vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & One Man Gang (03/13/86) - This is one I'm watching because it's part of my AJPW Samurai Classics DVD collection. I would have skipped it otherwise. It's fun though 🙂 We get Blackwell vs O.M.G executing fat guy moves on each other. Both dudes are pretty fantastic for their size. Then Harley & Tiger Jeet take over. It's typical stuff from Tiger trying to attack with the spike and we get a DQ. Still, you're not watching these to see who wins. These are meant as pure fun and it accomplished that goal. Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta (03/29) - You're always going to get a quality match with these two. They will lay in some meaty shots and get physical at the very least. And that's really what most of the match was - Stan & Jumbo rough & tumble wrestling. Stan locks on a chin lock here and there but his main weapon is dropping knees on Jumbo's head. Tsuruta is a little more technical going for arm breakers in between clubbing blows & jumping knees. It's not beyond their standard match except the rather hazardous finish. That was quite memorable. So if you're going through 1985 AJPW then it's definitely worth your time. It's very good because it's Jumbo & Hansen in their prime. +Plus+ There's some really fun matches from the 03/15 TV show that are edited down. Fuyuki vs Kurisu & Kobayashi vs Ishikawa get the most time. Both were excellent from what was shown. Glad I found these even if in edited format. Mighty Inoue vs Killer Khan is there but doesn't get as much time. The full matches (or fuller) are Jumbo vs Animal Hamaguchi and Choshu vs Tiger Mask. Jumbo vs Animal is above. Riki vs Tiger sounds cool. 
     
  8. TheBean

    Spotlight: AJPW 1986 - January

    By TheBean,


    Spotlight
    Nikita Koloff/Krusher Kruschev vs Yoshiaki Yatsu/Isamu Teranishi (01/01/86) - A squash match which is kinda a waste of Yatsu & Teranishi. Koloff & Krusher had some nice offensive moves. Tiger Mask vs Mil Mascaras (01/02) - Good on paper but bad in reality. That badness is due to Mil. If Misawa had a tell-all book, he would have a story about this match. It reminded me of Mick Foley's recounting of his match with Mil. No it's not the worst thing but it ambles, Mil doesn't seem to know what's up, and he couldn't care less. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Nikita Koloff & Krusher Khrushchev (01/02) - Yeah, Krusher Khrushchev is Barry Darsow. I thought so 😁  Good tag match in the sense that they worked smart and told a nice story by working Jumbo's back. The "Russian" team wrestled more like how I wish the Roid Warriors worked. The looked strong but Jumbo & Tenryu were competitive. This was enjoyable stuff & put a smile on my face. Mil Mascaras vs Takashi Ishikawa (01/11/86) - A little slower version of the Kobayashi match. Still it sucked me in. It was technical and competitive but very old school for '86. Most of the match consisted of stretches leveraged into pin attempts. Hey! I'm a fan. You might not be. Then the finishing segment was a play on the finishes of the previous Mil matches but with surprises. I liked this. I'm not going to overdo it. I thought it was a good match. Jumbo Tsuruta & Samson Fuyuki vs Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda (01/11) - These four guys in '86? Yes please. This is a really fun all action match. Nothing fancy or complex but they keep the energy up. And that's what you want in a tag match like this. I don't think I'll see anymore Windham or Rotunda here but this is a good match for a project like this. Mil Mascaras vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (01/28) - Now this is what I'm talking about! Mil came to wrestle. Really good junior technical wrestling punctuated by Kobayashi & his temper. He turns this into a brawl and The Man of a Thousand Masks is down to fight. Personally I'd prefer the technical wrestling from Mil but it keeps the intensity up and isn't much of the match (*cough it sets up the finish *cough). Skip the Tiger Mask match and watch this one. Tiger Mask vs Great Kabuki (01/28/86) - Kabuki wrestled a technical match. He kept Tiger under control with arm bars for much of the early portion of the bout. Thankfully, they knew how to keep wrestling while working the arm. This would have been pretty bland otherwise. Eventually, our masked hero snaps and attacks Kabuki with a chair! Whoa!! The Great One is bleeding buckets. Everyone is fully invested now. This is beyond what folks saw coming. Before you know it, things get out of hand...and then they get really out of hand! This is wild actually! The match itself is really smart and a great one overall. The whole segment is a near classic. I'm not sure if we get an explanation in the booking later on in the year. I'm not sure a non Japanese speaker can exactly make 100% sense but, dang it! That's pro wrestling for ya! 😄
  9. TheBean
    You're really missing out if you're not checking out this stuff. This has been an absolute revelation to me. And hey! I get it, I didn't watch Zero One for like 15+ years. A big reason is that no one talked about it. Or the internet wrestling taste makers didn't like it at the time. Screw that 😀 This is some fun smash mouth wrestling. Now that there's a wealth of wrestling posted online, this really is worth watching especially if you're into 2000's wrestling.
    •Masato Tanaka vs Yoshihito Sasaki (05/27) -This is precisely what I wanted with this matchup. These two guys who have the energy, intensity and toughness to break bricks with their bare hands. They gave no quarter and expected none in return. Korakuen Hall brings out the best in people and this was no different. Hard chops, harder elbows and lariats so stiff it knock a T-800 down. Yeah Masato Tanaka is a known great but Yoshihito Sasaki doesn't get enough love. If you're a Tanaka fan then you NEED to see this match and you'll probably be a new Sasaki fan by the end. Classic match.
    •Steve Corino & CW Anderson vs Tajiri & Masato Tanaka (06/20) - Flashback to ECW & early Zero One! I had to watch this one. And it was worthy of being associated with ECW. All the guys were still in very good shape so they showed great energy as they fought around Korakuen. Chairs were used, mist was sprayed and tables were broken. This was a lot of fun. Some matches that remind us of ECW don't really embody that energy & excitement of the promotion. I think this match did and would recommend it for any fan of that lil promotion outta Philly.
    For more the full Zero One 2007 project, check out: https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/search/label/2007
    Bunch more match recommendations & cool pics! Also will be looking at a bunch of 1980's wrestling with Cruising the 80's & AJPW 1986 projects.
    •Masato Tanaka v Dick Togo (09/30) Good gawd! 90's indie dream match fulfilled. This was was so good. It got going with a bang and never quit. Lil ECW at times and both guys may have been bleeding the hard way. This was representative of the intensity. They brought it back into the ring and really surprised me. There was legitimate near falls in this match. It was part of a Jr. tournament so anything "big" felt like it could end the bout That fact added on top of their great work made this a near classic match...if you're interested in seeing this then you should watch it. 
    •Takao Omori v Masato Tanaka (10/26) Well that was awesome! These Zero One cats don't play around! This was fantastic stuff and all under 15 minutes. They had one high spot that I absolutely popped for but the rest was just hard hitting no nonsense puro. Omori was a nice change from Sekimoto or Sasaki as he has more variety to his moves. I felt this mixed things up. I don't have much more to say. Zero One Wrestling in 2007 has been pretty amazing with these dream match ups. I'm going to say this was a near classic but I'm being conservative. I really dug this!
    •Masato Tanaka & Ryouji Sai vs. Shinjiro Otani & Yuji Nagata (11/13) Lots of animosity in this match. Every pin or submission was broken up with nastiness. Sai was a very good pupil for Tanaka. They were right in there with Otani and super star Nagata. Those two were especially vicious with their kicks - tandem kenka kicks in the corner and a fierce sandwich enzuigiri. 
    •Masato Tanaka v Yoshihito Sasaki (12/24) This was called Best of 2007 because these two were the best Zero One Wrestling had to offer. They did not disappoint me. There was good wrestling on the mat. Tanaka tries to weaken Sasaki's arm seeing as the lariat is a big weapon of his. But let's be honest, this is not the point of the match. No, there was fighting on the floor, there are big moves and very hard strikes were there too. Sasaki got busted open the hard way from a table thrown by Tanaka. So he was bleeding most of the match. What really put this above just another great match was the counter moves. There were a few choice moves that really surprised me. It made this really feel like two of the best that Zero One had to offer. By the end both men were loopy and although only one man got his hand raised, both were winners in my eyes. I would call this a classic and highly recommend it. Couldn't ask for a better way to close out this brief look at 2007 Zero One Wrestling. 
    For Part #3 of 2007 Zero One Wrestling, come over to: https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2026/01/zero-one-wrestling-2007-final.html
     
  10. TheBean
    Greetings from the internet! This time we're looking at Zero One Wrestling from 2004 & 2005. It's a grab bag though. There's a few stand alone matches from 2004. I was able to find a full show but only three matches interest me. Also please check out my new blog Wrestling Dream Battles. Just posted New Japan 1995 part #3 up there. 
    OK let's look at Zero One Wrestling!
    2004
    Leonardo Spanky vs. Josh Daniels (01/30) - Good back & forth juniors match. Simple stuff and although it didn't build to the big finish, it felt like the right time & move to end it. I LIKED IT
    Frankie Kazarian & Low Ki vs. Emblem (Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani) (01/30) - Really, really good action match! Kaz & Low Ki were an excellent team to take on Emblem. Kaz kept things pretty simple (a reviewer on Cage match mentioned he botched stuff... I saw zero botches). Low Ki was more in heel junior mode than strong style warrior or whatever he does when he kicks people really hard. Tanaka and Otani were their normal good selves. Nothing mind blowing but they allowed the American team to shine. The final few minutes was an excellent bomb exchange and was very exciting! I LIKED IT ALOT
    Jun Kasai & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu & Tomohiro Ishii (01/30) - Oh yeah! 12 minutes of what you wanted. Ishii is forced to lay everything in on Hashimoto. Hash ignores him to call out Riki. Jun reminds you he wrestles. When we finally get Hash vs Riki, it's great. Years worth of history and they give you what you want. I LIKED IT ALOT
    Frankie Kazarian vs Leonardo Spanky vs Low Ki (01/31) - A good time, smile on your face fireworks junior 3 way dance. Way too many moves to remember them all but everything they did was in their wheelhouse. They never got too complicated or too cute with what they were attempting. They used the ramp to good effect which makes me wish the US Indies could have afforded a ring ramp 😋 Hard to rate this honestly so I'll just say I LOVED IT. Definitely one to watch if you're interested!
    Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Yoshihito Sasaki (08/31/04) - Starting out mildly, this kept building to something more exciting. Oh thought, "oh this is just a small show. they'll do some signature stuff and wrestle by numbers and do a couple moves to finish." Whoa, they went beyond that and delivered a really good tag match! Like FMW tags, they shifted into a higher gear and the last third was truly exciting stuff. In truth, the first third was forgettable but those other 2/3rds made up for it. Hidaka's execution was great, Fujita was on point and Kuroda & Sasaki were excellent counterparts with their elbows, spears & lariats. ...you know this is a re-watch...went through my old notes but yup I had the same rating "very good" so glad to see that it holds up.

    2005
    I have had trouble finding an Zero One Wrestling or Zero One Max from 2005. I think I'd just find what I had uncovered awhile back when doing a Ikuto Hidaka spotlight. So I had to get creative and look at other promotions that featured Zero One talent. 
    Pro Wrestling NOAH
    Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki (03/05/05) - Great match! Thought it was just going to be a fun one but ultimately nothing too wild. I was fooled! They were treating Misawa like he was invincible. This was a great ploy. Once team Zero One was able to weaken him then things got very interesting.  Otani was in full dick head mode and Takaiwa was his enforcer. Kotaro's Rey Misterio Jr inspired moves were great as he used them in desperation rather than to show off. Jaw cracking elbow strikes, thrilling rope rope moves and some genuinely exciting near falls - LOVED IT!


    Differ cup 2005
    05/07
    Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. PSYCHO & TAKA Michinoku - This was a total blast! It got really good when it was TAKA vs Hidaka and didn't quit after that. Excellent high spots, a little bit of comedy and an interesting finish. This put a smile on my face!
    05/08
    Takaiwa Tatsuhito & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshihito Sasaki vs. TAKA Michinoku & PSYCHO & Sonjay Dutt - Hahaha! Yes!! This is fucking sweet! They actually told a story with TAKA's team being out matched in strength. PSYCHO (new to me this show) just couldn't get a break. Eventually he made the hot tag to TAKA who went straight violent with his kicks! Gawd that one combo was great. It never calmed down after that. Fireworks display with great surprises. The randomness of this put me on the edge of my seat. This could be a cluster fuck at any second. But these dudes pulled it off in my book. Let's here it for the Differ Cup shows 
    Riki Pro 
    Ikuto Hidaka vs. Takashi Sasaki (06/05) - It was a pretty enjoyable junior bout. I think of Takashi Sasaki as a death match wrestler. He is a remarkable junior singles and tag worker though. He's got a solid move set and has great execution. I really dig his super kicks. I always like Ikuto Hidaka. His leg work here added a little variety. This was a fun 10 minute curtain jerker.
    Yoshito Sasaki & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Dick Togo & GENTARO (06/05) - This was wrestled at a quick pace. I would have wanted them to slow down at the beginning to get me acclimated. I don't mind a quick start but I wasn't sure of the direction. Small complaint as they found their groove. It was one move after another and was quite the fireworks tag match. I think they wrestled this way because it was an indie show and just needed to add some razzle dazzle in the middle of the card. This was a very fun tag match and although isn't a hidden gem, it's cool to see these kind of match ups on the indie shows at this time.
    Shiro Koshinaka & TAKA Michinoku vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (08/14/05) - Fun match but only 10 minutes. This could have gone a few more as they never hit their stride. Still we get beefy lariats, flying hip attacks, a couple dives and just enjoyable wrestling. 
    Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs Jody Fleisch & Jonny Storm (10/09/05) - This is actually the only Zero One Wrestling match but I couldn't get into it. There's some crazy ass spots though!! It just reminds me of an early 2000's ROH/indie style. I think by 2005 in ROH at least, had become antiquated. Anyway, I just think this would have worked for a crazy 12 minute match but this was nearly 20 minutes. Not my thing but you might dig it. Jonny Storm has it up on his YouTube page so I'll share it below:
     
     
    Zero One Wrestling has been a lot of fun. I'm definitely interested in going forward with it. I've got a few DVDs that I'm going to use to center a project or two.
    Thanks for reading! 
     
  11. TheBean

    You Might Have Missed: Sabu in Japan!

    By TheBean,


    You Might Have Missed
    Good day, wrestling fans! 
    RVD has posted or re-posted Sabu matches in honor of his late friend. There's plenty of stuff that I'd never seen before or was hard to find or only on compilations etc. I'm going to focus on stuff from Japan since it's been awhile since I've seen Sabu in Japan. Let's do a triple jump dive right in!
    Atsushi Onita & Sambo Asako vs. Sabu & Horace Boulder (FMW 04/23/92) - I saw this back in 2018 but decided to watch the full handheld. I think my original take holds up: Sambo is a roley-poley (rollie-pollie??) or let's say dumpy fat guy. He's not the type of guy you want to go out to the bar with if you're intent on chatting up some birds. He's not much of a wrestler either but, damn he gets the job done No rope barb wire match here and we start seeing some the the death match staples but, remember this is 1992. Hot shotting Sabu on the wire, choking him with it & eventually tossing his ass into it- he gets tangled in it much like his Funker match from '97. If you're an ECW fan, this is the era when 'Bu got all the scars. Not to be outdone, Onita gets wrapped in the loose wire which is another innovation...of sorts. This is all pretty crazy. Mad Onita theatre at the end of this too!
    Terry Funk & Tarzan Goto vs The Sheik & Sabu (FMW  08/22/93) - Absolutely bananas fun match! It's really great match if you're a fan of these guys and this style. It is very chaotic yet Sabu & Goto did pro wrestling so its a wonderful mix of brawling, hard core spots, blood, a few moves...and it's a fantastic length even with the post match fighting. Definitely recommend it!

    Uncle Sheik
    -----
    Sabu vs Hayabusa (FMW 08/28/94) - RVD has the edited down version but there's a full version out there. I watched that. Thanks to the super fan who spliced the commercial footage with the handheld footage! It's pretty fun stuff...basically both guys just doing really crazy spots. It's not much more than that to be frank. I think if they had a match in '97-98 then you might have had a very good to even great match. Here they were really trying to wow the crowd with crazy stuff. Reminds me of stuff Jack Evans, Ricochet and others would want to do. 

    -----
    Sabu vs Eddie Guerrero - Black Tiger II (NJPW 06/12/95) This was a great match! Eddie was just as crazy as Sabu and both guys bring the excitement here. Sabu doesn't get enough credit for his selling because most people don't know that he's not always hurt. Certainly there's times where he is but most of the times he's putting things over. This match, he does a great job selling his back after the culmination of moves. He starts selling it right after flipping out of a back body drop. Normally a wrestler will shoot back onto offense but he shows that the move took it's toll. He forces Eddie to slow down and let the match breathe between maneuvers (Eddie & Chris were moves, moves & more moves at their worst). Here by slowing down, we get denied the flurry until the final third & we are pumped for the excitement. Highly Recommended for fans of Sabu & Eddie especially.

    For more great reviews and pics check out my other blog Wrestling Dream Battles:
    wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com
    I'll be covering my longer year in review projects like New Japan '95 as well as wrestler & rivalry watch guides and more. Going through my watch list, there should be more Sabu in New Japan in the 1995 posts up now. Go check it out 😁 Back to the action!
    Abdullah The Butcher vs Sabu (Tokyo Pro 06/26/96) -They stab each other in the head with nails and they bleed.......and it was great! Just a blast to watch them stumble around Korakuen Hall. The fans are eating it up. Abby has his goons come out and start beating on Sabu then Ishikawa (with a heavenly mullet) saves the day. 

    ------
    Sabu vs 2 Cold Scorpio (10/18/96) Tokyo Pro. Holy crap! It was great. At about half their Cyberslam match this was pure gold...great punches, chair stuff, and the aerial moves. Sabu hit everything perfectly (in a Sabu kinda way) and Too Cold was on point. Plus he does the Macarena...what's not to love!?
    Sabu & Gary Albright vs Stan Hansen & Takao Omori (AJPW 11/24/96) - Whoa, didn't know about Gary & Sabu teaming. Actually didn't know about Sabu in All Japan. This was fun. Gary is suplexing everyone. Sabu & Gary are a fun team. I wonder if they worked any spots where he suplexed Sabu on someone. This is joined in progress but we get most of it. You're going to enjoy this. *Note Sabu does a botch but re-does it in his hurried, animal - energy way (making it twice as dangerous) and nails the move perfectly. 
    Sabu & Rob Van Dam vs Stan Hansen & Takao Omori (AJPW 01/20/97) - A little clunky start with a young Omori in there but, this shaped up. Hansen got it back on track and sold for Sabu and this puppy was as right as rain. Fun action moves from RVD & Sabu. They were there to razzle dazzle. Omori was with the program and bumped. Post-1995 Stan the Man is great. He's not fully out of commission but he's not as limber. I just get that he's in pain and cranky in '95 and onwards. That translates well here. He can't keep up with the ECW guys kicks but he can hit hard still dammit! Really fun stuff, good under card match.
    Sabu & RVD vs Yoshinari Ogawa & Kintaro Shiga (AJPW 05/13/1997) - joined in progress..we get half but this is excellent stuff. Shiga & Ogawa work really, really well with Sabu and Rob. They are quick and athletic. They have a lower risk offense but still have their moves. Shiga, who I became a fan of when looking at NOAH 2001-02, impressed me here. This would have been a cool match to see in ECW...totally would have worked!
    Sabu & Rob Van Dam vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 06/06/97) - Oh this was pretty sweet! I wish it was a little bit longer. These two teams worked great together. I thought Ogawa was especially good again. I definitely would recommend it if you're at all interested. It's not going to blow your mind but, it's fun! I think the above match is better but then again that's got Shiga. But I'm taking anything away from this one. Watch both.
    Sabu & Rob Van Dam vs Hayabusa & Tommy Dreamer (ECW/FMW 12/12/98) (jip) - Um did Tommy Dreamer just do an Emerald Flowsion!? Innovator of violence indeed. Or at least right on the heels of Misawa here 😋 This was joined in progress and was clipped. We only get have but it is a ton of fun. Just a spot cornucopia from Sabu & RVD. I think Dreamer gets like 5 offensive moves. I'm not sure Hayabusa gets more. I wonder what we missed. I'm guessing there was either some botching or something. I'm not sure actually... this was for a commercial tape and this seems like a match you'd want most of. They jam packed those FMW tapes though. So 9 minutes was a lot when some matches would get like 3 minutes.
    Sabu vs Rob Van Dam (AJPW 03/03/01) - 12 out of 15 minutes were shown - man, I wish they had the full version. I have watched enough AJPW from this time to know better. I'm glad that we got 80% or so. Anyhow, this was very good stuff! This was what I envisioned Sabu vs Hayabusa to be. Tons of flashy, crazy moves BUT surprises too! Those surprises are what made the match. The video quality isn't awesome... very old school underwater early 2000's style 🙂 But if you're a fan of either guy then, you'll dig this one!
    BONUS!!!
    Sabu vs Too Cold Scorpio (ECW Hardcore Heaven 1994) - Oh yes, this is great. Both guys are in good shape and are doing all kinds of dangerous shit. All in all it's probably a spot fest but it does feel competitive and like they are trying to win a damn wrestling match. Additionally, I never felt like that they were just "showing off." I actually prefer this to their 1996 match (Cyberslam again?) since this was shorter than that & I felt the pace was better. 
    Thank you Sabu!! and thanks for reading folks!
  12. TheBean
    I've been making my way through Zero One Wrestling. Man, I have been missing out!The following are from the DVD: ZERO1 Fire Festival 2007 Part 1 Samurai TV. So I watched the full episode/DVD. For more great Zero One Wrestling in 2007, including awesome matches with Yoshihiro Takayama, Masato Tanaka and more, check out:
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2026/01/zero-one-wrestling-2007-part-1.html
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2026/01/zero-one-wrestling-2007-part-2.html
    07/16
    •Shinjiro Otani v Kazunari Murakami - This was a brawl which was setup nicely by the video package. These two hate each other. Murakami makes it seem like its going to be a squash at the start. Otani makes his comeback by good old chair swinging. He busts out a chair seat over Murakami's head like it's IWA Japan. This opens Kaz up the hard way. Blood for blood, he retaliates and turns on the crimson faucet by socking Otani in the nose. 14 minutes of mayhem - this was a great match!
    •Takao Omori v Yoshihito Sasaki - This was one of the best under 10 minute matches in recent memory. Both guys dialed up the impact and intensity for this sprint. Sasaki seems emboldened from his fight with Masato Tanaka and has no hesitation in attacking the veteran Omori. 
    •Ryoji Sai v Yutaka Yoshie - This was a hard fought match. Sai had excellent strikes as he tried to chop down the big man Yoshie. And Yoshie was a fantastic big man with a variety of moves and a lot of muscle under his fat.
    •Masato Tanaka v Daisuke Sekimoto - Smart stuff at the outset. Tanaka goes after Daisuke's arm. There's a couple brilliant sequences here too. Then, they start pummeling each other. Sekimoto has his chin split open from an elbow strike. That fires him up and this looks like Awesome vs Tanaka at times. These are two of my favorite wrestlers for a reason. Classic dream battle!
    •Yutaka Yoshie v Ikuto Hidaka 7/22/07 - Really fun big vs little guy match. Good psychology throughout with Hidaka trying to take out the bigger man logically.
    07/28
    •Ryoji Sai v Ikuto Hidaka - Pretty fun stuff again. This is more evenly matched. I thought Hidaka made this special by taking spirited bumps & and adding a bit of psychology. Sai was smart in letting him tell the story and supplying the kicks & double stomps 🙂
    •Daisuke Sekimoto v Yoshihito Sasaki - Holy cow! They put a lot of hard hitting action into 15 minutes! This was at a smaller venue so it lacks a "middle" section. They just ramp up the excitement. If you dig Kobashi era NOAH, you're going to want to see this. Also a good match to show a friend who's curious about "older" Japanese wrestling. 
    •Shinjiro Otani v Akitoshi Saito - Edited to roughly 10 minutes. It's great to see this match up. Very good match that's not clever but two tough guys kicking & suplexing each other. Otani is definitely one of the best wrestlers watched in 2025.
    This was a great DVD/TV episode! A great overview of the Fire Festival. I feel like the more Zero One Wrestling I watch, the more I like it. This has been a very rewarding project thus far.
    Thanks for reading! For more including the Final post for 2007 which will coming out soon, visit: wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com
  13. TheBean

    Best Match Watched & Awards - 2025

    By TheBean,


    From the Editor
    Here are my awards for the Best of what I watched in 2025:
    •Feud of the year for the first half of 2025 is Larry Zbyszko vs Lord Steven Regal. I may have underrated those matches. I loved them. American Wolves vs Steenerico is probably second feud at June. Jim Duggan is a feud machine and his feud with Buzz Sawyer & Dick Slater in Mid South 1985 is pretty great. Ted DiBiase vs Duggan probably takes the cake though.
    •Biggest Surprise of 2025? The whole year felt like a surprise, am I right!? Talking wrestling, I think there's some truth there. I watched a fair bit of wrestling. Much of it was outside my comfort zone. The shoot style sampling project was a blast especially when looking at it with a different tactic. I surprised myself by watching a ton of American wrestling with WCW and Mid South being two of the big projects of 2025. So, I think the biggest surprise was digging my teeth into teeth into WCW '94 and Mid South '85 (especially) and having an excellent time.
    •Meiko Satomura & Ayako Hamada are the joshi tag team of the year. Although there's not as many matches of theirs, they feel most like a top tier tag team... they were putting on classic, big time matches. They feel like they belong in that mid to late 90's AJW level. Men's tag team is between Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama and Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. And I'm going to pick ChoTen for their work in New Japan 1995.
    •My wrestler of the year starts with Regal in '94, Davey in '09 & Satomura in 2002. For quality of matches alone KENTA in ROH 2009 deserves recognition. Then I'm thinking Yoji Anjo for his consistently great working in UWFi. I have to consider Hiroyoshi Tenzan for his break out 1995. I think I'm going to stick with my frontrunner from June, Ted DiBiase. He's the complete package in 1985 Mid South Wrestling.
    •Bryan Danielson is a perennial Best Match Watched contender and it's no different this year. And honestly, I don't know if I really am a big  fan of his anymore. I think I'm over-familiar. But that should be evidence of the quality of the nominated bouts. I'm not swayed by favoritism or nostalgia there. Those matches are that good. And the front runner is Bryan Danielson vs Davey Richards (Final Countdown: Boston 09/25/09). I think the other contender is Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (06/01/85). It's a match that I was absolutely transfixed by. I'm not really interested in long matches anymore but I stuck with it... and I knew that it was a longer one. Yup, I'm going to say Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (06/01/85) was the Best Match Watched in 2025. It just had everything. For the full list of the best matches watched in 2025, go to: https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/12/best-match-watched-2025-big-list.html
    Upcoming projects that are in progress and looking to complete early 2026 are:
    •All Japan 1986
    •New Japan 1990
    •Zero One Wrestling 2007
    •Ongoing but periodically updated stuff include Tajiri You Might Have Missed, New Japan 2010 as well as more Shoot Style Sampling. And classic Ring of Honor projects...I'm going over a couple in my mind. Thanks for reading!
  14. TheBean
    Kiyoshi Tamura vs Billy Scott (04/19) - Lots of tumbling here 😁 I think they agreed on no strikes to the head or body. Billy is a great explosive wrestler like Tamura but his striking is really good too. I think this rule or facet to the match took something away from what makes him entertaining. Tamura is his usual speedy slippery self. One one hand it's fast and realistic in its urgency. On the other hand, a good shot to the face usually slows a guy down so why not do that? I LIKED IT nonetheless.
    Naoki Sano vs Kenichi Yamamoto (05/27) - This a weird match as it's fought under some hybrid rules like BattlARTS or something 😀 There's pins but they're not actually working towards them. There's pro moves at times but they are extremely stiff. Yeah this is neat and something mentioned on DVDVR back in the day. It's short, violent and weird. I LIKED IT!
    Tatsuo Nakano vs Koki Kitahara (05/27) - Yes! yes! Take your pretty Katsuyori Shibata, I'll take fatty Nakano & Kitahara any god damn day! Two pudgy prize fighters punishing each others fat faces with straight knees and headbutts. News flash a real headbutt hits the guy in the fucking nose & mouth with the thick cranium and breaks his face with your skull..not to knock heads together and give yourself brain damage. Anyhow, Nakano does a real "shoot" head butt to Kitahara and busts the bridge of his nose open. Does he go easy on him? Nah..he knees him in the face some more. LOVED IT!!!
    Yoji Anjo vs Naoki Sano (06/26) - BattlARTS match again... maybe those guys were ahead of the curve - Technically oriented, hard hitting "pro wrestling" but no points system. You know its probably what UWF v.1 was doing. Anyhow, this was all of those things. Anjo jumped Sano before the bell. However, Sano rallied and was beating the crap outta Anjo. Anjo was bleeding. They played up the drama here in a more traditional manner. This was a bigger version of Sano's match with Yamamoto. Your mileage may vary on the outcome but I LOVED THIS.
    Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshihiro Takayama (09/11) - A really good novelty match with big implications for AJPW booking. These two would go on to have better encounters but this laid the groundwork. Again more UWF v.1 than UWFi shoot style. And that is the vibe of UWFi here in 1996. It's not necessarily the same wrestling it has been from '91-'95. It seems everyone wrestles like Tamura (I started to watch Scott vs Kakihara and it lacked both guys' personality and felt like Tamura vs Tamura) OR they wrestle a UWF/BattlARTS/NJ 86-87 style. That's difficult to adjust to once I've gotten to like what I have been watching. I suppose they were trying to do whatever would draw them business. I don't dislike the more pro oriented style. I like it but it doesn't work for me right next to the more authentic shoot style wrestling. Which is real & which isn't? I don't want to ask that question while watching the same promotion. These hybrid matches need to actually be watched separately from the rest of the promotion's output. This seems like a good place to end with UWFi.
    -------
    UWFi closes up shop in 1996 but RINGS is getting better as it goes. This might be the largest batch of RINGS matches reviewed.
    Mitsuya Nagai vs. Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS, 3/25/96) - I liked the slams Mikhail was doing and Nagai's stand up was fine. There's just too little of it. This is felt like the same confrontation every time. Throw a kick, grab it, slam, exhibition submission wrestling, half hearted rope break. This felt like a throw back and a step back to what RINGS was doing. IT'S OK 
    Dick Vrij vs Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS 6-29-96) - This was good but over too soon. Vrij was really laying into Tamura. His strikes were pretty on point. Those knees to the face were wicked. Dick doesn't really wrestle and so it was cut and dry on the mat. Unfortunately, they didn't milk the drama with multiple knockdowns. It really actually kinda ended with a moment that was kind of realistic. Like "yeah you should end things asap." IT'S OK. Hopefully I didn't speak too soon about the promotion.
    Masayuki Naruse vs. Todor Todorov (RINGS, 6/29/96) - Exciting stuff! Really spirited stand up fighting. The mat stuff was good but not overly complex. In honesty, it was a good addition to the striking. It broke that portion up. And I really dug the suplexes/slams also. A very well rounded bout. It could have gone on a few more minutes as these guys had great chemistry. I LOVED THIS ONE
    Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 6/29/96) - OK now I'm getting to see what others have said about Han. It's probably because Nagai is higher in rank/experience now. Additionally, RINGS is a bit quicker and closer to a shoot. We get the speed and we get better strikes as time moves on in RINGS. There was a specific wrestling exchange where it really looked like Volk was progressing through holds organically. He went for one joint lock which opened up a stretch which opened up another hold. Prior to '95, it sometimes looked like he kind of just would pick around for a free limb as if not bothered by the opposition or if he were in a leg lock. Maybe that's what he wanted to convey but that style didn't work for me. THIS worked for me. This version of Nagai worked for me too. He drilled Han a few times and was no slouch on the canvas. LOVED IT
    Masayuki Naruse vs Egan Inoue (RINGS 8-24-96) - Oh shoot! Was this a shoot? Off the chart intensity and realism. Even the grounded stalemate and different guards led me to think if this wasn't a shoot, it certainly wasn't as sportsman-like as many other matches. The stalemate on the ground as led me to believe this. Seeing as you're not allowed grounded strikes, they both were evenly matched and I'm sure someone would find an opening, the ref wisely stood them back up. The "story" of the match is that Inoue kept getting hit in the eye. They seemed to show respect to one another during the match but after the second hit in the eye, that's out the window. Finish may be a work, may be a shoot but LOVED THIS ONE
    Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 9/25/96) - What an absolute battle! Nagai's throwing strikes like he should every match. TK has got to struggle for everything. He is a wizard on the ground. But he's not a push over fighting from his feet as well. But what makes this special is the speed & intensity. This felt like a shoot. RINGS finally is doing what UWFi was doing in this regard. Now they also seem to have a deeper roster as well. They are offering fresh matches and as history shows, they have their best years ahead of them while UWFi was closing its doors. LOVED THIS
    Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 10/25/96) - Really good stuff! I'm really digging Naruse and his evolution. He can hang with Han. This starts out excellently but does get into the Han slowing things down to "grab an extra limb to make a human pretzel" which everyone else seems to enjoy. What I do like here is that Naruse is able to escape from many holds or at least get to the ropes. Han is a great pro wrestler though, I have no doubt. Seeing as he's been doing it for 5 years and once a month, he's a quick study. Case in point, him making the concerted effort to drag Naruse into the middle of the ring...much like an animal bringing its prey back to its den. Another great moment is when Volk Han loses his cool. Naruse excels at being the spunky under dog and selling that to the fans. This is definitely where he exceeds Mitsuya Nagai. Anyhow, great, smart finish on top of a great match. LOVED IT
    Masayuki Naruse vs Dick Vrij (11/22/96) - Equally quick match as the Tamura one at the start of this section BUT I think they built the tension much better. I think they showed Dick was vulnerable on the mat but very dangerous in stand-up. Naruse was more well rounded and could end it anywhere. This did feel like a wrestling match in terms of drama and the strike exchanges and whatnot. I LIKED IT
    RINGS is still carrying the shoot style banner. They have definitely picked it up where UWFi left it. I think it's a safe generalization that UWFI 1991-94 & RINGS 1996 and afterwards are the best periods. You can look to where Tamura was wrestling as a general guide, I guess. I'm going to end my sampling here for now. I really enjoyed the project. I definitely feel better informed. This is entertaining stuff but nothing can replace more traditional pro wrestling for me. It's a nice diversion. I think that's how I will look at it in terms of my blog going forward. I know I missed a lot of the classic stuff...even when using my own parameters. But that was the point, in a way. I wanted to see if the style itself could appeal to me. Thankfully it does but it comes and goes. There were days where I watched almost a half dozen matches. Other times, it felt like a chore to get through one match. It all depends AND my views don't necessarily mesh with others' views. There were more than a few recommended matches that I thought were OK or above average at best. Then there were other bouts that I loved but I didn't hear much of anything on from other folks. If you're interested in UWFi & RINGS then use my posts as a guide. Use others reviews as guides too. Ultimately, you're going to have to see what you like & what you don't. You'll have to do your own shoot style sampling 🙂
  15. TheBean

    Spotlight: 1999 - AJW & BJW

    By TheBean,


    Spotlight
    AJW 1999
    These are some highlights from 1999 All Japan Women's. For my full review and pics, see:
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/11/all-japan-womens-wrestling-1999.html
    Zenjo vs. Neo SCRAMBLE BOUTS 5 X 5: Manami Toyota & Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Miyuki Fujii & ZAP Isozaki vs. Kyoko Inoue & Chaparrita ASARI & Misae Genki & Saya Endo & Yuka Nakamura (02/16) - This was great!!! Takes a minute to figure out but, its a team elimination match. An each pair has a 5 minute time limit. There's really clever booking here as Toyota starts for the AJW team. What's really fun is that the other women can intervene like any regular tag match so we get double team moves, dive trains and brawling. And this gets heated! Heck Kyoko even throws around her former teammate Takako Inoue (who's not actually in the match!). This match is so much fun and has great wrestling in a relatively short amount of time. Definitely recommend it!
    ZAP T vs. Eagle Sawai (03/13) - A chain, double blood, chairs, handcuffs, handcuffing to each other...this is awesome pro wrestling. Again, I have the Athena TV version which was sweet but I knew I needed to see the full version. Thankfully, the full version is online (with 700k views !?). Go see this if you are thinking you might like it...even just a little bit. ZAP T/Watanabe and Eagle put on a brutal classic here. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
    Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi (09/29) - Great LCO mayhem tag match per usual for this era. I can't say there's selling or structure but these definitely feel like chaos in the best way. After seeing a fair amount of Mita & Shimoda, I think the quality and variety of their matches truly depends on their opponents. Here Momoe is a great opponent because she brings speed and agility to the table. Nanae is a suitable teammate because she's got a bit more power to her move set. LCO stick to their routine with certain spots and weapons. The interesting thing here is how Momoe & Nanae fit into that puzzle. The take away greatness of this match is Momoe. This is worth your time.
    BJW 1999
    Here's some highlights from early 1999 BJW. There's no blood & guts in any of this stuff. Just good Indie Wrestling. For the full review with pics, see the full blog post:
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/11/big-japan-wrestling-early-1999.html
    Ikuto Hidaka vs. Fantastik (01/07) - Hidaka, I know. Fantastik is new to me but, I like him. He did this dive that was super dangerous looking... and super cool!! Definitely want to see more of him. These two did a really fun fireworks action match. There were lots of awesome aerial moves and moves off the Irish whip. Fun bit of lucharesu.
    Ikuto Hidaka vs. Minoru Fujita (02/28) - Oh yes!!! They went for broke! This was a great junior battle. One that was way better than you'd think seeing as it was tucked away in the mid card of a BJW show. It was very exciting and very intense. There's plenty of action and great submission wrestling too. It's been awhile since I've seen them in BattlARTS but it definitely had that vibe. I'm a fan of both but seeing them this young and hungry was great RECOMMENDED!
    Katsumi Usuda & Ryuji Yamakawa vs. Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi & Daikokubo Benkei (02/28) - I liked how Usuda & Yamakawa weren't really getting along early on. Yamakawa sold this so well 😄 Eventually they got on the same page. Abby Jr. was going off today so, they had to get him under control. Benkei can be a big oaf sometimes but here he's a big oaf like he needed to be. He's like a tree trunk - able to withstand Katsumi & Ryuji's attacks. It's about 13 minutes long and a ton of fun.
     
  16. TheBean

    Bull Nakano in the 80's

    By TheBean,


    15 minutes or less
    Bull Nakano is in my top 3 favorite Joshi wrestlers. I've never seen enough of her stuff in the 80's. This fall I did just that. This is 15 minutes or Less post which means the matches watched are under 15 minutes. Pretty simple 😋 For the full blog and a ton of pics, visit:
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/10/bull-nakano-in-1980s.html
    Dump Matsumoto & Keiko Nakano vs Devil Masami & Lioness Asuka (10/27/1984) - This has 1/3rd of a million views online!? Is that because of that Dump Masumoto show awhile back? Transition match as Keiko isn't bull and she's got a regular haircut & outfit BUT is teaming with the dastardly Dump Matsumoto. Devil Masami is such a badass from the start. I loved when she denied Bull's drop toe hold and clocked her in the head! Homie don't play dat! This was a great match! I grew up with "garbage" or hard core wrestling so I might even be tempted to call this a near classic. I loved how it descend into a back alley street fight! 3 on 2 with everyone carrying weapons - you can't get better than that sometimes! And it's under 15 minutes too! Perfect length!
    Bull Nakano vs Dump Matsumoto (5/1986) - Crazy wild fight! Not sure of the story here. Maybe Bull was trying to take over the gang?It looked like some of the other members were on her side for a little bit. Bull is fighting from underneath most of the match but she finds her openings and lets Dump have it. A very good match...very intense and blood thirsty. This has almost 900k views online. Wow! Stick around for the post match when Dump goes wild in the stands!
    Bull & Iwamoto vs Fire Jets (07/19/88) - Great follow up to the above match. Bull & Grizzly slice & dice the Fire Jets early on. Hotta's got scars from the previous fight with Bull. This was best 2 out of 3 falls but was under 10 minutes. Everything feels very urgent and real as a result. I really liked that to this match. There were no holds applied or hot tags trying to be worked. This felt closer to a fight. It was really good stuff.
    Bull vs Lioness Asuka (05/14/89) - We have entered the heavy metal Bull Nakano era 🤘 During the proclamations at the beginning, Bull comes over an elbows Lioness right in the f-ing face! 30 seconds in Lioness elbows Bull in the head and busts her open. A little later, Bull disassembles the ring ropes to use as weapons. It's not a long match so I won't say anymore. If you're a fan of either, you want to see this! Being a Lioness Asuka fan, I get the feeling this match was her idea! I can see her telling Bull not to pull any punches. This was great pro wrestling. RECOMMENDED
  17. TheBean

    Spotlight: NJPW 1995 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    By TheBean,


    Spotlight
    Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinya Hashimoto (02/04) - Hashi-f-ing-moto! This was awesome. Tenzan, who's not yet a full baddie, is trying to test the champ. This is his chance to elevate himself one way or another. Hash shows him that being champ means more than just being able to dish out punishment. One has to endure it and push on. I think this was a near classic match...maybe low end classic. I think they did everything so well in terms of pacing, storytelling, a sense of realism, etc.
    Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono (03/07) - Impromptu tag match...no rules either perhap but they ring the bell..so it's official. This is the most ECW match in New Japan that I've seen! It's awesome! They are trying to maim each other in the crowd. Eventually things settle down but it still is intense, great stuff. Fellow Hase fans need to see this one!
    Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (06/12) - Great tag match! Gutsy performance from Hirata & Hash! ChoTen are an excellent heel team...excellent heels but also a cohesive team. They seem to be on the same page all the time here. Good storytelling in this match as well. I'm only coming into this here but if you know the basics of this generation of NJPW then that's all you need to know to enjoy this. I've seen this rated ****1/4 and I can get with that. For my full run down of New Japan 1995 with more reviews & pics, see these:
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/10/yearbook-njpw-1995.html
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/10/yearbook-njpw-1995-part-2.html
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/10/yearbook-njpw-1995-part-3.html
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/11/yearbook-njpw-1995-part-4.html
    https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2025/11/yearbook-njpw-1995-final.html
    Keiji Muto vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (06/14) - Battle for the moonsault, Tenzan's busted wide open, Muto's pissed, Tenzan has an answer for Muto's moves. This absolutely is what Muto can deliver when he's motivated. No laying around on the mat or even messing around with dragon screws teasing figure four bores. This is about fighting. This could have been a true classic if it went on for maybe 30 seconds longer but honestly this was as long as it needed to be. I dug the heck out of it and definitely why I watch Muto matches when they come up. I don't know why or when but, he absolutely has excellent matches in him. And I'm not talking much about Tenzan because he's a solid player who can deliver very good to great matches just by being tough, hitting hard and showing attitude. Muto takes that, brings his A-game and deliver a low end classic. RECOMMENDED
    Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinya Hashimoto (08/13) - I watched the full version and damn! this was a really, really good match. It's simple. Two guys, one baby face & one heel, beat each other up to prove who's tougher. Sure there's a tournament but this is more about ego than a couple tournament points.
    Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (11/25 UWFi) - Yes! Oh hells yes! Stiff as a wall ! A hate-fest fought at a machine gun pace. Anyone hesitant about shoot style needn't worry. This is pro-wrestling. It's a brawl more than anything else. It is fantastic! Just so much bad attitude from both sides. I loved this. It's a little over 10 minutes but I'm still going to call it a classic. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 
    Masa Chono & Tenzan vs Hashimoto & Junji Hirata (12/11) - Hash is tired of Tenzan's shit! Let him have it!!! This was a great match. Hirata/Super Strong Machine was excellent in this match. Hashimoto let him handle himself in this match. It was two of the toughest teams of New Japan facing off again. The post match stuff is entertaining as well.
  18. TheBean
    GAORA has a wealth of Muto era All Japan that they're sitting on. They release one match a week for the last five years. I'm not sure if it had to do with COVID restrictions and the lack of live wrestling to broadcast. Anyhow, I'm very glad that they have kept up with it! It's really helped me get to see this period of All Japan. It's definitely different than the Four Pillars, King's Road era BUT is very similar to New Japan's style with a cozier feel. That's to say it doesn't have the big presence that NJPW has but there's quality wrestling. 
    Keeping with the Video Daze format, I'll be collecting some matches that interest me but just aren't able to watch at the moment. This will help remind me as well as steer you in a direction you might not known about. 
    This time GAORA has collected a series of matches from the summer of 2005. These feature the dastardly Voodoo Murders stable versus Kensuke Office. I had a best of 2005 comp DVD that features a VM match and man, was it different from the 90's AJPW that I had been watching. It turned me off of this era of the company. I was mistaken though. It wasn't what I wanted at the time. This period, especially VM stuff is closer to American wrestling angles & shenanigans than you'd see in AJPW or maybe even New Japan. I honestly love this type of stuff though. It's really melodramatic. What draws me about it in puro is that they can back it up in the ring. Now...that said the VM stable did have some muscle bound Western wrestlers that were fresh out of Stamford, CT and they aren't my cup of tea. In fact, they're a big reason why I stopped watching wrestling on TV in the early 2000's.
    What drew me to this angle was the inclusion of joshi queen & Mrs. Kensuke, Akira Hokuto! She's one of my all time faves & I recommend her matches in GAEA in case you think she ran out of juice in the 90's. Anyhow, this looks like a great angle where TARU and his crew go after Hokuto in order to get in the head of Kensuke & his protege Nakajima. Tomoaki Honma becomes an honorary member of Kensuke's clan in order to fight them. I'm becoming more of a fan of his from watching late 90's Big Japan so this was right up my alley.
    I did my best dating these using Quebrada & Cagematch. 
    ----
    2005
    The evil hand of VOODOO ...
    Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Shuji Kondo/"brother" YASSHI (06/03)
    ----
    Katsuhiko Nakajima & Tomoaki Honma (Kensuke Family) vs Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI (06/19)
    ----
    Akira Hokuto K.O. in front of Kensuke Sasaki...
    Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Tomoaki Honma vs Shuji Kondo, "brother" YASSHI & TARU (07/15)
    ----
    Akira Hokuto rejoices!! 
    Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI (07/26)
    This looks like an easy four-pack of matches to watch. I'm looking forward to these! Thanks for reading!
     
  19. TheBean
    Let's go with  more 1995 shoot style wrestling! Also want to say a big thanks to superkix & KB8 for their work as it's been a big help in sorting & sifting through all of this wrestling goodness. The UWFi & RINGS threads in The Microscope section is the place to start. So now let's look at my sampling of 1995.
    Hiromitsu Kanehara vs Kenichi Yamamoto (01/16) - Quick one sided bout but very entertaining as Yamamoto not only refused a hand shake but had a couple rude gestures for Kanehara. So seeing Kanehara teach the young punk a lesson was fun. I LIKED IT
    Kazushi Sakuraba vs Yoji Anjo (02/18) - This was very mat scrambly as you would expect from Sakuraba. Anjo can do any discipline of fighting. He threw some very good knees to the bread basket for instance. Nothing earth shattering here but still fun to watch them work in & out of holds. I LIKED IT
    Masahito Kakihara vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (02/18) - Holy cow! Too short to say much about but cool while it lasted. Short & intense enough to be a shoot frankly. Worth a watch.
    James Stone vs Kazushi Sakuraba (06/18) - Fun match but Stone/Little Guido was enhancement talent for UWFI. Still he looked pretty good on the canvas. His selling/defense of the stand up fighting was too "pro wrestling" than I've become accustomed to. That said, his matches might be an excellent entry point for someone wanting to see what shoot style/UWFi was about. IT'S OK
    Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kazuo Yamazaki (06/18) - My favorite matches have a good sample of all tactics - strikes, suplexes and submissions. This was no different. There's actually an emphasis on striking here. That made this interesting since it felt more like a shoot style brawl. I also think this translates well to fans not used to shoot style. Anyhow, this was exciting and dramatic wrestling. I LOVED IT
    Naoki Sano vs James Stone (07/13) - Stone already has the Guido character figured out. He shoves Sano while the ref is checking his ring gear. I liked this more than the Sakuraba match as Sano kept things on the ground. He used choice strikes to either set up a takedown or to count as a knockdown. I wish they let Stone be more competitive because these really are squash matches. They are a novelty for ECW/WWE fans who want to see Little Guido/Nunzio. But hey, that's me & I'm glad I saw this 😋 Plus I'm a Sano fan. IT'S OK. I should note that it's a little closer to earlier UWFi style in they use a couple pro moves in good shoot style context. Not sure if they did this to make Stone more comfortable or more likely to ease people into the upcoming NJPW feud/gain wider appeal to draw bigger audiences. That's a general trend I've noticed for 1995.
    Yoshihiro Takayama vs Naoki Sano (08/18) - Oh wow, this was a neat one! Sano was targeting Takayama's bandaged thigh. Not super obvious but, it was giving him openings with the big man. This match definitely could have gone on a couple more minutes and I would have been happy. Terrific showing from Sano. He & Takayama had great chemistry. I think that they tagged together later on in NOAH. I LIKED IT
    ***
    If you like what you're reading then check out my other blog:
    wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com
    More stuff, less ads! 
    ***
    OK I've got a few more RINGS matches this time.
    Mitsuya Nagai vs. Willie Peeters (RINGS, 4/28/95) - Pretty quick but pretty sweet. This was primarily about strikes. Peeters palm strikes were nasty. If he could connect with his kicks then he might have ended this sooner. Nagai was landing his though. Seems like he was going for the liver - nice! 😋 Short and sweet. I LIKED IT
    Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 4/28/95) - It's neat to watch Naruse mature. Here he takes it to the master. Volk is like fly paper. He seems to turn every strike encounter into a hold/take down to the mat. Here Han's height advantage plays a part since it's tough for Naruse to land kicks to the head. He does just fine with palm strikes though. Han has much better strikes now too. In fact, he seems much more animated than in earlier years. This seemed much more like a true competition than an exhibition. Earlier RINGS seemed at half speed of UWFi for example. LOVED THIS
    Mitsuya Nagai vs. Andrei Kopilov (RINGS, 5/20/95) - Excellent intensity here. Striking when it's appropriate to open up a takedown. Great throws from Andrei. Competitive wrestling on the canvas. I really dug how Nagai pulled Andrei back into the middle of the ring on one attempt. And that reminds me! Andrei is strong as hell! He damn near dumped Nagai over the ropes a couple times! I think this could have developed more because they had great chemistry. I LIKED IT!
    Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Grom Zaza (RINGS, 12/19/95) - Bullshit Zaza's 29 years old! More like 39. Holy crap...just saw his Wikipedia entry. He was 30 years old. The man aged like LeBron. Anyhow, WAY more aggressive than we were seeing a couple years ago with striking. RINGS is stepping up in '95. Or maybe TK brings out the best in people. This looked way more like a legit fight than much of the RINGS I've seen pre '95. I'm no expert but the intensity and speed of the strikes made this super exciting. On top of that, the mat wrestling was top notch AND they really played up the drama. I LOVED this one! Maybe the best RINGS match I've watched. Ishikawa vs Naruse excluded.

    I'm glad that I didn't quit on RINGS. Don't know if it's just me but, RINGS seems to get better as time goes on. Thanks for reading!!!
  20. TheBean

    Video Daze: New Japan 2003-2005

    By TheBean,


    Video Daze
    It should come as no surprise that I spend a lot of time searching for wrestling to watch. Many of you do the same I am sure. I'm writing, copy/pasting, having a bunch of different docs open to cross reference what I have, what I've seen and double checking dates. It's kind of its own hobby actually. And this is just for the things I find online. I'm sure the folks that actually post matches are doing the same thing. Anyhow, if you've been reading my original Puro+More blog, you probably know I get side tracked. My big intention years ago was to buy DVDs of stuff I wanted to watch, watch it and share my views. I don't do well with the absolute wealth of wrestling available online. Part of it was that I really didn't use YouTube that much for wrestling. I didn't care for the small screen in which I had to watch wrestling... OK blah blah blah. So here I am... scrolling YouTube and other sites like a fiend looking for wrestling. I'm not sure to what end sometimes though. I think I'm collecting (or hoarding) to be honest. I know I've done it with DVDs. So rather than keep these lists and links gathering electronic cobwebs, I thought I would start posting the links along with the reason why I wanted to watch these things.
    I figure, I still will be promoting cool wrestling to folks. Hopefully my digging will help provide a curated watch list/mixtape for you to check out. For me, I think it'll free up some space on my computer and my mind. I'm only going to link officially released stuff because I don't want any heat on the mom & pop posters sharing good stuff. Besides there's plenty of good stuff being released by the companies nowadays. Additionally, most official promotions channel's old video are a rat's nest of dozens (hundreds?) of videos with no real good way to sort them out. I'm doing some of that work for ya 🙂
    This first batch is early 2000's New Japan. There's such a hard time finding much of New Japan on da Tube because of their paid service But back in the 2010's they were posting tons of contemporary stuff. 15 years later, that stuff is vintage wrestling 😁 And in my opinion isn't really marred by the tropes of 10+ years. There's not a ton but again, it's worth checking out.
     
    2003
    Bucanero & Guerrero vs Super Crazy & TAGUCHI (04/23/03) Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero were introduced to my through the 2008 TNA Global X Cup. I'm not a lucha aficionado so I can just say that I like them. I have a compilation of theirs that I watched years ago and enjoyed. Seeing them in a match versus Super Crazy & a young Ryusuke Taguchi is exactly the type of shit I dig for.
    ----
    CHONO & TENZAN vs TANAHASHI & YOSHIE (04/28/03) After watch 1995 New Japan, Chono & Tenzan are one of my favorite teams at the moment. Seeing them versus baby Tanahashi & big man Yoshie sounds like a good time.
    ----
    NAGATA & IIZUKA vs TAKAYAMA & MAKABE (07/05/03) Save Iizuka, this has three of the most interesting workers of the 2000's in it. Nagata vs Takayama is enough to get me interested. Throw Makabe in there...yeah this is worth a watch. You know someone gets kicked or kneed really hard.
    ----
    2004
    TENZAN & NAGATA & NAKANISHI vs TANAHASHI & NAKAMURA & SHIBATA (10/01/04) This is cool. We've got a representation of New Japan early 2000's stars. These guys weren't setting the internet ablaze in the West but I've come to like all three. Then we have the new Three Musketeers. Korakuen Hall 6 man with vets versus young punks...this has to be a blast.
    ----
    Nakamura vs Shibata (07/04/04) The two shoot style leaning wrestlers of the new generation. All said, under 10 minutes long...this should be nasty. I really dig this period of Nakamura.
    ----
    2005
    Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura vs Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Kazuyuki Fujita & Kendo Kashin (06/19/05) This reminds me of putting a match together in Fire Pro Returns match maker mode. Thinking, "OK I've only got one match slot left. I need to make sure I draw a big crowd. Who do have left on the roster?" It's got almost a 1/2 million views and its in Korakuen Hall. It's worth checking out!
    ----
    SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs NAOFUMI YAMAMOTO (12/25/05) Again, I'm interested in this era of Nakamura. Yamamoto is Yoshi Tatsu from WWE. I actually have a 2006 New Japan project that has DVDs. Yeah, holy shit!! 😄 And he's kind of a big deal in those so I thought this would be a good way to get familiar.
    ----
    HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs HIROOKI GOTO (12/25/05) Hirooki Goto is one of guys that got me interested in watch "newer" NJPW for a minute back in the 2010's. They don't have a bunch of his stuff on the New Japan channel so I'm going to take what I can get. We'll see how young lion Goto works with Tanahashi.
    Thanks for reading! Enjoy the wrestling!
  21. TheBean
    Hi everyone! I'm back with more shoot style wrestling. We're in 1994 and looking at UWFi & RINGS.
    Yoshihiro Takayama vs Yuko Miyato (04/03) - Man, Takayama has reach! Miyato isn't going to win the striking game. He doesn't really dominate on the mat either as Takayama has a clear size advantage. This was really good stuff and I thought they went home a little earlier than I would have liked. They had really good chemistry and a dynamic fight.  Really LIKED IT
    Victor Zangiev vs Yoji Anjo (04/03) - Zangiev is a damn wizard. That one escape was nothing short of amazing. You gotta see it! Like his Street Fighter counterpart, the man is a suplex machine. Anjo peppers him with stiff kicks & slaps but the Russian bides his time. I really dug the finish here as one man went outside of his comfort zone to finish the match and presented a big opening for his opponent. Post match drama too! I LOVED THIS!
    Dan Severn vs Masahito Kakihara (04/03) Severn is really good in these as he's got the wrestling down pat and it's done in a believable way. Plus he's usually bigger than his foe and can absorb their blows. That means that they can lay into him without fear of an accidental knockout. This has a little bit of everything including Dan fighting defensively on the ground (with strikes) which you don't see too many guys do. I LIKED THIS a good bit.
    Kazushi Sakuraba vs Tom Burton (05/06) - Holy moley - this is why you want some weight classes! Burton is a big beast and Saku is young and thin. He's still gifted on the mat but Burton was throwing his scarecrow body all around the ring. And damn! that knee lift! Pretty one sided but quite entertaining. I LIKED IT
    Victor Zangiev vs Yuko Miyato (05/06) - Zangiev exhibition match. This was a blast to watch and would recommend just if you want to see Zangiev do his thing. LIKED IT for what it was.
    Bad News Allen vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (08/18) - This was a fun one. Kanehara was clearly holding back but this was well worked. It's a pleasure to see Allen work these UWFi matches. I LIKED IT as it was simple and enjoyable to watch...not necessarily a badass match though.
    Dan Severn vs Yoshihiro Takayama (10/14) - Well, that was aggressive to the point of frenzied. Hell yes! Severn was just eating palm strikes and knees in order to get (the still thin) Takayama off his feet. In the most entertaining fashion, he suplexed the dude. But damn, Takayama drove those knees in. This is definitely one that could have gone on a couple more minutes. Still that finish was brutal looking. LIKED/LOVED IT
    Victor Zangiev & Vladimir Berkovich vs Yoji Anjo & Naoki Sano (UWFi 6/10) - Zangiev is always badass! Berkovich is here so it's not a 2-1 match but he adds very little. Anjo & Sano do great here peppering the Russian with kicks and getting the occasional suplex. It's underdeveloped and iswhat holds it back from being "great." Still it's a blast - I LIKED IT!
    Kazuo Yamazaki vs Tatsuo Nakano (08/18) - Yamazaki played along with Nakano's strength and did a predominantly standing fight. Nakano would want to wrestle but Kazuo didn't necessarily play along and risk exposing Nakano. Or maybe he wanted to beat Tatsuo at his own game? It's good but not great. I LIKED IT with that said.
    Yoji Anjo vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (11/30) - Very spirited fight. Kanehara was fighting an uphill battle as Anjo might be the most well rounded fighter in the league. They did everything right without this being necessarily outstanding. I LIKED IT though.
    Just a couple RINGS matches since it hasn't been setting my world on fire. I found a couple that looked interesting though.
    Mitsuya Nagai vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 12/16/94) - This was really good at times. The strikes were snappy and the wrestling was quick but believable. But then again, there were enough moments where I'm not sure why a hold was released or why a guy went for a rope break or something didn't look strong enough to warrant a knockdown. So it had it's moments and had it's issues. I LIKED IT though. 
    Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs Daisuke Ikeda (RINGS 12/24/94) - Oh yeah this was pretty damn aggressive from the start. Ikeda could throw and take a shot. This came down to who would be best on the mat. TK just wanted it more. It think Ikeda was losing steam as this went on whereas Kohsaka stayed in the zone throughout. I LIKED IT quite a bit. Those strikes - damn!
    Yoji Anjo is definitely the stand out so far in this project. He & Ted DiBiase are probably my front runners for best wrestlers watched this year. Hope you find some good stuff to watch! Thanks for reading 🙂
  22. TheBean
    Hi folks! I'm back with more shoot style wrestling. This time we're looking at 1993. Let's get started with UWFi. As a reminder, I'm avoiding the big names like Albright, Takada & Vader since I think their matches have been reviewed in depth before. 
    Dan Severn vs Yoji Anjo (02/14) Damn was this fun. Severn is way bigger than Anjo and was throwing suplexes. Anjo tried for strikes but Dan was absorbing them. I really LIKED IT
    Steve Day vs Hiromitsu Kanehara (04/10) - This had a bit of everything - strikes, suplexes, judo throws, hurty-looking submission holds. And it all looked and felt urgent and real which is important. Kanehara threw strikes while grounded to break Days concentration which was a nice touch. Day wanted to use throws & takedowns but knew he needed to throw a knee here & there in order to get inside and get Kanehara on the defense. LOVED  IT
    Masahito Kakihara vs Naoki Sano (04/10) - You gotta love Kakihara's fire. It definitely gives all his bouts an adrenaline shot. Sano is a smooth operator though. It was a real fire vs ice bout. Excellent work in stand-up and the ground. These somewhat shorter matches force the guys to really push the pace and competitive feeling. I LOVED THIS
    Bad News Allen vs Yoshihiro Takayama (05/06) - Fun stuff with a slower pace since they're heavyweights. Well Allen certainly is at this point. He's still bad news though. His throws and submissions look great. That arm bar neck lock was a beauty! I LIKED IT
    Yuko Miyato vs Kazuo Yamazaki (05/06) - Hard fought battle for a 12 minute match. I think this one had it all - kicks, suplexes and working on the mat. I really enjoyed that both guys were able countering and escaping while on the mat. I also dug how heated this was. This wasn't a dry competition... I got the vibe they weren't happy with one another. Anytime they can incorporate storytelling like that in shoot style and have great action - it's something special. I LOVED THIS ONE
    Dennis Koslowski vs Yuko Miyato (08/13) - Dennis is a bronze and silver medal winning Greco-Roman wrestler. But he's susceptible to strikes as you'd expect. Miyato knows he's got to keep hitting the big man if he's going to have a chance. Koslowski is entertaining as hell here. Suplex City baby! But his submission holds look great too...he's not looking for a KO and wants to finish it on the mat. I LIKED IT ALOT
    Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yuko Miyato (10/04) - Miyato was like fuck this shit, I'm not wrestling Tamura on the mat. Dude wisely starts laying in the hits. His shots to the abdomen are vicious! You can't count Tamura out though. This was excellent stuff with great strikes and super dynamic mat action from Tamura. LOVED IT
    Tatsuo Nakano vs Yoji Anjo (10/04) - Damn, this was a gutsy performance by Nakano. He's essentially the level one boss of a beat-em up game. Anjo who's usually pretty sure of himself got real scared when Nakano nearly German suplexed him in the early goings. I really got into this match. At the very least a Tatsuo Nakano match will be entertaining. You get to see him get beat up & keep going. This was a different kind of match. I REALLY LIKED IT
    Now let us shift over to RINGS. General principle applies here too but I'm focusing more specifically on Nagai, Naruse, and Grom Zaza.
    Masayuki Naruse v Nobuaki Kakuta (3/5/93)I wanted to skip as it looked like a shoot on initial viewing. But I've come back and it's a work. They just happen to get the UWFi style & speed down pat. RINGS really seems half speed in comparison to UWFi at this time. This is an exception. Really good striking & competitive mat wrestling. I LIKED THIS
    Yuki Ishikawa vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 5/29/93) - Matwork marathon, matwork masterpiece. These guys scrambled for nearly a half hour. They worked the whole time. It feels like what you you're looking for when talking about highly technical professional wrestling. Ishikawa and Naruse aren't fighting for real of course. The concept of a "guard" is treated as foreign for instance. So you know it's a work 🙂 Then the next conclusion I think is "this is exactly what Inoki had in mind." This harkens back to that. And harkens back to the original UWF as well. I LOVED IT. Naruse is someone I'm glad I'm seeing in this project.
    Volk Han vs. Dick Vrij (RINGS, 7/13/93) - This felt stilted to me. There's a great emphasis on strikes. Those didn't look great though. Han's strikes looked good. Dick should have looked vicious but looked neutered. IT'S OK
    Grom Zaza vs Nikolai Zouev (08/21/93) - A little bit of everything in this match - strikes, suplexes and submission moves. They felt pretty evenly matched and was pretty entertaining for the most part. They lose steam or focus as it went on. There was drama with the points at the end but I felt that they didn't actually do much to work that drama. It felt like like they knew the order of rope breaks but didn't really build towards them though. I LIKED IT overall though.
    Todor Todorov vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 12/8/93) - Nice even match up. There's some nice strikes, a few great suplexes and constant mat action. I wish there was a better angle on the finish because it was hard to see what did the job. I LIKED IT
    I'm not really sure if RINGS is my jam. Ishikawa vs Naruse has probably been my favorite and I'm not getting that excited by everything else. It's good but it's not encouraging me to invest more time into it. And you might say, "well that's because of who you're watching." That's true but I don't know if I'm breaking any news then or at least giving these a fresh take. 
    Also want to recommend that you also check out my new blog: Wrestling Dream Battles
    Thanks to the folks that have already checked it out! 
    I find the layout over on the new blog is a lot easier to read on phones & tablets...which is kinda what I gear my writing to. I want you to be able to read my blog while you're on the train, waiting for your food to be delivered, or on your lunch break. This way you're pumped up to go check wrestling out when you get some actual free time 😁 Also I think it's a better place for wrestling pictures because I can adjust some things better. So if you dig pictures with your blogs, check it out!
    Currently I am posting about NJPW 1995 and will be tackling NJ vs UWFi there. Also did a cool Bull Nakano in the 80's post with a bunch of pictures. 
     
  23. TheBean
    Hello fellow wrestling fans! We're back for the final installment of Mid South Wrestling for 1985. It's been a helluva project! Definitely check out the previous entries or my entries on G. Badger Puro + More for pre '85 Mid South. Without further ado, let's go!
    November & December 1985
    Ric Flair vs Butch Reed (11/07 ep.#322) Al Perez was a big deal in MS at the time...holding tag titles for a good deal of '85 with Wendell Cooley but I thought I would include this match as a nod to how hard MS was pushing Perez. But Reed takes his place. This is a great segment that ties in with the Slater confrontation last week. And we get a fun TV main event and wild post match - this is a helluva segment!!!
    So now both Hacksaw Reed and Duggan are united against Dick Slater, Buzz Sawyer & Ric Flair.
    Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (11/11) - WOW! This the is violence we've been missing. Blood soaked bedlam. These guys just beat the crap out of each other. There's not a difference between the match and the "post match." This is pay back for Buzz destroying Duggan's lady...and it seemed real. THIS is the Jim Duggan you've been wondering about. He drops 2-3 f-bombs, swearing, screaming and sweating. He's like a barbarian out there. Buzz is no push over but good gravy Duggan is looking for a homicide tonight. If you don't think so, they're fighting in the bowels of the auditorium like it's 1999 Raw is War but this shit feels real. Classic brawl...more of this please!

    *Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase (11/14 ep. #323 (DVDVR #3)) - Tremendous, tremendous TV segment here. The match itself is a gutsy, bloody affair but this whole segment is classic. Before the match, Dick Murdoch complains to Flair (during an interview) that the shot at the belt should be his. It should be Butch's because of last week's match but Reed can't compete because Slater as Flair's henchman injured him. Murdoch who was right up there with Reed in the North American title pack thinks he's next in line not DiBiase. Now Dick brought Ted into wrestling appeals to him to step back and give up his spot. Ted knows this is his time and refuses Dick. That goes real well...and Ted bleeding more than that knight in Monty Python. They're going to call the match...DiBiase is in the back and he doesn't wanna forfeit. That's just the lead in to the match! And if you're following along Ted has been THE heel but dammit they turn him baby face on a dime! This is #3 in the DVDVR Best of Mid South. I don't think it's the best match but it might just be the best segment and if you watch the TV episode (instead of just the WWE dvd) you see they've got EMT's working him post match. This is Onita levels of wrestling theatre. 

    Ric Flair vs. Jake Roberts (11/24/1985 (DVDVR #14))- Whoa! Mid South is on a roll! Obviously Flair is giving these guys great competition and they can show us their talent. A truly unique start to this match. Great heat and once Flair is ready to start, you know the end is one DDT away! I just thought this had great pacing and tons of nice little unexpected moments as well as moments you wish would happen coming true! You can tell that these two think about what they are doing in the ring. They tell micro stories each segment and weave them together to tell the larger tale of the match. The VQ of what I saw was pretty iffy but this would have been a no-brainer to include on the WWE DVD if they had the masters. DVDVR #14... I could go with that. Near classic match at the very least. Jake the Snake fans wanna see this one! RECOMMEND THIS ONE

    Jake the Snake vs Lord Humongous (11/29/85 (#126)) - Cage match in Houston. Jake's got his own hockey mask! He's been complaining to have Humungus remove his so, he's gonna fight fire with fire. This is a great match & doesn't need a back story. These two are fighting in the cage. Jake eventually trades the hockey mask for the crimson mask. He looks in trouble. Humongous is going to use the Snake's cowboy boot against him but Jake ain't having that shit! He gets back in the fight! Things get wilder from there. Great finish that would work in wrestling for the next 15 years.

    -----
    Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (Dog Collar 12/27/85)- Really good fight especially once Jim starts bleeding. It doesn't hold a candle to the 11/11 battle though. In fact, watch this first then watch the 11/11 match...I think you will get more out of it that way.
    Jim Duggan vs. Dick Slater (12/31) - Oh wow! They brought Duggan's chick back from the shadow realm...with super blown out 80's hair & leather pants! This was a fun match. Nothing too complicated, Duggan probably got in more offense than I would have liked but it's a good time 🙂 

    Butch Reed vs Buzz Sawyer (Dog Collar 12/31/85 (#36)) - This is actually in the Mid South territory where the Duggan dog collar match is in Houston. That's my guess why they would run these less than a week apart. Still very good stuff that's not very long but is better than the Duggan one. It was more back & forth. There's more athleticism. Plus we get post match! So a great segment overall!

    Ted Dibiase vs Dick Murdoch (12/31/85  (#15))
    This is a follow-up to the events of the Flair match above essentially. A good punch, stomp & bleed match. They conveyed their animosity without going overboard. Nothing to go gaga over either in my opinion. Just good meat & potatoes brawling but I felt the pace was too deliberate as time went on. It got voted #15 in the DVDVR results but I can't endorse it that strongly. I think it was another very good match with a great finish. The 12/31 show had some exciting wrestling (if a bit similar).
    This was a great project! I definitely got out of my puro watching here. I think it translates well especially if you're looking at All Japan or New Japan of the 1980's. I think that's my bridge into Mid South - Ted DiBiase, Buzz Sawyer, Dick Slater, The Fantastics and so on. They definitely brought a style here that translates well to Japan. I think I will check out Dr. Death vs Terry Gordy in '86 when it becomes UWF. That rivalry seems like a no-brainer for late 80's-early 90's All Japan fans like myself. One other thing to mention is that I didn't watch a lot of other quality stuff from Mid South TV. So if this wrestling is your thing then, you want to dig into those episodes online. I think you can purchase the DVDs as well.
    We'll be moving back to New Japan, UWFI & RINGS and Zero One Wrestling in the next few weeks. Stick around! Thanks for reading 🙂
  24. TheBean

    Spotlight: Zero One Wrestling - 2003

    By TheBean,


    Spotlight
    Hello! Now we're on to 2003 & Zero One Wrestling. I was able to selectively watch a couple shows. Also I will include the WEW matches featuring Zero One wrestlers. This is a doozy of a post. There's lots of quality wrestling here! Read on!
    Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Vansack Acid vs. Low Ki & Paul London (ZERO-ONE 03/02/03) - Oh yeah! This rocked! This is what the ROH guys were trying to do in tag matches in '03. This had great spots and never over stayed it's welcome. Paul London was excellent and I wonder if there's more of him in Zero One available. Anyhow, Vansack Acid is a Muy Thai fighter turned wrestler and is a good opponent for Low Ki. Takaiwa is the power house and base for a lot of cool moves. It's this sorta randomness is appealing to me. It's unusual but it all works. I thought this was a great junior fireworks tag match. LOVED IT!

    -----
    The next batch are from the Zero One Wrestling event (05/02/03):
    Naohiro Hoshikawa & Yoshihito Sasaki vs. MIKAMI & Wataru Sakata - I skipped ahead on this one to watch the last couple minutes. They get a ladder. It looks fun. I wanted to see this for Hoshikawa & Sasaki but the beginning didn't grab me. The flow or direction felt off. IT'S OK
    Katsumi Usuda, Kazuhiko Ogasawara & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Hideki Hosaka, Kuroge Wagyuta & Masato Tanaka - At around 12 minutes, this is a god damn blast!! It's like someone did random wrestler select on Fire Pro Returns. Usuda is shoot style, Ogasawara is in his own fucking karate world...not knowing how to bump but still in a wrestling match, and Fujiwara thinks it's '86 popping his own eyebrow open with headbutts. Tanaka and Hosaka are team FMW but Wagyuta is like a budget Kensuke or Tenzan acolyte. It's great he and karate man just want to beat the crap outta each other. Yes, this is what I wanted and more. LIKED IT A LOT
    Low Ki vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa - Holy cow! That ended up being a great junior match! I think the middle section where Takaiwa started focusing on grounding Ki and then working over his knee gave this a good foundation. They actually worked this bit of psychology for a good portion of the match. Although they did stray away from it as things got further along, it was touched upon just enough to make us remember. My favorite parts were the surprises where they would counter or reverse a move. I thought this was really creative and went a long way in making this a great match. LOVED IT

    -----
    Keiji Muto & Satoshi Kojima vs. Naoya Ogawa & Shinya Hashimoto - This isn't necessarily a "good" match but it IS a lot of fun. Kojima vs Hashimoto are the best parts. Ogawa & Muto play their parts very well. And the ending is a blast too! Watch it for Kojima and Hash laying strikes in hard and then assorted fun stuff 🙂 Stick around for the post match! 
    These are from WEW 05/03/03. This was the penultimate WEW show. 
    Jun Kasai & Yoshihito Sasaki vs Bad Boy Hido & G. Goshogawara- A garbage wrestling romp! Nothing was earth shattering in the pacing or storytelling department but we get some very enjoyable Korakuen brawling, chair swings, and ladder spots. Jun & Sasaki were more impressive than the WEW team. The WEW team actually did a good job isolating Kasai so there was some drama for him to make the tag to Sasaki. This was a street fight so that's code for them just doing a lot of different things without much purpose other than "this will be cool." BUT that's all it was supposed to be and they nailed it.
    TAKA Michinoku vs Steve Corino - Two perennial heels face off. This was a fun match...as in it was a good match that had a lot of enjoyable moments. There's comedy, good wrestling moves, a little bit of everything. Both are characters and is what made it special. In fact, I would be interested to see if they worked together more because they could have taken this little program around for a few months in Japan. I LIKED IT
    Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsu Kuroda vs Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka - This is a match that I hoped existed. I had no knowledge that it did before today. I'm so glad that I went searching. This is a dream match fulfilled. They very, very easily could have done their routine and some comedy and a nice finish. Everyone would have been happy, myself included. These crazy bastards went for IT! This was for the wrestling fans of Korakuen Hall. They put their wrestling boots on this night and blew my expectations to smithereens. This was high energy excitement from bell to bell. A classic tag match that any FMW fan should see. I absolutely LOVED IT ~ MUST SEE!

    Is that a real sword?

    -----
    Back to Zero One:
    CM Punk, Josh Daniels & CW Anderson vs Ikuto Hidaka, Vansack Acid & Naohiro Hoshikawa (07/31/03) - This has been on YouTube for 15 years and actually (maybe) was posted by Vansack Acid or a fan of his? Anyhow, this is an awesome fireworks match. It's an absolute sprint to the finish. There's too many moves to keep track of it all.  It's 12 minutes of no story, no depth just fun! LOVED IT!
    From the show: ZERO-ONE Summer Festival 2003 - (08/31/03)
    Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Yoshihito Sasaki - Under 10 minutes but a lot of fun. They are just running through moves. That's what I want in an opening match. Good strikes, good suplexes, good intensity/energy. I like both guys so no complaints from me. Wish both could have had longer careers but I'm thankful that we got what we did from both. 
    Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Kazuhiko Ogasawara & Tatsuhito Takaiwa - This was SO much fun!! 😀 Comedy, Ogasawara doing karate moves then getting hit in the nuts multiple times, Takaiwa bringing the serious wrestling moves, team FMW/WEW doing hardcore spots...this puts a grin on my face. I LIKED IT

    -----
    Hirotaka Yokoi & Kohei Sato vs. King Adamo & King Joe - "Shoot style lite" team vs Team Pacific Islanders. King Joe is Samoa Joe btw. So you know it's going to be good while he's in there. King Adamo is a bigger crazier looking dude and does a couple Too Cool/Rikishi comedy spots but also has some big man moves too. It's a lot of fun. King team brought the actual entertainment to this match and actually Joe vs Kohei Sato was pretty good stuff. I LIKED IT
    Low Ki vs. Wataru Sakata - Wow, Low Ki does nearly every move that he knows. So that's fun but is also what limits this. That said, you're rooting for Sakata to whoop Ki. And does he! Hahaha, yeah Low Ki might do more moves but Sakata does more damage. The final third really brings it together and makes this worthwhile. Very good match. I LIKED the match as a whole and LOVED the final section.
    CW Anderson & Steve Corino vs. Emblem (Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani) - E-C-W! E-C-W! 😄 Seriously, this would have been a great match for an ECW ppv...maybe with one or two more chair spots 😋. But this was a blast! CW & Corino are such smarmy heels plus they have their own heel ref. I usually hate that kind of thing but it was done right. They didn't over do the gimmick. Besides, the actual wrestling was on point & fast paced. At around 13 minutes, this was just right. Very good to great match...definitely a recommendation for late stage ECW or early ROH fans. LOVED IT

    Yes! This was a pretty sick show (from what I watched). This is why I'm interested in watching more & more Zero One Wrestling. They had a little bit of everything. Nothing was too long or drawn out. The show moved at a nice pace and was actually really fun to watch. 
    I've got one more match for the "main event!"
    Masato Tanaka vs. Shinya Hashimoto 11/7/03 - Great match!! It seems this match (along with the others vs Hashimoto) helped cement Tanaka's future for decades to come. My feeling is that these matches and this match helped elevate Tanaka. He's one tough SOB. Does he take Hashimoto to his limit? No. But Hashimoto definitely takes Tanaka to his and makes him a better & stronger wrestler for it. That said, don't expect this to be Dangan getting beat up for 15 minutes. The dude definitely fights back and gives the former IWGP champion a lot to worry about. I particularly liked how Tanaka went over Shinya's bad shoulder (one that I believe was giving him problems here towards the end of his life). He was fighting to win not just prove his toughness. I've been a big fan of Masato Tanaka for over 25 years and I'm really glad that I saw this. As I have been watching more 90's New Japan (and early Zero One), I'm becoming a bigger fan of Hashimoto. With those things in mind, I definitely recommend this match. It's got a boat load of views online so I'm pretty late to the party BUT there's new folks getting into puroresu, 2000's wrestling, etc. every day ...or old ECW/FMW or 90's wrestling folks who want to get back into it...maybe their kids are into WWE or AEW and they are bopping around the interweb to see what they missed. So to them I say, check this out! I think it's a great intro to two icons of Japanese wrestling. LOVED IT


    I mentioned it a few times but fans of  last days ECW & early 2000's Indie wrestling like ROH would be wise to check out this stuff. Low Ki, Corino, London, CW Anderson all were staples but the fresh attitude and slightly experimental feeling is what I'm getting at. Nothing quite feels established and therefore anything is fair game. So you get really unique feeling match ups. I have covered Zero One Wrestling sporadically in my original Puro + More blog and this is always the feeling I got from the promotion. You never know who you're going to see there. Go watch some of this stuff 😁
    Also please check out my new blog, Wrestling Dream Battles. 
    wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com
    It will be covering classic Japanese wrestling along with retro ROH wrestling. This blog will be handling the longer viewing projects like year in reviews, wrestler & feud profiles and editorializing. I want to have more organization and space to do this in than solely on PWO. I also want this to be a good resource for people looking to get into classic Japanese wrestling & folks wanting to look back on golden era Ring of Honor. 
    I'm going to continue with The Further Adventures of Puro + More here on PWO. This will be for the shorter projects and one-off spotlights and quickie show reviews. I'm going to finish this little run of early 2000's Zero One but will be doing my planned Zero One 2007 & 2008 year book over on Wrestling Dream Battles for instance. If I wanted to do a Low-Ki in Japan project, I would do it here on Further Adventures of Puro + More.
    Thanks for reading! Hope you check out the new blog 🙂
  25. TheBean
    Hello! I'm continuing my selective look into 90's shoot style. Seeing as I'm cherry picking and avoiding tags & Takada, Albright, et al. we're starting mid way into 1992 with UWFi. Let's go!
    Yoji Anjoh vs. Masahito Kakihara (6/28/92) - This is looking to be a shoot style squash match early on as Anjo dominates. Kakihara delivers a gutsy performance. It's like the enhancement talent isn't going to go down so easily. This is a fine example of drama and storytelling in shoot style. This is a stand out in that regard. LOVED IT
    Tatsuo Nakano vs Masahito Kakihara (09/21) - Kakihara goes berserk with palm strikes and bursts Nakano's nose. It's bleeding like a faucet. There's blood all over both guys. You gotta watch this for the stand up fighting. The ground stuff is perfunctory because the sanguine stuff is over both and they can't get a grip. For that matter, I think this has to end early and that's a shame. This is one I'd recommend to any wrestling fan for the reasons above. LOVED IT for what it was.
    Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Yoji Anjo (09/21) - Yamazaki gets Anjo in a shoot dragon sleeper at one point - hell yes!! A ten minute match but one that crammed with the intensity and technique. I really dig watching these two scramble on the mat. It's probably not as godlike as Tamura but its the right amount of speed for me. This also had a good bit of drama with it as well. I generally understand the points system and this match used that but didn't rely upon it. You could see the momentum swing just by watching the bout. Amazing finish. LOVED IT
    Kiyoshi Tamura vs Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFI 10/23/92) - This was pretty dang awesome for most of the match. But it gets very close to being samey...like "oh they are working the Achilles hold again." But it's as if they knew this and kicked it back up. The finish was great too but I really wish they gave it a minute more to develop. Still this was excellent stuff. LIKE/LOVED IT...

    -----
    Hiromitsu Kanehara vs Yoshihiro Takayama (UWFi 12-20-92) - Takayama is only 6 months into his career. Kanehara is also young. So this is a youngster match. They'd been having them each show. Anyhow, this is thought to be their best. I thought it was really exciting stuff. Takayama seemingly was ready to go. Throw knees to the abdomen and take a shot. Kanehara was still developing but clearly seemed much more well rounded. Still their enthusiasm to show the crowd something special paid off. Takayama was light enough he delivered an awesome flying knee and Kanehara had a few spectacular strikes too. No wizardry on the canvas but it was solid and kept things moving along - telling the story of Takayama's height/reach could nearly get him a rope break from anywhere. Really LIKED IT
    Nobuhiko Takada vs Naoki Sano (12/20/92) -  Our first Sano match! I'll make an exception and allow Takada. Sano is great here. It was clear to me that he was intentionally trying not to win though. Do you know what I mean? Takada is like Muto in that you have to wrestle his match and he has to do his stuff. So Sano has to wrestle much slower and let Takada just slip out of holds like he's a master technician despite not employing any real speed, strength or technique. Takada just kinda ends up getting out of a hold and into one of his own by magic. Still this was fun because it's a sampling of what to expect with Sano. And while I'm firm in my avoidance of Takada in UWFi, this was still a good performance by him if you lean into this more as typical puro that shoot style. I like him in UWF 1 & 2 and NJPW and this felt closer to those. He's a no good in UWFi as he's drunk on his ego and that's my issue here. Seeing how much work Anjo & Yamazaki do, it's apparent how much Takada phones it in by comparison. LIKED IT for the reasons mentioned.
    Let's see what RINGS is up to!
    Volk Han v Grom Zaza (5/16/92) - Don't watch this for the kicks 😋 Watch this for the grappling. Han, a Sambo practitioner, and Zaza, a wrestler, throw as good a kick as you'd expect. And that's my complaint. There's downs from strikes more than rope breaks. These two should just be mat scramblin' ! I think that they probably were given orders to do more stand-up here. Fuck dat! Zaza suplexing & throwing Han more is what I want! Thank you! Still it's a lil longer than it needed and isn't exactly what you want all the time. IT'S OK
    Dick Vrij v Mitsuya Nagai (5/16/92) - In case you forgot it was 1992 or weren't old enough, Nagai's neon yellow-green ring wear will inform you. What now is considered safety wear was athletic fashion wear. Good start and then Nagai gets booted in the nuts. Afterwards it's fun. Nagai shows a lot of guts as Dick takes his time and picks him apart. It actually looked like Nagai might have had him with a toe hold. IT'S OK
    Grom Zaza vs Shtorm Koba (RINGS 8-21-92) - Shoot suplex city right here! Hell yes! Was that a shoot Gorilla press slam!? This was extremely fun, exciting stuff. Lots of throws and hold and an excellent showing from Grom. Not sure if we see more Koba down the road but he's not to be taken lightly. LOVED IT...favorite RINGS match so far
    Mitsuya Nagai vs Sergei Sousserov (RINGS 12-19-92) - I liked that they went for Tiger Mask kicks but were actually interested in wrestling! It made the stand up fun but brief. Then got to the real business of trying to snap each others knees & ankles. That said, Sergei is bleeding from the mouth. This was great, competitive stuff. I LIKED IT
    UWFi from what I'm watching is better than RINGS. I'm guessing that the main reason is the UWFi guys have way more experience in shoot style pro wrestling. Many of the non Japanese RINGS competitors are martial artists who are only learning how to apply their craft in a entertainment setting. My guess is that Nagai & later Naruse are taught catch wrestling, striking as well as how & when to work. UWFi has been doing this in some form for almost a decade. My intention isn't to compare & contrast the two groups. I'm just stating an observation and opinion. I like UWFi better but am eager for RINGS as well.
    Thanks for reading! 
     
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