TheBean

Classic junior title fight! Dynamite was so aggressive here and Fujinami really had to dig deep to stay in this match. I believe both guys were bleeding... Fujinami from the forehead and Dynamite from his nose. If you'd want to compare, I would say this was up there with the last DK vs Tiger Mask matches. And I think this match by itself was superior in terms of intensity and competitive nature. This is one I've been interested in for a long time and am glad I finally got around to watching it.

What a first fall! Kid & Keirn do a great job heeling but never get too far away from the junior action. I loved all the rope running and a great Greco Roman knuckle lock sequence! Nice 2nd fall with a call back to the finish of the first. Oh shit!! What a finish! Really good clubbering heel work and the Japanese team is trying to find an opening. Then when they find it, things pop off! And when you think that's the finish, they add a twist! Out of fear of over rating, I'll say this is a near classic tag bout. This is the type of simple all action tag wrestling I love.

Hansen gave Inoki a helluva beating. I mean this was stiff. Those early knee drops and stomps would have cracked a walnut. Additionally, towards the end, we see a couple absolutely crazy spots for 1980. I prefer the 02/08 match but, this feud is awesome. I suppose I had a Stan Hansen in AJPW bias. He is just as great in NJPW. If you're lukewarm about checking Inoki out, this are great ones to start with.

Hara is a lean mean wrestling machine. This was aggressive competitive wrestling throughout... well until Hara starts punching and headbutting. There's the Ashura Hara that I know & love. Like all of the matches reviewed so far, this never overstayed it's welcome. Beautifully paced and full of competitive, snug wrestling. I'm conservatively going to call this a classic match. Hara & Fujinami were nearly flawless.

Just finished reading the Compact Comics edition of DC: The New Frontier. Wow, it's probably one of the best super hero comics I've read in a long while. Reminds me of Watchmen with on a more positive vibe...still not sunshine and roses though. Definitely recommend it

Yamazaki thought he was going to kick his way to an early victory and Billy went ape shit with slaps. That settled that. This was predominantly a mat based match though. In fact, it was a fine example of shoot style chain wrestling in my novice opinion. They didn't over use the rope breaks but really tried to escape or counter first. This kicked into high gear for the final few minutes as both guys smelled blood in the water. They went for broke and we got a great finish. LOVED IT

I've wanted to get back into shoot style for years. Paradoxically, I've wanted to avoid shoot style for years. The reason is that I have a difficult time transitioning back to traditional pro wrestling. It just looks slow or fake after watching shoot style for too long. Another reason is that I don't know if I necessarily enjoy how some shoot style matches are laid out and paced. Somethings are too quick and realistic and I'm unfairly comparing them to a real kickboxing or MMA bout. That or I'm just unable to keep up with what's actually happening. The hook is that I really dig shoot style when it's just right. I believe I prefer technical wrestling more than any other form. Shoot style is the purest form of that. So UWFi and RINGS are two big blind spots for me. My natural inclination is to watch every recommended Kiyoshi Tamura match. Or watch everything that's been pimped over the years. I know that will burn me out. Instead I'm going to borrow a tactic from my 1994 WCW project. I'm going to select a few wrestlers and watch their recommended stuff along with personal picks. Much like WCW '94, I am going to avoid the main event scene and the superstars where/when I can. So little to no Takada or Vader in UWFI for sure. Avoiding Gary Albright too. Instead I want to see what Anjo, Yamazaki & Sano were doing. These are guys that I already know and enjoy. That gives me a firm foundation and should also capture highly recommended matches. But I'm going to limit the amount of Tamura matches with them. Again, I'm a noob so I'm just sampling for now. In RINGS, I'm not blacklisting Maeda or Volk Han for instance but, I am going to focus on the unusual suspects that most first time watchers would skip. I want to see what Nagai, Naruse, & Zaza were doing. Mitsuya Nagai is a guy I'm very familiar with during his time in All Japan. I dug his work there. Naruse is someone I got acquainted with during my look into early 2000's New Japan earlier this year. Dick Vrij & Grom Zaza are two guys that I've seen pop up on recommendation lists but mentally skip over for the shiny Han, Tamura, TK and Yamamoto matches. So I'm purposely avoiding those guys. Like Tamura in UWFi, Han is going to come up here & there so I'm going to limit myself. This method should get me some great matches as well as broaden my horizons without exposing me to bouts that are too rich for my blood. Finally, this plan should also keep the scope of the project within reason. I'm trying for less is more, if I can. Also since I'm relatively unfamiliar with how to rate shoot style, I'm going to use LOVE, LIKE, & OK as my ways to rate. Take'em with a grain of salt. Perhaps as I go forward, I'll be more comfortable putting these in the same boxes as other pro wrestling. All that said, I will probably stop after 1996 when UWFi closed it's doors. If the spirit moves me AND I've made headway on other things, I'll push on with selected RINGS '97-99. This is an internet only project so I've got to put up some firm boundaries 🙂 Enough gabbing! Let's get on with it! 1991 Kazuo Yamazaki & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoji Anjoh & Yuko Miyato (5/10/91) - I liked parts of this. Anjo comes off as a prick. Nakano is already scrappy and bleeding from the nose. Yamazaki looked the strongest in my eyes just by how he composed himself. I felt 20+ minutes was longer than they needed to accomplish what they were going for though. I didn't quite like the finish considering this was a tag match either. I'm probably going to shy away from tags..shaky start. IT'S OK Yoji Anjoh vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 7/3/91) -Yes! This is badass! Anjo is a bad man. Tamura is as slippery as an eel. Dude pulls out some Matrix shit here. A mat wrestling master class to be sure. But the strikes were ferocious at times too. It's Anjo so you know he is nasty and brings the hits as well. Knee drop of doom for instance. Tamura plays it cool but he can stand only so much and unloads on Yoji. This match gets high praise and I agree. LOVED IT ----- Kazuo Yamazaki vs Billy Scott (UWFI 7/30/91) - Billy "TNT" Scott because he's explosive! Yamazaki thought he was going to kick his way to an early victory and Billy went ape shit with slaps. That settled that. This was predominantly a mat based match though. In fact, it was a fine example of shoot style chain wrestling in my novice opinion. They didn't over use the rope breaks but really tried to escape or counter first. This kicked into high gear for the final few minutes as both guys smelled blood in the water. They went for broke and we got a great finish. LOVED IT Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoji Anjo (09/26/91) - This was fantastic stuff. These two are excellent together. There's an emphasis on laying in kicks then waiting to catch a kick for a take down. It's not that one dimensional as there's some excellent suplexes as well. Anjoh is a helluva striker especially when he blasts Yamazaki's liver a few times. LOVED IT Billy Scott vs. Yoji Anjo (10/06)- Yeah Billy Scott brings the intensity and fire again. Anjo is happy to oblige. This seemed pretty evenly matched where Anjo had an overall advantage yet Billy Scott was able to slam Anjo pretty consistently. So Anjo would lay in some wicked knees to the gut. Billy would absorb them and punish him a good slam or takedown. This was really spirited and entertaining. They were always working. They always looked ready to go in for the win. LOVED IT Now over to RINGS! Akira Maeda v Dick Vrij (5/11/91) - Oh yeah, this was enjoyable. Dick is a dick. That makes this translatable to traditional pro wrestling's heel vs face dynamic. He throws some pretty exciting kicks as well. This felt also very much striker vs grappler. Dick Vrij seemed more competent on the ground than Maeda did striking in this match. But Maeda knew absolutely what he wanted to do when on the ground. LIKED IT Akira Maeda v Dick Vrij (8/1/91) - The rematch was pretty one sided. From a booking standpoint, I completely understand why. I think the guy on offense looked pretty damn impressive. That said this wasn't much of a match from a competitive/enjoyment standpoint. IT'S OK Mitsuya Nagai v Herman Renting (9/14/91) - Wow Mitsuya Nagai with hair and no goatee! It really seemed like they did not like each other. There was good sportsmanship after the match so it was just adrenaline, I guess. Anyhow, Renting was very well rounded. His strikes were good, he had good throws/take downs and he had a ground game. Nagai was no slouch but only seemed to have an advantage on the mat. Still Renting couldn't put him away and Nagai would make him pay. This was exciting stuff. The only knock is that they started running out of steam towards the end. But they were going full stream ahead all match so it made sense..I'm actually surprised that it didn't go to a draw. We get a winner. LIKED IT Dick Vrij v Willie Peeters (12/7/91) -This was the spunky baby face trying to take it to the badass heel. That's fun. Willie was flying all over with leaping kicks and such but it wasn't a compelling bout to me. IT'S OK I love in the online comments people are still like "this isn't a real fight." No fucking duh! I'm guessing these are kids or young people who don't know their history. It's funny because even 34 years later, shoot style still fools people to the extent that they have to let everyone know that they "figured it out" & have to tell everyone 😄 It's a testament to how serious the wrestlers were about their craft. UWFi has been excellent and I don't feel like I'm missing anything by watching selectively. RINGS has been good but I get the impression that I'm not seeing the best it has to offer. I feel like UWFi starts strong right out the gate in '91 and I'm liking it more than RINGS right now. I'll update with more in a little bit. In the meantime, if you're waiting for more Mid South wrestling, I'll be back with that next post. Thanks for reading!

ROH YouTube posted this the other day. Seemed like a good place to share it:

Hi again! If you've been following my Puro + More blog, you've noticed that I've been getting more & more interested in old school New Japan over the years. Well maybe you haven't. I did do a 1984 & 1985 AJPW deep dive and Muto's All Japan but, just trust me! I've found that I really dig New Japan's heavyweight style. It produces a lot of very good to great matches. Occasionally it offers up a classic as well. I think I enjoy it because the matches aren't as long as All Japan's during the King's Road era. The duration seems to be just right for the type of story they're telling. AJPW needs more time & I wouldn't change that at all. Anyways, a BIG project of mine is to do an overview of New Japan in the 90's. This is one of those projects that I need to be discerning in my picks or it will get out of hand. Even in the planning stages it's daunting. Much like the PWO Yearbook project, I'll be doing this out of chronological order 🙂 I think it will be easier for me that way. Additionally, I don't know how in depth I will go for each year. Some years might be in-depth while others might just be the G1 Climax. More about this in a later post. Here I want to kick it off with early 1990 as a teaser of things to come. I'm super excited for 1990. 1988-1990 puro may be some of my favorite stuff. Let's jump in! Liger vs H. Saito (01/18): Oh man! Loved this finish! This had a lot more in common with ECW than what you'd call NJPW Jr. style. Chair shots, fighting in the crowd, pile driver on a table. Saito's senton's are great and Liger goes off. Very good stuff. Liger vs Akira Nogami (01/20): joined in progress. Now this is your junior vs junior match. And both guys are going for broke on those dives - holy cow! The more that I see of Akira Nogami, the more I like him. Not sure how much we miss but what we see is a ton of fun! Choshu & Hase vs H. Saito & T. Goto (01/25): Fast and furious tag wrestling done right! Everyone was fantastic since the focus was on beating the crap outta each other. Under 10 minutes of uncomplicated action. Masa Chono vs Vader (01/25): jip but not much? Still this was sweet! I love the story of everyone trying to take down the ultimate monster. Vader is just that here. He scoop slams Chono from the ring to the floor! Chono is determined to get the win though. There's a dynamism in this match because both guys are still in good shape in 1990. Big moves, bumps and athleticism... there's a lot to like here. Kiss your ass goodbye Chono! ----- Liger & Nogami vs Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid (02/10 Tokyo Dome Super Fight): At around 11 minutes in the match, I was beginning to think they were running out of steam. This is 1990 baby - they had a 2nd wind and then some!! A banger of a curtain jerker for the Dome show. This is a harbinger of NJPW Jr wrestling to come for the decade. Great match for sure! If you still dig the style then, check this out! Osamu Matsuda vs Takayuki Iizuka (02/10 Tokyo Dome Super Fight): Yeah this has been slept on because of the other, bigger matches. This is a very, very good technical junior match..heck it's probably a great one. It reminds me of the 1980 junior style - aggressive, with an emphasis on intensity. I loved the final third. Matsuda is El Samurai if that makes sense as to why this is so good. But for real, this is one that probably should have been included in the 1990 PWO yearbook as I think it's right in line with a lot of folks dig. This has been a real strong start. There's variety and an excitement to the wrestling. No one has the "90's style" in place so it's very transitional in the best of ways. Big moves can win just as much as a quick pin. Simple but clean moves are more important than the flashy highspots. Matches aren't just building to a finisher. Additionally, the hierarchy of the 90's hasn't been established so every match feels up for grabs. I'm definitely excited to get back to 1990 but I'm working on 1995 at the moment. So once that's finished, I think it's back to '90. It's actually the year I wanted to watch most - don't ask me why I started with '95 then 😄 Thanks for reading folks!

Hi folks! Wanted to share a quickie review of ZERO-ONE from 2002. I think most folks might know the Spanky vs Low Ki match but, there's some other stuff worth your time. The main event especially might be appealing. It brings a '89 FMW, '92 NJ Karate vs Pro Wrestling vibe that I know I dig. Let's go! Fugo Fugo Yumeji & Kuroge Wagyuta vs. Kamikaze & Yoshihito Sasaki - Good match! This surprised me. Nice, hard hitting action. Nice way to kick things off! Hirotaka Yokoi vs. Kintaro Kanemura - MMA type vs hard-core hero...this is an excellent styles clash. This was a blast...Kanemura leads Yokoi through a fun under 10 minute match with hard-core elements, big spots and couple nifty holds. I only know of Yokoi from Fire Pro Returns so it was neat to finally see an actual match of his Naohiro Hoshikawa, Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Wataru Sakata vs. Dick Togo, Ikuto Hidaka & Kohei Sato - Really good stuff with all of this talent. Hoshikawa was the standout for his team and Dick, Hidaka & a young Sato delivered as well. I didn't dig the finish as it came out of nowhere but there's plenty to like beforehand so it's not ruined in the slightest. Leonardo Spanky vs. Low Ki - This felt too choreographed and purposefully epic, at times. Other times it felt right. The last minute was done just right..So all said, this was a very good match. It's a lot of fun with the surprises and variations on moves you thought you knew. The familiarity is present and if you're into the early 2000's indie scene or founding fathers of ROH etc., this is one to watch. Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani vs. Kazuhiko Ogasawara & Shinya Hashimoto - This was early 90's NJ with Ogasawara being a Karate black belt teaming with Hash vs Emblem. And I loved it! It had that odd flow with the Karate guy going 70% strength and blasting Otani and Tanaka with punches and kicks (and occasionally missing). Hashimoto would direct Ogasawara what to do next both as leader/vet but also to keep the match interesting. Hash would get beat up early on (going after his knee) which unfortunately was pointless and my only big complaint. Eventually he would just unleash upon his opponents. All that said, Otani and Tanaka did not go soft on either of their opponents. This was very much a WAR match in a Zero-One ring. Four guys just beating each other up. Highly recommended! ----- Zero-One along with BJW are two promotions that I have dabbled with here & there (see the Puro + More blog) but I really need to focus more on these. I am going to be looking into even more in the future. My internet only projects keep getting bigger while my stack of DVDs doesn't shrink. That said, my DVD projects get slowly taken over by internet based videos that are meant to augment originally. At the end, they become 75% internet and my DVDs augment that! I've got to be more discerning! Anyhow, more wrestling tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Hey folks! due to some technical issues with the site, I lost access to my G. Badger account. So I'll be using this new account to continue my blog & post here on PWO. Just wanted to let you know! The Further Adventures of Puro + More... is a continuation of my Puro + More blog than I've been doing since 2018. Fortunately, my wife had made a profile on here a few years back while I was getting her into different types of wrestling & she was kind enough to loan me her profile. Let's be honest, I don't think she used it! But it definitely came in handy when the machine gods of the PWO site decided to hobble my access after changing some settings. Anyhow, this is a good time to talk about what's coming up next. It's been awhile since we looked at Japanese wrestling. I'll be posting some stuff from Zero One, New Japan and UWFi & Rings. These are meant to be a part of larger projects but I want to get something up for you guys. Think of them as teasers for projects down the road. I'll use this reintroduction to pontificate, if you don't mind. First, I'd like to reiterate my perspective on pro wrestling. It is fun. It is a diversion. So when I watch wrestling, I'm in it to have a good time. That said, I'm along for the ride. I'm interested in the story the booker and wrestlers are trying to tell me. I want to feel the ups and downs. So when I write my reviews, I'm trying to convey that emotion to the reader. I want you to get pumped to watch a match. If I'm lukewarm or cold, I want you to know why. I'm just one voice and my taste might be different than yours. This is why I try to reference other matches or wrestlers. I want you to be able to compare & contrast with your own opinions. Additionally if you have a preference for or against a certain wrestler, style or promotion, I try to add a remark in my reviews. You might see things like, "Great TNA tag match," "Classic FMW main event," or "If you're a fan of Jun Akiyama or Stan Hansen then see this match." I'm not just being colorful. I want to give you a little bit more information. There's so much wrestling available with the internet that I don't want you to blow time on something you're not going to enjoy. I don't do star ratings very often anymore. I think after Meltzer got goofy with those, they've fallen out of usage by many people. Still they are helpful especially if you trust the reviewers. I stopped doing them awhile back because I get too caught up in trying to quantify. If wrestling is a fun diversion then I don't want to quantify it numerically. Numbers are too exact even if using whole numbers. I mean that every match is different so if I give Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe 5 stars and I give Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat 5 stars then they must be equal (5=5). But they aren't actually equal in all or even many ways. So I think by saying both are All Time Classic matches, I can indicate the highest level of quality, my highest level enjoyment without making a direct equivalence. So you may say, "That's good and well Badger but couldn't you just assign a number to each of your ratings? So All Time Classic is a 5, Classic is a 4, Very Good a 3 etc. And then you would be quantifying. Aren't you just trying to trick yourself?" And I would then say, "You go to hell!" 😄 Seriously, you can do that number jazz if you want. I'm a qualitative data person when it comes to this stuff. I'm in it to get you amped to watch wrestling not to work on spreadsheets. I want to get people excited to watch different stuff. That's what a lot of the early projects here on PWO did for me. It got me out of my bubble and tried new things. OK, I got that out. Let's do a wrestling art show 😋 Haven't done one for awhile. Just for fun. Misawa vs Takayama --- The Sheik in FMW --- Black Moth Super Rainbow Mr. Wrestling II --- Thanks for reading folks! Thanks for sticking around! Be back soon with some wrestling!

Hey folks! due to some technical issues with the site, I lost access to my G. Badger account. So I'll be using this new account to continue my blog & post here on PWO. I will get the "new" blog setup shortly. Just wanted to let you know! So it's the same Badger just with a new handle & pic 🙂 thanks! If you've not checked it out here's the new blog: