TheBean

This was OK...It just didn't need to be this long for the cheap and unbelievable finish that they did. How didn't the ref see that?It's like he counted 1-2-3 because he wanted to wrap the match up too. I watched the Match vs Bad Attitude afterwards and OK this finish plays off that but two things - that was a better but similar match & the finish was better executed there. This was right before Flair vs Hogan on the show so the fans were mildly into this too which didn't help.

Haha, Regal's got a powdered wig on! Yes! Anyhow, this is not your technical duel. These two are heated and they are beating each other up most of the match. But it's not that out of control way like Nasty Boys vs Jack & Sullivan... it's more like you'd see in NJPW or AJPW. It feels like competition instead of just a brawl for the sake of brawling. I really appreciate that nuance here. But don't get me wrong this was intense. Another great match.. I might say it was a near classic or more. These just keep ramping things up.

Oh yeah, they deliver again! This is just a straight match but they keep the intensity going and are laying in their shots. And just when you think you've got a grip on the match, Cactus Jack does what he does best. Seriously, if anyone else took that bump, you'd be seriously worried... don't get me wrong that shit hurt Mick too. Anyhow, great match and opener for the Clash of the Champions.

What a great fucking match! The intensity & the pacing was out of sight! You don't need angles when the story is being told in the ring. It's two guys trying to prove who's better. And Steve & Larry had a master class in that type of wrestling. And this was shown the same day as the Marquis of Queensbury final...holy cow... Regal was peak technical wrestler for 1994 putting on two absolutely fantastic matches in the day (on TV at least). Note that you want to make sure you see the full match as the match doesn't end when the TV time does..so they show the conclusion the next week. Someone online has the regular version missing the end & another person has the match footage & ending & post match spliced into one video online.

Hahaha I love that ECW fans are here in Philly! Hell yeah! What's great from the start is Regal is jaw-jacking with the fans like a shit talking heel...just like Larry Z used to do! So many of his AWA on ESPN matches started like this and really helped me appreciate that aspect of pro wrestling. This really started cooking once Larry shouted "You aren't good enough!" to Regal. His lordship began laying in the European uppercuts and elbows and Zbyszko returned the favor. Very good match and they definitely have more in store for us.

This is an awesome brawl where they legitimately are trying to beat each other up...they are working but this is like the UWFi of brawling. No one's really swinging chairs & trash cans safely, there's little to no setup time on highspots. Perfect that this is in Philly. This is a near classic to me...if everyone was bleeding then I think that would have increased the sense of chaos and violence. ECW, Cactus Jack/Mick Foley fans want to see this. Recommended!

This Marquis of Queensbury series was a good way of pairing Flair and Regal up for TV and it delivered on what I had hoped for. It's over 5 different shows and from a fan perspective, it seemed easy to miss...let's be honest, these WCW Worldswide shows were hard to see unless you were a devotee. And now you still have to track them down online match by match. It's worth it because you definitely want to see these. Recommended!

Oh yeah, they gave them time to work and it was very good wrestling. Good rope stuff, Regal stretching, Pillman was fiery...I liked this quite a bit. A good mix of everything here. Definitely a match for wrestling fans, I feel.

Set aside some time, be in the mood/mind set and watch these two masters go at it one more time. I thought this was a classic. As far as my opinion, I have no real flaws in mind but I would say that you're going to be watching something in line with their '89 matches...which are more technically oriented than brawling or full of the fanciest moves of 1994. Headlock work, backslides...there's chops, dropkicks, moves off the top but they're not the bulk of the match. So bear that in mind

This was a great match from beginning to end - technical but with some fisticuffs, shenanigans but nothing that spoiled the match, full of action but no mindless spots. Yeah, this definitely Recommended wrestling. And a good finish that leads to bigger things.

This was really good stuff that honestly was just starting to really pick up when it ended. Orndorff didn't add a lot to the match but he wasn't a drain either...I just can't remember him doing anything meaningful. So I guess I would have been OK with just as Sting & Brian Pillman vs Rick Rude & Steve Austin. Enough criticism, I had a lot of fun with this match. There were some memorable moments and sick spots... Austin was bumping like crazy. It definitely felt like a spectacle.

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!

Saw the WCW YouTube page posted this one versus Sting

I would recommend Toshiaki Kawada & Kendo Kashin vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Wataru Sakata (12/05/03). Sakata vs Kawada is stand out part of this match. Gaora has it up still on YouTube Also recently watched Low Ki vs. Wataru Sakata (Zero One 08/31/03) and really liked that one alot.

Unfortunately looks like Gaora got rid of the Kaz Hayashi matches that were linked when I posted this 😒 There's an unrelated match in both of their places.

These are from Nitro. They started limiting him as they went in 1997 but I think these still in his style with little compromise for the Nitro format or style. vs Chris Benoit (01/01/96) - Very good aggressive match. Looked like more potatoes than Idaho. Regal got dumped on the German suplex, it was great! Unique finish too. vs Eddie Guerrero (01/08/96) - Technical but very punishing match. That is to say Regal punished Eddie - European uppercuts, knee lifts, palm strikes and an arm trap dragon sleeper to name few. Eddie doesn't quit. Despite Regal's size he took the head scissor moves and the like very well. This was a really good bout. vs Dean Malenko (08/19/96) - Great under 10 minute technical wizard duel. I think this match was the best of the 3 Cruiserweight musketeer matches because they wrestled a faster pace. But speed isn't everything so perhaps it was the story of them both being evenly matched. Regal had size and strikes but Malenko was had a slight advantage from a technical standpoint. Iirc I'd maybe put this as a top 5 Malenko on Nitro match.

Only complaint with these mixtape compilations is that someone on the team needs to put chapters or time stamps in. I don't know if they think it's cool & lo-fi to just put them up as is but I think most people wanna skip around or at least see what's in a 2 hour video.

Hello there! We're going to look back at 2002 Zero One Wrestling. This post we're going to be looking at Kodo Fuyuki's post FMW league, WEW, and matches featuring Zero One wrestlers. So it's a WEW post about Zero One wrestlers, make sense? Shinya Hashimoto & Shinjiro Otani vs Atsushi Onita & Great Sasuke (05/05/02 WEW) - An absolute spectacle. You have to know that with Onita going into this. That is what he does. That said, he does a remarkable amount of straight pro wrestling or for him at least. Sasuke is here to fly and get beat up. Otani was really good holding much of the match together (on offense and defense). Hashimoto is the destroyer of worlds. He doesn't hold back. Sasuke crumpled under the onslaught. You might think, "oh he'll take it easy with old man Onita." No. No he doesn't. He downward chops that raspy bastards neck all the same. Fuck Onita for being a selfish person (and a skeezy one)...Hashimoto is the avatar of vengeance. You will enjoy watching Hash blast Onita with chops & kicks. But in the end, remember Onita never loses. He brings it back to himself... Onita theatre & spectacle is what it's all about. And if he's a heel then this is what he's going to do. And as selfish as he is, he's the best at creating a spectacle. Do I wish we got another independent wrestler like Shinzaki to pair with Sasuke? Yeah, we might have gotten a great match. Onita gives you a moment to remember though. I don't like him but he's good at what he does. Ikuto Hidaka & Tomohiro Ishii vs Takashi Sasaki & GENTARO (09/14/02 WEW) - By gawd they're going wild! Under 10 minute sprint. Surprisingly Hidaka is the one with execution issues but, it's a short match more about the energy than anything else. That said this was a ton of FUN 😀 Takashi Sasaki & GENTARO are such a good junior team. Ishii was just mauling them but they were busting out movez when they could. This was a good time. I Otani, M. Tanaka & K Wagyuta vs T. Kuroda, TAKA & G. Goshogawara (10/23/02 WEW) - The Otani vs TAKA part at the beginning is pretty salty...yes! Otani is Tenryu-like in his stiffness and non-cooperation all match actually. Gosaku gets the worst of it and even I'm rooting for him! Otani power bombs him pretty viciously and he gets loopy. Wagyuta tries his best but this little bit was spotty. Fortunately TAKA & Kuroda knew what was up and got him out of there & got it back on track. Very good match! TAKA & Kuroda vs Otani & Wagyuta (11/04/02) - Sort of a rematch. Unfortunately, they cut half of it out but was was shown was really good action. Wagyuta is growing on me. He's a good beefy toadie for Otani. He & Kuroda's lariat battle was sweet! TAKA really showed everyone up here. Perfect quebrada and lit Otani's skull up with kicks. I really wanted the whole thing. LIKED what was shown Kintaro (W*ing) Kanemura vs Masato Tanaka (WEW 11/04/02) - FMW lives on! This was a mix of the old style FMW garbage wrestling along with the athletic style. Here they used tables, chairs, the lighting rig and a flaming barb wire bat. That shit was dangerous! Tanaka went for it one last time. Fans of ECW, FMW, BJW and all the rest really will want to see this. It's a great death match. Plenty of holy shit moments along with great pro wrestling. LOVED IT "Umm guys...how long am I supposed to hold this!?" This was a fun post. I was able to see WEW finally. I was curious about the post FMW promotions and this post made it a "two birds with one stone" scenario. There's not a ton of Zero One Max online from this time period. I will probably have to employ this method as I go. It's cool though. It's definitely widening my scope of smaller Japanese promotions at the time. Thanks for reading!!!

For posterity & to help folks who might wanna check out Mid South Wrestling. I just went through 1985 and covered it in some depth over on my blog. I don't want to put like 5 blog posts worth of stuff here but 1985 Mid South is a damn goldmine. With the TV episodes I tried to hit the high points and stick to certain wrestlers. I tried getting quality DiBiase, Butch Reed, big name tag teams et al. in there. I had to scan through each episode of 1985 and find them & add em to my watch list 😋 That took some time. I know that there was stuff I could have watched but didn't have the time & energy to keep the project sustainable. Anyhow, my recommended matches from TV are: Guerreros vs Rock'n'roll Express (02/14 ep.#284) Terry Taylor vs. Jake Roberts (03/07) (ep. 287) Also remember that DiBiase vs Duggan is happening during this period of 1985. Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams vs The Fantastics (06/13 ep.#301) Dutch Mantell vs Terry Taylor (07/11 ep.#305) Butch Reed vs Ted DiBiase (07/25 ep.#307) The Fantastics vs Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams (09/26 ep.# 316) Fantastics vs Dick Slater & Buzz Sawyer (10/24 ep.#320) match & post-match Ric Flair vs Butch Reed (11/07 ep.#322) Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase (11/14 ep. #323) Absolutely recommend anyone interested to check these out. I'm skipping over a lot of what I watched but these would be essentials in my book.

I hadn't heard of it either but looks like it was QAnon stuff. He was really, really good in ROH's Pure Title Tournament.

WCW YouTube posted the triangle match with Guardian Angel, Sting & Vader recently: For new reviews from me, check out The Further Adventures of Puro + More.

Going through New Japan'95 and came across 09.23 Lord Steven Regal vs. Wild Pegasus (NJPW G1 Climax Special 1995) - This was tremendous. The first part was Regal's style. This was flawless and could have been done in NJ or AJ 1975-80. Eventually Benoit found and opening and it became his high octane style. Neither man was completely out of their element though. Eventually Regal was bleeding from his ear. This elevated the perception of true violence. The finish seemed imperfect at first but then made sense to me and was fitting given what had proceeded it. Near classic match and every bit as good as I had hoped for! It's been awhile since I saw their Nitro matches but this New Japan match seemed like the template for those. Definitely recommend this one.

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 🙂

Heard good stuff about this match. ROH posted on YouTube. Wanted to share it here:

Looking back at past wrestlers, I think it's worth giving weight to folks that were wrestling a style out of touch with their era as long as it was innovative, influential or at least popular or drew heat. In watching Regal in WCW 1994 recently, no one was really wrestling his style there. He had a really great list of older opponents like Flair, Arn, Larry Z that could gel with him but his style was definitely out of step with what everyone else was doing. It meshed well and it was his thing. And he was TV champion and got tons of heat. So he was doing something right for the audience, the office and the wrestling nerds 🙂 I don't think he was innovative but was influential to guys like Bryan Danielson and I'm sure other grapples of the 2000's & 2010's. I think you're probably talking more about folks wrestling a throwback style so maybe innovation isn't as important in this context. As far as golden era Joshi, I think this was influential and innovative to all of wrestling in Japan and eventually the US... At least in terms of work rate & move evolution. That's a good example for innovative wrestlers so for those folks- we have to see who did those things the most. And then were those folks some kind of draw and not just wrestling in an empty gym. All that said, they still have to put on compelling, meaningful and/or exciting matches on a regular basis 🙂 And that's kinda how I'm formulating a lot of my list tbh. Hahaha long answer but I think I'm giving a lot of weight to folks who wrestle outside the norm. I think these folks are just more interesting. That doesn't mean they'll all be at the top of my list but it will definitely be a tie breaker or a difference maker when it comes to the top 50.