ohtani's jacket

This was a decent match. I like that they had these guys work another Best of Seven series. It's kind of strange that they put the first match on a major PPV and ran it as the opener. There was some nice grappling even if they don't get a ton of heat.

The premise for this feud seemed stupid to me. Triple H was upset because Flair celebrated winning the Intercontinental title? Why wouldn't Flair celebrate winning the IC tile at his age? Was Hunter trying to say the IC belt was below Flair? This had its moments, and they were mainly based around Flair. I loved the part where Triple H had Flair in the figure four leglock and Ric stared swearing at him and flipping him off. The parts where Hunter was in control were pretty slow, but the match picked up whenever Ric was on offense. Plenty of blood. The finish was a convincing way for Ric to beat Hunter, but Styles was over the top with the call.

This was disappointing. It wasn't very satisfying from an Angle vs. Cena perspective. or a Michaels vs. Angle perspective, and was no better than a typical RAW main event. I expect a bit more from a PPV match even if it is Taboo Tuesday. The part that bothered me the most was when Michaels and Angle took out Cena by suplexing him through the announcers' table. Michaels and Angle worked a mini-match, and one of them was about to beat the other when Cena stormed the ring like a house on fire. Cena's selling was weak, but what really annoyed me was that we never cut to a shot of Cena on the outside while Angle and Michaels were having their match. Why wouldn't they give us an update on the other guy in the match? It comes across as shitty directing and shitty commentary. This was a serious downgrade from those Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Benoit triple threats despite trying to create the same dynamic.

Failing to beat the count can be a dramatic finish if it's executed well. The Kwango finish wasn't. You can't really blame Kwango since that type of selling wasn't his forte, wasn't something he had a lot of experience with, and wasn't the style of wrestling that made him a popular attraction. It may have been edgy for UK TV at the time to have the action spill out of the ring, but we only have to look at late 50s/early 60s French Catch to see t being done in a vastly more exciting way. They stick to the rules for TV, but it makes for a weak finish where much of the heat is a result of the bout ending prematurely and not the way the fans wanted. 1972 results are limited, but it doesn't appear to have set up a rematch. This isn't about being an American wrestling fan and not understanding the nuances of British wrestling. It's something that British wrestling didn't do well. In part because of certain restrictions placed on it but also because it had moved past all-in wrestling to become the type of wrestling the fans expected to see that evening, particularly from Kwango. I'd have to watch it again to see whether my comments were unfair or harsh. I never thought much of Dennison as a worker, so I doubt much would change.

Did you watch Viedor/Roberts and Kwango/Dennison from 1/5/72?

That's an awful finish. There is no way that failing to meet the count because your foot is trapped under the apron is as emphatic as winning by two falls or submissions, and its stretching the boundaries of the imagination to even call it a knockout. The matchmaker didn't want Dennison going over Kwango cleanly so we got a cheap finish that drew Dennison heat without Kwango looking weak. It also allows the matchmaker to book a return match in the future. It makes sense in the context of that week's wrestling but it's a crap viewing experience for the way we consume WoS in 2024. I did like the baby taunt with the towel and Dennison's facial hair. It may have been more of a Dennison heel showcase than I realized in 2014.

Are sure that's the right match? They have two matches on tape. My post was talking about their match from 1981 not their more highly regarded match from 1980.

It's in colour.

Masambula had a witchdoctor gimmick. The other singles match was from a 16mm film and isn't in circulation. I didn't have a copy at the time that I wrote that post.

This was another chapter in the rise of Mistico - a grimy apuestas match from Guadalajara. Anthrax and Ebola sound like charming fellows. They're a solid unit and serve as excellent foils for the tecnicos. This guys a decent amount of time and is full of exciting dives and tecnico heroics. All four men bleed buckets. Mistico is a blood stained mess in the tercera but still manages to wow the fans with his aerial skills. Nice to see an old-school bout like this with the tecnicos having to work hard for their victory.

This didn't get a very good rating from Meltzer, but it was Eddie's final PPV match which makes it required viewing. The parts where they wrestle are quite good. Eddie uses all sorts of tricks to try to get the big man off his feet and work on his injured back while Batista gets some decent moves in and even dabbles in a bit of defensive wrestling. What hurts the bout is the storyline of whether Eddie has reformed or not. As great as Eddie was at character work, the story elements feel forced. It doesn't help that they go to the well three times instead of having one big "will he or won't he?" moment after a hard fought championship bout. Every time Eddie thinks about cheating, the match comes to a halt and they have to reset again. It doesn't help that Taz and Cole suck at selling these types of angles, but it's something that would have played out better over a month's worth of Smackdown than in a main event. I do think they had the potential for a better match down the line, but sadly it wasn't to be.

This was the only match from No Mercy that Meltzer gave a decent rating but it's nothing special. I would have much rather seen Benoit have a singles match against Christian or Booker T. The most exciting part of the match may have been afterwards when Taz and Cole tried to one up each other by naming Houston wrestling legends. Booker T's wife chastised him after the bout.

They loaded the stipulations for this one. The loser had to leave RAW and the winner claimed the Money in the Bank briefcase. It's a ladder match, so it was no great shakes, but they brought the drama with plenty of Matt Hardy and Lita exchanges, including her crucifix hold in the ropes to allow Edge to win the match. Not great if you were rooting for Hardy after that Unforgiven match.

This was my first time to watch this match. How's that possible? I spent a lot of time watching other types of wrestling, or not watching wrestling at all, but it's a match I know by name and by rep. I'm glad I watched a bunch of 00s Joe and Kobashi before diving into it. I may not have lived it in the moment, but I get why this was such an exciting match up in 2005. Rarely do matches like this live up to the billing. I'm not sure if Kobashi knew what he was getting into when he agreed to travel to the States to wrestle this match, but as soon as he walks out through the curtain and the crowd chant his name, you can tell that he's amped. They work a great match for the setting. By the time it was over, I was left wondering whether it was the best match by a Japanese wrestler on American soil. At the least, you'd have to say it was the best match by a Japanese worker on US soil since Liger/Pillman. There's no point comparing it to Kobashi's best matches, or Joe's best fights in ROH, as this was a pure spectacle. This is a gift for anyone who's ever scanned through match listings looking for matchups between workers they like. It was a slam dunk as far as dream matches go.

This was really good. Not as good as their Wrestlemania classic but better than their rematch at Vengeance. There was an obvious comparison with Daniels vs. Styles from Bound for Glory. Daniels and Styles were probably better workers than Michaels and Angle, but the book was better here with the scored locked at 2-2 heading into the final minutes and a more realistic finish. People who have issues with Angle & Michaels matches will have issues this one too as Michaels once again displays his superhuman ability to not tap to Angle submissions. If you buy into it, throw back the popcorn as this one has entertainment aplenty.

We already knew that the INA doesn't have every match that was ever broadcast as there were 50s and 60s broadcasts missing from the archives.

Dick Murdoch vs Afa (WWF, 10/22/84) This was a fun match. Of course, it was Murdoch doing a bunch of entertaining shtick almost like a one man comedy act, but it got me wishing that Dick had done a bit more in the WWF so that we could call him a WWF guy. He worked New Japan a lot with the WWF guys, but if he'd just had a few runs against Backlund, or even against Hogan, I think he'd be right up there with Valentine and Slaughter.

This wasn't a bad match, but I don't think anybody really wants to see an Iron Man match where there are no pinfalls or submissions until the last moment. They could have just as easily worked with a 30 minute time limit. AJ getting a pin as the clock run out was too cutesy for my liking. The likelihood of being able to pull that off seems miniscule to say the least. They worked hard, but I think they would have been better served by better booking.

Great entrance from Joe. This wasn't a great match but it had to have been a thrill for Joe to wrestle Liger and at least Liger was treated better than that shit with Russo in WCW.

This wasn't the most exciting match in rhythm and pacing, but it gave the crowd some interesting wrinkles. First of all, they got to see Mistico and Perro team up, and actually work together, in what would have been a dreaming pairing for a lot of the audience members. They also got to see Atlantis working rudo, and a portion of the audience continued to boo him every time he was in the ring. The highlight of the match was Mistico and Wagner linking for a pair of dives.

It happened all the time in the UK as well with wrestlers being billed from the West Indies, Africa, Russia, different parts of Asia, and God knows where else. It was wrestling 101 in the 20th century.

Well, Rebel Ray Hunter was Australian.

St. Clair's year of birth is listed everywhere as 3/28/47 except for his English wiki page, which I presume is a mistake. The same Wrestling from Great Britain title is on other films I have from this era. IIRC, it is in color on the color films.

Clay Thomson vs. Tony St. Clair (8/18/67) This was a fine catchweight contest. I was glad for fxnj's sake that it went five rounds to a finish rather than finishing early. Fans of Clay Thomson are going to be excited by this one and he looks slick. Tony does well for a 20 year old, but this is all about Clay. Clay Thomson vs. Bert Royal must have been a heck of a bout from this era.

FWIW, I watched Bull Nakano interview Mach Fumiake and Mach confirmed all of the above. I'm hoping Bull interviews some more of these 70s wrestlers. She did one with Mariko Akagi that was quite good.