ohtani's jacket

This was a one fall singles match and was worked in a different style that you might expect from a best two-out-of-three falls singles match. They started off with the type of hot, blistering action you'd expect in the tercera caida, then they took it the mat before brawling outside the ring. After that, they fought tooth and nail to remove each other's masks before a prolonged period of submission holds and nearfall finishes. It almost felt like a regular match in reverse. It wasn't the classic I was looking for. In fact, it wasn't up there with the best matches of the first month and half, but I did find myself appreciating the intensity of what they were doing and I began pulling for Felino to win the bout, which is pretty good storytelling I guess. In some respects, it was an interesting deviation from the norm but my expectations for Panther matches are pretty high at this point. Worth watching but in the context of 2001 IWRG and not really the year as a whole.

Ciberneticos rarely disappoint and looking at the talent here there was no way this was going to be an exception. Sure enough, this filled with dream pairings and cool match-ups. It was a tad short because Felino and Panther were pulling double duty on the show, and it was only a 10-man cibernetico to begin with, but it was highly entertaining and a showcase of how good this gimmick is. I've never really thought about this before but because the cibernetico is rare compared the predominant form of lucha, i.e. the trios match, it may actually be the best gateway into lucha libre. You get lucha in its purest form but without the conventions that people struggle with. This actually ended up being a pretty good show from IWRG. CMLL had some great TV in February but IWRG may have crept ahead of them in the match department.

This was pretty good. The first fall was really good, and I started having thoughts that it might be a sleeper for my best matches of the year list. But then the fouling bullshit crept in and the next two falls weren't anywhere near as good. It's a shame really because Scorpio had been on a roll with these title matches and El Dandy had worked his way back to the top (the Negro Navarro was no accident, fwiw), but they didn't go all-in with the final two falls. Not a bad match in the context of a pretty interesting month for IWRG but talent-wise it should be on the list with other singles matches like Altantis vs Wagner, Santo vs Panther and Cerebro vs Felino.

This was better than I expected. Panther in 2000-01 has reached that level where he immediately makes matches better by his presence. I kind of understand now that when people talk about how great Blue Panther was, or is, a large part of that springs from this time period where he was clearly the best worker in Mexico. But the other guys were good too. I thought Bombero Infernal was really good and Super Parka brought his working shoes and was the best version of Super Parka that he can be. I'm a fan of the later IWRG period where it felt like its own promotion with its own identity, and its own heroes and villains, instead of an outpost for CMLL. But I do like the fact that 2000-01 IWRG was a place where a guy like Felino, who was doing nothing in CMLL, could feature in singles feuds. This turns into a bit of a mask pulling contest, which is never my favorite style of lucha. Too much fiddling about trying to undo each other's masks. But the body of the bout as more entertaining than it looked on paper.

Pretty average minis action. I think it's safe to say that from what we've seen of 2000-01 IWRG that it was a hotbed for minis action. It's not that often that you see a Tzuki match where he doesn't do anything spectacular. The IWRG mini division, such as it is, seems dominated by the journeymen rudos with not enough shine for the high flying tecnicos.

Well, Rambo has arrived in IWRG. That means we'll be seeing his feud with Villano III later in the year which I'm looking forward to revisiting. Unfortunately, that was the only really exciting thing in the bout despite a double bladejob from Dandy and Scorpio. Dandy vs Scorpio has potential but they never got out of second gear despite the blood. One of the weaker IWRG matches from this year.

I started watching the matches I haven't seen or am unfamiliar with. I thought this was too "on the nose" in terms of the commentary and the presentation. I can understand the desire to produce a modern class but stop referencing the fact and let the drama and the tension speak for itself. The match was good but it ran for too long, and as a one-off investment on my part I was disappointed that there wasn't a payoff to the storyline. It was probably a better match in context but it seems a bit early to hail it as a modern classic. Great crowd heat and one hell of a promo afterward, but the match itself isn't much of a blip on the historical radar. This was awesome whenever Samoa Joe was on offense. He was a beast. Styles, on the other hand, was pretty bad. I'm used to the New Japan Styles. This didn't feel like the same dude. Joe kept it interesting but the match didn't deliver the knockout punch needed to overcome my disconnect with Styles. I can't reiterate enough how beastly Joe was, though. Not bad. I was expecting this to be excessive and annoying but it was mostly a slow burner. It didn't really get out of hand until they started popping up from the finishers at the end, and by that stage, the bout was almost over. I can see why this has its fans. When you consider that this was a dome show, and that dome show main events aren't that easy to pull off, this deserves its place in the canon, so to speak.

A Mima Shimoda singles match may not be anyone's cup of tea but this wasn't bad. It was worked a more traditional way since Shimoda doesn't have a ton of offense. There was a lot of screeching and swearing, which may be offputting for some, but they stuck to the game plan and delivered a solid walk-through. It wasn't exactly inspiring in terms of Tamura's future trajectory in Joshi but there weren't a lot of holes in it.

This was a decent match but I wanted to see more of a statement from Hamada. You can tell while watching this how much easier it is to play the challenger role. Hyuga had a good match but she was wrestling the match she always wrestles because its a role she's been in for years. Hamada hadn't learned how to transition into the champion role yet. It's a hard thing to do and makes you appreciate all of the great champions in pro-wrestling. She worked hard and there was an element of the hunter becomes the hunted in the match layout but she was a bit too desperate and bit too relieved to get the final pin, so it was hard to have confidence in her as one of the new pillars of Joshi pro-wrestling. There were similar criticisms of Meiko Satomura at the time so perhaps Hamada's growing pains shouldn't come as a surprise.

Hey, Toryumon! It's been a while. Fuji was going by the name "Big Fuji" now and running folks over with bicycles. Not motorcycles, actual bicycles. This was a fun match against the plucky Saito. It was a competitive squash but Saito made the most of his minutes. Great to see Fuji knocking about now that the likes of Dick Togo aren't making tape.

Tick tock, tick tock, The Rock vs. Kurt Angle doesn't suck. This was streets better than Triple H vs. Angle. There was a pointless piece of interference from The Big Show and an unnecessary ref change, but apart from that, it was pure chemistry between the workers. Rock being a super over babyface clearly helped the dynamic here, but Angle did so many cool things here and was able to showcase his ability to a far greater extent than he could in the Hunter match. He looked like a much better worker than at the Rumble and I don't think it was because he had an extra month under his belt. Much like the Benoit matches, the Rock meshed surprisingly well with his opponent regardless of his technical acumen. This was a match that definitely enhanced my opinion of Rock as a worker.

This was a fun match between four capable workers. I enjoyed seeing Sakai hook up with this crew. The Satomura/Amano sections were definitely the best thing about the bout.

There is a lot of stuff that I haven't seen (mostly post-2000). I'm not going to squabble or pick hairs about the matches that were chosen. The people who participated are great contributors to these sites and always give well thought out, well-reasoned arguments about the matches they enjoy. I do think there are some areas that continue to be under-represented, however. Firstly, Europe, whether it's French catch, Germany and Austria, or old-school WoS, people need to devote a bit more time to exploring it. 80s Joshi is another era that had no representation despite Joshi doing better than expected on the overall list. I think Europe and Joshi are hurt by the fact that there weren't DVDVR 80s sets. Historical 30s-50s stuff needs more championing as well but I can understand people not watching that sort of thing. It took me a long time to get around to it. Those would be my main three areas although you could argue that deathmatch wrestling and lucharesu need revisiting too. I love the way wrestling opinions continue to morph and change and people move from one extreme to the other. Can't wait to see how your list changes from here on out.

This was easily the best thing AJW had done since the cage match. Toyota had turned heel a few days prior at a Korakuen show, which was a questionable booking decision but it led to more Toyota vs. Ito, which is one of my favorite match-ups from this era. Great action here with a minimal amount of bullshit. Strong commitment to the gimmick and everyone played their role well. I didn't love the outside interference down the stretch but it didn't ruin anything. Loved the current ace getting the win over the former ace. Definitely one of the better matches from the AJW renaissance.

This was supposed to be a shoot but it's hard to tell whether it was. I have my doubts, but it was worked like one which made it a hell of a lot more interesting than it would have been if it were a regular pro-wrestling match.

I'm impressed that you guys stuck with this and finished it. I am going to pore over the lists and check out anything that sticks out.

Giant Baba vs. Dick the Bruiser (2/28/68) I expected a different sort of Dick the Bruiser here compared to his 50s stuff, and sure enough, this had a lot of brawling and cheating. I still kind of liked it even if it was bare-bones wrestling. I've seen enough 50s Bruiser that he's become likeable to me. It's interesting that I'm always talking about Baba's opponents in these matches. It seems as though Baba's performance never really changes from one match to another. You plug him in there and he either does leg work or retaliatory chops. To be fair, these matches are predominantly about the foreign heels so it's no surprise that their cheating takes the spotlight but does Baba come across as a great babyface? If he did these matches might be better. Giant Baba vs. Dick the Bruiser (4/10/75) It's interesting to me how much wilder these mid-70s All Japan bouts are than the late 60s JWA bouts. I wonder if that reflected some sort of cultural change in Japanese society. At any rate, Baba was rocking longer hair here and working a rougher style. There was a ton of carnage, a double bladejob and the match broke down completely. Worth watching to see Dick raise a little hell but not memorable otherwise.

This was part of the build-up to the Perro Aguayo vs Universo 2000 apuesta match that Raging Noodles and I loved so much back in the day. I have no idea whether that match will hold up anymore having watched the 14 months proceeding it but the feud raged on (pun intended.) Perro had taken Caras' hair on the December pay-per-view and Mascara Ano 2000's hair earlier in the month at a Tijuana show, so the bad blood continued to boil. It doesn't always work for me since Perro looks like he needs to be reminded where he is half the time, but I did like the throwbacks to Atlantis vs. Emilio that we got here.

Just checking in on what Villano III was up to in the new year. This didn't have much bite to it but it did have Satanico vs Villano IV exchanges, which is a match-up made in heaven.

Well, I guess Blue Panther vs. Olimpico is officially a thing again. I can get behind that. This was a decent shakedown. Nothing spectacular but Fuerza had his working boots on for a change and I'm enjoying this unexpected Signo run. Signo is one of my favorite luchadors of all-time and I didn't know he had these booking dates in 2001. Not a huge amount of edge to Panther vs. Olimpico at this stage -- not like the first time around -- but it's something to keep an eye on.

I love stripped back Kawada matches with their focus on gritty matwork and hard strikes. This was a simple and relatively straightforward struggle, but thanks to Kawada's selling, it was damn near Herculean at times. Of all the All Japan guys, only Kawada had the arsenal to pull off a match like this. I kind of wish we'd seen more of this. Can you imagine Kawada vs. Sakuraba? Tamura? Sano? Anjoh? Yamazaki? Hell, even Takada. I never really had any faith in the other All Japan guys to make those match-ups work but their fights with Kawada would have been something to behold.

The height of my comic fandom was in the 1980s. For my money, New Teen Titans and Legion of Superheroes were every bit as good as their Marvel counterparts. I adored Justice League International as well. Still one of my all-time favorite comic series. Suicide Squad is also excellent. Green Arrow and The Question were also good. And of course, the pre-Vertigo stuff -- Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Hellblazer.

It goes without saying that Satanico vs the Infernales is going to be a fun feud, but I didn't expect it to be this good. Satanico was amazing in this. He was punked from the outset by Tarzan Boy and proceeded to bleed for his sins while the rudos maimed Black Warrior's leg, We all know Satanico is one of the great sellers and the great performers. Watching him take his beating here, I kept wondering why I hadn't dived into this run sooner. It really was a sublime performance for a Coliseo bout. The Infernales were disqualified for excessive violence and the tide turned. Satanico led a ferocious comeback the likes of which only Satanico can do, and Black Warrior got his revenge with a sensational tope. A lot of trios matches splutter and stall but this kept building and building. Satanico and Guerrero squared off for a mano a mano confrontation and the match was electric. Then all of a sudden they pulled the plug. The cheap finish spoiled things slightly but I should have seen it coming. You can already guess what type of finish it was. Still, the hype is real. This promises to be as good a feud as we'll see all year.

I have no idea why Ultimo Guerrero and Satanico were on the same side here. Contract obligations? In any event, their allegiance didn't last long and again the tecnicos took advantage of what's turning into a pretty bad year for rudos.

This match was fun for reasons you wouldn't expect like reuniting old rivals El Signo and Brazo de Oro and sparking the flames of the forgotten Olimpico vs. Panther feud. Again, the tecnicos came on strong but that's been a theme of the first month of the year. At least we got to see Signo and Brazo stretch their legs, which was cool.