ohtani's jacket

Wayne Bridges vs. Terry Rudge (3/31/81) I kind of knew that this would be weak, but I couldn't resist asking for it because it was 1981 Terry Rudge. Terry Rudge in 1981 was miles away from where Bridges was in terms of heavyweight booking and therefore he wasn't given much respect in this bout .Whatever we might think of Rudge, and I think a few people agree with me that he was the natural precursor to a lot of guys like Finlay, Regal and Taylor, the promoters never saw him that way and even the Heritage guys considered him comparable to Barry Douglas. As a bout this was all right, but Bridges did nothing to make it seem special.

Wayne Bridges vs. Terry Rudge (3/31/81) I kind of knew that this would be weak, but I couldn't resist asking for it because it was 1981 Terry Rudge. Terry Rudge in 1981 was miles away from where Bridges was in terms of heavyweight booking and therefore he wasn't given much respect in this bout .Whatever we might think of Rudge, and I think a few people agree with me that he was the natural precursor to a lot of guys like Finlay, Regal and Taylor, the promoters never saw him that way and even the Heritage guys considered him comparable to Barry Douglas. As a bout this was all right, but Bridges did nothing to make it seem special.

Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (2/16/83) This was another chapter in the prolific Breaks/Grey rivalry. The thing I like the most about watching Breaks vs. Grey or Saint is that the bout suddenly takes on a serious tone you don't get from a lot of other Breaks bouts. Because they were almost always feuding over a title, there was an edge to Breaks' matches with Grey and Saint that set them apart from his regular television appearances. This was joined in progress and Grey was already fired up over something. I've argued in the past that Grey is one of the best fired-up baby faces ever. The only guy I can think of who rivals Grey is Tito Santana. But then I tend to think Grey is impeccable all round. Breaks was awesome here. I doubt there's ever been a mouthy heel quite as good as Breaks. It was Breaks' turn to go over here, which the crowd didn't particularly want to see, but he pulled it off with his usual aplomb. I particularly loved him reminding the crowd of the name of his finisher. "That's the Jim Breaks Special!" Indeed.

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR Ep 30 Tony St. Clair vs. Dave Taylor (Unknown location, taped 1983) The beginning of this bout showed how confusing the World title picture was at this point. As best as I can tell this is how the situation became so muddled: when Spiros Arion toured England in 1979 he was billed as the NWA World Heavyweight champion. Joint Promotions and Dale Martin were keen to crown a British version of the World Heavyweight champion, but Arion balked at dropping the title to Daddy and agreed to lose to Bridges instead. Bridges won the title in a non-televised bout and then feuded with The Mighty John Quinn, who defeated him in a hugely entertaining Cup Final Day spectacle that ended on a blood stoppage. Quinn then jumped to All-Star as the champion, and Joint Promotions came up with an on air explanation for Quinn's departure citing that he hadn't returned to England to fulfill the mandatory 90 day return match clause. Quinn was in effect stripped of the "NWA" World Heavyweight title and Bridges won a series of eliminators to be crowned the new champion. In the meantime the British Heavyweight champion, St. Clair, jumped to All-Star and defeated Quinn for Arion's title in August of '82. At this point, you had Joint Promotions/Dale Martin promoting Bridges as the World Heavyweight Champion and All-Star promoting St. Clair as the British and World Heavyweight Champion. When Bridges followed suit and jumped to All-Star, he took his world title with him as Quinn had done and started proclaiming himself as the real World Champion ala Flair in '91. To complicate matters further, as the wrestlers were being introduced for this bout, Bridges came to ringside and claimed that while he recogised St. Clair as the British Heavyweight champion, his was the only real World title. Somehow Orig Williams became involved and claimed that both titles were legitimate. Bridges was allegedly the WWA champion and St. Clair was the WWF champion. That's right, St. Clair was billed as the World Wrestling Federation champion. I believe the titles were unified in the end, but the word clusterfuck springs to mind. As for the match, St. Clair and Taylor had a ton of natural chemistry. Their later matches were stiffer, but this was pure WoS-style heavyweight grappling. Entertaining for the seasoned viewer, but perhaps less so for the casual observer. I enjoyed it a lot. Dave Finlay vs. Danny Boy Collins (3/16/88) Usual half-arsed Finlay bout from this era. One thing I was wrong about was that Collins' kidney operation wasn't acknowledged on ITV. Bret Hart vs. Marty Jones (11/30/81) Instead of squashing Bret like he might have, Jones went full on epic turning this this into an eight round contest. Bret in 1981 didn't really deserve such treatment, but perhaps that's what his dad wanted. Bret played a not-so-subtle heel here while Jones was more subdued than usual. Hard to tell how good it was given WoS joined it late and the VQ isn't great, but notable that Bret survived so long. Tally Ho Kaye vs. Johnny Kidd (3/18/86) This was surprisingly good for a bout from 1986 and another strong bout from the Golden Grappler tournament that year. Kidd wasn't given much of a chance by Walton, which was perhaps a weakness in his commentary depending on your point of view, but for me the most surprising thing was how spritely Kaye was looking in 1986. He applied some great submissions to Kidd for the win, and I was impressed by how painful looking they were the whole bout long. Here's to "ouchy" looking submissions.

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR Ep 29 Andy Robin vs. The Red Phantom (10/20/90) However good Robin may have been as a wrestler (and we have nothing of him in his prime), he's more famous for his bear now than his ringwork: Not sure who the Phantom was even when Robin unmasked him at the end, but it hardly mattered since this was pretty rubbish. Giant Haystacks vs. Jamaica George (10/19/90) If Joint Promotions wanted to get back on TV through different means, I'm not sure Haystacks flipping everybody the bird was the way to do it. Maybe seven or eight years later. This was the same old Haystacks -- "no more Mr. Nice Guy," et cetera, etc etera. I'm not sure why I feel the need to watch his matches save for the nagging feeling that they might surprise. Gypsy John Kenny vs. Johnny Palance (Unknown location, taped 1985) With a name like Gypsy John Kenny you hope you've stumbled onto some lost great European worker. Unfortunately, he wasn't *quite* that good, but he wasn't bad either, and this was a fun bout. It was probably more of a Palance showcase than a Gypsy one since Palance led from the top, but I enjoyed this a lot. Pat Patton vs. Studs Lannigan (7/3/86) Studs is my boy, and I'm a fan of Patton as well, but one thing I'll say about Pat is that he never managed to make himself seem as special as Myers or Kung Fu. Even when Myers and Kung Fu wrestled rubbish bouts, they still dazzled the crowd as showmen, but Patton was a bit quieter and a bit more reserved. This was a bit late in the piece to judge him too much, but I think both Myers and Kung Fu would have tried to make more of an impression than Patton did here. Giant Haystacks vs. Skull Murphy (2/3/88) This was supposed to be heel vs. heel, but instead of doing something cool with it, Murphy turned into the same old fodder for Haystacks. It's a wonder sometimes if anyone was steering the Joint ship.

Tony St. Clair vs. Mick McManus (3/23/77) This is somewhat historic footage of one of the rare times McManus lost on television. A move, which as John Lister explained the other day, was designed to elevate St. Clair to stardom. A few months later he would become the British Heavyweight champion by defeating Gwynn Davies in his home town of Manchester. Apparently, the master tape was damaged somehow, so that all that remains of St. Clair's win are the final few rounds. St. Clair is retaliating to begin with, dishing out treatment that Walton claims is totally out of character. We'll never know what McManus did to elicit that sort of reaction from St. Clair, but we can imagine. Mick doesn't get a ton of offence in during the final few rounds, as St. Clair spends a lot of time retaliating before scoring the equalizer. Then he stuns McManus with a surprise roll-up from behind and the crowd go nuts. You'd think he'd won a major championship they way they celebrated. I guess that goes to show how well the crowd knew McManus' record on the small screen. They make about as much noise as you could for from a town hall audience and swarm around the ring. Two young women step up on the apron to give St. Clair a kiss, and in a sign of the times, a guy pinches one of their behinds. Doubt you'd get away with that these days. Neat bit of footage, but missing the bulk of McManus' performance.

The cruelest part is that Hokuto undergoes mammography and ultrasound screenings every year. From the sounds of things, it spread quickly.

I like Finlay's early work from '81-84 more than anything Regal's done. He was an outstanding wrestler during that time frame. I would describe him as a superior version of the Dynamite Kid, or rather what the Kid could have been if he'd chosen to stay in the UK instead of moving to Calgary. He was such a dynamic worker in those days and much more gifted than Regal. When Regal first started, he wasn't at all gifted. Everything he's achieved was through hard work, whereas Finlay was a complete natural. He had tremendous wrestling ability which he used to form the base for a bumping, stooging heel who managed to remain tough as nails. It may be an unfair comparison since Regal was always a heavy while Finlay worked in the more workrate-centric mid-heavyweight division, but in those days Finlay was neck and neck with Marty Jones for the best guy in his weight class and arguably the best guy in Britain. Another feather in his cap is that alongside Skull Murphy he formed one of the only legitimately good tag teams in the UK and ushered in workrate tags the likes of which England had never seen before. For my money that makes him more of an all-rounder than any point in Regal's career. It all went pear shaped for Finlay when he changed his look and began having Paula manage him on TV. He became a boring worker after that. He was no longer dynamic and lightening quick between the ropes, but slow, stodgy, and dull. He'd beat guys down, do his shtick with Paula and squash guys. At the same time, he was one of the most in-demand heels in the business and more over than any point in his career, but that ten year period from 1986-1996 is awful. Regal's early run in WCW is far superior to what Finlay was doing in those same years. After their feud in '96, I would rate them as even. I'm of the opinion that Regal didn't have that many great bouts in his career, so it's possible that they're fairly even when it comes to great matches after '96, though I was kind of disappointed in the Finlay/Mysterio feud when I watched it for the Rey thread. Basically, I think Finlay was the better worker, but I don't like the direction his work took.

How is that a face first bump? He uses his hand and shoulder to brace himself. Am I taking you too literally? It's hard to tell with the cut, but it looks as though he sticks his hand out and turns on impact. Kawada more or less stuck with the same promotion his entire career. Tenryu wandered about because SWS and WAR folded. Why reward Tenryu for freelancing indy promotions while praising Kawada for staying with ol' faithful?

Were guys such as Liger and Kobashi stigmatized when they had cancer? I have no idea. Probably not. Being a wrestler is not the same as being an office worker or a salaryman.

Tenryu had no interest taking face-first bumps into exploding barbed wire in the '94 bout with Onita. I don't know what he was like when they re-ignited their feud in '99. Kawada fought Takayama on the 9/11/96 UWF-i that was headlined by Tenryu vs. Takada, so he has one worked shoot under his belt. Tenryu never really worked shoot style even in his bouts vs. UWF-i workers, and you could argue that Kawada's match against Albright is better that anything Tenryu produced during his feud with UWF-i. And Kawada worked Hustle, which may or may not be funny, but was a comedy fed.

It's funny you mention that match with McManus, John, as I just got a copy of it the other day. (Or rather what exists of it. Apparently, the master tape was damaged somehow.) The footage I have is basically a bunch of retaliation by St. Clair followed by two quick falls; the second being a flash pin where he takes McManus by surprise, but the crowd reaction is one of the more memorable WoS moments, Folks swarm around St. Clair at ringside like he's just won a major title and two girls give him a kiss. Walton puts the whole thing over tremendously and it's a pretty cool piece of footage, but the interesting thing is that compared to McManus St.Clair looks big. Mick was a small guy. He used to hate people pointing that out to him as you probably well know. But Tony had quite a few stones on him, and since McManus was a legit middleweight, I'm guessing Quin was simply a big man. The kind of guy who must have looked huge in person.

People don't like to talk about it for fear of discrimination, and cancer survivors often keep it a secret because it affects their employment chances. I don't know how big a deal it is that Hokuto spoke out, but breast cancer awareness in Japan is a pressing concern with a shockingly low number of women having annual mammograms.

That was a really emotional blog post she wrote. Her diagnosis doesn't sound so good. Definitely the biggest fight of her life.

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR Ep 28 Orig Williams & Boston Blackie vs. Terry Rudge & Johnny South (Caernarfon, taped 1988) Rudge and South were doing their best imitation of a US heel team here. They almost felt like a proto version of the Enforcers, Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko. It felt like a bit of pastiche, though. Rudge as Arn Anderson doesn't work for me as much as Rudge the bad ass kicker. For some reason Rudge never got to show his wares in Reslo despite still kicking ass in Germany each tournament. And South seemed to get wackier and wackier the longer he stayed around Orig's promotion. I haven't seen it yet, but apparently he ends up doing a Legion of Doom gimmick, which is odd to say the least. Another case of "what if?" this, as in what if the heels were allowed to show how good they really were? Boston Blackie vs. Bearcat Brody (Amlwch, taped 2/5/87) Bearcat Brody was a big guy who appeared on ITV a few times as Bull Pratt and worked a couple of matches against Daddy, which I'm sure was compelling viewing. He must have liked Bearcat Wright's gimmick because he pinched it for himself, or vice versa. A bit of a plodder, but by no means a bad big man. Blackie is an odd one. He looks great when he's grappling and ungainly when moving about the ring. Haven't quite made up my mind about him yet. Skull Murphy vs. John Elijah (4/6/88) This was the Brit equivalent of two hosses going at it, though nowhere near as effective as the US version and clipped to shit like most late period TV. The highlight of the match was Elijah powering out of a gator attempt and giving Murphy the most bad ass bearhug ever. I swear all bearhugs should be executed the way Elijah's was here, as an instant eff you submission. John Quinn vs. Jamaica George (Porthmadog, taped 1982) This was a below par performance from Quinn. Pretty much an extended squash with poor old George being every bit the whipping boy that Kid Chocolate was. Tony St. Clair took objection to Quinn's shabby treatment of George after the bell and stripped off his warm-up clothes to reveal that skinny physique of his. I'd almost forgotten how lean St. Clair was in his younger days. He was incredibly skinny for a heavyweight. Somewhere along the way he bulked up (rather dubiously it has to be said), but here he *almost* looked like the kid at the beach who gets sand kicked in his face. At least that's the way it looked like he confronted Quinn. King Kong Kirk vs. John Cox (2/24/83) Just a few minutes of wrestling action. Cox didn't last past round two.

Here's the Misawa wins! version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBFup2hEcAo

That was bigger than any upset in pro-wrestling history.

I'm sure I've had this conversation before, but it's not just white people who are drawn toward Japanese pop culture. If you're referring to otaku then I've met my share of non-white otaku over the years. And I'm not someone who gives two shits about whether a person is otaku. All of us qualify as otaku by Japanese standards -- otaku usually referring to someone who is too interested in something or knows too much about it. I don't know that many Joshi fans who *only* enjoy Japanese women's wrestling, but I do know a few who place it above any other style. It was a niche for people the same as any other. We all know that the reasons why Joshi fandom was considered perverse was because the wrestlers are women. Considering that Joshi has links to the soft porn market, as well as the adult market, I suppose that's not unfounded, but if people can ignore the fetish stuff that's posted about male wrestlers on YouTube then women shouldn't be any trouble.

Things are slowly changing. At least there are protocols in place now. Before the mandatory concussion tests, guys would get concussed and play out the entire match. There are plenty of former players who admit there were games where they were concussed early and couldn't remember the rest of the game. And it's only really in the past few years that players who've suffered serious concussions are kept on the sidelines for months at a time. We have a couple of guys in the All Blacks who have suffered multiple concussions -- Read, McCaw, Conrad Smith -- and while there's an undercurrent of concern about what these guys are doing to themselves, people just want them to play, and concussions, or any other injury for that matter, are inconvenient for the rugby public. The perception was always that rugby players are tough and that a head knock wasn't supposed to phase them. It wasn't seen as an excuse for coming off. In All Black folklore, Colin Meads played on with a broken arm, Buck Shelford played on with a torn scrotum and McCaw won the World Cup on a broken foot, so what was a head knock to stop a guy from playing? I think the perception is changing and people are realising the seriousness of concussions, but it's still something where people are waiting for the medical teams to give the player a clean bill of health so he can get out there again and help his team win. There's not a lot of focus on the long term welfare of the players. In NZ, there are ex-players who suffer from concussion related problems, but they're not high profile enough to bring about any sort of change. Until a guy the stature of McCaw comes out and says he has problems, I think progress will continue to be slow. To bring this back to wrestling, Wales' injuries on the eve of the World Cup and their Pool of Death has got to be a pro-wrestling story. My Welsh buddies at work see the irony in it, but it really is cruel.

All I can recommend you do is scroll through Joshifans, which still exists. Azumi Hyuga is a good person to start with, as you're probably familiar with her from the yearbooks. From memory, she had some high profile matches against Yoshiko Tamura somewhere around 2006. The last time I checked out any modern Joshi was when Arisa Nakajima was the next big young thing.

I would recommend using Mike Lorefice's Recommended Matches page to go through what were historically the most recommended 90s matches. You can also find El-P's wonderful 1992 write-up on the same page. I got some comps made from list and it remains one of my favourite bits of wrestling writing. http://www.quebrada.net/matches.html A good place to start would be Kyoko Inoue/Takako Inoue vs. Mayumi Ozaki/Cuty Suzuki from Dream Slam 1 (4/2/93.) It's an enjoyable, well-worked match that is purely about the style. To me it's the perfect primer.

This is the definitive collection of the stuff that's available to buy: http://www.britishwrestlingdvds.vze.com Carl used to make comps but these days he's only offering discs. Search among his best of comps. There's not that much Tibor out there and even less Clay Thomson. If there's anything that really takes your eye and I have it, I'll be glad to rip it for you.

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR Ep 27 Orig Williams & Tony St Clair vs. Dave Larsen & Judd Harris (Rhyl, taped 7/12/83) This wasn't as good as the Rocco tag for the sheer reason that it was missing Rocco, but St. Clair did his best to carry the load. The surprising thing about Williams tags is that he doesn't know when to pick his moments. Usually, charismatic main eventers who are low on skill at least know how to pick their moments, but Williams ambles about like nobody's clued him in on the booking. You'd think he'd make himself look better. Mike Bennett vs. Steve Logan (6/26/85) This was impressive. Let me throw this out there right now -- Mike Bennett was the last of the great television heels and the lost WoS super worker that I've overlooked all these years. He has a really simple gimmick -- dyed hair and the word "marvelous" hand written on his tights and towel -- but what a worker. His offence is snug and crisp looking and his bumping and selling is exemplary. He gets heat for the same reasons every TV staple did, but it's his ring work that backs up the gimmickry. Logan is one of the more generic guys around, but Bennett made this into a showcase spectacle the way that Breaks would. That ability to make each TV match seem special is the sign of a great WoS worker. Bennett came along late in the peace after a lot of guys had jumped ship, but watching this I wish he had been a mainstay through the late 70s and early 80s. Watch the commitment as he takes the classic WoS bump over the ropes. I can't remember seeing a guy take that bump harder or faster. Myers was off the chain when he took the bump into the crowd, but Bennett is just non-stop in this and I wrote to my man looking to get a comp of all his matches after this performance. Marty Jones vs. Danny Boy Collins (10/20/90) This was really good, especially upon a second watch. I'm not a huge fan of Marty Jones' later TV work and his string of Mid-Heavyweight title defences for the the simple reason that they're usually clipped to shit, Jones is slower and not the supreme athlete that he was in the past. He was transitioning into Marty Jones, the vet, but still promoted as Britain's No.1. It was a weird transition period for Jones. Collins looked much better here than in his teenage years. I guess that makes sense as you'd expect a guy in his early 20s to be better than a teenager. His bad habits were nowhere to be seen here, and each fall came from a badass move such as Jones' missile dropkick. Not much in the way of mat work, but the action was good. It comes from the post-ITV Scotland tapings, which I suppose technically makes it one of the better British matches of the 90s. Good late period Jones match. Rick Wiseman vs. Pete LaPaque (2/2/84) Tournament match with a five minute time limit. Referee Brian Crabtree decided the winner on points. Perfectly fun for what it was. I always have time for Pete LaPaque.

That's pretty much my take as well. Dragon Lee's title defences were always going to be a different beast from Virus', but it wasn't bad. I could have done without the stuff on the ramp and the use of the set, and I thought the third fall was too long, but there were a lot of cool things in it.

I wasn't going to reply to this, but I knew you'd say something about it on twitter. I'd just like to say to your follower that "oh" is authorized by the Japan Foreign Ministry in passports as a transliteration of the long vowel sound in "Otani's" name and not a misspelling like the both of you claimed.