ohtani's jacket

I suspect Larry Z would've been given the boot if Tully had been in the Dangerous Alliance.

What a lousy title change. Maybe it meant more at the time with McGuiness finally winning the world title, and being the one to end Morishima's reign, but watching it on tape some twenty years later it's completely uninspiring. The commentators kept saying Morishima had run out of gas, and they weren't wrong. From a kayfabe standpoint, this was exactly the type of match that Morishima had been winning throughout his run. McGuiness didn't have to dig deep to beat the champ. The match barely lasted 15 minutes. Morishima seemed burnt out. I guess the question becomes should he have lost to Danielson or McGuinness. People more familiar with ROH lore can answer that question. I expected more out of a title switch, but I'm glad the reign is over.

#99 Tully Blanchard cagematch users don't rate Tully Blanchard matches very highly. There were a couple of cool looking NWA matches, but of course the highest rated match I haven't seen is a Brain Busters vs. Rockers match. The rules are the rules. I've seen Brain Busters vs. Rockers matches before, but I couldn't tell you which ones, and it's not a matchup I hold in particularly high regard. Brain Busters vs. The Rockers (WWF, 1/23/89) This started with a typical WWF heel-in-peril section, which I guess you'd call an extended shine (if that's the word you're supposed to use.) Then the heels took over and there was a Shawn Michaels face-in-peril section. Michaels made the hot tag, pandemonium broke loose, and the Brain Busters cheated to win. Solid match, but there was nothing great about it. They probably ran a variation on the following night, and the night after that. It's more of an Arn showcase than a Tully bout. That doesn't surprise me. Arn hadn't peaked yet as a worker or a stooge, but he was still better suited to WWF wrestling than Tully. Tully feels like a quintessential 80s wrestler. It's hard to imagine him transitioning into the 90s. They may be because we didn't actually see it, but what was Tully's ceiling in 90s WCW? Does he join the Dangerous Alliance? Fill Orndorff's role? If Arn had stayed in the WWF, I can see them using him in a midcard role. At least for a year or two. Tully was such a product of 80s brat pack and yuppie culture that it's hard to see him being successful in any other role. The Rockers, on the other hand, seemed primed for a run as WWF tag champs. It's too bad that Vince lost interest in the tag division during '89.

That's because Santo was one of the most formulaic wrestlers of all-time, and if there were any sort of decent discourse surrounding him, the point would be well-discussed. I'm generally of the opinion that it's exciting every time you see it, but that's because I don't watch a lot of Santo matches in succession. You can't really compare it to the genius of Casas, who was a superior performer to Santo in terms of adlibbing and improvisation. I think it makes more sense to compare Santo to the likes of Solar, Lizmark and Atlantis with the knowledge that Santo had far more control over his career, and was aided by a famous father and legendary mask. Santo was an excellent wrestler, no doubt, but he doesn't leave this guys in the dust if you break down what they're actually doing in the ring. One of the most enlightening moments I ever had online was a guy breaking down the AAA Psicosis/Santo singles bout and pointing out the flaws in it. If there were more posts like that, I think we'd have a better handle on exactly how good Santo is.

Latin Lover, Lizmark & Solomon Grundy vs Angel Blanco Jr., Pirata Morgan & Satanico (AAA, 11/12/93) Man, Lizmark has his work cut out for him carrying that trio. Mind you, with the amount of bickering Morgan and Satanico are doing, he probably could have chosen anyone to be his partners. Angel Blanco Jr is the man who has been given the unenviable task of keeping Morgan and Satanico from killing each other. Satanico smartly has his hair slicked back. He knew the right signals to send to the audience. Blanco and Lover start things on the mat, which surprises me, and you know what? It's not bad. Blanco works a few holds, and if you squint a bit you could almost mistake him for Dr. Wagner Jr. Satanico and Lizmark work a rapidfire exchange, and Pirata takes some decent bumps for Grundy. They switch it up in the segunda caida, and Pirata and Lizmark put on a show. Man, I wish we'd gotten that match during Lizmark's AAA run. Lizmark and Blanco wind up having an exciting exchange where it's hard to tell if Blanco was always this good or if it's Lizmark bringing it out of him. It's a two fall bout that leads to some divine Satanico/Pirata brawling, but the tecnicos work together smoothly and are extremely effective. Never judge a book by its cover. The brawling is mana from heaven. Their hair match was always one of my favorite matches of the 90s. I've been afraid to revisit it in my current state of mind, but if you're like me and you've never seen the lead up to it, find the matches. You won't regret it.

I like this look for Hero. I'm used to watching him clean shaven, wearing the blue Superman t-shirt. I don't know who originated this look on the indies, but he reminds me of Steve Corino. Danielson looks like Luke Skywalker with a beard. I've seen a lot of comments about this being unfocused. It's true that they move from one section to the other, starting with what some folks would call a matwork section (to me it was more holds than matwork), then potato shots, big moves and strikes. I've never wrestled a match, but I imagine it's easier to break it down into sections in your head. You run the risk of telegraphing things for fans who've been around the block a few times, but I'm willing to cut them a little slack. The strikes weren't as popular among reviewers as the early mat portions, but I really liked the ear shots. I wish more wrestlers would take a page out of Hero's playbook and mess with a guy's ears. It's better than the twisty shit he does on simple moves. I get why wrestlers like to get a little showy with moves, but if you're a big guy just drop an elbow or knee. You'll get more mileage out of it in the long run. The size difference bothered me early on. I kept thinking that Hero should just beat the crap out of Danielson, so I was actually happy to see Danielson crank thing up. The two things Danielson had going for him here were high impact strikes and nasty looking submissions. The best in the world shit drives me crazy. I know it's a gimmick, but the fans are so slavish about it. You're wrestling in front of a 100 fans. You're not the best in the world. You're the best indy worker to make tape. Still, everybody takes that shit seriously. The whole story revolves around Hero having to prove that he's better than Danielson even though he's the champ. It's too bad they deliver a regular sort of bout instead of a match for the ages. Regular Hero/Danielson isn't bad, but can't live up to the hype. I liked this moment-to-moment, and I thought the finish was cool, but I dunno what they smoke on cagematch to rate this so high. Whatever it is, it must be the best in the world.

Pretty simple. I'm gonna watch one match for every wrestler who made the top 100. I'll pick the highest match from cagematch that I haven't seen (and can find online.) Feel free to join me, tell me I'm wrong, whatever you like. #100 Chris Hero So, the highest ranked Hero match on cagematch is some elusive German indie match. Therefore, I'll go with: Chris Hero vs. Bryan Danielson (PWG, 9/4/09) I like this look for Hero. I'm used to watching him clean shaven, wearing the blue Superman t-shirt. I don't know who originated this look on the indies, but he reminds me of Steve Corino. Danielson looks like Luke Skywalker with a beard. I've seen a lot of comments about this being unfocused. It's true that they move from one section to the other, starting with what some folks would call a matwork section (to me it was more holds than matwork), then potato shots, big moves and strikes. I've never wrestled a match, but I imagine it's easier to break it down into sections in your head. You run the risk of telegraphing things for fans who've been around the block a few times, but I'm willing to cut them a little slack. The strikes weren't as popular among reviewers as the early mat portions, but I really liked the ear shots. I wish more wrestlers would take a page out of Hero's playbook and mess with a guy's ears. It's better than the twisty shit he does on simple moves. I get why wrestlers like to get a little showy with moves, but if you're a big guy just drop an elbow or knee. You'll get more mileage out of it in the long run. The size difference bothered me early on. I kept thinking that Hero should just beat the crap out of Danielson, so I was actually happy to see Danielson crank thing up. The two things Danielson had going for him here were high impact strikes and nasty looking submissions. The best in the world shit drives me crazy. I know it's a gimmick, but the fans are so slavish about it. You're wrestling in front of a 100 fans. You're not the best in the world. You're the best indy worker to make tape. Still, everybody takes that shit seriously. The whole story revolves around Hero having to prove that he's better than Danielson even though he's the champ. It's too bad they deliver a regular sort of bout instead of a match for the ages. Regular Hero/Danielson isn't bad, but can't live up to the hype. I liked this moment-to-moment, and I thought the finish was cool, but I dunno what they smoke on cagematch to rate this so high. Whatever it is, it must be the best in the world.

Angel Azteca, El Mexicano & Solar vs. Espectro Jr., Pirata Morgan & Satanico (AAA, 11/5/93) This started off with an exchange between Satanico and Solar. Of course it was good. How could it not be? Every time I see Solar work like this, it reminds me that he doesn't get his due. At least not as a trios worker. The jury is still out on him as a singles worker. This was an entertaining bout. Espectro Jr was a workhorse. There was no reason for him to work as hard as he did here. What a champ. The match broke down when Satanico hit Pirata by mistake. That error ended up costing Pirata's team the bout. Up until then, Pirata had been trying to play peacemaker, but this time he attacked Satanico, and let me tell you, there are few things in wrestling better than Pirata Morgan and Satanico punching each other. Pirata's work in the bout was an improvement over his stuff with Jerry Estrada, but I wonder if he was carrying some sort of niggle at the time. He wasn't moving or bumping like the Pirata we're familiar with. I'm not entirely sure when he stopped working like that. This may have been when he started slowing down.

So, what matches would people like to see between the top 100 wrestlers?

This was considered one of Morishima's better title defenses. It was nothing special in that regard, but I mostly watched it because of Claudio. I'm still trying to get a handle on what makes him so popular. It was kind of endearing how loudly they rooted for him. There was some fun bomb throwing, and the finishing stretch was exciting. The commentators pointed out the strain that Morishima's title reign was placing on him, and the constant wear and tear from traveling between Japan and the US, especially that connecting flight to the East Coast. A title change was on the cards, but Claudio wouldn't be the man to do it. Try telling that to the crowd, though. They were right behind him despite his odds being slim to none. It was a cool mix of Claudio being a popular dude and the crowd having fun playing along. They would've popped like that kid in the Simmons fight if he'd won the damn thing.

I didn't see the video package so I have no idea why they're having a Hell in a Cell match, and of course the commentators didn't explain. They were pushing it as the feud of the year and an all-timer, and while I don't think the ring work backs that up, I can see how people would enjoy this rivalry. There was a part when they were both busted open where I started thinking "this is pretty cool" and then the shit with Edge happened. As far as Edge histrionics go it wasn't bad, but it was a TV finish. Hell in a Cell matches deserve better. The first half of the bout was their regular match, and you kept wondering when the cage would come into play. Then they went to all that trouble to bleed everywhere. The chair shots were sickening, especially the one on the steel steps, but the blood deserved more. Even JBL was alluding to the fact that Edge had robbed us of a masterpiece. It wasn't a masterpiece, but I agree with the general sentiment.

I'm jumping about depending on what takes my fancy. I might go back to that.

It amazes me that you bang the drum for technical wrestling over and over again and recommend a bunch of kitsch stuff. What's next, you're gonna recommend the swimming pool matches? To the original poster, I recommend you visit https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/ where the matches were originally reviewed and follow Matt and Sebastian's reviews, along with David here.

There was a podcast in 2016 where Charles, Will and Dylan (Hales/Waco) argued for Flair vs. Lawler vs. Funk.

There's probably morality play stuff that might resonate with the younger crowd.

Thanks, fellas.

Well, I dunno about that. It has a rich wrestling history. It just needs to be curated better.

I thought there was a chance that Morishima in Japan would be more interesting than Morishima in ROH, but he was the same boring ass worker. There are only a few workers in wrestling history who've been able to base their entire offense around their ass and not look like a complete dipshit, and Morishima's not one of them. I do like the Morishima/McGuinness match up between than the generic big man/small man Danielson stuff even if there are some dumb big man spots. I still don't get the Morishima thing. Surely, there was enough mileage in Danielson vs. McGuinness to have Danielson chase McGuinness instead of Morishima.

I liked the part where Morishima went after the eye, but that was the finish. I wish he'd targeted it from the start. Aside from that it was fairly generic.

Pirata Morgan vs. Jerry Estrada (AAA, 10/29/93) Satanico didn't interfere in this after all. It was a mano a mano, which is a low ceiling to begin with, but for some reason they chose to work painfully slow. The holds weren't bad, but by the end of it, Estrada had been carried off and they just beat up on his mini instead. Ah, who am I kidding, this not what you want from a Pirata Morgan/Estrada match.

Wow, I did not see that coming. Dylan won after all those years. i like that I can’t relate to anyone from any era.

In that case, I would recommend skipping trios matches. You miss some of the build for the singles matches but most of that you can live without. A lot of lucha fans are so familiar with the different trios match variations that I guess they naturally understand that "oh, it's gonna be this type of trios match" and then focus on tiny details like the matchup between wrestlers A and B in the second fall or how the third string storyline plays out. The thing about trios matches is that the majority of them suck. Well, suck is probably too harsh, but it's not like they're constantly pumping out classic trios matches. Even seasoned lucha fans can get frustrated over which trios matches to watch, or are looking for tips from other folks about trios matches that feature a particularly interesting detail. An exciting trios match is a thing of beauty, though.

Cien Caras, Jerry Estrada & Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Fishman, Pirata Morgan & Satanico (AAA, 10/22/93) This started off with Morgan and Estrada brawling, but it was somewhat uninspiring considering they had a match the following week. Things didn't pick up until Masacara Ano 2K and Satanico remembered that they hated each other. That led to a miscue between Morgan and Satanico, planting the seeds for their hair match. To be honest, their scuffle after the bout was more interesting than anything that happened during the match. I was kind of bummed that they dropped the Estrada issue cold. It wouldn't surprise me if their match is used to advance the storyline between Pirata and Satanico.

I read Twitter a bit, but it's hard to follow the discussions. Reddit is easier for this old man to follow.

I would consider the mid-70s to be Funk's prime, at least athletically speaking. The AJPW stuff adds to the volume of footage, but I'm assuming that volume of work refers to the number of great matches we have from a worker. I should really have said one or two more great matches from his prime. A quick glance at cagematch (for argument's sake) tells me that Funk only has around 25 matches rated over 8.00 for his entire career. That doesn't seem like a lot for a top 2 guy of all-time. Quite possibly the lowest of anyone in the top 10. There are other reasons to love Funk, and perhaps a lot of his stuff is underrated, but if Bret isn't a volume guy (as has been stated) then how is Funk any better?