ohtani's jacket

I thought this was pretty good to begin with as it was two hosses fighting and scrapping for a takedown, which is exactly how a match of this sort should be worked, but it all went downhill when Tenryu sold that lariat. It's easier said that done, but he should have played it like he avoided the move by ducking out of the way. As soon as Choshu took over, the match became a Choshu-style match in the worst sense of the term. Nearfalls and teased finishes are great, but when that's all of you've got things tend to drag. And to make matters worse, Tenryu was having a poor night on the offensive end. His execution issues are unfortunately the predominant image I have of him, and not that awesome worker from the Koshinaka match, and here they raised their ugly head. The finish was also weak. It wasn't so much because he had to repeat the powerbomb, as you could forgive the first one not being executed properly, but rather that the powerbomb put Choshu away at all. That didn't seem at all well built to. Pretty stark contrast between this and the Koshinaka bout.

I thought this was pretty good to begin with as it was two hosses fighting and scrapping for a takedown, which is exactly how a match of this sort should be worked, but it all went downhill when Tenryu sold that lariat. It's easier said that done, but he should have played it like he avoided the move by ducking out of the way. As soon as Choshu took over, the match became a Choshu-style match in the worst sense of the term. Nearfalls and teased finishes are great, but when that's all of you've got things tend to drag. And to make matters worse, Tenryu was having a poor night on the offensive end. His execution issues are unfortunately the predominant image I have of him, and not that awesome worker from the Koshinaka match, and here they raised their ugly head. The finish was also weak. It wasn't so much because he had to repeat the powerbomb, as you could forgive the first one not being executed properly, but rather that the powerbomb put Choshu away at all. That didn't seem at all well built to. Pretty stark contrast between this and the Koshinaka bout.

Satanico vs. Sangre Chicana, NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, Arena Puebla 9/24/83 Ever wondered what a luchador does the night after a legendary hair match? Take a booking for a title match of course. This was very much a "house show title match" in that the fans were left short changed by the finish. I imagine a lot of matches from the 80s that look awesome on paper were booked this way. The really great thing about the footage is that it was a handheld shot from ringside; so you got a lot of close-ups of not only the work but the wrestler's features, instead of the fourth generation lucha footage we're used to where you can barely make out what people look like. That was almost enough to put it in the Smithsonian given 1983 was probably the most significant year of Sangre Chicana's career and also bang smack in the middle of Satanico's prime (Satanico being the greatest worker to make tape in these past 32 years.) Sangre looked a bit like Richard Gere in close-up. This wasn't an off the charts performance from him; but if anybody deserves a night off after a hair match, Chicana would be up there after the beating he took at the hands of MS-1. Chicana was never the greatest mat wrestler around, so the bout played out a bit like a mano a mano. There was a bit of mat work to start with, and some fantastic submission attempts deeper into the bout, but mostly it was built around some pretty heavy collisions involving a guy who didn't really come into the bout at 100%. He stayed down for a long time after Satanico hit a plancha, and there was a guy shining an industrial strength TV lamp on him as he grimaced on the outside. The match flirted with greatness, but never quite got there. It was like a 3 3/4 star match that you could convince yourself was a 4 star bout but ended just as it was getting good. The highlight for me was seeing the detail in Satanico's work in close-up. I love Satanico's grappling stance and could watch him tie up with motherfuckers all day long, and would probably love to visit the gym when he's training guys, but it's his selling that separates him from the rest. No matter the match situation, he's always "on." It doesn't matter whether he's in peril or completely in control, he makes every moment convey something. After the bout, which as I said ended prematurely, they squared off for a bit and Chicana caught Satanico with a right hand flush against the jaw. The handheld guy scrambled for an interview as Satanico was leaving and he was biting on a towel between his teeth and clutching at his jaw while rolling off a promo. Did he cop one for real or was it just selling? Who knows with a master like Satanico. I thought the bout finished too soon after Chicana's tope and was ultimately too short. If it had gone on for a bit longer I would have no hesitation in calling it a 4 star lucha libre bout. It's still a really good bout and an even better historical document, but incomplete in terms of its three act structure. I was really into the submission attempts and jeopardy they were creating there and the match was getting really good before they cut it short, so a wee bit frustrating as you can probably tell from my tone, but you can't escape from what it is -- a 1983 handheld between Satanico and Sangre Chicana. How this remained hidden for so long in that one guy's match list is a bit of a mystery, but I guess people figured it was their '89 bout, which was foreshadowed quite nicely, incidentally, by the punches at the end. Satanico nailing Chicana when he's turned to greet the fans was vintage Lopez, and if you're not going to finish with a result at least they loosened a few teeth and left a sore taste in each other's mouths. Still wish these two had met in a hair match instead of Chicana being suspended for throwing some chairs. Seems like one of the great lost opportunities from this era of lucha libre wrestling, but I guess you can say that about a lot of rudo vs. rudo match-ups. Anyway, enjoy this the way you'd enjoy old game footage from champion seasons past and you won't go wrong. Just try not to be let down by the too-soon finish and the blow off you'll never get to see. The sooner you do that, the sooner you'll no longer pine for the footage we don't have and the stuff that was never taped, because to be honest, a lot of it probably wasn't that great. Kinda like that girl you won't to date in high school but never could.

The Invader/Muta street fight was another good Invader match. I love how Muta showed up to the fight in street clothes. That was a swank belt buckle he had on. Nice pair of jeans too. Went a bit long for what it was, but Invader's blade job was commendable. The post match made me want to see Invader/Jaggers.

Some of the build to this has dropped, but I didn't think it was that good.

Atlantis/La Fiera/Vampiro Casanova vs. Negro Casas/Mano Negra/Black Magic, CMLL 9/17/93 Negro Casas/Dr. Wagner Jr./Sangre Chicana vs. La Fiera/King Haku/Pegasus Kid, CMLL 9/24/93 Some more of the lead in to the Casas vs. Fiera Anniversary Show match has become available. I think the Haku match was on YouTube previously but the account was deleted. Matt reviewed it a while back mostly for the novelty of seeing Haku in Mexico; which reminds me, since he's probably reading this, that he needs to check out Kamala's matches in Mexico, which are a lot more fun. Because these aren't that great. Fiera and Casas chase each other around a lot, and just about everything Casas does looks good, but the matches are far from compelling; certainly compared with the trios work in Casas/Dandy and Casas/Dragon. The first match has three issues going on at the same time without anything in the way of a common thread. A good lead in trios with have a central issue accompanied by supporting players. Here everyone's doing their own thing; sometimes in the foreground, sometimes in the background, and the TV director switches between match-ups looking for the best shot. The match establishes Fiera and Casas brawling into the crowd and Fiera smashing Casas' head against the arena seats. It also features Fiera throwing Casas into the seats, which seemed seemed like an original spot in the hair match, but was pre-established. Casas blades, but -- and here's a shock -- his selling is bad. Now when it comes to the faces a guy makes when he's bladed, you're talking about a highly subjective thing, but for me they didn't work at all, and that surprises me since Casas is normally outstanding at this sort of thing. Others may disagree or think it's a trivial thing, but that's on top of Fiera not really giving a strong babyface performance. I don't want to go overboard, but if I've watched these trios prior to seeing the hair match, the Anniversary bout would have strongly exceeded my expectations. The second match is hardly worth watching unless, like Matt, you're interested in King Haku. The only thing it really sets up is that Fiera can pin Casas with his german, but he flubs the german and it doesn't even look good. What really disappointed me was that they had this interesting wrinkle where Casas was tagging with Chicana, who was Fiera's former trios partner and the man he'd feuded with to turn tecnico; they could have conspired to make Fiera's life a living misery, but instead it was less violent than the trios the week before. Haku and Pegasus Kid were superfluous and distracted from what should have been Casas and Fiera at each other's throats. The hair match is starting to get some acclaim as an all-time great lucha match and one of the best of the 90s, but the build doesn't help the feud much and I wouldn't put the total package as high as a lot of other 90s stuff.

Okay, now this was good.. Very simple and direct, but they sold well and it built to a tremendous finishing stretch with a great nearfall that everyone bit on. Koshinaka gets shat on a lot, but he was excellent here both on top and underneath. His blade job turned things up a notch by creating the illusion that it was hard way, and his selling was beautiful. Tenryu was also fantastic in this. Lariats, elbows, chops and powerbomb attempts, but it was extremely focused and he kept his opponent in his sights the entire time. When he wrestles like this, I can believe the things people say about him. Mowing people down from behind, sticking the boot in. But what about that finishing stretch? I bit on that nearfall along with the rest of the crowd. I love it when 20 year old wrestling can do that. The sequence after the false finish was extremely well done and the finish came on the right beat. Great match. Easy four stars.

Okay, now this was good.. Very simple and direct, but they sold well and it built to a tremendous finishing stretch with a great nearfall that everyone bit on. Koshinaka gets shat on a lot, but he was excellent here both on top and underneath. His blade job turned things up a notch by creating the illusion that it was hard way, and his selling was beautiful. Tenryu was also fantastic in this. Lariats, elbows, chops and powerbomb attempts, but it was extremely focused and he kept his opponent in his sights the entire time. When he wrestles like this, I can believe the things people say about him. Mowing people down from behind, sticking the boot in. But what about that finishing stretch? I bit on that nearfall along with the rest of the crowd. I love it when 20 year old wrestling can do that. The sequence after the false finish was extremely well done and the finish came on the right beat. Great match. Easy four stars.

I really dug this singles bout:

A few corrections on the dates: Jim Breaks vs. Zoltan Boscik (aired 12/2/72) Jim Breaks vs. Vic Faulkner (7/5/77) The Breaks/Young David trilogy: Jim Breaks vs. Young David (12/3/79) Jim Breaks vs. Young David (12/19/79) Jim Breaks vs. Young David (Davey Boy Smith) (2/13/80)

I was expecting him to look a whole lot worse. I guess it was a great carry by Arn because the Wajima fight was a million times worse.

Almost did a spit take when I read this. Dude lies in holds all the time. He'd always do that face lock spot where he'd smother a guy.

11/22/75 was the air date. The match was taped 11/20.

There was someone interested in pre-Parka Parka the other day. I'm sorry I don't remember who it was, but dataintcash uploaded a Principle Island match a few days ago:

Arena Mexico, El Toreo, Arena Coliseo, Palacio de los Deportes, Plaza de Toros Monumental, Arena Coliseo Monterrey, Auditorio de Tijuana. Royal Albert Hall.,, and whatever the town hall was called at Gravesend. Sumo Hall.

This was kind of predictable. I don't know why people were pimping La Parka to you as a must watch guy. The Santo match is from '01 as the '04 version is a clip.

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR Ep 8 Fit Finlay vs. Sandy Scott (4/28/87) This was the Princess Paula Show -- the latest in a long line of Finlay squashes despite it being a catchweight contest and Finlay being the lighter man. It was an extremely polished version of the Princess Paula Show, though, which at least made it entertaining. If kayfabe counted for anything then Finlay would be the 1987 European Wrestler of the Year, but matches count more in my world. Doc Dean vs. Aztec Warrior (Newcastle Emlyn, taped 2/5/92) Aztec Warrior was some kind of Kendo Nagasaki rip-off. I can't be bothered figuring out who he was. This was rank pro-wrestling. Maybe this type of heel vs. face dribble is some people's idea of pro-wrestling personified, but it's cartoon wrestling in my books. Otto Wanz vs. Drew McDonald (Denbigh, taped 1988) This was amusing because Wanz defended the CWA World Heavyweight Championship in some God forsaken Welsh town, but it didn't really provide much insight into McDonald, and my biggest takeaway regarding Wanz was that he looked like a beached whale every time he was back to canvas. Won't make you forget those Vader matches in a hurry. Rocky Moran vs. Fuji Yamada (Denbigh, taped 1987) Finally, a Liger match worth a damn. A little on the short side, but Moran did a superb job bumping for Liger and eating all of his shit. The Mighty Chang came to ringside afterwards and challenged Yamada, but we all know how poorly that turned out. Giant Haystacks vs. Boston Blackie (Merthyr, taped 3/29/90) Boston Blackie looked pretty good in his last outing, but it didn't really matter since he was facing Haystacks here. You may be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later, you job to the Haystacks. Haystacks looked a bit like One Man Gang during this era. Pat Roach vs. Skull Murphy (Merthyr, taped 3/29/90) Skull Murphy vs. Pat Roach! This was right up my alley. One of the biggest revelations of Reslo so far has been how good Roach was as a grizzled veteran. I thought he was washed up a long time before this, but he was laying into Murphy like it was old times again. They always went too short, or rather the promoters didn't give them long enough, but I love this match-up. You have Murphy the instigator/agitator up against a guy who is, literally, too big for him. Seriously, 1990 Roach, long in the tooth and white bearded, is one of the better aging veterans out there. A big revelation and a shame he didn't work Reslo more.

FYI, it's Yamamoto not Yammamoto. This was a nice match, especially the early mat work before they abandoned the grappling for a stand up contest. In the end, it was a bit one sided towards Yamamoto, who already had a big height advantage. Kohsaka got a few licks in, but it felt like a comprehensively beating regardless of points. Not as epic as their '97 bout.

Regarding Savage, the bout with Harley was a lot of fun, but too rushed to help his Wrestler of the Year case. Harley's WWF work is a feather in his cap, though. One that's rarely spoken about.

I can't remember how many matches he had in '89, but Fujiwara took things to a new level when he jumped to the UWF. And Maeda was the coolest motherfucker in Japan in '89.

I don't know if Santo was the biggest drawing card in Mexico, but the height of his drawing power was I assume from 1993 to 1999. Roughly speaking, from the Los Gringos Locos feud up until the end of the Bestia/Scorpio feud. He was certainly a draw before and after that period, but that was the height of his national exposure aside from maybe his run during the Mistico years.

It's on my wrestling fan bucket list to watch this WAR vs. New Japan stuff, so I knocked off a few over the last couple of days. They were fun matches, but I don't know that I'd call them great even accounting for the spectacle. Koshinaka and Kimura's brawling reminded me of cartoon wrestling. They weren't laying their shit in at all. Aoyagi was by far the best worker on the New Japan side, but the least prominent of the three and barely featured. The Tenryu exchanges were badass, but there wasn't enough Aoyagi. The crowd heat was amazing, especially the 10/23 Korakuen Hall show where Tenryu's female fans were losing their shit, but Tenryu didn't do much other than stand around and make faces. The 11/23 match couldn't match 10/23 for heat, but the work was better. I have a feeling going ahead that this stuff is going to be sloppy and heated, but there's plenty of theatre to it even if Choshu reaction shot was hokey.

I was impressed with the Jericho matches. Jericho is one of my least favourite guys around but they worked great together and all of their matches were good. There's so much emphasis in modern WWE on clever spots and a continuous stream of memorable "moments," which is made even more exasperating by the lengths the production crew go to film it from ever intrusive angles, but I thought their work together was about as organic as the modern style allows while still playing to the camera. I also enjoyed the Morrison and Ziggler bouts; workers I would never watch off my own back. The Elimination Chamber was all right -- a bit of a stuntman performance, a few novel spots like you'd expect, but not really as interesting as his singles match work, plus Edge's bug-eyed selling was off putting. Still, this was the first year where I thought all of his recommended matches were good. I don't know that they rank among his career best, but from this sample base, 2009 may have been his best year to date.

My guess is that it was either a Pena booking idea or had something to do with TV returning to Mexico City.

I wanted to echo this as well. Great reads.