ohtani's jacket

As for Fukuzawa, the less said the better... I'll defer to Hisa here: "No offense, but among the Japanese fans, Akira Fukuzawa was not the most popular announcer. His approach was rather comical and over-reacting (plus, his high-pitched voice), and that contradicted the stiff style of All Japan during that time. His style was somewhat controversial, and Hiroshi Hase, still with New Japan then, once said, "if I meet him in person, I'd probably punch him into the face". So, if you knew the language, there's a big chance you wouldn't enjoy his style. Don't get me wrong, though. He had a lot of fans because of his unique style, but in general, his predecessor Kenji Wakabayashi is a lot more popular and respected."

Wakabayashi was the one the fans loved and petitioned to come back. He complained on air about the show being cut from an hour to thirty minutes, which I'm sure would endear him to folks.

I love Keith Haward. I think he's a wrestling machine. He reminds me of a 1981 Ken Shamrock. The trouble is he was all business, no personality and that lack of charisma will cost him dearly, especially when there's so many larger than life TV personalities to be discovered.

Boscik is a guy who disappointed me at first I suppose because I expected him to be the most tricked out mat worker ever (with the name and him being Hungarian and all.) It wasn't until I watched his matches with Grey (who else?) that I realised what a great bumping and stooging heel he was, and I appreciate that aspect of his work more now. I need to revisit some of the earlier stuff I dismissed, but he's a second tier WoS guy to me and he's hurt by his 80s stuff not being that great. We do have a good sampling of his late 70s peak though, so that's a positive.

That's interesting. I didn't pick up on that. You should be writing this blog!

The "deaf and dumb star" Alan Kilby. Yes, he really was deaf, and a fantastic wrestler too. Bert Royal, brother of Vic Faulkner and one half or the Royals tag team which were the Rock 'n' Roll Express of their day. Another contender for Walton's favourite wrestler of all time. This is a 2-1 as it also has McManus' long time partner in crime, Steve Logan. See if you can spot his neck.

The mat genius, Alan Sarjeant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyLWeyqcIN8 The wrestling machine, Keith Haward:

Perhaps the only world class wrestler to ever wrestle cross-eyed, Marty Jones. Here in one of his classic matches against Mark Rocco: One of the finest lightweights to ever grace a ring, the incomparable Jon Cortez:

Jackie Turpin vs. Sid Cooper (11/20/78) This was a fairly standard Cooper match. In fact, he was on TV two other times in the same year working similar matches with newcomers Mal Sanders and the Dynamite Kid. Walton mentioned that Turpin was really coming along after looking like a novice in his first two or three bouts. It's nice to have some honesty sometimes. Cooper would have these nights where it all clicked, the heat was tremendous and the match fantastic. This wasn't one of those nights. He got good heat -- there was a woman in the third or four row who kept getting out of her seat and whacking him -- but the heat was on him more than it was Turpin. It didn't help that Cooper scored the first fall only to have it waved off by the ref -- a decision even Walton couldn't explain. Turpin was up a fall when again he punched an opponent and was disqualified. I have no idea why they kept using that finish. Yeah, Turpin was a newcomer and yeah maybe he was used to boxing, but why make him look like an idiot? His uncle was booked in boxer vs. wrestler fights, but as far as I know this was just a cheap finish with no payoff in the halls. Jackie Turpin vs. Tally Ho Kaye (3/12/80) By 1980 Turpin was much improved and looked like the guy I admired from the Steve Grey and Jim Breaks bouts. The Digbeth crowd was raucous and got on Kaye's case by imitating hunting dogs. I've never heard anything like it. He began the bout by straight out wrestling (since he didn't need to lift a finger to get heat) and I was impressed with his strength holds. The first few rounds was the best Turpin has looked so far, but the bout wore on, the crowd became tired of yelping, and the match stumbled towards a conclusion as the middle rope came undone. Jackie Robinson vs. Jackie Turpin (12/17/80) The only part of this that survived is the finish with both men unable to beat the count in round two. Poor old Jackie Robinson. He looks like a great worker, but so much of his footage is butchered.

Play-by-play Ichiro Shimizu (1972-78) Takao Kuramochi (1976-1990) Kenji Wakabayashi (circa 1985-1995) Akira Fukuzawa (1989-1997) Colour Takashi Yamada (1972~) Hiroshi Tatsuruhama (1972-85) Kosuke Takeuchi (early 90s) Basically, there would be a main announcer and a secondary announcer who worked for NTV and then colour commentators who were sports writers or worked for the magazines. The dates are a bit rough, but somewhere within that ball park. Kuramochi and Wakabayashi are the most famous All Japan play by play announcers and Kuramochi & Yamada the most popular pairing among fans. Akira Fukuzawa often gets the credit for Wakabayashi's work. I'm 99% sure for example that Wakabayashi called Misawa's win over Jumbo, for example.

I'm not a big fan of that Masami/Nakano match either. It felt like one giant stalemate. To an extent that's what they were going for, but there were too many momentum shifts and I agree that it was largely filler. The part that bothered me most was about 10 minutes in when Devil gave Bull the power bomb on the outside. That was an opportunity for Devil to take control of the match and enjoy some sustained momentum, but Bull countered the very next attempt and did a stomp off the apron. Those back and forward momentum swings typified the match and I hated that they reset the bout halfway through with Devil passing her the nunchucks. The length didn't really bother me, but I did watch it in a detached way. The stretch run was okay. Overall, it felt like they were going for a slow build without there really being a slow burn. It could have been more boring I suppose if they'd just laid around in holds. Be thankful for small blessings. I kind of felt it vindicated my views that modern NJPW isn't such a far cry from what wrestlers were doing in the 90s structure wise.

I would avoid that Satanico/Jerry Estrada/Pirata Morgan stuff at all costs. The Pirata Morgan vs. Estrada mano a mano match is one of the single worst things I've seen from AAA.

Marty Jones is the kind of wrestler that people around here are geared towards liking. I have no doubt that Regal and Finlay would tip their hat and call Jones the Daddy. He had the kind of psychology that people like from those sort of workers. Here's my list of recommended matches: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones (6/30/76) Terry Rudge vs. Marty Jones (11/30/76) Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones (7/26/78) Marty Jones vs. Tony St. Clair (9/26/78) Marty Jones vs. Johnny South (10/7/81) Marty Jones vs. Dynamite Kid (1/19/83) Marty Jones vs. Dave Finlay (4/4/84) Marty Jones vs. Dave Finlay (11/23/84) Marty Jones vs. Bull Blitzer (Steve Wright) (4/23/86) Once you get deeper into the Marty Jones catalogue there are the inevitable disappointments and his form wavered as he gained weight in '85, but even late in the television run he's one of the more consistent workers and tries to carry the flag with a series of title match defences. They just clip the shit out of his matches, that's all.

Most of the AAA I suggested got taken down. Sorry.

Octagon had a pretty average mano a mano bout with Satanico in '91. Not as bad as his title matches against Blue Panther but not a patch on the first match against Fuerza. You should check out the Jerry Estrada/Satanico hair match from 1990. I thought Estrada ruined it, but you might get something out of Satanico's performance. Satanico vs. Perro Aguayo from 1994 is disappointing given who it is, but you should probably check it out as well. And the Infernales/Dinamitas feud if you can find it.

I'm getting this mental image of a war picture where Jumbo lets his injured platoon member save himself.

I can see that. If you view it as just another Japanese pro-wrestling fed then I guess it's a step above SWS. If you're a big Vader fan or even enjoy the fish out of water element I can understand enjoying it. If they were pro style matches in a shoot style vein and completely mind blowing like Hashimoto/Zangiev, I would be all over it.

The only good thing about that Yamazaki bout is the few times Vader stiffs him for real. Vader's pro-style selling of the Yamazaki's kicks, including that spot where they tumbled over the ropes, is awful, and he can't counter the single piece of matwork (Yamazaki's armbar) in a compelling way. The chokeslam is terrible. Chokeslams have no place in shoot style to begin with, but that wasn't even a good one.

I've never quite understood why you hate his UWFI matches so much. Is it more what he did or more your dislike for the whole aesthetic of that promotion? Or both? He just looked so ungainly. It reminds me of that big Korean guy who did MMA. White didn't have a clue what he was doing half the time, which takes you out of the fight. Plus I don't like the way he was presented backstage as some kind of psychotic lunatic. Character portrayal is something that hurts Vader in my eyes and that's as equally true for Japan as it is for the WWF.

Well, he had those punches. I don't think you can overestimate the effect of those punches. He's a guy I like, but I don't think he was ever a great worker. During the Smarkschoice WCW poll I often mentioned his cookie cutter match structure and how telegraphed it was. I actually think I like his stuff from before '92 more than his prime. His shoot style stuff was awful and that's accounting for the fact he wasn't a shoot style guy. I would rather watch him fight Otto Wanz a million times than ever watch him face Nobuhiko Takada again (who I saw on television the other day, incidentally.) If I vote for him it would be somewhere around 75. That could go up if I watch some matches.

I think you can argue that from '76 to '84 Jones was one of the best workers in the world. He has a strong case for being the best guy in the UK during that period as well. Grey and Breaks were consistently better television appearance to television appearance but Jones had the most high end matches. I can think of at least five Jones matches that would be contenders for the ten best WoS bouts on tape.

His CWA stuff against Wanz is arguably better than his New Japan stuff.

Have you seen the Pirata Morgan/Satanico hair match from AAA? It's a real hidden classic. Also check out the trios Matt D recommended to me the other day -- Satanico/La Parka/Psicosis vs. Santo/Azteca/Super Muneco. His AAA work is disappointing, but he was the complete opposite from a Pena style worker so it's not surprising.

Jose told me about this once, but I can't remember the details. Either people thought Blue Demon was the better worker or Demon used to say so himself. Santo looks good in the films, but they're only films.

Bobby Barnes -- former tag partner of Adrian Street who carried on their gimmick after Street had left for the independents. A very good performer in his own right with an uncanny ability to keep a straight face. Tony "Banger" Walsh -- rarely has so much been made from so little. Average worker who turned himself into a heat merchant. Unfortunately, he was so hot he ended up facing Big Daddy more than any other worker, depriving us of better bouts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTnsd9cfEU