ohtani's jacket

Gran Cochise, Villano III y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs. Fishman, Mocho Cota y Tony Bennetto (11/30/84) This marks the first appearance on the set of one of the biggest stars of the 80s, Fishman, which gives you an idea of how sketchy footage is. Fishman began training as a wrestler in Cicudad Juarez when he was 17 years old alongside El Marquez, El Cobarde I, and Cobrade's brother El Impostor, who later became El Cobrade II. Like most wrestlers from his generation, he claims to have been inspired by the iconic stars of yesteryear, in Fishman’s case Blue Demon and Black Shadow. His debut story, whether kayfabed or real, is a classic wrestling yarn about showing up to a card where one of the wrestlers had no-showed and being asked to wrestle despite only having a pair of underpants and some old boots lent to him by another wrestler. In the middle of 1972, he got a gig in Monterrey and by November he had worked his way up to Mexico City, where he got over despite working the more violent Monterrey style. Having established himself at Arena Mexico, he changed the design of his mask under the initiative of Lutteroth Sr. and began wearing the classic green mask with the yellow manta ray design. Despite the fact he was a rudo, he was pushed as one of the top welterweights in the country, initially supplanting Karloff Lagarde as the dominant Mexican National Welterweight Champion and then feuding extensively with his idol Blue Demon over both the national and world titles. He also had three important mask matches in the late 70s against El Faraon in '76, Sangre Chicana (in a triangle match with El Cobrade) at the '77 Anniversary show, and a week later against El Cobrade, his real life best friend. These mask matches not only launched the careers of El Faraon and Sangre Chicana, they pushed Fishman to further stardom, In spite of this, he walked out on EMLL and joined UWA in the second wave of defections. In the UWA, he was pushed as the their top light heavyweight through much of the early 80s, feuding with the likes of Perro Aguayo, Sangre Chicana, Villano III and Anibal, often in rudo vs. rudo feuds. At the time of this match, he was still the UWA World Light Heavyweight Champion having defeated Villano III for the vacant title on 4/1/84. As the 80s wore on, however, his star began to wane. The death of two of his closest friends in the business, El Cobrade and El Solitario, greatly affected him, the latter especially as Fishman was Solitario's final opponent and the magazines at the time initially blamed him for Solitario's death. Fishman continued to work for UWA until the early 90s when the majority of LLI’s talent left for either CMLL or AAA. Fishman made the jump to AAA, but the worker who made TV after many long years, despite still being a fine brawler in my opinion, didn’t match the legendary status of his name, leading many to question whether he ever any good. Those who saw him in Cicudad Juarez swear he was one of the all-time greats. The 1977 Anniversary show three-way mask match exists on tape, but it’s unlikely that we’ll ever get to see it. From the fragments that exist of his pre-AAA career, he looks like a fantastic rudo brawler. Also making his debut on the set is Rayo de Jalisco Jr. Rayo’s father, Rayo de Jalisco Sr., was a big star in the 60s and an absolute legend in the Jalisco region. Rayo Sr. didn’t want his son to become a wrestler, so initially Rayo Jr. kept his training a secret from his father. He was trained in Guadalajara under Diablo Velazco, making his debut as a 15 year-old as “Rayman.” It was Rayo’s uncle, Tony Sugar, who convinced Rayo Sr. to watch his boy wrestle and bestow the Rayo de Jalisco character upon him complete with the famous lightening bolt mask. Rayo Sr. then took his boy under his wing until he was ready to work in the Federal District. Rayo Jr.’s most famous feud in EMLL was his long running rivalry with Cien Caras, which came to a head on 9/14/90 in a mask vs. mask match that drew the biggest crowd in EMLL history. In fact, they crammed so many people into Arena Mexico that the upper deck suffered structural damage from the weight of so many extra fans. For many it was the Match of the Century and certainly the most anticipated lucha match since the 1953 Santo/Black Shadow mask match. In 1984, however, Rayo was still finding his way and had won and lost the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship in short order. Another wrestler new to the set is Tony Benetto. Benetto is better known as Gran Markus Jr., a gimmick he took on when the original Gran Markus was looking for a successor, but originally he had an Italian Mafioso gimmick. Like Rayo Jr., Benetto was a heavyweight and up until this point his biggest push had been a strong rivalry with Halcon Ortiz that included two hair matches and a heavyweight title change. This trios was part of the build to a Gran Cochisse/Mocho Cota hair match on the 12/7/84 Arena Mexico show.

I like storytelling in wrestling as much as the next guy, but I think people go overboard with it. A real story gets rewritten a dozen times until it's any good. Wrestling is closer to improv than writing, and while it borrows story elements, the art of selling has more to do with acting than storytelling. I look at it as performance art rather than a storytelling medium. There's a narrative to most matches because they build from a beginning to an end, but they don't have the depth of a comic book and there's almost no lasting consequences or irreversible change. Ironically enough, when companies try to add depth like WWE it's often labelled as contrived or self-conscious. It's a medium that works best off the cuff unlike true storytelling which requires an inordinate amount of thought. Another thing, it really does help if you're technically good. I like Lawler, though the Lawler I watch is dependent on his opponent rather than wanting to watch Lawler vs. anybody, but I could never rate him over guys who can work the mat. That's not fathomable.

I don't exactly shout it from the rooftops, but everyone at work knows about it. I haven't really gotten any shit for it, though.

I think the answer is fluid. What I think is good wrestling now is not what I thought was good wrestling 10 or 15 years ago. It's not just that my tastes have changed, but my attitudes as well. I honesty think mood plays a huge part in perception. I don't really believe in any fixed tenants since in my current mood I'm likely to reject them. I find the vast majority of wrestling boring. Good wrestling is whatever jumps out at you.

Javier Cruz vs. El Dandy (Hair vs. Hair) (10/26/84) So far we've seen a lot of headliners crossing promotions and continuing feuds in different territories. What makes this match special is that it features two guys who came up through the EMLL system. Both wrestlers trained in Guadalajara under Diablo Velazco and Pedro Anguiano and made their debuts in the Jalisco territory before being called up to Mexico City. Despite the fact that the LLI/UWA was outdrawing EMLL rather heavily, there was a lot of optimism in the EMLL office that it was their feeder territories that would produce the next generation of stars. In particular, Paco had high hopes for El Dandy, La Fiera and Jerry Estrada. As we know, only one of those workers lived up to his potential and the other two flaked out due to drugs, but in the 1984 landscape those were the bright young hopes. Cruz wasn't as charismatic as those workers I mentioned and subsequently never received their level of push, but he held on to a solid spot through most of the 80s up until the TV boom where he struggled to make an impact. A technico for much of the 80s, they turned him rudo in the early 90s, but he didn't have the panache to pull it off. His push for the most productive part of his career centered around a "El Tijeras de Oro" (Golden Scissors) gimmick, which is where you win a lot of hair matches and gain the rep of being hard to beat in a hair match. He also enjoyed a trios run with "Los Xavieres," a group made up of Cruz, Chamaco Valaguez, Americo Rocca, and sometimes Javier Llanes, all of whom shared the first name of Xavier/Javier. Cruz was also an early rival of El Dandy. The pair had a lengthy feud over the NWA World Welterweight Championship that began when Valaguez vacated the title in '85 and continued through 1986. A week after reclaiming the world's title from Cruz, the pair met in a second hair vs. hair match that I believe is the match Dr. Alfonso Morales always refers to as one of the all-time memorable bloodbaths. A few years later, Cruz got a measure of revenge over Dandy by taking the Mexican National Middleweight title from him before the belt was given to Octagon, which heralded a new style of booking.

When I check the board on my iphone, I automatically get the mobile version of the IP. Board skin. If I want to use the legacy skin I have to change it manually every time. Is there any way around this? Also, I'm typing this on the "full version" of the board on my iPhone and the reply box is really small.

Mimi Hagiwara vs. Mami Kumano, 1981 This should have been the easiest match in the world to work as you had the Queen Bitch against the prettiest girl in the company yet somehow it was dull and uninspiring. Mami Kumano vs. Tomi Aoyama, 1980 This was from somewhere famous for apples, maybe Nagano or Aomori. Kumano hit Aoyama over the head with an apple and later on there was a payback spot. Not quite on the level of your Tupelo concession stand brawl, but a bit of citrus violence. Aoyama was such a mini-Jackie. They were gearing up to have her replace Sato in the long term, but injuries ended her career. This was by the numbers, but there were some cool spots. Mami Kumano vs. Lucy Kayama, 1980 This was a real knock-down, drag-out fight. It looked to be from Okinawa and both girls worked hard in the heat with the sweat just pouring off them. It was a real stalemate, but they scrapped with everything they had. It was the same kind of brawling seen over and over in this era, but you had to admire the effort. Sherri Martel vs. Devil Masami, 1983 This was fun just seeing Scary Sherri take on Devil Masami. Of course, they treated her like she was nothing, just a bit of roadkill for Masami, but it was cool seeing her bump and scrap. Mimi Hagiwara vs. Devil Masami, 1983 Classic match-up with Masami working over Mimi's arm and brutalising her as usual. I've been thinking lately about whether I like Mimi's punches and I've decided I'm cool with them. I can kayfabe accept those punches, girl. Devil did her usual schtick, and it was amusing seeing Dump run around as her junior. People love to gossip about there being heat between those two. Devil was of course the better worker, but I think Dump did more with the whole never-ending Black Gundam concept. Match had a shitty countount finish. The Matsunagas may deserve to be in the WON HOF for promoting, but their booking was second rate and their television was just awful.

What's with the line spacing issue?

Virus vs. Titan, Mexican National Welterweight Championship, CMLL 1/28/14 Of all the older maestros in CMLL who regularly take on young guys, Virus is by far the best at putting young guys over. This was a title defence for Titan, and given the disparity in skill levels, Virus could have eaten him alive on the mat and just about everywhere else, but you never get the feeling that Virus needs to prove himself. He's not busting his workrate chops to prove he can still hang, he's just guiding a young guy through the closest he'll come to an old school lucha title match. The first fall is a classic lucha title match opening caida, featuring parity on the mat followed by some rope running and a submission maneuver. A mat section in a lucha title match shouldn't be a welcome sight, but too often even maestros forgo mat work against workers they know aren't technically proficient enough. When they do work the mat, they either spend too much time with back to canvas or put the young guy through a labyrinth of holds where the only way out is for the maestro to feed them an arm. Virus, respecting the old school traditions, went hold-for-hold, and while to the trained eye it was obvious that Titan isn't much of a mat wrestler, they successfully created the illusion that he was good enough to be a champion. Virus had the edge because he's a maestro, but he didn't flaunt it. After opening his account, the challenger did what he does best in working a methodical, slower paced fall where he kept the young flier grounded and stirred the pot for the champion's eventual comeback. Much has been made of Titan "popping up" after so much legwork, but the pop up didn't bother me as he couldn't follow through on his celebration and collapsed to one knee, making it obvious that adrenaline had propelled his pop up. What made me despair was the cartwheel he's added to his hurricanrana. I understand that he's young and concerned with what he can do to stand out and get noticed, but cut that shit out. The third fall was beautifully laid out and further proof that Virus is the best third caida guy in the business. Titan started to over power Virus on the strike exchanges and wouldn't bite on any of Virus' counters. A monkey flip off the apron led to Titan following up Virus' big bump with a gorgeous moonsault plancha that the crowd had been waiting for. Third caidas are traditionally 50/50 when it comes to offence, but Virus gave the champion a large part of the fall to put over the rising star. A spectacular somersault plancha was a crowd pleaser, with a shot of a little boy getting positively giddy over it. Virus rolled with the punches and drew on all his experience to put up a fight, but the young champion was moving from strength to strength and almost powerbombed the challenger out of his boots. The great thing about all this was that it wasn't rushed. The pace was measured, the camera work picked up on the selling and the crowd were into it. Virus had one last throw of the dice on an insane springboard senton to the concrete below, which led to a somewhat sloppy finishing stretch that unfortunately hurt the quality of the match, but the crowd didn't care and there was a genuine outpouring of emotion as the young champion proved his mettle by submitting Virus in the middle of the ring. Regardless of how I feel about the new breed, it's always great to see them earn a reaction like that, and I'd like to think it was because of the way the match built. Titan's second did a tremendous job of putting the victory over and his enthusiasm was palpable. I don't think this was as good as the Guerrero Maya Jr. match, which was my MOTY for 2013, but it's the best thing in 2014 by a fair distance, and an example of how you can do the modern style well while still retaining some old school sensibilities. Virus is the best singles worker in the company and it's odd that he's still so underrated even by hardcores.

They didn't start calling it King's Road until the 90s.

Today's fans would have considered Flair washed up and got behind Pillman instead. What I want to know is when did WWE crowds start doing that "this is awesome" crap.

English teachers show up to work drunk all the time.

Outlaw Ron Bass raking Beefcake's face with the spurs.

So, yesterday I heard that Chyna is over here in Japan teaching English and that she got fired from her job because she kept on showing up drunk.

Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs. Itsuki Yamazaki & Devil Masami, 8/8/83 A few years later this would have been a prime main event. As it was, it was a decent showcase for the impact the Crush Girls on the promotion as they were definitely the best thing AJW had going in 1983. I don't know how long Yamazaki belonged to Black Gundam, but it felt a bit arbitrary making her a heel. Worse than that, though, was how every match on the card had interference from Black Gundam and every match had the same spots outside the ring with the announcing table and the front row chairs. And they did this show after show, year after year. It's a miracle they didn't kill the territory. Jaguar Yokota vs. Masked Yu, 8/8/83 Yokota creamed Yu when she was on offence. She was just a machine. It actually left me wondering if it's possible to be too good in wrestling. Yu's work on top varied in quality, but really she was the latest in a long line of Jaguar squashes. Mimi Hagiwara vs. Judy Martin, 8/8/83 If this had been a bit tighter it would've been really good. It started off well with Martin kicking up a huge stink about Hagiwara being introduced first and using the commentator's microphone to choke her, but from there it all felt a bit off. Mimi had trouble executing her offence on the heavier Martin and the finish was one of the strangest I've seen. Mimi did a splash off the top rope, then lifted Martin's legs into a type of stepover hold and the ref counted three. Why Martin couldn't get a shoulder up is a mystery. Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka, 1/4/83 You could already see in this juniors match what a force these two were going to be, and they were already putting forward new ideas about workrate and action that they would continue to develop over the next five or six years. And already they were neglecting to sell, but I think it's interesting to watch two young wrestlers actually being at the cutting edge of something instead of being green. Tarantula & Devil Masami vs. Jaguar Yokota & Mimi Hagiwara, 1/4/83 This was a common match-up in '81 or '82, IIRC, which was clearly reprogrammed into Tarantula and Devil vs. the Dynamite Girls. Naturally, I think this match-up is much better. Devil just loved torturing Mimi and there was plenty of hatred (and screaming) here. If you don't like watching women wailing after they lose, don't watch this. Devil bladed, which is always a cool visual. Chigusa Nagayo vs. Itsuki Yamazaki, 3/31/83 Very solid juniors match that even employed a bit of psychology with Yamazaki selling a rib injury. Yamazaki couldn't really work heel outside of token heel stuff, but you could clearly see she was a promising talent and Chigusa just seemed to be on a meteoric rise.

Didn't Tajiri get treated fairly well in the WWE?

Hey, I never said that Hansen wasn't an all-time great. I said I think it hurts his case as the greatest wrestler of all-time that he wasn't as good in the US as he was in Japan and Puerto Rico.

The Cesaro/Sheamus Smackdown match was also pretty kick ass.

The Rudge/Hurst match that's on YouTube is from 1981.

I didn't care for that Zayn/Cesaro match at all. Cesaro did some cool shit, but I guess I prefer him in heavyweight contests as Zayn looked like a mosquito trying to take on a mastodon. The layout and the selling were weak, and I didn't buy for a second that they were these fierce rivals because it was a spotfest. Zayn has some really awful looking indy offence. It's laughable that people shit on spots like the Rainmaker and then eat this shit up. The commentary was really awful as well.

Jaguar Yokota & Kanako Nagatomo vs. Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka, 11/83 Oddly structured in that Jaguar took care of the Crush Girls with relative easy while Nagatomo got her ass handed to her, yet Jaguar never tried to save Nagatomo. One of those school of hard knocks, tough love deals, I suppose. Jaguar Yokota vs. Peggy Lee, 4/83 Peggy Lee jobbed. Hard. Mimi Hagiwara vs. Princess Victoria, 4/83 Watching these Moolah girls do their heel schtick can be brutal at times, especially when there's dead silence. This girl at least got the crowd to start up a Mimi chant, but she did the most awful Native American war cry, and I really question whether this is the kind of stuff the crowd wanted to see at this point. Devil Masami & Tarantula vs. Jumbo Hori & Yukari Omori, 4/83 This was better than the last time I saw these girls fight as it was a really niggly, bitchy brawl that got across that the two sides didn't like each other, but I still had trouble staying interested. Jumbo finally delivered a decent performance even if the match all sort of blurred together.

I don't see why Rey should be penalised because WWE crowds are so bad.

That Sheamus/Cesaro match was really, really good. I thought Cesaro would put Sheamus away after he caught him with that uppercut counter and then the huge air on the diving knee, and it was a bit weird seeing a crossface chickenwing that's not sold as death, but a really high octane bout.

Well, Russell says they're five minutes into the action (when there hasn't been any action), then there's a commercial break and when they return both guys are down on the mat and Russell's talking about what a brutal match it's been, so I figure the body of the match is missing. It's just a shame, that's all.

I didn't like the restart. If I was Savage, I wouldn't have agreed to it. The ref declared him the winner in a loser leaves town match, he should have left Lawler high and dry. Nonetheless, I thought the restart could have done with a wee bit more drama instead of Lawler going straight into his Hulking Up routine. It was still a cool match but with over half of it missing it's kind of hard to rate.