ohtani's jacket

I'm gonna break my thoughts down by category one at a time. Mechanics (listed somewhat chronologically) MS-1, Espanto Jr., Hombre Bala, Rambo, Emilio Charles Jr., Bestia Salvaje, Pierrothito Smooth, bumping bruisers with big grins. Generally maskless, tended who have more personality than starpower. Can captain a team, but generally more natural as the #2 or #3 in a match. Often more workmanlike than their talents necessitate, and as such they tend to be better in 3v3 matches than 1v1s. A lot of these workers ended up in longtime rivalries with tecnicos who were much bigger stars (Espanto vs Santo for instance), perhaps because their inring ability and general selflessness made for a great pairing with guys who actually did need to be the center of attention all the time. Once a fairly common type of worker, but now not as much. Maybe the mechanics all have masks now and expressive faces is no longer an important feature for this group. I like where you're going with this category, but to me a mechanic implies someone who is technically proficient but lacking in charisma. A lot of the names you mentioned were capable of being fabulous performers. Anyone of those guys could have carried a feud if given that spot, so I prefer to view them as perfect foils. There are two skills that are crucial for this type of worker (aside from carrying a big feud), and those are can you add to a trios match as a secondary guy and do you have a repertoire of spots that can elevate a trios match if you have limited ring time. To me, trios matches that have a single throughline (the main beef) are infinitely inferior to trios matches where the secondary workers create mini-beefs that complement the main storyline. Great rudos are capable of picking on a guy to add to the heat or doing something spectacular during their spot to keep driving the momentum forward. Given that 90% of trios matches end up being matches featuring randomly thrown together workers instead of matches building to a singles bout, bringing it every night and being the glue of a trios match become important for workers in this category. I don't know if you intended this to be the classic rudo role, but it's arguably the most important role in lucha.

Where would you put Satanico, Santo, Casas and Pirate Morgan?

Why is the grouping part in spoilers? That's a fascinating post. I'd like to discuss it elsewhere outside of this thread. In the Microscope maybe?

This was much better than I expected. It was a title match for the NWA World Middleweight Championship, and while it was far from a traditional title match, I appreciated the measured approach they took to the opening fall and the amount of selling Mistico did. They managed to work a compelling match despite the fact that workrate and elaborate spots had replaced matwork and submission teases as the main focus of a lucha title match. We tend to think of modern workers as not slowing down to sell and let a match breathe, but they're not helped by the television editors who are just as jumpy as the workers. I'm sure if this was edited with a slower rhythm that people wouldn't have been so down on the state of modern lucha at the time.

This was Jamie Noble's debut in ROH. There's a strong anti-Smackdown vibe among both the crowd and the commentary. It was a bit annoying, to be honest. It's not as though the ROH product is that much better than Smackdown. It's been a while since I've seen a ROH match that was as good as that Angle vs. Cena match. Apparently, Gibson would be back in the WWE before the year was out, so yeah. It's been a minute since I've seen Spanky. This was perfectly good North American junior heavyweight wrestling. There was a void for this type of wrestling in the North American market in 2005, but it seems like ROH didn't want to pigeonhole anyone by weight class.

Not what I'd consider a wrestling match. Just a bunch of screwing around outside the ring. I did like the rolling small package spot, though. Ending it in the ring was stupid, I thought. What's the point of falls counting anywhere if you finish the match in the ring?

Vic Christy vs Great Togo (NWA Los Angeles, 08/27/1951) This was a clip of the last five minutes. Togo remains my favorite of the Japanese heels. Duke Keomuka vs Blackie Guzman (Southwest Sports, 1952) This was already uploaded with a better film transfer. Cowboy Karlson & Billy Varga vs Duke Keomuka & Wild Red Berry NO SOUND (Southwest Sports, 1952) Probably one for the completists as there's no sound. I haven't gotten a firm grasp on 50s Texas wrestling yet but there wasn't anything that stood out that was different from the other territories.

One more thing, if either of you have hay fever, April is still pollen allergy season in Japan.

I don't know how English friendly it is but most tickets are bought at convenience stores.

Bud Curtis vs Alex Kasaboski (NWA Los Angeles, 01/29/1951) This was a fun scrap. Once the "Hoosier Hotshot" Bud Curtis got going it was exciting stuff. I love how Jack Little calls a snapmare like it's the most thrilling move ever invented. Andre Drapp vs The Bushman (NWA Los Angeles, 01/29/1951) Andre Drapp looked fantastic in this match. Jack Little says that promoter Johnny Doyle has been touting Drapp was a future world champion. Makes me wonder how successful Drapp could have been if he'd remained in the States. He certainly looked like world champ material. The Bushman is an interesting cat. Little says that he comes from some Northern Amazon tribe where the men wear their hair in afros to represent the rays of the sun. Bushman used to do an Elephant Boy gimmick. There's a great picture of him atop an actual elephant: The Bushman had a strong Inca Peruano vibe to me, though not as technically polished. Really good bout. Drapp was fabulous.

I am slowly learning that there's more to Jaime Noble than Rey Mysterio matches. This was a fun match between two evenly matched guys. I'm already on record as saying I prefer workrate Homicide to brawler Homicide, and Noble is an excellent opponent for Homicide in that respect. Unfortunately, the match gets interrupted by CM Punk, but that leads to a memorable "backstage" scene where Homicide beats Punk up while he's straddled on a bucking bronco ride then turns the machine on. Punk goes flying everywhere. That would have been a great spot in a Memphis match or one of Black Terry's Arena Naucalpan brawls.

I was kind of torn about whether it was a good idea to book this match. You're basically saying to the audience that you've got this guy who's the ex-champ that's so much better than the guy who's the current champ. On the other hand, Joe deserved a return match. Aries ran from him too often at the beginning of the match, which is not the kind of image I'd want to present if I were the newly crowned champ, but eventually there was some good back and forth action and Aries began fighting with the guts that won him the belt. Unfortunately, the finish was botched. It was supposed to be a fluke pin where Joe's shoulders were accidently caught on the mat, but the ref counted three before Aries was ready and it looked incredibly awkward as Aries reserved the hold after the ref had already called for the bell. Positives from the match -- Joe went hard and I'm enjoying his 2005 more than his title run.

Hans Schmidt vs Zack Malkov (NWA Chicago, 1950s) This was already out there. Benito Gardini & Al Williams vs Cyclone Anaya & Walter Palmer (NWA Chicago, 05/26/1950) I had forgotten how shocking Al Williams' tattoos were for this era. It's kind of like when you see guys with long hair and sideburns. Not a lot happens in this match, but I can totally see Gardini becoming Matt D's favorite 50s comedy worker. He reminds me of Porky at times. He does this great spot where he's desperately trying to stretch over the ropes to make a tag and ends up bouncing up and down on the ropes. And the comical interactions between Gardini and Williams are more entertaining than the match itself.

Bob Backlund vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 11/08/80) This is a return match but the heat is on Zbyszko vs the special guest referee, Tony Atlas, making Bob a passenger at times. OK for what it was, but not a very satisfying return bout.

Just watched the Shocker/Wagner 2005 Copa Jr final and it caps an amazing run from Shocker from 2000 to 2005. One of the best big match workers of the era. Give him his props. Give him his flowers.

This was the final of the La Copa Junior. I'm not sure what was up with Shocker's face paint but it must have been representative of something. What a great match. One of the best CMLL matches of the first half of the decade. The crowd heat was unbelievable. I can't remember seeing a final to a lucha tournament that was as good as this match. I'm sure there have been other matches, I just can't recall any. Shocker was an incredible big match worker and the promotion is going to miss him when he jumps to AAA. Fans of old school lucha may turn their nose up at this bout, but I liken it to the Cena vs. Angle bout from No Way Out. Given the limitations -- two quick falls and a long tercera, I can't imagine Shocker and Wagner coming up with a better bout. This isn't the last Shocker match to make tape before he leaves, but it's the most important. It's been a hell of a ride. I remember getting a comp of Shocker matches back in the day and thinking it was okay, but not the lucha I really wanted to see compared to 1989-92 CMLL, but finally immersing myself in the era, I can unequivocally state that this was very, very good.

This would have been a huge match if it had happened in AEW and here we get it as a throwaway match. They match up well and do some cool stuff together, but there's a house show vibe throughout and they never really ratchet up the stakes. The potential was there for them to have a great match at some point down the line.

The revival in my interest in Kawada continues. I've come to peace with the fact that he's not a great worker in the 00s. You're not going to see classic All Japan matches anymore in 2005. The infrastructure wasn't there anymore, and there's a graphic at the beginning of the match that tells you Kawada is 41 years old. It's about time I accepted that we are firmly in Kawada's post-prime and that his matches aren't going to be great. That doesn't mean that they can't be fun. I love me some Kojima and this is a Kojima style match -- big, dumb and earnest. It's about hitting your opponent as hard as you can until they can no longer lift a shoulder. It lacks the psychology of classic All Japan matches, but it's better than watching Kawada try to carry folks.

This was an interesting matchup. I haven't followed Super Dragon's career as closely as I should have, but I know about enough about him that he makes for an outstanding foil for Joe. They did some really cool stuff, and Dragon gave as good as he got when it came to the strikes. They were building to something good-to-great until the count out. Joe's tope was awesome.

This was such a smartly worked bout. The intensity and focus from Cena was remarkable. I damn near bought into his story and it's 20 years later and the match was commentated by Taz and Michael Cole. The defining thing about the bout was that they established the psychology and stuck to it. It was clear that Cena couldn't outwrestle Angle on the mat and that his only way of beating Kurt was to force him into a more traditional pro-wrestling bout. So often in WWE matches the early psychology of the bout disintegrates into finisher spamming, but in this bout they rode it out to the end. The selling during the finishing stretch isn't something you usually associate with Kurt Angle matches, but Cena was working this bout like it was the biggest match of his life. I have no idea who wins when I watch most of these bouts, so I naturally assumed it would be Angle, but they worked me good. I like being worked. Being worked is good. I don't know if this was a star-making performance for Cena, but it sure as hell got my attention. Even the finish was brilliant in its own way. This had all the hallmarks of whoever laid out those brilliant Eddy matches from 2004. Word Life.

A taped fist match is one of the coolest stipulations in the history of professional wrestling, but they couldn't replicate the atmosphere of an old-school territory match here and instead worked a weak 90s walk around the arena, no-DQ brawl. Danielson bleed for the first time in ROH, but it didn't amount to anything. They worked some nearfalls during the finishing stretch, which is lame in a taped fist match, and the finish was pure sports entertainment. What happened to ROH being a flagbearer for the anti-sports entertainment sect? They should have watched some old Mid-South tapes and worked a 10 minute bout to a blood stoppage. They could have even done the shitty sports entertainment finish if the in-ring drama had been better. Weak bout.

Bob Backlund vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 10/11/80) This was so much fun. Zbyszko has the most punchable face in the history of professional wrestling. The part where the crowd booed him and he blew them a kiss was priceless. Zbyszko spent an eternity stalling, which forced Kal and Dick to fill in the time. Also priceless. Kal kept telling Dick what was happening in the match to the point where Dick got exasperated. Once Zbyszko took over, it was high IQ stuff and a brilliant manipulation of the fans, a hot headed ref, and a typically fired up Backlund. This isn't my first choice professional wrestling, but I happily acknowledge that Zbyszko was a master at it.

Bobby Bruns vs Benito Gardini (NWA Chicago, 04/28/1950) Gardini was a fun comedy worker, though his matches do encourage Russ Davis to do some of his most annoying commentary. He keeps slipping between a Mexican and Italian accent for some reason. Karl Johnson vs Chief Brave Wolf (1930s) (I think) I'm pretty sure this is from the 50s as I've seen this venue before in other Californian matches. This was a two-out-of-three falls match but for some reason they taped each fall as an individual match. Makes you wonder how often they did that. Not the most exciting bout in the world and the finish is missing.

They wore such shitty clothes to the street fight. Why wear identical outfits? This was a typical WWF street fight match involving chairs, ladders and a kendo stick (looked more like a pool cue to me.) Michaels deserves credit (not sure if that's the right word) for blading so hard for a TV match. There was a sick chair shot towards the end that was absolutely hellacious and then a bunch of hammy crap, but Michaels' bladejob made it stand out from other TV matches.

This was much better than the Orton vs. Christian match from the week before and the type of roll-out-of-bed crowd pleaser that WWE workers do so well. It was a reunion of sorts for the Edge and Christian team, which JR smartly tapped into and even Edge's hammy acting and Christian's corny Captain Charisma shtick couldn't derail the premise. Lots of quick tags, lots of exciting action, and even an RKO chant from the crowd. Was t Was the WWE wrong to turn Orton? Inquiring minds wish to know. There's no way if you tuned into this in February 2005 that you wouldn't have been entertained.