ohtani's jacket

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.

1983: Mimi Hagiwara vs Nancy Kumi, 3/83 Dullish match even with all the clipping. They tried to do an even, battle of respect type thing but it only got exciting as the clock expired. Jaguar Yokota vs. Monster Ripper, 6/17/83 Jaguar tried her best, but Ripper wasn't very good working on top and was outclassed by the detail that Jaguar put into her selling. Jaguar, it should be said, wasn't the most amazingly charismatic wrestler, so she could hardly carry this from underneath either. Not really a match-up that clicked. Devil Masami/Tarantula vs. The Dynamite Girls, 6/17/83 Devil and Tarantula were a fun team, so this was slightly better than other Dynamite Girls from this time, but I still dislike Omori and Hori more than any other girls on the roster. They did an angle here where an injury took Tarantula out of the match and then there was this big convoluted 2 on 1 finish which had a countout, a conference between the referees and the commissioner, and five more minutes added or some such bullshit. Mimi Hagiwara vs. Itsuki Yamazaki, 11/83 Yamazaki was still really young here and didn't get much of a rub from Mimi. The match was built around Mimi's strikes, which looked really girly here. Devil Masami vs. Monster Ripper, chain match, 11/83 They did some fun things with the chain, and Ripper's offence was a thousand times better than in the Yokota match, but either Leilani Kai is the all-time worst blader in the history of professional wrestling or these girls have the toughest, leatheriest foreheads around, because she bladed them over and over again and they wouldn't juice. It was hugely distracting as she'd do it right on camera, then laugh with Terri Shane about it, and you'd be looking for the blood and couldn't see any. Other than that, it wasn't as brutally violent as other chain matches, but I doubt it would have made TV if it had been. Mimi Hagiwara vs. Chigusa Nagayo, 9/83 This was the best thing I watched from this batch of Joshi. Like Yamazaki, Chigusa was also young here, but she was already brimming with self-confidence and showed the type of attitude that would take her to the top. Watching her here it was evident what a special talent she was. This was the even, battle of respect deal that Mimi and Nancy were hoping to achieve, but well paced and ultimately successful. Really good early Chigusa match. Lioness Asuka vs. Devil Masami, June/July '83 Nice competitive squash. Masami looked like the great worker we know here to be, and Asuka showed the same determination as Chigusa in her match against Mimi.

CMLL is doing poor business at the moment, so I wouldn't expect them to do particularly well in awards like these. Their in-ring product has improved in recent years, but is generally overrated. I don't think it's a bit deal that they didn't feature so much.

Tully Blanchard vs. Terry Taylor, 8/85 This was all right, but it was hard to get excited over anything Taylor did. It was really a TV match with a bit more time, and because it was a Tully match, Taylor had to work most of the match from one top, which wasn't that interesting. Tully was fine, but it wasn't a particularly special performance from him. The whole thing was like the minimum of what I'd expect from this match-up, and I don't think it deserves any sort of "near classic" rating. It would have had to have gone far deeper than the usual "Tully in peril" to warrant that sort of praise.

I think this was based on the TV versions.

Yumi Ikeshita vs. Mami Kumano, '79 Battle of the Black Pair with the general theme being that these girls were even nastier against each other. Kumano stood on Ikeshita's hair while putting her in a submission and Ikeshita choked her out, then they brawled all around ringside and used the house mic to maim each other. We've all seen better brawls, but this was still pretty cool. Yumi Ikeshita vs. Rimi Yokota, late 1980 This was worked as more of a Jaguar style match than a Black Pair vs. Idol match, though Ikeshita did cheat in tandem with Devil Masami, which the older fans didn't like. Ikeshita could go, so there were some nice exchanges and one nearfall that I bit on, but Yokota was perhaps a little rough around the edges compared to her later work. Yumi Ikeshita vs. Mami Kumano, 12/79 Short match that started off with a bit of workrate before Kumano started using a foreign object. Just when you thought it was Kumano who had been the nastiest of the Black Pair, Ikeshita took one of those chests that the TV crew use to carry their equipment and throttled Kumano and the ref with it. See, it's always the quiet ones. Devil Masami vs. Yumi Ikeshita, 11/79 These two matched up well. The size difference meant they could really play up Masami's strength against Ikeshita's guile.

It would be weird in lucha to have a rudo fall with a technico comeback followed by a rudo fall with a technico comeback.

You've got these listed as being the same date. Portland is tough going for me at times, mostly on the mat where I find a lot of the holds literally put me to sleep, and Rose never bowls me over like he's supposed to, but the first two falls of the title match I found rewarding. Long, but rewarding. The third fall was amazingly shitty, however, and killed my enthusiasm for the match. And Sandy Barr is just inexplicably bad at reffing, and that's coming from someone who can barely tell a good ref from bad. I'm sure I would like this stuff more if it was one fall. It's weird having falls that are like a match unto themselves with a FIP segment and everything, and then turning around and doing it again in the next fall. I still can't get used to that.

Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano & Leilani Kai vs. Lioness Asuka & Mika Komatsu & Noriyo Tateno, 6/85 Well, this was refreshing. It's interesting how most territories were in the midst of an irreversible decline by '85 yet Japan actually got better in the second half of the decade. Everybody knows about Dump vs. Chigusa, but this is the lesser known Dump/Asuka subplot. It was a nice change of pace from the pre-Crush Girls era, though I'm sure if you watched a whole bunch of it, it would get monotonous. Whenever people bring up the Bull vs. Aja debate, they always overlook Bull's 80s work. She was a really good worker, really early in her career. She even had me marking out for Asuka's Takada-like kicks during her nunchakus act, though Asuka killed it for me by botching the final take down. The finish saw Komatsu (IIRC) bump big on a Dump lariat.

Just type it in word, cut and paste it into notepad and copy the notepad text.

I don't agree that Hokuto stopped selling the knee. She sold it the way a legit knee injury should be sold, not in some kind of bullshit Bret Hart way where he sells the knee so much he should be out for the season. I liked the way they treated the injury here. It was an issue and everybody knew it, but there was no need to be demonstrative about it. Hotta went after it, but not in a frenzied way. She was like a tennis player taking advantage of an opponent's injury by hitting to the parts of the court the opponent can't get to. She could have gone after the knee in a more viscous way, but she wasn't a heel and Hokuto already had the crowd's sympathy. I expect a lot of people would prefer if they'd played it up more, but this kind of spartan approach is a nice antidote to overly loaded Japanese wrestling. Of course, they moved into the finishing stretch and there were some pretty big moves, but watching it off the cuff and not as part of the yearbook I thought it was pretty organic and not excessive. Hokuto sold the knee afterwards, though it wasn't really selling since she was dealing with actual pain. Not a spectacular match or anything, but better than Hokuto/Kong from Big Egg Universe as a comparison.

I don't think people needed a missing piece to realise that Steamboat as always going to work a clean title match on the biggest show of the year to try to take an important part of what made the Macho Man tick away from him. And I don't think you need a missing piece to realise that Owen would have climbed over the cage and won the match in 30 seconds if he could have since all he wanted to do was win the belt and prove he was better than Bret. And Bret was never going to beat the shit out of his younger brother in front of his entire family, so of course it's a match was about escape attempts. Owen vs. Bret was never a blood feud. It was two overgrown kids who became adult jocks having a childish and petty feud with each other. Owen whoo'ing and fist pumping is not something you're supposed to take overly seriously. Now if you find the constant escape attempts boring and overly repetitive or you don't like the way they worked them, I'm not gonna argue with that. I think too many people like the match for it to be considered the least deserving 5-star match, but it's always been a divisive match. Even my friend's kid brother once told us that the only reason we liked it is that it was Owen and Bret, so even some pretty casual fans find the escape attempts boring. I do think there's an element of that (people wanting to like it because of the workers), but the whole five stars thing is annoying. It's like people not being able to see the forest for the trees with Tanahashi because Dave keeps dropping five stars on him. But, you can't make it go away and it is what it is.

Dynamite Girls vs. Leilani Kai & Terri Shane, 11/83 Easily the worst thing I've seen so far. Whose decision was it to give the Dynamite Girls the WWA tag titles? Granted, everybody got a turn with the WWA tag titles, but trying to dress Jumbo Hori and Yuraki Omori up like babydoll idols is a strike against the Matsunagas in my book. This was just a rubbish match and so heatless that the highlight was Terri Shane letting out a huge "SHIT!" during a nearfall. I desperately need to see some good Jumbo Hori. Mimi Hagiwara & Yukari Ohmori vs Leilani Kai & Velvet McIntyre, '82 This wasn't much better. Mimi held up here end, but this was another really dull tag title match. I tend to blame the promotion here. Instead of booking week to week television like say, Portland, it was the filmed houseshow format. On one hand, you get to see all of the wrestlers facing each other instead of squash matches, but on the other hand it gets redundant seeing the same matches over and over again with little or no progression. It's fun seeing these girls running around in the early 80s, but there's nothing to sink your teeth into. Mimi Hagiwara & Nancy Kumi vs. Devil Masami & Leilani Kai, '81 Having said all that, there's a match with four of the best workers in the company at the time that's not perfect but manages to deliver what you'd expect from the girls involved. The 2/3 falls format hinders it and on top of that you have the clipping for television, but it's as good as it gets on a regular card as far as I can tell. I definitely think Joshi Pro would have been better off with single fall tag matches, but 2/3 falls was in vogue at the time. On a lighter note, Devil Masami's perm here is a monstrosity.

The criticisms of the Bret/Owen cage match and just like the old criticisms of the Steamboat/Savage Wrestlemania match.

Brian Maxine vs. Mick McMichael (2/21/74) This more or less gelled with my original thoughts on it. I don't know when Maxine began wearing a hair piece, but every since I heard someone in the crowd make a crack about it, I can't stop staring at it. It really is a remarkable piece of work. It's a shame Maxine never did a spot where his opponent pulls it off. Once again, I was impressed with his tireless self-promotion. I don't know of anyone in British wrestling who worked harder to keep themselves over. And once again, McMichael struck me as the single most average competitor on TV. How that guy was on television for so many years is beyond me. Jim Breaks vs. Zoltan Boscik (12/2/72) Jon Cortez vs. Zoltan Boscik (aired 3/22/72) Steve Grey vs. Zoltan Boscik (3/8/78) Now that I've come round on Boscik, I had to go back and watch these matches since they're against three of the best lightweights in the history of wrestling. The Breaks match is fun, but it's by no means a Breaks classic. One thing you don't pick up on from later Breaks is how well built he was in his prime. Pound for pound, he was one of the best built wrestlers I can recall. I read recently that when he first turned pro other wrestlers told him he was too stiff. He soon figured out how to work lightly, but his work was always snug. The Cortez match is disappointing by Cortez standards, but I think he became a better worker in the early 80s than he was here, despite making his professional debut in '58. By '78, Boscik had come into his own. Somewhere along the way I guess he embraced the idea of becoming a fully fledged heel instead of just a hot head and the crowds were all over it. He didn't have to jaw with them, he just had this kind of sniveling look that the crowd ate up. Grey and Boscik had fantastic chemistry together and the three matches we have of theirs are all enjoyable. In one of these matches, Walton delivered what I thought was a brilliant piece of commentary. He explained that when guys bump for the Euro-style Irish whip, they have to go with the whip otherwise they'll break their shoulder. Works for me as a kayfabe reason for why they do those exaggerated flips. Or maybe not, but I'm going to believe it without giving it a second thought. Rene Lasartesse vs. Billy Samson (Graz 7/12/1980) This had a cool dynamic as Samson allegedly was a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali, so you've got Lasartesse doing all these dirty tricks and Samson getting all fired up and sparring with him, but because this is wrestling and not boxing he's kind of pulling his punches which allows Lasartesse to pull his dirty tricks again. My favourite story about Lasartesse is that in Britain they thought he was American, the Americans thought he was German, the Germans thought he was French, and the French thought he was German. That's the work of an accomplished rudo. After a bunch of fun and games, Rene did the McManus trick of selling his ears and won with a surprise small package. Could have done with a better finish, but this was fun and Lasartesse is one of the characters of European wrestling.

Lucy Kayama & Nancy Kumi vs Wendi Richter & Leilani Kai, 9/80 Nancy Kumi & Jackie Sato vs. Mami Kumano & Leilani Kai, 9/80 Being a Joshi pro-wrestler in these days was pretty tough, but at least they got to tour Guam. Both these matches were from a local high school and featured an American guy as the ref. They were the same kind of brawls you see on every other episode of AJW TV, but the locals were into it, especially the older folks. The 2/3 falls format tends to be a momentum killer and you often only get one really solid fall, but there was plenty of good stuff throughout. The first match is kind of ruined by the heels fighting with the ref, which leads to Leilani accidentally punching him and then posting him for real. The ref does a bladejob and DQs the heels. A know a lot of people don't like heel ref schtick, so that's one to avoid. Leilani had a really cool punch exchange in the first match where she did this bug-eyed selling as the girls whacked her. Arn Anderson would have been proud of that spot. Even though these matches aren't that great, Leilani always brings plenty of intensity to her performance. Kumano is the same. Kumi and Kayama have superb execution on their highspots, but Kayama is perhaps the epitome of an awkward Joshi pro-wrestler between the ropes. Sato sometimes looks like she doesn't care in matches like these.