ohtani's jacket

Kikuchi came into this match with his shoulder heavily taped. You'd think that would be like a red flag to a bull with Liger, but they actually beat the shit out of each other for a while before Liger snapped and went after Kikuchi's shoulder. Great selling, as you'd expect from Kikuchi. Great heel work, as you'd expect from Liger. Seriously, aside from maybe Bret Hart, has there even been a better tweener than Liger? I don't love this feud like a lot of people do, but even I enjoyed this. Get on it, if you haven't already.

Christopher Daniels is a guy I should probably watch more of (along with Chris Hero and Steve Corino) as he was a pretty decent worker for this era. A little indy-rrific at times, but hard-working and genuine. This was a long indy match, which is something I was actively seeking as ROH hasn't been putting on the same blockbusters as they did in their first year. It was a hard fought match. A little cute at times, but that has a lot to do with the trappings of the style and something you just have to accept. Despite the fact they went long, I was keen to see more.

This didn't have quite the same intensity as some of the Satanico vs. Averno matches we've seen, however I can safely say that Satanico is having a better year than 2003 and the Averno feud is a big part of that. Bestia was awesome, as always, and for the briefest of moments we got Satanico vs. Bestia, which was a mark out moment for me. Most notably, we got a lively performance from Felino, who was bubbling about being cheerful.

Another RAW, another quality match. This Evolution era stuff doesn't get enough praise. It's not at the WCW Dangerous Alliance level, but it's producing consistently good matches week in, week out, without cutting anyone off at the knees. Benoit's title reign continues to be a thousand times better than I thought it was. There's a storm on the horizon, as I think Kane is about to become the number one contender, but so far, Benoit's run has been one of the highlights of the year (in a year I thought would be all about Eddie.) It's interesting how a few guys jumping from Smackdown to RAW has revitalized the flagship show. I also liked the dynamic that Orton brought to this match, especially his youthful and exuberant bumping and selling. Benoit vs. Orton has a done of potential, and even Edge vs. Orton looked compelling at this time

This was a pretty average Homicide vs. Joe match. Joe didn't dominate Homicide offensively in the way that we know he can, and I didn't care for Homicide busting Joe open with a fork. It surprises me that so many people thought ROH was better than the WWE in 2004.

I finished Matt Fraction's Hawkeye. It wasn't really a series I loved as I was reading it issue by issue, but it all came together in the end, and I thought the ending was cool. I can understand why it was well-received as the storytelling is completely different from a typical Marvel book, and Aja's art is stylish and chic. I really liked the character of Kate Bishop. I'm not sure if other writers can write her the way Fraction does, but she was the most memorable thing about the series, to me, and had the best lines.

Gibson was a perfectly good singles match worker. There's a 1990 match against Flair where he busts out the Gibson leglock and a bunch of other cool shit with JR and Solie on commentary. Definitely agree that he was more than just Rocky Morton's tag partner.

The Backlund match from '79 is an excellent match even if the Sheik can't show off his full wrestling prowess since he's a heel. Interesting proto-WWE finishing stretch with both men using a chair sans any sort of ref bump or knock out blow. Backlund using an atomic drop as a finisher is so great, especially the height he gets on it. Huge ovation for Bob too. Vince on solo commentary duty is as good as ever. He's frigging Howard Cosell compared to the coke years.

I had a blast watching the Chicky Starr vs Invader I hair vs. retirement match, but my biggest takeaway is that it was so cool that it was Invader who cut his hair afterward. That should happen in every hair match. Invader even went after Chicky's chest hair and moustache,.

I've got a lot of time for Dick Slater, but I don't think he's charismatic enough to make a top 100. His heyday was in Florida where he was a proper star. In most of his 80s footage, he's a journeyman. He is a bit of a poor man's Terry Funk at times, but if you're gonna ape anyone then Funk's not a bad choice.

This was a short Coliseo match, but a perfectly good scrap. The thing I appreciate about Perro Jr is that he makes everyone work hard on both ends, offense and defense. I enjoyed watching him beat the shit out of the rudos with Pierroth's belt, and I also enjoyed his interactions with Emilio, who, at this point, just entertains me with his sheer presence.

When I saw this match listing, my eyes lit up thinking we'd get Charlie Lucero vs Blue Panther exchanges, but Panther actually squared off with Averno in the opening caida. It was the type of old-school primera caida exchange that we've barely seen in 2004, and pretty cool. You could tell that Averno was a guy on the rise, much like Ultimo had been about five years earlier. When Lucero and Panther finally did square off, Lucero launched an all out attack on him. Now, usually I'd bitch and moan about how they were doing mask ripping instead of mat wrestling, and have a bit of a cry, but I gotta tell you, Lucero's attack on Panther was fucking awesome. It was more of an assault than an attack. I didn't know Charlie had it in him. I swear I haven't been this excited watching a rudo beat up a tecnico since the days of grainy VHS footage. I also wanna add that this was the first time I've seen Azteca wrestle without a mask, which was really weird and kind of blew my mind a bit considering I still see him as the heir apparent to Atlantis and Lizmark in my mind's eye.

Whaddayaknow, another good match on RAW. I haven't been following the Jericho vs. Christian feud, but this was a kickass blowoff match with all the trappings of a WWE cage match, including the obligatory dive from the top of the cage and a really cool finishing sequence. There was also a ton of blood. Where is all this blood coming from in the WWE? Dudes are blading left, right and center. RAW keeps its hot streak alive, and the WWE is running away with 2004.

My story, and feelings, are similar to Jerome's. Dean was always there and now he's not. And that sucks. There's no two ways about it.

This was a fairly typical workrate match. Unfortunately, it was clipped at various points, which hurt the flow a bit. Still, the baseline for a Styles vs. Homicide match is fairly high, and they delivered everything you'd expect from these two. Styles continues to surprise me as he's not the type of wrestler I would usually enjoy, and in fact, the first time I encountered this era of Styles' career it was a massive turnoff having only been familiar with his New Japan run. But the dude is consistently good, and extremely hard working. And he adapts so well to his opponents. Respect.

This was very much a US indies inspired apuesta match, but I had a lot of time for it, and I'll tell you why. I love Zumbido, and I'm happy to see him steal a piece of the spotlight. Plus, it's easily the best thing Super Crazy has done since joining CMLL. His run had been a dud up until now, but he upped his game for this show. Outside influences had been slowly creeping into lucha since the 90s, but even in 2004 it was rare to see a guy do a moonsault off the top of the set. The rest of the match was built around similarly big spots (with surprisingly good camera work on the replays, I might add.) Not everyone's idea of a classic apuesta match, but I enjoyed it. The match had good rhythm, Super Crazy showed up and showed out, and the post match was top notch. Terrible and Mascara Magica also had a hair match on this show after feuding all month. Apparently, I am the only person on earth interested in seeing that feud because nobody's bothered to upload it, but I'd really like to see it.

Woo-hoo, Park is back in Monterrey! This was worked at the exact pace I was hoping for. There were some house show shenanigans, and a little bit of Monterrey bullshit, but mostly it was solid brawling and a bunch of cool exchanges between Ultimo and Park to accompany the match they had in Guadalajara. I was vibing with this.

This was such a great Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit match. Michaels brought it here. I guess he figured that he needed to match Benoit's intensity if he was going to look credible. Males you wonder why we couldn't see more of this Shawn Michaels. Hell, Michaels is so intense here that this time it's Benoit who bleeds. Gharly match.

That Zbyszko vs Backlund match is really good once they finally lock up. I still think Backlund is one of the weirdest wrestlers of all-time, but his weird ass shit works in context. Larry is highly entertaining and one of the highlights of 1980, Man, they milk those big spots. Those were the days where a single suplex was treated like a deathblow. Great stuff.. Even the screwy finish was well executed.

This was taped at the end of April, but it appears that we're going by air date in the database. Noble vs. Mysterio is a great match up and this match is no exception. Noble works like a smaller version of Benoit, and I love how he brings out a side of Mysterio that we don't often see -- his striking game. Noble's a guy who Mysterio can realistically strike and it's cool watching him go all Manny Pacquiao on Noble's ass. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it was still cool watching Mysterio throw strikes.

This was a big show for CMLL (possibly the Arena Mexico Anniversary Show, but cubsfan isn't sure.) That means less bullshit, more wrestling, and as a result, it's one of the better trios matches in a while. The premise is simple -- you've got three ex-partners of Satanico who hate his guts and can't wait to stomp a mudhole in his ass, and a fired up Satanico delivering one of his better performances of late. Mr. Niebla and Atlantis do Mr. Niebla and Atlantis things, and even the dreaded low blow finish is above average. Could still use another five minutes or so, but at least it was entertaining.

This could have potentially been a pretty fun bout, but it was butchered in the edit. CMLL goes through waves, but it's in a rut right now and the crappy TV isn't helping things. Once again, Negro Casas fails to impress. It's not entirely his fault as the editor seems obsessed with only showing the parts that involve Park, but for a guy who's supposed to excel at all the little things he sure has been coasting. Park hasn't been a great fit in CMLL. Dude needs to head back to Monterrey and feud with Super Parka again.

The days of the fun CMLL undercard matches with the Havana Brothers appear to be over. Things come and go pretty quickly in CMLL. This had the potential to be a fun undercard bout, but it was mostly setup for Super Crazy & Zumbido's hair match.

I was at this show, but I've never actually watched it on tape until now. The crowd was dead for this match after being electric during the Crush Girls vs Nagashima & Sato match, and it's not difficult to see why. It's a better match than I expected given how shitty Hamada looked heading into the show, but the majority of the bout is close quarters stuff, which looks good on tape but doesn't really play to folks in the arena. Some great facial expressions and plenty of intensity. Probably looked good on the big screen, but pales in comparison to the pops that Chigusa and Lioness drew. Hamada botches a spot on the outside that sucks the life out of things a bit. They try to make up for it in typical Japanese fashion by stiffing each other for a bit, but it still leaves me a bit sour faced. The right person goes over, and they run a post-match angle that I had totally forgotten about, but was designed to draw folks to the next show.

RAW continues its hot streak with another great television match. I don't know who was booking RAW at the time, but it's quite the shakeup given how bad RAW became after the brand split. Of course, there's still nonsense between Shawn and Hunter, but it's surprising that they haven't cut Benoit off at the knees. Ric Flair continues to defy any and all expectations I have for him in 2004. Great veteran heel and a fun foil for Benoit. Batista doesn't quite live up to the hype JR and King give him, but he has a great look and is able to follow his opponent's lead. Match ends with Michaels accidently hitting Benoit with a chair and Benoit snapping and putting Michaels in the sharpshooter. Edge convinces Benoit to let go, Michaels hams it up by rolling around the mat in agony, and Benoit looks generally scary as JR closes out the show. Best thing going in wrestling? Let's see how long they can keep it up.