ohtani's jacket

This beef between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit is pretty boring. To be honest, I don't think they have the acting chops to pull it off. It's the kind of thing that looks all right when they splice it together for a music video, but as a weekly thing it's starting to drag. This had another false finish halfway through the bout, though in this case it was right before they cut to commercials, so I guess it was a hook for viewers to return. And I suppose, a way to have longer matches on TV. The match has some decent stuff, as you can imagine. Eddie is starting to display a vicious mean streak, which I think is the part of his game that's been missing all year. Chavo excels in the role that Cole defines as a jackal or a hyena, and spends most of his time saving his partner or knocking guys out with a title belt. Decent bout.

Paul London is extremely flippy. This match is pretty weak when it comes to projecting the hatred between the wrestlers, and it's not a great street fight in that respect, but Good Gawd Almighty, some of those spots! It's too bad the commentators can't put a match over to save their lives. They're forever going on about how ROH is professional wrestling not sports entertainment, but they could do with a dose of sports entertainment in their commentary. Match is more of a glorified stunt show than a grudge match but at least it's watchable.

In some respects, yes -- manga, anime, video games -- but they are hopelessly behind Korea when it comes to exporting entertainment products. Which is ironic because Japan has a huge impact on Korean pop culture. Admittedly, Korean TV and film is vastly superior to Japanese productions. K-pop has probably overtaken J-pop too, though K-pop stars still record songs in Japanese because of how important the market is.

Here's a match we never thought we'd see, and a match I never thought I'd want to see. It was the only TV match Shawn had in 2002. The rest of his matches were on pay-per-view. There are a lot of similarities between Michaels and Van Dam, and it feels like a natural matchup. Interesting choice to go with the back and leg psychology instead of being spot happy. The interference from Hunter is groan-inducing, but it shows how invested in the match I was. RVD deserves a ton of credit for becoming a made guy in the WWE. I wouldn't have given him a hope in hell after the Invasion debacle, but he became a fan favorite. I just wish JR would shut up about his educated feet. NB: I believe the date on this is 11/25.

This was entertaining while the three teams were involved, though it was a bit finisher happy. Unfortunately, the workers hitting multiple finishers on each other was the only time they got a reaction out of the shitty Madison Square Garden crowd. It didn't seem as though the crowd wanted Benoit and Angle to be eliminated, and the Garden was dead for the Guerreros' heat segment on Edge. Mysterio's high spots woke them up again, and the finishing stretch was decent, but it was definitely lacking something without Angle and Benoit. They would have been better off without the elimination stip, or putting a spin on the classic Survivor Series stip and having single eliminations. Wouldn't have helped with the crowd, but would have made for a better second half.

So, this is the WWE's take on War Games, huh? The early going is pretty good with RVD making the most of the time he's given. After he's eliminated, the match loses its way, and takes everything Jericho can do to hold things together. The booking was pretty weak by WWE standards. These type of matches are its forte, but the eliminations were weak and there wasn't a lot of excitement when the next wrestler entered. To be fair, it was a pretty shitty crowd, but this was still noticeably weaker than other match layouts we've seen in 2002. Hunter was solid enough doing the ironman act. I don't think the blame can be laid at his feet. Shawn had a terrible haircut and awful tights. I don't know if it was because of his back, but he moved and bumped in a straight way that seemed like a broomstick was stuck up his ass. They spend a lot of money on confetti for his big moment, but I don't think it went over as intended, which is probably why it's not a legendary moment. JR tried to sell the hell out of it, but I'm not sure folks were buying it.

This was a treat. They got 20 minutes to go out there and have a classic trios match. The una caida was a mat fall that saw Zumbido square off with Magica, Ricky Marvin take on Juventud, and Apolo Dantes duking it out with Takemura. Ricky Marvin vs. Juventud was especially interesting as Juvie seemed to be on a mission to remind everyone that he used to be a hot shot himself. The second fall saw them branch out into classic lucha exchanges before the rudos took control of the bout. The tecnicos made their comeback in the tercera, and we got a hotly contested third fall that was extremely competitive for a midcard bout. It's amazing the difference it makes when it feels like the outcome is at stake. Apolo Dantes' tecnico turn is quietly awesome. I have no idea why they decided to turn him face, but we get to see these awesome matchups between Dantes and rudo opponents. Juvie was great in this as well. Easily his best performance since joining CMLL.

You are describing Japan in general not just New Japan.

Good match that was marred somewhat by interference from Edge and Chavo. Fortunately, the booking mandate at the time was to have that type of shit happen during the middle of a match so they gave us a proper finish. Eddie vs. Rey is an all-time great match up. In my opinion, they match up as well as anyone in the history of professional wrestling. They don't dig too deep into their bag of tricks here, but it's an entertaining bout, and I thought the work was better than the Benoit/Mysterio match. Eddie is starting to look more like Eddie.

Florida Tag Team Title Match: Mike Graham & Kevin Sullivan (c) vs. Dale Lewis & Gene Lewis (8-7-73) -- young Kevin Sullivan continues to fascinate me, but this cuts off right as he's cleaning house. Nothing special. Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Dusty Rhodes (c) vs. Killer Karl Kox (February 7th, 1978) -- Dusty is angry because Bobby Duncum and Killer Karl Kox stole his hat. At some point, in the late 70s, Dusty lost a considerable amount of weight and became much quicker and athletic. I prefer the heavier set Dusty from the mid-70s myself, but this was definitely Dusty's peak as an athlete. Decent footage. Florida Title vs Southern Title: Dusty Rhodes vs. The Spoiler (August 2nd, 1978) -- Dusty cuts a great promo about being screwed out of the Southern Title. Then we get some NWA edited footage of the incident. Promo was good. Buddy Colt vs. Man Mountain Mike (October 24th, 1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- fun Buddy Colt performance against the 600 pounder. Decent footage. Billy Robinson & Tony Charles vs. The Masked Superstars (October 21st, 1975) @Ft. Hesterly Armory -- man, I'd give my left nut to see Billy Robinson vs. Jack Brisco in Florida. Instead, we get pro-wrestling shenanigans, which Robinson is still pretty good at. One of the Superstars was Jerry Lawler. OK footage. Florida Tag Team Title Match: The Spoilers (c) vs. Mike Graham & Steve Keirn (Title Change!) (1978) -- Graham and Keirn look pretty good here. This is generic pro-wrestling, but it's well executed. Decent footage. Dusty Rhodes & Bill Watts vs. Dick Murdoch & Buddy Colt (February 18th, 1975) @Ft. Hesterly Armory -- Dick Murdoch & Buddy Colt! What a team. Cowboy Bill Watts has a moustache. This is great! Dusty gets cut, and the heels work him over in a number of nasty ways. Bill Watts is a stuttering hot tag, but it's still kind of fun. All hell breaks loose, and Dick Murdoch does a fantastic bump from an atomic drop. Great footage!

Omega is meant to be a big star in US wrestling. Shawn was formerly a big star in US wrestling. That's the comparison that interests me.

Has Kenny Omega had a match in the US to match Shawn's best matches?

I like David and Kevin. Kerry not so much. Fritz was the best, though. His claw would squeeze Kenny Omega's head like a lemon.

Probably the most overrated feud of 2002. I can understand the appeal, and Kikuchi vs. Liger is fun at times, but people make out like this is Memphis meets juniors wrestling, or NJPW vs. WAR. It's not. Japanese wrestling was in a deep, deep rut in 2002, but just because this has some heat doesn't mean it's a golden nugget. And Minoru Tanaka is still the worst.

I thought this was okay. There weren't really any outstanding match-ups. and they didn't do anything new or interesting. It was pretty much four guys re-ordering the same spots they've done for the past several weeks. That's the pitfalls of having the same guys wrestle each other on TV and PPV week after week. The match was satisfying in terms of the outcome. They pulled their favorite trick of restarting the bout, but this time it had a happy ending.

We close the year with an Arena Coliseo show. I think there was another TV episode after this, but I can't find any footage from it. Pretty much a "fall out of bed" trios match. Nothing terribly exciting. We hardly got any Panther vs. Atlantis, which sucks. Panther vs. Niebla was disappointing, and reminded me why I've never rated Niebla that highly. Atlantis vs. Black Tiger & Tarzan Boy was okay. I've never been terribly high on Silver King, but I really liked this run as Black Tiger. I kind of thought I would hate it, but he's been one of the most reliable rudos all year long. I didn't find Tarzan Boy vs. Porky very funny. Alushe had changed his gimmick to KeMonito and was starting to get involved in the matches. I guess I don't have much of a heart because I do not enjoy it at all. Sleepy match. Not surprising given it was the holidays.

Fritz von Erich's claw hold is better than anything in 2021 wrestling.

I like the art in Lone Wolf and Cub, but the pencils are much looser than Vagabond or Kingdom. The style is sketchy and the backgrounds aren't as detailed.

I don't think the art in Lone Wolf and Cub compares to a work like Vagabond. I haven't read Lone Wolf and Cub to the end so I can't comment on the story. The best manga I've read is Berserk.

This was confusing as hell, but basically Silva turned on Porky, which led to some great "No, Andre! We're friends!" moments. Dantes appeared to turn face, Black Tiger double-crossed Silva, and everyone beat up Pierroth at the end. A hot mess, BUT, we did get to see Satanico vs. Apolo Dantes, which was awesome. Satanico bows out for 2002, and what a great note to end the year on. He may not have been involved in anything as high profile as last year's cage match, but he was excellent in just about every appearance. Even in a minor role like this. I don't know if he's a top 10 talent in CMLL anymore, but I might sneak him in there.

This was an okay match, but nothing you wouldn't see on a regular CMLL show. Black Warrior was a sub for Casas, which was a shame as I wanted to see more Casas vs. Juventud. Juvie didn't have much chemistry with his teammates, and the Japanese workers looked a bit lost compared to previous appearances. I don't know if that's because Juvie wasn't guiding them through the match the way Black Tiger did, or if they were simply a half step off, but trios matches fall apart pretty quickly when the timing is off. Super Crazy made his debut, but didn't leave much of an impression.

These guys match up really well. This is pretty much everything you'd want and expect from Doug Williams vs. Brian Danielson. It was interesting that they had Danielson survive by the skin of his teeth with the one fall instead of letting Williams get a pinfall or submission. I would have thought 2-1 would have been a fairer reflection of the match up and both guy's ability, but they went in a different direction and executed it well. They seemed to be driving at a rematch somewhere down the line, so perhaps that was the goal they had in mind. These Danielson matches are new for me. I'm not a Danielson guy and have never been on the bandwagon. The guy is clearly talented and works a style that I should, in theory, like, but in 2002 I don't think he was head and shoulders above his contemporaries. He seemed on par with most of them. I guess he overtakes them with his heel run, but there's still a lot of wrestling to go before the matches I'm familiar with. I'm curious to see what 2003 brings for him.

Say what you will about Edge, but he followed up on that Eddie No DQ match with this lengthy bout against Angle. That's no mean feat. Edge vs. Angle seems like a wrestling nightmare, but I'm generally pro-Angle, and I can imagine this match up being far worse in say 2006 or 7. Edge is banged up from the No DQ match and still hurting. He tries slowing down the match and working over Angle's arm. Angle is portrayed as the uber-dominant, superior wrestler, so it's an interesting dynamic. You know it's not going to last and that Angle will start popping off suplexes, but considering the length of the match it's a solid start. They work their way through some nice midrange stuff, and then we get to the problem with the match. For some inexplicable reason, Chioda gets knocked out, Mike Sparks comes in, he counts a pinfall on Edge, Chioda counts a pinfall on Angle, and then Chioda gets pissed at Sparks and lays him out with a right hand. It's a pretty good punch coming from a ref, but it makes zero sense and the commentators quickly drop it as a talking point. Chioda orders the match to continue, but the crowd has had the wind taken out of its sails. It takes a while for the workers to recover the heat. They get there eventually, but what was the point of the double pin? Anything can happen on Smackdown? Benoit ends up getting involved and it's all very predictable, however Smackdown continues to deliver PPV quality matches on a weekly basis, which is nothing to sneeze at.

There' are some interesting looking Dynamite Kid matches in the ITV archives -- vs. Breaks, Grey, Ken Joyce, Sid Cooper, and Jean Corne (!) I've said it before, but I wish Dynamite had been around more in that early 80s era where Rocco, Jones, Finlay, Murphy & Myers were all kicking out great matches.

I was never a big fan of the Rocco matches largely because of how they paled in comparison to the Rocco/Jones matches, though to be fair Rocco and Jones' matches in the early 80s didn't hold a candle to their 70s work. I liked that Mr. Wrestling match. There was a bit of a lull towards the end, but it was pretty neat. Mr. Wrestling looked like the more impressive wrestler even with the whole veteran vs. youngster thing they had going on. You will probably want to check out Dynamite's IWE stuff as well.