ohtani's jacket

This channel is amazing -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZCzVeidYnFshsihtS9RXsQ/videos

I don't see a problem with voting for Londos based on the Shikat and Nagurski footage, as well as the newsreel clips. There should be a place for historical candidates on the list.

I have nothing negative to say about Virus. I hope people check out his work as a mini. Those are lucha classics.

The Nobuhiko Takada of women's wrestling.

Baba could have put Jumbo over in any of the 1980-82 Carnivals, but their matches always went to a 30 minute draw. I'm not sure why Baba won the Carnival in '81 and '82. I'm pretty sure Jumbo would have benefitted more than Baba from winning those tournaments.

King Haku/Rayo de Jalisco, Jr./Vampiro vs. Black Magic/Pirata Morgan/Sangre Chicana (CMLL 2/19/93) No, Mike Tenay didn't get his WAR and CMLL tapes mixed up, this is an actual CMLL main event from 1993. Vampiro gets a music video before the match. Isn't he special. Haku is the captain of his team. Does he even know the rules? This is a long, boring match. Some people might get a kick out of Pirata and Chicana eating Haku's offense, but I zoned out.

I have a problem with his facial hair during his broken down phase.

Damn, we're missing the episode with Apolo Dantes vs. Titan and Blondy vs. Brazo. But no crying over lost footage. Atlantis/Mascara Magica/Pierroth, Jr. vs. Kahoz/Mano Negra/Negro Casas (CMLL 2/19/93) This was part of the Mano Negra vs. Atlantis feud, which built to one of the most disappointing matches in Atlantis' career. We'll see where the build-up takes us. It's not bad here. The highlight is a spectacular, Santo-esque dive from Atlantis in the deciding fall. But we're not here to talk about Atlantis/Negra. This match has an absolutely phenomenal, tour de force performance from Negro Casas. You really need to see it for yourselves, but basically he pairs off with Mascara Magica at the start of the match, and he's a really dick to Magica. He treats him like a joke and after he throws him a couple of times, he waves him off and tags out. Magica is insulted and doesn't want to leave the ring, but Casas refuses to come back in. Then Pierroth steps in and heads over to the apron and slaps Casas. Casas leaps back into the ring and Magica outwrestles him badly. That doesn't sit well with Casas who spends the second fall beating the shit out of Magica. Pierroth is pissed and decides to take matters into his own hands. You have to remember that Pierroth was a heavyweight at this stage and much larger than Casas. He starts bitch slapping Casas like you wouldn't believe. Casas does the fake foul jumping on your knees spot that Satanico is so fond of, and Pierroth, who's not afraid of being rude, bitch slaps Casas so hard he goes flying out of the ring. Pierroth gets a tissue or some cloth from the crowd and rubs Casas' face with it, and Casas is getting manhandled at this point. He ends up get outworked by Magica in their tercera exchange and disappears into the crowd where he ends up shoving a fan. Magica forces him to submit at the end, and if you watch the replay you can see how Casas tries to fight it instead of submitting limply. Wow. This is why I'm always telling people that Casas wasn't as good in his older age as he was in his prime. It's also the reason why I've tried to explain that the early 00s are a down point for him. This match was Casas at the peak of his powers. A pure and unadulterated wrestling genius. Oh yeah, and Kahoz is also in this match.

All right, so I don't like the DiBiase/Murdoch feud at all. Babyface Ted is boring. Why did they turn him? I do not need babyface Ted DiBiase in my life. Save it for the birds. #YourebetterthanthisTed

I had put off watching the Metalico match until now. Great match. Nothing compares to high stakes lucha libre. Does anybody know how CMLL TV works these days? Do CMLL live stream it? I wanted to watch the lead-in matches, but I can't find them anywhere.

Are you talking about their 1996 G1 climax match? That exists on tape. They also had a tag match from the night before -- Hashimoto/Black Tiger vs. Regal/Bagwell. There's a Regal/Taylor tag from the same tour, but that has to be clipped.

Also, don't forget that from April 3rd, 1981 to October 18th, 1985, All Japan didn't air during prime time. They actually lost their prime time spot in April of '79, but there were a few special primetime broadcasts during '79-81. This led to a major upheaval in All Japan management that KinchStalker covered in his translation of Jumbo's biography. The root cause was Baba's decline and Jumbo's failure to capture the public's imagination as an ace, as well as New japan trouncing All Japan in the ratings, but the deeper problem was that Baba never put Jumbo over. There was a suggestion that their relationship wasn't great around the time of the attempted coup. Over and over again in Osano's book, you get the sense that Jumbo was prevented from acquiring the skills he lacked to be a true ace. In a sense, it's unfair on Jumbo to say that business was in the toilet so Tenryu begged Baba to let him feud with Jumbo, which lit a fire under Jumbo and awakened the monster within. But it's not factually wrong. The thing hardcore fans love about "grumpy" Jumbo is how he uses his full strength. Jumbo was an intellectual and a classicist. He enjoyed wrestling the older mat style that he was reared on. But in the eyes of the fans, and some wrestlers, he was holding back. The book actually goes into detail about how good of an amateur he was and again there are claims that Choshu and Yatsu were stronger. Jumbo is remembered far more fondly these days, including among his contemporaries from the era. Choshu was hell bent on tearing down the establishment in the 80s, but now that he's an old man, he's a lot more open and always speaks of Jumbo highly. Tenryu as well, even though they had a complicated history. When Jumbo retired, he said the one guy he wished he'd fought was Akira Maeda. Now there's a match I could go for.

That's the commonly held belief among hardcore fans, and the writers/editors that Dave was in contact with, but I'm not sure how many hardcore fans actually watched both promotions religiously. I've always been under the assumption that you were either a New Japan fan or an All Japan fan, a bit like WWF and WCW fans. The hot periods seem to be when the TV became popular among casual fans (many of them young fans and families.) I'll see what I can find.

Black Magic/Fabuloso Blondy/Pirata Morgan vs. Brazo de Oro/Brazo de Plata/El Brazo (CMLL 1/29/93) If you like Ken Timbs, he is all over TV at this point. Personally, I watched this for Pirata Morgan, but he didn't do much. I was kind of hoping he would tear it up with Brazo de Oro, but it didn't come to fruition. Some fun exchanges between Porky and Smiley, as you can imagine, but the focus is mostly on Timbs vs. Brazo, and some standard looking Pirata Morgan bumps hardly makes for a watchable trios match. Bestia Salvaje/Mano Negra/Titan vs. Apolo Dantes/Lasser Tron/Oro (CMLL 2/5/93) Short match dominated by the rudos, but it reminded me of the things I like about older CMLL. Mano Negra was feuding with Oro, who was carrying a shoulder injury that must have occurred in an earlier match, and Dantes was feuding with Titan. So, you had those two storylines being progressed while Salvaje complemented the main feuds by beating the shit out of Lasser Tron. The storylines in play both end in singles matches. so we get story progression and a payoff. Wow, CMLL. El Brazo/El Dandy/Pierroth, Jr. vs. Emilio Charles, Jr./Fabuloso Blondy/Kahoz (CMLL 2/5/93) This was a much better match than the week before. Blondy went after Brazo with a foreign object and bust him open in the opening minutes, then the rest of the bout was built around Brazo slowing getting some revenge, If Brazo worked like this all the time, he wouldn't be the shittiest Brazo. I wonder if they can maintain this intensity in their hair match. At least my interest is piqued. Dandy instantly made this a better match than it would have been without him. He didn't even do that much. He simply knew how to react to the main storyline and put over the damage Blondy was doing to Brazo. He cut lose with Emilio during one stretch (another of his old rivals), and looked like 1990 Dandy for a second. Perhaps it's my imagination, but Dandy's fitness and conditioning seems to vary from week to week. Pierroth is great as well, though he doesn't have any signature moment. BTW, I love cinema, and I love classic Mexican cinema, but some of the films they advertise during the breaks are atrocious looking.

Incidentally, one of my side hobbies is Japanese music, and a lot of the folk stuff that Jumbo was into is really good. Hope you're doing okay, MoS. The news is full of stories out of India right now.

I am determined to watch as much Lothario as I can, and Houston too for that matter.

I watched one of those Baba/Jumbo vs. Kim Duk/Oki tags the other day and they bring Tenryu out to greet the crowd. I wonder how many people in the crowd that day realized they were seeing a future legend of the sport?

It was a popular opinion among hardcore fans, and among Jumbo's seniors, and some of his fellow wrestlers. Kagehiro Osano explored the topic in his book. In an interview, Osano said: "There is a persistent theory that Tsuruta is the strongest Japanese wrestler, that he is a genius, that he has inexhaustible stamina, etc. But why did he not become the number one wrestler in the Japanese mat world? No one has ever been able to figure out why he couldn't become the number one wrestler in the Japanese mat world." Jumbo was a different cat. He tried starting a folk music career during the Japanese folk boom, preferred to train by playing tennis and other sports rather than spending time in the dojo, and wasn't interested in spending all night drinking in Ginza. He wasn't stoic. His seniors considered him soft. He had a rep for losing title matches and people called him Good Fight Man. Try comparing him in your mind to how the average fan viewed Antonio Inoki. We think of Inoki as a con artist, but to Japanese fans he was super human. Inoki was quite possibly one of the most charismatic men to ever walk the planet. I'm not exaggerating. Hardcore Japanese fans didn't have those feelings about Jumbo until he showed his true strength in the Tenryu feud. People started seeing him as a monster. All Japan became red hot, and people still talk about the reaction Jumbo received at the NJPW vs. AJPW show. I'm not saying people have to follow that viewpoint. It may not mesh with their experiences viewing the matches. I'm just explaining how people/hardcores view things in Japan, right or wrong. People draw their own impressions from Japanese wrestling -- Jumbo is grumpy, Tenryu is stoic, etc. -- but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. One thing that the book makes clear, is that Jumbo paved the way for a new generation of wrestler who take their earning potential as wrestlers and their lives after wrestling extremely seriously. The things that Jumbo was criticized for not doing -- living and breathing wrestling, spending all night drinking, paying for his juniors' meals, etc. -- are bygone relics of the Showa Era. Not just in wrestling, but in Japanese society in general. During his younger days, Jumbo repeatedly said that he didn't want to be a wrestling idiot. During his second career, he was determined to prove to younger wrestlers that they don't need to limit the potential for their life after wrestling. Sadly, his own life was cut short, but like his tombstone says: "Life is a challenge!"

Roy Lucier getting hold of Mike Tenay's tape collection is exciting news. It looks like we now have a complete run of 1993 CMLL. That ought to start shedding some light on CMLL's dark years. Felino/Kahoz/Sultan Gargola vs. Blue Demon Jr/Ciclon Ramirez/Lasser Tron (CMLL 1/15/93) I watched this on the off chance that Felino squared off with Ciclon Ramirez and got far more than I bargained for. Not only did they square off, they were already beefing. Ramirez went right after him! This was 'no fucks given' wrestling from the tecnicos, and I loved every second of it. Felino was awesome as the rudo in peril and seemed to spend the entire match on the back foot. I thought Lasser Tron was some bum, and I was loving how involved he was getting (shoot for the stars, Lasser Tron!), but apparently it was Hector Guerrero. I kind of wish it had been a random bum instead. Love the Evel Knievel get-up. This had a nice flow to it and the crowd was hot. Ciclon Ramirez' tope! Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Clearly, I need to watch every second of Felino vs. Ramirez from '93. El Satanico/Mano Negra/Negro Casas vs. El Brazo/El Dandy/Ultimo Dragon (CMLL 1/15/93) This had a few exciting exchanges -- Casas and Dandy locked up and reminded me why they're one of the all-time great pairings, Ultimo was excellent throughout with his lightning quick ringwork, and Dandy and Satanico played off their history of hair matches -- but the main focus was Mano Negra and El Brazo, which was the worst pairing. I love me some Mano Negra, but I prefer him after he unmasked and not as the main guy in a trios match. Not that I can blame him too much. El Brazo kind of stinks as a singles wrestler. This had a lot of stalling and they weren't really putting forth their best effort. It was one of those matches that looks better on paper. The Felino/Ciclon trios match eclipsed it by a large margin. Still, you might want to check out a few of those exchanges I mentioned if you're a fan of those guys.

I can't be entirely sure that the story is true. I didn't want to spend time fact-checking it, so I thought I would relay it as a story.

I don't think he has a lot of televised singles matches. Here's a tournament match against Wagner:

The popular narrative in Japan, which may or may not be factually true, is that Jumbo wasn't a hugely popular wrestler until the Tenryu feud. He was seen as the successor to Baba and Inoki in terms of his ability, but fell behind Choshu and Tenryu in terms of popularity. The reason for this is said to have been his calm personality, which made it difficult for fans to become emotionally involved in his character and match performance. From all accounts, Tsuruta was a great guy. He was a kind-hearted, stay at home dad who was a gentleman. You never hear anyone say about bad about him as a person. However, his personality, and his philosophies and attitude towards wrestling, were the complete opposite of what the fans wanted to see. We all remember the line Dave used to push that he heard from Terry Funk about Jumbo being lazy, but the real issue was that Jumbo treated professional wrestling like a job and when your core fanbase are salary workers desperate to escape the realities of their everyday life, who wants their hero to be exactly like them? Tenryu wanted to give the audience a fresh feeling and make a strong impact, so he began feuding with Jumbo. On one side, you had Jumbo, the salaried wrestler who never spent much time in the wrestling world and saved every penny, and on the other, Tenryu, the samurai wrestler who devoted his entire life to wrestling and never had any money to spend. It was a collision between two men with different philosophies about wrestling and life. It gave rise to the image of Jumbo as a monster and then the perfect ace, not only of All Japan but all of professional wrestling. I am not sure if Jumbo was entirely comfortable with the way he was viewed during this time. In his own words: "I'm the type of person who wants to wrestle. When I was young, I fought Dory Funk Jr, Bill Robinson, and Jack Brisco, so I guess that has a lot to do with it. But Japanese fights tend to have more of a brawl feel to them. I'm a mat fighter, while Tenryu is more of an up-and-comer. Maybe it's the demand of the times, but I don't want to change my style, even though the Warriors are doing the same, and they are all up-style. I'm not going to change my style. My style is to deal with Tenryu's up style in an up style, and Dory's mat style in a mat style. When I fight Tenryu, I get emotional and end up fighting more than wrestling...jumping knees and such, so I guess people will say "Tsuruta got serious. I usually measure my opponent's condition while closing in on him, so it may look like there is a pause. In the end, it depends on the soil. Tenryu, who comes from a sumo background, is the type to go all out in a flash, but my style is based on playing basketball and wrestling." The thing that the lay fan was unaware of was that Jumbo had a deep love for professional wrestling. He didn't show that passion in the ring, but at his lowest point after he first got his diagnosis, the thought of having his wrestling career taken away from him drove him to some pretty dark places. The story goes that he met a girl in hospital with a tube in her nose and an IV drip being administered, and she was staring at the ceiling wondering if she would be alive tomorrow. This encounter inspired Jumbo to eventually pursue his second career where he tried his best to expand on the possibilities of wrestlers still fighting in the ring. From a young age, Tsuruta and Fujinami had shared the same goal of changing the public's perspective on wrestlers, and to an extent Jumbo achieved that during his second career.

I thoroughly enjoyed Grant Morrison's New X-Men once I accepted it for what it was -- "new" X-Men. It's the most modern take on the X-Men that I've read, which is kind of amusing given it's twenty years old. I didn't mind the art. A lot of the art on writer driven Vertigo/DC stuff can be just as inconsistent. The covers bothered me more than the interiors. Are modern covers usually like that or was it particular to New X-Men? I wasn't thrilled with the final couple of arcs, especially the big reveal, but I was keen to read more right up until Morrison walked. I'd have to read a hell of a lot more modern comics to know where the run stands in the grand scheme of things, but for me it was a unique and enlightening experience even if it's not really a modern comic anymore. I also finished Michael Golden's run on The 'Nam. Not bad. Is there a compelling reason why I should keep reading it now that Golden is gone? JRJR's run on Punisher War Zone was fun. It was blatantly exploitative -- the Punisher was jacked, his guns were huge, and he had relations with women, but I liked Dixon's scripts. It was grim, but the mental anguish was kept to a minimum, the action was good, and it was a pretty good story arc considering it was the third bloody Punisher title on the market. Your mileage will vary, however. I was less keen on Weapon X. I know everyone was gaga for Wolverine's origin story back in the day, but it didn't do much for me as a read. I suppose the art was nice, but is it really what I want to see BWS pencil? I dunno. He seemed to borrow a lot of writing tics from Claremont as well, especially snippets of conversation that take place offscreen. Another title I read was Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee's Inhumans. I've been trying to find good Marvel comics from the 90s since it's such an unpopular era. I appreciate that they tried to do something with the Inhumans, but I have to question whether there was enough story to justify a 12 issue mini-series, and the entire thing felt too dark. Jae Lee does some beautiful looking close-ups, but his storytelling lacks fluidity. So often it looks like characters are standing around posing (usually grimly.) The series had its moments, but not a favorite. Lee drew a great Lockjaw, though. Finally, after a long, hard slog, I finished Gerber's Man-Thing. Well, that's not entirely true, I still have some of the Giant Size issues to go, but it's a series I'm glad to have put behind me. I get why Gerber wrote the series the way he did because of the inherent limitations of the main character, and I can understand why people thought his take on the comics medium was revolutionary at the time. I guess having grown up in the era of independent comics and creator owed titles that it's not as special as it was in the 70s. Some of the satire feels dated, or should I say of its time, and I never quite got into the mesh of fantasy elements, social commentary, and deconstruction of the comics medium. I feel like a bit of a philistine, but you can't enjoy 'em all.

This was great. A bit like 1996 Cruiserweight wrestling for the new millennium. They set it up from the beginning as move-counter move wrestling, so you know not to expect a match with a ton of depth. I'm cool with that. I have a hard time taking Styles seriously without the beard and long hair, but he does a great job of countering Low Ki's offense. I'm not a fan of Styles' signature spots, but I liked the way he pulled off the win here. The angle afterwards wasn't bad either.

This was a good match, but Danielson looked tentative at times. I know he had those great Low Ki matches in 2002, but judging by his other matches, it seems he was still figuring things out. If someone were to say he was already one of the best workers in the States, or the World, in 2002, I'd have to give an emphatic no. That said, this style of wrestling is much closer to the kind of work I like and the indy guys are trending in the right direction.