ohtani's jacket

I liked this. Takaiwa has always been a guy I find watchable and I haven't seen enough of Marufuji to be sick of him. Sometimes all a guy needs is a beer in one hand and a 2.99 kick out. Now maybe that should be a beer in one hand and some territory wrestling or some shit, but 2.99 kick outs started for a reason. And that reason is because they're exciting. Japanese men's wrestling was so bad in 2001 that the bar is pretty low, but this is a top 5 match from the year for the simple fact that it registered a pulse.

I liked this. Takaiwa has always been a guy I find watchable and I haven't seen enough of Marufuji to be sick of him. Sometimes all a guy needs is a beer in one hand and a 2.99 kick out. Now maybe that should be a beer in one hand and some territory wrestling or some shit, but 2.99 kick outs started for a reason. And that reason is because they're exciting. Japanese men's wrestling was so bad in 2001 that the bar is pretty low, but this is a top 5 match from the year for the simple fact that it registered a pulse.

Thanks for clearing that up. Phil.

I'm still confused about the taping dates and the air dates. Did catch air on Fridays or Saturdays? Weren't some of the broadcasts live? The 2/5/59 show that was reviewed on Segunda Caida this past week, that show was taped on a Thursday and aired on a Friday? Or did it air live on Thursday?

This was a chore to watch. Unbelievably boring pre-match that wasn't a pimple on the ass of Fujiwara's attack on Choshu, and then the match itself was painfully average. Awful Michael Cole level English commentary. What is with Kevin Kelly trying to sound like Fukuzawa on the finishers? Dunno who the British guy is. He sounds like John Oliver. I've got nothing against modern New Japan, and I've enjoyed a number of the big recommended matches, but this match was an absolute bore.

Johnny Stein vs. Jean Bout (aired 2/27/59) It feels like an age since we've seen Jean Bout. He was one of the early archetypes we had for a French babyface. All those attributes are on display here, and he had to work hard in this match. Stein was a wear 'em down, strength guy, who drew heat by posing. He didn't really do much aside from that. The bout went 40 minutes, which was about 20 minutes more than it needed. The fact that I was able to sit through it without itching to do something else was a testament to how busy Bout was. I'm telling you, that guy was a good worker. Ultimately, the bout was a giant stalemate with neither man either to win the first fall and Stein getting disqualified out of frustration, but to go 40 minutes without a fall and not bore the tits off me, that is impressive. Sola has been the ultimate utility guy so far, but Bout shot up a few ranks with this performance.

This was pretty cool. I liked this. If you're going to work this type of match you might as well go all the way with it. Probably the most blood I've seen from a hard way cut.

Megumi Kudo absolutely nailed Bison Kimura during that long jump drill. It was impressive how athletic Hokuto was. Nagahori was pretty good too. Hotta sucked, naturally.

So this is modern Joshi, huh? This was some amateur hour shit and weirdly shot. I can understand people being into it if they're invested in the workers, but there's no way this is better than any number of derided Joshi pro matches from the past. Iwatani was a weird ass underdog baby face and Shirai wasn't much of a champ, but you never know, I might change my tune after a few more bouts.

What was up with the camerawork and editing in this match? I saw someone post a meme of a WWE-shot Street Fighter II match the other day, but the actual camerawork is something else. What is this? Dogma on crack? Who is Ryback and what happens if I feed him more? This was back when the Shield was a thing. I get why people were excited about them, but it's another one of those things that didn't turn out to be as big as people hoped or anticipated. It's not a bad match, and it kind of keeps the TLC gimmick to a minimum despite there being props laid out everywhere. It's mainly about the Shield being predators and hunting in a pack. I know this because JBL told me a gazillion times. Not a bad match, but felt like Best of 2012 WWE to me than top 100 of all time.

AJ Styles uses dumb innovative moves against a 6'8" version of Mankind. There were some decent moments inside the cage, but overall, this was not for me. The first time I saw AJ Styles he was working in New Japan. It's difficult for me to even recognize this AJ Styles as the same worker. A lot of the stuff he did in this match was Rob Van Dam level dumb. Just do the move! Why do you need to put some twist on it?

Guy Mercier vs. Robert Le Boulch (aired 2/5/59) Robert Gasel vs. Gaby Calderon (aired 2/5/59) These were like squash matches on a Saturday Night's Main Event. The Gasel/Galderon match was actually a pretty decent five minute match. Calderon was a judoka who would go on to have quite a bit of success in the UK wrestling as Professor Adiwasser, "King of the Ate Waza," first for Paul Lincoln and then on television with Joint Promotions. I don't know how common judo gimmicks were in Continental Europe at the time, but took pains to put over the Calderon arm bar with Gasel selling it as a dislocation. In the midst of all this was a vignette of Leduc practicing harness racing. For a guy who's the champ, he was surprisingly shy. All of this was counting down the seconds before the great Leduc vs. Le Bourreau de Béthune bout, a match I think everyone can enjoy even if they're not immersed in French catch.

Why is KENTA wearing yellow and brown? He looks like an ice-cream. I've never seen a KENTA match before. I've read the name a lot, but this is my first time watching him. I don't know what he's usually like and how this match compares, but I thought this was a great match. The work was significantly better than the Joe/Punk match and Danielson vs. Homicide. Those matches had a better story and more emotion, but this match ran laps around them in terms of work. It did occur to me when I was watching it that it felt like more of a Japanese match than a US indy match, and maybe I was showing some kind of Japan bias, but Danielson looked like a fantastic worker in this, his heel act was much stronger than the Homicide bout, and the finishing stretch one was one of the best I've seen in a long, long time. This match felt like perfection in terms of a young worker getting tapes, imagining what they'd do if they were working Japanese style matches. But Danielson probably deserves more credit than that. This is just a high level match from a thinking man's wrestler. I can see where the groundswell came from after watching this sort of bout. Great match.

Wait, these two had a rematch? See, I don't know anything. I know Brock ended the streak, that's about it. This match had all the subtlety of a jackhammer but it worked in terms of the storyline. There were some embarrassingly stupid moments like the part where they laugh at each other, the timekeeper controversy, the low blow, and Brock pulling the finger, but for the most part this delivered on the hype. The three man commentary crew were terrible -- stepping on each other's toes, contracting each other, bringing up talking points they never complete. JBL said the same thing over and over again, Cole was Cole, and Lawler didn't seem to know when to speak up. You've gotta have a two man team. I guess the best thing about this was that they were able to make up for their Wrestlemania shit show.

It's okay. It's Twitter. It's wrestling. It's a work like sumo.

I didn't have strong memories of this. This is the feud where Ricky says the NWA wanted to put the belt on him, but he didn't want to break up the Express. Sure, Ricky. This was good shit. It took off once Ric removed the nose guard and started working Morton over. Morton's comeback was good as well. I love how you can hear them swearing at each other. I can respect this pick. I dunno if it's an all-time great match, but I can respect it. The finish kind of sucks, but what are you gonna do? The announcer seems depressed. Stay seated for the fireworks, though.

Wait up, Ricky Morton was on AEW? Who would have thought it?

This wasn't an EMLL match. It was on an independent Monterrey card. I didn't even know this match existed. If I've seen this before then that brain cell definitely doesn't exist anymore. Wait, there's a whole thread about this match where people are debating whether it's any good and who's performance is worse, Lizmark or Satanico. I love that sort of shit. The match is okay, but kind of average. I don't think either guy gives a particularly good performance. The most telling thing about the match is that the third fall doesn't have the big nearfalls you'd expect from a lucha classic, and no dives. They don't really even try. And early on, the matwork isn't great. If you're pinning your hopes on anything for this match it's that the matwork is great, or failing that the exchange are good. I can't think of one highlight from this match. I love both guys, but they had better matches against other people in the 90s. Not sure how this made it so high up your list.

Look at that rudo lineup. They started this match off with a technical fall and the first pairing was Casas vs. Dandy. When you think about it, 2001 isn't that far removed from their classic matches together. Still, there was a great nostalgic feel to their work, for me anyway. We also got a bit of straight Parka vs. Panther grappling, and Satanico stretching Antifaz for a bit, which was cool. For some reason they kept the first fall rolling forever and it unraveled into some lazy rudo work. You could tell by the running time that this was match was going to be too long. If they'd trimmed the fat, it could have been one of the best matches of the year. Instead, it was just another Monterrey bout .There was an issue between Casas and Antifaz at the end, but they resolved it for the time being.

Juan Botana vs Paul Villars (aired 1/1/59) God, I love Villars. I love how stoic he appears, but beneath the surface is that violent, psychotic temper. And we saw it here with the mauling he gave Botana. Shouldn't have raked the face during that head scissors. That was your big mistake, Botana.

This got better off the false finish (since when did a ref have the power to overturn a DQ?) I love Homicide, but injured babyface challenger isn't a role I wanna see him play. This heated up once he got some offense in. Was Danielson a good heel? The only heelish thing he did in this match was refuse to break the count, and even that was really on the nose. He jawed with the crowd a bit, but it almost feels like a post-modern heel champ act. I feel like Danielson never draws criticism. Every other worker gets scrutinized but Danielson seems untouchable. He did some cool shit in this match with his elbows and arm work, but other than that I wasn't hugely impressed. I suppose he sold the shoulder well, so he can have a couple of Bret Hart brownie points. The finish kind of sucked with the ring bell shit, but the post match was awesome. Homicide rules. I can only imagine how exciting this must have been for people following Homice and ROH since day one.

This was a good match. I would have liked it even more if the commentators hadn't screamed about the psychology every five seconds. Every time I watch Joe, I come away thinking he's the perfect wrestler. He had size, strength, skill, a great look, and he could cut a promo. I haven't watched the other matches in this trilogy, but I got the gist since they wouldn't stop talking about them. I actually thought Punk was gonna win this, so I was surprised when Joe put him away (I know nothing about ROH.) And didn't he put him away? That was a definitive finish.

This was a fun match. I really want to see Liger vs. Murahama after watching this match. Actually, I want to see Murahama vs. the World at this point. Is there a more exciting wrestler on the Japanese scene than Murahama? Liger and Samurai do their visiting rudo act similar to the year before. Samurai, in particular, seems to revel in the role. Deflin hasn't been at his world beating best this year (compared to 2000), but the real story here is Liger vs. Murahama. Did it happen? If not, why not?

This was a decent match. I forgot how busy Toryumon can be, but at least this felt fresh and sometime new not like the rest of the decaying men's promotions.

Awkward undercard Monterrey wrestling is interesting, I guess? I was hoping this would have a bit more of a punk rock, DIY feel, but it didn't.