ohtani's jacket

Satanico has been slicking his hair back in recent weeks. It looks so smooth. What is Blue Demon Jr doing in CMLL? Riding on Santo's coat-tails, I presume. You'd think a week out from the Anniversary Show they'd have a big brawl between the Infernales teams, but we get a lot of Satanico vs. Atlantis here, so I'm happy. In fact, I genuinely think his work against Atlantis is better than anything he's done all year. Casas vs. Averno was also really good. Casas has been on a tear of late against the likes of Black Warrior and Averno. Things are shaping up nicely when suddenly the Infernales attack. You didn't think we'd have a go-home show with the Infernales fighting, did you? The tecnicos decide to help Satanico's side out and all hell breaks loose. Then, in classic Mexico fashion, the tecnicos get bored and leave the rudos to fare for themselves. The brawling goes on for too long and there's no real cliffhanger like on an episode of RAW or Smackdown, but you can imagine Ross losing his shit over what's gonna happen at the Anniversario when these two teams meet in a steel cage match.

This was a good match. Honda reminds me of a Japanese Gary Albright if Gary Albright were a plucky underdog who sold big instead of a suplex machine. (I guess he's not that similar to Albright after all.) The best thing about this match was that instead of the usual barrage of finishers and nearfalls, there was a submission battle down the stretch. That's rare in this style of wrestling and it was cool to see Akiyama doing something different for a change instead of an endless battle of "Can you top this?" One of the more enjoyable Akiyama matches so far.

So this is Tamon Honda, hmm? Not exactly what I was expecting. This was more amateur style matwork than shoot style, and Ikeda was treated like a junior going up against a heavy, which I guess was always going to happen once he left BattlARTS. There were some cool moves, but it didn't really strike me as a good Ikeda match. I will keep giving Honda a try, though.

Another Classics poster has sponsored some Chicago footage. Thanks, Matthew Gromala. The matches are Verne Gagne & Bobby Bruns vs. Al Williams & Rudy Kay (5/12/50) and Lou Thesz vs. Bronko Nagurski (10/5/51.) The tag match is fun. Al Williams and Rudy Kay were two of Russ Davis' favourites, and he actually has some decent one-liners for a change. Williams and Kay control the bout for the most bout, and the faces mostly retaliate, but it's good fun. Gagne doesn't do a whole lot since it's mainly a heat seeking brawl, but he's super young and super fit. I liked Thesz vs. Nagurski. It was minimalist, but I enjoyed watching Thesz sell for Nagurski. Nagurksi was well past his prime, but a monster. It was fun watching Thesz figure him out.

Negro Casas and Juventud aren't getting along. This was a decent trios, but it was mostly about the dissent between the tecnicos. Black Warrior was the most game of the rudos and continued to impress me with his form. Tarzan Boy looks like he's taken a few steps back from his peak 2000 work. I wasn't impressed with him in this match at all. There's no real developments with the Casas/Juventud beef. The match ends with everybody thinking Juvie's a dick, rudo and tecnico alike.

Jacky Corn & Gilbert Leduc vs. Daniel Schmid & Yanek Fryziuk (aired 12/17/72) This ran a bit hot and cold, but the Schmid and Leduc exchanges were sublime. I love the way Schmid sells a manchette. I'm pretty sure Yanek Fryziuk is Jean Fryziuk. Daniel Schmid vs. Rocky James (aired 4/13/75) This was really fun. I'm glad we have this. Schmid gets to shine in a singles match and be The Man for a change. I'm not sure where Rocky James figures into the grand scheme of things, but he was a willing opponent. Daniel Schmid vs. Mammouth Siki (aired 8/28/78) Schmid his best here, but Mammouth Siki sucks the life out of any match he's in. It's crazy how much time he spends in control of a bout given how shitty he is. I suppose Schmid could have sold more, but Siki is probably the worst worker in the archives. Shitty finish too.

Tony St. Clair vs. Fit Finlay (Hannover, 9/9/91) Tony St. Clair vs. FIt Finlay (Street FIght, Hannover, 9/11/91) Now these were MUCH BETTER. You want to watch these if you're a Finlay fan. The first match sets up the Street Fight, and the Street Fight is great. The best thing about it is that they only use a few props, but they use them to maximum effect. The rest of the match is a straight brawl. Both guys bleed. Finlay bumps like he did in his youth. The ending could have been better, but it hardly mattered. One of the better Finlay matches I've seen between '86 and the feud with Regal in '96.

This wasn't the best match in their series, but it was a decent tournament bout. The beginning and end were good, but the middle was largely forgettable. An exciting finishing stretch ensured the match finished on the right note.

This was a lively performance from Shimoda. Possibly the best thing she's done all year. Even in a short sprint, they still found time to go on a tour of Korakuen, but minor annoyances aside, this set up the yusho bout nicely.

This started off with the big contract signing between the two Infernales groups. Then there were some promos and shit, and finally we got into the match. Definitely a wilder and more intense brawl than in recent months. They turned it up a notch with the Anniversary Show right around the corner. Big melee at the end with Tarzan Boy rushing the ring and Shocker and Apolo Dantes evening up the numbers.

This followed a simple formula: Niebla, Olimpico & Safari have the National trios titles and Los Boricuas want them. Pierroth was sitting at ringside with a cigar. I've missed that crazy bastard.

This starts with Shocker trying to woo some woman who's been in the front row for Emilio Charles' matches in recent weeks. I have no idea who she was, and I'm too lazy to look it up. I'll assume she was a soap opera star. Excellent TV match, as you'd expect from the talent involved. My favorite match up was Black Warrior vs. Casas. That's not a match up I can remember seeing a lot of in the past, but I thought they were excellent. For some reason, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on dangerous moves in CMLL. I'm not sure if they're trying to get over how high risk some of these new moves are, or if they're still trying to put over the finish to Universo vs. Aguayo, but twice wrestlers had to receive attention because of some dangerous move. The match ended with an altercation between Juventud and Casas after Casas accidentally drop-kicked him. Casas can't seem to buy a break at the moment with screwy partners and screwy finishes.

Tony St. Clair vs. Dave Taylor (Wien '90) What was with Dave Taylor and the tassels around his arms? I think it was related to a gimmick he had in Reslo. It's weird and does nothing for him. Speaking of doing nothing for him, Tony St. Clair had a sickening mullet in 1990. Just ghastly. If you were hoping to see Taylor and St. Clair carry on the proud tradition of British heavyweight wrestling, you'll be sorely disappointed. This was a comedy match without any laughs. The ref in Wien gets involved too much. It's the same thing in every match. And that damn whistle. Tony St. Clair vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Graz '95) This was better than expected. Our boy St. Clair could wrestle. He does some nice defensive work in this match against Takayama. Tony St. Clair vs. Fit Finlay (Boxing match, Bremen '96) Tony St. Clair vs. Fit Finlay (Chain match, Bremen '96) Weak, half-arsed gimmick matches. This was 1996, the same year Finlay had his amazing feud with Steve Regal. How can these be so bad? Am I the only one who watches bad Finlay matches? Or am I the only one who thinks these are shite?

Mile Zrno vs. Charley Verhulst (Graz,12/7/1980) This is delightful while it lasts, but it's too short. I would have liked a fleshed out 25 minute match between these two. They put on a wonderful exhibition of European style wrestling, however. Mile Zrno vs. Takayuki Iizuka (Bremen '91) This was pretty good considering Iizuka was a fish out of water and didn't know how to work the European style. Zrno was such a beautiful wrestler. He never ceases to amaze me. Some of the stuff he did in this match was gorgeous. This was actually quite testy with a lot of shoving and glaring. I'd love to see a return bout between these two.

Actually, I think he was 14 when he started.

Is that the stuff he wrote as a kid with the Curt Swan pencils? That stuff is good. My daughter is super into Kimetsu no Yaiba at the moment like most Japanese kids. We have been watching the anime together on Netflix. Today I bought her the first volume of the manga. It's the first time she's really been into a manga or anime of any sort. I remember I was the same age when my father bought me my first proper comics. It was at the airport and I got a copy of Uncanny X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man. Needless to say, I was glad to follow in my father's footsteps.

I have nothing against modern wrestling. I may end up watching it in 20 years time.

Bestia Salvaje is so great. He comes into this territory after being kind of static in CMLL and pops the building with this electric Dandy feud. And man did he light a fire under Dandy. I always thought it was the Navarro feud that led to Dandy's revival, but evidently it Bestia who kick started it. The pair have past history, but it's the simple action of beating the shit out of each other that really gets the crowd going. Tracking Bestia in this match isn't hard since the cameraman gravitates towards him, but keep an eye on the things he does. If he were still alive, he could be in a YouTube ad offering his own master classic in how to work a building. This is a good example of how a hot through line can make a trios matches significantly better. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Bestia vs. Dandy was the best thing in lucha in July 2001. Hopefully, they don't botch it.

Blue Demon jumps Panther before he gets to the ring and takes the first fall in under a minute. That may sound kind of lame but it leads to a neat revenge fall where Panther won't let go of his armbar. Panther targets the arm for awhile in the third fall, but they drop it in favour of some back and forth pinfall attempts. Then they ruin everything with a DQ finish. If you remember, I said I'd give this match a shot given how good Panther's 2000-2001 run has been. Is it a lost classic? No. An unheralded great match? Nope. It's not a match I would put on Panther's resume from this era, and not a particularly great performance from him, but coupled with the build up it's a decent TV match. I should have known better than to expect a decent finish, but however good the match was up until that point, it was cut off at the legs with that screwy finish. It reminded me a bit of some of Panther's AAA matches where he wasn't given the chance to have a great match because of the booking. That's a missed opportunity, but fortunately Dandy is starting to heat up which gives me something else to look forward to.

This was also an exciting match. The quality of IWRG TV can vary from one week to the next, but this was a fun episode. This had solid rudo work, and Super Astro, who has been somewhat quiet in recent weeks, delivered something closer to a vintage performance. He did a big dive at the end that left him shook up.

The build up for Panther/Demon continues. There was a lot of mask ripping in the first fall and the third fall. I don't really get apuesta builds for non-apuesta matches, but I liked the tecnico comeback here. It was the most exciting thing I've seen from IWRG in a while. It was so good that Blue Demon felt the urge to hit Panther with a pair of topes. What made it extra exciting was Dandy and Bestia slapping the crap out of each other. This was the first time in a while that I've really gotten into Dandy and it's no surprise that Bestia brought that out. He remains, to this day, a underrated worker.

Mile Zrno vs. Steve Wright (Graz 1980) This had poor VQ but it was fascinating to watch because it was a young Zrno, who we've really only seen in Japan, against a Steve Wright who wasn't far removed from his World of Sport days. It was interesting to see them do some of the spots that crop up in later German/Austrian matches (staples, I suppose), and it was also apparent that short, inconsequential bouts were the norm. But it has nice exchanges, and it's a chance to see Zrno and Wright in their physical prime.

You seem to have this notion that all works are a lie. I stumbled upon Morton's podcast, and at the beginning of the show the host wanted Morton to give his opinion about Cornette saying Becky Lynch shouldn't have left a million dollar payday to have a baby (or something to that effect.) Morton refused to condemn Cornette, and they quickly moved to some of the most hilarious shilling you'll ever hear (good ol' Ricky), but back to the point about Cornette. Cornette may or may not believe what he says bout Lynch, but the way he says it is deliberately provocative. He's stirring shit up the same way he did when he was a manager. 90% of the people who download his podcast, download it to hear him give some rant about the business. And every time he does, he's working those folks. That doesn't mean he's lying. It means he's coaxing folks to download the next podcast. Morton's comments were about more than him liking a match. It doesn't matter whether he liked the match or not. The gist of Morton's statement was that wrestling is better than it's ever been. Apparently, this is all very exciting because Ricky Morton said it and Cornette is going to blow a gasket when he finds out. Experience has told us not to trust wrestlers. That is what we have been taught time and time again. But we're supposed to give Ricky Morton the benefit of the doubt here because he said the right things. And next week we'll go back to not giving wrestlers credit for the things they say. Whatever's convenient. But to answer your question, yes he could have thought it was a great match. He could also be angling for a gig with AEW, but the important thing is that Ricky Morton said modern wrestling is great.

Yes, because nobody has ever angled for anything ever... Jim Cornette works people with his podcast the same way he he worked people as a manager all those years ago. That doesn't mean that Jim Cornette isn't everything that everybody says he is, but he still works folks. Ricky Morton refuses to criticize Jim Cornette for comments that Cornette makes on his podcast because Morton and Cornette are friends, and Morton understands that part of it is a work. Morton himself is still part of the business, still running a school, still working the independent circuit, and recently worked for the company he's praising. Morton likes to tell tall tales about the territory days and his involvement in the business. Morton also claims he invented the shoot angle and the worked shoot feud. Morton is like most old-school wrestlers in every way, shape and form, but one day he has a moment of clarity and declares wrestling better than ever. Which wouldn't mean anything except that a chunk of online fans get their kicks from being offended by Cornette. The same way we used to love reading Herb Kunze. And in ten years, said fans will be on the Cornette side of the fence and bitching and moaning about the next generation of wrestlers. The point is that there is BS on both sides. Cornette may be an easy dig, but rolling out Morton as some kind of ironic rebuttal to Cornette's rants is ridiculous considering they'd turn the whole thing into an angle if they thought there was money in it.

I don't agree or disagree with Morton. I just find it amusing that an old-time wrestler who tells the same bullshit stories that all old-timer wrestlers tell is somehow more credible than the rest because he put over a match on Twitter. When he tells some bullshit story in a shoot, we greet it with skepticism, but when he calls a modern match a Rembrandt we applaud? Give me a break.