soup23
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[1996-08-02-NJPW-G1 Climax] Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimoto
soup23 replied to Loss's topic in August 1996
Choshu still has some fight left in him. A beautiful match with everything feeling like the most important moment of their life. There is a simplistic beauty with watching these guys work that should be marveled at. Choshu winning felt like a crowing achievement for him and the crowd that witnessed this. **** -
[1996-08-02-NJPW-G1 Climax] Keiji Muto vs Kazuo Yamazaki
soup23 replied to Loss's topic in August 1996
I liked this a lot more than I expected as it was starting. The constant hand work and arm bars really had me invested and Yamazaki picking the win felt deserved and him not giving in to the aura of Muto overall. I agree that Muto popping up and vanishing at the finish took some wind out of this match overall but it was a really pleasant surprise and a great match for Yamazaki as a whole. ***1/2 -
[1996-08-02-NJPW-G1 Climax] Masa Chono vs Satoshi Kojima
soup23 replied to Loss's topic in August 1996
Good match but Chono and Muto have consistently been the most perplexing performers for me in the 90's. Whereas someone like Konnan who was a main eventer just sucks and Toyota is someone I can tolerate more than most, Chono and Muto continue to give performances that leave me cold. Nothing Chono does here is actively bad or lazy, but I also never got a sense of progression like I did in the previous match from FMW even with the STF attempts in the latter stages of the match. Kojima is young here and that plays to his spunky role better than in his current state but he also has never been a performer I am really into. Overall, good but nothing memorable. *** -
[1996-08-01-FMW-King of Fight II] W*ING Kanemura vs Masato Tanaka
soup23 replied to Loss's topic in August 1996
After seeing some the FMW from later years, this was a great intro to the style which would come to make FMW one of my favorite promotions overall. We have a fundamental style of wrestling that escalates into bombs with some weapons and blood mixed in. Fun stuff all around. ***1/4 -
This may be the greatest wrestling angle of all time and this watch really shook my ranking for wrestling matches to the core. That may sound smarky and trivial but in the past four years I have watched A LOT of wrestling and tried to put some sort of guidance on where things stand historically. I have always argued that if the principals of the match are involved in the angle afterward, then that should count. That certainly happens here. That doesn't take away from the match as well which was a ton of fun and mixed in food spots, quick action, and old rivalries rekindling. However, this reaches another gear when Jimmy runs out and the scene crafted with everything from Rey, Eddy, Flair, Sting, Bobby, Bischoff, Tony, Luger, Larry Z was just so above and beyond what we have seen from a storytelling standpoint. Whether everything was on purpose or not, the majestic way that everything blends in creates a gripping picture that is unparalleled. This match and scene is art and my current MOTY. *****
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Pretty cheesy commercial especially in the wake of the NWO stuff we just saw.
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Impressive looking clips of Henry that show why WWF would have interest in him. Dunking the basketball and Oprah back to back was especially impressive.
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[1993-08-08-WCW-Main Event] Ricky Steamboat vs Steven Regal (No DQ)
soup23 replied to Loss's topic in August 1993
Awesome return match which shows the progression of the feud. This shows a great gritty type of wrestling that still feels natural and sportsman in a way. Steamboat excels in this area to me where he is forced to show some emotion and put away some of his goofy tendencies that he can have from time to time. ***1/4 -
Pretty awesome to see the genius as this did a lot with the fun black and white graphics and the cut shots that actually work and make the N W O look cool. Interesting that Hall was already talking about building the team in these vignettes.
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Doink and Dink
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Watched the 9/18/05 Kobashi/Taue vs. Tenryu/Akiyama tag last night and it was awesome big man style wrestling. All four was great and this is probably the last tremendous curtain call for Taue, but Kobashi was pretty awesome as his partner riling up the crowd on the apron and doing little nuanced stuff building to the tag to Taue.
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John's jab was cute but I see no way in watching 1998 as a whole and not coming away impressed with Kobashi. I didn't see hardly any excess with his performances that years and even the ones that do (vs. Misawa 10/98) had so many sublime moments that it become my worldwide MOTY.
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I really enjoy Fujiwara and see him in the top half, but have also never gotten the top ten all time hype that was bestowed upon him from many going through the NJ set. As a result, I was initially disappointed. Fujiwara has some great strikes, submissions, and charisma but in a lot of ways I still see him as a limited performer and in the vein of a more athletic Onita.
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I have always viewed it as more of a eulogy and recap of the performer than a brief overview in obituary form. For example, the Dick the Bruiser obit was pretty vague as well as the Buddy Rogers one and those are two huge figures. Andre stretched out the WON a bit and really signifies with obits became one of Dave's calling cards based on thoroughness he provides with each one.
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Rude had too short a time of quality output for me to consider him. A guy that oozes charisma but for a point of comparison, Hennig had the years from 84-87 that was stronger than anything Rude did except 1992 and I also like Hennigs 1993 better than Rudes as an easy comparison of one year between the two.
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http://placetobenation.com/ptbn-reaction-show-summerslam-2015/ ​Will is joined By Kris Zellner (Exile on Badstreet), Dave Musgrave (Wrestling Culture) and Johnny Sorrow (Titans of Wrestling) for the newest 4 hour PPV. Does Undertaker have any pride left? Who will walk out with the US and World titles? Can the WWE top the excellent NXT show from the night before? Tune in and find out!!!
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He made my top 100 due to the bump, but oddly enough listening to Voices of Wrestling yesterday made me question that. While I do understand that we dont have the whole picture of All Japan due to the way their tv and commercial releases were, I also don't use that as an excuse for Tanahashi for his awfulness in the tags. I didn't like the Yano series really at all and he dogged it big time in the US when he had an opportunity to make a splash. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the Styles matches a lot this year and the Okada and Nakamura stuff this year has been fabulous. I think I will do a deep dive on Tanahashi on where he will end up but I also want to keep in context just how many meaningless performances I have seen him in. I do in some ways think Tanahashi is a litmus test for "great match Theory" and how much an individual subscribes to that.
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Regardless of what you think about Ziggler, the corners where I visit absolutely praised WWE for building him up at Survivor Series and then give a pass for his shuffling in the midcard. My current interest in WWE is lower than it has been since 2005 currently and I haven't watched a minute of Raw in months. This is because of the lack of investment. Look at the guys in the past year that were argued to be made: 1. Dean Ambrose - Big push with the Shield split, huge support of the fans. He now has become a prennial jobber. 2. Dolph Ziggler - Stop/Start constantly and now looking like mid-card is his perpetual ceiling 3. Rusev - Big win over Cena, nothing since 4. Owens - Big win over Cena, nothing since 5. Seth Rollins - Won undisputed title but has been made to look weak at every juncture. Feud with Cena does seem to be helping a bit but we will see how SummerSlam pays off. That is a list of five big time guys that they have gaffed with and didn't even include some debatable choices like Roman Reigns that absolutely were hindered by booking decisions and placement. Winning the big one isn't seen as a guy making it anymore. All of the above have big wins over Cena at times with the exception of Ambrose so obtaining victories doesn't matter either.
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Rudge, Cortez, Grey, JOhnny Saint are all in my "need to see more" pile.
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Dusty will be a no. Great charisma but only above average at points in ring and my criteria is strictly between the ropes. Dustin is tougher and one of the last cuts I made.
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That is one that I have been formulating for a while, essentially since I started going through the All Japan 80's and yearbook sets. Kobashi was very good early on for me as evidenced by his 7/15/89 role and his stuff in 90-91. By 92-93, I think you can make a strong claim to him being top 10 in the world where he would be throughout 1997. 1998 he is neck and neck with Tamura for my WOTY and in 1999, he is a strong contender for WOTY 7 months in and at worst, top 3. The one thing I want to watch is his 2000's NOAH run. I did Ditch's 2004 run through and thought Kobashi was fabulous thorughout that year and I liked the 2008-2009 stuff in real time when I started watching footage in the same critical landscape I do now. if his 2000, 2002-2007 can be at that level, then I see Kobashi having 20 strong years of amazing output. My top 5 overall will be something I mull over until I submit my final ballot.
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Where the Big Boys Play #74 - Wrestlewar 92
soup23 replied to JerryvonKramer's topic in Publications and Podcasts
"Honey, for this anniversary, I present to you Slamboree 1994" -
Michael Hayes is someone I like a bunch and think for sure most everyone that has watched a chunk of his work is on board with dismissing the "he was good only on the mic" claim, but I don't see him rising on a list like this. Luger is really the only person I would call a fanboy selection and with Hansen omitted, he probably won't make it. I would lump Hayes with DDP in that they are my favorites and I would like to find a spot for them but can't see them as better workers above Adrian Street, Sean Waltman, Minoru Suzuki, etc. Dr. Death is really hindered by his U.S. run. He feels more inconsistent to me than almost any wrestler I can think of as they are very few performers that I can claim he is a legit WOTYC in one year (1994) whereas three years before, I thought he adequate at best on the footage I have seen and three years later produced the same result. Doc's window of greatness was too short for consideration.
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Hero above Punk is fairly easy for me but I have never been that into Punk as others. Indy Scene: Hero had the Ian 2002 match and Mark Wolf 2003 series which is great. Also, MIchael Todd Stratton and Danny Daniels Feuds. 2004 has the Joe vs. Punk matches but the Hero vs. Punk match is also great and he was already having some very good stuff with Claudio. 2005 shows him branch out even more with the Arik Cannon feud and him turning full rudo there and in Chikara. Punk is in OVW and WWE which is honestly a down period for him in my eyes from a performance perspective. Fast forward to where Punk really shines in 2010-2012 and he is ahead of Hero but Hero was still really good with the KOW stuff and again working with a variety of guys. I have been critical of Punk in 2013 and think he was pretty inconsistent overall. Hero in 2014-2015 has been pretty great whether he is fat or not and worked a variety of styles with Thatcher, Bailey, Kongo Kong, AJ STyles that have all produced very good results.
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No clue how Hansen was omitted. He is Yellow on my excel sheet which is a top 10 contender. Right now I would have him at #5. Tanahashi is the one that I kept creeping up as I formed the list on the back half. It became a war of attrition where I had to keep asking myself if someone like Fuyuki is better than Tanahashi, etc. I also am in post G-1 glaze from him so he may be dropping as we go along. Before forming the list, I had initially at #100.