El-P

Liger was still very good, but Kashin sucks. He works that lousy half-heelish/half mediocre submission style, with no focus nor charisma. Total failure of a champion and character. NJPW really had issues with their masked characters at this point, as I seem to remember Minoru Tanaka really struggled as Heat.

Terrific junior match. Total nonstop action (pun intended), and junior puroresu was much better before the annoying influence of american indy wrestling kicked in via ROH and such. Ohtani and Kanemoto are great, but Takaiwa brings his usual different, more power based offense, which I always though was nice because it brought some variety to the mix. And Minoru Tanaka was that terrific Battlart worker who was dating Yumi Fukawa (he ended up marrying her, I guess they're still together, which would be quite nice). The junior tags were the saving grace of a promotion going straight into Inokism hell.

Holy shit. Paige's reaction was quite funny, while Bryan looked like he wanted to be out of here, he was legit cringing. Gotta love Paige stirring the shit up by asking "what's a ring rat ?". This is better than any scripted promo on RAW.

SASUKE = The Great Sasuke as a cigarette smoking heel with a different mask Gotta love the CAPS ARE EVIL mentality of the Japanese.

Excellent match, but I totally understand the criticism of people who got bored by it. Plus, I actually think Takada was clearly the better of the two here, as Fujiwara just didn't play the outclassed veteran that well like garetta said. He never really put over Takada's kicks as dangerous and was pretty much no-selling them the entire match. I know that can be interpreted as "playing defensive", but the issue is that the end of the match really had nothing to do with that. More to come about that. Takada really was the one pushing the pace and feeding Fuji, sometime with no answer from the "virtuoso of shoot-style". Now, there's a moment in this thread that epitomized why the Takada hatred/blind Fujiwara love pisses me off : Takada was indeed rocking Fujiwara with kicks, but like he did before, Fuji really wasn't putting them over, and certainly did no great staggering nor selling. Actually, after the high kick straight to the head, Fuji just stood there, not even hinting at going down. It happened once before in the match, and Takada got the same reaction then : putting Fuji into one of his "limp-noddle leg locks", which infact really looked limped that time. That being said, he was effectively feeding Fujiwara one of his legs, which is something he's a master at, but Fuji just didn't do anything, to the point Takada had to let the hold go, grab an arm and slap Fuji's back of the head like a bitch, then go to a jujigatame to then have Fuji counter it and jump to the ropes. Ok, that was before. Now, this time. What matters is that it's actually the ending sequence. So, what do we have here ? We have Takada rocking Fuji with kicks in the corner, and Fuji just standing around like he did pretty much the entire match when they did kicking sequences. Great defensive storytelling ? Waiting for a mistake to capitalize ? Not quite to me. What I see is Fuji not doing shit with Takada's kicks, and instead of going down for a dramatic near KO, Fuji just stands there. Ok, so what does Takada do ? He takes Fuji by the hand, litteraly, almost like he would irish-whip him, but simply grabs him into the center of the ring and "drops into one of his limp-noodle leg locks". Because Fuji ain't doing shit with the hot kicks. He's not capitalizing on Takada's flurry of youthful offense either. He's just standing there and Takada has to drag him at the center of the ring to get into something else. So, "limp-noddle leg lock" we are into now. Fuji doesn't sell much, I guess he's kinda KOed by the kicks. Well, except he didn't go down at all (as opposed to say, Koshinaka in 96 ?). So, we get Fuji slowly getting up to his feet and countering Takada's hold into a heel hold of his own. It's deliberate, it's not done with much urgency nor "mustering his final reserve". It's well done, but it's not particulary special. So then, Takada twists his body, search for the ropes, making it dramatic like he knows how, tries to undo the hold but can't and finally taps out. That's the sequence. It's not even an interpretation, that's what happens. Of course, you can always have various definition of "great staggering and selling", but in all honesty (and I love Fujiwara, so really…) Fuji was just standing there, not selling the kicks much and Takada had to drag him in the center of the ring because Fuji would just not go down, just like he did before in the match. Takada was going for a dramatic near knock-downs, Fuji wasn't doing shit at this moment. And as far as the "subtle" storytelling, well, not quite. In the end, Fuji didn't lure Takada into a false sense of security to get a hold. He basically just reversed a "limp-noddle leg lock" like he usually would. The "defensive strategy" really didn't play a role in the finish, and Fuji didn't came off like an old guy doing his best to stop the young bull. He never put over the kicks really strong, came off better on the mat (like he should) and got a knock-down on Takada with his running headbutt (a classic pure shoot-style spot if there's one). He was also doing this great obnoxious tiger dance like it's been said, which is terrific underdog character work. Fuji didn't came off like the veteran having to dig into his knowledge here. Takada did look a bit outclassed because Fuji wasn't into going down for dramatic near knock downs like Takada was aiming for twice in the match. Takada clearly pushed the pace and the work here, and Fuji was not up to speed at points . I love Fujiwara and think he was a great worker in the 80's, but by 90 he was already a bit passed his prime although still mostly excellent. This is not one of his best showing. Their match in October is great and there Fujiwara delivers a great performance. Not here, although the match was still excellent and Fuji had some great moments in it, as always.

Been rewatching his classic matches from UWF in 1990, and some UWF-I vs NJ stuff. Yeah, Takada was terrific at what he did. Great big match worker. Of course he's much closer to Onita in spirit that Fujiwara or Tamura. He's not about doing amazing matwork and submission wrestling. He's about milking each near escapes and KOs to their most dramatic effect. He's about making everything look big (like, say, Cena). And although he's not a mat scientist, he's really good on his feet and he will kick you in the face. Actually, kicking Koji Kitao in the face immediately warrants him a very high placement. Well, all joking aside, I will not have him as high as last time, most probably, but top 20 ? Pretty sure. I'll revisit some NJ eighties stuff too, to see how this holds up with me.

Terrific short match. Exactly what the Mutoh match should have been but wasn't. And once again, sorry I have to do that but... Yeah. That's kinda the point. Shoot-style vs pro-style, ya know. And that's how every match on the card was contested. The UWF-I matches with two guys from the promotion (which at this time was only two undercard matches) were contested under UWF-I rules, with the points and KO system. All the other UWF-I vs NJ matches were contested under NJ rules. UWF-I was dead anyway, as clearly the audience was totally NJ. Yay, consistency actually. First off, Kosh never got up and waited for a ten count after the brainbuster. He slowly turned around and covered Takada, who was selling. He's a pro-style worker, he goes for the pin. Makes sense. Then when Takada does his fired-up comeback and kicks Kosh into oblivion, he turns his back and goes to his corner expecting a ten count, because that's what a UWF-I guy would naturally do. Yay, consistency and actually psychology too. And then when Kosh gets up, here he goes again but this time won't take the ten count and chooses to get Kosh back up and go straight into a submission. More on that later. I'll pass on the idea that Takada is spending the whole match laying on the mat, because it's just ridiculous, anyone actually watching the match without blinders can see it. Actually, Takada gets some quite badass moments, as when Kosh dropkicks him toward the corner and Takada immediately turns around after registering the shot and punts Kosh right in the face, like "WTF was that weak pro-wrestling shit ?", which people would gush for if anyone else but Takada was doing it (if Fujiwara or even Maeda did the exact same spot, people around here would collectively cum all over the board) Indeed, Kosh wasn't exacty running for the ropes that time around. However, the very first time Takada applies the same hold earlier in the match, Kosh reverses it by going to his feet with much urgency. Likewise, when Takada applies a leg hold at one point, Kosh sells like like death and jumps to the ropes like Ohtani or any good UWF-I guys would. So, what about that last time ? Well, it's good to mention that just before being put into the hold, Kosh was basically KOed by Takada, as showed by the straight bump he took from the kick, then Takada only puts him into the armbar to put the cherry on the cake. Did he took too long to tap out ? Might say yes, but really at this point the "credibility" of the shoot-style has been killed by Takada submitting to a figure four and Choshu no-selling everything by Anjoh then Kakihara at both Dome shows. It's not like Kosh did any damage to that hold, like I said he was KOed just before plus he submitted anyway and sold the arm as he sat up afterward. So yeah, terrific short match, and really cool to see these two old rivals get at it once again (likewise Sano vs Liger). As far as dogshit performance, Mutoh delivers one for the ages on the same show. Absolutely hilarious at points. I don't think anyone stayed longer in a heel hold while not selling it nor going to the ropes. Then selling it for two seconds on his feet then not selling it at all again. Then winning with the figure four *again* against poor Sano who worked his ass off and could have gotten a better match than Takada because his style suits the dynamic of the match better, but Mutoh was so hilariously bad here that it was just impossible to save this debacle.

Another feather in his cap is how well he worked against the UWF-I guys. He was easily the best at it. Granted, it was during his peak years, and he looked like the best worker ever during that short time. Still, it was a stylistic shift and he made it work without trying to ape the whole shoot style.

Sasha Banks or The Young Bucks ? Choice easy made.

Much much better than the infamous and insanely overrated Tokyo Dome match, because for once, there was a focus in a Steiner match.

They really went All Japan on our asses and it was excellent, but the crowd was spent after getting crazy for Rocky & HHH. Their best match together, before their feud would degenerate into actual awful boring matches thanks to idiotic gimmicks and the involvment of Kane.

Agreed. It's the Graal of shoot-style fans, but it's a bit hardcore if you're not completely into the style or even into Tamura, who is the purest artist (yes, I said it) of shoot-style pro-wrestling.

Word. The 30mn draw with Khosaka is my favourite match ever.

This is not the match is should have been, and it's entirely Mutoh's fault. Here he's in half-"fuck you" mode (as opposed to complete "fuck you" mode in January 96). He works a bit during the mat exchanges, but that's Keiji Mutoh doing NJ matwork, which doens't cut it against the top UWF-I guy, although Takada was never a great mat worker himself. Solid is the right word. Then, Mutoh manages to totally no-sell a heel hold, and that's where it gets problematic. From there, it's been established that the dangerous shoot-style submissions just don't cut it. The finishing stretch of the match is quite good, with the exception of Mutoh selling an arm-bar like it's not that much, and most of all the total no-sell of Takada's enzuigiri (granted it wasn't a great looking one, but still). Yeah, there's a trend here. Ok, sorry but this is ridiculous. First, Takada just ate a german suplex and a backdrop driver just before the moonsault spot. He rolled out the way, and I guess if he had just gotten up, he would have been criticized for shitty selling. After rolling out of the way, Takada sat up, took a breath and as soon as Mutoh was up he was right there kicking him in the face and the knees. Absolutely nothing wrong with this. Then, his kicks. I just watched his two classic matches with Maeda & Fujiwara from 90 just before this one. He kicked just as hard in the three matches, especially toward the end of the Mutoh match. No difference at all. And yes, Takada worked as much as he could against a guy who just wasn't into selling his shit, he worked the mat early on, tried submissions, kicked a lot and in the end sold that stupid figure-four spot as well as anyone could (I mean seriously, a figure-four submission in Japan in 95 against a shoot-style ace). Takada was game, Mutoh wasn't. They could have had an excellent match together, but Mutoh hates shoot-style as much as Choshu does, and it really showed here. Didn't sell the submissions right, didn't sell the KO right (he was pulling up his kneepads while doing his sole KO spot of the match) and although he did work a bit on the mat, he just wasn't interested in having a good match. Of course it's nothing compared to the following January's episode, where he was doing the job. I like Mutoh more than most, but when he's into "fuck you" mode, good luck. In the end, I'd say this ended up being pretty decent all in spite of Mutoh.

The day I'm getting back into watching this guy, he's top 5 easily. Greatest shoot-style worker ever.

Fuck yeah. Great wrestler. Totally underpushed and undersold these days. Gotta love his "apathetic gaze" like GOTNW said. He was not laid back, he downright looked stoned, or not giving a fuck. And then he kicked you in the head. And sold like a motha. Career cut short by injury too. Shoot-style needs more love, this guy was terrific.

More Ric Flair talk in an Haku thread. ZZZZzzzz….. (and really, more Ric Flair talk = ZZZZzzzzzz at this point. If he ends up N°1, it will be both hilarious and kinda sad. Flair will probably make my top 20 this time around though)

Not hard. That match was horrendous. It's impressive how Rocky improved over the next two years, as they were able to have an excellent 1hour Iron match in 2000, although it's the epitome of Attitude era overbooking that works, which helped both of them quite a bit.

Yeah. Bob Backlund, basically. AH !

This ladder match is exactly the point where I began to dislike ladder matches, because of stupid ultra-slow climbs and illogical use of objects (like using a chair to beat on a ladder prone on a guy's body, how in the hell that's supposed to hurt more than a simple chair shot ?). Take away the crowd heat, and I don't think it's that good of a match. Maybe my opinion would change today, but last time I checked, it was all heat over an awkward gimmick match.

Mostly agree with this. A really good match, but not a MOTYC or anything to me. I thought Maeda was clearly the better worker here, reigning down Funaki's atheticism and terrific stand-up striking. Coming just after Fuji vs Takada, it's striking to me why Takada was so great. Although he was nowhere as good a striker that Funaki was, and not that great on the mat either, what makes the difference is how much better he sells the near-submisisons and KO (a bit like Onita would actually). He makes everything means so much, whereas there were a bunch of very slow, totally devoid of urgency escapes by Funaki here, including in the middle of the match, which kinda dragged a little at points because of it. Maeda was much better at this, and it made Funaki look dangerous. Anyway, this was still really good of course. Maeda as the surly veteran always works well and Funaki brought spunk in spades. His mullet was horrifying though. What the hell ?

Great match. Two masters going at it. Everyone is gushing (rightfully so) about Fujiwara, but Takada was at his best here too. The way he milks the rope escapes and the KO's are fantastic, from his body language to his facial expressions, both the care which he tends to approach his opponent with because he knows shit is coming if he gets caught on the mat or in a corner, and the urgency he puts into his flurries of offense. Both Maeda and Takada had their best matches, and MOTYC, with Takada in 90, while their match together just didn't reach that level. Just sayin'

Let's not be US centric.

Really, if you watch that Yankem match now, it's like Jacobs never really improved. They could have as well called him Unabomb instead of Kane.

Wat can you say ? Just a classic match. Both guys are awesome here, the sense of flair and drama of Takada really shines, while Maeda manages to get sympathy for himself as an underdog against the young star. Terrific exchanges, great urgency, great selling of KO's and near-submissions. Shoot-style at its best (and no, I don't mean at its technical best, but shoot-style isn't strictly about that).