Ditch

I will not abide by any Meng-bashing, monsieur.

I've got like 10 files on Rapidshare but they're pretty historic (those two, 6/9/95, Jumbo vs Misawa 2, Misawa vs Williams July '94...) and so I might as well move everything.

I'll fix the Rapidshare thing. grrrrr...

Updated two links in the excel.

How dumb do you have to be to book a Bigelow vs Awesome feud. MIKE AWESOME DOES POWERBOMBS. HE CAN'T POWERBOMB BIGELOW. Good lord.

Nope.

There was a September '94 match with Sasuke in MPro. Worked like a TV match, so the first half is dry as hell, but for the finishing run Ohtani was right there and looked like a high-end junior. That's darn good progress. From what I've seen he wasn't quite an Akiyama-level rookie standout, but he was damn good by the second year. The only thing of note in '93 was him eating an especially brutal Ligerbomb.

Kanemaru & Kikuchi vs Samurai & Naruse, IWGP junior tag titles, NOAH September 23rd 2002 Background: Kanemaru and Kikuchi formed a somewhat impromptu tandem in February to tangle with the invading New Japan forces, led by Liger himself. The initial tag is one of the best of the year and I'm confident everyone will watch it. This is another skirmish in the war. Why I think it's underrated: A match that isn't the main event or semi-main, let alone one with junior heavyweights, let alone one with second-tier junior heavyweights, is easy to pass over. Samurai/Naruse is a somewhat random pairing for New Japan to send over, yet improbably enough they're an effective unit. I suspect that a lot of what makes this match good is the momentum of the NJ vs NOAH feud from the August 29th show. What it deserves: Top 100 consideration / on the bubble. Not as good as the top-tier matches in the feud, but most of those are top 50 caliber, so top 100 for this is reasonable.

Watched this like ten years ago based on Tabe's recommendation and was puzzled by it. Now I'm a Takayama fan and... I'm still puzzled. Glad I'm not alone.

Jarrett was so overwhelmingly forced as a main eventer. He was a midcarder in the first WWF run, during a low point for the company. A third-tier guy in the first WCW run. A midcarder again in the WWF return. Then he was EVERYWHERE in WCW, with a gimmick of "hits people with guitars and talks about powerful friends" and a god-awful finisher. Never, not once, was he over as a heel, or did he draw. And then TNA makes him the center of the company for five years. What in the hell.

Kanemoto vs Hashi, New Japan August 29th 2002 Background: New Japan versus NOAH was the hot feud of 2002, and this show captured the dynamic as well as any other. Because of the unusual makeup of the card (mostly junior heavyweights from many promotions and no full-time NJ heavyweights) and the location (traditional All Japan/NOAH haunt Tokyo Nippon Budokan), the crowd was a mix of New Japan and NOAH fans, with NOAH's fans often winning out. This is the second of three NJ vs NOAH junior matches. Kanemoto is the IWGP junior heavyweight champion, and as such is the overwhelming favorite. Why I think it's underrated: Despite taking place at Nippon Budokan, the event didn't get the coverage that standard big shows did due to the makeup of its card and the lack of a coherent overall theme. Also, this wasn't a "dream match"; Hashi wasn't nearly as athletic and explosive as Marufuji and KENTA, and didn't attract headlines the way they did. This match takes advantage of the strengths of both men: Kanemoto as the cocky superstar and Hashi as the tough underdog. What it deserves: Top 100. Really solid, plenty of heat, and it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Dick Togo vs Tiger Mask 4, junior title tournament final, Michinoku Pro August 25th 2002 Background: Michinoku Pro had used several singles titles over the years, typically obscure ones from Mexico. In 2002 they decided to create their own belt and had a huge round-robin tournament to crown a champion. Togo and Tiger Mask 4 were the top two and advanced to the final. Why I think it's underrated: MPro's heyday was 1996, with the Kaientai stable helping to generate one great sprint after another. The promotion lost its consistency when most of the roster went elsewhere, since MPro tours the relatively poor and very rural north part of the country and thus doesn't pay particularly well. A case in point is this bout, with two Michinoku trainees who now only worked part-time for the promotion. Due to its lack of great match production, MPro shows tended to fly under the radar. This match went completely unnoticed from what I can tell, yet I'd say pretty much anyone will enjoy it. Life-long heel Togo is able to push life-long babyface Tiger Mask 4 to the breaking point in a very compact, intense battle. After watching it the first time I thought it was quite a bit longer than it actually was; they cram a lot in there. What it deserves: Top 100. This feels like the climax of a US-style feud more than a Japanese title match, but it will have a hard time going ahead of matches that are twice as long and still great throughout.

"some blobby creature": The Shaggy 2 Dope Story

Takayama vs Nishimura, G-1 Climax semifinal, New Japan August 10th 2002 Background: Takayama was a hot commodity at the time due to his famous fight in PRIDE against Don Frye, and was a main eventer in both New Japan and NOAH at the same time. Nishimura is a throwback, using '70s-style technical wrestling to combat the brutal bruiser. Why I think it's underrated: G-1 finals always get the spotlight, and understandably so. This not only wasn't a final, but it wasn't wrestled as an "epic". What they do pull off admirably is the sort of style-versus-style matchup that lies at the heart of the G-1 Climax concept. Nishimura gets Takayama into his own 'Muga World' and is able to be competitive, but in the back of your mind is the nagging suspicion that Takayama can crush him with a single blow. The crowd has those same doubts... What it deserves: Top 100. I don't see it as a MOTYC, but it is both distinct and memorable.

One of the reasons I tended to prefer WCW to WWF through '99 was that I think WCW did a better job of mixing things up. Like, you'd have some force of nature dude like Goldberg or 'win streak' Wrath tangling with someone involved in a standard storyline/feud. And granted, 99% of the time this meant that there would be a run-in or non-finish, but the concept was intriguing. Sure, Wrath plows through jobbers, but tonight on Thunder he's facing Saturn! Whereas WWF/WWE tends to be either jobber/JTTS matches or standard inconclusive feud matches on TV.

*cough* But anyway I'd love to see it get some Segunda Caida action!

Should be; depends on how you watched it.

-Traditional wrestling is #1 -Wrestling is not a circus sideshow Um, Jim...

It was certainly better for Vince.

I haven't gone as in-depth on those years. Still have a ton of '98-'99 DVDs to watch.

My apologies then.

Yeah but I also gave specific recommendations (didn't I?)

Why was this on the set?

SUWA had his moments before then but that was definitely a breakout performance for him.

This was a hidden gem for a couple years that isn't very hidden anymore. Maybe the best-structured tag AJ produced after the RWTL '96 final.