KB8
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Every time I think Tenryu is running away with WOTY, Kawada goes and does something like this. Didn't think it was a great match, but Kawada's performance was ALL that. Punching Kobashi in the teeth to end a chop flurry was SO great, and that brainbuster Loss mentions really looked brutal. It's as if he did it just because he could. I mean who's going to stop him? The way he held Kobashi at bay at the end by casually sitting with a knee across his throat was awesome, too. -
Yeah, this was terrific stuff. I know the Blonds have been taking a whipping (the *team*, anyway) for a little while now, but I still dig the shit out of a lot of their stuff. The early foreign object shtick was awesome (I was actually a little disappointed they didn't follow up on it at some point) and Pillman almost took Bagwell's head off with that towel spot. This might be a top 5 US MOTY. Certainly can't think of a better tag match, at least.
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This was like a snuff film, or some experiment where you stick a real life South Park character in a cage with a polar bear and see how long it takes for the polar bear to claw the South Park character's face off. Vader looked totally unfuckwithable here and Nakano is a guy that has absolutely no qualms with getting cracked in the face.
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This was so fucking good. SANO is so fucking good. Tamura isn't quite at the "so fucking good" level yet, but he's clearly on the way there. I love how Sano would just keep smothering Tamura, like when he's twisting and pulling at his arm. Tamura manages to break free and tries to catch a little breather, but Sano sees him holding the arm and jumps all over him again. There's a really nasty spot where Sano has a hold of Tamura's leg and turns it in such a disgusting angle that his ankle is directly in line with his face. Of course Tamura refuses to give an inch and the moments where he gets downright belligerent are great, like when he's on top and Sano is sort of waiting for him to make a move. He has a hold of the leg, but instead of trying to lock in a hold he just slaps him in the face. Sano slaps him back, Tamura returns another few of his own, and THEN hooks in a kneebar. Sano just laying there before the finish was a little weird, but I wasn't expecting Tamura to win this so I was pretty shocked at the end. Should be interesting to see how this stacks up to the other shoot style stuff from '93. It isn't fucking with Sano/Anjoh as the shoot style MOTY, but it might be top 5.
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Man, I thought Funk was spectacular here. I was basically fixated on him the entire time. I love his reaction to Onita's first bump into the barbed wire (he sort of throws his hands up in shock, like "Well...I didn't expect THAT), and he hits a totally different level once he goes into the wire himself. I have no idea how you go back first into barbed wire and come up with a cut forehead, but it's FUNK and it was awesome. I don't think I've seen anybody milk and tease those "close calls" like Funk does here. There's one spot where he punch-drunkenly staggers halfway across the ring and sort of teases falling face first into the wire, and there's this audible gasp from the crowd. When he takes his second barbed wire bump he starts convulsing on the mat with this look of "How the fuck did I get myself into this?" on his face. Also looked like Onita opened up a pretty horrendous cut on his finger as a result of that bump where he goes out of the ring. That looked nasty as Hell.
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I talked about this on WKO earlier in the year and my thoughts aren't much different: I've got a weird thing with handhelds sometimes. If this did indeed air on TV, I'd probably like it even more if I watched the televised version . That said, this was boss. Opening matwork was really good and smokes all of the other New Japan matwork that I had recently been watching from the '90-'93 period. Fujiwara's headbutts and subsequent taunting has been mentioned, but I'll go ahead and add my name to the list of people that loved it, anyway. Fujiwara really fucking ate those uranages; the first one kind of caught me off guard, then he went and took another one on his neck just for the fuck of it. Is this one of the all-time great Fujiwara flash finishes? The way he just grabbed Hase's arm clean out the air was spectacular. I mean, there's a shit ton of great Fujiwara flash finishes, but if you can judge it on the "lean on rewind" scale, this really had me leaning on rewind. I obviously first watched it as a handheld, and sure enough I liked the TV version even more.
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I really liked Norton as the absolute brick shithouse who still managed to convey a sense of vulnerability. The posting that led to the blade job looked super nasty, to the point where I wasn't sure whether it was a blade job or not initially. And of course he bleeds all over the ship.
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I fell asleep the first time I tried to watch this and almost skipped over it. I'm glad I didn't because it was really good. I liked how few momentum shifts they worked into it. There's basically the "feeling out" (with a nastiness to it -- Hokuto's crazy looking "snap" piledrivers) --> Yamada taking over and working the arm --> Hokuto applying another bandage to the shoulder and taking control after the breather --> Yamada spin kicking her in the fucking teeth --> finishing stretch. I can sometimes be taken out of joshi because the comebacks and transitions occur so regularly, but I thought this was structured and laid out really simply and I enjoyed it quite a bit as a result.
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When I went through the '92 WCW stuff last year, this wound up being my favourite match. I'm also with Loss in that I'd rank it ahead of the Flair/Steamboat WrestleWar match, but I'd probably go one step further and put it ahead of the Chi-Town Rumble match as well. I plan on watching that again at some point soon so I'll see how I feel after that. I'd still take the Clash match over it, though. Then again I might be one of the few guys left that still thinks that's a top 3 match in history.
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I'm guessing it's too late at this point (and it's entirely my own fault for not remembering/speaking up sooner), but the Rockers/Powers of Pain match from the 1/15 MSG show is an awesome tag that I think lots of people would dig. Shawn and Marty bump around like LOONS for Barbarian and Warlord, there are great cut-offs (with more bumping like LOONS), super hot crowd, it's short at
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April: 1. Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa (WAR 4/2/93) 2. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJ 4/16/93) 3. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (2/3 Falls) (AJW 4/10/93) 4. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu (NJ 4/6/93) 5. Shiro Koshinaka, Kengo Kimura, Michiyoshi Ohara & Akitoshi Saito v Super Strong Machine, Ricky Fuyuki, Ashura Hara & Koki Kitahara (WAR 4/2/93) 6. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW 4/2/93) 7. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93) 8. Manami Toyota & Yumiko Hotta vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue (AJW 4/24/93) 9. Sabu vs. Lightning Kid (Grand Slam 4/17/93) 10. Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (Barcelona 4/24/93) 11. Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS 4/24/93) 12. Vader vs. Cactus Jack (WCWSN 4/17/93) 13. Vader vs. Cactus Jack (WCWSN 4/24/93) 14. Tracy Smothers vs. Tony Anthony (Tennessee Chain match) (Bluegrass Brawl 4/2/93) 15. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (JIP) (AJ 4/14/93) 16. Ciclon Ramirez, Corazon De Leon & Oro vs. Felino, Javier Cruz & Negro Casas (CMLL 4/30/93) 17. Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami (JWP 4/18/93) 18. Takako Inoue & Kyoko Inoue vs. Cuty Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki (AJW 4/2/93) 19. Ultimo Dragoncito & Orito vs. Felinito & Ultratumbita (EMLL 4/30/93) 20. Barry Windham vs. Steven Regal (WWW 4/18/93) 21. Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon & Norio Honaga (NJ 4/6/93) 22. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93) 23. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Owen Hart (Superstars 4/17/93) 24. Terry Gordy vs. Steve Williams (JIP) (AJ 4/12/93) 25. Jerry Lawler vs. Randy Savage (Cage Match) (JIP) (USWA 4/19/93) 26. Heavenly Bodies & Bobby Eaton vs. Rock & Roll Express & Arn Anderson vs. Stud Stable & Dutch Mantell (Street Fight) (Bluegrass Brawl 4/2/93) 27. Eddy Guerrero, El Hijo Del Santo & Konnan vs. Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 (AAA 4/2/93) 28. Konnan vs. Cien Caras (Loser Must Retire) (AAA 4/30/93) Tenryu is starting to run away with WOTY for me. Kawada is one of the main guys still in contention, but with some great Tenryu stuff still to come I'm not sure anybody's beating him out. That 4/2 tag is fucking terrific and, for me, Tenryu was the star of it. I suspect I like Hokuto/Kandori less than most. I guess I've just never really "got it", although I enjoyed it more this time than I ever have before. Hell of a month overall.
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It was hilariously overbooked, especially with the Smoking Gunns hitting the scene, but I found this alright in a weird sort of way. I mean, I wouldn't call it a "good match", but they did some things I really dug, like the spot where Perfect had Shawn in a leg lock (might've been the figure-four, actually) and Shawn sits up, gets slapped back down, sits up again, gets slapped back down again, then pops up and pokes Perfect in the eye before getting slapped a third time. The spot where Shawn gets his tights pulled down and starts hobbling around with the top layer at his knees while Perfect punches him around was goofy as Hell, but I thought Shawn actually taking the top layer off and choking Perfect with them was awesome and something I've never seen before. I didn't hate this.
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This Dutch/Sullivan stuff is fucking tremendous. I legit burst out laughing at every answer Sullivan gave here, especially when he started talking about waterfalls made of kidneys and spleens. This didn't quite top the one where they're in the dark and Dutch is holding the torch, but it was still awesome.
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Yeah, this was terrific stuff. The Lawler v Flair, Lawler v Dundee and Lawler v Mantel studio matches on the Memphis set were awesome, but I thought this might've been a better match, if not as spectacular an "overall package" deal (as this didn't have a great angle surrounding it). Finish was a bit deflating and really could've done with something bigger, but still, everything else rocked and I was buying a few of the nearfalls myself.
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Good God does Casas rule the fucking world. This isn't as spectacular a performance as the Ultimo title match, but everything he does here made me smile. Ramirez's tope at the end of the first caida was insane, too. I recall loving his eventual mask match against Felino as well and their exchanges in this made me eager to re-watch it.
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I loved this when I watched it last year. http://whiskeyandwrestling.blogspot.com/20...-of-day-10.html
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This is the one I mentioned in the matches of the month thread as my favourite Austin v Barry singles match.
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Good match, although I like their match from Worldwide the next month more. Thought that one was much tighter, while here I started wishing Windham would take over and actually take some offence. Been a while since I watched it though, so my memory might be iffy.
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Yeah, I'm with Loss. Definitely my favourite match from both teams...I'd probably say it's both teams' best as well. Said this about it last year:
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I slightly preferred the Rude/Steamboat ironman match from Beach Blast as my WCW MOTY, but it'll be interesting to see what I think when I get around to seeing them both again. Loss pretty much covered it, but this is what I said when I rambled about it last year: http://whiskeyandwrestling.blogspot.com/20...-of-day-27.html
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I agree with pretty much all of this. I thought it was like the opposite of the "Samson effect"; the less hair he had, the better he got. He's in some strong matches in the first half of the year and the Superbrawl tag is great, but it always feels like he's the least of the guys involved. Then he gets a haircut around the middle of the year and not only is he involved in some good-to-great matches (I'd say more in the second half of the year than in the first), but it feels like he's pulling his weight as much as anybody and really had "put it together". Wargames is excellent and it feels like it's as much to do with him as Arn or Rude or Steamboat -- guys that were clearly better than him a few months before. There's another Windham match from June that is my favourite of all their matches and Austin had become a great opponent for Barry (I love how he sells Windham's taped fist punches. He makes them seem deadly). The Austin/Rude v Barry/Dustin match from the Great American Bash PPV is a match I like a good deal and I thought Steve looked as good as Rude did, which wasn't the case in the Clash tag at the start of the year. He's also great at playing off of Windham in it. There's a Pillman match from a July episode of Worldwide that is really good. It isn't as good as Pillman/Rude from February, but it isn't a blowout and I can't imagine the matches being as close in quality if they both happened in the second month of the year. The TV Title feud with Steamboat around the Fall is great and the Clash XX match is a terrific little match. That's probably the best example his growth that year. Compare it to a ten minute singles match from the first few months (I'm blanking on a decent example offhand) and the change should be pretty clear. He's far more focused and interesting on offence and has WAY more shit in the holster, and he's far better at staying interesting while working from the bottom. Just looks flat out better in general. I mean I'm not sure he'd even be top ten in his own company that year, but he improved leaps and bounds over the course of it and him not being top ten has more to do with the company he was in being *so* good.
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I plan on picking the yearbook up in the next few days, so I'll get around to re-watching this whenever it gets here, but my thoughts were similar to Dylan's after I last watched it. I slacked big time and never got a list together for the Smarkschoice poll, but I figured this would be a top 20 lock after I saw everything I wanted to (which never happened).
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March: 1. Shinya Hashimoto & Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Ashura Hara & Kodo Fuyuki (WAR 3/7/93) 2. Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas (CMLL 3/19/93) 3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/27/93) 4. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido (WAR 3/3/93) 5. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ 3/23/93) 6. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue, Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJ 3/3/93) 7. Koki Kikahara vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (WAR 3/7/93) 8. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds (WWW 3/27/93) 9. Cicloncito Ramirez & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Felinito & Nuevo Piratita Morgan (CMLL 3/5/93) 10. Misterioso, Rey Misterio Jr. & Volador vs. Heavy Metal, La Parka & Psicosis (AAA 3/12/93) 11. Ultimo Dragon vs. El Samurai (WAR 3/7/93) 12. Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (WWW 3/6/93) 13. Jushin Liger vs. Dean Malenko (NJ 3/21/93) 14. Tracy Smothers vs. Dirty White Boy (SMW 3/6/93) 15. Great Sasuke & El Gran Hamada vs. El Signo & El Rudo (M-Pro 3/16/93) 16. Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit (AWF 3/4/93) 17. Ricky Steamboat, Shane Douglas & Dustin Rhodes vs. Hollywood Blonds & Barry Windham (Main Event 3/28/93) 18. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Steve Austin & Brian Pillman (Power Hour 3/6/93) Thought this was another great month. I really love that Kitahara/Kobayashi match. Just a short, super intense shit kicking from Kitahara and basically everything I love about WAR. Tenryu and Kawada are my top 2 wrestlers of the year after 3 months with Tenryu leading slightly (although I watched a bunch of other Tenryu stuff from Jan-Mar '93 that didn't make the set a few months back, so his case is stronger based on that). I'm tempted to toss Casas into the mix as well based on that one match with Ultimo. God damn was he fucking great in that. The Hash/Ohara v Hara/Fuyuki match is incredible and my overall #3 at this point. I first saw it earlier in the year and loved it then, and I loved it even more this time around.
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I'm in agreement with everybody else; this is such a bossy little match. I said this about it last year (and I liked it even more when I watched it again a couple months ago):
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Thanks. I did a bunch of write-ups of Arn matches and always got really long-winded talking about his shtick and otherwise obscure stuff. Might be my favourite shtick guy in history.