1997 Recommendations

[Loss]

Use this thread to post recommendations for the yearbook.

 

I don't want to put requirements on making recommendations necessarily, but I will kindly ask a favor -- if you recommend something, if you could, maybe just include a brief reason that you're recommending it. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but just something for us to see why it should go on.

 

If you make recommendations that pique my curiosity, I will do my part to ask more follow-up questions to make sure I have a good understanding of why it was recommended.

 

In addition, I will use this thread to list matches I come across when looking through various lists that look interesting on paper to ask if anyone has seen them.

 

Thanks!

[soup23]

Kawada & Taue vs Hayabusa & Shinzaki 1997 RWTL

 

This was one of the first puro matches I ever saw with some people you are familiar with but in different promotions. I thought it was very well worked and opened my eyes to people like Taue due to being so junior deluded in my puroresu watching. This was also left on the cutting room floor in the Kawada set making it a good addition here.

[rainmakerrtv]

Kawada & Taue vs Hayabusa & Shinzaki 1997 RWTL

 

This was one of the first puro matches I ever saw with some people you are familiar with but in different promotions. I thought it was very well worked and opened my eyes to people like Taue due to being so junior deluded in my puroresu watching. This was also left on the cutting room floor in the Kawada set making it a good addition here.

Glad to see this suggested, I hadn't seen it since it happened but loved it at the time. There was also a great match around the same time from Shinzaki and Hayabusa against Misawa and Akiyama that made it onto a Schneider Comp, 11/27/97, it would be great if both could make it.

[ohtani's jacket]

Don't forget the minis

 

1/7/97 CMLL: Cicloncito Ramirez vs Damiancito El Guerrero (CMLL Mini?s Title) - Arena Coliseo

10/3/97 CMLL: Bracito De Oro/Cicloncito Ramirez/Mascarita Magica vs Damiancito El Guerrero/El Fierito/Pierrothito - Arena Mexico

 

Two of the greatest matches ever, for sure.

 

Blue Panther vs. Atlantis, La Copa Victoria final, CMLL 12/5/97

 

Outstanding mat-based match.

 

El Hijo Del Santo, Scorpio Jr. y Dr. Wagner vs. Negro Casas, El Fiero y Ultimo Dragon (CMLL 6/6/97)

El Hijo Del Santo, Scorpio Jr. y Dr. Wagner vs. Negro Casas, El Fiero y Ultimo Dragon (CMLL 6/13/97)

El Hijo Del Santo, Emilio Charles y Dr. Wagner vs. Negro Casas, Felino, Ultimo Dragon (CMLL 6/20/97)

El Hijo del Santo vs. Felino (CMLL 7/4/97)

 

Great TV and a hot angle. Hands down my favourite Santo/Felino match.

[MikeCampbell]

Tommy Dreamer invades USWA from 6/14/97 (according to Youtube). A nice companion to the Lawler invasion of ECW (which I'm sure will be on the set already), Dreamer hits everyone who moves and trashes the studio. While the USWA fans are going crazy and chanting ECW. A great of example of how popular ECW was at this time.

[Ditch]

Matches I'm assuming will be in:

 

Misawa vs Kobashi, AJ 1/20

Han vs Tamura, RINGS 1/22

Liger vs Ohtani, NJ 2/7

Owen vs Bulldog (Euro title, aired 3/3)

Bret vs Austin, WM 13

Champions Carnival Final matches (Misawa vs Kobashi, Misawa vs Kawada, Kobashi vs Kawada)

MPro 6-man, ECW Barely Legal

Kanemoto vs Samurai, NJ 6/5

6-man tag, MPro 10/10

Misawa vs Kobashi, AJ 10/21

Eddie vs Rey, Halloween Havoc

Shawn vs Taker, Hell in a Cell

Misawa/Akiyama vs Kawada/Taue, RWTL finals

[jdw]

1997 Carny and RWTL were choppy on NTV but have quite a bit on Sammy. Lynch's list seems is a little spotty the RWTL... though maybe I'm just having a tough time sifting through the ordering off the 1997 stuff. There is a Kawada & Taue vs Misawa & Jun before the Final that I don't see listed. Key taping dates:

 

11/23 Sendai: Misawa & Akiyama vs Kobashi & Ace, Kawada & Taue vs Hayabusa & Shinzaki

11/27 Sapporo: Kobashi & Ace vs Kawada & Taue, Misawa & Akiyama vs Hayabusa & Shinzaki

11/28 Sapporo: Misawa & Akiyama vs Kawada & Taue, Kobashi & Ace vs Williams & Albright

 

They also taped the opening nights at Korakuen Hall on 11/15 & 11/16. The only thing to eyeball is the Misawa & Akiyama vs Wolf Hawkfield & Johnny Smith 30:00 draw. I wouldn't exactly recommend it for the type of Yearbook you're doing, though would included it in a 1999 AJPW Yearbook or my fantasty 1977-99 RWTL monster set.

 

Carny... I'd have to sift through. Haven't eyeballed that in a long time, and never put together a potential Carny Box Set List like I did with the RWTL years ago (though even that might need to be updated thanks to stuff popping up on G+).

 

John

[Bix]

OMEGA becomes OMEGA in '97 while the wrestlers start improving a lot. Some of them end up in Music City Wrestling which ends up taking over the USWA's syndicated slots. MCW had some pretty good stuff early on and is worth looking into. I have some in really nice quality I should go through and get dates for. I think Prentice promoted under North American All-Star Wrestling too in '97 and what I've seen from there is also good.

 

All of the stuff with the AAA guys in the WWF is at least interesting. Some is pretty good. I'd include just about all of it, including the weirdly heatless yet still sort of awesome Vipers-Space Cadets spotfests.

 

The early Shotgun shows have a LOT of stuff that needs to be included both for quality and lack thereof.

[puropotsy]

June 23, 1997 Monday Night Raw

Owen Hart defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Goldust in a three way match for Owen's Intercontinental title.

 

Owen was my favorite wrestler in 1997 and this IC title reign was some of my favorite work from him. I haven't seen this match since it aired but remember it just seeming like a great example of how much steam WWF was picking up at the time. Three-way matches were still a fairly fresh concept in WWF at the time and all three performers were clicking. I always loved Owen's off-the-top-rope dropkick which ended with in a flat-back bump and remeber it being fantastic in this match, with him hitting it on both opponents at the same time iirc.

[Ditch]

All Japan nominations:

 

Taue vs Akiyama 1/20. An easy pick, since it's short, good, and continues the Akiyama story from '96.

 

Kobashi vs Akiyama, CC. This is the first match where I think it feels like Akiyama can do a big-time AJ-style main event. From '93-'95 it was the usual young lion match, and in '96 I don't think he had any singles matches on TV.

 

Misawa vs Kawada, CC round-robin. My pick for the best of their CC league matches. Not flawless, but there's more urgency/intensity than we got in '94, '95, '98. And ultimately it's Misawa vs Kawada.

 

Kobashi vs Hase, 8/26. Really strong performance from Hase, and I think he clearly outwrestles Kobashi in it.

 

Williams & Albright vs Misawa & Akiyama, 8/26. Last title shot for Misawa/Akiyama, and very compact.

 

Kobashi & Shiga vs Hayabusa & Shinzaki, 9/6. Kobashi vs Hayabusa is darn good.

 

Taue vs Ace, 10/21. Two guys with iffy athletic ability put a lot of heart in and the result is a nifty Budokan battle.

 

And I'll close by saying that the RWTL stuff JDW pointed out is worthy. Misawa/Akiyama vs Smith/Wolf is one I really love but I have yet to see the full Samurai TV version.

[Ditch]

MPro:

Togo, Teioh & Shiryu vs Sasuke, Delfin & Hamada, 1/14: One of only two multi-man tags I think stood out for the company in '97. Three if you count the ECW one.

 

Minoru Tanaka vs Hoshikawa, UWA middleweight title, 9/14: Good intro to Tanaka. He and Hoshikawa are great at the juniors/shoot-style hybrid that became so popular.

 

Sasuke & Delfin vs Teioh & Funaki, MPro tag league, round robin

Sasuke & Delfin vs Teioh & Funaki, MPro tag league, final: These matches do so much. They put over Teioh and Funaki, two of the 'lesser' KDX members, as being able to handle the MPro aces. They tell a story with Sasuke's leg injury. And they're good matches individually but are even better in unison.

 

Taka vs Funaki, Indy junior title, 12/18: Continuing the "hey look how good Funaki is" trend from the above.

 

Sasuke & Delfin vs Togo & Teioh, 12/18: Continuing the "hey look Sasuke's leg hurts" story. And that finish...

 

 

Misc Puro:

Devil Masami & Jaguar Yokota vs Kansai & Candy Okutsu, JWP 6/15: You don't get many JWP rec's. I dig this because of how good Jaguar looks in it. Probably marginal.

 

Tanaka, Kuroda & Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hosaka & Hido, no-rope barbed wire & barbed wire spidernets deathmatch, W*ING 7/13: I liked this combo twice in '96 and like it again here. The 6-man format helps reduce the sluggish nature of 1-on-1 deathmatches.

 

Tenryu vs Anjoh, WAR 7/21: I'm surprised this was over considering that they did it a year before and KINGDOMS was such a bomb. But, it's these two so it's good. Down year for Tenryu.

 

Ishikawa vs Ikeda, Battlarts 9/1: Brutality as only these two can do.

 

 

NJ:

Hashimoto vs Yamazaki, 2/16: Must-have. One of my favorite IWGP title bouts, and it's considerably better than the more-known match they had in the '98 G-1 final. Also a level above the 1/4/96 match.

 

Kanemoto vs Naniwa, BOSJ: Probably the standout Naniwa singles match, and it's JIP so it doesn't take up space, and it sets up a lot about the final.

 

Liger vs Samurai, 7/6: Payoff to BOSJ, and the JIP TV version is very efficient.

 

Hashimoto vs Tenzan, G-1 semifinal: Not great, but good, and a huge win for Tenzan heading into...

 

Sasaki vs Tenzan, G-1 final: Short, intense, and huge from a historical standpoint as it marks the beginning of Sasaki's uberpush.

 

Samurai vs Ohtani, 8/10: I think this is a good payoff to both Ultimo vs Ohtani '96 and the '96 and '97 Liger vs Ohtani matches.

 

Liger & Samurai vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, 9/13: The NJ juniors got into this Jumbo vs Misawa "any tag combination is good" groove, albeit not at the same level. This particular pairing was nothing special in '95, but by '97 they know how to keep it interesting throughout. Ohtani does a fantastic bump while standing on the apron.

 

Team Liger vs Team Ohtani, 10/31: The highlight of the feud, at least the tag portion of it. Pity it's never been shown in full. GREAT payoff.

 

Ohtani vs Kashin, 12/5: Again, the JIP-ing makes this easy to include. Best singles of Kashin's career.

 

There's lots more good Liger vs Ohtani tags worth checking out but these are the highlights.

 

 

RINGS:

Kosaka vs Yamamoto, 4/4: 'Standout RINGS matches without Han or Tamura' is a very limited thing. This belongs in that category. Some good striking to bolster the usual RINGS matwork.

 

Tamura vs Zouev, 5/21: Tamura vs Russian mat-guy. Again. And it's high-end. Again.

 

Tamura vs Tariel, 7/22: Tariel is a bear trained to do kickboxing. Okay maybe he's not but it's close. Size & style contrast!

 

Han vs Tamura, 9/26: Han vs Tamura is the Misawa vs Kawada of shoot-style.

[Childs]

I think you'd also want Tenryu vs. Fujiwara from 11/24. It's a dream match-up for a lot of people on this board and was pretty damn good as I recall.

[Log]

You gotta include Undertaker vs. Hakushi from M-Pro's 10/10 show just for the pure wierdness of the Undertaker on a Michinoku Pro show in 1997.

[Loss]

I think you'd also want Tenryu vs. Fujiwara from 11/24. It's a dream match-up for a lot of people on this board and was pretty damn good as I recall.

Which promotion was this?

[Childs]

WAR I think.

[Ditch]

Yes, WAR.

And I'll close by saying that the RWTL stuff JDW pointed out is worthy. Misawa/Akiyama vs Smith/Wolf is one I really love but I have yet to see the full Samurai TV version.

Update: I have it and it seems to be complete, or at least considerably more so than the TV version. Now to see if it's worth showing the first 2/3rds...

[Ditch]

Saito vs Kojika, NJ 1/4: Kojika has RED HAIR and FAKE GRENADES (?!) and HATES THE CROWD. Saito's entrance theme is BOSS. Kojika cheats and KOTESU YAMAMOTO DOES NOT TAKE GUFF FROM NOBODY. A bunch of STUFF happens. Random Big Japan dudes get tossed around. All in under 10 minutes! Fascinating segment, even though as a match it sucks.

[jdw]

There's some confusion on the Lynch list and other places over the match dates for some of the Carny matches. I think the old ajpw.puroresufan.com had it right here:

 

3/30/97 @ Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Stan Hansen [5] beat Johnny Ace [8] (14:08) with a lariat.

2. Akira Taue [12] beat Gary Albright [2] (8:18) with a jumping front kick.

3. Kenta Kobashi [10] beat Jun Akiyama [2] (20:13) with a lariat.

4. Mitsuharu Misawa [7] vs. Toshiaki Kawada [9] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired.

 

4/2/97 @ Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

1. Akira Taue [14] beat Jun Izumida [0] by forfeit.

2. Jun Akiyama [3] vs. Stan Hansen [8] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired.

3. Toshiaki Kawada [13] beat Gary Albright [2] (7:27) with a cross armbreaker.

4. Steve Williams [7] beat Mitsuharu Misawa [7] (18:21) with a dangerous backdrop driver.

 

The matches from Samurai that are available on Lynch Boot 851 are all from the 03/30/97 card, though his listing mixes them around.

 

Highlights of the 04/02/97 card aired on the 04/13/97 AJPW 30 show, but I haven't seen a Samurai listing of it. Looking at it looks like 2 minutes each aired of the matches.

 

The triple-final probably should make it: Kobashi-Misawa, Misawa-Kawada and Kawada-Kobashi. It's a unique finish to the Carny. It's one of the three big Misawa-Kobashi matches that aired during the year. Kawada's first singles win over Misawa, though not in very satisfying fashion. And Kawada winning his second Carny. Given the lack of other Carny stuff, it's a limit year for All Japan... no reason not to have all three.

 

There also is this:

 

03/29/97 Nagareyama (Lynch Boot 817 - Handheld)

Ace vs Omori (18:23)

Kawada vs Kimala (7:07)

Taue vs Akiyama (11:25)

 

I haven't seen this handheld. I'd recommend getting it and taking a look at it. Don't know if the Ace-Omori is any good. Kawada-Kimala is a morbid curiosity, but doubtful that it reaches the levels of warranting including. But given the lack of Carny stuff, and coming off Jun's quick win over Taue earlier in the year, I'd think the Carny Taue-Jun might be worth including unless it's awful. It's a match that would be new to most getting the set, and fits into the Taue-Jun arc of the year.

 

They also had highlights of opening night (3/22/97) on the 3/23/97 AJPW 30. Most of the Misawa-Albright aired, while the other matches were chopped.

 

John

[jdw]

And I'll close by saying that the RWTL stuff JDW pointed out is worthy. Misawa/Akiyama vs Smith/Wolf is one I really love but I have yet to see the full Samurai TV version.

Update: I have it and it seems to be complete, or at least considerably more so than the TV version. Now to see if it's worth showing the first 2/3rds...

 

30 minute draw, so a lot more of it would be on Sammy.

 

The AJPW year was pretty light. Even the Budokans felt like one-match shows. Will and Loss might get to the end of the year, look over what AJPW made it, and sense that RWTL is one of the few places where there's a decent amount of AJPW to reflect the year.

 

Tag Title matches:

 

01/17/97 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (4) beat Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (26:12)

03/01/97 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue beat Gary Albright & Yoshihiro Takayama (14:12)

05/27/97 Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace beat Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (28:40)

07/25/97 Steve Williams & Gary Albright beat Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (29:36)

08/26/97 Steve Williams & Gary Albright beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama (8:42)

10/04/97 Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (2) beat Steve Williams & Gary Albright (22:38)

 

I don't recall this as being one of AJPW's better years for tag title matches.

 

 

John

[Ditch]

I got that CC handheld. Taue vs Akiyama has a good second half but overall is quite skippable.

[jdw]

I got that CC handheld. Taue vs Akiyama has a good second half but overall is quite skippable.

It's a pretty short match... and there really isn't a lot of 1997 AJPW, unless you think the tv taping six-mans that aired on Sammy were consistently good.

 

John

[Ditch]

I'm looking at ~19 matches in right now, that's a decent amount. If more are wanted there's...

 

Kawada, Taue & Omori vs Kobashi, Ace & Patriot 5/18: Probably the best 6-man to use from '97 AJ in the context of the yearbook. There's an all-star tag on 9/15 that isn't worth putting on considering it's an hour long.

 

Misawa vs Akiyama, 5/27: Start of their singles series, and it's clipped to a reasonably hot finish.

 

Kawada & Taue vs Kobashi & Ace, 5/27: First big Kobashi/Ace match, also heavily JIP so easier to justify.

 

Kawada & Taue vs Kobashi & Ace, 10/11: These two teams meeting up always produces a good match. Great? Eh...

 

 

I feel like handheld footage gets hard to justify by the time we're into 1997.

[jdw]

The 5/27 matches should be full on Sammy, no?

 

There's also Ogawa vs Mossman for the Jr Title on 8/22 (Lynch Boot 981). Hmmm... 05/31/97 Sabu vs RVD on Boot 898. Actually, Kawada vs Patriot is interesting. Not in a Global Yearbook concept, but a AJPW Yearbook standpoint.

 

There is the 9/15/97 Misawa & Kawada & Hase vs Taue & Kobashi & Akiyama match that goes 60:00. That is such a unique match up, and one that would be new to most people, that it probably warrants space even if it is a space eater.

 

18 really aren't that many. There were 36 on the 1993 set, seven JIP (probably because TV was JIP), and one "finish only". There were 20 in 1996, and that was a period where they had just 30 minutes of TV and Sammy coverage didn't start up until the tag league. 1997 has a fully year of Sammy, along with commercial tapes. Not arguing overload, but there are going to be a lot of WCW and WWF and ECW on the set. If there are good AJPW, put them forward.

 

John

[Ditch]

I'm reasonably certain that 5/27 wasn't on Samurai.

[jdw]

I suspect it was but that it just didn't get to Lynch. The '97 Super Power Series tapings were 5/18 at Korakuen Hall, 5/27 in Sapporo, 5/30 in Sendai and 6/6 at Budokan. The air dates on Sammy start on "6/20/97" and run through "8/8/97", with three weeks having no show. The air dates look a little funky, as they do the Carny Budokan.

 

Most of what was shown on NTV ended up on Sammy, usually in full... and with lots of other stuff from the cards. It's a little inexplicable that Sammy would air the pedestrian Sendai matches rather than the bigger ones on the Sapporo card.

 

It's likely something that Dan G could eventually track down. It's one of those things where when you start laying the matches out in a spreadsheet, things missing from Lynch (and even Dan at times) jump out, and when you point them out to Dan he typically can check around and ID what's missing. I don't think he's focused yet on filling in all the holes from that period yet.

 

I haven't spent much time piecing together 1997 to June 2000 AJPW in terms of NTV + Sammy + Commercial Tapes to get a sense of where there are some holes. I just know that there are some here and there.

 

John