The Complete & Accurate ***** Match List

[Chess Knight]

I've heard from a ton of different sources that Meltzer was a *****-giver on Magnum v Blanchard. Anyone know how much truth there is to that?

[NintendoLogic]

Jushin Thunder Liger and Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

NJPW

August 29, 2002

 

I couldn't pick Tanaka or Kanemaru out of a police lineup, but I recognize Kikuchi by his Rising Sun tights. Liger, of course, is easily recognizable. The story going in is that Kikuchi and Kanemaru are invaders from NOAH going after the IWGP junior tag belts. Strangely, Liger and Tanaka are the heels in this match.

 

Team NOAH jumps Team NJPW before the bell, and the brawling spills outside. Back in the ring, Kikuchi and Tanaka exchange strikes. Some grappling leads to Kikuchi applying a keylock, and Kanemaru runs interference to prevent Liger from breaking it up. Liger eventually breaks through and starts stomping, but Kikuchi keeps the hold on, and Kanemaru soon comes to occupy Liger's attention. Kikuchi then releases the hold of his own accord and goes to a figure-four headscissors, which Liger breaks by bodyslamming Kanemaru onto Kikuchi repeatedly. That was awesome. Kanemaru tags in, puts Tanaka in the tree of woe, and baseball slides into his head. He then takes him outside to slam him into the apron and choke him against the guardrail. After rolling Tanaka back into the ring, he goes for the pin with his feet on the ropes, but it only gets two. Kikuchi tags in and does two rolling vertical suplexes (Two Amigos?) and a side slam, pausing in the middle of the latter to jaw-jack with Liger. Team NOAH with a double clothesline. Kikuchi knocks Liger off the apron, and Kanemaru hits a frog splash, which gets two. He applies a camel clutch for a while and then tags in Kikuchi, who gets into it with Liger some more. Tanaka comes back to life with a snap suplex and goes for a jujigatame, which Kikuchi reverses for a pin attempt by using the ref as leverage. That was pretty cool. Team NJPW tries to go for a double-team, but Kanemaru comes in and cleans house. Kikuchi then goes for a rollup, but Tanaka reverses into another jujigatame. Kikuchi makes the ropes, but Tanaka takes his sweet time to release the hold. Liger tags in, and he's plenty eager to get his hands on Kikuchi.

 

He starts by taking him outside, pulling back the protective mat, and powerbombing him on the exposed concrete. Tanaka joins in on the fun by slamming Kikuchi's head into the ring post. Liger puts Kikuchi in a camel clutch while Tanaka whips Kanemaru into the guardrail. Tanaka then tags in and puts Kikuchi in a half crab. Some more double-teaming from Team NJPW, and Tanaka goes for a Jericho-style cocky pin. Liger tags back in and hits a piledriver. Kikuchi kicks out, so Liger starts stomping the hell out of him. Tanaka comes in and goes back to the jujigatame. Kikuchi tries to roll out, but Liger rolls him back onto his back. Nice. Kikuchi does make the ropes, but Tanaka refuses to break, so the ref has to pull him off. Liger tags back in and whips Kikuchi into the corner. He then goes for a palm strike, but Kikuchi blocks it and fights back with some elbows. He finally makes the tag to Kanemaru, who hits a lionsault for two. He then misses a moonsault, and Liger tags in Tanaka, who puts on an ankle lock. Kikuchi breaks it up, so Tanaka just bitch-slaps him. Kanemaru and Tanaka do some flippy-doo exchanges, and Liger breaks up a pin attempt after Kanemaru hits an elevated DDT. Liger and Kikuchi brawl outside as Kanemaru hits a moonsault for two. Kikuchi holds Liger back as Kanemaru goes for a brainbuster. Tanaka reverses into a jujigatame, and now it's Liger that's holding Kikuchi back. Kanemaru makes the ropes and goes for a German, but Tanaka hits a low blow. He then tries a backslide, but Kanemaru does a low blow of his own. Simultaneous tag, and Kikuchi blasts Liger with elbows. Liger fights back with palm strikes, and a Liger bomb gets two. Kanemaru breaks it up and fights out of a double-team, which leads to one of those silly sequences where one guy takes out another guy only to be taken out by a third guy, who is in turn taken out by a fourth guy. Liger misses a corner charge, and Kikuchi rolls him up for two. Liger than hits a fisherman buster, which gets two. Regular brainbuster also gets two. OK, this is getting kind of ridiculous. Liger tries for a lariat, but Kikuchi reverses with a German. It gets two, but Kikuchi keeps the waistlock applied and does two rolling Germans, the second of which gets two. Kanemaru hits Tanaka with a brainbuster and rolls him out of the ring, and Kikuchi hits the fireball bomb and gets the pin.

 

This had the potential for disaster going in, as NOAH and the New Japan juniors are both pretty much unwatchable at their worst. Fortunately, they manage to avoid the worst excesses of their respective styles. It pretty much degenerates into a spotfest from the hot tag on, but on the whole, it's a very solid tag match with all the hate you'd want and expect in an interpromotional battle. As far as matches centered around Kikuchi taking an ungodly beating go, though, it's not quite in the same league as Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Can-Ams.

 

Final Verdict: Fun

[TravJ1979]

I've heard from a ton of different sources that Meltzer was a *****-giver on Magnum v Blanchard. Anyone know how much truth there is to that?

He ran down Starrcade '85 in the 12/9/85 issue, but hadn't seen a tape by that point. I don't know if he ever gave star ratings to the matches, I don't believe he did.

[NintendoLogic]

I might as well tackle this while my brain is still in lucha mode.

 

El Dandy vs. Negro Casas

CMLL

July 3, 1992

 

First fall: A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I didn't really care for lucha-style matwork. It's started to click for me more recently, and I've developed more of an appreciation of the style. Granted, there are a couple of things that will probably always bug me. First of all, some of the holds they use are too contrived for me to maintain my suspension of disbelief. Second, the matwork rarely plays into the finish of any given fall. Most of the time, what happens is that somebody misses a move and then the other guy gets an instant tap-out or does a majistral cradle or something. It leaves me with the impression that they were just killing time until it was time to bring it home. With all that said, watching two guys do hold and counterhold can be really fun to watch if it's done well. And in this fall, Dandy and Casas do it very well. They disappoint me a little by going for the ropes a couple of times, but for the most part, it's just reversals and escapes. Casas reversing an armbar into a seated abdominal stretch was especially swank. About five minutes in, the action spills outside and they start trading chops. But they take it back to the mat once they take it back in. The matwork ends when Casas kicks his way out of an arm wrench, leading to a lucha exchange. From there, they start unloading with strikes. The end comes when Dandy hits a short-arm clothesline and goes for a second but misses. Casas counters with two Rock Bottoms and applies a Sharpshooter for the submission.

 

Second fall: Casas takes it right to Dandy from the start with a dropkick. After working a control segment for a while, he backs Dandy into the corner and kicks him in the nuts. This struck a sour note with me. Sure, heels have engaged in underhanded tactics when up a fall since time immemorial. But I thought the whole point of the title match style was that both participants worked a clean technical match so that the winner could truly claim to be the best wrestler. Anyway, this leads to Dandy getting the upper hand with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. From there, he dominates the rest of the fall, getting the pin with a leglock/bridge combination.

 

Third fall: In a reversal of the previous fall, Dandy takes control at the outset with a series of dropkicks, including one while Casas is on the apron that knocks him to the floor. He then hits a plancha from the top rope to the outside, but Casas actually recovers first. He goes for a superplex, but Dandy headbutts him off the turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for two. A second missile dropkick takes more out of Dandy, and Casas goes back on offense. I'm not really a fan of that as a transition, especially twice, but whatever. After taking firm control with an elbow drop and a senton, Casas brings out the big guns, following a belly-to-belly superplex with a Macho Man elbow. From there, we get a kind of reverse Oklahoma Stampede, a Stinger splash, a thunder fire powerbomb, and a second top rope elbow drop. Dandy fights back with a Northern Lights suplex that gets two. I have to say, this is some incredibly high-end offense for a lucha match. It feels more like a New Japan juniors match than typical lucha. I guess it's not too much of a surprise, though. From what I've read, Dandy and Casas both made a point of trying to incorporate Japanese style into lucha. Another superplex attempt by Casas, but Dandy fights out and hits a flying axehandle. Missile dropkick followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two, as do a pair of small packages. The referee takes forever to get into position to make the count for the latter. Between that and doing nothing about the low blow, I actually thought it was a rudo ref the first time I saw this match. After a final flourish from Casas, Dandy gets the pin with a majistral cradle.

 

Is this the best lucha title match of all time? I'm a relative lucha novice, but I'd say it's between this and Satanico/Cochisse, though I'm inclined to give this the nod for now. I wouldn't call this a lucha gateway drug, but between the matwork, brawling, and highspots, it pretty much has something for everyone.

 

Final Verdict: Great

[NintendoLogic]

God damn it. Now I have to watch a Davey Richards match.

 

http://www.rspwfaq.net/2012/04/richards-v-elgin.html

[Log]

God damn it. Now I have to watch a Davey Richards match.

 

http://www.rspwfaq.net/2012/04/richards-v-elgin.html

That's funny after reading Goodhelmet's take on the match.

[Loss]

Richards promptly hits him in the face with a Shining Wizard, but Elgin (40 minutes or so into the match) immediately pops up, SPITS IN RICHARDS' FACE, and then gets leveled by a head kick again because both guys are just so pissed off and want that fucking title so badly.

Delayed selling~! That's all I needed to read.

[Jingus]

It wasn't delayed selling, Richards hit him again and then he went down. More of a Fighting Spirit~! spot than a "I'm gonna ignore the fact that you just head-dropped me until after I level you with this clothesline" spot.

[rovert]

I predict MAJOR steam coming from ears based off Meltzer's comments about the match on the latest podcast

[Dylan Waco]

I predict MAJOR steam coming from ears based off Meltzer's comments about the match on the latest podcast

I'm going to watch it tonight, but how crazy excited was he over it?

[Ditch]

Meltzer gave it 5*.

I predict MAJOR steam coming from ears based off Meltzer's comments about the match on the latest podcast

He talks about big Mania matches with a ton of kicking out of finishers and brings up... Savage/Steamboat, a match that didn't have any finishers PERIOD.

[rovert]

I predict MAJOR steam coming from ears based off Meltzer's comments about the match on the latest podcast

I'm going to watch it tonight, but how crazy excited was he over it?

 

* Five stars

* Hard pressed to list three Wrestlemania matches better

* While acknowledging the lack of eyeballs the best star making match in years

* Probably the best 'Wrestlemania Weekend' match ever

 

Haven't seen it due to the streaming nonsense and wanting to watch Wrestlemania with a clean palate.

[goodhelmet]

Fucks sake.

[Loss]

I predict MAJOR steam coming from ears based off Meltzer's comments about the match on the latest podcast

You think we'll be angry?

[goodhelmet]

Yeah, we fully expect Meltzer to like shitty matches at this point.

[Dylan Waco]

Honestly it's to the point where if Dave really, really likes a match the odds are greater that I will dislike it, than they are that I will like it.

[NintendoLogic]

Add another match from this weekend to the queue.

 

http://www.rspwfaq.net/2012/04/smark-rant-...nia-xxviii.html

[El-P]

Honestly it's to the point where if Dave really, really likes a match the odds are greater that I will dislike it, than they are that I will like it.

So, what did Meltz think of that amusing turd that was Hunter vs Taker ?

[Matt D]

Absolutely super match going 30:00 plus.

[El-P]

BONG

[gordi]

El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Negro Casas, Tim Patterson & Horace Boulder

 

FMW - 05/16/1992

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8Fye7WnOg

Good Lord! That was amazing! That has to be a serious contender for Hottest Crowd of All Time, it's right up there in Canadian Stampede/Chiggy vs. Dump Hair Match Nuclear Heat territory. Wow.

[NintendoLogic]

I've been horribly negligent at working on this, but my plan for a while now has been to review some 1994 matches to go with the yearbook. Before I get to them, though, here's another one I've been wanting to do for a while.

 

Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson

AJPW

July 24, 1976

 

First fall: We begin with some chain wrestling ending in a stalemate. Baba gains the advantage on a knuckle lock, and Robinson has some difficulty negotiating an escape. After Robinson escapes a Baba headlock, he goes for a gutwrench suplex, but Baba blocks. Robinson then goes for a test of strength to open Baba up and starts going to work on Baba's left leg with some kicks and a legbreaker. Baba works an armbar, but Robinson reverses with a single-leg takedown. He works his way out of a Baba bodyscissors and starts applying pressure on Baba's leg by bending it over his own head. Well, that's certainly unique. The two end up in the ropes, forcing a break. Baba takes exception to Robinson's continued assault on his leg and the match turns into a slugfest, with Baba throwing chops and Robinson elbows. Robinson tries to whip Baba into the corner, but Baba reverses. Big boot from Baba only gets two, but a follow-up back suplex gets the pinfall.

 

Second fall: Baba comes out swinging, blasting Robinson with chops and a Russian legsweep. More chops from Baba, which Robinson sells like he's on the receiving end of a Vader beatdown. Neckbreaker gets two. Whipping Robinson into the corner set up Baba's victory in the first fall, so he goes for it again. This time, however, Robinson blocks and blasts Baba with a big elbow smash. After taking a minute to regain his wits, Robinson goes on the offensive, hitting a dropkick, a running elbow smash, and a neckbreaker of his own. He then goes back to work on Baba's leg. Baba manages to kick him away when he gets too aggressive, foreshadowing the turning point in the third fall. Knee drop gets two. Robinson keeps trying for a double arm suplex, but Baba blocks each time, so he settles for a half crab and gets the submission.

 

Third fall: Robinson is like a shark smelling blood at this point, and Baba's leg is his target. He starts the fall with a couple of sweep kicks. Robinson's satisfied smirk after the first kick is too awesome for words. Baba unleashes a desperate flurry of strikes, but Robinson blocks all of them. It's almost as if Robinson is toying with him, which is further reinforced when he gets in Baba's face after a rope break and dares him to do something. After Robinson gets a single-leg takedown, Baba kicks him away as in the second fall. This time, though, Robinson lands awkwardly on the back of his head. He's been knocked for a loop, and he needs to roll out of the ring and take a breather. Once back in, he goes for a shoulder block on Baba's leg, but they both tumble to the outside. Note that since this match is for the PWF title, it's contested under PWF rules, meaning that they only have a ten count to make it back in the ring. As a result, there's a bit more urgency when they're outside than in the typical Japanese match. Back in, Baba goes for another back suplex, but Robinson blocks by kicking off the ropes. I've never really understood how that's supposed to work. This time, it's Baba who has to roll out and take a breather. Robinson tries to follow him out to bring the fight to him, but Baba fends him off and makes it back in first. Once they're both back in, a backbreaker from Robinson gets two. Baba sends Robinson into the ropes for another big boot, but Robinson blocks and hits a dropkick. He then hits a shoulder tackle and a crossbody, but when he goes off the ropes again, Baba hits the flying neckbreaker drop for the win.

 

Holy Hannah, that was awesome. The psychology in this match was just off the charts. This is pretty much the epitome of thinking man's wrestling. I'd rate this the best match of the 70s by a fair margin.

 

Final Verdict: Epic

[paul sosnowski]

Does anyone have the 1/23/91 Bull Nakano vs Yumiko Hotta match?  I think it was a handheld.

I definitely agree that this is some kind of error on the list and that Dave never rated it, but I still would like to see it

[eas]

I have it and I'll upload it to my Youtube account tonight. When I watched it about a year ago I thought it was epic.

[eas]