Grimmas Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Discuss here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Didn't get to see much of his UWF stuff, but the Lyger feud is just sensational. I could see him making a list, but I don't know if he'd make mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Crackers Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Incredible journeyman wrestler. I love him as a Liger's rival in New Japan. I love him even doing shoot style in PWFG. He wasn't as featured in UWFi but whenever he got a chance he looked fantastic and was arguably the number 1 or 2 worker in that company (it's between him and Anjoh). I thought he was really good as a methodical bruising heavyweight in NOAH and in the rare chances he had to work a main event or featured position in a tag he looked like he was at the same level as the top NOAH guys. One of my all time favorite Japanese workers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted July 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2015 Does he have anything outside of the great Liger feud to justify him on this list? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted July 11, 2015 Report Share Posted July 11, 2015 Absolutely. HE WORKED SHOOT STYLE + his NOAH work has some really good stuff and I enjoyed him as late as 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted July 11, 2015 Report Share Posted July 11, 2015 See post above yours. Sano has been good to great for a ridiculous amount of time, both in pro and shoot-style. He's kinda like the 2 Cold Scorpio of Japan (don't ask why, it came from nowhere but I'm sure some familiar with him would understand) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 We've talked for years (seems like at least a decade) on how interesting a Sano comp would be given his wide and varied "wandering master" career was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 We've talked for years (seems like at least a decade) on how interesting a Sano comp would be given his wide and varied "wandering master" career was. a1wrestling was 13-15 years ago I would buy the shit out of a Sano comp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 We've talked for years (seems like at least a decade) on how interesting a Sano comp would be given his wide and varied "wandering master" career was. a1wrestling was 13-15 years ago I came across that specific thread a while back... don't know if I was a printout in a box or if I had a copy on my hard disk. But it was morbidly entertaining to re-read. It actually was a thread that split into two parts, and I want to say the other half was Misawa & Kobashi vs Kawada & Taue. I think that half was more Bambi vs. Godzilla over and over and over again. The Sano half... some fun riffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parties Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Top 75 guy. Probably higher. Great as a junior in New Japan, great in Fujiwara-Gumi. Really fun '91 run in SWS against guys like Rick Martel and Chavo Classic. Hands down the best worker in UWFi, and often booked as the #3 guy in the promotion behind Takada and Tamura. Really good in BattlARTS. Inexplicably good tag partner for Ricco Rodriguez in Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye. One of the best and most consistent guys in the history of NOAH, who held his own with Misawa/Akiyama/Honda during the company's prime. Had an awesome title match at age 42 with Misawa in '07, which wasn't awesome in a "two old guys getting by" way but a truly athletic slobberknocker kind of way. He did a tour of UWA in the mid-eighties where he tagged with Super Astro and Villano III against guys like Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Shu el Guerrero, Pirata Morgan, Herodes. I'm sure it's all lost to the annals of time, but that's holy grail stuff for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Crackers Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 He did a tour of UWA in the mid-eighties where he tagged with Super Astro and Villano III against guys like Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Shu el Guerrero, Pirata Morgan, Herodes. I'm sure it's all lost to the annals of time, but that's holy grail stuff for me.Fuck, that does sound intriguing. I was hyped for his match against Los Exoticos on the New Japan set but he didn't seem comfortable doing schtick. That array of opponents may be more his style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 One of my absolute favorites, and I could see putting him top 40. We've talked in various places on the board about why his career is so interesting. Parties and Crackers summarized it well. I'd urge anyone who's skeptical to watch not only his '89-'90 NJ work but his PWFG (vs. Shamrock and Suzuki) and UWFI (vs. Tamura, Takada, Anjoh) stuff and those terrific Misawa matches from NOAH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 One of the best and most consistent guys in the history of NOAH, who held his own with Misawa/Akiyama/Honda during the company's prime. "Consistent" is not a term I would use for his time in NOAH. From my memory he was lazy barely doing anything 9/10 times (though when he was on he was on). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 I like lazy Sano. He would just Rolling Savate Kick everyone a lot. Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 We've talked for years (seems like at least a decade) on how interesting a Sano comp would be given his wide and varied "wandering master" career was. a1wrestling was 13-15 years ago I would buy the shit out of a Sano comp. Williams loves bringing up that thread despite arguing in circles about a really stupid point -- that Sano "won" the 1989-90 Liger feud. The entire analogy about Sano being a ronin after the feud disn't make a lick of sense then and doesn't now, but if it's morphed into a metaphor for Sano being journeyman I guess that's fitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 We've talked for years (seems like at least a decade) on how interesting a Sano comp would be given his wide and varied "wandering master" career was. a1wrestling was 13-15 years ago I would buy the shit out of a Sano comp. Williams loves bringing up that thread despite arguing in circles about a really stupid point -- that Sano "won" the 1989-90 Liger feud. The entire analogy about Sano being a ronin after the feud disn't make a lick of sense then and doesn't now, but if it's morphed into a metaphor for Sano being journeyman I guess that's fitting. That was a fable, Daniel. Just like your one where Sano is crushed by the defeat and forever altered by it. My fable was purely to contrast your invention of Sano's inner emotions. There was a lot more to the discussion than just the fables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 So we can add Ken Shamrock's best match ever in PWFG to Sano's credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 Sano has an incredibly long period of being an interesting worker to me. I don't know how much of his stuff before the Liger feud is available (I'd gladly take a look at it) but man. What an amazing feud it was. And you see Sano play both an incredible FIP in it, with Liger stomping on his head while women are screaming, do focused body work, work a batshit insane workrate match that totally holds up and dish out the punishment , bloody up Liger and work an amazing control segment in their 1990 match. The range he displays in that feud alone is astonishing. But then he goes off and works SWS (where he had a match against EL SATANICO how do you not love this guy) and UWFi and PWFG, then he returns to New Japan in the UWFi feud and has a match vs. Liger where he shrugs off a Liger dive because those work on shooters AND THEN gets back into the ring and dives onto Liger and, I don't think there's a better revenge spot in wrestling history, especially if you're thinking about Chosju superiority booking and New Japan's dominance in the feud while watching the match like I do. He then goes to NOAH and becomes my favourite bubble guy ever. I love all three Misawa matches, he had a great Kobashi GHC title defence, I remember a match from 2010-2011 against KENTA where he absolutely mauled him and it ruled, and even when he'd show up in 2013 he had maybe the best singles match of Mikey Nicholls' career. I loved his tag team with Takayama. The easiest criticism to throw his way wouls be that he was often lazy when he turned heavyweight but I don't care about that because I do legitimately love "I don't give a shit" actual one move wrestler Takuma Sano. Rolling Savate Kicks are the light and the truth praise be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted April 1, 2016 Report Share Posted April 1, 2016 You forgot his time in BattlARTS and indies. It was a little underwhelming considering he was such a genius in PWFG but he was pretty fun there crossing his junior style with the quasi shootstyle. He also did a damn good job carrying Minoru Tanaka at one point and had a really fun match with Ishikawa at a Rikidozan Memorial show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted April 27, 2021 Report Share Posted April 27, 2021 I ranked Naoki Sano 68th in 2016 and I'm happy seeing him on my list but at the same time I feel like I kinda blew it. He's another guy who's absolute peak stuff is outrageously great. Plus he has an advantage over most wrestlers because he was one of the great Juniors of his generation and then went on to become one of the great shoot style workers. To become one of the top performers in two distinct styles is extremely impressive. The Liger feud alone makes Sano a legend but it was the shoot style turn and top level stuff against people like Ken Shamrock or Jerry Flynn that should've pushed Sano into my top 50.I want to give his NOAH stuff a real look this time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB8 Posted May 8, 2021 Report Share Posted May 8, 2021 I had Sano at 47 in 2016 and that still feels too low. Sano was unbelievable and I think there's a really strong argument that he was the second best wrestler ever at working shoot style and pro style. Not even hybrid styles, I mean full pro style and full shoot style. Although with that said, one of my very favourite things about Sano is his ability to believably integrate pro style moves or submissions into his shoot style bouts. The Shamrock fight from PWFG is jaw-droppingly great and the moment where he hits a dragon suplex is mad wild and mad awesome. The Liger feud is iconic and basically all of it holds up, from the rapid workrate sprints to the climax built around Sano trying to take Liger's whole entire soul. I feel like there are decent parts of the NOAH run that I haven't seen yet either. The guy was truly amazing. NAOKI SANO YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Jushin Liger (New Japan, 8/10/89) v Jushin Liger (New Japan, 1/31/90) v Wayne Shamrock (PWFG, 5/19/91) v Yoji Anjoh (UWFi, 5/13/93) v Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH, 4/28/07) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted May 8, 2021 Report Share Posted May 8, 2021 Muscle gut Sano doing nothing but double stomps and spin kicks :blessed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microstatistics Posted April 20, 2023 Report Share Posted April 20, 2023 Yeah, Sano's range is quite remarkable when you think about it. Junior heavyweight champion, specialist shoot-stylist, heavyweight bruiser, he could do it all. As mentioned, the all-timer Liger feud coupled with matches vs. Shamrock/Suzuki/Anjoh etc. and decent post-prime stuff vs. Misawa and Top 30 doesn't seem too outlandish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
club Posted April 30, 2023 Report Share Posted April 30, 2023 Is there anything else from 80s New Japan worth seeking out? I've really been enjoying his SWS era stuff recently. Mad how he switches styles depending on the opponent. He has a varied resume and a fascinating career, but the majority of what I enjoy about Sano is his shoot-style stuff, whether SWS, UWFi or Kingdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr JMML Posted May 1, 2023 Report Share Posted May 1, 2023 I'm enjoying Sano beyond the Liger feud, his matches against the lights of Wayne Shamrock, Jerry Flynn or Yoji Anjoh are great. Truly a contender for my top 70 at least, being great as a shoot style and traditional wrestler is no easy feat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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