Grimmas Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Discuss here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 I was just raving about this guy over on the VOW board. Super charismatic, and gets over instantly anywhere he goes. A great worker, very diverse. Can do comedy, can be an asshole "I want to smack this motherfucker" heel, great underdog babyface, and can be the superhero. Great bump & sell guy, which stands out in Dragon Gate for obvious reasons. Very good facials, which is why he connects with crowds so well. It seems like Dragon Gate, which isn't afraid to pass the title around, is saving his title win for something special. He's still young and is a guy who probably has most of his best stuff ahead of him. Don't forget his U.S. excursion stuff from around '09, and his DGUSA run where he was the best & most over guy in the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted October 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Since I am determined to watch a sample of everybody nominated, what should I watch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 If this was for the best wrestlers since 2000 he'd have a 90% chance of getting on it. Really dig the guy. At the same time I'd really have to watch more of his Dragon Gate proper work to see if he's a real contender for a Top 100 of All-Time spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El McKell Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Since I am determined to watch a sample of everybody nominated, what should I watch? If you don't mind illegally downloading stuff I'd recommend his match with Chris Hero from Battle of Los Angeles 2010 and if you wanna watch something already on YouTube: Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk vs Naruki Doi and Ricochet from Kobe Festival 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Since I am determined to watch a sample of everybody nominated, what should I watch? If you don't mind illegally downloading stuff I'd recommend his match with Chris Hero from Battle of Los Angeles 2010 and if you wanna watch something already on YouTube: Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk vs Naruki Doi and Ricochet from Kobe Festival 2013 People here will hate that tag, even though I think its an all time great tag match. Total spot fest, but probably the best total spot fest in recent memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 In ranking wrestlers, I'm more interested in common comparisons. How do dry, technical wrestlers like Zack Sabre Jr., Shoichi Funaki, and Dean Malenko rate against each other? That gives some perspective and some more information. With someone like Tozawa, how does he fair against comparable guys like Ikuto Hidaka or Minoru Fujita? Tozawa, for what I've see from him in PWG, has some charisma and a fast, work rate move set. Maybe Taka is even a good comp as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Taka is actually a very good comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Taka has a fairly good shot at making my list. From 96-97, he would have been the most charismatic heel in Japan, except that Dick Togo was in the same promotion and stable. Taka's flying was not only state of the art in 1996, but people aren't regularly hitting his springboard moves in 2014, none the less hit them with the height, accuracy, and style that Taka was able to. One a very basic level, Taka was fantastic in multi-person matches, excellent in regular tag team matches, and above average to great in singles from 1994-1999. Are there any Tozawa matches that I need to see that compare to Taka's best stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I second Tozawa vs Hero. Probably throw in Tozawa/Steen vs Generico/Ricochet. Not really sure how well I remember it but him versus Eddie Kingston is maybe different enough to give a go. Probably not one of his upper tier matches but a good enough American excursion match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Absolutely loved his PWG run. Haven't seen anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 All I know about this guy is that I voted against him in DVDVR's March Madness tournament a few years ago without watching a single one of his matches. I have lucharesu filed in the "DO NOT WATCH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" compartment of my brain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 He's come to Austin and work ACW promotion quite a bit when he was working the states. The Taka comparison was a good one. He can work heel or face. In ACW he had good matches with ACH and with Arik Cannon. I don't think longevity is on his side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El McKell Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Probably throw in Tozawa/Steen vs Generico/Ricochet. Watching that match is like doing a line of cocaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Probably throw in Tozawa/Steen vs Generico/Ricochet. Watching that match is like doing a line of cocaine Are we counting that as good or bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El McKell Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Im calling it a positive but it's not like the match is great by any stretch of the imagination Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Tell that to 2011 me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Nothing wrong with a hot fast paced spot fest now & then. There is as much skill, creativity, & art involved at working that kind of pace and coming up with spot after spot to top none another as there is to any other sort of match. Not to mention the athletic & cardio requirements needed to pull it off successfully. Tozawa is the kind of guy who is elite in that type of environment, and also excels in other types of matches as well. That's why he's a contender for something like this at such an early stage of his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Joe, maybe you can break down a little bit more and give a match per style(or a couple matches per style). Cause this is a guy I could giver serious consideration for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Nothing wrong with a hot fast paced spot fest now & then. There is as much skill, creativity, & art involved at working that kind of pace and coming up with spot after spot to top none another as there is to any other sort of match. Not to mention the athletic & cardio requirements needed to pull it off successfully. This we are in agreement on. I feel people write off spotfests way too easily. I don't want to live on a diet of them and they can be outright terrible, but when done well they can be great MOTYC matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan4L Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 All I know about this guy is that I voted against him in DVDVR's March Madness tournament a few years ago without watching a single one of his matches. I have lucharesu filed in the "DO NOT WATCH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" compartment of my brain. I certainly don't think I'd class what Akira Tozawa does as lucharesu. His generation (w/Takagi, Hulk, Kong and YAMATO) weren't trained in Mexico and have a much different style to those that came before him (CIMA & Co) and after him (Millennials). So I would say you're missing out personally. First match I'd recommend is this absolute gem from the most recent Korakuen Hall show. It's the last match of a three match series, so you can skip the two matches which comes before it. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x27myhk_bxb-hulk-masaaki-mochizuki-dragon-kid-vs-masato-yoshino-akira-tozawa-shingo-takagi-dragon-gate_sport The story is simple. Mochizuki has beat the shit out of Tozawa from his first day in a wrestling ring and now as Tozawa is on the verge of a title match, he must go through his tormenter. His charisma and underdog skills shine through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InYourCase Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Apologize for some thread bumping, but there are a few guys I want to discuss. Tozawa is a sure fire lock for my list and if he continues wrestling the way he is, he has a shot at being my wrestler of the decade. His young boy stuff was nothing special, nor was his early in-ring career. Once he got some confidence in PWG and DGUSA, he became something else. In PWG he was great at working from the bottom as a fiery babyface. Worked great with Hero, Steen, and Generico. Had a somewhat disappointing match with Low Ki, but that was more because Ki didn't want to do anything. Came back to Japan in the summer of 2011 as a completely different worker. Worked as a cocky, dickhead heel and was so, so great. Obviously character work isn't considered for this project but I'd like to add that he was probably the best heel in wrestling from 2011-2013. BxB Hulk can get on my nerves but he and Tozawa had a great tag run during that time period also. Now working as a super babyface in Dragon Gate. His finish, which is a straight-jacket German Suplex, has become one of my favorite things in wrestling at the moment. There's such a struggle to get his opponents arms locked and when he finally does, the crowd goes crazy. He's a charisma machine and is nearly as over as Gedo in Korakuen Hall. I'm convinced no one is more over in a certain building than Gedo is there, also. Tozawa is very, very close. Tozawa will become the eventual ace of Dragon Gate and it will be one hell of a journey. For those that don't care for the Dragon Gate style, Tozawa is the one guy I would really look at having on your list. Between the three chapters of his career, there's something there for everyone. -vs. Chris Hero: PWG 9/5/10 -vs. Kevin Steen: PWG 12/11/10 -vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: 10/13/11 -w/ BxB Hulk vs. Jimmy Susumu & Jimmy Kagetora: 3/4/12 -w/ BxB Hulk vs. Naruki Doi & Ricochet: 7/21/13 -vs. T-Hawk: 5/9/14 -vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: The one Alan posted above vs. Kzy: 2/28/15 -vs. Shingo Takagi: 5/8/15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 I have no idea what this has to do with anything, but I have been told that Arik Cannon of all people was very instrumental in taking Tozawa under his wing and extracting all of that charisma you see oozing out of him today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I've watched a fair amount of Tozawa recently, and if anything I'd say he's in line for being one of the most disappointing wrestlers I've ever seen. He's immensely talented, one of the most talented wrestlers I've ever seen. But he very rarely puts all that talent together into a great performance. A lot of that comes from him so willingly buying into the Dragon Gate match structure; a structure that does his skills a great disservice. I mean, every Tozawa DG match ends up being pretty much the same; someone picks a body area and works it over a bunch, there's a lot of selling, then the home stretch hits and all the body work is forgotten in favor of flashy offense. Tozawa is capable of much more than that, but he is all too willing to sink to that level all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InYourCase Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I've watched a fair amount of Tozawa recently, and if anything I'd say he's in line for being one of the most disappointing wrestlers I've ever seen. He's immensely talented, one of the most talented wrestlers I've ever seen. But he very rarely puts all that talent together into a great performance. A lot of that comes from him so willingly buying into the Dragon Gate match structure; a structure that does his skills a great disservice. I mean, every Tozawa DG match ends up being pretty much the same; someone picks a body area and works it over a bunch, there's a lot of selling, then the home stretch hits and all the body work is forgotten in favor of flashy offense. Tozawa is capable of much more than that, but he is all too willing to sink to that level all the time. I may have already asked you this on Twitter, but have you seen his work with Hero from PWG? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.00c68798e2502c92a7da65280cf7def4.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.